Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 466 Almonds and Cocoa Beans
On the first Tuesday after the Dragon Raises Its Head, a new company called Almond Films rented half a floor of office space on the seventh floor of the Autumn Films headquarters building and officially opened for business.

This is the animation studio founded by Li Qiutang. As for why it's called Almond, there's no other reason. It's simply because when we were discussing the name, there was a box of almonds on my desk, so I just used what was available.

Almond Pictures is wholly owned by Autumn Pictures, and Li Qiutang personally serves as the general manager of Almond Pictures.

The first thing Almond Films did after its establishment was to acquire the team of a Chengdu-based animation studio called Jiao Keli Animation Studio.

This team is well-known in the animation field. In 09, it was recognized by the Ministry of Culture as an "Original Animation Support Enterprise" and in 12, it was included in the "National Animation Brand Building and Protection Plan".

But those familiar with the industry know that such titles are useless.

Based on Autumn Pictures' usual domineering style, the company would directly acquire a makeshift organization like Jiao Ke Li Animation.

But despite its small size, Jiao Keli Animation is a tough company. Its founder and actual controller, Yang Yu (stage name Jiaozi), is not greedy for money and refuses to sell his company!
He stated that although Dumpling needs funds and various resources, he has never considered selling himself. He said that Dumpling is willing to invest in Dumpling in the fall, but the founding team of Dumpling must retain absolute control of the company.

Li Qiutang actually agreed to the dumplings' request.

The reason is simple: he is building a strategic layout for the animation industry, and such layouts are not limited to 100% acquisition.

Acquisition, controlling stake, joint investment, project support, etc., are all ways to expand one's business.

Finally, with the assistance of Autumn Pictures, Jiao Keli Animation was reorganized into Coco Animation, with Autumn Pictures holding a 30% stake in Coco Animation—for some reason, Jiao Keli stubbornly clung to the 70% stake.

Cocoa Animation will be affiliated with the newly established Almond Films.

The joint venture had barely been established when Dumpling came to the company to freeload.

He said he wanted to make a feature-length animated film and hoped to get support from Autumn Pictures.

You own 70% of the shares, so you're definitely not here to get the project approved; you're just here to ask for money!

That's right, the dumplings are here to ask for money!
Although starting a joint venture with Qiu Tian alleviated a lot of the financial pressure, the company's funds were still not enough to make a feature film.

Almond Films wanted Jiaozi to come up with an idea first, at least to convince the company to give them money, but unexpectedly, Jiaozi was already prepared and had already made the PPT!
Li Qiutang had other things to do that day, but she insisted on sitting down to listen to the dumpling team's creative presentation.

On the venture capital presentation slides, the movie's title is "Ne Zha".

It must be said that the creative stage of "Ne Zha 1" was very rough!
The team, including Jiaozi, didn't even properly design the character; the Nezha in the PPT was still the one from the 79 Shanghai Animation Film Studio.

However, Dumpling's idea is quite good. Although there is no specific story yet, judging from Dumpling's report, what he wants to do is deconstruct the traditional story of Nezha.

The story of Nezha returning his bones to his father and his flesh to his mother has always been regarded as the most brilliant anti-patriarchal struggle in literature and art. However, in Jiaozi's imagination, Nezha has a pair of parents who love and care for him.

He wanted to reinterpret Nezha's family story.

"Li Jing and Lady Yin are even willing to die for Nezha." This is Jiaozi's boldest idea for the Nezha story so far. It seems that Jiaozi hasn't considered making Nezha a demon child yet.

Despite the lack of character designs and a basic story outline, Almond Pictures still chose to invest in Jiaozi's "Ne Zha".

Investing is a must. It's not the kind of magnanimity a major film company should have to turn around and refuse to support someone's project after just partnering with them.

Almond Films decided to invest 200 million yuan to help Jiaozi develop the script first, and further investment would be discussed later.

They didn't just throw 150 million at the director to squander right away.

As Li Qiutang was leaving after delivering the dumplings, she smiled and said, "We also have a pretty good special effects company. You can contact them anytime if you need anything later."

"Can I get a discount if I hire them for post-production?" "It depends on your bargaining skills. Mojing Tianhe is responsible for its own profits and losses, and I have a hard time negotiating prices." Li Qiutang was telling the truth. Mojing Tianhe also charged the market price for "Mojin: The Lost Legend," and did not offer a discount just because it was a project in which the company had invested.

Even Mojing Tianhe frequently complains about being poor to its parent company.

The establishment of Almond Films and its investment in Cocoa Bean were insignificant matters in the industry and no one paid attention to them.

After listening to Jiaozi's report, Li Qiutang rushed to the Huairou Film and Television Base for the press conference to launch Guo Fan's "The Story of a Female Police Officer".

Both he and Liu Yifei will be present.

Liu Yifei ultimately didn't accept the role in "The Story of a Female Police Officer." Actually, she really wanted to act in comedies, but she simply didn't have enough time.

In the end, the story was given to Shu Chang, and Sun Li acted alongside her—running errands and having her husband's connections were still useful.

Sun Li is now a leading actress in television dramas, but she really can't make it in the film industry. In "The Story of a Female Police Officer", she played Shu Chang's mentor, which is considered the second female lead, but her screen time was no less than Shu Chang's. Both of them were leading actresses, so she didn't lose out.

Li Qiutang was initially unaware that Liu Yifei would also be attending the press conference for the start of filming.

"I'm the producer, what are you doing here?"

"I'm the female lead's best friend, here to cheer her on."

"I think you're just bored."

"Who says I'm free? I'm very busy. Oh, right, I need to set aside time for tomorrow and the day after."

"What?"

"I'll take your measurements and have clothes made. I finally managed to get an appointment with a designer, and I'll make sure you look beautiful."

The two got out of the car at the hotel where the press conference was held.

Actually, the filming location for "The Story of a Female Police Officer" was not in Yanjing, but in Nanjing—filming in Yanjing is too expensive, and various traffic restrictions make it very inconvenient.

The reason for choosing to hold the press conference in Yanjing first is to leverage Yanjing's media resources.

At the press conference, producer Li Qiutang responded to the first and perhaps most pointed question of the event: "Was the casting of Shu Chang a case of favoritism? Because everyone knows that Shu Chang is Yi Fei's best friend."

Li Qiutang replied, "My work in the early stages of the production was to help Guo Fan assemble the filming crew and liaise with the producer and address funding issues. I did not participate in the casting process; I only received the final cast list at the beginning of this month."

"Later I found out that Shu Chang had volunteered to play the role herself to the director. But I think Shu Chang is also quite suitable for this kind of role. If you're going to recommend someone based on their own merits, then so be it. It's easier to work with people you know well."

Liu Yifei is not a member of the production crew; she is only attending today's press conference as a guest, so she will not be going on stage.

But she still said a few words briefly after the press conference.

Firstly, I'm really looking forward to this movie, and secondly, I'd love to try a comedic role: "I'm actually a pretty eccentric person in real life, so I feel like I could do comedy."

The reporter then asked her, "In real life, who is more humorous, you or director Qiu Tang?"

"It's still him. It seems like people from Northeast China are born with a sense of humor. Sometimes he doesn't do or say anything, but I just want to laugh when I see him. I don't know why."

If Li Qiutang heard this, she would definitely feel that she was being belittled.

(End of this chapter)