Chapter 933
The First Step of AI Revolutionizing the Entertainment Industry
When Guo Xing led Zhou Qing, the distribution director, into the office, Wang Donglai was looking at a document.
Three monitors were spread out on the desk—the left one showed the teaching material outline of Galaxy Education, the right one showed the progress report of the thorium-based molten salt reactor, and the middle screen showed the timeline of the completed film "All or Nothing," with the progress bar divided into densely packed color blocks, each segment labeled with the corresponding promotional material.
He twirled the pen in his hand twice, signed the document at the end, and looked up.
"sit."
There was no small talk.
Guo Xing was already used to this rhythm.
She turned on the tablet, brought up the publicity plan, and pushed it in front of Wang Donglai.
The screen displays a timeline, extending from the day of release to a month after the film's premiere, with each milestone marked with action and budget.
The color scheme is clean and the logic is clear; you can tell at a glance that a lot of effort has been put into it.
The investment in a film is not a small amount, and publicity and distribution are of paramount importance, with professional processes and work arrangements already in place.
"The publicity and promotion will be divided into three stages."
Guo Xing spoke at a steady pace, his finger swiping across the screen, and the corresponding nodes lit up in turn.
"During the pre-launch period, from today until two weeks before the official launch, our core strategy is to use real-life cases to lay the groundwork for social issues. Seventeen survivors who returned from the park agreed to appear on camera, with Lin Xiaoyu as the core. Her story is the most complete and emotionally rich—from the humiliation of being scammed, to the fear of being trapped, to the bewilderment after being rescued, and finally to the determination to speak out. We plan to release four mini-documentaries, each eight to ten minutes long, simultaneously on Douyin and Toutiao."
Zhou Qing added from the side: "The order in which the seventeen people will appear on screen has also been arranged. Lin Xiaoyu will be the first, as she currently has the highest attention. The rest will be released in batches according to the type of case—there are young people who have been lured by high-paying jobs, middle-aged people who have been cheated by acquaintances, and elderly people who have been lured into online romance. This will cover different groups of people, allowing different types of viewers to find a point of identification."
Wang Donglai nodded without interrupting.
Guo Xing continued, "The second phase is the explosive growth period, from the two weeks before launch to the first week after launch. The core strategy is to intensively distribute the film's highlights. We cut seventeen clips, each ranging from fifteen seconds to one minute, covering the most shocking, tear-jerking, and infuriating scenes in the film. These clips will be distributed in a differentiated manner on Douyin, along with the theme song."
"The third stage is the long tail period. One week after the film's release, the core strategy is to generate word-of-mouth and social discussion. We will invite ordinary people from all walks of life to share their own or their acquaintances' experiences of being scammed, extending the film's themes to real life. At the same time, the Firefly Foundation will cooperate by setting up anti-fraud publicity points in 100 cities across the country, bringing the online buzz offline."
After she finished speaking, she pushed the tablet forward and waited for Wang Donglai to speak.
Wang Donglai did not look at the tablet.
He asked his first question: "In the part about real-life cases, was the condition of the survivors assessed?"
"It has been evaluated."
Guo Xing answered quickly, clearly having prepared in advance: "All seventeen people underwent professional psychological evaluations to confirm they were suitable for facing the camera. A psychological counselor was present throughout the filming, and the interview outlines were also subject to risk control to avoid secondary trauma. Each person's interview was filmed in two or three takes, with each take not exceeding two hours. During editing, we also removed any segments that might trigger excessive emotional reactions."
What about follow-up support?
"The Firefly Foundation will follow up, and after filming, all seventeen people will be included in the foundation's long-term care system. Those who need psychological counseling will be provided with professional counselors. Those who need employment support will be connected with suitable positions under Galaxy Technology. Lin Xiaoyu is already working at the Firefly Foundation, and others can also go through the same channel if they wish."
Wang Donglai nodded, and the second question immediately followed: "How exactly is the differentiated strategy for slice distribution implemented?"
This time, it was Zhou Qing who answered the phone.
Before joining Galaxy Entertainment, she worked for eight years at one of the top three distribution companies in the industry. She was recruited by Guo Xing to be specifically responsible for the publicity and distribution of "All or Nothing".
"We've segmented our users into five groups based on their profiles. The first group, young people aged 18 to 25, focuses on visual impact and pacing, using segments that lean towards suspense and confrontation, with electronic music. The second group, working professionals aged 26 to 35, focuses on financial security and family responsibility, using segments that emphasize realism and cautionary messages. The third group, middle-aged people aged 36 to 50, focuses on family and kinship, using segments that are more emotionally resonant. The fourth group, seniors over 50, focuses on health and pension security, using segments that are slower-paced and have lower information density. The fifth group, family members of victims and potential victims, receives separate, in-depth content, without segments."
