Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 248 Another premiere, red envelopes
Several consecutive films have proven one thing: Chen Shouzhe's films are indeed profitable.

Other film companies could only watch him make money as Yang Mi's movie was about to be released.

The film was released on Qixi Festival, August 28th, and the premiere was on the 19th at the Wanda Cinema in the capital.

Yang Mi has accumulated a lot of connections over the years. As her company's first film, she attaches great importance to it and has sent invitations to many people in the industry.

Chen Shouzhe receives a ton of invitations every year, but he only attends a very small number of them. He chooses to ignore most of them or have Zhong Lifan go in his place.

Jianghu is not about fighting and killing; Jianghu is about human relations.

Many people value face, but according to the education Chen Shou received from childhood, there is another very important way of survival in the martial arts world.

People lift each other up.

If you give me a hand today, making me feel a little more important and confident when I speak, I'll give you a hand tomorrow, so you can also have status and position.

If you belittle me, I'll belittle you back. Besides, in these circles, reputation is sometimes more important than money.

Even if you have money, I won't include you.

A family that suddenly becomes rich cannot be a long-established family.

The connections and relationships built up by a prominent family over at least three generations far exceed what ordinary people can imagine.

If you help me out today, I'll help you out tomorrow; that's how people support each other in the martial arts world.

Given Chen Shou's current status in the film industry, he would be given a hand at any director's premiere, even if it were Zhang Yimou's movie premiere.

Similarly, Zhang Yimou attended his premiere and helped him out, showing mutual support.

Yang Mi's movie has attracted a lot of buyers. Even without counting Chen Shouzhe, she is already becoming a major player in the industry. Her company will soon be listed on the stock exchange, and it all depends on how well this movie performs.

Chen Shouzhe was dragged over by Yang Mi early on. Not only him, but also Guo Yu, Yue Yunpeng and some actors from Deyun Society, as well as directors, Jiang Wen who owed a favor, would definitely come, and Xu Zheng, Huang Bo, Wu Jing and Wuershan who had just finished filming "The Divine Doctor".

Among the A-list celebrities are Li Baibing, Huang Xiaoming, Zhang Hanyu, Zhou Xun, and Chen Kun, all of whom have close relationships with Chen Shouzhe.

The premiere was quite large. For her company's first film, she invited almost everyone she could. Ren Zhonglun from the film company also came, which surprised Chen Shouzhe. In addition, there was Yu Dong from Bona Film Group, Huo Wenxi from Emperor Entertainment Group, the chairman of Xinli, and so on.

Even Chen Shouzhe was surprised. Unbeknownst to him, Yang Mi had accumulated such a vast network of connections through his connections. Not to mention other celebrities and artists, many of whom Chen Shouzhe couldn't name but seemed to recognize from their work.

"Wow, so many people!" Chen Shouzhe arrived a bit late; when he walked in, the room was already full of people.

"It's all out of respect for you," Yang Mi said.

"It's even bigger than Wu Jing's movie premiere." Chen Shou smiled.

"The box office..."

"Don't overthink it. With the right timing, location, and people, as long as we don't lose money, the movie will be a success, and your company can go public smoothly," Chen Shou said.

"You're talking like it has nothing to do with you. Where's Caiyu?" "You still want to bring her here? Unless she can take over everything from me, I won't let her expose herself too much."

For the first time, Yang Mi envied her daughter. Chen Shou was truly determined to give everything to his daughter, proving himself to be a doting father.

When Chen Shou entered, a large group of people greeted him. Wu Jing's side was surrounded by a crowd of people, many of whom came uninvited. His movie was still showing in theaters, and those who came to see him were naturally executives from various film and television companies.

Ren Zhonglun was chatting with him, Wang Changtian was standing there, and Vice Chairman Wang from China Film Group had come. When he saw Chen Shouzhe, he waved. In addition, Huo Wenxi, Yu Dong and others were in that circle.

The A-list celebrities present could only watch; that was the investors' circle. Perhaps only directors could catch their eye. The actors formed their own circle, and they knew each other because of Chen Shouzhe.

However, Chen Shouzhe noticed that Zhou Xun had a relatively better relationship with Chen Kun and Yan Danchen. On Li Baibing's side, Huang Xiaoming, Zhang Hanyu, and the other actors were probably from Huayi Brothers. Li Baibing was one of the "Double Bing" and Zhou Xun was one of the "Four Dan". They had worked together before, but their relationship wasn't very good.

As Yang Mi continued to call out to the people who came, Chen Shouzhe was about to go over to talk to Vice Chairman Wang when suddenly a burly man with a full beard appeared and grabbed Chen Shouzhe.

"I've called you so many times, do you really dislike me that much?" Jiang Wen said, hugging Chen Shou.

"Aren't you filming a movie lately? How come you have time to come out?" Chen Shou rolled his eyes at him.

“You can’t be filming movies every day. Are you on vacation lately? I’ve asked you to visit the set when you have time, but you’re too lazy to go. You’re just in Huairou. I see you’re going to Xiaoxiaomeng every day. Come over sometime.” Jiang Wen said.

"I don't have time, I still have a ton of work to do," Chen Shou said, refusing.

"You really don't think much of my movie?" Jiang Wen frowned. It had been almost half a year since their last meeting ended badly. The movie had been approved and was almost finished filming, but Chen Shou still didn't want to meet with him. This made him very depressed and doubted whether the movie was even viable.

However, this thought only lingered in his mind for a second. He was Jiang Wen, how could he not do it?

"Watch closely, but if you're eating it all by yourself, there's nothing I can do," Chen Shou said, shrugging.

"You should have said so earlier! Next time you mention it, I'll definitely save some for you. But you should also save some of your projects for me. I'm so envious of Wu Jing's movies. Damn it, how come you make money so easily? How much money do you actually have now?" Jiang Wen said.

"Enough to spend."

"..."

Jiang Wen walked over to Wu Jing's side, which helped him out of the predicament. When they saw Chen Shouzhe coming over, a group of people pulled Chen Shouzhe aside to chat. They were all people who had worked with him before. However, the fact that Wang Zonglei also came made Chen Shouzhe very unhappy.

The movie started playing, and then the main creators came on stage. Chen Shouzhe, as the screenwriter and the main interviewer, also came on stage and was pushed to a position in the center of the stage.

The interviewer was Xie Nan. Before Xie Nan could even ask a question, Chen Shouzhe picked up the microphone and laughed, "An interview with the wife of a director worth 5 billion yuan feels like holding a golden microphone."

"My husband works for you, so remember to pay him a generous salary." Xie Nan covered her mouth and chuckled, then picked up the microphone and retorted to Chen Shouzhe.

“No problem, I’ll definitely give your husband a super red envelope after the movie finishes showing.” Chen Shouzhe nodded. He meant it sincerely. In fact, it wasn’t just Wu Jing. After Huang Bo’s movie finished showing in May and broke 10 billion yuan at the box office, Chen Shouzhe also gave him a big red envelope. Huang Bo declined a few times but finally accepted it. Chen Shouzhe had given him one before for the first movie.

Wuershan, Guo Fan and the others also received large red envelopes. Chen Shouzhe was never stingy with them, and even Jiang Wen made up for it back then.

The only director I've never given a red envelope to is Stephen Chow. It's mainly because he's too greedy. If I give him a red envelope, he'll think it's his due. So I simply don't give him one, and I won't in the future either, otherwise he'll hold a grudge. It's better to handle things officially.

(End of this chapter)