Chapter 90

The hastily shot scenes naturally had many areas that needed improvement,

Following Itō Shūichi's suggestion, a few of them even went back to the scene to shoot some additional footage,

Fortunately, none of them were busy celebrities, so they just piled into a car and went over.

The final cut of the film reached 90 minutes, not including the opening and closing credits.

"Naoki-san, once the opening and closing credits are added, the film will be almost complete. Have you thought about how to distribute it?"

The opening credits for Jūyū Eiga were already prepared during the "World's Most Mysterious Stories" project, but the closing credits were a bit short, with only 10 people in the main creative team, which was quite meager.

"Ōmoto-san is negotiating. A few theaters have agreed to try a night screening, but to get a wide release, we still need the backing of a major company."

"Naoki-san, if you need it, I have some connections at Dentsu, some classmates, and even some university professors..."

Although Itō Shūichi was young, he was a university graduate with a degree in film directing, so he did have some connections.

However, the films he had made in the past few years were all adult films, and he hadn't made much progress. As a young director with a strong sense of self-respect and a bit of an artistic youth spirit, he was hesitant to contact his seniors or teachers for help.

"Shūichi-san, distributing this film is indeed quite difficult, so I won't say much more. If you have any resources, use them as much as possible."

"Hai, I'll go and contact them then."

At this moment, Naoki was also thinking about other ways. In the future, many low-budget films gained popularity through word-of-mouth and achieved box office success. Could this film do the same?

.......

The audience for horror films is mostly young men and women,

Not only because most horror films are screened late at night, when only young people would go to see them,

But also because of the saying: "Horror films are a necessity for couples."

For young men and women who are in the early stages of a relationship or just starting to date, horror films act as a catalyst for emotions,

As one of the most basic human emotions, fear makes people retreat and instinctively seek help from those around them,

This manifests as the scared person unconsciously moving closer to the other,

Many scared women will instinctively hide in the arms of the men.

Of course, if the men are scared, they can also hide in the arms of the women, as long as they aren't seen as perverts or creeps.

If both are scared?

Even better!

This would be a mutual attraction!

.......

At this moment, Naoki thought of the place where young men and women gather the most—nightclubs.

Promoting the film in such places could attract many young people,

And they could also hold a pre-screening before the official release to increase the film's visibility.

After all, he was very confident in the quality of the film.

So Naoki went to a disco he hadn't visited in a while and directly approached Araki Shigechi,

"Shigechi-san, it's been a while. How's the business going?"

As the owner, it was normal to occasionally check on the business operations.

"Naoki-san, the business has been stable, but a few similar dance clubs have opened up targeting university students, and they're all using the disco name."

"Haha, can't help it. Where there's profit, there will always be wolves." Naoki had anticipated this, "In the future, we can release the news that the DISCO brand is ours. If anyone wants to join, we can negotiate."

"Franchise stores?"

"No, franchises. They pay a franchise fee, and we provide the brand. We can offer guidance on renovation and operations, and we can also hold large events together."

"Eh? Will they pay for that?"

"Of course, who wouldn't pay when we have the first-mover advantage and a strong brand?"

In the eyes of young people today, this disco in Kōenji is the most famous and the oldest. If you haven't danced here, you can't say you've been to a disco.

"Hai, I understand." Araki Shigechi nodded, impressed by the foresight of this young owner.

After discussing the business, Naoki started talking about the film,

"Shigechi-san, Halloween is just a month away. Do you have any plans for the club?"

"Well," with a month to go, there were no plans yet. Usually, disco plans are made a week in advance, but if you answered that way to the boss, you wouldn't be thinking about a promotion....

"For Halloween, we actually plan to organize a costume party, a Halloween Night of Madness."

"A costume party, that sounds good~" This is a fairly common event,

"Shigechi-san, if you don't mind, can we start promoting it in the club for the first half of the month?"

Naoki looked into Araki Shigechi's eyes: "I have a film, a horror film, that I want to promote in the disco. There will also be some screening tickets as a benefit for regular customers."

"Is that so! Of course, that's fine."

Araki Shigechi instantly understood the boss's intention. Film promotion is common in livehouses, underground music halls, and bars. This time, there are even screening tickets, which is an added benefit for the club's customers.

In other words, even if the film is terrible, it won't affect the club.

"Also, Shigechi-san, if you can help promote it in other nightclubs or places where young people gather, even if there's a fee, that's fine too."

"That's no problem at all."

In fact, since Araki Shigechi became the manager of the disco, the managers of other nightclubs often invited him to dinner, exchanging favors. One day, he would invite the resident band to perform, and the next day, they would help promote an event. This was a common practice.

Naoki gave Araki Shigechi 10% of the profits and almost all operational authority, and Araki Shigechi had a very comfortable year.

"Then I'll leave it to you, Shigechi-san. The posters and other promotional materials will be sent over later."

"Hai!"

.......

Naoki was once again thinking of a rural包围city strategy,

Using early promotion to build a reputation among young people,

Then holding a pre-screening to let regular nightclub-goers know the quality of the film,

Arranging some screenings in October in a few theaters, ideally creating a sense of scarcity,

And then, during the Halloween period at the end of the month, expanding the release as much as possible, at least in Tokyo theaters.

For Naoki and his team, as long as the film has box office success, it will be a profit!

.......

In the afternoon,

Driving to the studio,

Naoki found a group of staff huddled in a screening room,

Itō Shūichi, Ōmoto Yoshimura, the three stray cats, and the assistant directors, Komori Masahiro and Inada Masahito, were all watching the screen,

Naoki walked in and patted an assistant on the shoulder: "Masahiro-kun, what are you doing?"

But unexpectedly, Komori Masahiro let out a "ah" and almost fell onto Inada Masahito,

Do you two have some strange relationship?!

The others in the screening room were also startled:

"What, Naoki-san, why did you scare us like that...""Yeah, scaring people is not nice...""I was really scared just now..."

Naoki realized they were all watching a horror film,

"Ha ha ha, why didn't you call me to watch? How is it, is the film good?"

Ōmoto Yoshimura said, "It's really scary, I wouldn't dare watch it at night."

The most lively of the three cats, Katagiri Ayano, laughed, "Ōmoto-san, you're missing the point. Horror films are best watched at night."

"Can you be a bit more considerate of this old man...?"

Itō Shūichi said to Naoki, "Naoki-san, the opening and closing credits are done. This 'Paranormal Activity' is now complete."

"Hai, thank you, Shūichi-san."

Seeing that they were about to start discussing, the others left the screening room.

"Ōmoto-san, I've asked Araki Shigechi to help with promotion in discos and nightclubs. How about the theaters?"

"Three theaters in Tokyo have agreed to give it a try, but only for a week."

"Sticky tape, as long as it gets a screening, that's fine. Try to negotiate with other theaters too. If necessary, we can lower the price, as long as it's not free. Any screening is a profit for us."

"Shūichi-san, what about your side?"

"My friend at Dentsu agreed to help with promotion, but my university professors want to see the film's effect first."

"Then give them a copy of the film. Is the copyright registration done?"

"Hai, it's done."

"Then there's no problem. We need to hurry with the promotional posters and other materials. Halloween is coming soon."

.......

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