She brought up a spreadsheet on her tablet.
"The timing, channels, and frequency of advertising differ for each demographic. Young people are primarily targeted between 8 PM and 11 PM, working professionals during their lunch break and commute, and the elderly in the morning and afternoon. The backend monitors conversion rates in real time and dynamically adjusts the weighting accordingly."
"What are the criteria for classifying the five groups of people?" Wang Donglai continued to ask.
"The user profiling system I developed is based on anonymized behavioral data from Douyin and Toutiao. I conducted an interest clustering test on fraud-related content. The model's accuracy is around 87%, with a confidence interval of plus or minus three points."
"How should we handle the population within the margin of error range?"
"A/B testing involves randomly dividing the same audience into two groups, running different creative materials, observing the actual conversion results, and then using the parameters of the winning group to cover the results."
Wang Donglai nodded and didn't ask any further questions.
Zhou Qing felt a little relieved—Guo Xing had told her before she came that Wang Donglai would ask very detailed questions, and she had made thorough preparations, which now proved useful.
"The overall plan is feasible."
Wang Donglai tapped his finger lightly on the table and said, “But there’s one aspect that can be optimized. In communication studies, there’s a concept called emotional contagion. Any content that can trigger large-scale dissemination is essentially transmitting a replicable emotion. Anger, emotion, fear, hope—if these emotions are strong enough, the audience will automatically become nodes in the spread. It’s not because they want to help you promote it, but because they need to release their own emotions through the act of sharing.”
He brought up the slice list on the tablet and glanced at it.
“Your current segmentation has the correct narrative logic, but the emotional logic can be clearer. Each segment should have one and only one core emotional point.”
He clicked on one of the segments and commented, "For example, the core emotion in this segment about the victim's family crying is heartbreak. The rhythm of the segment, the background music, and the subtitles should all serve this emotion. The first five seconds should establish immersion, the middle fifteen seconds should build up the emotion, and the last three seconds should release it. Don't let any other elements distract you."
I swiped my finger across the screen and tapped another section.
"The core emotion of the protagonist's rebellion is anger, so let's make that anger go all out. Build the tension of the conflict to the maximum, make the sense of oppression so overwhelming that it's suffocating, and then stop abruptly at the highest point. Once the audience's emotions are pushed to the limit and there's no outlet, they'll feel uncomfortable, and when they feel uncomfortable, they'll want to share, to talk, and to find someone to discuss it with."
Zhou Qing quickly took notes in her notebook.
Having worked in film promotion for so many years, this was the first time she had heard of someone using this method to dismantle the transmission of emotions.
It's not about being vaguely "touching" or "shocking," but rather about the precise emotional positioning and rhythm control of each segment.
She suddenly realized that Wang Donglai's approach to communication was different from any other filmmaker she had ever met—he didn't approach it from an artistic perspective, but from a fundamental logic.
He wasn't concerned with whether it "looked good or not," but rather with whether it "could be spread."
"Has the theme song been decided yet?" Wang Donglai suddenly asked.
Guo Xing and Zhou Qing exchanged a glance.
This issue was not on today's agenda, but Guo Xing was prepared for it.
She pulled up an audio file from the tablet and pushed it in front of Wang Donglai.
“We’ve found three top musicians in the industry and prepared three shortlisted tracks. All three are styled in a tragic and uplifting tone, fitting the film’s themes of anti-fraud and redemption. The first track was written by a Golden Melody Award winner, and the lyrics and music rights have already been agreed upon. The second track is…” Wang Donglai didn’t finish listening.
He opened the audio files, listened to each song for less than thirty seconds, and then switched to the next one.
After listening to the three songs, he pushed the tablet back.
"The melody and production are fine, but they lack one thing—memorability. After listening to these three songs, I can't remember any of the melodies. For marketing and promotion, this is fatal."
Guo Xing fell silent.
She knew Wang Donglai was right.
She had listened to these three songs countless times, and their professional level was beyond doubt, but they didn't really have that kind of hook that made people remember them after just one listen.
Without hooks, the dissemination efficiency on short video platforms will be greatly reduced.
Wang Donglai picked up his phone and tapped the screen a few times.
The intro started playing from the conference room's sound system.
It was a very strange kind of music—electronic sounds intertwined with traditional folk music, like an ancient horn piercing through a digital fog.
The intro is very short, only a dozen seconds long, and then a clear yet tearful female voice begins to play.
"You and I will first talk about the Hall of Mental Cultivation, then you will worship the waterfall..."
Zhou Qing's expression changed. As a content creator, her sensitivity to trends was ingrained in her bones.
She knew this song would be a hit after only 30 seconds of listening to it. It wasn't the kind of hit that popular celebrities release, relying on fan support or hype. It was a deeper kind of hit.
