Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 316 Making Money from Movies Isn't Good

What is a surprise?

This is what you call a surprise. I brought my daughter out to play, and we ran into a bunch of annoying people just to have a meal.

Wang Zonglei and Feng Xiaogang, a vice chairman of Alibaba, are people who don't associate with each other. Chen Shouzhe didn't see that Wang Zonglei and Feng Xiaogang came up to greet him, nor did the other vice chairman of Alibaba. They had no relationship with each other, so naturally they wouldn't come up to greet him. Chen Shouzhe didn't expect that Song Ge would take the initiative to come up to him.

It's likely that Wang Zonglei and the others had already seen Chen Shouzhe. Chen Shouzhe was walking ahead, and they didn't want to greet him, waiting for him to go inside. But unexpectedly, Song Ge went up to greet him.

This put everyone in an awkward position; greeting them was one thing, not greeting them was another.

Chen Shouzhe is a completely different person now. The crosstalk performer they used to criticize is now a giant who can influence the domestic film and television industry. In comparison, Huayi is becoming increasingly weak. Feng Xiaogang may have received a large sum of money, but he also signed a five-year performance guarantee, and he has now picked up his phone again.

They're a shameless bunch who'd do anything for money. Even if Chen Shou saw them, he wouldn't greet them. They're not even on the same level anymore.

A polite greeting is a gesture of respect, not an invitation from me to greet you.

Song Ge has a powerful background, and Chen Shouzhe will not easily offend him.

Some people are above the rules, but they just don't dare to be too obvious about it.

There are quite a few people like this in the entertainment industry. The Beijing entertainment circle was formed by those same people, and they weren't even the top ones. The truly top ones are very well hidden.

Chen Shouzhe had met a few such people. In fact, they were all easy to approach in private, but how to put it, their way of making money was not through their own abilities.

Song Ge was definitely not one of them; he was just one of their underlings, and his job was to do laundry.

Chen Shouzhe and he had no connection, but he had approached Chen Shouzhe many times, hoping to invest in Chen Shouzhe's movies. As for how to invest, as long as Chen Shouzhe nodded, he would immediately receive a large sum of money, and it wouldn't matter even if the movie lost money.

Does this operation look familiar?

Chen Shou was trying his best to avoid contact with them, as he didn't need to get too close to them given his current size.

"Director Chen, we just happened to run into you. How about I treat you to a meal? Come and join us," Song Ge said with a smile.

"No need, I'm just out with my child, so I won't bother you any longer, Mr. Song. I'll treat you to a drink another day," Chen Shou said with a smile.

"Alright then, your daughter is really beautiful, she looks a lot like her mother." Song Ge naturally knew that Chen Shouzhe's daughter's mother was Yang Mi, and he complimented her.

"Call him Uncle Song," Chen Shouzhe said to the little girl.

"Hello, Uncle." The little girl had seen many people before and was not shy at all. She greeted Song Ge in a clear and cheerful voice.

"Hello there, what's your name?" Song Ge squatted down and asked with a smile.

“Chen Caiyu,” the little girl said.

"That sounds beautiful. Uncle will bring you a gift next time." Song Ge patted the child's head and stood up.

"I won't bother Chairman Song any longer," Chen Shou said.

"Okay, let's get together another day." Song Ge nodded, watching Chen Shouzhe enter the private room before turning to walk over to Wang Zonglei and the others. The hatred between Chen Shouzhe and Hua Yi had reached a point where there was no need for pretense. They might be polite at banquets, but in private, they would never speak to each other again. Chen Shouzhe didn't want to deal with them, and they didn't want to curry favor with him.

Wang Zonglei had been ridiculed by Chen Shouzhe in front of many people several times, and now Huayi doesn't have much confidence when facing Chen Shouzhe.

Song Ge returned to his private room, and Feng Xiaogang and the others did not say anything.

"What's wrong with you guys? It can't be that serious," Song Ge said with a smile, looking at their expressions.

“I’m not familiar with him, Xiao Gang. Aren’t you on good terms with his godfather?” Alibaba’s vice chairman said with a smile.

"Friendships are personal matters. He and I are still competitors, and as for the Ghost Blows Out the Light incident..." Feng Xiaogang didn't finish his sentence, but everyone present understood.

Huayi fired the first shot, crippling Chen Shouzhe's Ghost Blows Out the Light series and cutting off a billion-dollar IP film project. Chen Shouzhe hated them to the bone. It was good enough that they didn't fight each other openly; behind the scenes, they would try to kill each other at any opportunity.

Wang Zonglei, still smiling, said, "That's the trend of the times, and it has nothing to do with us. His movie itself has questionable values, so what does it have to do with us?"

"It's all in the past, but so much money is indeed troublesome. It's a pity. It would be so great if he could cooperate with us. He's currently the most profitable company in the country. It's a pity we can't participate. I really like Journey to the West." Song Ge smiled.

Alibaba's vice chairman's smile vanished instantly. One second he was gloating over Huayi being targeted, and the next second it was about Alibaba. Everyone in the film and television industry knew that Alibaba had wanted the Journey to the West IP for a long time, but Chen Shouzhe never gave them a chance. As a result, Alibaba's entertainment division made a lot of noise, but didn't achieve any results. However, they still made a profit, since it was too easy to harvest韭菜 (a metaphor for easily exploited people). It was just that Zhao Yanzi was unlucky.

"I heard that there are more than eight production companies involved in Operation Red Sea," said Alibaba's vice chairman.

"So many?" Feng Xiaogang was somewhat surprised. Although his films didn't lack investment and didn't need eight companies, the fact that they were mainstream commercial films with special backgrounds made them very important to certain companies. With this connection, it would be much easier to make films on certain themes in the future.

Look at Chen Shouzhe, his relationship with several departments is now excellent, and even some big shots know about it.

After all, his two patriotic films are excellent patriotic education materials, which are very meaningful for conscription.

Even at some conferences, some bigwigs have pointed out the educational significance of the film.

Other companies have also produced patriotic films, but they have achieved very little success. In particular, the son of a high-ranking official from Huayi Brothers, who made a terrible film, has become a laughing stock. Even the higher-ups have expressed their dissatisfaction with him, which has made Kongyi very anxious and eager to break the deadlock.

With Chen Shouzhe's good reputation, the movie will definitely not lose money. In fact, Chen Shouzhe himself is a true patriot, and many people know that he is very patriotic.

It is said that the new leader in the US is somewhat dissatisfied with him, feeling that Chen is making money in their country while spreading the good things about China.

This year's Oscars may be a bit tough; everyone's waiting to see Chen Shouzhe make a fool of himself.

"Currently, we know of eight companies: Emperor Entertainment, Tencent, Secret, Xi'an Film Studio, Golden Shield, Haiyi, as well as Shouzhe Pictures (owned by Chen Shouzhe) and Wanda Pictures (in which he holds shares)," said Alibaba's vice chairman.

“These are all companies with considerable strength, and they all have a good relationship with him. However, surprisingly, neither China Film Group nor Shanghai Film Group has a place this time.” Song Ge counted the production companies and did not find China Film Group or Shanghai Film Group. Moreover, each of them was weak. Even the weakest one, Secret Company, was a listed company and was fully capable of independently producing this film.

"His movies are making too much money." Song Ge said something that most people didn't understand.

The others present understood: some movies don't need to make money, and many of the movies and TV series produced never even get released. Do these movies lose money? Perhaps not.

(End of this chapter)