Huayu Entertainment: Tianxian really wants to improve

Chapter 273 You can't spend it all, you simply can't spend it all!
"Wake up, your money hasn't arrived yet!" Gu Bei said with a smile.

"Fortunately, the money hasn't arrived yet."
Otherwise, I'll be worrying about what to do with this money!

Liu Yifei showed a worried expression.

I can’t spend it all, I can’t spend it all!
Gu Bei followed Liu Yifei through the entire report and then summarized: "The total revenue from the distribution rights of Twilight is $2.33 million, the revenue from the DVD market is $2.74 million, and the copyright revenue is currently $9000 million."

However, since the investment in Twilight was made with money from companies like China Film Group, the revenue from the distribution rights could only be split between the two of us, which was 24%, or $5600 million.

We can then take 80% of the remaining revenue from the DVD market and copyrights, which is $2.77 million.

That adds up to a total of $3.33 million. If split in half, that's $1.66 million per person!

"It seems like we didn't invest a single penny in this movie!"

Liu Yifei remembered that the two of them had nominally invested $1500 million in Twilight.
In reality, this money was not ultimately invested in Twilight; instead, Gu Bei used it to film Summer's 500 Days.

It's equivalent to Gu Bei selling the Twilight copyright.
She left Rose Pictures.
Each of them made a profit of $1.66 million without any investment!
"That's normal, because you and I both possess irreplaceable resources."

Gu Bei patted Liu Yifei's hand and said calmly, "Moreover, China Film Group paid $2800 million but received $1.3 million in distribution rights revenue, which is nearly five times the initial investment."

You should think of it this way: without my copyright and your Rose Pictures, they wouldn't make a single penny!

After thinking about it carefully, Liu Yifei realized that Gu Bei's words did make sense.

Then her headache started again.
Most of the $3600 million was used to buy an animation and visual effects studio, and it wasn't all spent.
Now another $1.66 million is coming in immediately.
This is such a large sum of money, even after taxes, it exceeds one hundred million US dollars.

According to her investment philosophy, she would definitely use the money to buy a house.

Even a decent mansion in Beverly Hills only costs around ten million dollars.

The rarest and most luxurious homes cost tens of millions of dollars, but they're not just any ordinary property that's put up for sale.

What's even more terrifying is that even if you buy one of those houses, you can only spend a small portion of the money, while a large part remains in the bank waiting for inflation to devalue it.

Liu Yifei immediately understood why so many celebrities needed financial advisors.
She looked at Gu Bei and asked softly, "Gu Bei, what should I do with all this money? I can't transfer it back to China, so where can I invest it?"

Gu Bei thought about it,
He did have an investment opportunity in mind that perfectly matched Liu Yifei's prudent style.

So he replied softly, "I'll think about it for you when the time comes."

During their whispered conversation,

Eric on the other side finally finished reviewing all the data.
He breathed a sigh of relief, looked up and smiled at Gu Bei, saying, "There's no problem. This money will greatly alleviate Peak Entertainment's funding issues."

You should know that the market is bad right now, and our cash flow is already very tight!

"Has the situation gotten that bad?"

Gu Bei asked curiously.

He knew this year was a year of economic crisis, and that the century-old investment bank Lehman Brothers was about to go bankrupt, letting everyone know that this economic crisis was unavoidable.

But he clearly remembered that Summit Entertainment had just received investment from Wall Street two years ago and started distributing in North America, yet it was already facing such a tight cash flow.

"Of course, those people on Wall Street have tightened their grip on everyone's money."
Many independent production companies are now facing bankruptcy.

Eric said with some emotion, his tone still carrying a hint of lingering fear, "If it weren't for Twilight City, we probably would have become one of them too."

Investments in the film industry often require two years to see returns, and there's always the possibility of a financial disaster.

Almost all film studios, including the Big Six, borrowed money to invest in order to improve capital utilization.

This means that the economic crisis had the most direct and fastest-spreading impact on Hollywood!

Even at the pinnacle of entertainment,

The first Twilight film had a total investment of $3700 million in production and marketing.
Furthermore, a production cost of 20 million was invested in filming Twilight 2 and 3 back-to-back.

Because they invested too much money in the Twilight series, they are now teetering on the brink of financial collapse.

