Debuted right after graduating from high school

Several pretty girls asked Fan Wumian to call him, but he didn't contact any of them.

After returning to the hotel from the party, I slept soundly until dawn.

I just finished breakfast this morning and was about to meet with the producer and director of the sci-fi movie "District 9". I met the screenwriter of the project last night, and he hopes to get some investment money from him.

I vaguely remember that District 9 did well at the box office. Compared with other science fiction movies, it had a unique style and low investment cost, which gave it the potential to become a box office dark horse.

Just as he came downstairs, Fan Wumian received a phone call at the hotel entrance. He was surprised to learn that Paramount and Time Warner had invited him to send people to participate in valuing their company's film library resources, as if they had planned it together.

It's not that we've already agreed to cooperate; it's just that we're assessing the value of the digital copyrights first. Only after we approve the valuation can we proceed with the specific details of the cooperation.

Those giants often have some "big company problems," and it's hard to know how long it will take to reach a conclusion when negotiating with them. However, the development environment for video websites is not that mature to begin with, and Fan Wumian thought that sharpening the axe before chopping wood was better than delaying the work, knowing that these things couldn't be rushed.

He's slow, and his other potential competitors aren't much faster either.

With the technical and human resources support of Tudou.com, the new platform will be launched soon. Once the digital restoration work is completed, a large number of films and TV series will be uploaded to the Internet, giving us a significant lead over others.

As for small Silicon Valley startups that have nothing to do with Hollywood, if they also want to enter this field, then it's a bit like "a short man marrying a Kardashian – not knowing the limits."

Netflix has been in the DVD rental business for so many years, making a lot of money for Hollywood film and television companies, but it still can't get film resources from Hollywood. In its previous life, it was forced to raise funds to create its own series, which unexpectedly developed due to the popularity of "House of Cards".

Putting everything else aside, the initial investment of hundreds of millions of dollars alone is enough to deter entrepreneurs and investors.

The barrier to entry for starting a video website is quite high. If Netflix hadn't accumulated a considerable amount of start-up capital through its online DVD rental business, and had rental platforms to drive traffic to video websites at low cost, it would have been very difficult for it to develop.

In contrast, Fan Wumian chose a more relaxed and convenient entrepreneurial path, directly investing money to try to tie himself to Hollywood giants, planning to cooperate deeply and find allies to protect him by sharing the spoils.

The reason I personally met with Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian a few days ago was actually to build a good relationship so that I could leverage their influence among young people to drive traffic to my video website at low cost in the future.

For example, Fan Wumian hopes to exclusively stream Kim Kardashian's planned reality show on video websites, and the digital rights to "Lady Scrap," a previous collaboration with Disney, are also held by Myth Film Studio.

After considering a whole bunch of random things, Fan Wumian waited near the Warner Bros. studio and met with the representatives of the "District 9" project. After only briefly glancing at the script, he agreed to invest $9 million for a 30% stake.

Since I was already there, I wandered around the Warner Bros. studio and even ran into the cast of "The Big Bang Theory," but none of the main actors were there, and filming wouldn't start until the evening.

This reminded Fan Wumian of something, and he began to consider which classic American TV series were worth paying a high price to acquire digital rights in advance or to obtain long-term licenses for.

I went into a coffee shop, ordered a Perfect Iced Coffee, gave them $50, and kept the rest as a tip. I asked the waiter to get me some paper and a pen.

Then, Fan Wumian sat down at a low round table and began to list the American TV series that impressed him.

Because of its early acquisition of a large number of domestic dramas, Tudou.com has gained a significant advantage. Before Hollywood and major American television stations can react, it still has the opportunity to replicate its previous success if it offers the right price.

Shows like "The Big Bang Theory," "Friends," "Two and a Half Men," and "Desperate Housewives" all have the potential to bring massive traffic to the platform.

"How I Met Your Mother", "Funny Family", "Lost", and "The Sopranos" are also quite interesting.

