Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 117 Co-production: If I were a rock in a latrine, you would be...

Chen Shouzhe returned to the horse farm early in the morning. When his master's wife saw him return, she was very unhappy.

"Where did you go yesterday? Didn't you say you'd be back yesterday?"

“I went to a friend’s house for dinner and drinks yesterday and stayed there. I came back early this morning.”

"You're a father now, can't you think about your family a little?" The master's wife thought of something, glared at Chen Shouzhe, and came out a moment later carrying a child wrapped up tightly.

She's already five months old, with rosy cheeks. Chen Shou took her in his arms and held her, spending the whole day with her, unable to put her down.

He even watches over his sleeping child; it's hard to believe he actually has a child of his own.

In this peaceful moment, he could finally relax.

Master Yu Qian didn't wake up until noon. He wasn't surprised to see Chen Shouzhe return and asked, "Why did you only come back this morning?"

"I went to a friend's house for drinks," Chen Shou said.

"Are you coming back to celebrate the New Year this time?"

"Yes, I'm going to the United States after the New Year. I'm going to film a movie there in the second half of next year," Chen Shou said.

"Making a movie? What kind of movie?" the teacher's wife asked curiously as she leaned closer.

“The agreement we signed with Warner Bros. sold them the rights to two science fiction films. If my film is good, I will direct the second one,” Chen Shouzhe said.

"Alright then." Yu Qian nodded.

If there's one tragedy of the year, it's the Taiping Ship, which was mainly invested in by China Film Group. It also cost 400 million yuan and was divided into two parts.

The film was met with widespread criticism upon its release, and Han Sanping, the main producer who had already retired, became a laughing stock and was ridiculed by the entire nation.

Fortunately, he still has Chen Shouzhe's "The Martian," which allows him to save face. But La Dong is in a bad situation. He didn't invest in "The Martian," and now that the movie is being released during his term, he has to bear all the losses.

Moreover, there is a Sino-US co-production film project this year. In order to ease tensions, Director La specially asked Chen Shou to meet with China Film Group.

"Director Chen, what's your decision?"

Inside China Film Group, Chen Shouzhe met with Director La. The head of China Film Group was under increasing pressure. This year, China Film Group was not exactly losing money, but the release of "The Pacification Ship" was a huge loss. The director had even run away and refused to give any interviews.

Han Sanping has already retired, but as the head of China Film Group, he can't escape; he has to take over.

He realized that after looking around, the only person he could win over was Chen Shouzhe, and he had to win Chen Shouzhe over. Now, with the marketization of the film industry, China Film Group has gradually lost its leading role. Internet companies are coming in, and the government is also supporting them. As a traditional state-owned enterprise, China Film Group seems to have no advantage except for its import and export power.

Famous directors prefer to collaborate with internet companies, and China Film Group can provide less and less support. In fact, it can no longer compete with listed companies in terms of distribution. Its decline is inevitable, and it is difficult to access some high-quality resources.

The failure of the Taiping Ship made him realize the importance of Chen Shouzhe, so he began to further win him over, ensuring that China Film Group was on board every time.

Faced with Mr. La's inquiry, Chen Shou shook his head: "Thank you for the invitation, Mr. La, but I'd better give it up. The company has so many projects that I can't even participate in them all myself, so I won't participate in other projects. It's better not to bite off more than you can chew. Besides, I've invested a lot, but I haven't made much profit. Forget it."

Hearing Chen Shouzhe's refusal, Director La was somewhat incredulous. This was a co-production spearheaded by Legendary and Universal, with China Film Group and the Le family also involved. He wanted to do Chen Shouzhe a favor and bring him in, but he didn't expect Chen Shouzhe to refuse.

"Have you thought this through? No outsider would beg to get into this project, and you're just going to give up like this? I remember you also invested in Wu Jing's movie, why not invest in this one? It's a co-production, directed by Zhang Yimou," La Dong said incredulously.

"To be honest, I didn't direct this kind of project, so I don't think it's a good project. If Chairman La is willing to trust my professionalism, this film can share some of the profits with companies like Huayi Brothers and Bona Film Group to reduce some of the risk," Chen Shou said.

La Dong frowned. How could he possibly give up a project he had worked so hard to secure?

"Director Chen, do you really not think much of this project? This is a top-tier Hollywood resource."

"I have no shortage of resources in Hollywood. In my opinion, I'd rather make Journey to the West than this kind of nonsensical script," Chen Shou said, shrugging.

"Uh!"

When Chen Shouzhe brought up Journey to the West, La Dong had nothing to say. Holding the biggest IP, Chen Shouzhe certainly had the confidence to say such things, but he was not giving up.

"You really don't think it's a good idea?"

"I think we first met through a co-production. In my opinion, co-productions should ideally reduce the cultural differences between countries, such as science fiction or disaster films, rather than films about the history of certain countries. The cultural clashes caused by such films are unacceptable to the audience."

I don't know how they came up with this script. In my opinion, it's not a good script. It's just a template from Hollywood, and they haven't even grasped the essence of it.