It will be used by countless people as background music for short videos, and will be covered, adapted, and recreated, becoming a collective outlet for certain emotions.
Guo Xing understood. After all, she worked in film, and she naturally knew what the soundtrack meant for a movie.
Good background music is not just background; it's another protagonist in a film.
When this song plays, combined with the video clips, there's a strange sense of harmony that makes it impossible not to remember it after just one listen or one look.
Short video platforms are already filled with a large number of catchy background music tracks, and the traffic brought by a single catchy song can be incredibly terrifying.
Guo Xing had a premonition that with this song, the movie "All In" would be a sure thing.
"This song is called 'Jingwei'."
Wang Donglai turned off the music, looked at Guo Xing, and said, "No need to buy the copyright, this was made by Nuwa."
The office fell silent for a moment.
"Was it made by Nuwa?"
Guo Xing's voice was filled with surprise and disbelief.
She naturally knew that Wa was the AI system of Galaxy Technology, and that it could write code, run data, and do simulations, but she never thought that Wa could also write songs.
"AI-composed music".
Wang Donglai spoke in a very calm tone, as if he were talking about something insignificant: "Wa analyzed the melody structure, chord progressions, and arrangement styles of all the hit songs in the past five years, and combined them with the emotional curve of the plot of 'All or Nothing' to generate the framework of this song. The lyrics are even simpler."
Wang Donglai spoke simply and calmly, but Zhou Qing and Guo Xing were utterly shocked.
Guo Xing recalled what Wang Donglai had said before about "technology empowerment," that one person and one computer are enough to create a short film.
Now she understood that it wasn't the distant future, but the present moment that was happening right now.
A song, from lyrics and music to arrangement and vocals, traditionally takes at least several months to complete, but with the help of Wa, it was polished into a finished product in less than a day.
This isn't about taking away musicians' jobs; it's about both digging up their roots and giving them new tools.
"This song can serve as the main theme for promotion."
Wang Donglai brought the topic back: "I have another idea that I think can be implemented. You guys go down and talk to Zhang Yizu."
"We can launch a 'nationwide sing-along' campaign for the song 'Jingwei.' There are many singing bloggers on Douyin (TikTok), and we can invite them to cover 'Jingwei' with the movie's hashtag. There are no barriers to entry; anyone can sing and participate. Once the song gains popularity, it will become organic word-of-mouth for the movie."
"Okay, I will go down and communicate with General Manager Zhang about this matter and make sure it is done well."
"However, there is still one problem."
Zhou Qing suddenly spoke up, asking a question: "How should we handle the copyright ownership of the song 'Jingwei'? If the cover song event becomes popular, many people will want the rights to cover the song and for commercial use. Should we offer it completely openly, or should we grant it with conditions?"
"Conditional authorization."
Wang Donglai answered without hesitation: "Cover songs and derivative works for non-commercial purposes are completely open and do not require authorization. For commercial purposes—such as a brand wanting to use this song as background music for an advertisement, or a singer wanting to cover it for an album—authorization needs to be negotiated separately, and all revenue from the authorization will be donated to the Firefly Foundation."
Zhou Qing wrote it down in her notebook.
She also felt that this approach was appropriate: opening it up for non-commercial use could maximize the dissemination effect, controlling commercial use could ensure that the copyright value was not diluted, and donating it to the Firefly Foundation could strengthen the social welfare attribute of the film, which could be described as killing three birds with one stone.
"The overall publicity and distribution plan is fine."
Wang Donglai pushed the tablet back to Guo Xing: "Execute at this pace, but there is an underlying logic you must remember. The core competitiveness of 'All or Nothing' is not the shock of real cases, the attraction of exciting clips, or the fermentation of social topics, but the emotion, the kind of emotion that makes people want to do something after watching it."
He stood up, walked to the whiteboard in the office, and picked up a marker.
"After the release of 'Dying to Survive,' how many people began to pay attention to generic drugs? After the release of 'Life on the Go,' how many food delivery riders' treatment improved? Why can these movies change reality? Not because they reveal the truth, but because they evoke emotions. Anger, compassion, resentment, and the urge to change—these emotions come together and become power."
He wrote two large characters on the whiteboard: Empathy.
"What 'All or Nothing' aims to do is not to make viewers say 'That's so tragic' after watching the film and then continue scrolling to the next short video, but to make them want to share the film with their family, friends, and colleagues, to have them write their own stories in the comments section, and even more importantly, to make them willing to spend three yuan—not just for a movie, but to support this cause."
He put down his pen, turned around, and said earnestly to the two of them, "So the core of publicity and distribution isn't about how good the movie is, but about how important the event itself is. It's not about telling the audience 'you should watch it,' but about making them feel 'I must watch it.' It's not about selling the movie as a commodity, but about passing on a torch." (End of Chapter)