Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 560 Poaching
Warner Bros., President's Office

CEO Jeffrey Bex looked somber. Today, he wasn't sitting in his executive chair, but rather on the sofa.

Several of his men took their seats nearby, including David Heyman.

With a click, the blowtorch made a sound, and the scorching flames seared the head of the cigar until it was lit.

Bix took a drag, exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, and then said, "David, tell me, what exactly happened?"

"Yesterday, Nolan and Zhang Chen met..."

David Heyman recounted the details of Nolan's meeting with Zhang Chen.

A vice president frowned and asked, "Zhang Chen rejected Nolan?"

David nodded: "Yes."

Everyone looked at Bix. It seemed that the two directors who had worked most with Warner Bros. had a conflict. What should Warner Bros. do?
Bix's expression was serious, and he remained silent for a moment, the only indication of his deep thought being the flickering of his cigar tip.

Zhang Chen and Christopher Nolan are two of the most prominent directors in Hollywood recently.

In terms of box office, Nolan is better than Zhang Chen, with "The Dark Knight" grossing over $10 billion worldwide.

Nolan is also highly regarded in terms of awards. The Oscars gentlemen believe that his works are not purely commercial films. In other words, the Oscars consider Nolan one of their own.

Zhang Chen was undoubtedly weaker in these aspects, but behind Zhang Chen was the Chinese market.

The films "Pacific Rim" and "2012" made Hollywood realize what the world's second-largest market truly means.

The key issue is China Film Group, which is behind him. Offending Zhang Chen is equivalent to offending China Film Group, which controls the rights to import films.

The Mummy 3 is the best example.

So it's really hard to say whether or not to choose between the two.

Bix had a bit of a headache.

"We'd better not get involved in this. Let them handle their own affairs."

Some people offered their opinions, but others immediately remarked, "Playing both sides is one approach, but it could also backfire. You don't want to offend either side, but in the end, you offend both."

"You said it yourself, it's just a possibility..."

"Maybe Zhang Chen already has an idea, maybe he's already in contact with other companies, otherwise why haven't we received any applications for 'Inception' yet..."

At this time, everyone was not calm.

"David, what kind of story is Inception?"

This matter cannot be ignored, and Bix felt that David's perspective as a firsthand witness was crucial.

David took a stack of scripts out of his bag and distributed them to everyone, saying as he did so:

"It's a story about stealing through dreams, a high-concept story. The story itself is very complex. I only have a script outline. Nolan stumbled upon this script on the Writers Guild's platform..."

The script synopsis is very simple, only one page long, and can be read in a few glances.

"What do you all think of the script?" Bix suddenly asked.

To be honest, I didn't think it was anything special, because it was just a brief outline.

Let alone the synopsis, many classic movies seem quite ordinary at the script stage.

That's why the director's role is so important.

A good director can make an ordinary story interesting, while a bad director can turn a classic story into a pile of crap.

But no one should underestimate them.

The screenplay was written by Zhang Chen.

Both Pacific Rim and 2012 have original screenplays, both written by Zhang Chen.

Zhang Chen has already proven his storytelling ability with facts.

Inception is also one of his works.

Moreover, this script was also highly regarded by Nolan.

"The story itself is very exciting. I overheard them talking about it, but to be honest, I didn't understand it very well. I only remember something about triple dreams. It's a high-concept story, quite mind-bending, like The Matrix..."

His words were somewhat ambiguous.

A story similar to The Matrix?

A high-concept story like The Matrix?
But everyone present understood that he meant the second meaning, simply because The Matrix was also produced by Warner Bros.

Keanu Reeves, who was almost forgotten back then, became popular again because of this movie.

To put it bluntly, this type of movie is all about the premise.

A movie is hard to fail if it has a brilliant premise.

However, if the premise fails to convince the audience, the box office performance will be poor.

Given that the director is Zhang Chen, who has a track record of success, everyone felt that the project had a high chance of success.

Another Matrix series?
Bix frowned even deeper: "David, Zhang Chen never mentioned this movie to you?"

David shook his head.

"No, Zhang had never revealed anything about it before. If Nolan hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't even have known he had registered this script..."

Everyone's hearts sank.

Does Zhang Chen really have a prejudice against Warner?
"Have we had any unpleasantness with him recently?"

"No, we had a very pleasant collaboration on both Pacific Rim and 2012 projects."

David was quite certain of this. After hesitating for a moment, he finally said, "If there is one possibility, I think the only one is 'White House Down.' Universal launched the same project, but we were powerless to help. This might have made him doubt Warner's capabilities..."

