The Best Director

“Memento” finished its opening week with a box office haul of $11,753 million, securing the second spot on the weekly box office charts. The weekly champion remained “Meet the Parents,” now in its fourth week, with a box office tally of $18.86 million. However, “Meet the Parents” was played in 2,647 theaters, while “Memento” only premiered in 521. A dark horse in film box office history was born, courtesy of Flame Film’s release, which was its third hit movie of the year, and its third in total.

The media and fans praised Flame Film’s vision, but industry professionals and movie companies paid more attention to and marvelled at the marketing strategies used for “Memento.” Flame Film distinctly captured the selling points of the film, understood the market psychology of the average audience well, and executed a series of progressive viral marketing campaigns. Coupled with a “Sundance Best Screenplay” award, it successfully piqued the curiosity and interest of moviegoers, making it a classic case study in film promotion.

Everyone now believes that the entire marketing campaign for “Paranormal Activity” was Wang Yang’s idea. In the latest issue of the “Wall Street Journal,” featuring “The Magic of Viral Marketing in Movies,” analysts believe that the internet plays an increasingly significant role in promotion and will be a major battleground in the future. Discussing the current situation, one said, “Now, the best use of viral marketing is by Wang Yang and his Flame Film company. With ‘High School Musical,’ ‘The Pursuit of Happyness,’ and now ‘Memento,’ he plays it to perfection. Since losing Wang Yang, Lionsgate has been mediocre following ‘Paranormal Activity.'”

In the week of “Memento’s” premiere, Lionsgate had four independent films showing on the big screen. The highest-ranked was “The Next Door,” in its fourth week with only 65 theaters, which grossed $204,000 this week, ranking 30th with a total box office of $296,000; “Urbania,” in 40 theaters, ranked 41st with a box office of $108,000; the two films premiering that week were: one in 15 theaters grossing $37,000, “Lives of the Saints”; and the other in 10 theaters with a box office of $7,000, “Starlet.”

This has always been Lionsgate’s casting-a-wide-net operating strategy: they acquire many cheap, small-budget independent films, do not spend much on marketing, arrange for about a dozen to twenty theaters to test the waters for a week, and if it doesn’t work, pull it from screens, just like “Lives of the Saints” and “Starlet,” which did not get a second week. If it turns a profit, they continue screening, like “Paranormal Activity,” and possibly add more theaters depending on the situation. However, it had been a long time since they found a gem.

On the phone, Wang Yang heard the voice of an old acquaintance, Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer. After congratulating the success of “Memento,” he repeatedly expressed regret, “Yang, I have to say I regret it again. I should have fought you for it. It’s a pity! We lost a ‘Paranormal Activity.'” He then laughed and said, “Luckily, the Sundance Film Festival is an annual event. Next year, I won’t make the same mistake. Whatever you buy, I will buy.” Wang Yang just laughed in response, “Be careful, Jon. I’ll go for the duds first. Once I’ve drained your coffers, then I’ll purchase the ones I really want.”

Although a box office dark horse, “Memento” could not recreate the miracle of “Paranormal Activity.” It was a critically acclaimed film but inherently limited in its appeal. Being a mystery and not even a horror movie, it catered to a niche audience who enjoys using their brains and thinking things through—a limited demographic. Therefore, even if it captured the entire market share for that niche, it was only so large.

Besides, common viral marketing can never outshine hoax-style viral marketing, but people are not so easily fooled. “Paranormal Activity” was the first time, and it might also be the last.

Nevertheless, the box office potential of “Memento” was not limited to just ten million. In its second week, the number of theaters showing the film would increase to 1,564, and Flame Film’s analysts predicted that the movie could gross over $50 million in North America, more than enough to recoup the total cost. The company would also profit from overseas screenings, DVD sales, and other peripherals. Relative to acquisition costs, the company would eventually earn a net return of three to five times its investment.

Among independent film companies, Flame Film is undoubtedly the most enviable. Its aggressive investment approach has stunned observers, from the acquisition of Blue Sky Studios for one hundred million dollars to independently financing the $60 million “Mr. Hughes”… The “Wall Street Journal” called it “Crazy Yang!”

But Mark Slant believed this was not a sustainable practice. Big productions and investments had their advantages, but also the drawbacks of high risk and slow capital recoupment. Despite seeming mediocre, Lionsgate was indeed making money with low risk, which was the right long-term operational strategy. However, he knew he couldn’t curb the young president’s ‘crazy’ tendencies, and perhaps not even “Mrs. Boss” Jessica could.

So he didn’t overly discourage large investments, but insisted the company learn from Lionsgate: set aside several million each year to cast a wide net, purchasing many inexpensive independent films. Even if they don’t succeed at the box office, they would have potential in DVD sales, video rentals, and other avenues.

Wang Yang nodded in agreement. He understood that Lionsgate’s rise from an unknown small company to a giant among independent film companies was due to this strategy. However, his plan was to set up a subsidiary company called “Flames-Man,” akin to the relationship between “20th Century Fox” and “Fox Spotlight,” dedicated to acquisition and distribution; while films produced by the company would be distributed by “Flame Film,” maintaining the image of a studio that released only high-quality films.

While “Memento” entered its second week, Flame Film commenced setting up Flames-Man with an investment of $50 million, and Wang Yang was busy with Varley Fester finalizing the color grading for “Juno.” Meanwhile, a major event took place in America—the quadrennial presidential election voting began.

But Wang Yang didn’t go to the polling station. He was pleased to see Bill Clinton leaving office; however, he didn’t favor either George Bush of the Republican Party or Al Gore of the Democratic Party in this election.

