Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

Chapter Four.

The office area of the Flying Yellow Studio.

A portion of the staff is editing the documentary on "Ground Hundreds", while the employees who were previously responsible for "Mission and Choice" are in sheep herding mode at this point, playing games and watching movies every day in addition to just brushing up on their websites, waiting for the official release of "Mission and Choice".

One by one, the staff in charge of the editing of "Ground Hundreds" looks energetic, as the series is considered a great success so far, growing in popularity with each issue on the Ellie Island website.

Cold Face Girl tried out a few new meals on her side, and with the promotion of "Ground Hundreds", Cold Face Girl's current reputation is still not completely reversed, but it's considerably better than the previous state that was at rock bottom.

The only problem is that it's really easy to get hungry when you cut this film, and when you get hungry you want to eat, and the company has an unlimited supply of snacks, and several of the editors have put on a few pounds.

When Huang Si Bo found out about this problem and asked them to increase their exercise in the hosted gym, the coaches were all their own people, and the extra exercise was just a word from Huang Si Bo, giving these editors a hard time practicing.

The employees of the Mission and Choice project were not in such good spirits, all very dispirited.

It doesn't even smell good to play games or watch movies anymore.

As to why this is happening....

Because these people are looking online every day for news about "Mission and Choice," but they can't wait, they can't wait, they can't wait, they can't wait, they can't wait, they can't wait, they can't wait.

Originally during the filming of Mission and Choice, everyone was in a very euphoric state.

This movie is a big investment, big production, Pei personally set the script, "A Better Tomorrow" original production team, Lu Zhiyao is even in the film to give the most perfect acting ever....

What's more, the movie is linked to a new game that Tundra has been developing for over half a year.

It shouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Mission and Choice was the most important project of the entire Tundra Group in 2011-2012.

All of the staff felt very privileged to be part of this project.

As a result, near the movie's release, people suddenly realized something was wrong.

First of all, the release date has been rescheduled, and a good May Day prime time doesn't have to be picked for a weekend that doesn't pay much attention to detail.

Of course, this is barely explainable, as the Mission & Choice game is going to bump Fantasy Warfare Remastered, and the movie's rescheduling, while a loss, is barely acceptable.

But the biggest problem right now is the lack of publicity!

Not to mention, there's not even a single promotional poster or exhibition board for "Mission and Choice" in the cinemas, and the rate of the film's schedule is not good either. And this is the result of the deliberate consideration of the success of "A Better Tomorrow" by the cinema.

In other words, the publicity for Mission & Choice is essentially zero - it's nothing!

For all the other films, the publicity and filming expenses are basically equal, like 300 million for a movie and another 300 million to promote it around the world.

And within the expenses of these blockbusters, star pay is a big part of the equation.

Whether this funding ratio is healthy or not is tentative, but it is indeed the industry norm.

It's a good thing that Mission & Choices spent over 300 million dollars on the movie, but the only star is Lu Zhiyao, who doesn't get paid much, and all the money is spent on props and special effects.

That's just too weird!

Of course, the money is better spent to ensure the quality of the film, but it's too much not to spend a penny on promotion, right?

Even if you don't spend any money, you can use an official microblog or something to post the news, right? There is so much tap water in Tundra that a little bit of random news can build heat.

Turns out, there's really nothing!

It is said that Pei always gave Meng Chang publicity funds, but where exactly these publicity funds went, no one knows....

A lot of people are even a little skeptical that the movie wasn't even brought up, it was only postponed!

Otherwise, why didn't you hear anything?

The people have worked so hard to get this difficult script made, and the movie is incredibly exciting, and the announcement is even pulled across like this, so how can you not get discouraged?

Director Zhu Xiaozai also couldn't sit still a bit, and he sneaked into Huang Si Bo's office to have another secret discussion.

It couldn't be discussed in a big way because the two of them were department heads, and if the employees knew that even they were panicking, the panic would spread so fast that it would affect the state of the entire Fei Huang studio.

There were quite a few employees who had secretly asked Zhu Xiaozai what was going on with the film's distribution in private, and Zhu Xiaozai had reassured them all, saying that a professional department was in charge, so they didn't have to worry.

But in reality, Zhu Xiaoshe himself didn't believe this.

As soon as he saw that the movie would be released in two days, he didn't know what the advertising and marketing department was doing, and why Pei didn't care.

Zhu Xiaoze slipped into Huang Si Bo's office and saw that Huang Si Bo was drinking tea while brushing up on his webpage.

"I can't hold it much longer, I've had four people asking me about the movie announcement yesterday alone."

"What exactly did Mr. Pei say over there?"

"I went to ask at the beginning of the month, and Pei said that arrangements had been made;"

"When we went to ask last week, Pei said that it had been handed over to the advertising and marketing department and that there was someone in charge, so we could rest assured;"

"Now that it's coming out soon, what about the promotion of our movie?"

"People's movies are promoted months in advance, we were originally scheduled for May 1, setting aside a month or two for promotion although the time is relatively short, but with "A Better Tomorrow" as a base, the effect shouldn't be too bad."

"As a result, the first thing to be rescheduled, the publicity time has been repeatedly compressed, and now it's great that it's going to be released immediately, and you can't even see a splash online!"

"What are we going to do?"

Zhu Xiaozhe was almost speechless.

He had already vouched for his colleagues, saying that the publicity had been consulted by Head Pei, and it was absolutely fine. But to this current situation, which is no problem ah, obviously there are problems everywhere!

