Chapter 407 One fifty million, two fifty million
While Chen Xi was recruiting troops for Jiahe, Zhang Chen was also attending a small dinner party.
The car stopped at the door, and Boss Yang got out of the car first: "Since Director Zhang has won Jiahe, he will definitely make a living in Hong Kong in the future. There is no harm in getting to know more friends. In fact, everyone has wanted to meet Director Zhang for a long time~ ”
While talking, Zhang Chen also got out of the car, and the two of them walked into the hotel.
In the box, the other two people had already arrived and were chatting. When they saw the two people coming in, they stood up to greet them.
"Sorry, sorry for keeping you two waiting~"
Boss Yang had a bright smile and spoke first. The two people also stood up with smiles, obviously familiar with him: "It's okay, we have just arrived~"
The four of them stood still, and Boss Yang acted as the introducer: "We are all from the film industry, let me introduce you to them.
This is Mr. Lin Jianyue of Media Asia, and this is Mr. Huang Baiming of Oriental Pictures. I don’t need to introduce this to you~"
Huang Baiming: "Haha, I know you, director Zhang Chen who made a big fuss at the Academy Awards. Oh no, I should say he is the head of Jiahe now..."
Lin Jianyue: "Director Zhang is really a young talent. He can take charge of Jiahe at such a young age. He is already a big boss. Compared with you, we are all old~"
Zhang Chen also said politely: "I know your names very well. It is not an exaggeration to say that I grew up watching your movies~"
"Brother Zhang is really calling us old now~"
"Haha~"
"Okay, let's not talk about business. Let's sit down and talk~"
With Boss Yang’s introduction, everyone took their seats one after another with a few polite words.
After sitting down, Zhang Chen noticed that there were more than four of them present, and each of them also brought a female companion.
He didn't recognize the female companion brought by Lin Jianyue, but he knew the female companion brought by Huang Baiming, the white lotus from the mainland - Dong Jie.
Zhang Chen didn't have a female companion. He was suddenly attacked by Boss Yang today and told him to introduce a few friends to him, so he followed him.
But even if he knew, he couldn't find a female companion. In Hong Kong, he didn't know many women at all.
Unexpectedly, Boss Yang had already made arrangements. He clapped his hands, the door next door opened, and two young girls appeared.
He was wearing heavy makeup, but his appearance was still vaguely visible.
Well~
Zhang Chen had a strange look on his face, he actually knew Yang Tianbao and Wen Yongshan again.
The two of them now seem to be still young models and are often tied together for promotions.
"I secretly speculated on Director Zhang's preferences and chose two little girls. I just don't know if they suit Director Zhang's wishes. You two haven't said hello to Director Zhang. Director Zhang is now the head of Jiahe. You can just scratch your fingernails. A little leakage from it will be enough for you two~”
"Hello, boss, I'm Angela Barbie~"
"Hello, Boss Zhang, I am Wen Yongshan, please take care of me~"
Wen Yongshan originally wanted to say her English name, JaniceMan, but suddenly remembered that the other party was a mainlander.
Mainlanders seemed not to be interested in English names, so they gave me Chinese names.
Sure enough, Zhang Chen looked cheerful: "Well, Miss Wen, please sit over here~"
Seeing that Zhang Chen chose Wen Yongshan, Yang Tianbao didn't look disappointed in his eyes, and he sat obediently next to Boss Yang.
Seeing Zhang Chen's generous selection of women, everyone felt at ease, which at least meant that the other party did not regard us as outsiders.
As a man, you have to get through something together to be considered strong.
Although it is different now, the principles are the same.
As soon as Wen Yongshan sat next to Zhang Chen, she immediately hugged his arm lovingly and kept rubbing it.
Angela Barbie is similar.
The mood of the two people being served improved instantly, and the people next to them also showed smiles that only men can understand.
Lin Jianyue joked next to him: "Where did Boss Yang find these two beauties~"
"Fashion International~"
He is very helpful. The two little girls are so sensible and make him look good. It seems that Fengshang International can cooperate for a long time.
Fengshang International is a model agency, and both Yang Tianbao and Wen Yongshan are contracted models with this company.
The modeling industry and the film industry are inseparable, and they are more open-minded than the film industry. Boss Yang often recruits people from there when he is socializing.
With the woman joining in, everyone was chatting and laughing.
Huang Baiming suddenly said: "Zhang Hao is from the Mainland, and the Miss Dong next to me is also from the Mainland. Do you two know each other before?"
