I'm just trying to ride the wave of popularity!

Chapter 296 Shock!

Early in the morning of June 3.

The conference room was filled with smoke.

Liang Xiaogang sat at the end of the long table, staring at the storyboard of "The Banquet" on the wall, his eyes scanning every detail, not daring to slack off in the slightest.

He stubbed out his cigarette, silently looked out the window, and a strange mix of emotions welled up inside him.

Three months later, this ambitious work, which has exhausted his efforts, will face the ultimate test of the summer season.

Last October, Huasheng Brothers launched this epic production with an investment of $2000 million.

As Liang Xiaogang's Oscar-contending film, The Banquet is set against the backdrop of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. It brings together a top-tier cast of Chinese filmmakers and reconstructs Shakespeare's Hamlet into a dual narrative of a prince's revenge and court intrigue. It attempts to interpret the essence of Western drama with unique Eastern aesthetics and aims for the global box office.

The calendar on the wall was marked with the dates for July.

At this time, there were only ninety days left until the domestic film protection month.

For Liang Xiaogang and all veteran Chinese directors, this is not only a box office battle, but also a matter of how overseas markets rate and allocate resources to Chinese blockbusters.

A night breeze blew outside the window.

It was supposed to be a peaceful night, but at this moment his emotions were becoming increasingly agitated. He crushed the cigarette butt and tried to calm himself down, but he still couldn't calm down.

The neon lights reflected on his ashen face. For some reason, the posters of Zhou Yang's absurd movies kept replaying in his mind, affecting his work mood.

Film art is a form of dignity, something to be admired and held in the highest esteem. However, with the increasing prevalence of marketization, film, in a sense, has also succumbed to market forces and box office considerations, serving the purpose of box office success.

He is very conflicted.

I despise the likes of Zhou Yang for their sensationalism and box office exploitation. I look down on them from the bottom of my heart. I think they are a cancer, a scourge, and are using all sorts of despicable means to pollute the entire film market and feed the audience shit. But Zhou Yang and his gang's box office influence is growing bigger and bigger, and they are becoming more and more aggressive. In a sense, they have already cornered them.

During this special period, he urgently needs to bring back the public's aesthetic appreciation with a masterpiece on par with "Farewell My Concubine".

Liang Xiaogang took a deep breath, suppressing a series of chaotic emotions and dispelling Zhou Yang's face, which made him want to slap this bastard. He tried his best to calm himself down and just picked up the storyboard to continue working when his phone on the table suddenly vibrated.

The screen prominently displayed the caller ID: "[Xuanshi Entertainment] Zhang Jingya".

He frowned as he answered the phone.

"Director Liang, thank you so much for the 'Skull Horse' design inspiration. President Zhou has decided to use this design in *The Devil Knight*... The creative fee has already been transferred to your company's account. Furthermore, we would like to invite you to serve as the 'Creative Consultant' for our new film. Would you be willing to..."

Before the call was even finished, Liang Xiaogang suddenly flew into a rage and slammed his phone against the wall with a "bang".

Just as he finished smashing his phone and was panting heavily, the office door was suddenly pushed open.

The secretary hurried over with a complicated expression.

The secretary, with a strange expression, handed over a document: "Director Liang, I just received news that Zhou Yang's new film, 'The Devil Knight,' has been officially approved. They've publicly announced it."

The secretary glanced at the smashed phone on the ground, hesitated, but after seeing Liang Xiaogang's cold eyes, he finally forced himself to say, "I told him that I have already paid you 1000 yuan for creative consulting."

The conference room fell into a deathly silence; even breathing could be heard clearly.

Liang Xiaogang's face was frighteningly pale. He suddenly grabbed a teacup to smash it, but stopped abruptly in mid-air and finally took a deep breath.

"Is there anything else?" He suppressed his anger, knowing full well that Zhou Yang was the best at pushing his luck and had a skin thicker than a city wall.

Publicly hurling insults, sending lawyer's letters, and condemning the public will only help that guy generate more buzz.

He needs to stay calm and focus on completing his work; he can't let his emotions get the better of him!
"There's another piece of news, though I don't know if it's good or not: Zhou Yang seems to have gone mad; he's asking for a 100 million yuan endorsement fee for his new film, 'The Devil Knight.'"

"How much?!" Liang Xiaogang looked up abruptly, staring at his secretary as if he had seen a ghost.

"One hundred million RMB..."

Liang Xiaogang's pupils contracted sharply, and he stood up uncontrollably. Then, he took the notebook handed to him by his secretary.

then……

He saw the announcement for the "Demon Knight" project prominently displayed on the official website of [Xuanshi Entertainment] on his laptop screen, along with the glaring words "100 million RMB brand endorsement fee"...

Immediately afterwards...

"He's insane! This lunatic is really insane! A hundred million RMB for an advertising endorsement? Does he really think everyone's a fool?!"

..............................

"Wait, am I seeing things?"

"Holy crap, Zhou Yang's new movie has a 100 million yuan endorsement fee..."

"Are you crazy? One hundred million? Damn it, not an investment, but an endorsement fee! Who the hell would be crazy enough to spend one hundred million on a movie endorsement? A complete idiot?"

"Dry!"

"..."

3 points in the early hours.

When the news broke in the media that Zhou Yang was asking for a "100 million yuan endorsement fee," the internet was in an uproar!
Countless people were glued to the news on the official website of [Xuanshi Entertainment], all of them shocked by Zhou Yang's shamelessness!
One hundred million RMB!