In the past, as long as Fan Wumian paid some money, mainland film and television companies would sell him their online copyrights like they were selling off trash. Unfortunately, American film and television companies and television stations are all very wealthy, and the concept of video websites has become clear, making it difficult to get a good deal from them.

However, even if the asking price is relatively high, it is still very cost-effective to sell now compared to the actual benefits it can bring in the future.

For example, Friends might now have the opportunity to permanently buy out the online streaming rights to the show for 20 to 30 million US dollars.

More than a decade later, Fan Wumian recalled that HBO's video website spent over $400 million to buy the exclusive broadcasting rights for just five years, averaging over $80 million per year for the broadcasting rights.

The returns from investing in copyrights are not necessarily less than those from investing in securities assets. If possible, he would prefer to take out a bank loan to directly buy out the online digital rights to some popular American TV series in order to avoid competition from other platforms.

With more money on hand, Fan Wumian's worries have lessened considerably.

Acquiring online copyrights or streaming rights isn't too much of a burden for him, since he can sell his stake in Paulson's hedge fund at the right time and receive a large dividend beforehand.

And Tencent is about to truly rise. Recently, Apple has revealed that it is "preparing to port third-party software to mobile phones and computers." Once smart mobile terminal devices are truly launched, internet companies will surely usher in a new round of explosive growth.

After sitting in the coffee shop for more than half an hour, folding the paper and putting it in his pocket, Fan Wumian went to Myth Film Studio again to talk about collaborating with Illumination Entertainment Animation Studio to create the animated films "Minions" and "Zootopia".

Busy as I was, I went out again to attend a party hosted by Paris Hilton to celebrate the purchase of a small estate worth $980 million.

The estate is located in Bel Air, next to Beverly Hills, and features outdoor gardens and large lawns, making it quite scenic.

Unfortunately, she really lacked investment acumen. Upon learning that the mansion, originally priced at $1100 million, was on sale at a discount, she immediately bought it. It is estimated that the price will drop by more than 20% next year.

During his social engagements, Fan Wumian began to think that once the video website was established, he would probably come to Los Angeles more often. If he came across a particularly suitable house, it would seem like a good idea to buy one, which would be perfect for meeting girls and hosting parties.

While staying in a hotel is convenient, it's a public place with lots of people watching, which isn't very convenient.

If you try to save money on buying a house and end up having your house destroyed because someone takes a picture of it, the loss would be too great, and it would obviously be a losing proposition.

However, real estate in Los Angeles' affluent areas is currently at a high price, so there's no need to consider selling in the short term. During a conversation with Britney, she excitedly told me:

"Steve Jobs of Apple has great confidence in our account. This afternoon, his secretary told us that he is prepared to spend $600 million to sponsor us to complete one of the largest prize pool competitions in history."

"If you spend $300 million to build the venue and hire staff, then the prize money could be set at $300 million, which is simply outrageous."

"To win a large sum of money, none of the contestants will easily choose to withdraw; many people wouldn't earn that much money in their entire lives."

Fan Wumian was also a little surprised after hearing this, but considering that the Monster Lady account has tens of millions of viewers worldwide, from an advertising perspective, investing $600 million is not expensive.

He said to Britney:

“That’s great. We can make the process more complicated and divide it into many matches. This way, we can save on production costs and film many episodes at once.”

“If contestants are unwilling to leave, then lure them away with small rewards, or make them betray their teammates for money. Every time a group of people are eliminated, a suitable method can always be found.”

"Don't forget about the additional expenses. I feel that setting the prize money at $100 million or $150 million is enough, so as not to overwhelm the audience and make them feel that smaller prizes are not interesting when watching other prize challenges in the future."

Britney Spears will only act as the host; the program's planning will be handled by a professional team. Fan Wumian plans to keep a close eye on it personally so as not to miss the opportunity to help Monster Lady's account further build its popularity with funding from a major sponsor.

Britney laughed:
"These competitions are too complicated. Many participants get furious and burst into tears. I dread dealing with those people. They'll do anything to make a lot of money. My house has been burgled for the second time recently. I don't know who spread the rumor that I have millions of dollars in cash at home and that jewelry worth more than $40 was stolen last month. Luckily, they didn't open my safe."

