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

Chapter 724 The Grip of Power 2 (Second Update)

“You can’t wear that. Li Mingyang is notoriously cunning; he’ll run away at the slightest sign of trouble,” Zhang Zhao said, waving his hand.

"By the way, how did he win the Palme d'Or? And who actually owns FBTV? I heard from people at Goldman Sachs that FBTV seems to be preparing for a US stock market listing." Old Jia stroked his chin, looking puzzled.

"It'll be soon. CCTV has finalized the selection. As for what exactly is going on with FBTV, the co-CEO certainly has the right to know, and we'll find out soon."

Old Jia nodded, and a brilliant idea popped into his head. "Mr. Zhang, the Three-Body project is dragging on too much. Go talk to Li Mingyang and get a betting contract with a box office of over 2 billion. Stocks and such are negotiable."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhao immediately knew what Old Jia was planning.

Using LeEco stock to pay his acting fee—killing three birds with one stone!
If Li Mingyang becomes a shareholder of LeEco, the stock price will definitely rise.

By throwing out a brick to attract jade and getting celebrities to invest, the stock price will definitely rise.

A movie that grosses two billion yuan will definitely see its stock price rise.

Li Mingyang himself will also make a fortune due to the continuous surge in stock prices, making everyone happy.

No other director in China is confident of breaking 2 billion yuan at the box office, but Li Mingyang is!
Li Mingyang's Love Disaster Trilogy still has one last part, Lingya's Journey, that hasn't been filmed yet!

From a business perspective, Li Mingyang had no reason to refuse.

But Zhang Zhao felt that Li Mingyang wouldn't agree...

Li Mingyang didn't have that much of a need for material things; he even suspected that Li Mingyang had lost interest in money...

Both are Palme d'Or winners, but Li Mingyang and Chen Kaizi are two extremes!

After winning the Palme d'Or, Chen Kaizi became obsessed with money, fearing he hadn't earned enough, and lived what he considered the life of an upper-class person.

After winning the Palme d'Or, Li Mingyang didn't care about going bankrupt. He didn't take over The Three-Body Problem, nor did he prepare for a new film. Instead, he tinkered with his industry joke, Bouquet Entertainment...

A film and television production company with several thousand employees has a creative capacity that is utterly rotten to the core, a far cry from its former glory.

Logically speaking, Lee Myung-yang has his own top-notch production team and is a new conglomerate in the Korean entertainment industry, so he is not short of talent.

After the major restructuring, Bouquet Entertainment has no reason to exist anymore; all its employees can be laid off!
But Li Mingyang persisted...

What exactly is he insisting on?

The moment this question arose, it rapidly consumed Zhang Zhao's mind.

By the time the drinking party ended, it was already past midnight.

Zhang Zhao was completely overwhelmed by this question, and he desperately wanted to know the answer.

"Mr. Zhang, should we go to the company or go back to the East Third Ring Road?"

"I'm not going anywhere else, I'm going to Hengdian."

"Okay, the roads are clear now, it should take about half an hour to get there."

I'm referring to Hengdian in Zhejiang.

"..."

The driver was stunned. This would take more than ten hours to drive!

……

Yanbei, Huayi Brothers.

"Brother, tell me, who won the bet between Director Feng and Li Mingyang?" Wang Zhonglei asked, looking completely bewildered.

"Comparing the box office of '1942' and 'Seoul Spring,' who do you think won?" Wang Dajun said irritably.

"Yeah! The box office of 'Spring in Seoul' would be in the billions if converted to mainland China's figures. It's been so long... Why hasn't Li Mingyang come looking for trouble? Has he forgotten? How could he! He bet 100 million with Feng Kuzi!"

"It's not a dollar..."

"Brother, you're trying to force Feng Kuzi to kneel down and admit his mistake! How could he possibly do that! He'll definitely choose money... and we'll have to pay for it."

Wang Dajun was fiddling with dark red walnuts. The 1942 box office was a disastrous failure, losing nearly 100 million yuan, and the stock price fluctuated and fell by 1 billion yuan.

Although he had lost a lot of money, Wang Dajun didn't want to spend another 100 million yuan.

But 1942 appealed to the Beijing circle, and Feng Xiaogang is now considered a representative figure of the Beijing circle, making him even more important to Huayi Brothers.

He had actually planned to spend 100 million yuan to keep Feng Kuzi in check.

