Back to 17, My Brother is the Cult Leader

Ning Hao arrived right on time.

When he pushed open the glass door and came in, Fang Yuan recognized him at a glance.

At this time, he wasn't considered fat yet. He was wearing a gray T-shirt, had a bit of long hair, and was carrying a frayed canvas bag. He didn't have a big gold chain yet.

Teacher Cui gave a brief introduction, then got up to say goodbye, saying that there was another meeting in the department.

Fang Yuan noticed that when Teacher Cui left, he patted Ning Hao on the shoulder and whispered something.

Ning Hao nodded, his expression very serious.

After pouring the tea, Fang Yuan got straight to the point: "Teacher Cui should have mentioned this to you."

Ning Hao lit a cigarette, looked up at him, and said, "Hollywood screenwriter, I've heard so much about you. Let me take a look at your script first."

Fang Yuan pulled the script out of his bag and pushed it over.

Ning Hao took it and started reading from the first page without looking up.

When the waiter came to refill his tea, he didn't touch the cup.

Fang Yuan didn't urge him, but drank his tea and waited.

Someone was pushing a bicycle past the window, and the bicycle bell rang all over half the street.

Ning Hao finally raised his head, his eyes brightening for a moment before quickly closing again: "Interesting."

Fang Yuan nodded: "Then let's get down to business. I plan to invest six million in this film. The goal is for it to be released during the 2001 Spring Festival."

Ning Hao paused, not even noticing the cigarette ash that fell onto the table. "The 2001 Spring Festival film season?"

"right."

Ning Hao remained silent for a moment, then slowly began to speak.

"No, Mr. Fang, would next year's Spring Festival film season be suitable?"

"You're older than me, just call me Fang Yuan."

"In recent years, the Lunar New Year film season has been dominated by Feng Xiaogang. 'Endless Love' grossed 40 million yuan, while the other domestic Lunar New Year films only grossed a little over 3 million yuan in Beijing."

"Big Shot's Funeral" is currently scheduled for the Lunar New Year season at the end of this year. It stars Feng Xiaogang, Ge You, and has your script. The entire market has to revolve around it.

A new director's low-budget film venturing into the Spring Festival season is like throwing an egg against a rock.

After listening, Fang Yuan put down his teacup and spoke calmly:

"You're right. But availability depends on when there's a gap in the schedule."

With the release of "Big Shot's Funeral" at the end of the year and the Spring Festival season, there is a gap of about a month between the two releases, so audiences won't just watch one movie during the Spring Festival.

With the Spring Festival travel rush and holiday break, cinemas in third- and fourth-tier cities need new films to fill their screening slots.

If you can make it before the 2001 Spring Festival, the cinemas will be willing to schedule screenings for you.

If we don't make it in time—

He paused for a moment, then said, "Then let's postpone it to the Spring Festival of 2002. You decide for yourself."

Ning Hao didn't answer immediately. He lowered his head and flipped through the script. When he got to the scene where the international thief Mike fell out of the ventilation duct, his lips twitched, as if he had seen something that made his heart itch.

Fang Yuan said, "I'll give you a list of recommended actors. You can decide whether to use them or not. I won't interfere."

I'll invest the money. You can use whomever you want.

Ning Hao looked up and asked, "Do you have a list? Let me see."

Fang Yuan was taken aback for a moment: "Okay, this is a partial list of the main characters. You'll have to figure out how to get the rest."

As he spoke, he took out a form with these names written on it.

"Liu Hua, Huang Bo, Guo Tao, Xu Zheng, not bad. I know all of these people, you made a good choice."

Fang Yuan smiled but didn't say anything more.

The two chatted for another forty minutes, from script structure to the use of dialect.

At the end of the conversation, Ning Hao said, "Mr. Fang, I need to think about it for two days."

Fang Yuan held out his hand: "I'll wait for your call."

That evening, Fang Yuan returned to his residence and had just finished showering when his phone rang.

Huang Xiaoming's voice came through the receiver, with a low volume.

"Xiao Yuan, is it a good time to talk?"

"It's convenient, you tell me."

Huang Xiaoming paused for a moment on the other end of the phone.

"There's something going on at Huayi Brothers. They're in contact with Wang Jinghua."

Fang Yuan stopped drying his hair.

Wang Jinghua is a top agent in mainland China, managing a large number of artists including Li Bingbing, Fan Bingbing, Hu Jun, and Tong Dawei.

Fang Yuan has been working closely with her for the past two years, with several projects tied together. However, he is aware that his relationship with Wang Jinghua is one of cooperation, not subordination. The two have their own circles and their own agendas.

Huayi Brothers now wants to poach her and her team, which isn't surprising.

Huayi Brothers is expanding rapidly, and artist management is a fiercely contested area. Wang Jinghua has such a strong hand that everyone is envious.

"They offered very high terms, directly giving her the position of president of Taihe Culture Brokerage Company. If Wang Jinghua goes there, nine out of ten of the artists under her will follow."

Fang Yuan asked, "How did you know?"

Huang Xiaoming said, "I have my own channels. No more than ten people in the industry know about this. Xiaoyuan, I haven't told anyone else."

He walked to the window and looked at the night outside.

Huayi Brothers poaching Wang Jinghua will definitely have an impact on him.

But we can't rush things now, and we absolutely can't let Huayi Brothers know that he's already figured it out.

Prematurely revealing his intentions would force Wang Jinghua to take sides, something he was unwilling to do.

In a collaboration, each party relies on its own ability to retain talent; if they cannot, it is their own choice.

Fang Yuan remained silent for a moment, then said to Huang Xiaoming, "Pretend you don't know for now."

Huang Xiaoming said, "I understand."

"No matter who asks, don't get involved. Don't inquire about Wang Jinghua's attitude or what price Huayi offered."

Fang Yuan's tone was steady, "You just do your own thing now."

"Also, you need to think about what will happen to your agency contract if Sister Hua goes to Huayi Brothers. Will you go with her or terminate it? You need to think it through carefully. Don't worry about me. Even if you go with Sister Hua, I won't mind."

"I know. Xiaoyuan, I've thought about it. If the conditions there are good, I want to go with Sister Hua. It's not for any other reason than that I don't want to always rely on you for care."

"Fine, I guessed it. You're fucking trying to have your cake and eat it too."

"Haha, you understand me best."

After hanging up the phone, he didn't go to sleep right away; he sat on the sofa and thought for a while.

If Wang Jinghua is really poached, it will still have some impact on him.

However, from another perspective, Huayi Brothers is currently focusing its energy on poaching talent, with all its attention on its talent agency business.

With a budget of only a few million yuan, a new director, and a Spring Festival release window that no one had high hopes for, "Crazy Stone" was not taken seriously by anyone.

This is exactly the gap he needs.

Three days later, Ning Hao called.

"Mr. Fang, I'll take it."

Fang Yuan stood by the window, looking at the row of old film studios at the Beijing Film Studio in the distance.

The sunlight turned the roof tiles white.

Ning Hao's voice was crisp and decisive: "The actors you recommended are quite good. I'll think of other ways to help the others."

Fang Yuan said, "The conditions remain the same. It's your film set, you're in charge."

After hanging up the phone, Fang Yuan dialed Xiao Mei's number.

"After preparing the contract, we contacted Ning Hao to sign it and notified the finance department to prepare the start-up funds. The script then began the filing process."

"Yes, Mr. Fang, I'll take care of it right away."

The cicadas are chirping loudly outside the window.