Huayu: Enjoy Yourself

Chapter 71 The Emergence of a Divine Drama

The next day, Chen An found a place and signed a contract with Li Xiaoping.

Recruit the other party into the company.

Then, I officially assigned the other party to find an address for the new company, which was my first task as an operations manager.

As for the boss, of course he's idle; otherwise, what's the point of being a boss?

If I work a 9-to-5 job every day just to make money, wouldn't I be a boss for nothing?

The films from Hong Kong Island and Taiwan have already finished their run, and the final box office revenue didn't increase much.

Hong Kong Island took in over 35 million, still ranking behind "Who Am I".

Taiwan grossed NT$007 million, surpassing "Tomorrow Never Dies" and ranking after "Armageddon".

It ranked second in the annual box office chart.

Besides mainland China and Xiao Rizi, the very popular South Korean film has also finished its run, having attracted 3.96 million viewers.

It doesn't reach the original's 4.88 million, but it's an unrepeatable miracle for Chinese-language films!

Converted to US dollars, it amounts to over 30 million, making it the most popular market, even more so than the domestic market.

The news of its huge success in South Korea couldn't be kept secret; it was released early to boost box office sales.

However, by this point, the initial enthusiasm for watching the movie had largely dissipated.

The film's release has been delayed by two weeks, and its box office has barely reached 130 million yuan, making it difficult to continue to grow significantly.

Film production has also slowed down to make way for other films.

Daily box office revenue has officially fallen below one million, now only reaching a few hundred thousand per day.

It is predicted that the box office revenue after the film's run will be less than 150 million, and will not even reach half of that of "Titanic".

The reason it's been kept up there is simply to boost the movie's box office and make it look better.

However, Chen An didn't care much about any of that; the film's success was undeniable.

He is already one of the top directors in China, whether in mainland China, Hong Kong, or Taiwan!

This time, it almost swept across the entire Asia, or rather East Asia, with virtually no rivals, and achieved great success in all markets.

She gained considerable popularity in both Japan and South Korea thanks to "Little Forest" and "My Sassy Girl".

She is the kind of star who is surrounded by all the female celebrities, making one actress famous with just one film, and even gaining international recognition.

Even though many investors from Hong Kong Island and Taiwan came to Chen An, he ignored them all.

The China Film Directors Association also extended an invitation to Chen An to take up a position.

However, Chen An declined the invitation due to his age.

Firstly, I didn't want to get involved in this mess, and secondly, I was indeed too young.

It's full of veteran filmmakers, the youngest being from Chen An's parents' generation. Although their achievements are too dazzling, there's really no need for them to be involved.

Whether he joins or not, it won't make any difference to Chen An; it won't affect him much.

The works are there, the achievements are there, whether you acknowledge them or not is irrelevant.

Under Li Xiaoping's arrangement, the location for the new company was selected.

They rented an entire floor of an office building as their company address.

They immediately hired someone to start renovations, so the address was no longer needed.

Under her arrangement, a number of employees were recruited and were responsible for the company's operations and promotion, all of which were handled in an orderly manner.

Chen An was relieved; the other party was much stronger than him.

"Sister Xiaoping, I'll leave the move-in to you after the renovations are finished. I'm going to Hollywood after the movie wraps up, so I'll be leaving the company's development to you for now." Chen An still wanted to be a hands-off manager.

Li Xiaoping, dressed in a smart suit, nodded: "I understand, boss. I'll take care of the arrangements."

"Just call me Chen An. I'm just a director, and I'm not as good as you in that respect." Chen An felt guilty for not doing any work himself.

Looking at Li Xiaoping, who has been busy these past few days, Chen An felt that you were the boss.

"Okay, Director Chen. Besides the company moving in, we've also recruited quite a few employees. Our two signed artists, Zeng Li and Chen Kun, have received many invitations for commercial performances and shows. Should we attend some of them as normal promotion?" Li Xiaoping was full of enthusiasm for the company.

I've been handling everything myself these past few days, and I don't even know how to complain about being the boss.

The company's two artists are now incredibly famous, especially Zeng Li, who is a household name across China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

It's been sitting idle for ages, not generating any revenue at all. What kind of boss is this?