But if Li Mingyang doesn't mention it, and Feng Kuzi doesn't mention it, he can't very well go to their door and hand over the money!
Damn it, just thinking about that scene made Wang Dajun want to curse.

"Why don't you prepare the money and send it over?"

"It's not appropriate for me to go, it's not appropriate." Wang Xiaolei shook his head vigorously. Why should I go? It's not like I lost!
Wang Dajun smiled slyly, urging Wang Xiaolei to deliver the money.

Even though Li Mingyang didn't win the Palme d'Or, he still had the nerve to ask for a discount.

Li Mingyang won the Palme d'Or, and he no longer cares about discounts.

He always felt that Li Mingyang had ulterior motives, and he wouldn't feel at ease unless he sent the money sooner and settled the matter.

The two brothers never dreamed that Li Mingyang was waiting for them.

Wait for Huayi's financial collapse before bringing up the money issue.

The Chinese entertainment industry is flush with cash these days. One or two hundred million yuan is just a drop in the ocean for film and television giants; they can easily make that amount by rolling around in the stock market.

This is why everyone thinks Li Mingyang is bankrupt, but no one thinks it has any impact on him.

The government will make up for it... Two billion US dollars in foreign exchange reserves. Apart from those large glove groups and internet giants, no company can get such an astonishing amount of foreign exchange!
dong dong!

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Wang Dajun said.

A pretty, hot secretary walked into the office, bowed and nodded, and respectfully greeted the Wang brothers. Then she whispered to Wang Dajun that the people at the front desk wanted to see him.

"Does it have to be me?"

"Ah."

"What could the headquarters possibly want with me?" Wang Dajun asked, putting down the walnuts.

"Could it be related to the Spring Festival Gala? It seems that Director Feng has been pre-selected as the chief director this year."

Where did you get this information?

"Old Zhang!"

"Seriously...why not let Li Mingyang be the general director? Isn't the Palme d'Or important enough?"

As a competitor, Wang Dajun couldn't stand it anymore and couldn't understand it at all!

Are these people crazy?!
"They said they'd have Li Houzi perform, but the director said no, he's too young..." Wang Xiaolei said.

"You're young and you're wrong... haha."

Although 1942 was a box office flop, the most domineering and profitable film company in the Chinese entertainment industry last year was undoubtedly the Brothel Brothers.

However, this year... Wang Dajun has become a bit of a jerk, and everyone wants to take a bite out of him.

Huayi's success was built on the influence of the Beijing entertainment circle, but now it is being held hostage by it.

The cake is done, and everyone wants to eat it.

The Beijing elite circle has too big an appetite, and Wang Dajun is struggling to divide the pie.

I want to try a different approach.

Actually, the best path is the Korean Wave, because the Korean Wave really makes money!
However, collaborations with Korean artists are not easy, and their asking prices are extremely exorbitant.

The price offered to mainland China is more than ten times that of the Korean domestic market, and even then, the Korean companies might not be willing to accept it; it depends on the whims of the Korean entertainment companies.

Wang Dajun was extremely envious that Li Mingyang had managed to rise to the position of a newly minted chaebol in South Korea.

In their eyes, he was an extremely valuable person.

In Li Mingyang's eyes, they were all cheap labor!
Wang Dajun still doesn't understand why Li Mingyang, who went to so much trouble to manage that bunch of useless people at Bouquet Entertainment, didn't invest in and manage TV dramas in South Korea.

Korean dramas are the real money-makers!
With CJ Entertainment as a backer, everything will be smooth sailing!

Even though CJ is in a bad situation now, it will pass if we just bear with it. Besides, Lee Myung-yang has a good relationship with Samsung and an even better relationship with the Blue House.

Chinese and Korean mascots + a Chinese-Korean co-production for the Palme d'Or – this is awesome, unbeatable!
Wang Dajun fantasizes about being Li Mingyang, and then using cheap idol labor in South Korea to create wildly popular dramas, which are then sold back to China.

Idol dramas can generate profits of more than ten times the initial investment.

It's more lucrative than making movies, and more profitable than real estate.

It can be used for personal enjoyment or for trading.

As he thought about it, Wang Dajun couldn't stop drooling.

"Mr. Wang, we've arrived," the driver reminded him.

Wang Dajun got out of the car with his hot female secretary and entered the main building of CCTV headquarters.