This election was peculiar, with George Bush’s aura of progressive enlightenment resembling a Democrat, while Al Gore’s stilted image more like a Republican. This was the Republican Party’s change to return to the White House. George Bush’s platform had shifted to a more central stance, focusing his speeches on social security systems, healthcare plans, and other promises, except for “rebuilding military strength,” which was almost identical to Al Gore’s rhetoric.

Both parties had contacted Wang Yang early, hoping for his vote and public support, as it would imply additional votes from the Chinese-American community, but he refused. If he had to make a choice, Wang Yang would vote for Al Gore. Fortunately, the freedom to vote or not was his, and since neither candidate truly resonated with him, he chose not to meddle in politics and did not discuss the election on his blog.

As the screening week of November 3rd to 9th ended, “Memento” took in $17,621 million at the box office in its second week, continuing to rank second; “Juno” had completed all its post-production work, and the 120-minute release version was officially unveiled. Besides the Golden Globe jury, those who got to see “Juno” earlier included the MPAA judges. Due to a large number of swearwords and sensitive content, “Juno” received a PG-13 rating, which means it’s advisable for parents to guide their children.

After resting at home for a few days, Wang Yang spent his days lying under the parasol tree in the backyard, reading, sleeping, and playing basketball, but soon he started to get busy with the promotional activities for “Juno.”

Shortly after Halloween, Jessica had traveled to Salt Lake City to start filming “High School Musical 3,” a movie with a $35 million budget that brought back the same cast and crew from the second film. The reason they could start shooting in November right after the project was green-lit at the end of August was that Wang Yang had written the script early on. As soon as the company finalized the decision and sealed the contracts, Sara Schulman received the script and could begin crafting storyboards; the main actors could also start to think and practice.

The marketing budget for “Juno” was $30 million, $5 million more than “The Pursuit of Happyness,” but the methods were similar: hard advertising included TV spots, city billboards, LED ads, etc.; while soft advertising projects involved talk shows and, not very costly but highly effective, viral marketing. How do you create a viral marketing campaign for “Juno”? She’s not a real person with a biography; such a film can’t use mystery. Wang Yang and the staff from the distribution department had discussed it for a long time without any solid ideas. However, he thought there was a certain similarity with “The Pursuit of Happyness.” It was necessary to make people interested in the story and even more so in “Juno” herself. How could he make people fall for Juno and willingly spread the word about her?

One day, while reading a blog post about behind-the-scenes clips from “Juno,” he saw a comment that read, “Juno’s quotes are so funny!” That gave Wang Yang an idea. This comment reminded him that Juno’s words were meant to set trends, but they didn’t have to wait until after the movie was released. If before the movie came out, Juno’s quotes and image were already spreading on the internet, being loved and spontaneously shared by teenagers, that would be viral marketing.

Let Juno’s charm “premiere” in advance, turning her into an icon young people would chase, a virtual pop figure! That was the promotional goal.

So in September, the official “Juno” website added a “Juno Says” section, which included two different options. One was specific scenarios for Juno’s humor, like what she would say if she stepped in dog poop on the road, or her unique and funny views on certain things; the other was random jokes. The first “Juno Says” was written by Wang Yang based on Juno’s character traits, a mix of future comedic scenarios in his mind, along with material inspired by him and Natalie Portman.

For the second option, “Juno’s Joke Collection,” his stock was clearly not enough to support daily updates until the release, and he was also busy with post-production work, without the time to create more. Therefore, Flame Films hired several joke writers to help, while dozens of employees responsible for spreading content posed as regular internet users on forums, message boards, chat rooms, and other places. They reposted these jokes en masse, naturally, also mentioning “Juno” in passing, expressing their anticipation for the film and creating the needed atmosphere for the bandwagon effect.

Everyone loves a good laugh, and many people became engrossed with these fresh and interesting “Juno Says,” generating interest in this quirky girl.

As these jokes were spontaneously shared by netizens, traffic to the “Juno” official website kept climbing. More and more young people became eager to see this film about teenage pregnancy. What kind of story will unfold after someone like Juno gets pregnant? What funny things will she say? Remember, “Juno” is Wang Yang’s creation; has he ever let the audience down? Think “High School Musical” + “The Pursuit of Happyness”; that might just be what “Juno” is.

The movie hadn’t even been released yet, but fans already had a vivid image of Juno in their minds, not the speculative figure like Novalee from “Sweetheart.” Instead, their doubts turned to whether Natalie Portman could portray such a character well. Her screen characters were always quite poised and, in reality, she was the good girl who blushed when talking about boyfriends. Her playing Juno, a “problematic girl”? Would she blush in the movie too?

But then thinking about Will Smith and “The Pursuit of Happyness,” fans felt they could be a little more patient. Surely Wang Yang wouldn’t make a mistake like this, right? After all, he auditioned thousands of girls for the part of Juno. Unless he was truly infatuated with Natalie, making this film just to meet his goddess. Or possibly, Natalie could actually pull off Juno.

When Flame Films released the trailer for “Juno,” fans’ doubts were immediately halved. In this 2-minute trailer, Natalie’s expressions, gestures, and tone were all full of rogue charm. Seeing her swaggeringly tell Paulie, “I’m pregnant” with a cigar in her mouth, where was her usual poise? Still, fans reserved their judgment. A great trailer doesn’t guarantee a great movie. How Natalie Portman performed and what “Juno” was like could only be confirmed once it was released.

“Damn, why isn’t it December 22nd yet?”

This was the outcry of many young moviegoers, but it was also a kind of happy anticipation, as they knew they wouldn’t be short of great films to watch this Christmas. There was the guaranteed hit “Cast Away” by Robert Zemeckis and Tom Hanks, a 100% quality film; and then there was “Juno” by Wang Yang and Natalie Portman, 50% sure.