After all of them were reborn, who would still be an actor?

Chapter 713 The Invaluable FBTV, a Five Billion Dollar Bet

At the celebration banquet for the Golden Palm.

Li Mingyang was being fawned over, but before he could even say a few words of praise, Zuo Shandiao, Li Meijin, and a group of high-ranking officials had already finished praising him.

Each and every one of them was his guide.

Li Mingyang naturally didn't mind.

Despite the controversy online, the Palme d'Or is a real prize, and everyone wants a piece of the pie.

They're all big talkers.

During the first half of the celebration banquet, Li Mingyang was just a mascot, his face stiff from smiling.

After everyone had finished boasting and taken a bunch of group photos, Li Mingyang finally had a chance to talk to Zuo Shandiao.

Despite having many leaders, their responsibilities and powers are clearly defined.

The decision to make the film was ultimately made by Zuo Shandiao.

The cigar room is decorated in a French style.

Zuo Shandiao skillfully toasted a cigar and said, "Tell me honestly, how did you win this award?"

Regarding Li Mingyang's Palme d'Or.

The most curious person was none other than Zuo Shandiao, who knew the price and resources the Chinese side had paid.

Even so, he was prepared to be deceived; after all, the Palme d'Or was at stake, and agreements were just a formality.

But in the end, Li Mingyang won! He won while standing!

The more you reflect on it, the more shocking it becomes! The more you reflect on it, the more unbelievable it seems.

He instructed Jia Zhangke and Jiang Wen to inquire about them. Jia Zhangke returned empty-handed, while Jiang Wen won the award indirectly!
If getting a scholarship through a roundabout route were so easy, the University of Tokyo would have gotten it long ago, why wait so long!
"I don't want CCTV to invest in FBTV. Can China Film Group invest instead?"

Zuo Shandiao was taken aback. "Didn't you say you didn't want me to control you?"

“How can you say that’s managing me? It’s preventing me from going astray. Without Third Master, I wouldn’t be where I am today!” Li Mingyang said righteously.

Actually, I was thinking to myself, you're about to step down, without you, China Film Group will be just like that.

CCTV must be speechless. It's too difficult for them to directly set the rules!

Zuo Shandiao hesitated for a moment and said, "If you think a veto is too domineering, you can cancel it."

"Huh? Can I cancel?"

"You didn't do anything wrong, and you even did a good job, so why can't it be revoked?"

Zuo Shandiao's rhetorical question was so sharp!

Li Mingyang wanted to curse!
If I had known it could be cancelled, I wouldn't have gone through all that trouble...

But if I hadn't pulled that stunt, Spielberg wouldn't have given me the Palme d'Or!

"It's not right for me to make demands so soon after I've just achieved some results! To show my sincerity, I agree to the veto right."

“You little rascal, you’re not being honest…” Zuo Shandiao handed a lit cigar to Li Mingyang.

Li Mingyang took the cigar, took a puff, and said sincerely, "I was too young before. I will definitely be a better person in the future."

"You wouldn't have sold your veto power like it's nothing, would you?" Zuo Shandiao frowned.

"No."

"That means it's sold!"

"It's a three-way deal."

Which three parties?

"I can't tell you now."

"Hehe, you're so young but you have a lot of ideas. As someone who's been there, let me give you a piece of advice: dealing with the West is a very difficult thing. They're used to robbing people and have no integrity whatsoever. Be careful."

"Profit comes first! I understand!"

"Maybe you really do know, otherwise you wouldn't have won. Okay, hurry up and tell me how you won. You've already won the Palme d'Or, can you buy an Oscar now!"

"..."

"We may not have money, but we do."

"Can't get it..."

"Can't we get those bargaining chips from Zhang Yimou?"

"The Oscars are voted on by nearly 10,000 people. Tell me, how do I bribe them?"

"So I told you a long time ago to go to Hollywood, but you wouldn't listen... Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. Is there really no chance for an Oscar?"

"No! The Palme d'Or is already the limit!"

"That's your limit. We're a team, we'll figure something out for you."

Zuo Shandiao wanted to know the truth, but Li Mingyang refused to answer.

The two talked back and forth for more than half an hour, and Li Mingyang kept his mouth shut.

Left with no other option, Zuo Shandiao had to give up.

His biggest concern right now is the progress of the Three-Body Problem project.

"Get ready for The Three-Body Problem. We'll start filming this year and aim for a release next year."

"Is this your idea, Third Master, or the idea from above?"

"They all mean the same thing."

"If that's what the higher-ups want, it seems they don't need me. Zhang Yimou and Xu Ke are more suitable for their needs," Li Mingyang grinned, speaking indifferently.

Zuo Shandiao took a few puffs of his cigar and suddenly laughed, "You're going against me."