The receptionist, who was waiting there, exchanged a few pleasantries with Wang Dajun before having his assistant take the female secretary to the lounge to rest. Then, he led Wang Dajun to the conference room on the 10th floor via elevator.

I glanced at the people in the conference room; they were all old acquaintances and old rivals. Wang Changtian, Yu Dong, Chen Fusheng, Ye Ning… almost all of them were from the film industry.

Logically speaking, CCTV shouldn't have any jurisdiction over them.

If there's anything to say, it'll be Zuo Shandiao (a notorious bandit leader).

The county magistrate is not as good as taking charge now.

"This...it wasn't easy to get us all together...what's the matter?" Wang Dajun asked Yu Dong as soon as he sat down.

"Who knows?" Yu Dong mumbled, eating an apple.

CCTV had just appointed FBTV as its co-CEO when they were notified to come to a meeting.

It must be related to that co-CEO.

However, no one wanted to expose this matter; they were only there to give face to CCTV.

After a while, a short, dark-skinned, and chubby middle-aged man, less than 1.7 meters tall, walked in.

Upon entering, he took the initiative to shake hands and exchange pleasantries with a group of film and television company bosses, showing no airs whatsoever.

With a smile on his face, he gave off a very approachable vibe.

"Changtian! How have you been lately? You must be very busy?" Chen Wenbo said casually after sitting down.

"Lately... it's been so-so. No matter how busy I am, I'm not as busy as you. You're the busiest person here."

"Ha ha!"

Chen Wenbo laughed twice, then clenched his left fist to his mouth and coughed lightly. "I'm sure everyone here knows that I'm about to leave CCTV. To be honest, I don't want to leave CCTV, but since the higher-ups have asked me to step down, I will naturally try my best to meet their requirements."

"This Director Li is something else!"

Chen Wenbo paused for a moment before continuing, "He won the Palme d'Or for the country. Although he used some tricks, he is still the second director from Tokyo University to win the Palme d'Or. At the last conference, everyone applauded to show their approval. It was of great significance."

After he finished speaking, Chen Wenbo smiled and led the applause, and the others followed suit.

The applause lasted for a minute. Chen Wenbo placed his hands on the conference table, his smile faded, and he said with a worried expression, "

The Palme d'Or is Director Lee's personal honor, but it's also a national honor. Regardless of how he obtained it, it's recognized by the authorities. However… FBTV must have a stance, Tsuneta, you should understand that.”

Wang Changtian smiled and nodded in agreement.

The fact that Chen Wenbo was appointed by the higher-ups set the tone.

FBTV, as an overseas cultural export platform, must be owned by East Asia, no matter who is in charge.

The higher-ups really need this platform.

However, there is a problem: if it gets too deeply involved with the higher-ups, it becomes iQiyi, Youku, and Tencent Video, and it will be suppressed.

Wall Street and Hollywood aren't going to sit idly by and watch you grow bigger.

Japan and South Korea won't stand idly by.

"Old Chen must be in a lot of pain... It's hard to gauge the right balance," Wang Changtian thought to himself.

As expected, Chen Wenbo started talking about FBTV.

That was his task.

Whether we can take it a step further depends on this overseas assignment.

The decision has been made above; how to implement it is up to him.

He was able to get this overseas assignment opportunity because he came up with a plan that everyone felt was feasible.

A satisfactory plan, but I can't come up with it...

Because no one can figure out what Li Mingyang is really thinking...

After rambling on for a while, Chen Wenbo suddenly got straight to the point: "Director Li's contributions to the Dongda Film Academy are obvious to all. From now on, let's focus on making films and stop with personal attacks. Chang Tian, ​​you know what I mean."

"This is slander. I have always competed fairly, reasonably, and legally, and I have never smeared my competitors!" Wang Changtian said righteously, looking displeased.

"That's good, keep it up, and everyone should compete in a healthy way."

Chen Wenbo looked at Wang Dajun.

Wang Dajun smiled like a child, "I never speak ill of others, everyone knows that."

"I'm not in the film industry, I don't know!"

"..."

"Anyway, when the movies are released in the future, they will be competing against each other. We can't keep adding all sorts of nonsense and negative publicity." Chen Wenbo stared coldly at Wang Dajun and said in a deep voice.

Wang Dajun nodded with a smile.