Zhang Chen shook his head: "I haven't worked together before, but I know Miss Dong, who debuted as a girl, and later participated in "The Golden Family". At that time, Miss Dong had a nickname, called Entertainment Circle Koi~"
"Oh, koi? Do you mean lots of luck?"
"Almost~"
"Miss Dong is so powerful?"
Now Boss Yang is curious. Hong Kong people believe in luck.
Dong Jie smiled shyly: "No, it's just that I did have better luck. I participated in the Spring Festival Gala in 1996 and was spotted by director Zhang Yimou, who asked me to film "Happy Time"~"
Dong Jie is indeed a koi. When she attended the Spring Festival Gala for the first time in 1996, she was able to stand next to King Xie Bian and brush her face. Then she was spotted by Lao Mouzi and joined the crew of "Happy Time" to play opposite Zhao Benshan.
The key person's acting was pretty good, and she even won the 'Best Actress' award.
What many people don't know is that she also participated in Zhao Lirong's sketch "Working Adventures", playing the role of a maid in the background.
"Oh, I see, no wonder Wong Kar Wai signed you~"
Boss Yang obviously knew Zhang Yimou and probably had some ideas, but Zhang Weiping was very careful and poaching would be difficult.
Zhang Chen, on the other hand, remembered something when he heard Wong Kar-wai.
Dong Jie seems to be signed under Wong Kar-wai's Zedong Film and Television.
She took on the title of Mou Girl but went to work on a TV series. Even though it was the hit "Golden Pink Family", Lao Mouzi announced that he would never work with her again.
But "Golden Pink Family" is indeed a hit.
The popularity even exceeds the heat brought by Mou Girl.
In such a good situation, according to normal thinking, one should continue to work hard in the country, but this girl seemed to have lost her mind and signed a contract with Wong Kar-Wai's Zedong Film and Television.
Probably because I want to develop in Hong Kong.
It's a pity that Zedong Film and Television has little resources, and Wong Kar-wai's popularity is not very good, so she can't get good roles at all.
It's really Tianhu who started the fight and became a husband~
When someone mentioned "Wong Kar-wai", Dong Jie looked a little embarrassed.
Zhang Chen noticed this and didn't want to continue to be embarrassed, so he took the initiative to ask: "How did Mr. Huang meet Miss Dong?"
"Oh, I made a movie "Dragon and Tiger Gate" this year, and Miss Dong is the heroine~"
Zhang Chen said oh, then remembered that Huang Baiming was no longer the screenwriter Huang Baiming in his memory.
In his impression, Huang Baiming is the scholar in "Happy Ghost" and the well-known screenwriter of "Seven Monsters in New Art City".
But in fact, after leaving New Art City in 1991, he started his own company, called Oriental Film, and later developed into one of the four major media groups in Hong Kong.
Oriental Film is a typical family business. His son Huang Ziheng serves as the company's creative director, and his daughter Huang Yi serves as its executive director.
Huang Baiming has been a director, a screenwriter, an actor, and he also started his own company.
He is a jack of all trades, but he is not proficient in any of them.
As a director, I basically have no talent and no successful works. However, I have some achievements as a screenwriter and actor.
The starring role in "Happy Ghost" is well-received, and the co-writer of "The Best Partner" was the box office champion of the year, as well as "The Wrong Ride".
Starting a company is very common.
There was a hit movie in 1992, "Happy Events at Home", which grossed 48 million at the box office and became a sensation.
Then it stopped working. After the millennium, I did a lot of things, but none of them worked.
"Life and Death Express", "My Old Parents", "Mr. Mo Dou", "Thirty Minutes of Love", "Frightened", "The Ultimate Fighter"...
I've never heard of any of them, they're all just off the charts.
It wasn’t until last year that I invested in “Seven Swords”.
Huang Baiming is one of the producers of "Seven Swords".
But "Seven Swords" is only famous, but not box office.
However, Huang fell in love with Zhen Zhuan, and the two continued to cooperate after that.
In 2006, he worked on "Dragon Tiger Gate", in 2007 on "The Fuse", and then collaborated on "Ip Man" in 2008...
That is to say, "Ip Man" made the company make money, which made Oriental Film become one of the four major entertainment companies in Hong Kong.
"When will "Dragon and Tiger Gate" be released?"
"The mainland is in July."
Huang Baiming made a good calculation and specially selected a summer release for "Dragon and Tiger Gate", but it didn't work.
"Dragon and Tiger Gate" will definitely be a hit at the box office, otherwise there wouldn't even be a Baidu Encyclopedia.
Hong Kong comics are not well-known in the mainland, far less than Japanese comics. No one knows the original works of "Heroes of China", "Bruce Lee" and "Dragon Tiger Gate", let alone the comic-book movies.
