Global Film Emperor

Chapter 416 Negotiation and Fourth Senior Brother (Part 2)

Inside the office, the two teams sat on opposite sides. Initially, they just got to know each other and then prepared their respective teams. Lu Ze sat at the head of the table, leaning back in his chair in a slightly lazy posture. He took a sip of his takeaway coffee and kept fiddling with his hands, occasionally flicking the stress-relieving spinning top between his fingers. He seemed a bit bored and superfluous.

After all, he is not a professional in business negotiations, does not have a deep understanding of this area, and cannot intervene in this negotiation. His purpose is only to intimidate the other party and gain more say for his side. However, in this harmonious and non-tense situation, his intimidation effect is basically zero and has no practical significance.

Lu Zefang's negotiation expert spoke first, thanking Lantai for its willingness to sponsor Universal Brothers Pictures and expressing hope that the negotiations could be reached amicably. Lantai's representatives nodded in agreement, saying they hoped that Lantai and Universal Brothers Pictures would become long-term friendly partners.

The contract is actually quite simple. One party wants to send money and send a few people to complete their initial international star-making plan, while the other party is indeed short of funds and doesn't mind the investors sending in two people.

Both sides have a clear understanding of each other's strengths and weaknesses, so there's no need to seek further professional evaluation. Universal Brothers is very satisfied with Zhejiang TV's hard power in China, and the other party is equally satisfied with the recent achievements of Universal Brothers Pictures in film history.

After friendly conversation, it was time to explain their own wishes. Lu Zefang took the lead in expressing his needs, starting with a sponsorship fee of three million euros. At an exchange rate of more than 1 to 7, that's about 25 million euros. After deducting taxes, it is estimated that more than 2.5 million euros will end up in the hands of Global Brothers.

Lu Ze noticed Director Du Mei's face. She showed no emotional fluctuations, as if she had only spent a little over two thousand yuan, and there was no trace of pain in her eyes.

If the program team really paid for this money, Du Mei would definitely feel the pinch. After all, a program team's main expenses and advertising costs are spent on the invited contestants and mentors, plus stage effects, channel promotion and other expenses. Funds are usually tight. Therefore, Lu Ze has reason to guess that the money that ends up in the Universal Brothers' account should be mostly taken by the companies behind the contestants, and it is even possible that the contestants themselves have to contribute a portion.

After all, money is easy to earn and easy to spend, but channels are hard to come by. Since Lantai has channels to go abroad, there is no shortage of people eager to participate in the competition at their own expense. Lu Ze does not need to investigate where the money comes from. As long as it is legal, he will naturally dare to spend it.

However, given Zhejiang TV's ruthless nature, it's likely that not only will the channels require contestants to pay out of pocket, but they will also have to make a profit, acting as a middleman to earn the price difference between the contestants and Universal Brothers. Since Du Mei isn't paying for this, she certainly won't feel bad about it.

Secondly, the winners of the competition need to maintain sufficient availability to be on call at any time. During the filming period, they are not allowed to leave the set without permission, nor can they accept commercial performances on their own. They can only leave the set after the closed filming is completed and with the director's approval. Afterwards, they still need to cooperate with the film's promotion and must be on call at any time without making excuses.

Chinese actors generally adhere to this principle well; it's rare to hear of any Chinese actor daring to take on private work while on set, or even acting like a diva. Of course, this applies internationally, but not domestically.

However, this must be clearly written in the contract. No one can predict whether such an oddball will appear on the set. If it is only a verbal agreement, many artists may have some unpleasantness with the director over commercial performances and endorsements. Better safe than sorry.

Thirdly, this money is only for sponsorship purposes. The film will display the Zhejiang Media Group logo in some scenes as a thank you for the sponsorship, but it must be made clear in advance that this money can only be a sponsorship, not an investment. Zhejiang Media Group cannot use investment as a pretext to demand that Universal Brothers Studio change the script or usurp the director's filming rights.

Fourth, actors' salaries will be paid by Universal Brothers Pictures, with the specific amount based on international recognition, not on Chinese film salaries, and they will not be eligible for film profit sharing.

To be honest, these conditions are quite harsh on the champions. They have to compete and spend money and connections to get into the group, but their pay is just enough to get by. They don't get any of the profits. They are pitiful little guys who do hard labor but don't earn any money.

