I was just thinking about taking the arts exam and you said I've been playing supporting roles

Chapter 354: A Crucial Overlooked Component!
On the set of "Killer: Dragon", in the rest area.

Tom Quinn sat opposite Chen Jin. He had completely white hair, was thin and tall, but looked very energetic.

He was around 40 years old and dressed like a white American elite.

He didn't come alone; he brought a beautiful female assistant and a male assistant with him.

Even by Chen Jin's standards, the woman was stunning. She was curvaceous, dressed provocatively, and exuded a sexy and alluring charm; she was the kind of woman who could instantly arouse physical desire in anyone, regardless of East or West.

"Hello, Chan, let me introduce myself!"

“My assistant, Josh Harutunian!”

Tom Quinn gestured to his male assistant, who had already stood up. With a gentle smile, she introduced herself, "Christina Zisa!"

"It's a pleasure to meet you, King Chan!"

Zisa's face radiated a dazzling light, and every move she made possessed a captivating charm.

What a Western socialite!

"Hello, Josh!"

"Zisa, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

Chen Jin shook hands with Josh Harutunian, while Christina Zisa only gave him a brief squeeze as a greeting.

As for Tom Quinn, he hugged Chen Jin as soon as he arrived on set. This typical white American knows how to interact with people, even those from the East. And the beautiful public relations officer he brought along has a knack for getting to the heart of many men.

Yes, Christina Ziza is Tom Quinn's weapon, his sharpest weapon.

This woman, who was prettier than many Hollywood actresses, became very famous in later generations and was key to Japan's film industry's success in entering the three major film festivals.

From 2012 to 2015, he served as the public relations manager for Radius, which is a satellite subsidiary of The Weinstein Company. It is publicly known as Radius-TWC, but currently it is just a department under it, managed by Tom Quinn, and is responsible for the acquisition of independent films in North America.

Tom Quinn is the founder and president of the company, who spun out from Weinstein and is known for his unique distribution strategy and support for independent films, often releasing films that have received critical acclaim at film festivals but struggle to enter the mainstream market.

From 2017 to 2020, Ziza served as the Vice President of Public Relations at Neon, and since 2020, he has served as the President of Public Relations at Neon!

The resume is very distinctive.

After Weinstein's downfall, she quickly severed ties with her former company along with Tom, becoming a key figure at Neon Studios.

Beautiful women are always good at winning people's hearts; while many white men who talk about art all the time are not necessarily artistic in their private lives, they are nothing more than the usual love affairs. Chen Jin realized this instantly when she saw Christina Zisa.

In my public relations efforts, I overlooked the most crucial element—women.

Even if the jury, the organizers, and the European film industry have all been dealt with, winning the award is not a sure thing; this was Chen Jin's concern from the beginning. He always felt that even though he had everything sorted out, winning the award was not actually that secure.

There's always a kind of worry in my heart.

Now, he understands.

That's where the problem lies.

Because of his public relations skills, anyone with the ability in my previous life could have done the same.

But why are there so few Chinese winners?
Chen Jin had been pondering this for the past few days, but after seeing Christina Zisa, everything became clear.

A single whispered word from someone's pillow can ruin many things, and what might be replaced by a temporary vote to change the situation.

Women are indeed very good at certain things.

Many men are driven by their lower instincts, especially so-called high-ranking judges.

They're all men, and they have desires too. Unless Chen Jin has a truly binding agreement with them, or the film industry has a direct influence on her, their so-called friendship isn't so unbreakable.

When faced with desires and interests, self-interest is the fundamental motivation.

"I only heard about Zhang Heyi's affair a few days ago, and it's really not a pleasant thing!"

"And it's about you too!"

Tom Quinn was actually quite impressed with Chen Jin, especially after researching his background in the past few days, which made him even more surprised.

He made several urgent phone calls to Harvey to report the matter.

Film Science, a Chinese film company he had heard of before and wanted to cooperate with; he never expected that its founder would be sitting right in front of him, having caused such a great upheaval in China in just two years.

The fact that "So Young" grossed over 2 million US dollars is something that people in the film industry in many countries have heard about.

Not to mention Tom Quinn, who has been dedicated to acquiring films worldwide.

In North America, this box office figure would place it among the top ten highest-grossing films of the year. Last year, Disney's action blockbuster "Tangled," which ranked tenth at the North American box office, grossed exactly $2 million.

This year, it has even risen to 8th place.

The North American box office for "Fast & Furious 5" and "Mission: Impossible 4" was just over $2 million.

Hollywood's true target is the entire world.

