69novels Chapter 15: Getting Something for Nothing
Chapter 15: Getting Something for Nothing
The day after the actor's contract was signed, Liu Yu did something that left Wang Chaowen speechless.
He made ten copies of the contract signed by Liu Ye and Yan Danchen, put them in a kraft paper envelope, and then practiced his sales pitch in front of the mirror for half an hour.
"Brother, where are you going?" Wang Chaowen asked, lying on the bed watching him change his clothes.
"Get sponsorship."
The 7-Eleven Northern Region Marketing Department is located on the twelfth floor of this building. The office is small, with a simple and bright decoration style, and a large orange logo hangs on the wall behind the reception desk.
Liu Yu gave his name and company information at the front desk, and the receptionist made a phone call before leading them into a small conference room.
After waiting for about five minutes, a man in his early thirties pushed the door open and came in.
Wearing a light blue shirt, dark gray trousers, and his hair neatly combed, with a steel-band watch on his left wrist, he exuded the aura of someone who works at a big company and is very busy.
"Hello, I'm Sun Guoliang from the marketing department." He extended his hand with just the right amount of pressure. "Are you from the Beijing Film Academy?"
"Yes, I'm from the Management Department of Beijing Film Academy." Liu Yu shook his hand, neither humble nor arrogant. "Hello, Manager Sun, this is my business card."
He pulled a business card from his pocket and handed it over. It was white with black lettering, as simple as it could be: "Liu Yu, Producer, Qianlang Culture Media Co., Ltd."
There was no title, no address, no email address, only a name and a phone number.
Sun Guoliang glanced at the business card, his eyebrows twitching slightly, probably thinking he hadn't heard of the company name before.
"Sit down, let's talk."
Sun Guoliang sat down at the head of the conference table, assuming a gesture that seemed to invite him to begin his performance.
Liu Yu slowly pulled two documents out of the envelope: one was the project proposal for "The Eraser," and the other was a copy of the contract between Liu Ye and Yan Danchen.
"Manager Sun, this is an overview of our project, including a story synopsis, the main creative team, the filming schedule, and the distribution channels."
Then he turned to the page with the copy of the contract, "These are the two lead actors we have finalized: Liu Ye, a Golden Horse Award winner who won the award for 'Lan Yu' last year; and Yan Danchen, a 96 graduate of the Performance Department of Beijing Film Academy, who was a classmate of Zhao Yanzi."
Sun Guoliang's gaze fell on the copy of the contract, and after clearly seeing the names "Liu Ye" and "Yan Danchen," his expression visibly changed.
"Has Liu Ye confirmed the acceptance?" Sun Guoliang looked up.
"The contract is signed, and the deposit has been paid," Liu Yu said without changing his expression. "I'll be joining the crew next month."
He read very quickly, his eyes darting across the page, occasionally pausing for a couple of seconds on a particular line. Liu Yu observed his reading trajectory and silently deduced that his focus wasn't on the story synopsis or the filming plan, but rather on the page about distribution channels.
There's potential. Someone showing interest in distribution channels means they're not just going through the motions; they're seriously assessing whether this project can actually succeed.
"Where are you planning to screen this film?" Sun Guoliang asked.
"National cinema chain. We're currently in talks with China Film Group for terrestrial distribution. If we can't reach an agreement, we'll go through a local cinema chain alliance. Hunan TV will also cooperate with the promotion; my mother works at Hunan TV and can borrow some resources."
Liu Yu paused, then added, "To put it bluntly, this film isn't a student project; it's a legitimate commercial film designed to make money in theaters. It's just that the main creative team is relatively young, so we've managed to control costs well, resulting in a high cost-performance ratio."
Sun Guoliang leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms in front of his chest, and thought for a moment: "What kind of cooperation do you want?"
This is exactly what Liu Yu was waiting for.
"Two cooperation options, Manager Sun, please choose." He flipped to the sponsorship option page of the project proposal. "The first option is cash sponsorship. You invest 50,000 yuan with us, and we will thank 7-Eleven in the end credits and list 7-Eleven as a 'Special Thanks' in all promotional materials."
