The richest person in Chinese entertainment

Chapter 71 Hidden Purpose

Zhang Chen didn’t know whether there was such a thing as box office inflating in this era, because in many cases, it required real money to buy box office tickets, and the bulk of the profits would be shared by the cinemas.

If Zhang Chen just took less than 10% of the box office share like some other actors who can share the box office revenue, then it would not have much impact on the final profit.

However, Zhang Chen is also a film investor now. Although the share has not been determined yet, the final proportion will definitely not be low. In this case, if the box office sharing is still adopted, the final net profit will be further compressed.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I just want to make money." Zhang Chen didn't answer questions that he wasn't sure about. "If you don't want me to participate in the box office revenue sharing, then you can do as I say. For the Harry Potter series of movies, I can only sign one for each movie."

"As for the discs—" Zhang Chen looked at Kevin's calm face, "I can choose not to share the profits of the disc business, but in return, I also need your compensation."

"We can sign one movie at a time, but Warner must take priority."

"Under the same conditions, Warner takes priority." Zhang Chen supplemented Kevin's words.

".Okay!" Kevin nodded, "So what other compensation does Leon need?"

"I want the online digital copyright of Harry Potter and all movies under your Warner company, oh and the online digital copyright of songs." Zhang Chen said nonchalantly, "You don't have much use for this stuff, do you? I'll see if there's a chance to let everyone watch movies online one day."

"Leon, are you serious?" Kevin originally thought that Zhang Chen would propose a condition that he would find difficult to accept, but he did not expect that the request he made was something Kevin had never imagined.

You have to know that the Internet had just begun to develop in 99 and currently only supports the spread of text on the Internet. Even clear pictures may not be able to be displayed to netizens on the Internet.

Ultimately it’s all about the Internet speed. How can you play movies online when the Internet speed is so slow?
Kevin's intuition told him that Zhang Chen might have other plans, but he couldn't guess what Zhang Chen was up to. Moreover, this condition would not affect the revenue of "Harry Potter" and had no effect on the movies in their copyright library.

In Kevin's opinion, it was puzzling that Zhang Chen took such a great opportunity but took it as if it were a piece of waste paper from him.

"This shouldn't be difficult, right? No one wants this thing anyway." Zhang Chen pretended to be indifferent.

"Leon, do you know how many movies and songs our company has?" Kevin felt it necessary to remind Zhang Chen.

"No matter how many copyrights you have, if you can't sell them, they're just a pile of waste, right?" Zhang Chen fiddled with his fingers, reminding Kevin slowly.

After listening to Zhang Chen's words, Kevin fell silent. For the group, being able to exchange a bunch of resources that could not be converted into cash for considerable profits was a sure-win business.

But there is a problem now, that is, we don’t know whether the "Harry Potter" project can make money. Before the final result of any film project comes out, no one knows whether it will make a profit or a loss. We can only roughly predict the probability of making money. To put it bluntly, any investment in a movie is a venture capital.

"Leon, you can't possibly ask us to give you so many copyrights for free, right?" Kevin was obviously relieved, but since he was unsure of the actual price of the deal, he still wanted some benefits.

"Then I don't want the online digital copyrights of these movies, TV shows and songs. Let's continue to talk about the revenue from the discs." It is certainly acceptable to spend some money to buy copyrights, as long as the price is not too outrageous. After buying them and waiting for the Internet to develop, it will be a long-term income.

But you can't agree to it so easily. The more readily you agree, the more suspicious others will become.

For example, when you go to a small shopping mall to buy a piece of clothing, the merchant offers a price of 100 yuan, and you bargain for 50 yuan. The merchant agrees immediately, and you will wonder if you have bargained too little.

In the same way, business negotiations also require back and forth tug-of-war, and the deeper you can hide your true purpose, the better. Now Zhang Chen puts "Harry Potter disc revenue" and "online digital copyright of all Warner's movies, TV series and songs" on an equal footing and lets Kevin choose.

"Leon, you know this is impossible." Kevin laughed awkwardly.

"This is not okay, that is not okay. You have taken all the benefits, and I just want some compensation. But you still want to sell me a pile of waste paper as if it were gold?" Zhang Chen stared at Kevin's eyes, "Kevin, tell me, where is your sincerity?"

"How can that be possible?" Kevin picked up the cup and took a sip of coffee awkwardly.

Kevin thought Zhang Chen was right. The online copyright of movies, TV shows and songs is just a piece of waste paper. For people who have not seen the booming development of the Internet, it is a fantasy to be able to watch movies and TV shows online and listen to songs on the Internet in the future.

"But you can't let us give away so many copyrights for nothing, right? It's hard to explain to the group." Kevin was a little embarrassed. For capitalists, no matter whether the things are valuable or not, it is a loss if they are not sold.

"One dollar." Zhang Chen raised a finger. Before Kevin could object, he continued, "You can make this deal public to boost the popularity of the Harry Potter movie."

Gimmicks are very important in publicity. "Warner exchanged the online copyright of its TV series, movies and songs for one dollar in exchange for the film adaptation rights of the Harry Potter movies."

If there is no such dollar, then the profit from the disc business will have to be used. This can only be a clause hidden in the contract between the two partners, which is not allowed to be seen in public.

With this dollar, the deal can be publicized in the news.

Moreover, a price of one dollar is far more eye-catching than a price of one hundred thousand or one million.

The formula is: Warner Network Digital Rights = Harry Potter film adaptation rights + a fee

The lower the fee, the more optimistic Warner is about Harry Potter.

"Deal!" As the head of a media giant, Kevin naturally knew the key elements in publicity. After Zhang Chen's reminder, he also figured out the key.

I believe Warner Records will not make things difficult for him regarding the copyright of the song.

As long as the cooperation can be achieved, the momentum of the "Harry Potter" movie will be raised as high as possible, and he is happy to use a pile of waste paper to fuel the "fire" of this movie.

At this point in the negotiations, Zhang Chen had already won a great victory. Even if Warner took all the profits from the movie, Zhang Chen would still make a profit.

Now there are only some specific conditions that need to be worked out.

　Everyone, please vote for the monthly tickets and recommendation tickets you have left~
　　It is estimated that this book will be put on the shelves after three rounds of recommendations next week. It is difficult to be put on the shelves in Sanjiang, but I still hope that everyone will support it.

　　Let's put it this way, after I'm on Sanjiang, I'll update 1 words every day during my time on Sanjiang. If I can't do that, I can only update after it's on the shelves.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)