Their domestic box office revenue isn't as exaggerated as many Chinese people imagine. For example, Fast & Furious 5 grossed 6.2 million worldwide, but only 2.09 million came from North America!
Mission: Impossible 4 received such explosive reviews, grossing 7 million worldwide and 2.09 million domestically.

This is why Chen Jin was so surprised when she saw news reports of Chinese films grossing 30 billion or 40 billion yuan; probably no one in the world expected that the Chinese film market would develop so rapidly in the next few years.

Every year the market expands, from 200 billion to 300 billion, and all the way to 600 billion!
A single film that grosses 30 billion RMB is already worth 4-5 million USD.

It's worth noting that North America hasn't seen blockbusters like this for years, while China produces several every year, some even grossing over 40 or 50 billion yuan.

Last year, Toy Story 3 topped the North American box office with $410 million; this year, it's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows with $380 million!
Americans were surprised by the Chinese market, which probably started in the last two years, and then they frequently cooperated with the mainland.

Because this cake is just too tempting.

Hollywood is currently making a killing in China, and every film studio wants a piece of the pie. Tom Quinn is no exception.

……

"What about me?"

Chen Jin was smiling there, and she could imagine Tom Quinn's surprise.

"Film science, Venice Best Actor award, a Chinese film with 2 million yuan in box office revenue... These are hard to reconcile, but it really did happen miraculously!"

Tom Quinn shrugged.

"In fact, my boss Harvey and I always thought that 'Heroes of Nanjing' was still a film that Zhang invested in!"

"We were genuinely surprised when the Chinese film buyers mentioned an unfamiliar name!"

"Especially since this film studio is actually the one I've always wanted to get to know, Film Science, hahaha..."

Tom looked at Chen Jin with great joy: "This is really wonderful!"

That way he wouldn't have to find someone to know, since the boss was sitting right in front of him.

Whether it's the European hit "Life Matters," the $2 million film "So Young," or Zhang Yimou's film "Heroes of Nanjing," they are all works by this company.

Are all Americans this good at giving compliments?

Chen Jin was also smiling there, but she always felt that this guy was up to no good when he said so much.

It's like lowering someone's guard.

"No, no, the speed at which film science has risen is indeed too fast. I hadn't even heard of it last year, but at this year's film festival, many filmmakers I met were telling me that there is such a company in China!"

Chen Jin: "..."

Just take it as this guy frantically flattering himself.

The beautiful woman next to him would occasionally flirt with him.

Is this how you Americans do public relations?!

Hype, the allure of beautiful women, and promises of Oscars and Golden Globes?

Believe it or not, most people probably couldn't handle it.

Didn't Chen Kaige, Huayi Brothers, and Zhang Weiping all fall into the trap?

If Chen Jin hadn't known Weinstein's true colors, these points alone would have made it easy to launch a collaboration. Subsequently, Weinstein bought out the films in the movie "Movie Science" at various low prices, making a fortune.

"The main thing is that you are an actor, which makes you very deceptive!"

"Compared to your achievements in acting, I actually admire film science even more!" "Well, Weinstein loves working with film superstars like you. I bet your company hasn't sold the North American rights to any of your films yet, right?"

"For example, 'The Big Events of Life' and 'So Young'?"

"..."

The two did not immediately begin discussing the purchase of The Flowers of War, but instead chatted casually.

It's clear that Tom is a roundabout guy.

Films like "The Big Event" and "So Young" were destined to be unpopular with white people; even though there was a similar film before "The Big Event" called "Departures," which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

However, "Departures" only grossed a paltry $150 million in North America.

This is someone who has won an Oscar.

Isn't it said that being nominated for an Oscar is worth $1500 million and winning is worth $3000 million?

That's absolutely true.

Although "Departures" did not perform well at the North American box office, it still earned more than $3000 million in North America overall.

Because in Hollywood, box office revenue is not the main source of income for a film; it only accounts for 20%.

Therefore, even if "Life's Big Events" and "So Young" didn't do well at the North American box office, it doesn't mean they had no value to many film companies.

It's incredibly valuable!
"Life's Big Events" has the Venice Film Festival hype, and "So Young" has the Chinese box office record hype. With streaming media, drive-in theaters, etc., it's guaranteed to make money.

Don't forget what Tom Quinn does.

The Radius department that this guy is now in charge of is responsible for the sales of these kinds of films that aren't mainstream.

They buy movies at relatively low prices and then reap huge profits through packaging and promotion.

For Weinstein, every film meant commodities and profits.

That's why Harvey has such a straightforward company motto.