However, when they met for the first time, Zhang Chen didn’t need to make any small talk. He could only say congratulations: "I wish Boss Huang’s "Dragon Tiger Gate" will be a big seller in the mainland~"
"Thank you Zhang for your kind words"
Zhang Chen came here today just to broaden his network of contacts.
Although he looks down on the Hong Kong market, Golden Harvest is a Hong Kong company after all, and it always has to have good relations with theater chains and so on.
In the Mainland, as long as he has a good relationship with China Film Group, no one else is afraid of him, just because China Film Group has theater chains.
There are a total of seven theater chains in Hong Kong with more than 300 screens. The largest one is the Broadway theater chain, which belongs to Anle Pictures.
However, Zhang Chen had some minor conflicts with An Le's business. He initially joined Hong Kong because of his conflict with Ma Chucheng, and Ma Chucheng was an An Le person.
Boss Yang originally thought of calling Jiang Zhiqiang here today, but after careful consideration, he finally gave up.
The conflict between the two of them can only be discussed later.
In addition to Broadway Cinemas, the remaining theaters include AMC Cinemas, Emperor UA Cinemas, New Treasure Cinemas, Golden Harvest Cinemas, Media Asia MCL Cinemas and Chinachem Cinemas.
Just by looking at their names, you can tell that most of Hong Kong's most famous film companies have theater business.
This is due to historical reasons.
If a production company does not have theaters, it will be difficult to ensure attendance, so larger film companies will get involved in the theater business.
As they became more familiar with each other, Lin Jianyue also spoke: "Director Zhang was really lucky to win Jiahe. I also wanted to get involved with Jiahe back then, but Zou Wenhuai blocked me in various ways. In the end, I don't know what method he came up with to get Taiwan Acer to take action. I At that time, a lot of business was in Taiwan, and we had to give it up in the end~”
Speaking of this, Lin Jianyue's face was filled with envy.
"Haha, luck, luck. Although Mr. Lin has not taken over Jiahe, he can continue to cooperate with Jiahe..."
Zhang Chen also admitted that he was just lucky. Even a few years earlier, Zou Wenhuai would not have sold Jiahe to him.
Generally speaking, film companies and theater chains have a two-way symbiotic relationship.
Film companies need their films to be released in more theaters, and theaters need a steady stream of new films to be released.
But overall, theaters are the stronger side.
However, this situation does not exist in Jiahe.
Zhang Chen can guarantee that every film he makes is a co-production and can be released in the mainland.
Compared with the mainland, Hong Kong's box office seems less important.
Therefore, the theaters in Hong Kong cannot control him, which is why he dares to ignore Jiang Zhiqiang.
During the chat, Zhang Chen and Dong Jie's eyes met. It stands to reason that since they are both from the mainland, they should be closer to each other.
But no, Dong Jie showed a sense of proportion.
Check out the 16-9 book bar and see the correct version!
Zhang Chen didn't like her either.
His biggest memory of Dong Jie was his gossip with Pan Yueming and Wang Dazhi.
At that time, he really squatted there and ate the melons of all ages.
There is a question that has been lingering in my mind, what do you see in Wang Dazhi?
The most interesting one is Wang Dazhi.
In 2024, Wang Dazhi transformed into a live broadcast to deliver goods for the first time. When the speech function was turned on, no one asked questions related to delivering goods, but all asked about the gossip of the year.
It can only be said that the Internet has memory.
Push the cup to change the cup
Wen Yongshan is someone who knows how to take care of others. When Zhang Chen is drinking, she will pour him wine. When Zhang Chen is chatting, she will provide him with food. When he is not drinking or eating food, she will pull Zhang Chen and rub him~
Thoughtful~
He could not remember it clearly even if he learned it a hundred times but did it live.
No wonder she was born as a young model and finally became an actor. She is so awesome~
Zhang Chen and I are all noticed by Boss Yang, "Brother Zhang is indeed a sweetheart~"
After spending time together, he felt that they were much closer to each other.
“Before, I was worried about the difference between my vision and Brother Zhang’s, but now it seems that everyone’s aesthetics are similar, hahaha~~”
Everyone burst into laughter, and the fat Lin Jianyue said: "Brother Zhang may not be comfortable with it, but we men in Hong Kong like to bring a female companion when we go out to discuss business, so as to adjust the atmosphere..."
Zhang Chenxin said that it was similar in the mainland, and the Wang brothers were the same way.
