Fooling Huayu for Thirty Years

Octopus 589: Let's take a bite and see how it goes! Who was the big winner at the 08 Hong Kong Film Awards?

"A billion dollars! If it were me, I'd agree immediately!"

"Haha... You're thinking too simply. People tend to exaggerate when it comes to business. This David may only be in his twenties, but he's definitely not a simpleton. He's just using a good bait to lure you in, and then he'll do something else to sabotage things."

"Huh? There are so many shady dealings involved?"

"Of course, just take the payment issue as an example. There are so many ways to do it. If you are tempted by such a large sum of money, people can invest it slowly, for example, by paying 100 million a year for ten years, or by other means... or even without actually paying a billion dollars."

"Not even one billion? Wouldn't that be a breach of contract?"

"Yuanyuan, you probably can't figure this out with your brain."

"Then tell me."

"Okay, I'll just briefly mention one method. First of all, you should know that my company in the United States currently has several very promising projects, right?"

"Yes, of course. I don't know them all, but Cloverfield, Saw, Insidious... these movies are all great."

"So, these are all very good projects. Okay, now what you need to know is that the US financial market is a place that really likes the word 'potential'."

Simply put, if these projects were placed in the financial market, they would definitely become the focus of investors' frenzied pursuit.

So, if someone in the financial market claims to have signed a cooperation agreement with me, and the content of this agreement is that they need money, or I need money to shoot a new project, such as "Cloverfield 3", and this guy is there to raise funds, or even to acquire the project.

How much financing do you think he can obtain from the financial markets?

"Ah this..."

Ma Xun had gone on and on until Yuan Yuan's eyes were practically seeing stars.

It's very complicated.

It's actually not that complicated.

Ma Xun continued with a laugh: "In other words, he can package the idea of ​​cooperating with me or acquiring my company as bait and throw it into the US financial market. Then, this billion dollars becomes financing in the financial market, bank loans, or various leverages."

To put it simply, in the end he might only need to pay a very, very small amount of money—you can't imagine how small.

"I can't believe it? If it's a billion, surely there's at least a hundred million?"

Yuanyuan was clearly unconvinced, but she never expected...

"Haha..." Ma Xun actually laughed.

This laugh startled Yuanyuan.

Because a billion dollars is an astronomical sum of money in Yuanyuan's mind, if she wants to get that much funding, wouldn't one-tenth of it be the optimal solution if she paid for it herself?
Little did Yuanyuan know that in America, leveraged funds are truly daring to take risks!

In China, let's put it this way: leverage of three or five times is already quite risky, and ten times is absolutely high risk.

Meanwhile, in the US... 20 times is just the beginning!
Fifty times leverage is nothing.

In particular, all of Ma Xun's company's IP projects can be well packaged, and each one has great investment value.

So... 100 times!

We earned our lives on Wall Street! Don't let us down! Cheer up! Well done!

In other words, this is in accordance with Wall Street practices and David's status as a top-tier rich second-generation.

100x leverage is nothing.

In other words, David might just be putting up $1000 million.

This refers to taking it for real.

Of course, it's also possible that this rich kid is actually willing to spend real money.

But Ma Xun, at least for now, really can't gamble on this rich kid's character.

David was the son of Oracle, but Ma Xun didn't have that background.

Therefore, we cannot reach an agreement directly under any circumstances; this matter must go through a series of twists and turns.

It may seem that David is testing Ma Xun, but in reality, isn't it Ma Xun who is testing David?

There's a trick in fishing... Oh right, it's playing the fish.

Even if the fish has already taken the bait, don't rush to lift the rod. Let it swim around in the water for a while first.

Once the fish has exhausted most of its energy, things will be much easier afterwards.

Ma Xun was also a man who loved money, but he knew better than anyone how to acquire it ethically.

David is not just a typical rich kid. Even if he's stupid, his father isn't. And even if his father is stupid, Oracle's legal, accounting, lawyers, and various consultants are all quite capable of being stupid.

Therefore, there's no rush for this billion.

Let's take it slow.

Let's start with an appetizer: we'll see how things go with the live-action Dragon Ball movie.

However, it's not just Dragon Ball.

In order to show their sincerity, the other party also came up with some clever ideas.

Martin is a guy who knows how to build relationships, and since he's been in contact with Ma Xun, he must understand some of the intricacies of interpersonal relationships in China.

So, this guy introduced Yuanyuan to a good resource.

This summer, Paramount's "Transformers 2" will begin filming. If Yuanyuan's schedule is okay, she can give it a try.

Of course, he probably won't be a very important role, but this movie is still a big one.

And as soon as Martin said that, David immediately followed suit.

He directly used English terms of praise for women, saying that Yuanyuan was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

Grass!
Of course, Yuanyuan simply tightened her grip on Ma Xun's arm.

As for this resource, why not give it a try?

Transformers 2 is a super big production. Given the current state of the Chinese entertainment industry, many people would jump for joy and fly straight to the United States if they heard they had the chance to act in it.

And now...

"If it's a minor character, then it's not very interesting."

It has to be Ma Xun, that guy knows how to show off.

But they didn't say anything.

"Of course, Miss Gao is a Cannes Film Festival Best Actress winner, we will definitely study her carefully."

These were said by David.

It looks like this is a sure thing.

