Abstract Art Award Winner

Chapter 144: Investing in Cocoa Beans, Jiaozi's Touch

Upon hearing this, Xu Zheng and Wen Mu were also stunned. They looked at Zhang Yibai and didn't know what to say for a moment.

"Director Zhang, it seems we all want to go the same way. We were also planning to look for Zhou Le."

Xu Zheng said tentatively from the side.

"Hahaha, then this is a happy reunion for us, but my role is really suitable for him."

Although Zhou Le had never met Zhang Yibai in real life, he had seen him in some photos during a meeting. He was one of the sixth generation directors.

Zhang Yimou, Chen Kaige and others belong to the fifth generation.

But even so, Zhang Yibai became famous through the drama "Love is Not Blind".

Including "So Young" and "Passing by Your World" were also filmed by each other.

Now Zhang Yibai is not only a director and producer, but also a member of the Film Association.

After he said this, Xu Zheng and Wen Mu still wanted to fight for it, but seeing the other party's eager expression, they finally swallowed their words back.

Although Xu Zheng and Wen Mu are currently the most popular directors in China, when it comes to status in the circle, Zhang Yibai is still higher.

Otherwise, it would not be possible for the two of them to be just one of the directors in "My Country, My Parents".

On the other hand, Zhang Yibai, in addition to being the director, is also the chief planner of this film series.

Xu Zheng looked at the bewildered Zhou Le and explained, "Director Zhang's short story is also very good, and it's more challenging for your acting skills. If you think you can do it, you can go to Director Zhang's place."

Zhou Le nodded, because Xu Zheng was not the kind of person who would easily give away the resources in his hands, but Xu Zheng was definitely a smart person.

"Haha, actually, I wanted to ask Director Zhang before if he was short of people. Although I haven't met him before, I have seen quite a few of his movies. Today I finally met him, and Director Zhang came to find me specially. Honestly, if Director Zhang wants me to play a role, he can just give me a call."

Zhou Le's mind also turned quickly.

After all, he is the chief planner, and the scripts he can get are definitely the best. I guess in this entire series, only Chen Kaige can choose first, and then it will be Zhang Yibai's turn.

"Okay, that's a deal. I'll contact the other actors. After the meeting tomorrow morning, we'll go out for lunch and chat. Director Chen and I might have to go have dinner with the leaders tonight. You can organize the rest on yourselves."

Xu Zheng also nodded in agreement.

Zhou Le asked again after Zhang Yibai left.

"Brother Zheng, it's rare to see you like this."

"Hey, haven't you seen him? If Zhang Yibai wants to see you, just go. To be honest, it's just like what you said just now. Even if he doesn't come in person, you have to go just by calling him.

After all, he's a sixth-generation director in the Beijing film industry, and the people he knows above him are at least those in the China Film Group. But how should I put it? This time he asked you to go because of his status, plus the significance of this film is different. But afterward, I suggest you still turn it down."

Zhou Le was a little curious because this involved his blind spot in knowledge.

"why."

"Why? Because this time it's just a partnership, but getting too close to him won't do you any good."

Zhou Le still only understood half of what he said, but it was obvious that Xu Zheng didn't want to go into more depth, so Zhou Le didn't ask.

The next day, Zhou Le took Yin Zheng to a meeting, but the people in front were all directors and big names who had already been confirmed as the leading actors, including Wu Jing, Ge You, Huang Bo and others.

They could only move a stool and sit at the back.

But in such occasions, everything discussed is very official and formal, with only one main purpose, which is to make a good movie.

Zhou Le didn't listen to the rest.

But the directors who were in the meeting in front were also listening and writing in their notebooks. However, they were not writing down what the chief director Chen Kaige said, but were screening which actors they wanted to use from the group of actors behind them.

