I am a historical film director in the entertainment industry.

Chapter 34 Returning to China
The third distribution company is Columbia Pictures, which holds a significant position in the American film market and possesses a rich film library and a wide distribution network.

It sells, distributes, and promotes film products in the United States and 67 countries and regions worldwide.

The company produced and distributed classic films such as "It Happened One Night", "The Bridge on the River Kwai", "Lawrence of Arabia", the "Spider-Man" series, and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".

Cheng Sheng sold it for $1000 million.

Columbia originally offered $600 million, which was lower than the offers from other companies.

But Cheng Sheng took out a cassette tape and let the Colombian distributor listen to a song. The Colombian distributor immediately made the decision and bought the distribution rights for the Americas for $1000 million.

As for what piece of music...

Of course, it's "The Qin King's Battle Song".

Cheng Sheng didn't have time to add this piece to the film, nor was it ever played in Venice.

It wasn't that Cheng Sheng didn't want to, but the piece was completed too late; it was still in production when it was submitted to the Venice Film Festival.

When I came out, the film festival awards ceremony had just begun.

Fortunately, there was no Best Music award at the awards ceremony, otherwise Cheng Sheng would have lost out big time.

The purpose of releasing the music this time is to increase the price of the film's overseas distribution rights.

The music of "Qin King's Battle Song" is truly devastating.

Cheng Sheng still remembers how the Columbia distributor grabbed his arm excitedly after listening to the tape, as if he wanted to snatch it away.

Left with no other option, Cheng Sheng had another copy made and delivered it to the Columbia Publishing Company.

Aside from Japan and China, Cheng Sheng handed over the distribution rights for the remaining Southeast Asian countries to Huanya.

Media Asia was founded in 1994 by seven Hong Kong film professionals.

Media Asia Films is known for producing high-quality films. The company has not only achieved excellent box office results, but has also won numerous international film festival awards.

In Southeast Asia, Media Asia Films has a significant distribution advantage, and many Hong Kong films are distributed by Media Asia.

So Cheng Sheng decided to offer $300 million to give Media Asia the Southeast Asian distribution rights, excluding China and Japan.

Cheng Sheng ultimately sold the overseas copyrights for a total of $2650.

At that time, the exchange rate against the US dollar was around 8.2, which means that the sale amounted to more than 217 million.

This doesn't even include domestic box office revenue!

This is real money in hand, earning back all the money invested at once, and even more than a small goal.

They made a killing!

No wonder so many people in China want to participate in the three major European awards.

According to Cheng Sheng, the overseas distribution rights for the film "Hero" were sold for only US$2100.

Cheng Sheng easily surpassed him and even made an extra five million US dollars.

If this gets back to China, it will definitely cause a stir in the entertainment industry.

Cheng Sheng's trip to Venice was a resounding success.

With a Golden Lion Award, two Best Actor awards, and a Best Newcomer award, and overseas rights sold for a very satisfactory price, Cheng Sheng felt that his first foray into the entertainment industry was a great success.

Now all that's left is to return to China and arrange the domestic premiere. There's no rush, since he already made arrangements with Han Sanye for the domestic distribution to be handled by China Film Group.

The trip to Venice has come to a successful end, and it's time for Cheng Sheng to return home.

Before leaving, Cheng Sheng invited Scarlett to dinner to thank her for her help.

After dinner, Cheng Sheng gave Scarlett a gift.

"Cheng, you're too kind."

Scarlett accepted the gift from Cheng Sheng, her hand unconsciously touching the box, her face beaming with excitement. The gift wasn't expensive, but it was Scarlett's favorite.

A copy of "The History of the Tang Dynasty" and a cassette tape of "The Music of the King of Qin Breaking the Enemy's Formation".

It's not easy to buy books on Chinese history in Venice; Cheng Sheng had them brought to him by someone in China.

Scarlett hugged Cheng Sheng briefly before letting go.

This was just a polite hug, without any romantic feelings involved, and Cheng Sheng understood this as well.

Although he had been with Scarlett these past few days, they were just friends.

"I'm glad you're happy. I'm flying back to China tomorrow. What about you?"

Cheng Sheng asked Scarlett.

“I have two hours left, Cheng. You must remember what you promised me,” Scarlett said with a smile.

“No problem, cooperating with you is something I’d like to do too.” Cheng Sheng smiled generously.

"I'll be going now, I'll wait for your good news," Scarlett said, waving.

"OK."

Scarlett has returned to the United States.

Cheng Sheng also boarded a plane back to China the next day.

Before coming to Venice, Cheng Sheng was somewhat famous in China, but not for a good reason. Most people hated him and thought his movies were unreliable.

But things are different now. He's now a director who won the Golden Lion Award, and the media has been wanting to interview him for a long time.

It's a pity he stayed in Venice and didn't return home.

During this trip back to China, Cheng Sheng did not hide his travel itinerary.

The domestic media must have found out by now.

After getting off the plane, I will definitely be surrounded by domestic media.

Although Cheng Sheng had expected it, he was still stunned when he saw the media reporters surrounding him after getting off the plane.

Won't there be too many people?

Then reacted.

Although the internet is booming, most of these journalists still rely on print media. They are all legitimate reporters, many of whom are employed by the government!

Unlike those ruthless paparazzi I remember, this person is more restrained.

Moreover, Cheng Sheng also saw a CCTV reporter.

Is this what the Golden Lion brand is all about?
The last person in the entertainment industry to be treated like this seems to be Zhang Guoshi.

Cheng Sheng never expected that he would receive the same treatment as Zhang Guoshi.

"Hello, Director Cheng, this is Li Hong, a reporter from CCTV. Congratulations on capturing the lion in Venice. Could you share your feelings with the national audience at this moment?"

Cheng Sheng's expression turned awkward. Having absorbed another person's memories, his perspective had broadened considerably. He found the interview questions from the beautiful reporter Li Hong a bit embarrassing!

This is way too formal. He's not a leader, so why is he sharing his feelings?

As a gesture of respect to the CCTV reporter, Cheng Sheng addressed the microphone, saying, "I'm just a young man, not as composed as the older generation. Speaking of my feelings, I'm certainly very excited. Since filming began, I've been very nervous, wondering if the audience will like this type of film..."

"Many people see history as a very heavy and incredibly dry subject, and few directors would venture into this type of film, but I've loved history since I was a child..."

"Based on personal preference, I should have chosen a major related to archaeology or history, but I ultimately chose directing because I wanted to express my views on history through film, so that everyone could understand and appreciate Chinese history."

(End of this chapter)