"No, how could I dare to go against Third Master's opinion... Third Master, this is what I think: since everyone agrees that Zhang Yimou and Xu Ke should make the Three-Body Problem, then let them make it. After all, those who support me are a minority, and they are the majority. There's no need to make everyone unhappy over a project."

"This copyright belongs to you..."

"It's alright, I can grant you the authorization for free."

"The Three-Body Problem project is highly valued. If it succeeds, it will greatly benefit your future development..."

"What good does it do for future development to take away other people's jobs? It affects unity... I've figured it out. Instead of fighting each other, it's better for everyone to go their own way."

Zuo Shandiao felt that Li Mingyang had lost his mind.

With such a great project as The Three-Body Problem, and Li Mingyang winning the Palme d'Or, it's the perfect time for him to take over The Three-Body Problem project.

In the realm of science fiction, the competition hinges on the film industry.

Li Mingyang possesses the special effects skills for Pangu and is adept at making fantasy blockbusters, thus meeting all the requirements for producing The Three-Body Problem.

Giving up so suddenly is unreasonable.

"I just don't believe it... What exactly do you want?" Zuo Shandiao asked.

"It's easy for one person to stand out and get criticized. I think it's better for a variety of ideas to flourish and for everyone to have more opportunities... But suddenly, I don't want to be a director anymore!"

Zuo Shandiao was stunned, Zuo Shandiao was shocked! Zuo Shandiao was cursing in his heart!
He wanted to quit as soon as he won the Palme d'Or!

How can this work!
I'm still waiting for you to boost my political achievements!
If you quit, they'll think I did something to you!

“I understand that you want to rest. That’s fine. You rest first, and come find me when you’ve thought it through,” Zuo Shandiao said with a smile.

In fact, as soon as he stepped out, he found his daughter and asked her to give Li Mingyang's backyard a strong dose of medicine so that the Three-Body Problem could start construction sooner.

He also called Fu Qing, the deputy general manager of China Film Group, and asked him to withdraw his investment from LeEco's Three-Body Problem project.

Make our stance clear to LeEco and Wanda!

There are some things he can't do...

For example, they kicked out Zhang Yimou and Xu Ke, who were so busy with the Three-Body Problem project that they neglected to eat and sleep.

But LeEco and Wanda can do it!

"Hmm, it seems there are no problems... By the way, can Miss apply for domestic awards?"

……

Before Li Mingyang came to Cannes, Li Meijin helped him secure two paths to win the Palme d'Or.

Choose 50% of FBTV's shares in Cannes.

Choose a 10% stake in FBTV in Hollywood and a super premium deal worth billions of dollars!
This price is no secret!
Many people know it.

However, Li Mingyang's path to winning the Palme d'Or is not through these two paths.

Because Li Meijin's PR strategy requires her to kneel on both fronts; she can't stand up and win, nor can she be the only Palme d'Or winner.

Li Meijin's curiosity was no less than that of Zuo Shandiao.

But she didn't want to ask, and she didn't want to know.

She never intended to have a proper talk with Li Mingyang, so halfway through the celebration banquet, she quietly left, preparing to run away back to China ahead of time.

Then Zhang Wei cornered him in the VIP lounge of Nice Airport.

Upon receiving the news, Li Mingyang immediately took a car to Nice Airport.

I had a conversation with Li Meijin that lasted for more than two hours.

On the surface, the price Li Mingyang paid for winning the Palme d'Or was not much, only shares in FBTV.

It is far less than the combined efforts of the entire Chinese nation.

In fact, 50% of FBTV's shares are worth more than the Chinese side's stake!
Both are 50% stakes in FBTV.

Li Meijin's Cannes strategy was essentially a package deal to sell FBTV to Wall Street.

Wall Street doesn't accept this deal!
Wall Street has put forward a super bet with maximum binding force!
So they don't mind standing up to take it.

As long as they take it, they're one of us! We're not worried at all about Li Mingyang betraying us or stabbing us in the back.

This bet involves two major capital players: Hollywood and Wall Street.

Li Mingyang offered 50% of FBTV shares in a bet against Wall Street!
Within two years, FBTV's revenue exceeded $10 billion, but Wall Street only took half of the shares; otherwise, it would have taken all.

Wall Street holds a 25% stake in FBTV.

Taking half only gives you 50%, but taking all of it gives you absolute control!
Vanguard Group and BlackRock Group forcibly placed these 50% of the shares in custody.

The six major Hollywood studios all got a share, totaling 20%.

The Cannes Film Festival Council received 20%, and Spielberg personally received 10%.

The two investment institutions imposed a series of financial constraints on Li Mingyang based on the 50% stake.

If FBTV's revenue falls below $5 billion within two years, he will not only lose 50% of the shares, but will also be responsible for the buyback!

Wall Street valued FBTV at 10 billion US dollars, so 50% of that would be 5 billion US dollars!