Boss Yang was interested and no longer had any scruples: "To be honest, Brother Zhang, the one I arranged for you at the beginning was actually the big flower. The big flower is Xiong Dailin, who is also a model. She is two years older than Brother Zhang. The younger one is her. Two, six years younger than Brother Zhang, but unfortunately, Xiong Dailin can't come..."
Mentioning this, Huang Baiming next to him narrowed his eyes even more with a smile: "Of course they can't come. The media has said it. The siege lasted for 33 hours..."
33 Hours of Siege is a meme played by the Hong Kong media. A paparazzi photographed Xiong Dailin entering Guo Tianwang's villa and leaving after 33 hours, so it was named - 33 Hours of Siege.
Zhang Chen also knew about this in his previous life, that is, from then on, Xiong Dailin and Guo Tianwang officially confirmed their relationship and became a couple.
Xiong Dailin hooked up with Guo Tianwang and hoped to become the king's wife. Of course, she would never come to such a dinner party again.
However, Zhang Chen knew that Guo Tianwang was a fun-loving person. Before getting married, there were as many as 18 rumored girlfriends. The longest one was Xiong Dailin, which lasted for 7 years, and finally ended in nothing.
When interviewed by the media, King Guo didn’t say anything good either: “Only your feet know whether the shoes fit properly.”
After chatting about women for a while, the group then talked about movies:
"Brother Zhang, is it inconvenient for me to tell my brothers about the three new movies produced by Jiahe? It is said that you wrote the scripts?"
Zhang Chen nodded: "Yes, I did write them all. Why, are you interested?"
Everyone looked at me, and I looked at you, and finally Huang Baiming said: "To be honest, I'm quite surprised, why did you think of doing "Ip Man"~"
Zhang Chen was stunned: "What happened to "Ip Man"?"
"Nothing, Wong Kar-wai is also doing "Ip Man"~"
"Oh, you said this~"
Zhang Chen didn't care: "He did what he did, and I did what I did mine. I'm not copying him. Once Upon a Time has been filmed by so many people. It makes no sense that Ip Man can't do it~"
Huang Baiming said: "That's right. With the procrastinating temper of the Sunglasses King, maybe your "Ip Man" has been released, and his hasn't started yet~"
Several people spoke casually, not caring that Dong Jie was from Zedong Film and Television.
Seeing that the atmosphere was just right, Zhang Chen took the opportunity to win over: "Having said that, are you interested in joining in? I'm planning to make "Ip Man" into a series..."
Seeing Zhang Chen say this, several people suddenly fell silent. Everyone looked at each other, and finally Huang Baiming said: "Has the candidate been decided?"
“Only the male lead has been chosen, Zhen Zhu~”
Just as he said this, Zhang Chen's phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID, then said sorry and ran to answer the phone.
A few people at the remaining tables murmured: "Do you think it's feasible?"
Boss Yang remained calm. He was the first to cooperate with Zhang Chen and knew the strength of the other party.
If there is a chance to join, he will definitely join, but there is no need to rush to get more competitors. Everything depends on everyone's own choice.
Huang Baiming also has his own Xiao Jiujiu. He is optimistic about Zhen Zhuan and originally planned to cooperate with him in the next few movies. Unexpectedly, the other party suddenly became an artist from Jiahe. He doesn’t know how the two parties signed the contract. If it was a contract with Bu Tou, Then we can take advantage of the opportunity to cooperate.
If it doesn't work, forget it.
He didn’t think anything of Zhen Bullet~
The current Zhen bullet is indeed not a good one.
Before 2002, Zhen Zhenzhuan was highly praised by the Yuan family. Unfortunately, no matter how much he was praised, he was not popular. Later, he returned to the United States frustrated and made a living in Hollywood, mainly as an action director.
He hasn't gotten out yet.
His real rise was with "Hero" in 2002.
During the filming of "Hero", Jet Li recommended Donnie Yen to Zhang Yimou to play the role of Chang Kong, and it was only then that Zhen Zidan became famous.
He has a place among Hong Kong martial arts stars.
Then he kept playing and kept playing until he was almost 45 years old and could no longer play anymore. Finally he had his own masterpiece - "Ip Man".
Finally a corner.
A group of people discussed and asked Boss Yang what he meant. Boss Yang said: "Let's see and talk about it later. If possible, I would rather vote for "The Lonely Agent"~"
Lin Jianyue: "He is not a crazy person, how could he release the share of "The Lonely Agent" and let us pick up the money for nothing~"
"The Lonely Agent" is a spin-off of "Hurricane" and is a free money project.
There is no risk at all in such a project, who wouldn’t want to invest in it?
But just because of this, Zhang Chen will definitely not give up the fat in his mouth. He has a lot of money and does not burn his mouth.