Gu Bei could understand Eric's predicament very well.

He also spent all his cash flow to invest in the back-to-back filming of Twilight 2 and 3.

They're just waiting for their share of the profits from Twilight 1 to make a living. In a sense, Gu Bei and Eric are in the same situation now.

A thought struck him, and he looked at Eric: "Eric, does Summit Entertainment need investment?"

"Of course, no problem! Summit Entertainment needs more partners!"

Eric agreed without hesitation, "I'll go back and discuss it with the others first."

Summit Entertainment's distribution capabilities have been proven; what it needs most now are partners with production capabilities.

Gu Bei is the most suitable candidate.
Not only is he a highly creative director,
At the same time, Gu Bei also holds the copyrights to the Twilight series, the Fault in Our Stars, and the Hunger Games.
Acquiring the distribution rights to these novel-adapted films would stabilize Summit Entertainment's distribution channels for the next few years, making it a sure-fire way to make money.

"No problem, I'll wait for your good news."

Gu Bei said with a smile.

Eric coveted the film distribution rights to the novel he held.
Gu Bei, on the other hand, coveted Summit Entertainment's global distribution capabilities.
He recalled that a few years later, Summit Entertainment was acquired by Lionsgate and became a second-tier label.

Although he didn't know why Summit Entertainment was doing so well and then quit, Gu Bei felt that it would be better to simply acquire Summit Entertainment than to cooperate with Lionsgate.

First, acquire shares, then selectively acquire the best performers.

This is a common tactic used by Gu Bei's former employer, Tencent.

Gu Bei learned it through constant exposure.

"Gu Bei, is the investment opportunity you mentioned Dingfeng Entertainment?" Liu Yifei asked eagerly after Eric left.

"No, you have enough money to buy Summit Entertainment."

"Oh!"

Liu Yifei sounded somewhat disappointed.

Gu Bei looked at her with surprise.

Is this girl now addicted to buying companies like she's buying handbags?
He then introduced her to Liu Yifei: "This is Karen, the producer of the Twilight series. You should have met her before."

“I remember you, we met at the Twilight production meeting before!”

Liu Yifei greeted Karen warmly, knowing that Gu Bei planned to poach Karen from Rose Pictures to serve as the president of the production department.

"That's great, Crystal!"

Karen responded enthusiastically.

The two started chatting enthusiastically.

For Liu Yifei, this was probably just a casual chat.

But for Karen, this was just an interview with BOSS Zhipin (a job search platform).

Gu Bei sat to the side, looking at the production materials for The Walking Dead that Karen had prepared. Seeing that the two had finished their conversation, he interjected, asking, "Karen, what's HBO saying about The Walking Dead?"

Karen immediately responded, "They have no questions about your script for the first season's six episodes. The budget is tentatively set at $1200 million, with a cost of $200 million per episode, but we need to see the feedback from the pilot episode."

How much did they bear for the first round of broadcasting?

Gu Bei looked up and asked earnestly.

The renewal model for North American TV series differs from that in China, where shows are filmed first and then sold.
They would first pay the production company to shoot a pilot episode, and then decide whether to order the series based on the pilot episode's ratings and reviews.

Once a reservation is made, the TV station will pay 60%-80% of the production cost as the fee for the first round of broadcasting rights.

This is equivalent to the TV station and the production company sharing the risk.
However, television stations also have the power of life and death over dramas.

Whether it's renewing the contract, or adding or reducing the number of episodes, it all depends on the whims of the TV station.

“80%, they value this project very much, and at one point they even hoped to transfer it to them for internal production,” Karen said with a smile.

"That's definitely impossible!"

Gu Bei shook his head.

The Walking Dead is a cash cow, enough to feed Rose Pictures for over a decade. How could they possibly sell it?
Then, Gu Bei looked at Liu Yifei and gestured to her.

Liu Yifei immediately understood and stood up to extend her hand to Karen: "Karen, I'm relieved to have you in charge of the production department from now on!"

"Thank you for your trust, Crystal!"

Karen's face lit up with happiness, a genuine joy from the bottom of her heart.

A few months ago, she might have been able to be picky about this job.

