Huayu: The Big Players Behind the Scenes

Why drag China Film Group into this?

Actually, we don't have to bring them.

However, with China Film Group helping to support the mainland film market, and even the entire Asian market, it's all beneficial with only one drawback.

Pay some protection money!

In the meeting room of Company 91,

Everyone stared at each other, and with Han Sanping, the official representative, present, no one dared to speak first.

Seeing this, Zhuang Huai'an smiled and began his cigarette diplomacy. However, when he handed a cigarette to Wang Changtian, he casually tapped the other's palm.

After receiving the signal, Wang Changtian was secretly delighted. He observed the expressions of everyone present to make sure that Zhuang Huai'an had only given him the signal, and then coughed a few times to attract everyone's attention.

"I believe everyone here today has the same purpose as me. It just so happens that Chairman Han is here as well. I am the youngest here, so I will speak first."

Like a suicide squad member, Wang Changtian took the lead in the charge, declaring, "To show our sincerity, Enlight Media is willing to offer a 20% premium for a stake in Director Zhuang's new film!"

Upon hearing this, everyone glared at him angrily.

Zhuang Huai'an laughed inwardly. The guy surnamed Wang was indeed reliable!

Han Sanping's face darkened even more. Wasn't this blatantly targeting China Film Group? If he dared to make a bid against Wang Changtian now, he'd be in Qincheng Prison tonight.

Han Sanping grew angrier the more he thought about it, and was about to burst into a tirade when Zhuang Huai'an, who was sitting next to him, subtly kicked his calf under the table. Old Han instantly understood.

The people present were all shrewd; after a moment of anger, they quickly realized the reason behind it.

Looking again at Han Sanping, who was seated at the head of the table, he no longer had the dark expression he had at the beginning.

Alright, alright, so you're putting on a show, huh?

Wang Changtian, you old codger with thick eyebrows and big eyes, how could you be the first to defect to the enemy?

"cough,"

Since someone had started a group buy, Dong Ping joined without hesitation, "The same goes for Wayi! And I don't care about the share!"

Boss Yang gritted his teeth inwardly, "The same goes for Yinghuang!"

The king remained silent, and neither did Long Wu and his wife.

Yu Dong was dumbfounded. He was the smallest in the group, and without his wife's family's permission, he couldn't mobilize a single penny.

After a moment of silence, the CEO spoke in a cryptic tone, "Huayi came here this time only to make friends with Director Zhuang. As for investment, we'll leave it to fate."

It sounds nice, but in reality, Boss Wang is very bitter. Anyone with eyes can see that Zhuang Huai'an's movie can not only make money, but also enhance the company's reputation, but Huayi has no money!

The CEO gritted his teeth inwardly, secretly planning to speed up preparations for the IPO!

Long Wu and his wife dared not accept the offer. Although they were wealthy, China New was not solely owned by the two of them; several of Long Wu's brothers also held hidden shares.

Seeing that everyone had expressed their opinions, Zhuang Huai'an smiled, stood up and said, "As the saying goes, even if a deal doesn't go through, we can still be friendly. 91 Company welcomes investment and doesn't rule out making friends. If it doesn't work out this time, there's always next time."

Dream on!

Everyone understood that Zhuang Huai'an was just being polite, but they themselves had their own helplessness and could only leave sadly.

Only Han Sanping, Wang Changtian, Boss Yang, and Dong Ping remained in the room.

Zhuang Huai'an nodded in satisfaction; these people were exactly as he had predicted.

China Film Group was responsible for official negotiations, Enlight Media was responsible for media publicity and future TV series collaborations, Wayi Media had a military background, and Yinghuang Media was well-connected in Taiwan and Southeast Asia.

From beginning to end, what he wanted was not investment, but resources!

"Since everyone accepts Chairman Wang's proposal and we're all on the same side, I'll be frank and speak plainly."

Zhuang Huai'an swished around another round of cigarettes. "The initial budget for 'The Martian' is $8000 million, with a fluctuation of about 10%. I need to clarify this first: you won't have to contribute the fluctuating amount, but your investment share will be reduced slightly based on the final amount. Is that alright?"

