Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 25 Investment, Going to the US

After the National Day holiday, the box office revenue indeed plummeted by more than half, leaving only 2364 million yuan. Chen Shouzhe has already stopped promoting the film, since he has already made a profit.

An investment of 100 million can yield a return of 500 million, and with copyright issues overseas, it can make a lot of money.

There's nothing we can do about the current box office performance. This is the first time we've been so suppressed and targeted. It's true that competitors are enemies.

The person who insulted Chen Shouzhe is still working as a "famous director" in the association, while the association criticizes Chen Shouzhe for not understanding the rules.

“We’ll find ways to deal with them later. Getting angry won’t help. Let’s put the second part on hold for a while and talk about company matters first.” Chen said, sitting in front of Tao Le.

“As you said, we have already started to expand our recruitment and prepare our own team. After all, using equipment from other companies is a problem, but purchasing equipment is a huge investment, and there are many places where we need to spend money,” Tao Le said.

"It's still a problem of not having enough money, right?" Chen Shou said.

“Yes.” Tao Le nodded.

The company's finances are all publicly visible. It only has two movies. The investment in the first one wasn't much. Chen Shouzhe invested all his earnings, including copyright dividends, into the company. The company is registered for ten million, all of which goes to Chen Shouzhe. Tao Le himself also receives a salary, and it's not low.

Now that the company has released its second film, and it is expected to earn 100 million, the company's subsequent expansion, especially in terms of equipment, will likely exceed 100 million.

"How about we take out a loan?" Chen Shouzhe suggested after thinking for a moment.

“That’s one way. We can take out a loan to buy equipment first, and then use the money from the film’s revenue sharing to continue operating the company. Banks are usually quite willing to lend to us,” Tao Le said.

"How much can we borrow from the bank?" Chen Shou asked.

“We’ll know that once the bank assesses us,” Tao Le said.

"Please contact the bank and borrow as much as you can," Chen Shou said.

"Do you need the money so urgently?"

Tao Le believes that Chen Shouzhe only needs to work steadily and surely. He directs and makes his own movies, earning tens of millions a year, and now he has earned over 100 million. He is not envious of Chen Shouzhe, so why should he borrow money to run a company?

“Yes, there are still many filming plans to follow. I need to expand our company team. Currently, we are still lacking a lot of talent. Also, I need to use the profit share to do other things,” Chen Shou said.

“Okay, the company is yours. I’ll do as you say. The box office revenue sharing won’t be coming in anytime soon, but we can borrow some from Enlight Media and Wanda Media if you need it urgently,” Tao Le said.

Chen Shou's eyes lit up, and he nodded, saying, "It's not impossible. You go and coordinate with the bank, and I'll go out for a bit."

Tao Le saw Chen Shouzhe off and, seeing Chen Shouzhe leave in a hurry, sighed and went to the bank to borrow money as Chen Shouzhe had suggested.

Chen Shouzhe came to Enlight Media and directly stated his purpose: could Enlight Media advance 30% of the film's profits?

Wang Changtian was somewhat surprised by Chen Shouzhe's purpose and shook his head, saying, "The movie hasn't finished its run yet, and Enlight Media has a lot of projects going on lately, so we can't come up with that much money to cover for you."

"Okay, I'll ask Wanda." Chen Shouzhe left Guangmang and headed straight for Wanda next door. Compared to Guangmang, Wanda was much more straightforward. They made money with Chen Shouzhe on two movies, and Chen Shouzhe put the movie profits on their side. They weren't afraid that Chen Shouzhe would run away. They could take out 100 million yuan as soon as they wanted, acting like they had plenty of money.

They weren't afraid of Chen Shouzhe running away at all. They were a theater chain, and they were there when the money was distributed. They could have taken Chen Shouzhe's share first and maybe even made some money.

Chen Shouzhe's account had an extra 100 million yuan, which he first invested in two inconspicuous companies on the market.

Chen Shouzhe was a transmigrator from another world. Although the two worlds were different, and he didn't come from the future, he remembered the patterns of development and knew that the next big thing would be short video companies. He became an angel investor and, through intermediaries, invested in two news portals.

The power to control the narrative is too important, and now is not the time for him to enter the market with Weibo. Perhaps only major internet companies can make a strong entry.

Chen Shouzhe didn't expect much from that. He chose two news portals, and both of them seemed to have plans to develop short videos. Their investment reports mentioned short video plans in response to the widespread adoption of smartphones.

Chen Shou invested in it in advance, although he didn't know if it would be successful in the future. As things stand, he invested tens of millions of yuan, but he might not get a single penny in the future.

With the remaining money, he used Tao Le's connections to acquire a small company across the ocean, and through this company, he registered a large number of screenplay copyrights.

Chen Shouzhe was almost always busy with company affairs. The loan application from the bank was finally approved. The bank conducted an investigation and gained a deeper understanding of their company before finally approving a loan of 100 million yuan at the end of the year.

The loan was used for the company's expansion and equipment purchases.

Before the Chinese New Year, the company had already completed its expansion and recruitment. All personnel and equipment were in place, so there was no need to borrow equipment from others or go to other companies for post-production work. The company had recruited a group of employees in screenwriting, editing, lighting, and other related fields.

The company suddenly transformed from a small accounting studio into a large-scale production company, ready to make a big splash.

After the New Year, Chen Shouzhe took a plane to the other side of the ocean. Last year, he used his own money to acquire a small company, which cost only a few hundred thousand US dollars.

"boss?"

When Chen got off the plane in the US, he saw a middle-aged man with a Chinese face waving to him.

“Lusen?” Chen Shou asked.

"It's me," the man nodded.

Lu Sen, Chen Shouzhe's agent at the American company, is also Chen Shouzhe's senior. He graduated from the Department of Management at Beijing Film Academy and later came to work in the United States as a professional agent.

Chen Shouzhe registered all the scripts he had written over the past year here. This time, Chen Shouzhe came here because one of his scripts was noticed by an American company during the registration process.

“I didn’t expect it to really be you, Chen Shouzhe. There’s no one else in the country but you as a top director.” Lu Sen and Chen Shouzhe shook hands.

“Some films might not be suitable for filming in China, but are more suitable abroad, which is why I registered those scripts through you. They are all scripts I’ve accumulated over the years,” Chen Shou said.

“You’re a genius. I’m certain now that those scripts attracted the attention of several companies when I registered them. Many people were interested in them, and Columbia Pictures thought one of them was good and wanted to talk to you about it,” Lu Sen said.

“That is indeed a good movie, after all, this year is a good year,” Chen Shou said with a smile.

“Yes, if it can be released this year, it will definitely be a great movie.” Lu Sen nodded.

Lu Sen drove Chen Shou into the town of Hollywood, where their company was located. It was a one-story company, and apart from the equipment and a few maintenance staff, there were hardly any people left.

However, this company was originally a special effects company, and still retains a lot of special effects equipment and talent. Chen Shouzhe looked at them with his eyes green, making them think that Chen Shouzhe was a person with special fetishes. One of the skinny white men even licked his lips.

Still jet-lagged, Chen Shouzhe arrived at Columbia the next day, accompanied by Lu Sen. Actually, it wasn't just them who were interested in the script; other companies were as well, but Columbia was the first company to invite Chen Shouzhe to discuss the matter.

(End of this chapter)