……
In the corner, Zhang Chen was talking on the phone with Lao Li.
"Uncle Li? Do you have anything to do with me?"
The voice of Lao Li opposite was still naive: "It's nothing important. Didn't I hear that you won Jiahe? I wanted to call you to congratulate you. I also wanted to ask. I heard that you were going to open the third round." This is a new film. Are there any financial difficulties? We can provide some~"
Zhang Chen's heart moved: "How much can Uncle Li provide?"
When Mr. Li on the other end of the phone heard this, he knew there was something going on. He thought he had made the right call and immediately reported a number: "Is fifty million enough? Last time Mr. Li came over to check the accounts, he knew that we had made money from "Hurricane" Quite a few. Not only did they not take away the profits, they also gave me an extra 50 million to expand my investment..."
The richest man Li has been very proud of himself in the past two years. With some stock operations, he is now the real richest man in the coal province.
Bankruptcy and running away will all happen in the future, but now he is really high-spirited.
A small goal is really a small goal.
Hearing that Lao Li was so confident, Zhang Chen suddenly had other ideas.
"Old Li, please don't get involved in Jiahe's movie. It's not interesting. Let me give you a suggestion. You must have heard that I am going to make a science fiction film, right?"
"I heard about it."
"The investment is huge, estimated to be 800 million. China Film has already decided to invest, and Shanghai Film is also very likely to invest. If you are willing, I can give you a share, but I don't guarantee that it will be profitable. This kind of blockbuster movie, It’s just gambling. If you win, your bicycle will turn into a motorcycle. If you lose, you will consider yourself unlucky..."
Zhang Chen deliberately said it more seriously. He thought that Lao Li on the opposite side wanted to think about it, but he didn't expect that he asked directly: "How much is one portion?"
"Ten million," Zhang Chen said casually.
"Okay, give me five portions first."
Now it was Zhang Chen's turn to be stunned: "Five copies means fifty million, not five thousand. Don't you think about it?"
"What are you considering? Half of the 50 million yuan was earned from "Hurricane Rescue", and I can still make the decision on the rest~"
Zhang Chen suddenly didn't know what to say.
Where are you doing business? That's not how you do business.
But Lao Li didn't listen to what he said, and even said that he would ask the richest man Li for instructions to see if he could increase it to 100 million.
Now it's Zhang Chen's turn to be in trouble. If Lao Li really invests 100 million, he may not dare to take it.
He still has to set aside a portion of his share for the Big Six in Hollywood, otherwise why would he use their global distribution network.
When he finished the call and returned, he found that no one mentioned anything about investment. Zhang Chen just assumed that they were not optimistic and did not continue the conversation.
After the dinner, the group came out hugging each other, and Zhang Chen said goodbye to everyone.
"Brother Zhang, get in my car and I'll take you back. Let's talk about something by the way. You two, sit in the back car~"
Seeing Huang Baiming and Lin Jianyue leaving, Boss Yang couldn't help but pull Zhang Chen into the car.
Wen Yongshan and Yang Tianbao obediently got into the car behind them.
The car started and I didn't know where it was going.
In the car, Boss Yang suddenly said: "Brother Zhang, I won't talk in circles with you. I heard that your new film is a science fiction blockbuster. Brother, I want to take a share. I don't know if that's okay?"
Zhang Chen's eyes widened, what happened today, everyone rushed to give money.
But he still said: "Boss Yang didn't even read the script and didn't understand anything, so he just cast it?"
Boss Yang laughed: "What I value is never the success or failure of a movie, but you as a person. We have already collaborated on "Kowloon Walled City" and "Painted Skin". As long as you don't exclude me from the next science fiction film, Outside, I will definitely continue to vote~"
Zhang Chen suddenly found it quite interesting that everyone he met today was this type of person.
But I still have to say what needs to be said: "Boss Yang, the investment in this drama is very large, it may reach 800 million. In the end, it is very likely that it will not make any money~"
Boss Yang was also surprised, "Eight hundred million?"
Seeing Zhang Chen nodding, the other party didn't think much about it: "I, Yang, am a shameless person. Let's make an agreement. I don't care how much your cost is. I will pay at least 50 million, just a lot more~"
Boss Yang looked at Zhang Chen, who no longer pretended to be pretentious: "Okay, since I can trust my little brother, I won't be disrespectful."
Zhang Chen also didn't expect that half of the 800 million investment would be found in one fell swoop, and the rest could be made up directly by Xingchen Entertainment and the Big Six without having to look for anyone else.
……
Last day, please vote
(End of chapter)