Chinese Entertainment 2017: Starting from the Top Writers

Chapter 114 Meeting and the Alms-Begging Master

After finishing two professional courses seriously, Lin Li secretly sighed that it was fortunate that he had the foundation from his previous life. Even though he had been idle for so long, he could still listen.

Lin Li himself was thinking that it would not be right to say that he did not have any golden fingers after his rebirth.

Because he gradually discovered that his memory, including his physical fitness, was much better than before his rebirth.

It’s not too exaggerated, but it’s definitely much stronger than normal people.

Especially in terms of physical fitness, he was the most obvious. He had always thought that it was due to his diligent exercise.

But since Xiangwang came, he has been so busy that he has not had much time to exercise. But this body...

Well, it's a bit perverted.

After finishing two professional classes, Lin Li drove to the company with Chen Chao after rejecting several freshmen who approached him.

At 2:30 in the afternoon, all the senior executives of Nanxun Culture gathered in the conference room.

As the door to the conference room opened, everyone's eyes turned over.

Lin Li was seen walking in front with a smile on his face, wearing a simple outfit of a white T-shirt and black cropped pants as usual. Gao Wen, who looked serious, and Chen Chao, who also had a smile on his face, followed closely behind him.

All the executives present stood up and bowed to greet him.

"Hello, Mr. Lin, Hello, Mr. Chen."

Lin Li walked straight to the main seat, pressed Xu Fei's shoulder on his right, motioning him to sit down, and looked at the executives with a smile.

"Everyone please sit down. There are many new faces here. Come on, everyone, sit down."

Chen Chao stood at the first seat on the left, opposite Xu Fei.

Gao Wen stood behind Lin Li, expressionless, like a sculpture.

Seeing that everyone was reluctant to take a seat, Lin Li had no choice but to sit down first, and the others then took their seats one after another.

"Mr. Xu, please tell me about the company's current situation."

Leaning back in his chair, Lin Li first looked at a few unfamiliar faces, and then asked Xu Fei to make a report.

Upon hearing this, Xu Fei stood up, nodded to Lin Li first, and then turned to the group of executives and introduced them in a sonorous and powerful manner.

"The company has already completed a project, the web series "So Cute We Are" directed and filmed by CEO Lin himself, which has reached 48 billion hits on Penguin. The share of revenue received from Penguin has reached 8.3 million. There will be some long-tail effects in the future, and the final share of revenue should be around billion."

As soon as the words fell, there was a commotion at the scene.

Everyone knows that the show "Lovely" is incredibly profitable, but no one expected it to be this horrible.

How much did it cost to make? Fifteen million!
Lin Li glanced at the group of shocked executives and complained in his heart. Although the data of The Eternal Love on Penguin in July was not as exaggerated as in the previous life due to the influence of cuteness, it was estimated that the money earned would not be less than that of "Cuteness". When its profits were exposed, you will be shocked.

Xu Fei paused for a moment when he saw everyone's reactions, and continued his introduction only after the discussion died down.

"The company is currently working on a project called 'Sadness Becomes a River' which CEO Lin has just finished filming. It will take about a month for production, as well as publicity and coordination with the cinema. I will be mainly responsible for that, and the marketing department will fully cooperate."

"In addition, the film "You Are My Glory" directed by Lin Yufen is currently being filmed intensively. It has now been moved to the northwest for filming and is expected to be completed in about two months."

"In addition, the "Sky of the Wind Dog Boy" project announced by President Lin yesterday will hold comprehensive auditions at three major colleges and companies in a week. At that time, Director Zhao Qian and I will be responsible for the main casting work."

"That's roughly the situation. Does Mr. Lin have anything else to add?"

After the introduction, Xu Fei looked at Lin Li and asked.

Lin Li smiled at him kindly, shook his head, and then led the applause.

Seeing this, others followed suit, and for a moment the conference room was filled with thunderous applause.

Motioning Xu Fei to sit down, Lin Li glanced at everyone and spoke slowly.

"Mr. Xu's introduction was very clear and understandable. Everyone knows the current situation of the company. They should also understand the company's next focus, one of which is the post-production of the film, which I will personally take charge of."

"Then there is the Fengquan project. This drama has a small investment and a high return. I want it to achieve an effect no worse than "cute". Director Zhao, do you understand what I mean?"

Upon hearing the voice, Zhao Qian stood up, bowed to Lin Li, and then made a solemn promise.

"Mr. Lin, rest assured that you can give me this opportunity. I will do my best to fulfill your expectations and make this drama a success."

"Well, I look forward to your performance. Please stay after the meeting. I have something else to tell you."

Lin Li pressed his hand to signal Zhao Qian to sit down, and at the same time gave instructions.

"Okay Mr. Lin."

Zhao Qian responded respectfully and then sat back in his seat.

Lin Li tapped the table with his slender fingers, thinking in his mind if there was anything he had missed. Suddenly he thought of something, looked up and glanced at the executives sitting around the long table and asked.

"Who is in charge of the company's current advertising and investment promotion?"

A woman in her early thirties dressed in professional attire stood up upon hearing this, bowed and saluted before answering with a serious face.

"Hello, Mr. Lin. I am currently in charge of the investment promotion work. I am Zhang Jing, the new director of the marketing planning department. I previously worked as the deputy director of the planning department at Sohu."

Xu Fei, who was standing by, added: "Manager Zhang just joined the company at the end of last month, but his work ability is quite outstanding. He was already well-known in the industry when he was at Sohu."

Lin Li nodded in understanding, then looked at Zhang Jing: "From now on, Fengquan's investment promotion work will be fully yours, and I look forward to your results."