Since Xu Zheng couldn't get Zhou Le, he naturally set his sights on Wu Jing. Wen Mu also couldn't get Zhou Le, but he didn't plan to compete with Xu Zheng for Wu Jing anymore. He started thinking about asking Yin Zheng to come over.

Since Zhou Le recommended it, there must be some truth to it.

Although before this his second choice was Han Dongjun.

Ning Hao doesn't have to think so much, his role has already been arranged.

After the meeting, Zhang Yibai took Zhou Le and another female lead, Ren Suxi, out for lunch and to discuss the script.

"In the entire scene, Zhou Le, you only have one line, and you're wearing a mask, so it's a real test for your eyes. I found you because I saw your performance in 'Dying to Survive'.

I feel that you are particularly well-suited to this role, so your performance will be the most difficult. On the other hand, Su Xi, your role will be relatively simpler, but I also hope that you can do your best.

Didn't you participate in an actor-themed variety show before? You said on it that you wanted more opportunities. Now that the opportunity is given to you, it depends on you whether you can seize it or not."

The two of them naturally said that it was no problem.

After lunch, the meeting continued in the afternoon, and after a whole afternoon, the directors had roughly decided who they wanted to shoot.

Wen Mu finally decided to find Yin Zheng, because just after lunch, Yin Zheng performed a special piece for him, and Wen Mu was very satisfied.

Zhang Yibai finally decided to officially start filming at the end of September, and the shooting period is expected to be about one month.

But the meeting was over and Zhou Le had also eaten the meal that Yin Zheng treated him to.

Yin Zheng was completely devoted to his country.

Because joining Zhou Le's studio is equivalent to being able to get more resources through Zhou Le, and Zhou Le knows all the high-quality directors.

However, the day after drinking alone with Yin Zheng, Zhou Leben planned to go to his godfather Yu Qian's house to ask if there were any suitable real estate projects, because he was going to sign a contract with Tmall in a few days.

After tax, you can get more than 10 million.

It's enough to buy a house.

After all, housing prices are high now, and he has never thought about buying a luxury house.

Anything more or less the same, as long as it is more private will be fine.

But while waiting for the red light on the road, Jiaozi, the director of Nezha who had dubbed the role during the filming of "The Wandering Earth", called me.

However, Zhou Le was very sharp-eyed and noticed that someone seemed to be following him in a car, so he simply didn't answer the phone.

When they arrived downstairs of Yu Qian's house, before Zhou Le could call back, Yu Siyang greeted him through the window.

After all, he now has limited time to play with his mobile phone, and only when Zhou Le comes can he play a few games happily.

Even Zhou Le has all the skins on his account, and he can use whichever one he wants.

However, after Zhou Le came upstairs, he exchanged a few pleasantries and then started talking about buying a house.

"Le'er, you want to buy a house. How much money do you have now?"

"I don't have much money right now. Most of my previous earnings went into The Wandering Earth, and a portion went to pay last year's taxes. I also have 20 to 30 percent of my salary left from The Last Dance and The Evil Never Dies.

So the total is probably more than 20 million.”

Yu Qian thought for a moment after hearing this and said, "Le'er, if it was just after 08, I might have suggested you buy something a little cheaper. If it was before 08, I would have definitely suggested you go all in. Even if you don't have enough money, I can lend you some.

But honestly, I don't recommend buying a house right now. You can just stay at my place for now. It's up to your family to stay as long as they want. Housing prices are ridiculously high right now. If you want to buy a house, you'll definitely want to be in the second or third ring road. But you really can't buy a good house with just 20 million yuan, seriously."

Zhou Le doesn't know much about housing prices, but they have risen so sharply in recent years. He thinks they may rise further in the future. The average prices of the places Zhou Le likes now are probably around 15 to 20 yuan.

In other words, if you just calculate on average, with the more than 20 million yuan, you can only buy a house of 100 square meters.

After buying it, I don’t even have money to decorate it.

"But if I'm just investing, and it goes up to 30,000 or 50,000 in a few years, I can make a small profit if I sell it."