But with the financial winter approaching, Hollywood is about to face a wave of bankruptcies.
Having Rose Pictures, a thriving company, as her backer is already the best job choice she could have made.

With Liu Yifei's appointment being issued,

Karen has officially taken office.
Rose Pictures has welcomed its second senior executive.

As a former executive at Paramount, Karen has been in Hollywood for many years and has accumulated extensive media resources.

After she took office,

The first thing to do is...
It's the preheating process to start operating the Earth's gravity.

Large-scale movie premieres are rarely held in North America. News spreads through various people in Hollywood and then reaches the public through the media.

It's not that people dislike the press conference format,
Simply put, in entertainment-obsessed North America,

The press conference format is too inefficient.
Not only does it cost a lot of money, but it also fails to attract much public attention.

"Following the success of Twilight, Rose Pictures will focus on women's films and will create a sci-fi blockbuster about women surviving in space called Gravity."

"Hollywood's first step into the mysterious land of China: Rose Pictures' Sino-US co-production sci-fi blockbuster, Gravity, will have an investment of one hundred million US dollars!"

Karen spread the news about gravity through various channels, which still attracted a lot of attention.

Just over a month ago, the opening ceremony of the Olympics made many ordinary people in North America aware of the existence of such a great power as China, and they naturally paid some attention to this newly emerging phenomenon of gravity.

And then there are the top executives of the six major corporations.

Everyone is now trying to enter the Chinese market.

After all, it is foreseeable that the Chinese film market will continue to grow larger and larger. Transformers has already grossed nearly $5000 million at the box office, making this market impossible to ignore.

But what I didn't expect was...

They were still discussing how to incorporate some Chinese elements.
This is to increase the attractiveness to the Chinese market.

Rose Pictures, an unknown company, suddenly appeared and offered a $100 million deal for a Sino-US co-production, which surprised everyone.

But after seeing that the director was Gu Bei...

No one was surprised.

It's not unusual for Chinese people to invest in films directed by Chinese directors.
Oscar-winning director Lee An just went to China to film a movie.

Now, what people are even more curious about is whether this Sino-US co-production model can achieve the effect of dominating both the Chinese and American film markets.
If this step involving gravity succeeds...
They can simply replicate this model.

Just as gravity was becoming increasingly popular within Hollywood,
Gu Bei is recruiting and building up his team. To complete a project of this magnitude as Gravity, only by employing a large number of Hollywood technicians can he achieve the desired effect.

In the past, many people would have been unwilling to go to China to film.

But after the Olympics this year...
At least most people already have a basic understanding of China.

It's the same as shooting in other parts of the world.

At Rose Film Studio,

Gu Bei was greeted by David Hawkins, an executive from IMAX Corporation.

"Bruce, I read the synopsis you sent me. Your movie is about a space crisis primarily in China, right?" David looked up, pushed up his glasses, and asked earnestly.

"That's right. The protagonist of the story is a Chinese astronaut. There will be scenes involving the International Space Station, but it will ultimately end with the help of China's Shenzhou spacecraft."

Gu Bei nodded and responded without any hesitation.

"Forgive my bluntness, but not many North American audiences will be interested in a movie like this," David said, his tone quite blunt.

"We are exploring the potential of the Chinese market, so naturally we need to use Chinese people as the main characters in order to tap into their local market to a greater extent."

Gu Bei lied through his teeth, "But you don't need to worry about the North American market. We will invite Jackie Chan to appear in the movie as a supporting actor."

Furthermore, the film will be produced in its original English language, without dubbing, ensuring a smooth viewing experience for North American audiences!

"Jackie Chan?"

David flipped through the files. "He's the veteran astronaut who initially fought alongside the female lead to survive?"

Gu Bei nodded: "That's right, this character has the second most screen time in the movie."

David's expression began to soften.

After all, Jackie Chan's influence is undeniable.
Although he has recently had several films that flopped.

However, as a supporting actor, Jackie Chan only has advantages and no disadvantages.

After a pause, he asked, "So, which part of the scene do you plan to shoot with our IMAX 3D cameras?"

"It's those opening sixteen minutes of footage!"

"Sixteen minutes of footage?" David was immediately taken aback. "You're not kidding, are you?"

(End of this chapter)