1979: The child's mother is a celestial being.

Chapter 153 $101 Million (Please Subscribe!)

"Director Chen, Director Ling Zi, how did it go? How many deals were closed?" Seeing that the negotiations were over, Xu Xiangdong and the others who had not participated in the negotiations immediately surrounded them curiously.

The reason they asked this question is that "The Cotton Robe" is only being screened and there is no question of winning awards. In addition, this kind of copyright transaction is a one-off deal. In fact, the first negotiation is the easiest to reach an agreement, since everyone's time is quite valuable.

But Chen Fusheng's next answer seemed to pour cold water on everyone's enthusiasm.

“One order!” he said.

Upon hearing that there was only one order, many people showed skeptical expressions.

Even renowned director Chen Huaikai raised questions: "How can there only be one order? I saw that everyone's reaction during the movie was quite good!"

Lingzi didn't keep them in suspense any longer and stepped forward to explain.

"There was indeed only one deal, but in this one deal we sold all the overseas rights for Asia, for $101 million!"

Upon hearing what had happened, everyone suddenly understood and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh my god, that scared me to death! I thought we wouldn't be able to sell them."

"Yes, I was wondering how it could have only sold one order. Turns out it was a big order, so it's acceptable."

"Indeed, so Director Lingzi, with whom did you deal this?"

“Toho International in Japan,” Lingzi replied.

"I heard that Japan's economy is now the second largest in the world, second only to the United States. They really are rich!" Fu Jinggong said enviously.

Zhang Guorong then asked a question: "Since the Asian copyrights have all been sold, what about the Western countries?"

"It wasn't sold."

"why?"

“Their offer was too low,” Ling Zi said honestly.

The reason for this phenomenon is that there are no martial arts films in the European and American markets. In addition, the differences between Eastern and Western cultures make importing them risky. Therefore, even European and American film companies that thought "The Cotton Robe" was pretty good did not dare to take the risk!

Comparatively speaking, Asian countries, influenced by Confucian culture, are able to understand "The Cotton Robe," which is one of the reasons why Toho International of Japan was willing to spend $101 million to acquire the overseas rights to the film in Asia.

Yes, one of them.

Another reason was to acquire Chen Fusheng's "The Devotion of Suspect X".

Several Japanese film distributors are very optimistic about the film's box office performance in Japan.

So it's not just Dongbao International that wants it; several of its competitors also want to compete for it.

And the key point is, they're all fucking rich.

Therefore, Toho International had no choice but to pledge its loyalty by acquiring "The Cotton Robe".

Then they signed a contract with Chen Fusheng to give him priority in purchasing his films, in order to ensure their own invincibility.

The so-called priority contract means that, under the same conditions, Chen Fusheng is required to sell the film to Toho International first.

This was no loss for Chen Fusheng; on the contrary, he made the most money. Besides, it didn't matter who he sold to, so he was naturally happy to see it happen.

It's a bit of a shame that they don't sell well in Europe and America.

Chen Fusheng plans to arrange another screening of "The Cotton Robe" during the last few days of the film festival. He intends to sell it even if European and American countries offer a lower price.

Every bit of money you earn is worth it.

Three days later, Chen Fusheng and Warner Bros.' representative, Karina, sat down at the negotiating table again.

"Mr. Chen, the company headquarters has agreed to your proposed cooperation on distribution, but we still need to discuss some details carefully."

"That's wonderful. Thank you, Ms. Karina, and thank you to your company for making the right choice. This will definitely be a win-win situation."

These past few days, Chen Fusheng had been waiting for news, not just from Warner Bros., but also from other major Hollywood studios. He had a gut feeling that Karina would bring him good news, and now it seemed his intuition was right.

“I hope so too. Does Mr. Chen still stand by the terms he agreed to last time?” Karina asked.

"What conditions?"

“Selling me the North American rights to your film ‘The Devotion of Suspect X’ for $300 million is the foundation and trust upon which our future collaboration is based,” Karina said. “Of course I won’t go back on my word, but I remember Ms. Karina saying that if my film wins an award at this film festival, you would add up to $400 million, right?”

“I’m talking about the highest possible amount. To be frank, it would only be if Mr. Chen’s film won the Golden Bear Award that I would increase the amount to 400 million.”

"Sure, but isn't your company interested in film rights outside of North America? For example, in Europe, or Australia?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Chen, our company's distribution business has not yet expanded globally; it is currently mainly concentrated in North America."

Warner Bros. does have the capability to expand internationally, but Karina felt that "The Devotion of Suspect X" was not worth releasing globally, hence her statement.

Of course, Chen Fusheng was not disappointed by this, because he was not worried about no one buying his film.

Next, the two talked for a long time about the film's distribution, and finally reached a result that satisfied both parties.

In other words, within two years, Warner Bros. needs to help Oriental Film Exports distribute three films in North America.

As we all know, distribution and promotion are inseparable.

Just like how even the best wine needs to be advertised.

If a movie isn't promoted before its release, no matter how good it is, if the audience doesn't know about it, who will buy a ticket to see it?

However, publicity is expensive, so it's impossible for every movie to have the same level of publicity before its release.

It is graded.

From highest to lowest, they are divided into: S-level, A-level, B-level, and C-level.

S-level resources correspond to blockbuster films created by top directors and A-list stars, which are then promoted globally.

Category A resources are mainly given to combinations of well-known directors and A-list stars, with the North American market being the core.

Category B resources are films targeted at specific audiences, such as horror films and comedies.
The lowest-tier C-level resources are art films or niche movies.

Chen Fusheng is naturally very familiar with the Hollywood model, so when discussing distribution, he cannot only talk about distribution, but also about publicity resources.

If they don't negotiate, and Warner Bros. tries to sabotage him by only giving his movie a C-level rating, even if he manages to make Avatar, it will likely flop.

Of course, the talks are over now.

He received one Grade A bag and two Grade B bags.

The A-level package is definitely reserved for "Die Hard". As for the two B-level packages, his "The Man from Earth" will take one, and the remaining one depends on how quickly or slowly Han Sanping's "Hachiko" is filmed.

"Mr. Chen, I wish us a pleasant cooperation!"

After both parties signed the agreement, Karina took the initiative to shake hands with Chen Fusheng.

"Happy cooperation!"

Chen Fusheng continued, "I also have a small request, I wonder if it would be convenient for Miss Karina."

"you say?"

"It's like this, I haven't found a role for a foreign language professor who's Christian in my next film yet. Could you please, Ms. Karina, help me find a white actress in the US, aged between 30 and 50?"

After saying that, Chen Fusheng suddenly thought of something and quickly added, "Oh, and also, they don't need to be too famous, because the fees we offer won't be too high."

Karina had been mentally searching for all the big stars Chen Fusheng was looking for, but after hearing his last sentence, she had to stop searching, feeling both amused and exasperated.

After inquiring about the requirements in more detail, he nodded and said:
"Okay, Mr. Chen, I will help you find someone after we return to China."

"Thank you!"

……

On the third-to-last day of the film festival, Chen Fusheng arranged a second screening of "The Cotton Robe". He did sell some of the copyrights, but the results were not ideal.

Chen Huaikai's "The Broken Jade Gate" also didn't sell well; apart from some countries buying it for art research, it was basically ignored.

The good news is that that afternoon, Chen Fusheng received a call from the organizing committee, inviting his film, along with Chen Huaikai's film, to attend the awards ceremony the day after tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)