Zhang Jing replied with a serious face: "I understand, Mr. Lin."

Then he returned to his seat at Lin Li's signal.

It can be seen that she and Gao Wen have a lot in common, both of them are strong women with vigorous and decisive style. After learning more about the company's new executives and briefly exchanging ideas, Lin Li asked the others to go out and do their own things, leaving Xu Fei and Zhao Qian to continue communicating about Fengquan.

He first turned to Chen Chao who was standing beside him: "You have contacted Peng Peng, right?"

Chen Chao nodded: "We've already talked about it, and the kid is so happy."

Lin Li was relieved and turned his gaze to Zhao Qian: "The male lead has been chosen to be Peng Peng. You and I both know his strength. It's just a formality."

Zhao Qian nodded repeatedly: "Okay, Mr. Lin."

"As for the female lead, there's an actress named Zhang Jingyi from Beijing Film Academy. She'll be auditioning, so keep an eye out for her. If she performs well, she'll be the one."

Lin Li continued.

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Qian subconsciously exchanged a glance with Chen Chao and Xu Fei, and he had a rough idea in his mind.

"Understood, Mr. Lin, I will pay attention to it."

Lin Li also noticed their little actions and didn't explain much.

After all, Peng Peng and Zhang Jingyi’s performance in this drama in their previous lives is obvious to all, and they will know when the filming starts.

And even if it was almost the case, it's just a web drama, so it won't be a big problem if Zhao Qian is a little stricter.

"Also, Mr. Xu, are there any good directors and screenwriters recently?"

Xu Fei nodded and responded: "There are a few who are pretty good. I plan to let them train with Director Zhao in the drama "Wind Dog". If they perform well, I will focus on training them."

Lin Li has always been confident in Xu Fei's work and praised him: "Mr. Xu, you have worked hard. I'll trouble you to keep an eye on it."

"By the way, what's the current situation on Wandering Earth?"

Xu Fei immediately perked up when he heard this. "Recently there's a rumor that Wanda is planning to withdraw its investment. I don't know if it's true or not."

Lin Li's eyes lit up, he knew that this must be true.

The Wandering Earth was decided to be produced by China Film Group Corporation. In order to make it a real blockbuster, they had approached famous foreign directors such as Cameron and Luc Besson in the early stages, but they were all declined.

When we found famous domestic directors, they basically rejected us outright.

In desperation, they found Guo Fan, a young director born in the 80s.

In this case, in order to reduce the risk, they found Wanda Films to co-invest in The Wandering Earth, with an investment amount of 80 million.

The minimum investment for a Hollywood movie is 200 to 300 million US dollars, but the budget Guo Fan got was 80 million RMB, which is a huge difference.

Therefore, the film did not hire expensive traffic stars, but instead spent all the money on making props, scenes and special effects.

However, shooting hard science fiction is a money-burning job after all, and 80 million is simply not enough.

After the money was all gone, director Guo Fan invested all his fortune, producer Gong Geer sold his car, the actors reduced their pay, and the director of photography spent millions of dollars on equipment.

Despite such selfless dedication, the money was still quickly spent.

At this time, the "space station" part in the sky had not been filmed yet, so Guo Fan had to apply for additional investment. At this time, Wanda was completely annoyed. They felt that the investment was too large, like a bottomless pit that could not be filled, and the hope of making money was slim, so they decided to withdraw their investment to stop the loss.

The reason why Wanda gave up The Wandering Earth is also obvious, and it is actually a choice that any normal person would make.

First of all, the director is not a very successful and well-known director.

Guo Fan is considered a new director born in the 80s. He has only made two works before, one is The Adventures of Li Xianji and the other is You, My Deskmate. These two films had average box office and reputation. These past achievements cannot prove that Guo Fan has the ability to make a good movie that will shake the world.

Furthermore, the actors are all newcomers with no appeal.

Qu Chuxiao was born in the 90s, and Zhao Jinmai was born in the 00s. Qu Chuxiao does not have any outstanding representative works, and Zhao Jinmai is a newcomer in the entertainment industry. She is called a child star, but she does not have box office appeal.

As for the only veteran, Wu Mengda, he has retired for many years and is no longer popular. Such a lineup does not have strong box office appeal.

Another thing is that the special effects of hard science fiction movies are already very expensive, and they have already spent 80 million and need to continue investing. The production costs exceed Wanda’s psychological budget for this movie.

Finally, although Chinese people like to watch science fiction blockbusters, such as Transformers and Avengers, it is still unknown whether the public will buy science fiction movies made by Chinese people and the IPs created by them.

Judging from the above reasons, Wanda’s withdrawal of investment at that time was actually a very correct choice.

But he knew that this movie not only made money, but also had a great reputation, and it also opened the way for China's hard science fiction movies.

If I don't get involved, I'll be at odds with my money and reputation.

It sounds good to be one of the promoters of hard science fiction in the Chinese film industry.

"Where is the Wandering Earth crew filming now?"

"In the Oriental Movie Metropolis in the island city."

"Well, let's go tomorrow and visit the crew of the country's first hard science fiction film."

"Okay, Mr. Lin, I'll arrange the ticket right away."

Lin Li tapped the table with his hands, a hint of excitement in his eyes.

He had been curious about Guo Fan, the master of begging for alms, for a long time. He was really an interesting person.

Guo Fan: Brother, let’s talk about something big worth hundreds of millions. You pay me hundreds of millions and I’ll do the big thing!
Really, a master of begging!

Zhao Maimai, has anyone finished watching Blizzard? The beginning of her and Xiaobai and the one with Wu Lei are both good.

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(End of this chapter)