"Damn it, that's the only possibility~"

Several vice presidents echoed this sentiment.

"Do you think it's possible for Zhang to bypass Warner Bros. and collaborate with other companies on 'Inception'?"

Bix changed the subject.

David shook his head. "I don't think so. He doesn't spend much time in North America each year, so he doesn't have many opportunities to meet other companies. Besides, we have a deep partnership; the TV series produced by his company are broadcast on our network of television stations..."

The CW television network has two major shareholders: Warner Bros. and Columbia Pictures.

At this moment, another person raised their hand and said, "But don't forget, this company didn't hire us to distribute 'Twilight'..."

The office suddenly fell silent.

After a long pause, Bix said, "No matter what, we have to try our best to win over Zhang. David, you've had the most contact with him and know him best, so this matter still needs you to handle it. Understand his deepest needs and his attitude towards Warner. Hasn't he been urging us to settle the revenue sharing for '2012'? Then let's satisfy him..."

……

At the same time, Little Horse Galloping

Today's meeting is about our upcoming collaboration with Wu Baige.

Li Ming was full of vigor and boldly envisioned a grand future for his subordinates.

The entire company was inspired by him and began to dream about the future.

By partnering with renowned directors and collaborating on top-tier projects, Xiao Ma aims to enhance its brand awareness, with the ultimate goal of going public.

After the meeting ended, Li Ming left, and the others followed suit.

The large conference room fell silent, leaving only Zhong Lifang.

The sound of a ballpoint pen clicking filled the conference room; it was Zhong Lifang deep in thought.

Li Ming is a former soldier, bold and decisive, and possesses a unique charm.

Moreover, she trusted herself greatly, so Zhong Lifang was willing to stay in the family business of Xiaoma Benteng.

Yes, Bentley Panther is a family business. Apart from Zhong Lifang, the rest of the senior executives are basically Li Ming's relatives. These people are mediocre, and Bentley Panther relies entirely on Li Ming and Zhong Lifang to keep it afloat.

Li Ming himself often said that he and Zhong Lifang were like two carriages pulling a galloping horse.

That's exactly how it's done at work; Li Ming is responsible for both the creative ideas and the content.

Zhong Lifang is responsible for capital and operations.

Zhong Lifang usually doesn't interfere in creative matters, but she's not optimistic about this collaboration.

Li Ming was in high spirits and couldn't wait to announce his cooperation with Wu Baige at the meeting, even though they had only just reached an agreement, which shows how much he valued this cooperation.

Can……

Ultimately, she decided to have a talk with Li Ming.

You always need to express your own opinion.

Ten minutes later, Zhong Lifang knocked on the door of Li Ming's office.

"Lifang, is something the matter?"

Li Ming's nickname in the industry is "Big Dog Brother," and he does indeed have a special aura.

Zhong Lifang sat down in the chair in front of her work desk and looked at Li Ming across from her.

"What's wrong? Why are you so serious?"

"I disagree with collaborating with Wu Baige."

"why?"

Big Dog Brother wasn't surprised at all. He had noticed at the dinner that day that Zhong Lifang seemed to have ideas about collaborating with Wu Baige, but she hadn't expressed them yet.

“I think our collaboration with Wu Baige was a bit too hasty. It doesn’t align with our usual investment strategy. Moreover, ‘Red Cliff’ didn’t do well at the box office, so I have doubts about his abilities…”

Li Ming wasn't angry when he heard Zhong Lifang's true thoughts.

"The box office performance of 'Red Cliff Part I' was indeed not good, but that was because it was out of sync with '2012'. In China, no one would have a good outcome if they ran into Zhang Chen."

Furthermore, I disagree with your questioning of Wu Baige's abilities.

A great director is a great director. One failure doesn't mean anything. Chen Shiren's "The Promise" failed, but it doesn't diminish his status as a great director. People are still eager to invest in his films.

"Red Cliff (Part 1)" is just a prelude; the final outcome will depend on the performance of "Red Cliff (Part 2)".

Moreover, even if Red Cliff Part II fails, we will still need Wu Baige.

Collaborating with big-name directors is the only way to boost Xiao Ma's popularity. Do you think no one in the industry noticed Wu Baige's practice of using mainland actors to promote Taiwanese actors? Everyone knows it, but it works.

The same applies to us. As long as we cooperate with Wu Baige, whether we make a profit or a loss, Xiao Ma's status will be elevated.

Wu Baige knew this too. Everyone else was waiting to see how "Red Cliff Part II" fared, which was why we had this opportunity. If "Red Cliff Part II" had really succeeded, do you think we would still have a chance to get involved?