This was standard practice, and everyone nodded in understanding.

"Let's say it's $8000 million. MGM's $3200 million is 40%, my director's fee is $1400 million, plus 91's investment of $1000 million, that's 70% already."

What about the rest?

In fact, it is quite reasonable for Zhuang Huai'an to receive a director fee of 1400 million US dollars, even a bit too high. Although he has won several major awards, he has not yet directed a commercial film, so he cannot enter the 2000 million club for the time being.

Take Wu Baige as an example. When he filmed Mission: Impossible 2, he received a director's fee of 1200 million plus a share of the box office revenue.

Han Sanping pondered for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "China Film takes 15%, which means we'll actually receive 1200 million US dollars. A premium is not an option, but we can adjust the mainland distribution and promotion figures accordingly."

The implication is that the publicity is free.

Old Han's words were very insightful, and at the same time, they were also giving the other three a warning: China Film Group is willing to make concessions, so you should also be more considerate!

"Alright, since that's the case, let's not ruin our harmony."

Zhuang Huai'an nodded in satisfaction. "How about 5% for each of the three of you?"

"The lighting is fine, and the $500 million will be available anytime."

While leading the charge, Wang Changtian also played a trick, increasing the original investment of 480 million to 500 million.

"Hua Yi agrees too!"

"Just like Yinghuang!"

None of the three objected. Ultimately, what they wanted was not how much box office revenue they could make, but influence. With a reputation, plenty of investors would be willing to pour money in.

Just like Zhuang Huai'an at this moment.

The biggest winner is naturally Zhuang Huai'an. "The Martian" has been confirmed to be filmed in mainland China, and 91 Company still has 7 million RMB in its account from coal bosses, which is perfect for investment.

These investors' money was used to make other films in Hollywood or to pay for special effects.

In short, it was awesome!

After discussing the share of the filming, the group then divided up the coordination tasks during the filming period.

With the aerospace bureau and China Film Group stepping in, Enlight Media can start its pre-launch promotion. Dong Ping is in charge of the venue and the military's assistance, while Boss Yang is just a mascot.

It's alright. Besides valuing his Southeast Asian channels, Mr. Yang is also the first Hong Kong tycoon to give me face, and he's a decent person. Just consider it making friends; you never know when you might need his help.

"Oh, by the way," Han Sanping asked, "Are you really planning to audition for the male lead role?"

"How could that be? It's just a supporting role audition."

Zhuang Huai'an denied it, saying, "To be honest, I plan to use the original audio for this film entirely, in both Chinese and English, so the pool of candidates for the male lead is already very small."

Han Sanping asked curiously, "So, who do you plan to use?"

"I was thinking of using Jackie Chan. He has a kind of bittersweet feeling, but after filming 'Rush Hour,' he had already entered the 2000 million club, which was too expensive and not in line with the investment."

Zhuang Huai'an was somewhat troubled. If the project were launched a year later, Cheng Long would have already been kicked out of the $2000 million club due to his series of failures, and he might even accept $500 million.

In reality, only Jackie Chan has made it into Hollywood, and Jet Li is only half a Chinese actor.

Jiang Wen's spoken English is also very good, but The Martian is, after all, a commercial film, and it would be too risky to use him.

"Cheng Long?"

Boss Yang's eyes lit up immediately, and he quickly said, "I can contact him. With Director Zhuang's reputation and my personal connections, I'm confident I can persuade him to lower his fee!"

Yes, these two are best buddies. Back when Brother Long had just made his fortune, his biggest hobby was buying watches, while Boss Yang started out in the watch business, which is how they became friends.

Furthermore, the two were like kindred spirits in the investment world, as they both lost money whether they partnered or introduced each other to businesses!

The Little Dragon Girl incident a couple of years ago was resolved thanks to Mr. Yang's help in coming up with many ideas for Cheng Long.

With him handling things, everything's settled!

Tsk, I was just saying that Boss Yang was a lucky charm, and now he's come in handy!