Fooling Huayu for Thirty Years

Chapter 413 I, Ma Xun, must earn money standing up!

Chapter 413 I, Ma Xun, must earn money standing up!
"I'll take Wen Yongshan as my girlfriend, but isn't she too unknown?"

"If she becomes an overnight sensation after starring in this film, wouldn't we profit even more?"

"But this show is a collaboration with CCTV."

"Wouldn't our cooperation across the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong be more in line with the leader's wishes?"

"Yes, that makes sense. If you think it's okay, I have nothing to say."

“I have a plan. The most important character in our play is obviously Chenxiang, while the female lead is not that important. So, we can reduce her screen time appropriately, and leave room for Chenxiang or Erlang Shen.”

"Huh? For Erlang Shen?"

"Yes, his character could actually be explored in greater depth. The more you delve into it, the more... By the way, there's a book called 'Yang Jian - Life's Long Regrets Flow Eastward Like a River' that we could refer to."

"Your Highness, I will do whatever you say."

In the end, Ye Quanzhen said something that made Ma Xun laugh.

In any case, the female lead for "The Lotus Lantern" has been found.

Fortunately, the male lead for this drama was decided quite early on, since Chen Xiang is the real key character in this drama.

Brother Cao, without a doubt.

He's a good fighter, and he's also quite a good player overall.

Among our current male child stars, he is definitely one of the best. As for another child star... he is really strange. The key is that he is so young, yet his acting is so greasy.

It's really making it hard to hold back.

Let's get back to the female lead handpicked by Ma Xun.

Actually, this happened when they were being targeted and couldn't find a suitable female child star.

Ma Xun was holding his breath.

What the Wang brothers did was actually to use their personal networks to persuade many people in the Beijing entertainment circle to stop their child stars from acting in Ma Xun's productions.

Here's a key point: most of the child stars in mainland China come from the Beijing entertainment circle.

Anyone who bothered to compile a list would be shocked. Even those from other regions are categorized under figures from the Beijing elite circle.

Although Ma Xun now carries the title of a young master from Beijing, the Beijing social circle is still the Beijing social circle, and it's not the same as everyone else's.

Moreover, these figures in Beijing's elite circles might also be using this tactic to test the mettle of Ma Xun.

Ma Xun had already figured this out when he went to Rongxingda.

Since you guys are doing it this way, then I might as well go all out!
I'll find a relatively unknown young girl and cast her in such an important role as the female lead!

You guys will be dumbfounded when this "Lotus Lantern" airs!

Of course, there is indeed an element of gambling involved.

Ma Xun wasn't sure if Wen Yongshan would succeed.

After all, in the original timeline, she had never acted at this age.

But from the little girl's stubborn gaze, Ma Xun felt that taking this gamble was still worthwhile.

At least her acting skills improved later on.

And now, it's time.

Ma Xun wasn't a fool; of course, he had to make some arrangements just in case.

Originally, Chen Xiang's role in this drama should have been larger, so reducing the female lead's role wouldn't be a big problem.

The key point is that after doing this, we can still make some changes to Erlang Shen Yang Jian's scenes.

In fact, the original version of "Lotus Lantern" was criticized by many for being childish because the character of Yang Jian was not well developed.

It must be emphasized that this version of "Lotus Lantern" was originally intended to have content for young children. It had been adapted into an animated version before, so the show already carried that label. Furthermore, Chenxiang was quite young, and it was broadcast on CCTV.

Of course, we need to focus more on children.

Well, there's really nothing we can do about this. Take animated films, for example. There's a very obvious trend: the plots become increasingly childish as the series progresses, to the point that even kids say the plots are stupid.

It won't even take twenty years, or even ten years, anyway, anyone who's seen future domestic animations will know what's going on.

Let's put aside the issue of those screenwriters being idiots; just consider that such low-IQ or even idiotic plots actually have a certain 'safety factor'.

They're afraid of being reported.

Parents in mainland China are truly a Schrödinger's cat; no one knows what they might report for what reason.

CCTV is such a sensitive place.

However, Ma Xun is now going to develop Yang Jian's storyline to enhance the depth of our show.

Shouldn't be a problem.

After all, the process of Yang Jian's redemption in the original version was somewhat too rough.

Let's give it more internal dialogue and some other details.

It's definitely much better than the original.

At the very least, a wider audience is beneficial for viewership.

That concludes Wen Yongshan's story.

After that, she underwent various training programs and then joined film crews to shoot movies.

Ma Xun is eagerly awaiting the broadcast of "The Lotus Lantern".

Then, let those so-called figures in Beijing's elite circles see for themselves.

You bunch of bastards think you can surround me? Dream on!
Thus, Ma Xun focused all his efforts on dealing with the big-name director from Hollywood and Lin Jianyue.

……

"What? He's not in the room?"

Lin Jianyue wasn't angry when he learned that his little trick had failed.

It was just rather surprising.

As for offending Ma Xun... Lin Jianyue wasn't afraid at all.