After the meeting, Martin sent Ma Xun a message.

The content is: David invested in the movie "Transformers 2".

Even if Martin hadn't said it, Ma Xun already knew about this.

But since they've said that, I can only pretend I don't know.

But Ma Xun understood.

Martin and David are demonstrating their abilities to him, an Eastern filmmaker.

If we can handle a mega-production like Transformers 2, then a billion dollars is a piece of cake.

It seems... Yuanyuan is very happy.

"Regardless of any financial means or investment matters, this trip was definitely worthwhile."

Yuanyuan is quite a cute little thing.

What's the next step?

"I need to go back to Hong Kong." "Huh?"

Yuanyuan didn't understand for a moment, so Ma Xun didn't give her a chance to speak.

However, the real reason for returning to Hong Kong was the Hong Kong Film Awards.

……

The 2008 Hong Kong Film Awards were held on April 13th.

Before that, many relevant people had already arrived.

The Hong Kong Film Awards always have certain procedures, such as taking poster photos before the awards are presented.

However, there are some problems this year.

The Hong Kong Film Awards are completely modeled after the Oscars, including the voting mechanism.

But this year's Oscars... the 80th Oscars, were really mediocre!
That's right, the only word to describe it is mediocre.

The awards ceremony held in February drew considerable criticism from the United States.

They used the word 'boring' more often.

You know, the worst thing about award ceremonies is that they become 'boring'.

Because they fear boredom, the Oscars have always chosen well-known talk show comedians or comedians as hosts.

Can they be funny?

But this 80th edition... had almost nothing to offer.

It's not that the movie was bad; the Best Picture winner, "No Country for Old Men," was actually very well made.

It's a work by the Coen brothers.

However, those familiar with the Coen brothers will know that the atmosphere of this film is quite depressing.

You could call it dull.

Not to mention other movies.

In short, the 80th Academy Awards were a complete failure.

The pressure was put on the Hong Kong Film Awards.

What can be done about counterfeit goods?

Many people felt that something amazing was bound to happen.

So how exactly should we play this?

There was a lot of discussion, but no one knew the answer.

As soon as Ma Xun arrived in Hong Kong, he immediately received an invitation.

Jia Yueting is the host.

Hongmen Banquet?
It shouldn't be, because he received a call from Bingbing very soon after.

She was also among those invited.

It was obvious that Bingbing planned to attend the banquet with Ma Xun.

Moreover, Bingbing also attended the Hong Kong Film Awards this year, and her film "Sophie's Revenge" with Zhang Ziyi was also nominated.

However, the nomination was for the Asian Film Awards.

This Asian Film Awards, as mentioned before, was created by the Hong Kong Film Awards to both protect its own territory and gain benefits from the mainland entertainment industry.

This time, not only was "Sophie's Revenge" nominated, but also "Lust, Caution", "Getting Home", "The Sun Also Rises" and a film called "Tokyo Tower".

This "Tokyo Tower" is clearly a Japanese film.

It seems that Hong Kong intends to use this to make the word 'Asia' even more Asian.

It's okay, Ma Xun doesn't really care that much.

So, they decided to take Bingbing with them and go to the banquet.

The banquet was held in a luxury mansion on a hillside.

Clearly, Jia Yueting knows how to spend money, but his Singapore-listed company has gone bankrupt.

Could it be that this company scammed us out of our money?

Well, Ma Xun won't go into those details.

But Bingbing and Ma Xun's journey together...

"Brother Ma~ It seems like that slut Zhang Ziyi has been avoiding you. Did something happen?"

"No, this woman is probably just too ashamed to admit it."

There's also this explanation for this problem.

It's really hard to find any fault with it.

Bingbing immediately agreed, "That slut Zhang Ziyi, all she does is put on airs! Humph! As if she has an extra penis..."

Goodness, it's really funny to see a beautiful woman swearing.

Ma Xun laughed and said, "Are you jealous of her?"

That was a brilliant line; it immediately made Bingbing act cute towards Ma Xun.

"No, they just can't stand her."

It has to be said that Bingbing's figure is getting better and better.

Before long, the two of them arrived at their destination.

Upon entering the banquet hall, it was discovered that many business owners were also present.

"Oh dear! Haha... Mr. Ma, Miss Bingbing..."

Jia Yueting is very good at social skills; he took the initiative to come up and greet Ma Xun.

"Hello, Mr. Jia."

The two shook hands properly.

Not long after, another young woman appeared by Jia Yueting's side.

She is Gan Wei.

Ma Xun simply shook hands with the person politely, and then Bingbing started chatting with Gan Wei.

Needless to say, men should talk about men's topics.

Jia Yueting and Ma Xun walked and talked, and soon arrived near the group of bosses.

Qin Hong, Zhang Zhao, Zhang Xinming, and others are currently here.

There were also people from Hong Kong, such as Jiang Zhiqiang and Lin Jianyue.

Of course, everyone was still talking about the Hong Kong Film Awards...

There's one problem that's unavoidable.

Who will be the big winner at this year's Hong Kong Film Awards?

Ma Xun smiled after hearing this and decided to join the conversation.

"It's definitely 'The Warlords'! It lost so much money, they must compensate us with awards. I think Jet Li will win Best Actor!"

Wow! That's really something!

Ma Xun, your words are way too direct!
(End of this chapter)