Chen Wenbo's mood shifted from gloomy to sunny; his change of heart was faster than turning the pages of a book.

"Hey, is this what we're here for today?" Yu Dong shouted. "Let me make a statement here! Director Li and I are good friends, and I can't stand people criticizing Director Li. If there's nothing else, I'll leave now."

"You're in such a hurry, you're definitely not going home!" Chen Wenbo mocked.

"Then you don't need to worry about it." Yu Dong said, and was about to leave. His sweetheart had already boarded the plane, and he had to catch his flight to Sanya.

If you miss this flight, you'll be delayed for another five or six hours!
"Haha, be careful your wife doesn't find out. Am I right, Tsuneta..."

"Are you out of your mind today? Why are you calling me out after just a few words?" Wang Changtian couldn't help but complain.

"President Chen, you've really misunderstood President Wang this time. Yu Dong has been replaced a long time ago, and his tastes have changed drastically. I'm quite surprised myself!"

"Who is it?" Chen Wenbo asked curiously.

"You just keep talking nonsense all day long. Let's get this over with, I'm really in a hurry." Yu Dong was very unhappy because everyone was mocking him with barbs, and what they said was all true.

"Haha, alright, since Chairman Yu is in a hurry to leave, I'll get straight to the point. From now on, let's keep our business separate and avoid personal attacks."

Everyone nodded, agreeing with what the other person said.

"What if we don't follow the rules? We don't want to fight each other, but sometimes if you don't take action, others will take you down!" Yu Dong shouted.

"You guys have all started getting involved in TV drama and variety show production, right?"

This is a profound question, and everyone's attitude immediately corrected itself.

CCTV can't control movies, but it can easily kill off TV dramas and variety shows; that's the rule there.

Chen Wenbo said with a smile, "Don't be so serious, everyone. We're just chatting as friends. I'll be one of you soon."

"I have never slandered Director Li; it's all a frame-up," Wang Dajun said.

"Wanda is even less likely to do it. We have always been a strong supporter of Director Li."

"It just means we can't criticize Director Li anymore, right? It doesn't matter about the others, right?"

Yu Dong, in a hurry, blurted out the truth, and to his surprise, Chen Wenbo actually nodded in agreement.

That's a blatant threat.

"What if someone frames you?" Wang Dajun couldn't help but ask!
He has criticized Li Mingyang many times, but each time the amount of criticism is unusually large. It feels like he has been slandered, which is particularly upsetting!

“The grievances have their source and the debtors their debtors. It’s not that difficult. It just depends on whether you want to investigate… Alright, it’s late. You can all go about your business. Changtian, let’s talk alone.”

Those present knew all too well what the two of them were talking about when they were alone.

That is, what kind of bargaining chips did Li Mingyang actually pay for the Palme d'Or?

Suddenly, everyone stopped rushing. Even Yu Dong, who was in a hurry to catch his flight to see his mistress, didn't want to leave anymore.

The pants were stuck to the chairs as if they were glued on.

"Everyone, what follows is a conversation between the two co-CEOs of FBTV. It's not appropriate for you to be here, is it?" Chen Wenbo said with a smile.

Left with no other choice, the group went outside, but none of them left. Instead, they stood at the entrance of the corridor, observing the situation from a distance.

"Are you guys saying this FBTV is still directed by Director Li?" Ye Ning, who hadn't said much all night, suddenly asked.

"I can't explain it clearly."

"It's very suspicious... They probably have some kind of shady betting agreement. Wall Street is a bit better than Hollywood, but not by much. They're both just robbers," Yu Dong said while texting his mistress.

Wang Dajun offered cigarettes to everyone, and they started smoking in the corridor.

"Director Li is indeed Director Li... He went out and not only won the Palme d'Or, but also started FBTV. This FBTV is much more important than Director Li..." Wang Dajun laughed.

"Pick the peaches? Dream on. Without Director Li, FBTV's plan to dominate Asian streaming media wouldn't stand a chance," Yu Dong said.

"Heh, forget Asia. Without Director Lee, they can't even handle the Koreans," Ye Ning said.

"You wouldn't go so far as to pick the peaches; do you think this was more than a decade ago?"

……

Listening to everyone's complaints, Wang Dajun suddenly laughed and said, "Have you ever thought that FBTV is like Sun Wukong's headband...?"

(End of this chapter)