The problem is that any Western film company would offer the same price. It's not that Universal Brothers is stingy or sees Asian actors as cheap labor. On the contrary, in the entire Western film industry, Universal Brothers is definitely the fairest and most humane company in terms of its treatment of Asian actors.

It can only be said that the current situation of Chinese actors in international activities is a state of generational gap. The older generation is no longer taking on roles, and the younger generation has no fame, so they can only lose money to gain publicity. Back then, Lu Ze was in the same situation, and he couldn't even command a price.

First of all, you have no international fame, no die-hard fans, and certainly no box office appeal. No matter how well you do domestically, you're still a nobody in the international film industry. Don't talk about box office appeal in China; the movie might not even be released in China at all. Assessing your box office appeal in China is meaningless unless it's confirmed for release there. Otherwise, expecting the same amount as in China? Dream on.

The last project is because this contract is only between Universal Brothers and Zhejiang TV. Although another contract will be signed with the artist later, the remuneration and terms will be in accordance with the contract with Zhejiang TV. If the actor is dissatisfied with these terms, he/she can choose to withdraw, and Universal Brothers will not pursue the breach of contract.

To put it in plain terms, the contract states that you can choose whether to act or not, and if you don't act, I won't make you lose money, but you still have to pay me the sponsorship fees due.

To be honest, this contract is indeed a bit domineering, and it doesn't treat Zhejiang TV and the contestants on an equal footing at all. But after carefully considering the contestants, Lu Ze realized that they could only earn a meager living by making movies. If they weren't filming for Universal Brothers, they wouldn't even be able to get a basic living allowance. You have to be strong yourself to succeed. Even if Lu Ze wanted to speak up for the contestants, he couldn't find a suitable reason.

Secondly, their conditions have only just been stated, and there is still a lot of room for negotiation. Relatively excessive demands are only to ensure that their interests are maximized after the negotiation. Lu Ze knows the details and understands where Global Brothers' bottom line is. In fact, the minimum contract requirements are still quite fair. It's just that they are in a position of taking money to do things for you, and it's far less aggressive than it is now. However, it still depends on the strength of Lantai's negotiation team and whether they can reach that point.

Now, Lu Ze only regrets not being able to resist Mickey's persistent pleading and agreeing to this difficult task. He can't ask for a lower contract standard, otherwise he would be slapping his own people in the face. But what if the negotiation team at Lantai is not good enough? Perhaps they already put him at a disadvantage and therefore didn't make high demands. If that gets out, Lu Ze will be criticized by everyone.

He sighed inwardly, took out his phone and sent Mickey a text message: "Don't be too demanding, ask them to be a little more lenient."

The message quickly received a reply: "I understand, but you also need to know that if we don't take a firm stance, many people will become more demanding. They certainly won't dare to lash out at you, but if they use your patriotism as a trump card to subtly undermine you, will you fall for it? I have no connections in China, and negotiating in person would definitely not yield as much benefit as having you present. So I can only ask you for help. Yes, you are Chinese, but this is just an ordinary business negotiation, far removed from national interests. If offering the other party a favorable contract is considered patriotism, then that patriotism is far too narrow. It would be better to ask for nothing at all. Otherwise, it's more like charity than a return you're giving to the Chinese film industry."

Lu Ze did not reply. He understood what Mickey meant. He put away his phone and just then heard what Du Mei said next.

"A contract worth over 20 million can't be decided so easily. Fortunately, Professor Lu is here, so let's analyze it point by point. First, let's discuss the first point, the sponsorship fee of 3 million euros. First of all, a film has pre-production expenses, post-production expenses, and publicity expenses. If we were to come up with 25 million for the production team, it might be quite difficult for our project team, since we are very short of funds in all aspects. I would like to discuss with you whether our sponsorship fee can be used for publicity expenses, such as publicity or marketing in the Chinese market. After all, we are a publicity channel with a lot of publicity connections. If our professional team can handle the publicity expenses of over 20 million, such a large amount of funds will definitely have a very good effect."

As expected, after Universal Brothers Pictures made its move, Du Mei and her group also showed their claws. Suddenly, Lu Ze lost the desire to listen any further. He detached himself from the patriotic perspective and calmly observed the pretense and pretense between the two sides.

After finishing the last sip of his coffee, he stood up under everyone's watchful eyes and left the conference room. He had already served his purpose of making a strong impression, and now there was no room for him to do anything more, so he might as well leave to avoid getting an even bigger headache from listening. Just as he stepped out, he went to the restroom to wash his hands, and then turned around to go to the recording studio to chat with an old acquaintance, only to find an unexpected figure standing in front of him.