If he doesn't perform well and quits, he'll not only lose FBTV, but also have to pay that five billion US dollars. If he performs well, and revenue exceeds five billion US dollars, Wall Street will foot the bill and pay five billion US dollars for him.

A five billion dollar bet.

The price is equivalent to the entire Legendary Pictures studio...

Ignoring profits and focusing only on revenue is great; streaming media revenue is incredibly high!
The profit margins aren't very good.

The key point of this betting agreement is not the five billion US dollars, but whether FBTV can dominate Asia!

The best actuaries on Wall Street have a deep understanding of calculation.

With revenue exceeding five billion US dollars, FBTV must enter the Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean markets.

With revenue exceeding 10 billion US dollars, FBTV must dominate Asia!

The given timeframe is two years, and that's based on Netflix...

In 2012, Netflix's annual revenue was $36 billion.

Currently valued at $136 billion!

Compared to extortion, this performance-based contract gave Li Mingyang an opportunity.

So he signed it.

Signing this highly binding performance-based agreement was merely a prerequisite for negotiating the Palme d'Or.

Hollywood and Wall Street distrust each other...

Both sides have the ability to overturn the table and drag the other into a legal mess.

Li Mingyang has to negotiate on his own.

It gives confidence to both Wall Street and Hollywood.

He showed his determination, saying he would work hard and wouldn't try to find loopholes in the contract to escape responsibility.

After signing the contract, Li Mingyang cursed the entire Hughes family and then rushed to the villa hotel where the judges were staying.

Spielberg was incredibly energetic; he was still wide awake at 3 a.m.

I talked with Li Mingyang for more than an hour.

He has a lot of concerns about the betting contracts with Wall Street!
The complaints never stop.

The main issue is that the money will only be paid two years later, and the shares will be held in custody by Wall Street, in case FBTV goes public on the US stock market and its value exceeds 10 billion.

They still have to sell it based on a 10 billion benchmark, which means they'll lose money...

Spielberg's numerous criticisms suggest he approved of the plan, but ultimately he was unwilling to take the lead and assume responsibility.

Because the performance-based agreement was not detailed enough and had too many loopholes, it needed to be supplemented with additional clauses, but there wasn't enough time.

Just when Li Mingyang thought it was all over!
Spielberg called all the judges to his study for a vote!
Transform individual responsibility into collective responsibility!
These judges are all Cannes insiders; they were chosen by the Cannes organizers themselves!
The old fox's most impressive trait was that he didn't hide the fact that he sold prizes.

He made it clear to everyone that the prizes were being sold.

But they didn't mention the performance-based agreement, only saying that it involved a very large sum of money!
They didn't hide the fact that prizes were being sold, but they did hide the consequences.

Li Mingyang witnessed the entire life-changing vote!
This vote would have been difficult to pass anyway; nobody's an idiot...

The judges were all reluctant to raise their hands to vote, and the stalemate lasted for a long time.

Nicole raising her hand became a crucial turning point!

Next up were Naomi Kawase and Lynn Ramsay, two female directors with captivating eyes, who also raised their hands.

Three votes in hand!

The minority obeys the majority.

Spielberg didn't raise his hand, but he was the one who initiated it!

In other words, with just one more vote, the Palme d'Or would be his.

Li Mingyang pinned his hopes on Li An, but instead he was looking down and playing with his fingers. What the hell!

The final, crucial vote was cast by Christopher Waltz.

The cunning and ruthless Nacional officer in Inglourious Basterds, a specialist in playing "villains"! A top Hollywood supporting actor!

After casting the crucial vote, Li An stopped playing with her fingers and shyly raised her hand.

In the blink of an eye, all the judges raised their hands.

Spielberg then symbolically raised his hand, and it passed unanimously!

After the awards ceremony, Li Mingyang finished his interview and met Spielberg while celebrating at a bar. Spielberg gave him the Palme d'Or winners list.

Li Mingyang then realized that this guy hadn't notified the Cannes officials, and the list clearly stated that the winner was Adele's Life.

But that's all in the past now; he burned that list to ashes.

Li Mingyang paid such a price not so that Li Meijin could stay in South Korea!

She has to leave the Koreans!

Li Mingyang reasoned with him and appealed to his emotions.

He told Li Meijin all the details of the transaction.

Despite repeated attempts to persuade him, he remained unresponsive.

Lee Mi-jin was unwilling to leave. She wanted to take advantage of his Palme d'Or and the unprecedentedly favorable situation to make the Korean Wave flourish all over the mainland!
“President Li, we are a team, you should think about the bigger picture.”

“I know Director Li has put in a lot of effort for this Palme d'Or. Don’t worry, I won’t let you suffer any losses. I’ll contribute 15% of the 50% stake,” Li Meijin said generously.