But Yu Qian still doesn't recommend Zhou Le to buy at this juncture.

"Well, I'll think about it."

They stayed for lunch at noon. Yu Siyang was urged by his mother to take a nap, so Zhou Le finally had time to call Jiaozi back.

"Hello, Director Jiaozi, I was busy before and couldn't make time to come. I just finished it now. Is there anything you can do? Is it the dubbing work we did earlier?"

But Jiaozi quickly said on the other end of the phone: "Dubbing is no problem, Teacher Zhou. The main reason I called you this time is to treat you to a meal." Zhou Le heard this and asked: "Are you short of money?"

Among all the film and television works Zhou Le has participated in, Jiaozi and Guo Fan are the two poorest.

So when a director like this suddenly asked to treat him to a meal, Zhou Le already had PTSD.

Jiaozi was stunned for a moment: "Teacher Zhou, how did you know?"

"Ah, I really am out of money."

"Yes, the project is almost finished. I've asked everyone I can, but we just can't raise the money. We're having meetings every day to figure out what we can do without in this final phase."

Zhou Le sighed: "Okay, how much more money do you need now?"

Jiaozi thought for a moment: "One million?"

Zhou Le: “.”

What can you do with a million? Special effects are just a waste of money.

"Hey, Director Jiaozi, just tell us how much is missing. The most important thing for us is to ensure the quality. Don't waste your money if you don't achieve the desired effect."

This is what Zhou Le fears most.

I'm afraid Jiaozi can't be as shameless as Guo Fan. After all, Guo Fan is the kind of person who can send producers and leading actors away to make money to invest in movies. He has no bottom line at all.

"Well, one million is actually quite tight. If possible, five million would be the best."

"Well, okay, but I have to see where the five million will be spent."

"No problem. Where are you, Teacher Zhou? I'll come find you."

But Zhou Le thought about it and decided to go there himself and take a look at the progress of the movie during this period. After all, he was one of the leading actors.

"No, I'll go to Chengdu."

Zhou Le thought, take advantage of this time to go out and have some fun.

Zhou Le stayed until the afternoon and left. He went back to pack up his things and flew directly to Chengdu early the next morning.

Since he had been here before, Zhou Le took a taxi directly to Cocoa Bean Animation Company after leaving the airport.

I went upstairs with ease, but as soon as I entered the door, I saw Jiaozi inside, talking excitedly about having attracted another investment.

Then, there were praises like, "Brother Jiaozi is awesome," and "Brother Jiaozi is so fierce."

"Everyone is busy." Zhou Le said.

When Jiaozi heard the sound, he looked over immediately and asked someone to pour tea.

"Teacher Zhou is here. Please take a seat. It's a bit messy here, so please don't mind."

Zhou Le smiled and said, "Why should I be surprised? It's not like I haven't been here before."

At this time, the administration also poured tea.

Jiaozi continued standing and said with a smile, "Teacher Zhou is the one who invested in us. This time, Teacher Zhou plans to invest another five million in us. This way, we can finally do that shot we've been considering."

"What shot?"

"When Nezha and Ao Bing join hands to fight the thunder tribulation, I wanted to create a time-traveling, universe-changing scene. When I contacted the special effects team, they said this part would be very expensive. I was thinking of giving up if it really didn't work out, but thankfully, Mr. Zhou invested another five million."

Zhou Le nodded, he also remembered that part of the plot.

"But you don't have money now, so what will you do after the movie is released? You still have to promote it after the release. Even if the movie is good and brands from other industries want to collaborate with you and make some money, that's a matter for the future."

"I don't know. If we really don't have money, then we won't promote it. Or maybe we can go out more and do some door-to-door promotion."

"Alas." Zhou Le sighed again, "How about we go to the conference room and talk?"

Jiaozi heard that Zhou Le didn't seem very satisfied with the publicity after the movie was released, but Zhou Le's tone seemed to still have hope.