Chen An rubbed his head when he heard the question: "I know that, but they are still students and I think they should study more. But you should arrange it for them now, just make sure it doesn't affect their studies too much."

"Acting skills are their livelihood. Both of them are pretty good, but they can't be considered to have been born with a natural talent."

That's just how Chen An is; he thinks a lot but forgets his sense of responsibility as a boss.

How did you end up hanging from a streetlight like that?

"Okay, I'll inform their agents when the time comes. But is the company still recruiting artists?" The two had discussed the company's general direction.

With a renowned director like Chen An at the helm, the company's appeal to artists and actors is self-evident.

Furthermore, with ample funds available now, they had already earned a considerable amount from their previous films, and this latest film has become a massive hit throughout East Asia, resulting in a significant increase in revenue.

There are sufficient production costs and investment funds.

"We'll accept them, but not on a large scale. We'll only accept those with special qualities or good acting skills, and directors will also accept them." We'll definitely continue to sign Chen An, an artist we've already signed.

Although we don't need too many, we do need to have some of our own people, and we have enough resources for the time being.

Moreover, a director is even more necessary, because once the company grows bigger, it's impossible to rely solely on Chen An to make movies.

That would be exhausting, and the company would be a waste of money.

An excellent director is a rare commodity in mainland China, and in today's era, commercial film directors are among the best.

This made Chen An want to poach Feng Xiaogang, but unfortunately, it's unlikely.

We can only search slowly. Most directors on the market nowadays have connections, including Chen An.

Li Xiaoping also noted it down, and left without saying much. She had a lot of things to do, and Chen An, the boss, was a hands-off manager.

Chen An felt embarrassed seeing how hurried and busy the other person was, so he left to avoid seeing them.

He can't stand seeing others suffer, so he decided not to watch anymore.

As I walked down the street to buy a pack of cigarettes, I heard the music of "Ah~ Ah ah~ Ah ah ah ah~" echoing through the streets and alleys.

The singing gave Chen An a headache.

In October, the same month that "My Sassy Girl" was released, my hometown TV station broadcast "My Fair Princess," which had become a nationwide hit, on the 28th.

This kind of drawn-out, noisy TV series became a nationwide hit as soon as it aired.

In terms of national recognition, it was even more popular than Chen An's movies. Zhao Zhetian, whose name was omitted in the Baidu Encyclopedia entry for "Princess Pearl" in later generations, became an instant sensation.

She is even more well-known than Zeng Li among middle-aged and elderly people.

She became known as Little Swallow to everyone, and even Chen An's mother called to ask if Chen An recognized her.

Since then, there has never been a TV series more amazing than this, except for "Princess Pearl 2".

The only thing that can defeat it is itself.

However, Chen An had already watched it several times and had no intention of watching it again in this life. Moreover, he didn't particularly like watching it in his previous life either.

If he could have won the remote control, would he have watched this thing?

When I was a kid, my favorite thing to watch was the guerrilla captain who tore apart Japanese soldiers with his bare hands and rode a bicycle like a flying train. That was the real thing I loved watching.

Even if he smashed the bicycle to pieces and was hung up and beaten, he wouldn't regret it.

However, this didn't dampen the TV series' popularity. The music playing in the streets and alleys was giving Chen An a headache: "Boss, give me a pack of Furongwang cigarettes. Are you still watching TV while we're doing business?"

The music was loud, and the shop owner was so engrossed in watching TV that he didn't hear Chen An speak.

Chen An knocked on the table before the boss reacted: "Sorry, I was engrossed in watching the TV series. What would you like?"

"Give me a pack of Furongwang cigarettes, boss. Is this TV series really that good?" Chen An asked knowingly.

The shopkeeper pulled out a pack of cigarettes from inside the house and handed it to Chen An: "Of course, our whole family loves watching it. That Emperor is a real scoundrel, and Ziwei and Xiaoyanzi are so pitiful."

The way he spoke made him so angry that he almost wanted to drag Zhang Tieling out and beat him up.

Seeing this, Chen An didn't say anything more. A divine drama is a divine drama; it has these arrogant natives of the capital completely bewitched.

Please give this a thumbs up!!!

(End of this chapter)