"To put it bluntly, it's just like those historical films made in Hong Kong—utter nonsense. As a director, I can at least tell the quality of a script. I don't know why Director Zhang accepted this script; in my opinion, it's not worth investing in," Chen Shou said, shaking his head.

Mr. La's expression was not very pleasant. He felt that he had kindly invited Chen Shouzhe to join the project in order to improve their relationship, but he did not expect that Chen Shouzhe would not give him any face at all and would reject the script as worthless.

This made him feel embarrassed, but luckily there was no one else there, otherwise he would have been in a difficult position.

If Chen Shouzhe knew what he was thinking, he would probably laugh. He wouldn't say these things if there were outsiders present.

“Alright, since you’re not planning to submit, I won’t force you. I heard you’re going to America after the New Year?” La Dong’s eyes lit up again. There was a very clear entry on his resume: “2012”.

This most profitable co-production in history was negotiated by him and Chen Shouzhe when they went to the United States. Since then, Chen Shouzhe has become famous internationally, and his three disaster films with Columbia Pictures have created box office miracles. Unfortunately, they were unable to participate in the latter two films, and only Chen Shouzhe and Columbia Pictures made money.

La Dong naturally hopes that there will be more and more films like this. As long as it is a co-production, China Film Group wants to get involved, and he can also make a fortune.

"We need to go and coordinate some business." Chen Shou nodded.

Are there any new projects?

"I don't know right now, we'll talk about it when the time comes."

"Then I'll wait for your good news."

Chen Shou nodded without saying anything, made an excuse to leave China Film Group, and looked back at the company from the car. He knew that there would be less and less cooperation with China Film Group in the future. It wasn't that he wanted to monopolize the film industry, but the film market was changing rapidly. Internet companies were starting to get involved, and even big real estate companies were getting in.

With the phenomenal success of The Martian, a film that grossed over six billion dollars worldwide, countless companies would be drooling over it. Chen Shouzhe doesn't need to calculate how much money he made; netizens have already started calculating it for him.

A company that isn't publicly listed earns far more than publicly listed companies; who wouldn't be envious?

Chen Shouzhe is not even thirty years old yet, but he is already hailed as a self-made billionaire with a net worth of billions.

Even CCTV approached him, hoping he could appear on a program.

Chen Shouzhe didn't want to go up, so why should he go up and say he didn't like money?
He likes money, women, and many other things. There's no need for him to be so hypocritical, so he doesn't want to be on any shows.

It would be much better to just stay put, develop your own career, make your own movies, and earn your own money.

It's not even 2015 yet, and countless internet companies have already announced their entry into the film and television industry, causing both things to become increasingly expensive.

One is literary works. The era of big IP pioneered by Alibaba has led countless film and television companies to pursue big IPs. Look at Guo Jingming's movies, he can make four films and earn so much money. Who wouldn't be envious?

Therefore, adaptations of literary works are very interesting, as they already have a fan base. As a result, literary works are expensive, and many novels that are worth adapting have become highly sought after, driving up their prices.

Tencent, which had taken the lead in developing its literary works, established a literature website and launched an acquisition of the largest website, which is expected to be acquired next year.

Besides that, there's something else that's getting more and more expensive.

Those are actors. Actors' salaries have skyrocketed, with each one asking for exorbitant prices. Even Chen Shou couldn't understand why these people had become so expensive.

Chen Shouzhe found it unbelievable. His company didn't have an artist department. If these people were really asking for such prices, he would rather not make movies and let them go to hell.

The entire film and television industry is filled with a restless atmosphere, as if making a movie is enough to earn more than 4 billion yuan at the box office, returning to the era of coal bosses.

They even became superstitious about certain people, started calling him "Dad," and believed whatever he said. If he said they would definitely succeed, they would succeed.

A big IP, a large fan base, and a big director are all it takes to make a good movie; they can even make a good movie without a director.

Chen Shou was just waiting to see how they died. There were quite a few people who came to him, even those who were as stupid as idiots. They would ask for Journey to the West, Ghost Blows Out the Light, and Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, acting as if they didn't care about money.

Chen Shouzhe didn't stand on ceremony. He said, "Journey to the West is worth 10 billion, Ghost Blows Out the Light is worth 5 billion, and Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio isn't finished yet, it has more than 400 chapters, each chapter is worth 10 million, that's more than 4 billion. Take it if you want."

Upon hearing Chen Shouzhe's offer, they all left Shouzhe Film Studio cursing and swearing like cowards. Who's the fool? No matter how nicely they talk, they're just trying to get something for nothing.

Even Jack Ma contacted him, saying he really liked Journey to the West and hoped he could part with it.

Chen Shouzhe expressed his honor at his appreciation, but said, "You're talking about copyright? I have 10 billion. Take it or leave it. If you want it, buy it. If you don't, don't pretend. Who can't pretend these days? You don't like money, but I do?"

During this period, Chen Shouzhe earned a nickname: "the stone of the latrine, both smelly and hard."

Chen Shouzhe didn't hold back either. In response to the title, he said, "If he's the stone in the latrine, then you're the s in the latrine."

(End of this chapter)