Director of Photography Department of Huayu

Chapter 75: I Didn’t Live Like Them After All

On the evening of December 7, the charity premiere of "A World Without Thieves" was held at the Beijing Exhibition Hall Theater.

Feng Xiaogang walked onto the stage in a black suit, with Ge You smiling modestly behind him, and Liu Dehua waving with full aura, while the reporters below the stage flashed their cameras wildly.

After the host opened the show, the question-and-answer session began, but the atmosphere gradually became subtle.

A reporter raised his hand and said, "Director Feng, 'The Dark Side' grossed over 1600 million yuan in seven days. That's an incredible return. Do you have the confidence to surpass that return?"

Feng Xiaogang narrowed his eyes and smiled: "The box office is no problem. With tens of millions of dollars invested, how can we lose?"

The reporter persisted: "But Wu Chen's cost was 40 yuan, and you have tens of millions. How can the rate of return compare?"

Feng Xiaogang frowned and said in a hard tone: "I make movies for the audience, not to calculate the rate of return or the high box office."

Another reporter followed up: "You admit that the rate of return is not comparable, right?"

Before the reporter could finish, Feng Xiaogang's face darkened and he slammed his hand on the table: "Can't compare? I spent tens of millions at the box office, how can his 400,000 be compared? You reporters know nothing!"

Hearing this, the reporter did not retreat: "So what do you think of Wu Chen's results?"

"Hold Director Feng." Wang Zhonglei saw that Feng Xiaogang's face looked very wrong, so he quickly whispered to Rene Liu, asking her to pass it on.

Unexpectedly, just as Rene Liu finished talking to Dehua Liu, Feng Xiaogang was completely defeated and stood up and pointed at the audience and started cursing:
"You idiots, you're always fixated on profitability. Film is art, not a fucking math problem! I made 'A World Without Thieves' out of conscience, do you understand? Fuck!"

"."

Ge You, Liu Dehua and others were all annoyed. It had only been a few days, and they hadn't learned the lesson from the last time, and it happened again.

Wang Zhonglei felt a little tired.

Damn, this little cannon.

Feng Xiaogang's defense was broken, which made the media very happy. Their eyes were shining, they were holding back their smiles, and they were taking pictures crazily.

"Stop filming, stop filming, the process will start immediately."

Wang Zhonglei immediately signaled to the staff to stop them. Damn, I don’t know how much money it will cost to clean up this time.

In the early morning of December 8, the winter morning mist enveloped the China Film Building in Beijing, and a few bare trees at the entrance shivered in the wind.

At half past nine, Ning Hao arrived early wrapped in a gray coat, holding the script of "Big Diamond" in his hand, with anxiety and uneasiness in his eyes.

He stood at the door, rubbed his frozen hands, sent a text message to Wu Chen, then walked into the hall and waited on the sofa.

Wu Chen was in the car, about ten minutes away from the building. When he saw the text message, he knew the other party's mood at the moment and immediately replied, "I'll be there soon."

At 9:48, Wu Chen walked into the China Film Hall and saw Ning Hao stomping his feet and standing up. He then sat down and smiled:
"Brother, don't worry. I've talked to Secretary Gao. He'll come down and take us upstairs later."

Ning Hao nodded, unable to hide his anxiety, but he could only continue to wait.

At this time, several gray-haired old directors came out of the elevator, pointing at the building and cursing.

A tall, thin man shouted, "I've been making films for 30 years, and I still have to queue up to get paid. These idiots at China Film Group only care about box office revenue!"

Another person added: "When President Tong was around, they didn't mess around like this. Sooner or later, China Film Group will be ruined by Han's hands."

Ning Hao was stunned when he saw this. He asked Wu Chen in a low voice, "What's going on?"

Before he finished speaking, the elevator door opened and Gao Chengsheng walked out. Seeing this scene, he walked closer and smiled bitterly and shook his head:

"Director Wu, Director Ning, please forgive me for making fun of you."

Wu Chen was also very curious: "Brother, what's going on?"

Gao Chengsheng whispered:

"These veteran directors have enough experience, but no one wants to invest in their films. China Film Group has a few spots for support every year, and they didn't get one, so they just vent their anger here by cursing."

Wu Chen's eyes moved slightly. Well, the majority of directors are still frustrated.

Gao Chengsheng nodded: "You'll get used to it. Let's go upstairs."

The three of them entered the elevator, and a trace of worry flashed in Ning Hao's eyes.

All these experienced directors are like this, what should he do if he can't succeed?

Han Sanping was willing to see him because of Wu Chen's sake.

In the top-floor office of China Film Group, the aroma of tea wafted through the air. Han Sanping sat in a leather chair with a pot of freshly brewed Pu'er tea steaming beside him.

When he saw the two people come in, he smiled and said, "Come on, take a seat first."

He picked up the teapot and poured two cups, then pushed it over and looked at Ning Hao first, "Director Ning, we'll talk about you later."

Ning Hao nodded.

Han Sanping then turned to Wu Chen and asked, "One bad news, one good news. Which one do you want to hear?"

Wu Chen took the teacup and whispered, "Boss Han, let's hear the bad news first."

Han Sanping put down the pot, his eyes pondering: "The pirated version has been released. Although it is still spreading on a small scale, based on past experience, it will spread quickly. Be mentally prepared."

Wu Chen breathed a sigh of relief. So that was what happened.

It is common knowledge that piracy is rampant nowadays.

Even if he knew about this, it would be useless without severe crackdown from above. He had already prepared himself mentally.

Wu Chen smiled and said, "As expected, Mr. Han, what about the good news?"

Han Sanping thought Wu Chen would curse at him.