"Fourth brother?"

"What? You still don't recognize your fourth brother? You're something else, kid. You come to your fourth brother's territory and I have to come and invite you. You've got quite the influence."

"Don't mention it. I just heard you've been busy with meetings these past few days, so I didn't want to bother you. If I delayed your work, it would delay the work of several stations. If I caused several stations to malfunction because I was chatting with you, I would have made a huge mistake."

"Hahaha, don't talk to me like that, kid. Come and get acquainted with Director Zhao and Director Meng from Lantai. This is my junior brother, my Jiu'er. I don't need to introduce him, right?"

The fourth senior brother, Liu Xingbang, was followed by two other men, both around fifty years old and slightly overweight. When they saw their fourth brother introducing them to Lu Ze, they warmly shook hands with Lu Ze one after the other.

"Teacher Lu, you're so young and promising...you're only thirty this year?"

"I am thirty-four years old this year. I am far from worthy of the title of teacher. I still have much to learn from the two directors. I am young and inexperienced. I would appreciate your guidance."

"Look at Lao Meng, when we were about the same age as Teacher Lu, our achievements were far less remarkable than his." He dared not offer any guidance, but rather hoped to exchange ideas and have more interactions. He also hoped that young Teacher Lu could share some valuable experiences from foreign television stations, so that they could learn more and provide more entertainment options for the viewers.

"You two teachers are right. We should keep in touch more often and visit each other more frequently. Here is my business card, please accept it..."

The change in nicknames made the two station directors very happy. They accepted Lu Ze's business card with both hands, and without lingering, they said goodbye to Fourth Brother and Lu Ze with smiles, and then turned to leave. Fourth Brother then led Lu Ze into his office at Blue TV.

He lit a cigarette, tossed the pack to Lu Ze, and then his fourth brother sat in the master chair and started boiling water. Lu Ze looked around the office; the decor was very simple and not luxurious. The most eye-catching thing was probably the huge bookshelf that was two meters high and five meters wide.

What kind of tea do you like to drink?

"Forget it, Fourth Brother. Ever since I came here, my mouth has never stopped. I've been drinking tea all day. I must have drunk half a bucket of water. And I haven't been getting any exercise. My feet are all swollen from drinking so much."

"You're talking too much. I'll let you choose. How much you drink is your business. I can't possibly shortchange you on a couple of ounces of tea."

There were only a few types of tea on the tea table. Lu Ze picked and chose, and finally handed him a box of Longjing tea.

"You've got sharp eyes, kid. You said you wouldn't drink, but if you do, you'll pick the best, right?"

"It's just past Qingming Festival, and we should be taking it downstairs after we've finished cooking. It would be a shame not to have some Longjing tea with me, wouldn't it?"

"Haha, why aren't you this talkative with others? When are you leaving?"

"I'll leave in two more hours. I'm going to God's Capital to see my master and Old Song's mother."

"No, let's change it to eight o'clock tomorrow morning. Fourth Brother will take you. Come have a drink with me tonight."

He didn't look up as he poured boiling water into the teapot, but his words carried an undeniable authority. This was how people who always meant what they said were, and it was only when Lu Ze stood in front of his fourth brother that he acted the same way.

"It really won't work. I'll go to the capital tonight to pay my respects to my master, visit Old Song's mother tomorrow morning, and then head back by noon. If I'm going to make changes, I'll have to make more than one, which is a hassle. Besides, things in England are also pressing me. I'm really busy."

"So busy that you don't even have time to have a drink with Fourth Brother? Fine, then I won't keep you any longer. Just tell Master, so I don't get a beating and complain that Ninth Brother came and was chased away after just a drink of water."

"Fourth Brother, please don't bother me. If I weren't really busy, I wouldn't have kicked the bucket after just one night at Master's. We can drink as much as we want after things are settled in England."

“Okay, Master just told me a couple of days ago that he would send the Longjing tea to him when it was ready. This will save me from having to send it by express delivery. It’s at the front desk now. You can come downstairs and take it with you in a bit. It weighs exactly twenty pounds. Don’t give it all to Master. The old man tends to keep it to himself. There are some for Second Brother, Sixth Brother, and Eighth Brother.”

"Pfft! How much?"

"..."

(End of this chapter)