What Li Ming said seems to make a lot of sense; it's all about speculation.
The reason why Xiao Ma has the opportunity to speculate is precisely because everyone is pessimistic about Wu Baige.

By the time the situation becomes clear, the opportunity has already disappeared.

However, Zhong Lifang disagreed with this view.

"Mr. Li, I know you're preparing for the company's IPO, but besides brand recognition, performance is also crucial for an IPO. If the collaboration with Wu Baige fails, not only will our cash flow be strained, but it will also cause us a major problem with future financing..."

So, what's your opinion?

Li Ming was getting impatient.

Zhong Lifang didn't back down: "Cancel the collaboration with Wu Baige. Even if we were to collaborate, don't rush into a disaster film. Consider smaller budget projects instead..."

“That’s enough, Lifang. We agreed before that I would be in charge of the company’s creative and content creation, while you would only be responsible for funding and operations. The collaboration with Wu Baige falls under my purview. Your job is to cooperate with me, not hinder me…”

Li Ming's patience ran out. He was a soldier who liked to set goals and then charge towards them.

But to everyone's surprise, the first person to object to the collaboration with Wu Baige was actually the company's second-in-command.

Zhong Lifang was also angered: "My views above are based on considerations of funding and operations. Disaster films are bound to be big productions, and the $4000 million the company just raised will basically all have to be invested in them. If it fails, the company will face the risk of a broken cash flow..."

Are you trying to force me to resign?

Li Ming looked at Zhong Lifang, trembling with anger.

The $4000 million in funding mentioned earlier was precisely Zhong Lifang's achievement.

Just this year, she successfully raised $4000 million in Series A funding for Pegasus Mobility.

Zhong Lifang knew that the other party had probably misunderstood, but it was impossible for her to apologize at this point.

"No, I just feel we have to be responsible to the investors. Besides, Wu Baige has no experience directing disaster films. Starting this project rashly isn't an investment; it's gambling..."

Both sides were emotional, and Zhong Lifang knew that it was impossible to reach a conclusion through further discussion.

Let's talk about this later.

Zhong Lifang left.

The secretary outside overheard everything that happened in the office and trembled with fear.

Just then, an unlucky fellow, completely unaware of the situation, came looking for Li Ming and knocked on the door: "Mr. Li, do you have a moment? I'd like to report something..."

"Go away~"

His response was an angry shout.

……

There are no secrets in the entertainment industry.

Before long, rumors began circulating in the industry that Li Ming and Zhong Lifang of Xiaoma Benteng had a big fight over their collaboration with Wu Baige.

Most people in the industry are just watching the spectacle.

As everyone knows, Galloping Horse is a family business.

Zhong Lifang was able to become the second-in-command at Xiaoma Benteng and have such a great deal of influence, all because of Li Ming's trust.

Now that a rift has formed between the two, Zhong Lifang's days with Xiao Ma will likely be very difficult.

The news reached Zhang Chen's ears.

Zhang Chen discussed with Dong Jianqiang: "Old Dong, do you think it's possible for us to poach Zhong Lifang from our company? Xingchen Entertainment wants to go public, and Zhong Lifang happens to be an expert in this field."

Zhang Chen had actually had the idea of ​​poaching Zhong Lifang for a long time.

After all, he's a well-known tool in the entertainment industry.

However, Zhong Lifang's loyalty to Li Ming was too high in the past, and it was impossible to poach her.

Now is the perfect opportunity.

“Sure, I’ll arrange a chat with him sometime, but if we want her to come, we definitely need to show some sincerity. I think we can entrust her with the daily operations…”

Dong Jianqiang knows his own family best.

Zhong Lifang's arrival will definitely overlap with his work.

Dong Jianqiang's role at Star Entertainment is actually similar to that of Zhong Lifang at Little Horse Galloping.

Star Entertainment is essentially run by Zhang Chen, who is in charge of creation and content, and Dong Jianqiang, who is in charge of operations.

However, Star Entertainment is now expanding its operations, with offline theme parks, online platforms, and other sectors planned for the future.

Sooner or later, power will have to be delegated. Zhang Chen's initiative to ask is already giving him face, and he should follow suit.

The offline amusement park segment was given to Liu Daoqiang, the online platform segment to Chen Xiaowei, and it wouldn't hurt to give a portion to Zhong Lifang as well.

Since he owns shares in the company, the listing of Star Entertainment would be a huge benefit to him.

……

I'm really sorry for the break these past two days. I suddenly ran out of ideas, and I've been losing hair thinking about the plot every day. I need to sort this out.
(End of this chapter)