CJ Entertainment and Lee Mi-jin together hold only 20% of the shares, and now they've given away three-quarters of them.

"I think we should set our sights on the long term, like the Oscars."

"Forget about the Oscars, you don't even have a single point, you have no chance at all."

"That's why we need Chairman Li to go ahead and pave the way!"

"What's the point of me going to Hollywood? I'm already a Hollywood person. If you want to win an Oscar, you have to go to Hollywood yourself and participate in Hollywood projects... You're not thinking of winning an Oscar with a foreign language film, are you?"

Li Mingyang nodded.

"Director Li! Stop being so hard on yourself. You'd be better off winning an Oscar in Hollywood. If Li An were in mainland China, he wouldn't have won a single Oscar. He only won three because he worked in Hollywood."

Li Meijin then tried to persuade Li Mingyang, speaking with sincerity and reason!
But Li Mingyang has the ability to see the heavens.

Parasite pioneered Asian cinema and became the first non-English language film in Oscar history to win Best Picture!

In addition, Bong Joon-ho won four Academy Awards for his film Parasite, an unprecedented achievement!

After that... Sean Baker later won four Academy Awards for "Arnola": Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Editing.

Bong Joon-ho is truly amazing! Parasite is indeed a masterpiece!
But without Li Meijin, a parasite is just a parasite!

Li Meijin has connections and the ability to make history!

But she doesn't want to do that now! Because the cost is just too high...

They've completely sold off the South Korean film market!
"Alright, your flight has arrived. Let's talk another day." Li Mingyang was too lazy to say anything more.

"It's okay, I can leave later."

When Li Meijin learned about the prize-winning process, she stopped rushing and didn't leave.

They started teaching Li Mingyang how to win an Oscar!

Do I need you to explain why I'm winning an Oscar?

Harvey Weinstein's public relations tactics were already exposed the year he was arrested!

For example, sending movie DVDs to judges, holding internal screenings and receptions, hiring professional "online trolls" to smear competitors, inviting critics to write film reviews, and buying out multiple entertainment media columns for intensive coverage, all to promote their own films.

With this meticulous public relations strategy, Harvey repeatedly beat out the Hollywood Big Six to win the Oscar.

Films produced and distributed by his company Miramax have received over 300 Oscar nominations and won more than 70 golden statuettes! That's an impressive record!

Harvey later went in.

Neon Pictures, an independent film distribution company co-founded by former Miramax employees Tom Quinn and Tim Lig, inherited this film selection and distribution strategy and innovated upon it.

Harvey has a worthy successor!
Even surpassing their predecessors.

How insane is this company's PR team!
They've won the Palme d'Or at Cannes for five consecutive years! They've already bought the North American distribution rights for these five Palme d'Or winners.

Parasite (2019), Titanium (2021), Triangle (2022), The Fallen Trial (2023), Anora (2024).

The program was cancelled in 2020 due to the availability of face masks.

This record is truly incredible!
Especially Anora, this terrible film won the Palme d'Or and an Oscar, yet it was universally panned by audiences worldwide.

Other films either have no rivals or are of superior quality!

This awful movie is utterly insulting to the audience's intelligence!

This is a very ideological and politically biased film.

Hollywood makes so many movies like this!

Hollywood movies are themselves products of ideology and political tendencies.

Anora is like that, Forrest Gump is like that, and The Shawshank Redemption is like that!
Hollywood has never lacked movies like this, so why did Anora win in the end?
This is the result of public relations!
However, the result is not as simple as it appears on the surface.

Harvey is actually a middleman for the Democrats in Hollywood, a pimp! He's involved in political donations, charitable foundations, and nurturing new talent!
Eyes Wide Shut is a great movie!

Tom Cruise stars!
He exposed the hypocrisy and ugliness of Hollywood! It was so shocking and unbelievable that audiences thought it was fake…

Courage and conscience come at a price, and then this director... died!
Hollywood is actually just a tool for politics.

The so-called Oscar PR is actually political PR.

Harvey has fallen!
The American film industry has risen!

They're all doing the same thing: so-called public relations is just a glamorous performance for the public, but in reality, it's all about petty scheming and underhanded dealings.

Fair competition can only exist when there are no political stances involved.

Fair competition, in essence, boils down to money!
The fees for the PR Oscars are all controlled by PR firms, and the actual beneficiaries of these firms are all big shots.

Harvey hired the same public relations team that was also involved in the presidential campaign.

This is in response to the judges' lobbying, manipulation of media opinion, and smear campaigns against their opponents.

These are all political tactics that politicians have abused!

How can anyone else play this game? They simply can't compete!
Li Meijin was right about one thing: you need to have connections to get an Oscar!

Oscars really do award points!
This point is in Hollywood!
Oscar points that can only be earned in Hollywood!

……

(End of this chapter)