What does the police doing a room check have to do with me?
Can I call in the police?
I, Lin Jianyue, am just a law-abiding businessman.

Anyway, this guy has plenty of excuses.

In short, it has nothing to do with him.

Furthermore, Lin Jianyue was very confident; he didn't believe that a boss like Ma Xun would refuse to cooperate with him.

After all, this business is very profitable right now.

Not long after, things turned out exactly as Lin Jianyue had predicted.

"Has that famous director arrived?"

"Aha, they're here. Let's go talk to them now."

Lin Jianyue was very happy to receive Ma Xun's call.

Let's continue to work together, that's great.

Lin Jianyue had actually heard that Ma Xun was doing quite well in Hollywood, with several of his films being quite successful.

Therefore, they relied heavily on Ma Xun.

As for doing that thing, wasn't it just to have more leverage in hand?

After all, Ma Xun was too strong, and Lin Jianyue was afraid that he would become a supporting character.

It hasn't worked out yet, but our cooperation can continue.

And so, Lin Jianyue met Ma Xun, and the two of them met with a big director from Hollywood.

……

Martin Scorsese.

He is indeed a great Hollywood director.

From the perspective of someone who has formally studied directing, this guy has many 'legends' surrounding him.

For example, he once spent half a year filming a single shot.

It really took half a year; I spent those six months figuring out how to shoot this shot properly.

As a directing student, Ma Xun was quite impressed when he first heard this "legend".

And once he truly enters the industry on his own, and then occasionally gets to direct some scenes...

Half a year?

If you dare to film a single shot for half a day, the boss will curse you out and tell you to get out!

So, some things are better left unsaid; don't try to follow them.

Maybe he's just bragging.

Okay, Martin Scorsese wasn't exaggerating, but we shouldn't follow his example.

When the three met, they exchanged pleasantries first.

Director Martin brought a translator, but Ma Xun didn't need one, and Lin Jianyue didn't really need one either.

Lin Ershao has been studying abroad since he was a child, so he can understand it perfectly.

After a few polite exchanges, we got to the main point.

Ma Xun didn't stand on ceremony and directly stated his conditions.

"Adaptation rights are of course not a problem. However, the key issue is the copyright of the Infernal Affairs series in North America. This copyright, of course, is the copyright of the audio-visual products."

Audio-visual products—that's a very professional way of saying it.

However, it refers to the DVD market.

Actually, the film market in the United States is indeed very large, but the DVD market is actually even larger.

There's a DVD rental giant here, whose name is something like "Nothing's K" (or something like "K").

It's similar to McDonald's.

In addition, the US market has a unique feature.

Membership system.

In fact, it's not just the DVD market; membership systems are a business magic weapon in many industries, including cinemas, supermarkets, and many others.

Friends in the US will definitely have noticed that you need a membership to do almost anything.

Having a membership definitely makes a difference.

But in business, this is actually a moat mechanism.

Extending this further, the remarkable development of the internet in the United States is also closely related to this membership system.

Because of the internet, if you want to speak or do anything, you at least need to register a membership code.

With a large membership base, capitalists can simply use the stock market to tell their stories.

And here comes the unicorn company. Forget about those online guys; they might just be registering to say something, but that's what makes them members—that's how many there are.

These were probably early internet scam tactics.

Now, whenever Ma Xun mentions the copyright of audio-visual products, the famous director frowns.

"These things have nothing to do with me; I just want to make this movie."

Clearly, this old guy is very clever.

Ma Xun laughed directly, "Does that mean Mr. Martin is making this film on his own? In other words, an independent production?"

His question completely shut the old man down.

Yes, if you, Director Martin, really do it yourself, then what I just said is indeed making things difficult for others.

But if you want to make this film, don't you still need to rely on big Hollywood studios?

So, shouldn't we be talking about these things?

Ma Xun's performance made Lin Jianyue extremely happy.

"As expected of Mr. Ma." This guy even gave a thumbs up in Mandarin.

They're taking advantage of the fact that old man Martin doesn't understand.

Ma Xun wasn't in a hurry, but Martin over there thought about it and then spoke to the translator.

"We can do it the way we always have."

Hey, you want to try this trick?

Ma Xun laughed and said, "There were advantages to the past and there are advantages to the present. I have a brand new plan here. A company in the United States will come to monitor the DVD rental and sales of this film series. What do you think?"

He directly mentioned surveillance footage!

This is a really creative and clever approach.

Anyway, you Americans shouldn't even think about getting any advantage.

As for who will be responsible for the surveillance... of course, it's the arrangement Ma Xun made beforehand.

The North American company that Mrs. Chung of Golden Harvest partnered with Anne Hathaway.

Everything Ma Xun did before is now being used.

Hollywood directors can't easily refuse these days.

It seems this is the only way.

Then there are some details about the revenue sharing, which we'll discuss with reference to the previous buyout arrangements.

It means that no one should suffer a loss.

Of course, what we're discussing now is just a rough outline; we'll need to discuss the details with the larger companies later.

This big company is, of course, Warner Bros.

