Huayu 1999: Starting with nothing but getting something for nothing

Li Jian's voice remained calm and composed: "China Film Group still owes the company 465.86 million yuan in box office revenue sharing. Bo Hui will go there again this afternoon. President Yang, you should also give their leaders a call to urge them to pay up."

"Okay, I understand, Mr. Li."

Goodbye, Mr. Yang.

Yang Che hung up the phone and was about to call Zhou Liren when Yu Wenhao called again.

The company received several phone calls and emails, but most of them were unhelpful.

However, he filtered and recorded two phone calls and two emails, both of which were naturally attempts to solicit investment.

The phone call was about a TV drama script called "Young Wong Fei-hung" and a movie script called "Kara is a Dog". The email contained two movie scripts, one called "Purple Butterfly" and the other called "Seventeen Hours of Secrets".

Of course, these are all script outlines.

"I will reply to them in three days and tell them if they want to know more about the script."

"Oh, that's good. I'll go back and check it this afternoon."

"Brother Che, how about I hire a secretary for you? You're getting busier and busier, and sometimes you inevitably forget what you've assigned us to do."

Yang Che blushed again.

However, ever since Ma Shu ran off with the son of Old Fan from the Beijing Film Studio's distribution department, Doubao Media has indeed been without any operators/clerks. It wasn't a problem before when there wasn't much work, but yesterday Yang Che, trying to be clever, mentioned investing...

"We're looking for a clerk, preferably a recent graduate in film and television management. No seasoned veterans, and no pretty girls."

"Okay."

This time, Yang Che finally succeeded in calling Zhou Liren and asking him to arrange for someone to get the script from Jiang Wei.

When Jia Jingwen saw him hang up the phone, she couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief; she was almost dry.

Unexpectedly, Yang Che still ignored her and instead shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Old Liu, Old Liu, Liu Chang."

"What's wrong? What's wrong?"

"You're the producer, stop doing the work of a production manager all the time. I see Lao Wu is really bored right now. You should hand over the reins and go back to Tazhai to look at the script."

"Wait... aren't you the producer?"

"Wait, where am I free?"

Liu Chang and Wu Shixian spoke in unison.

Yang Che waved his hand and announced loudly, "I now officially announce that, due to the expansion of Doubao Media's business and its preparation to invest in multiple film and television projects, after discussion by the company's board of directors, Comrade Liu Chang has been appointed as the manager of Doubao Media's film project department, responsible for the preliminary review of various scripts. Applause."

After saying that, he took the lead in clapping.

So everyone looked at Liu Chang and started clapping. Xia Yu and his group of actors came over when they heard about it and also smiled and cheered.

Then Yang Che looked at Gong Beibi: "Beibi, please help Lao Wu."

Gong Beibi smiled and said, "I can't help you for nothing."

"I promise you on behalf of Lao Wu: if the box office is a huge success, I'll give you a bonus."

And so it was settled.

Actually, everyone was quite happy, especially Liu Chang. Of course, he was going to be a reviewer, so how could he not be happy? Besides, he would have a legitimate position now.

For Gong Beibi, this is also an opportunity. First, she can be listed as a co-star; second, she can have a real say in the operation of a production team; and third, she can earn extra money.

As for Wu Shixian, he was even happier, as Liu Chang didn't have the same chemistry as Gong Beibi.

Jia Jingwen, who had already moved to the corner, watched them laughing and joking while talking about such important things, which made her feel very small.

Yang Che put Liu Chang in charge of the review not just to be lazy, but also because the two of them were more similar in their thinking. Moreover, Liu Chang had experienced "My Sassy Girl", "Saw" and "Waiting Alone" in their entirety, so it can be said that he was the one who understood Yang Che's desires the most.

For example, he said to Zeng Jian and the other consulting partners: "First of all, Doubao will absolutely not invest in banned films, so if you are planning to organize a meeting or recommend films, please keep that in mind; secondly, we prefer commercial genre films, like the ones that Brother Che mentioned yesterday. It's not that we won't invest in art films, but we will absolutely not invest in projects like Lou Ye's, which have empty and pretentious plots and focus on the little things between men and women."

Yang Che clapped enthusiastically for Liu Chang. That's right, why talk about love? Just focus on your work.

After lunch, everyone went to the hotel and held a meeting in Xing Jianwei's room. The main purpose was for Liu Chang and Wu Shixian to hand over some tasks and explain things.

Then Yang Che took Liu Chang back to Tazhai to work.

As for taking a nap with Jia Jingwen, I'm not in the mood, not because Wang Fei can sense it much, well, that's right.

Yang Che had expected Jia Jingwen to pester him or ask about the scripts, but she didn't. Instead, she politely told him not to tire himself out...

Back in Tazhai, the two first looked at the TV drama script "Let Love Rule," which they had obtained from Jiang Wei. Jin Tian was quite particular; he only needed to pay 11 yuan for the novel's copyright.

Yang Che had watched a few episodes of the show and thought it was very well made. Moreover, with the behind-the-scenes duo of director Zhang Jiandong and screenwriter Jiang Wei, and the on-screen couple Wang Zhiwen and Jiang Shan, it was absolutely impossible for the show to lose money.

The reason why Jiang Wei agreed to invest as soon as he called was because Yang Che knew Jiang Wei well. He was a truly capable person and one of the few masters in the domestic TV drama industry whose every drama was a masterpiece and made money.

Of course, he's not famous now; he only became well-known after "Lurking." Even "Don't Talk to Strangers" didn't make him famous, haha. So, for Yang Che, this is a lucky break, and more importantly, the result of his previous relationship building.

Along with the script came a budget sheet; a total of 22 episodes, 720 million.

Looking at the actors' salaries: Wang Zhiwen earns 4 yuan per episode, Jiang Shan 3.5 yuan per episode, Xu Jinglei 2.5 yuan per episode, and Wang Xuebin 1.2 yuan per episode...

Yang Che was taken aback. Liu Chang, seeing this, explained, "Actors' salaries have gone up again this year. Don't look at 'The Grand Mansion Gate,' that's an exception. Even if Wang Zhiwen were to act in it, he wouldn't earn more than eight thousand per episode. The same applies to your movie."

Yang Che nodded: "I don't like Wang Xuebin, I recommend Duan Yihong from the National Theatre of China to play the role; I dislike Xu Jinglei even more, I recommend Hu Jing."

Liu Chang paused for a moment: "I thought you would let Gao Yuanyuan..."

"You're kidding me. You want Yuanyuan to have romantic scenes with Wang Zhiwen? Does she even have the acting skills? Besides, I'm not going to let her act in TV dramas. If she wants to act, I'll just find her a movie to play around with."

Liu Chang smiled and said, "Okay, I'll look into these two people and then call Teacher Jiang."

"Fine, I'll do it."

As he spoke, Yang Che lit a cigar, exhaled a puff of smoke with a satisfying air, and then dialed the number.

"Teacher Jiang, the actors Lou Jiayi and Xiao Tianhai need to be replaced."

"Uh... is there a problem between Xu Jinglei and Wang Xuebin?"

I find these two people annoying.

Jiang Wei fell silent, remaining silent for a long time. Several times he wanted to say something but didn't know how to say it.

Liu Chang, who was smoking a cigarette to the side, widened his eyes. Holy crap! This is power!