He has many methods to make seemingly worthless films earn US dollars through countless channels.

This is yet another skill of the old pervert.

Tom Quinn undoubtedly knows these channels and operations, and will lead Japan Films into this industry in the future.

"Actually, in recent years, the market for Chinese films in North America hasn't been very good!"

Chen Jin said to Tom.

In fact, all non-English films didn't make much of a splash in North America.

Films like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Hero" are exceptions.

This is also why Weinstein was able to sell films like crazy all over the world, because the box office miracles created by these non-English films in North America were really caused by this guy.

There is only one of his kind.

The fact that "Parasite" is expected to gross $5000 million in North America is actually a result of following the same formula.

The person is now sitting right in front of you.

Isn't Tom Quinn just Weinstein Jr., Weinstein's "protégé"?
Parasite was the most crucial battle that made Japanese films famous.

"It mainly depends on the publisher handling the project..."

Tom began to pat himself on the back; he certainly had the confidence to say those words.

But Chen Jin shook her head.

"Tom, I hope you can tell me the truth!"

"Personally, I would love to work with The Weinstein Company. As you can see, the film I'm currently making desperately needs a 'highly reliable' North American distributor!"

Chen Jin pointed to the set of "Killer: Dragon," where Tom's assistant, Josh Harutunian, was actually firing continuously.

"I'm telling the truth. If you hand your film over to us, Weinstein, I can guarantee that it will not only be released in theaters, but also win awards at the Golden Globes and Oscars!"

Here we go again, with the same familiar rhetoric.

Damn it, Weinstein and Zhang Weiping said that, fine, but you, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, are trying to fool me too?
"Tom, I want to do a good job dubbing 'Life's Big Events' and 'So Young,' and then contact Searchlight Pictures and other film studios to get into North American theaters, video stores, and streaming services..."

When Chen Jin said this, she looked into Tom Quinn's eyes.

This guy clearly lost control of his emotions when he heard the words "dubbing".

At least, there was a change in his eyebrows.

The emotional fluctuations might be even greater.

Yes, voice acting.

This is a reason why many overseas filmmakers know why non-English films often fail at the box office in North America and Europe.

It's a dubbing issue.

Good voice actors are in the hands of six major companies.

"The same goes for 'Heroes of Nanjing,' I'm already looking for someone to do an English dubbing version!"

"..."

Tom Quinn did look rather unwell.

"Are you really that optimistic about the North American box office of 'Heroes of Nanjing'? 'City of Life and Death,' which opened in North America this year, didn't even make $10!"

Tom said it with a hint of sarcasm.

Voice acting costs money, and it's not cheap.

How can you dare to do movie dubbing if you don't have confidence?
White people, and even Black people, Middle Easterners, Indians, etc., don't really like reading subtitles because they don't have that habit.

This is something many filmmakers know: non-English films generally have subtitles.

Films like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and "Hero" were initially released with Chinese and English subtitles.

Early promotional tactics were based on the idea that foreigners weren't used to it.

In fact, what completely broke their defenses was their educational background.

Whether white or black, or from India, the Middle East, or other regions, the illiteracy rate is very high.

Nine-year compulsory education is only available in China.

China is arguably one of the countries with the highest level of education in the world, and Japan and South Korea are also quite advanced in terms of education, so watching subtitles is not a problem for them at all; but making many people from other countries watch subtitles is simply torture for them.

Just like how online novels have a hard time opening up the global market, while comics can conquer the world.

They are more visually impactful, while reading text is very tiring for people with low levels of education!
This is an indisputable fact, but many foreigners are unwilling to admit it.

Therefore, Chen Jin's voice acting is about catering to the market and embracing the global; if you want to make money, you definitely have to study them and lower your stance, instead of being arrogant like many filmmakers in China.

These people are used to being fawned over.

Make money, not shabby.

As a homegrown film company, Weinstein was well aware of this truth.

But Chen Jin's bluntness still caused a huge uproar in Tom Quinn's mind.

"City of Life and Death is City of Life and Death. Let me put it this way, this terrible movie is something that all of us Chinese people criticize every day!"

"I have great confidence in 'Heroes of Nanjing'!"

"So if you really want to buy the North American distribution rights, you'd better be prepared to pay a high price!"

Instead of looking like they're there to pick up bargains.

Chen Jin sold the MK2 in Europe at a low price so that she could sell it for a high price in North America; it wasn't for Weinstein to benefit from.

The European market is dispensable, but North America... is highly sought after.

You're allowed to rake in money like crazy in the country, Chen Jin also wants to make some business with white people!
(End of this chapter)