The most embarrassing thing is that people won't think it's Pei's problem, they'll just think it's Zhu Xiaozhe who's faking the decree and deceiving them.

And that's a ballsy situation!

Before the publicity work of "A Better Tomorrow", Pei didn't have too much to ask, it was Huang Si Bo and Zhu Xiaoshe who were fully responsible for it. Basically, it was promoted in the usual way, and the initial publicity effect was quite good.

Of course, the key to the fire of "A Better Tomorrow" is the film itself, and its box office is also rising step by step.

But this time, the promotion of "Mission and Choice", Mr. Pei specifically explained to let Huang Si Bo and Zhu Xiaoze and the others stay out of it.

They were originally quite happy, thinking that Mr. Pei was very concerned about it, and that his personal presence meant that it would be a sure thing, and they could just be the ones to shake their hands.

As a result, they waited and waited, but only until this result.

Huang Si Bo was also a bit worried, "Who knows what medicine is in this gourd of General Manager Pei?"

"As far as I know, Meng Chang should be in charge of the publicity this time, it's reasonable to say that this person is a marketing devil, the proposal given should be sensational."

"How come up to now, there's not even a splash?"

Zhu Xiaozhe was very dissatisfied, "Him? He's no good, he's been dumped by Pei! With that little bit of three-legged marketing effort he uses to engage in cold-faced girls, it's not even a ten-thousandth as good as Pei's."

"Meng Chang is burning money to buy fake heat, and Pei is always able to draw real heat without spending money, so can this be the same thing?"

"And I think that Meng Chang, a person whose character is not good enough, is afraid that he didn't put his heart into it at all when making the publicity plan."

"It's not that I'm wronging him, just take the current situation, it's impossible to do publicity with your feet without any waterworks, right?"

"There's only one possibility: he did it on purpose!"

Huang Si Bo sipped his tea and signaled Zhu Xiaozhe to calm down a bit, "There's no need to speculate about our colleague like that."

"Whether Meng Chang is a reliable person or not, since General Manager Pei placed him in this position, there must be a reason for General Manager Pei to do so. Besides, even if Meng Chang wanted to play a little trick, do you think that General Manager Pei wouldn't know?"

"Don't worry, wait a little longer."

Zhu Xiaozhe was always a very calm person, but this time he couldn't be calm either: "Still waiting? The movie is coming out on Saturday..."

"Even if the awareness program is working now, what's two days enough time for?"

"People promote their movies more than two months in advance, but we're good for two days in advance..."

Huang Si Bo brushed the webpage and said, "Two days may seem impossible, but we still have no choice but to trust Mr. Pei."

The two men fell into a brief silence.

Suddenly, Huang Si Bo brightened up.

"Look, things have changed! Just last night!"

Zhu Xiaozhe was stunned, "There's a turn of events?"

Huang Si Bo immediately turned his laptop around so that Zhu Xiaozhe could see what was on the screen.

What came into view was the heated discussion from the users on Weibo!

"Here's the new Tundra movie! Mission and Choice, in theaters Saturday!"

"The high praise comment under that Battleship of the Furious Sea tweet that said 'Chinese movies are scared to be brought up to speed' was about Mission and Choice!"

"This movie info is all out there, and Lu Zhiyao is starring in it, so absolutely right!"

"Why so far back! I thought the schedule had to be 40% anyway, is there something wrong with such a little schedule?"

"It's not like a bad movie is hanging onto the name of Flying Yellow Studios, is it?"

"No way, director Zhu Xiaozai and starring Lu Zhiyao, this is basically the original team of A Better Tomorrow!"

Overnight, discussions about the Mission & Choice movie exploded onto Twitter and various forums!

Not only that, but there have also been a number of reasonable speculations about the Mission and Choice game.

"Mission and Choice is known as a national game of shame, and since Tengda made a movie, surely he has to make a game, right?"

"Why are you redoing this? Was it an assignment from the official platform?"

"April 14th, why is that date so familiar... Come to think of it, it's the release date of Fantasy Wars Remastered! Is this a mere coincidence, or...?"

"No way, other games are pre-released months in advance, a year or two, but also bounced before the release, Tengda without a word to be released? Without even giving notice?"

"What are you guys discussing, the Void discussion? Tunda himself didn't even say he was going to put out a Mission and Choice game...can you guys stop brainstorming?"

"It's not that we have to brainstorm, the key is that all kinds of traces are really too suspicious, old players know, Pei always old riddle people, you have to believe the explosion about Tengda, no matter how outrageous it may be true..."

"By the way, there's something else I don't know if you've noticed. The 'Chinese Classic Game Collection' also has 'Mission and Choice' in it, and this collection has been advertised and promoted online for so long, how much money is this going to cost?"

"The official platform has confirmed that the advertisement was arranged by Tengda at Tengda's expense. Think about it, why would Tengda advertise such a compilation that has nothing to do with him? It must have something to do with the new game of homebrew!"

"There are also official interviews arranged quite strange ah, first an interview with the incubation base of the 'Poor Way Project', and then an interview with Tengda responsible for the promotion of the 'domestic classic game collection' Meng Chang, these two articles more than a day apart! It was sent out, mostly at the same time. Does that hint at something?"

"Yeah, I remember when Qiu Hong was interviewed, he said that the 'Poor Project' has a funder, he's just an executor, and that funder has a deep influence on him. And considering the working environment of the incubator and the various treatment of the indie game makers... this funder is most likely Pei, right?"

"So much indeed, the official is simply all explicit!"

"There's definitely a new game coming! Fuck, that's exciting! I knew Tengda wouldn't let me down!"