"What about the second one?"
"The second type is called 'deep product placement.' If you invest 100,000 yuan in us, in addition to the end credits, we will also set the convenience store that the female lead frequents as 7-Eleven in the script. At least ten scenes will be filmed in a real 7-Eleven store, and the store environment, product display, and brand logo will appear naturally in the shots. In addition, we can do some joint promotions with 7-Eleven during the promotional period, such as giving away movie ticket coupons with the purchase of coffee."
After listening, Sun Guoliang did not immediately express his opinion, but instead flipped through the pages of the project proposal related to the convenience store scenario.
Liu Yu specifically asked Liu Xiao to take some photos of convenience stores and attach them to the back of the proposal. There were photos taken during the day, at night, in sunny weather, and in rainy weather. Each photo was labeled with the role and emotional tone of the scene in the script.
"How did you connect the female lead's amnesia plot—" Sun Guoliang's gaze lingered on a photo of a convenience store at night—with amnesia?
"The female lead eventually forgets everything, but she still walks to this convenience store every day. She doesn't remember why she comes, or what she wants to buy, but her body remembers the way and the door. So every step she takes in the convenience store becomes a stepping stone for the audience's emotions."
Sun Guoliang was silent for a few seconds, then laughed: "You're quite the storyteller."
"I studied film production, and if I can't tell a good story, I won't be able to attract investment."
Wang Chaowen sat beside him without saying a word, but his expression betrayed his true feelings.
From initial nervousness to admiration, and now to "My brother is awesome!", he tried his best to keep his mouth shut as Liu Yu had instructed, but the admiration in his eyes was impossible to hide.
"I'll report this to my superiors." Sun Guoliang closed the file, stood up, and said, "I'll give you an answer within a week."
Liu Yu also stood up and extended his hand: "Thank you, Manager Sun. By the way, Manager Sun, we will be holding a small project briefing at the school next week, and Liu Ye and Yan Danchen will both be there. If you have time, you are welcome to attend and meet the two lead actors."
Sun Guoliang's eyes lit up: "Liu Ye is here too?"
"He's coming. He takes this project very seriously and has even made time for it."
"Okay, you and your assistant finalize the time, and I'll try my best to arrange it."
As they walked out of the 7-Eleven office, Wang Chaowen finally couldn't hold back any longer. He grabbed Liu Yu's sleeve as soon as they stepped out of the elevator: "Brother, is Liu Ye really coming next week?"
"I'm not coming."
"what?"
"I lied to him."
"you...."
"That's called negotiation skills." Liu Yu pressed the button for the first floor of the elevator. "If you tell someone that our film stars an award-winning actor, they'll be skeptical; is the award-winning actor just a figurehead? So you have to give them a chance to see the award-winning actor in person, so they believe it's real. As for whether Liu Ye comes or not, it doesn't matter. As long as we make the event big enough and create the right atmosphere, he'll believe Liu Ye was there on the day."
Wang Chaowen's mouth remained open for half a minute.
"Brother, did you used to be involved in pyramid schemes?"
.......
After leaving 7-Eleven, Liu Yu didn't go back to school, but took Wang Chaowen straight to the next stop.
The offices at Samsung Electronics' China headquarters were much more impressive than those at 7-Eleven. Liu Yu gave his name at the front desk and waited for fifteen minutes before a brand manager from the marketing department finally appeared.
The manager, surnamed Kim, was of Korean ethnicity, in his forties, and wore frameless glasses; he looked like a shrewd businessman.
Manager Jin sized Liu Yu up and down, his gaze lingering on Liu Yu's excessively youthful face for a couple of seconds. "Besides Liu Ye, who else is on this project?"
"The female lead is Yan Danchen, a classmate of Zhao Yanzi and Chen Kun. The director of photography is Sun Ming, winner of the Best Cinematography Award at the 6th Shanghai International Film Festival and a nominee for Best Cinematography at the Golden Rooster Awards. He is currently one of the most promising emerging cinematographers. In addition, we have secured the production endorsement of Qingying Film Studio, and Hunan TV will also cooperate in the publicity and distribution."
