Who says Beijing Film Academy has no great directors? (2002)

Chapter 93 Exploiting Disney

After it was over, Dong Xuan slowly packed her things, and only after most people had left did she stroll over to Chen Yan's side.

She asked softly, "Director Chen, are you dating Yifei?"

She was already 80% certain, but still held onto a sliver of hope that such a good man was worth fighting for.

They're both school beauties, so who's inferior to whom? Besides, Liu Yifei is still a young girl who hasn't fully blossomed yet, while I'm in my prime.

Moreover, it's not surprising that a director like him would have a few female confidantes.

She overestimated herself. Chen Yan was surrounded by beautiful women who wanted to woo him, from the stunning Fan to the innocent and secretly flirtatious Gao Yuanyuan, but Chen Yan remained unmoved.

Seeing Dong Xuan's current state, he understood her thoughts, so he didn't give a vague answer.

Instead, he firmly replied, "Yes."

Dong Xuan lowered her eyes and said, "Oh, then you two really are a good match."

A pang of jealousy welled up in her heart; even those in the industry who had slept together and had children could still claim to be single.

Chen Yan actually said it outright without any attempt to hide it.

"Thank you, I also think we're a good match." Chen Yan smiled politely.

Dong Xuan squeezed her hand. "Then I won't bother Director Chen any longer. I'll be going now."

After saying that, he turned and left, leaving behind only a somewhat disheveled figure.

Chen Yan didn't take it to heart, and just coughed at the person who had been peeking at him for a while.

"Come out now, but don't tell Sisi when you get back, she'll overthink it."

Shu Chang sneaked out from behind the studio.

Upon seeing Chen Yan, he chuckled foolishly, "I was just resting inside, I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

But seeing the somewhat doubtful look in Chen Yan's eyes, he quickly added, "I swear! Really!"

Shu Chang felt a little uncomfortable being stared at and shifted her body slightly.

Chen Yan said with a hint of threat, "Anyway, you're not allowed to tell anyone. I've already sent them away."

"Okay! I won't tell!" Shuchang covered her mouth.

After Chen Yan left, Shu Chang gently tapped her head. "Oh dear, now I'm a double agent!"

Chen Yan had heard about an interesting incident that happened some time ago, but he was still filming at the time.

Chen Yancai noticed that a large number of celebrities and actors had recently spoken out in support of Feng Xiaogang.

During the promotional period for "A World Without Thieves," reporters were free to conduct interviews. A reporter from "Star BIGSTAR" stood up, introduced himself, and prepared to ask questions related to the film.

Upon hearing the name of the media outlet, Feng Xiaogang's face instantly turned ashen, his eyes widened in anger, and he immediately interrupted the question.

Feng Xiaogang was furious: "You guys are shameless! You actually published celebrities' addresses in the newspaper and even drew maps! Now there are crazy people blocking my door every day!"

The reporter argued, "Readers like to read that, and we didn't write the house number, we only wrote the building complex."

Feng Xiaogang completely lost control and publicly cursed, "Your publication is garbage, you bastard! I fucking want to punch you!"

His tone was fierce, and the entire room fell silent.

The reporter, not to be outdone, retorted directly: "Do you dare to smoke it? Try it in front of all these reporters!"

The situation was tense, but Wang Zhonglei and others managed to forcibly separate the people, preventing the conflict from escalating.

Even Chen Yan has to feel sorry for Wang Zhonglei now. Both of his top directors are such a handful, first Lu Chuan, and now Feng Xiaogang.

None of them are easy to deal with.

Chen Yan silently raised her safety awareness to another level; after all, her family also had a big star with countless fans.

A week later, Zhang Zhizhong conveyed Andy Bate's final decision.

Disney has agreed to the collaborative development, and Alice in Wonderland has officially joined the Hong Kong Disneyland project. A separate area will be opened as the exclusive domain of Alice in Wonderland, and Disney will develop a series of related merchandise for it.

Both parties will agree on a new time to discuss specific cooperation details.

When he saw Andy Bate again, his attitude had improved considerably.

Perhaps after returning to China, he carefully examined the level of the renowned director he was about to collaborate with in China.

"Director Chen, Disney is very honored to work with you. Our boss said that if there's an opportunity in the future, he hopes you'll direct a Disney film, something like 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl'!"

Chen Yan didn't immediately agree, but instead made a humorous joke about Depp.

"Oh? Depp and I are good friends. Looks like I'll have to congratulate him next time we meet. He must have made a good profit from this film."

Andy Bate smiled in agreement, "Of course, and this film is a series; Disney likes to develop feature films."

That's true. Who wouldn't make money if they could? With a stable audience and huge IP benefits, only a fool company would abandon it.

Moreover, Pirates of the Caribbean is the highest-grossing film in Disney history, bar none.

"Then when I see Depp, I must tell him this good news," Chen Yan replied simply.

Chen Yan doesn't have the energy to film any more movies outside now. He's too busy with his own projects to even bother with filming for others; that would be ridiculous.

After seeing that Chen Yan did not express a strong desire to work at Disney, Andy Bate gave up on recruiting this big-name director.

Instead, we talked about the specifics of our collaboration on "Alice in Wonderland".

The final agreement was that Chen Yan would only provide the copyright to "Alice in Wonderland," and that it would be an exclusive global license.

Initially, Andy Bate was only willing to offer a fixed 8% commission plus a $500 million deposit.

However, Chen Yan rejected the idea outright, saying, "I don't need the 500 million yuan deposit; it holds no appeal for me."

Andy Bett frowned, then turned to Chen Yan to ask about his price range: "So what are your thoughts?"

"I need a tiered revenue sharing system."

Andy Bett frowned even more, but he didn't interrupt Chen Yan; instead, he listened carefully.

「全球每年周边衍生品销量在10亿美元以下我拿8%，10亿到25亿之间分帐比例提高到10%，25亿美元以上提高到12%。」

"That's impossible!" Andy Bate refused without hesitation.

This is the treatment given to Disney's highest-level partners. Chen Yan, as a new partner, could never get such a revenue-sharing ratio.

Chen Yan patiently continued, "Andy, don't be so quick to dismiss it. Think carefully about the target audience of 'Alice in Wonderland' and the North American box office of my movie. It's something that can be easily achieved."

Andy Bate fell into thought. In fact, before they came, they had also considered giving the director a tiered revenue sharing scheme, but that ratio was completely different from what he had proposed.

"Think about it, I didn't even ask for more than 15% of the profits." Chen Yan spoke to Andy Bate like the serpent tempting Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit.

"What?!"

Andy Bate was practically swearing. This greedy Chinese director actually wanted 15%? That's absolutely impossible!