With great success comes great scrutiny. Britney Spears, with her "Mrs. Monster" persona and her high-profile online persona of a wealthy woman throwing money around, inevitably attracted the attention of some malicious individuals.

Fan Wumian suggested:

"Let's hire two more bodyguards; the company can pay their salaries."

"I'm considering waiting until this episode is finished, and if the publicity is very good, our Monster Mall can also fund a similar challenge program with a huge prize money out of our own pocket."

"Instead of spending money on advertising with other companies, it's better to use it to produce programs ourselves. Thank you for your help; the company has been doing exceptionally well lately."

Driven by the desire to monetize his traffic, Fan Wumian naturally set his sights on online shopping mall projects.

They even spent money to acquire a nearly bankrupt online shopping platform from Silicon Valley, mainly doing "B2C" business. This meant that Monster Mall staff would select products to put on the shelves and sell them to consumers in North America, ranging from small items like hair clips, combs, and clothes racks to large items like luxury cars, supercars, yachts, helicopters, and private jets. They positioned it as a "high-end boutique online shopping mall."

Since its launch, total sales have quickly exceeded $200 million, and it has actually successfully sold a helicopter worth around $800,000.

Every now and then, someone would come over and chat with them. Britney noticed that Fan Wumian wasn't interested in them, and assumed that he might actually be seriously dating Daddario, so she didn't leave and happily became a third wheel.

Fan Wumian, with his legs crossed, sipped champagne and said to Britney:
"In real-world games, players are simply eliminated and leave. But what if some evil, wealthy, and psychologically disturbed individuals organized a similar game where players were immediately killed after being eliminated? Wouldn't that be incredibly interesting?"

Britney Spears hadn't even considered that possibility, and upon hearing this, she was stunned, only replying after several seconds:
"The evil tycoon you're referring to, could it be yourself? That's a terrifying thought. I know a great psychologist; you'd better find some time to go and talk to him. I enjoy watching the TV series 'Criminal Minds,' and many people can actually become normal people with effective counseling."

Rolling his eyes at her, Fan Wumian explained:
"I'm just thinking about how to write a new script; I don't have any weird fetishes like abusing cats or growing mushrooms on people. When we actually start filming the script, you can make a cameo appearance as a contestant; that should be really interesting."

The script he was referring to was, of course, "The Squid Game," a South Korean production co-produced with Netflix. The title might not sound like much, but the content was quite exciting.

next to.

Kim Kardashian, wearing a bodycon dress and high heels, walked slowly over and said to Fan Wumian:
"Thank you for your help. I went to shoot an ad with Paris yesterday. We talked a lot during the shoot, and I made up with her. Otherwise, she definitely wouldn't have invited me to her party."

Fan Wumian subconsciously glanced at her large buttocks a few times. Her hourglass figure was so exaggerated that it was hard to look at her for long, and she deeply doubted whether she had the ability to handle her.

Fan Wumian gestured for Kim Kardashian to sit down and smiled:

"Congratulations! Are you satisfied with the advertisement after filming? Try wearing our company's shoes more often in public. I see news about you online almost every day."

Kim Kardashian laughed:

“I usually prefer high heels, such as Valentino studded shoes and red-soled shoes, but the styles of Fei Li shoes are also very trendy and suitable for wearing with pants. Paris and I both think they are great.”

Fan Wumian couldn't help but laugh and continued:

"Valentino's partnership with Italian actress Monica Bellucci is about to expire, and a new spokesperson has been chosen. You can see Matilda's advertisement in Times Square, New York tomorrow."

Britney Spears thought for a while, then asked, puzzled:

"Who is Matilda? Do I know her?"

For the sake of effective marketing and promotion, Fan Wumian didn't go around spouting nonsense and making things up.

"She's a model from Switzerland. I don't know her very well, but you'll find out tomorrow." (End of Chapter)