As Liu Yu spoke, he handed over the documents, but Manager Jin did not look through them like Sun Guoliang did. Instead, he pushed the documents aside, crossed his hands on the table, leaned forward slightly, and adopted a "don't talk to me about these empty words" attitude.
"Liu, let me be honest with you," Manager Jin said in a cool tone, "I receive at least five or six film and television product placement requests every day. Big productions, low-budget projects, TV series, movies, documentaries—you name it. What advantage does your student project have compared to those professional teams?"
That might sound blunt, but Liu Yu liked that straightforward style.
"The advantage lies in cost-effectiveness." Liu Yu met his gaze calmly. "Manager Jin, in the product placement collaborations you usually handle, how long is the brand exposure for a movie or TV series?"
"On average, it takes three to five minutes."
"What's the price?"
"The minimum is three to five hundred thousand, and the maximum is one to two million."
"I'll give you fifteen minutes of screen time, at least fifteen minutes. All scenes of the main characters using their phones will be shot with a Samsung camera. The female lead will use her phone extensively in the film; making calls, sending text messages, looking through photos—every action will be shown in close-up of the phone. And,"
Liu Yu emphasized, "We'll use a flip phone. The 'opening' and 'closing' of a flip phone is itself an expression of emotion, creating more dramatic tension than a candybar phone. If this scene is filmed well, it will become a classic shot. At that time, the audience will remember not only this plot, but also the brand of that flip phone."
Manager Jin's expression didn't change much, but he unconsciously leaned back; this was a sign of reduced defensiveness, indicating that his attitude had changed from confrontation to listening.
Liu Yu pressed his advantage: "Manager Jin, you're of Korean ethnicity, so you should know how strong Korean films and television are right now. You know better than I how popular 'My Sassy Girl' was across Asia last year. Korean films excel at subtle emotions, exquisite visuals, and effective emotional manipulation. The emotional intensity of our film is no less than any Korean romance film, but our production cost is only one-fifth of that of a similar Korean film. You're getting a blockbuster-potential film with product placement for one-fifth the price—it's a bargain no matter how you look at it."
Manager Jin was silent for a moment, then picked up the documents on the table and looked at them.
He then asked a few more questions about the distribution plan, release date, and promotion channels.
Liu Yu answered each question precisely, providing accurate figures and detailed plans. He didn't sound like a student making empty promises, but rather like a businessman giving a project presentation.
"150,000." Manager Jin closed the file. "150,000 in cash, plus five flip phones as filming props. This is the best offer we can make for the new project."
Liu Yu was secretly overjoyed, but his face remained impassive: "Manager Jin, 150,000 is a bit low. Think about it, how much would it cost to publish a close-up shot of Liu Ye making a call on a Samsung flip phone in a magazine?"
Manager Jin chuckled at his remark: "Liu, you're studying negotiation, aren't you?"
"I studied film production, but producers are supposed to be good at negotiation."
Manager Jin laughed for a moment, then held up his right hand and gestured a number: "180,000. That's the most I can go, or I'll have to pay for it myself."
"make a deal."
In the days that followed, Liu Yu visited seven or eight more companies.
Not every business goes smoothly.
Liu Yu has the deepest memory of the negotiations with Beijing Hyundai, not because they went smoothly, but because they almost fell apart.
Manager Zheng from Hyundai Motors is a very professional marketer with extremely high standards for product placement collaborations.
A week later, the total amount of brand sponsorship exceeded 600,000.
7-Eleven invested 50,000, Samsung invested 180,000, Hyundai invested 250,000, Haier invested 30,000, Nestle invested 20,000, Master Kong invested 15,000, and several other small brands pooled together 50,000 to 60,000.
The total came to a little over 600,000. Adding the 1 million that Liu Yu himself contributed and the 100,000 from Qingying Film Studio, the total in the account was already 1.7 million.
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