So he and his partner Liu Wenzhang, who had co-founded the company, brought Zhou Le into the conference room.

"Mr. Yang, Mr. Liu, the movie still needs promotion. How much money has been invested in this movie?"

"Now it's 60 million."

"Ah, it's not easy. 'The Wandering Earth' only cost 80 million yuan in the beginning, and there's probably not much to promote it now. But I will be able to make some money in the near future, which will add up to more than 10 million yuan."

After hearing this, Jiaozi's mouth corners, which were originally downward, turned up.

"Really, Mr. Zhou, are you willing to invest another ten million in us?"

"Well, I can invest, but after all, I also participated in this movie. Let's not talk about my previous salary. In fact, I personally like watching anime very much, so I also want to buy some shares.

But a few years ago, Guangguang Media paid 20 million for a % stake, so I don’t know how much I can get now with my million plus.”

Jiaozi was also stunned when he heard this. He didn't expect that Zhou Le also wanted to invest.

But now is a critical moment for the company. It would be fine if this movie can make money, but if it doesn’t, we will have to live in debt in the future.

Another impact is that it will be even harder to get investment when making the sequel, so the money Zhou Le has now is crucial to him.

If they can really promote it well, not too high a price, as long as they can get a box office of more than 1 billion, it will prove that they are successful.

After all, including Zhou Le's part, it is an investment of more than 2.5 million. Normally speaking, even if there is no loss of million, the rest is pure profit.

No one is sure about the outcome until the movie is released.

"Teacher Zhou, could you please let us discuss this internally?"

Zhou Le nodded. "Of course, but the five million we promised you should invest now. If we can reach an agreement, the twenty million plus will be included. If Mr. Yang and Mr. Liu have other concerns, the five million will only be considered as equity in the film, and we can distribute the profits based on the box office revenue."

In fact, just by hearing this, Jiaozi felt that Zhou Le was more sincere.

Then Jiaozi took Zhou Le outside and showed him the finished film.

This part has been submitted for review. As long as it can get the dragon mark, it means that "Nezha" can be released.

He and Liu Wenzhang returned to the conference room.

"What should we do now? Guangguang paid 20 million for % of the shares, and now he's getting million. We can't possibly give him all our shares, right?"

I'm also a little worried about dumplings.

Liu Wenzhang thought for a moment and said, "It's definitely not possible to give it all to him. Besides, the 66 million that Guangguang gave was when our company was just about to start working on Nezha. It's definitely not comparable to what we have now. It's just that you currently have 14% and I have %.

If it really doesn't work out, we can each contribute a little, as long as the actual control remains in our hands."

"What about his 20 million?" Jiaozi was at a loss for a moment.

"How about this: you keep 51%, give him 15%, and I keep 9%. Now we can only give him 20%.

By then, we will have a combined total of 60%, so we don't have to worry about the two companies colluding to usurp our rights. However, the difference between 20% of more than 20 million and % of million is indeed quite large. If it really doesn't work out, we can still cooperate to set up a company and give him a portion of the shares.

After all, we have to make a second film in the future, and the money earned from the first film alone will definitely not be enough. We will probably have to expand into other businesses, such as helping other companies with advertising, or doing special effects for other movies. "

"That's fine, but if we set up another advertising service company, how much stock should we give him?"

"Twenty, but we'll discuss this with him later. If he can help us promote the movie when it's released, thirty is fine."

"it is good."

The two of them discussed the details for a long time inside, while Zhou Le also watched the finished film outside.

"Investing in real estate, the increase is so small. After all, it's not around 08 anymore. It's better to take a gamble. It's only a little over a year. With the pictures and story done well, I shouldn't lose anything. At worst, I can just give up the interest I earned over the past year."

Zhou Le has already decided to invest. Even if he is not given shares, he can still invest the 20 million.

(End of this chapter)