Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 127 Green Dragon Crescent Blade!

Huayi didn't know that Li Qiutang had already signed a cooperation agreement with China Film Group on "In Time".

They would not have thought that Li Qiutang would act so quickly. As soon as Wang Zhonglei left, he went to find Director Han.

Wang Zhonglei is still thinking about how to keep Li Qiutang while investing less or preferably not investing in "In Time".

Moreover, this matter had to be kept secret from Feng Xiaogang. Feng Xiaogang's meaning was very clear: he could not invest in "In Time" and it would be best not to renew the contract with Li Qiutang.

Wang Zhonglei will consider the first one, but he definitely cannot listen to Feng Xiaogang's opinion on the second one.

Huayi must sign Li Qiutang. This is the company's strategy. Without Li Qiutang, Feng Xiaogang will have the final say in Huayi in the future.

Wang Zhonglei went back and thought about it for a few days, and decided to keep the 2000 million investment in "In Time" unchanged, but to increase the sincerity in signing the contract.

Just treat 2000 million as thrown away. The company can afford the loss of 2000 million.

In terms of signing benefits, he gave Li Qiutang a villa in Chaoyang. It is worth a lot now, but he didn't spend much money on it when he bought it, so he didn't feel bad about giving it away.

But when Wang Zhonglei contacted Li Qiutang again to discuss the contract, Li Qiutang said he had flown to the United States!
Didn’t you just come back from Australia? Why are you flying to the United States again!
Wang Zhonglei had no choice but to say that they would talk about it after he came back.

In fact, Li Qiutang didn't have to fly to the United States in person, but it was his first time to make a movie of this scale, so he couldn't help but worry about everything.

Accompanying him were "In Time" producer Huang Jianxin and two Korean special effects directors.

They are going to the United States to see motion capture technology.

There is really no company in China that can do motion capture. Li Qiutang and others found Nancy, the motion capture director of "I, Robot" through some connections.

There is no reason not to do business that comes to your door. Nancy introduced that the motion capture technology of "I, Robot" back then mostly came from Digital Domain, but Digital Domain has not been doing well in recent years, and its engineers and technicians have been replaced one after another. It is not known whether they can still do Li Qiutang's job.

She suggested choosing another company, such as Weta Digital or Industrial Light & Magic.

The technology of these two companies is undoubtedly first-class in the industry, but with good technology, the quotation will definitely be expensive.

I wish I could spend every penny of the money I earned from "In Time" carefully.

Nancy said, "Actually, motion capture is not as expensive as you think. There are not many movies that can use this technology. Special effects companies quote too high a price and therefore cannot get any business. If you really want to shoot, I can help you contact Weta Digital. Of course, the price won't be too high, but since they are Weta after all, it won't be cheap.

"After all, they made The Lord of the Rings."

Two days later, Nancy brought a fat white man and introduced him as a marketing director of Weta Digital in the United States.

Li Qiutang put forward his own demands, and the director quoted a price of US$570 million.

It’s too expensive! The motion capture alone cost more than 4000 million yuan. Not only was Li Qiutang reluctant to spend the money, but China Film Group would not agree to spend the money like that.

The other party was obviously trying to rip him off, so Li Qiutang was sure to bargain. He started by bargaining: "The maximum I'll offer is $170 million."

The fat man opposite was visibly reddened. He always bargains when negotiating a business deal. He didn't expect the Oriental man opposite to agree to 570 million, but he also didn't expect that this Oriental boy would only offer 170 million.

"Weta Digital is a special effects company with a long history and has produced many excellent films..."

"Oh, for example?" Li Qiutang asked provocatively.

“The Lord of the Rings series is the work we are most proud of.”

Li Qiutang laughed and said, "But The Lord of the Rings was a movie six years ago. What happened after that? Weta Digital hasn't made any decent movies since then." The release of The Lord of the Rings did make the world re-acquainted with Weta Digital.

But as Li Qiutang said, after "The Lord of the Rings", Weta Digital has not made any decent films.

“We also did the special effects for King Kong!”

"Because it was directed by Peter Jackson, Weta Digital has been losing money for years, and it basically depends on Peter Jackson's personal connections to attract business for the company."

Li Qiutang doesn't know much about special effects technology, but he knows a lot about these things.

"We have a contract with James Cameron and are helping him make Avatar."

The other party didn't brag about this, but Li Qiutang said, "Avatar has been delayed for so long that Fox can't stand it anymore. Can you still bear it? Can you get back the money you invested in Avatar?"

Damn it! Why is this Oriental guy so familiar with Weta Digital?
Li Qiutang wanted to expose Weta Digital's past in order to lower the price, so he didn't want to say anything too harsh: "We need your technology, but we won't let you lose money. This is our first cooperation, so we quoted a lower price, which will also facilitate our subsequent cooperation.

"We Chinese have an old saying," Li Qiutang began to fool the foreigner. Huang Jianxin sat on the side and tried hard to hold back his laughter. He knew that Li Qiutang was not a good person. "The first time you call someone, you are stranger. The second time, you are familiar. The third and fourth time, you are friends."

Huang Jianxin and the two Korean directors didn't understand how Li Qiutang said the ancient Chinese saying in English.

"There is an old Chinese saying, 'A steady stream of water lasts a long time.'" Li Qiutang translated this into: Although the stream is small, it can flow for a long time.

But Nancy and the fat white man on the opposite side seemed to understand what he meant.

"With $170 million, you will definitely make a profit. The Chinese market is huge, and Chinese films are developing rapidly. We are China's first science fiction blockbuster. Cooperating with us will allow more Chinese producers to see Weta Digital."

If possible, Li Qiutang even wanted to ask Weta Digital to invest in "In Time" with its technology, and then he would give the Oceania copyright of the movie to Weta Digital and use Weta's technology for free.

"I know you need some time to think about it. We will stay in the United States for a while. If you have any ideas, please feel free to contact us."

Li Qiutang sees the guest off.

Huang Jianxin was still very worried whether the other party would agree to his conditions. After all, the price was cut from 570 million to 170 million, which was too harsh.

“What if the other party quits?”

"If you don't want to do it, then don't do it. It's not like they're the only company in the world that can do it. Actually, if we need to make do, Hong Kong's Xiantao Digital and Shenzhen's Global Digital can do it. Isn't their technology more advanced? Let's talk about it."

In the evening, two Korean special effects directors asked Li Qiutang to have a drink together, but Li Qiutang refused and asked them to go by themselves.

These two Koreans are quite interesting. Normally, they have worked in movie special effects and with various groups, so they should have seen some worldly things. But after these two guys and Li Qiutang arrived in the United States, they did all kinds of abstract work.

The hotel restaurant is a buffet. The two old guys only eat meat, especially beef, and they take a big bowl of it each time.

He cursed while eating, saying that it was not as delicious as Korean barbecue and that it was not tasty without kimchi.

After finishing one portion, go get another.

Not only do they eat meat, they also target all kinds of fruits.

Li Qiutang was puzzled. Isn't it said to be a developed country? The salary is not low. Why is it just lacking food?

(End of this chapter)