The Rise of Chinese Entertainment in 2008

"Um... shall we just talk like this?" Gu Ning asked somewhat awkwardly.

Shu Chang looked at Gu Ning's bare upper body and then at herself, screamed, and pulled the blanket over herself.

However, this also exposed Gu Ning's lower body.

Gu Ning pulled the blanket up to cover herself, and after a moment of silence, said, "Since it's already happened, why don't we try dating?"

"No!"

Upon hearing this, Shu Chang suddenly revealed her face, which she had been covering, and said firmly, "I have no plans to have a boyfriend, let alone get married."

"..."

Gu Ning also fell silent. If it weren't for the fact that they were drunk and everyone was sober, he wouldn't have brought it up.

But Shu Chang's reaction made him feel a little sorry for her.

Her reaction is likely closely related to the fact that she and her mother were abandoned by her father when they were young.

"You...you go out first, we'll talk later," Shu Chang said.

"it is good."

Gu Ning threw off the covers and got out of bed to pick up her clothes.

Shu Chang quickly covered her face: "Go outside and put it on."

Upon hearing this, Gu Ning could only take the clothes and go to the living room.

Upon hearing the door close, Shu Chang silently shed tears.

Gu Ning quickly got dressed in the living room, then took the leftovers from last night to the kitchen and started cleaning up.

After he finished tidying up, seeing that Shu Chang hadn't come out, he went to the door and knocked.

"You go first," Shu Chang said, trying to keep her voice as normal as possible.

Gu Ning stood silently at the door for a while, then found the key on the table, opened the door, and went out.

Shu Chang always felt a sense of emptiness when she heard the door close.

Although she never intended for Gu Ning to take responsibility, and even if Gu Ning wanted to, she wouldn't accept it, Gu Ning's departure still made her feel somewhat uncomfortable.

She buried her head in the blankets and burst into tears.

She didn't know how much time had passed when she vaguely heard the door open, and she immediately focused her attention.

When she heard noises coming from the living room, she was momentarily frightened, unsure whether Gu Ning hadn't left or if a thief had broken into the house.

Are you still there?

Shu Chang's voice trembled as she spoke.

"Clatter~"

The door was pushed open, and Gu Ning walked in carrying a glass of water.

"Why didn't you leave?" Shu Chang asked.

"I went to buy you some medicine. Take it first, then we can talk," Gu Ning said.

Shu Chang lowered her head and said, "My mind is a mess right now. You should go first, and let me calm down before we talk."

Gu Ning remained silent for a while, then took out the medicine, placed it on the bedside table along with the water, and turned to leave.

…………

Good morning, Mr. Gu!

"morning!"

Gu Ning smiled and nodded in response before heading to her office.

He had barely sat down when there was a knock on his office door.

"Enter!"

Liu Yang walked in carrying a folder.

"Mr. Gu."

"sit."

Gu Ning gestured for him to sit down and asked, "Mr. Liu, is there anything I can help you with?"

"I'm here to report to President Gu on the copyright acquisition. We've acquired all the film and animation adaptation rights for Liu Cixin's existing novels, including 'The Three-Body Problem,' spending a total of 500,000 yuan to obtain the permanent copyright."

The other copyrights that President Gu requested to acquire are still under negotiation. For example, the copyright of "Empresses in the Palace" was initially quoted at 15 million, but the author refused to budge on the price to 8 million and was only willing to sell the copyright for five years.

"I think the cost of purchasing this copyright is too high and not worth it," Liu Yang said.

Gu Ning was overjoyed to hear that he had acquired all the copyrights to Liu Cixin's "The Three-Body Problem" for 500,000 yuan, and that it was a permanent license.

Even excluding other copyrights, the copyright for "The Three-Body Problem" alone will be worth at least two billion yuan in a decade or so.

Including other copyrights, they must have earned at least several hundred times their initial investment.

This is much more profitable than buying stocks.

Of all the stocks he knew, only Nvidia seemed to be more profitable than this.

Nvidia's stock is currently worth only $5.6 billion, but at its peak it was worth over $5 trillion.

That's nearly a thousandfold increase.

However, Nvidia's market value has not fluctuated much in recent years, so there is no rush to buy it for now.

Upon hearing that the copyright for "Empresses in the Palace" cost eight million yuan and was for five years, Gu Ning didn't hesitate and said, "Buy it. Contact Sanxi and jointly invest in it. Our company will take at least 60%!"

He recalled that the copyright for "Empresses in the Palace" was sold for 20 million yuan in 2011.

That's two years earlier than the value of these copyrights had even started to rise.

Although it's a bit pricey, it's definitely worth it.

This show has not only been sold to multiple countries, but after Mr. Jia returns to China next week, LeTV's video platform will rely on the online streaming rights of this show to sustain itself.

The five-year copyright refers to the adaptation rights, but may not include the filmed version.

In the long run, the returns will definitely not be as good as buying stocks.

But once you buy this thing and use it to film, you can quickly recoup your investment and make a fortune, with a continuous stream of subsequent profits.

"But that would leave the company with very little money in its accounts," Liu Yang warned.

With the help of China Film Group, the box office revenue sharing for "Lost in Thailand" has been received.

Gu Ning owns 40%, and will receive a little over nine million.

The copyright for the short film was sold for over five million yuan, and Gu Ning received over four million yuan of that.

However, the money from selling the short films had to be taxed when transferred back to China, so after deducting taxes, the actual amount was only around three million.

The company isn't in a hurry to report the profits from "Lost in Thailand," as it has over 12 million yuan in cash on its books.

However, renting a venue and paying salaries costs money, and the film investment also requires millions.

After setting aside funds for normal company expenses, the available funds are only around six or seven million.

It cost 500,000 yuan to buy the copyright to Liu Cixin's novel, but once the copyright to "Empresses in the Palace" was bought, all the money was gone.

Without hesitation, Gu Ning replied, "Let's put the other copyrights aside for now and secure the rights to 'Empresses in the Palace' first!"

"I understand!" Liu Yang nodded.

As a working man, he had said everything he needed to say, but Gu Ning still insisted, and he only needed to do as she said.

After Liu Yang left, Gu Ning called Fan Chunxi again to inquire about the progress of the site selection.

"Director Gu, it's basically finished now. The rest should be done in the next couple of days. When would you like to come and take a look in person?" Fan Chunxi asked.

"I'll be there in a couple of days," Gu Ning said.

Gu Ning changed the music competition in the movie to "The Voice of China".

Both the competition format and the format are completely copied from The Voice of China.

The rights to "The Voice" belong to the Netherlands, and it won't air until the second half of next year.

More than a year from now, he has already had the copyright registered and used it in the film.

The goal is simply to secure the copyright and make a movie. Given the current situation in China, how much money can one possibly make?

However, the rights to "The Voice" have been sold to dozens of countries.

He didn't know the price for importing it domestically, but later a domestic company spent 400 million yuan to buy the recording rights for the fifth season.

The copyright to this thing can be sold quarterly, bringing him a continuous stream of wealth.

It's much more profitable than movies, and you don't have to share it with anyone.

Gu Ning naturally needed to go to Tianjin to guide the setup of the recording site.

He has already asked China Film Group to help contact top singers in the industry to come and serve as guest mentors.

The venue and instructors have all been arranged; any clever TV stations in China could simply copy their work and create their own programs.

Gu Ning didn't believe that no TV station would be interested after the movie's release.