After all, Wu Chen was so young, and the emergence of piracy would mean a loss of at least several million in box office revenue, and potentially tens or even twenty million. However, Wu Chen seemed unconcerned.

"It's a good layout." Han Sanping commented secretly in his heart, and then said:
"Yesterday's box office was pretty good. Although we haven't fully counted the numbers yet, the Beijing box office was over 100,000 more than the day before yesterday. I think after the statistics are completed, the box office should be close to 20 million, and there's a chance it could even break through."

“That’s really good news.”

Wu Chen's eyes lit up with a smile. Twenty million did sound more comfortable than ten million. As he picked up the teacup, he glanced at a newspaper next to him. The headline on the front was:

Feng Xiaogang lashed out at the premiere: "Rate of return is bullshit!"

Xiang Zhuo informed Wu Chen about this matter while browsing the forum last night, but these newspapers obviously had no intention of letting Feng Xiaogang off.

Han Sanping followed Wu Chen's gaze, laughed dumbly, and shook his head: "Feng Xiaogang has a bad temper and a narrow mind."

Changing the subject, Han Sanping looked at Ning Hao and said, "Let me see the notebook. By the way, how much do you want for it?"

Ning Hao swallowed his saliva. He wanted to say 600 million, but was afraid of being rejected due to the high cost. He whispered, "Boss Han, about 500 million."

Han Sanping opened "Big Diamond" and began to read it carefully.

Wu Chen and Ning Hao remained silent, waiting for Han Sanding to finish reading.

After a long while, Han Sanping closed the script and whispered, "It's a black comedy, quite interesting."

As soon as these words were spoken, Ning Hao couldn't help but show joy on his face.

"But 500 million is too much, maybe 300 million at most."

After Han Sanping finished speaking, he glanced at Wu Chen with a smile and said slowly, "Cheng Sheng said you think this book has great potential."

Ning Hao's eyes tightened, and he was about to say something when Wu Chen tugged at his sleeve, signaling him not to speak.

He finally understood that Han Sanping was pointing at him: Since it is a script with potential, why don't you invest in it?
No wonder Han Sanping started by talking about the box office.

Wu Chen didn't think of this for a moment.

He needs to keep about five million in his hand as a safety net. If he wants to invest, he has to make up for the investment gap.

2000 million box office mortgage?

Of the 2000 million yuan in box office revenue, the producers only get about 800 million yuan in share. After deducting the publicity and distribution costs, they also have to give a portion to Beijing Film Academy. This leaves them with about 300 million yuan. With the mortgage loan, at an 80% share, they get about 240 million yuan.
Well, it’s not without reason that Han Sanding has been able to steer this film and television aircraft carrier since the millennium;
It likes big productions and can accept huge losses, but that doesn't mean it will foolishly let China Film's money go to waste.

Wu Chen paused and said, "Boss Han, if you're only investing less than 300 million, how much do you plan to spend on future publicity and promotion?"

"Publicity?"

Han Sanping didn't expect Wu Chen to mention this at first. He narrowed his eyes and raised two fingers after a moment.

Apparently, it’s around two million at most.

"How about this, Mr. Han? Let's each invest 250 million, splitting the risk and reward in half. I personally think this book has great potential. I hope Mr. Han will be willing to approve more credit when it's released, at least double the amount."

Wu Chen said directly.

Since the script can make money and the rate of return is much higher than the loan interest rate, this time we might as well just increase the production cost of "Crazy Stone" and let China Film do enough publicity and promotion. Even if it fails, the box office will definitely be much higher.

Moreover, his newly established Xingchen Pictures also needs to make a presence in the industry, and "Crazy Stone" is a good choice.

In the previous life, this movie was considered a low-budget dark horse, but in this life it became a complete success.

Han Sanping didn't expect Wu Chen to be so confident. For a moment, he couldn't help but pick up the script and take a look to see if he had missed some key information, but in the end he didn't find anything.

After thinking for a moment, Han Sanping slammed the table and made a decision:

"Okay, here's the publicity and promotion fee. As long as the film turns out good, I promise to at least double it."

Hearing this, Ning Hao's slightly red eyes revealed an extremely happy expression. He then stood up and bowed slightly:
"Thank you, President Han, and thank you, Junior Brother!"

"Hey, I don't like that!" Han Sanping waved his hand. "You make a good movie, that's more important than anything else!"

"To be honest, the script does have potential, but I have no idea how it will turn out, and it's hard to say where it will go in the future. But since Wu Chen is willing to split the risk in half, I'm willing to take a chance.

Once the project is approved, China Film Group will send a producer and the cooperation will be pleasant.”

The three of them shook hands and the deal was done.

"Let's have dinner together tonight?" Han Sanping suggested.

After discussing the project, having a meal is a normal procedure.

Wu Chen glanced at Ning Hao's excitement and decided to forget about it today. He then said:

"Boss Han, how about we save this meal for now and eat it after we finish watching the movie?"

Han Sanping smiled and nodded: "Okay!"

Now that the matter was settled, the two of them withdrew immediately.

Gao Chengsheng's office was not far away, so Wu Chen took Ning Hao with him to talk to Gao Chengsheng.

"Looks like it's done. Congratulations, Director Ning." Gao Chengsheng said with a smile, and walked out of the office, "I'll take you down."

"Brother Gao, goodbye. It's just a few steps away. You can come by yourself." Wu Chen waved his hand. Seeing this, Gao Chengsheng gave up and nodded to the two of them with a smile.

After walking out of the China Film Hall, Ning Hao was still a little confused. It seemed that he had never fought such a lucrative battle in his life, and it actually worked.

After all, he didn't live up to the image of those directors who came in the morning.

And all this is thanks to the young man next to me
(End of this chapter)