But actually, there is another one.

There's a company called Plan B in the UK, founded by Jennifer Aniston and her husband Brad Pitt. However, there's another shareholder: an executive from Paramount Pictures.

So, they are actually two companies.

That is, one Warner and one Paramount.

Hollywood is also good at using this kind of glove trick.

Then, Ma Xun made another request.

“Everything else is negotiable. I also felt Martin’s sincerity. So, is it okay to clearly indicate the source of this film’s adaptation on the CAST? That is, the original Infernal Affairs should have appeared in this film.”

The request sounded reasonable, but Martin's expression changed.

The translator said, "That won't do."

Ma Xun also gave a cold reply, "If it's not possible, then let's not talk about it."

Is he going to be finished because of this?

Lin Jianyue was getting anxious. "Hey, we can still discuss this. We can still discuss this."

Ma Xun was even more determined, "If you can't even agree to such a request, then I'll have to question some key attitudes."

His explanation was somewhat complicated, but everyone understands it.

When Chinese films invest overseas, they always seem to be treated as inferior.

This situation is mainly due to the fact that these Hong Kong and Taiwan companies are too weak-willed!
Let's not even mention the cautionary tale of "Blade Runner." Shaw Brothers suffered a great humiliation back then, utterly disgracing the Chinese people!
But as far as Ma Xun knows, the story about the film adaptation of "Infernal Affairs" into "Infernal Walker" is... well...

Later, "Infernal Affairs" won an Oscar, but nobody mentioned Hong Kong filmmakers or the original "Infernal Affairs" film.

how so?

Actually, the negotiations to sell the adaptation rights of "Infernal Affairs" to a major Hollywood company were originally handled by Longxiang Company from Taiwan.

Those guys are so good at sucking up to the Americans, need I say more?
Hong Kong filmmakers are deeply humiliated, but there's not much they can say about it.

But now, Ma Xun isn't buying it.

So, this negotiation just fell apart like that?!
Ma Xun stood up abruptly, ready to end the discussion, but the translator on the other end softened considerably.

"Mr. Ma, why get angry?"

Ma Xun smiled and said, "I'm not angry, but some things are actually..."

Then he spoke directly to Martin in English.

"If this movie is made, it might just fulfill one of your dreams. As for whether you believe it or not, there's a powerful figure called the White Dragon King. Director, if you have time, why don't you ask him?"

Ask the White Dragon King?!
A Hollywood director, could he go?

but!
In that instant, Lin Jianyue had a sudden realization; he truly understood.

Right then and there, he immediately brought up the matter of the White Dragon King with Martin.

As for Ma Xun, he listened and laughed.

……

Will Martin Scorsese really go and consult the White Dragon King?
Or perhaps, what kind of dreams could he have?
It's actually quite simple. Martin Scorsese, this great director, just wanted to fulfill his dream of winning the Oscar for Best Director.

He has won every award imaginable, but he was nominated for the Oscar for Best Director seven times before, yet he never won.

It's very embarrassing, okay?

Ma Xun was very clear that this film, "The Departed," would win him an award.

Ma Xun said it was useless, but the White Dragon King said the effect would be different.

You should know that foreigners are actually very afraid of the mysterious power of China.

If the White Dragon King were to tell Martin, "You can win the Oscar for Best Director if you make this movie,"...

Then Martin Scorsese would absolutely agree to anything.

Whether the White Dragon King will say that... well, that depends on Lin Jianyue.

If Lin Jianyue doesn't understand this and doesn't know what to do, then he's just too stupid.

Therefore, Ma Xun's move, though seemingly full of loopholes, was actually flawless.

Sure enough, not two days later, Martin met the White Dragon King.

Then, they signed a contract in which they agreed to all conditions.

Of course, all the conditions that Ma Xun proposed were actually very reasonable.

We really didn't make any unreasonable demands.

The truth is, you've gone too far!
Lin Jianyue was naturally very happy about this.

And when the phone call came in...

"Mr. Ma, your help is truly..."

Ma Xun interrupted him, saying, "I'm doing this for Chinese cinema. We shouldn't look inferior when we collaborate with Hollywood, or we'll suffer a great loss."

These were Ma Xun's true feelings, and he was also teaching Lin Jianyue how to do things!
Whether Lin Ershao blushed or not, Ma Xun obviously couldn't see it.

But he had to say it.

As for Long Xiang and his gang of bastards in the original timeline...

Not only did they embarrass us Chinese people, but they also brought shame upon us.

The key point is that when we from the mainland went to negotiate later, we encountered all sorts of difficulties.

Those bastards set a bad precedent for us, which is to say they caused us a lot of trouble.

Ma Xun is going to make a lot of money from the Americans in the future!
Moreover, I must earn money while standing up!

Whether for public or private reasons, Ma Xun had to do this and say this.

Then Young Master Lin said, "We're planning to have a party on the yacht..."

"I'm too tired to go."

"Oh, are you tired? That little girl is still..."

"I won't go into details about these."

Lin Jianyue is indeed a bit of a freak.