It's not an investment! It's just an endorsement fee for a movie!
Aside from advertising, there is absolutely no substantial revenue return!

This is simply a fantasy!

Even top Hollywood productions wouldn't dare to set such an exorbitant price so blatantly!
This guy is insane!
When the news broke that Zhou Yang had asked for a "sky-high endorsement fee of 100 million yuan"!
The entire internet instantly went wild!
The hashtag #ZhouYangIsCrazy# garnered over 100,000 views in half an hour, with comments unanimously mocking, "Is this guy crazy for money?"

Industry insiders were stunned. One brand director posted on Weibo: "This price is enough to shoot three movies. Did Mr. Zhou add three extra zeros?" "Does he really think car companies are easy targets?"

Even Zhou Yang's fans, who have always been supportive of him, began to question their own existence. For a moment, they didn't know what to say and felt that Zhou Yang seemed to be drunk!

As news of Zhou Yang demanding a "sky-high endorsement fee of 100 million yuan" continues to spread, its popularity has reached all walks of life like wildfire.

As dawn broke, the hashtag #ZhouYang100MillionYuanEndorsementFee# had swept across the entire internet's trending topics, with over 5 million views.

The car forum exploded with dozens of pages of discussion threads, with motorcycle enthusiasts angrily exclaiming: "This price can buy an entire racing team? Do they really think car companies are stupid?"

A prominent financial blogger posted a comparison chart of listed companies' annual reports: "43% of A-share companies' annual profits are not even enough to cover this endorsement fee!"
A financial blogger created a comparison chart overnight, showing that even adding up the endorsement fees of all the directors at China Film Group this year wouldn't reach this figure...

The most upvoted answer was a rant from a motorcycle company executive: "Our annual net profit is only 80 million! Zhou Yang dares to ask for 100 million to make a movie? Is he crazy?"

By the evening of the 16th, the top five trending topics on websites such as [Kuaibo], [Weibo], and [Movie Home] were all dominated by related topics!

The Chinese motorcycle industry was in an uproar.

When news broke that Zhou Yang had offered a staggering 100 million yuan for endorsement, executives from major motorcycle companies shook their heads, thinking the young man had gone completely mad.

....................................

"Damn it, [Xuan Shi Entertainment] really wants a hundred million, damn it!"

"One hundred million? Does he think making movies is a money-printing machine?"

"Our entire year's net profit is less than that!"

"That's absolutely out of the ordinary!"

"..."

Chen Jianghuan, the head of the marketing department of Lingjiang Motorcycle, stormed into the chairman's office in a rage, his face ashen, recounting a series of events that had occurred at Xuanshi Entertainment that afternoon.

This afternoon, [Xuan Shi Entertainment] convened 10 brand representatives in a conference room to solemnly announce that the endorsement fee for their new movie is as high as 100 million RMB.

After hearing the quote, everyone present was stunned and repeatedly asked [Xuanshi Entertainment] to confirm whether the figure was accurate.

When it was confirmed that this was not a joke but a real quote, everyone present was stunned.

Faced with Zhang Jingya's serious and earnest attitude, the marketing department heads finally lost their temper and left the meeting room grumbling!

This is fucking ridiculous! Are they treating them like idiots?!

Chairman Zheng Minghui, however, was not as angry as Chen Jianghuan. He simply sat silently in his seat, watching the various controversies circulating online...

After a long while, Zheng Minghui narrowed his eyes, a meaningful smile appearing on his lips.

He suddenly turned to Chen Jianghuan: "How much usable cash does the company have left?"

Chen Jianghuan was taken aback: "You probably have several hundred million in working capital, Mr. Zheng, what is this?"

"Prepare the contract immediately," Zheng Minghui interrupted him decisively, "You go to [Xuanshi Entertainment] yourself and sign this endorsement agreement!"

"What?" Chen Jianghuan stared wide-eyed at his boss in disbelief.

Meanwhile, his boss silently took a document from his drawer and handed it to Zheng Minghui.

That document was a table showing the total production and sales of motorcycles in China in 2004...

In 2004, Huaxia Motorcycle's total sales reached 1500 million units.
Of these, approximately 1200 million vehicles were sold in the domestic market, and approximately 300 million were exported…

There are over 200 motorcycle manufacturers nationwide, but only about 50-60 are mainstream and active brands.

The leading brands include ten motorcycle brands such as Feijue, Jianglong, Yunfan, Tianshen, and Xinlong.

Although Lingjiang Motorcycles ranks among the top ten mid-range motorcycles in the domestic market, its export business is almost non-existent...

……

Chen Jianghuan looked confused as he took the document, not understanding the chairman's intention.

Seeing this, Zheng Minghui narrowed his eyes and handed over another market data report.

This report is a chart showing the business growth curves of the brands that Zhou Yang has collaborated with in recent years.

"Our overseas business has been unable to gain traction all these years!" Zheng Minghui tapped on the sluggish export figures on the report: "Tens of millions of yuan spent on advertising every year is like throwing money down the drain."

He suddenly pointed to the steep growth line of Zhou Yang's partner brand: "Perhaps this time, we should try a different approach and take a gamble! And..."

"And what?"

"Zhou Yang's stage is all set up, now it's just a matter of who goes on stage first to perform!"

(End of this chapter)