Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 134 Lantern Entertainment
The casting for In Time has been kept very low-key.

The media thought that Li Qiutang was probably busy with the post-production of "The Whistleblower" and did not pay much attention to him.

In fact, if you look for it carefully, you can still find some information about "In Time".

Chairman Han mentioned a few days ago that he wanted to create a domestic science fiction film, and also said that "China Film Group plans to make a science fiction film."

However, the media showed little interest in this news.

But this news could not be hidden from the actors in the circle.

Especially some actors that Li Qiutang had been friends with at Huayi.

Li Xing knew that Li Qiutang did not renew her contract with Huayi, so Li Bingbing had no intention of starring in "In Time" because he knew it would be useless, and Li Bingbing's current focus is on conquering Hollywood.

But Huang Xiaoming had his own ideas. He knew nothing about In Time except that it was a science fiction movie, and he didn't even know what the movie was called. He also didn't know that Li Qiutang's contract with Huayi had expired.

It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t know, as long as it’s directed by Li Qiutang, he’s willing to act.

But Huang Xiaoming has been a bit overwhelmed at work in the past six months, not because of anything else, but because of "Summer's Desire".

His agent, with whom he had worked for seven years, was very opposed to him taking on "Summer's Desire". He believed that since Huang Xiaoming already had "No One" and the highly likely hit "The Whistleblower", he should focus on the film route, and if he took on TV dramas, he should focus on high-quality ones, and should not take on idol dramas.

But Huang Xiaoming didn't listen. He felt that he could act in idol dramas and he also wanted to act in idol dramas.

The two had huge disagreements over "Summer's Desire". In the end, Huang Xiaoming ignored his agent's opposition and took the role in "Summer's Desire".

Zhou Siwei just gave up the job!

Zhou Siwei's strike meant that no one would help Huang Xiaoming run errands, so he had to go meet people in person.

However, when Huang Xiaoming contacted Li Qiutang, Li Qiutang was in the United States.

"In Time" will mobilize resources from China, the United States and South Korea, so Li Qiutang will inevitably have to travel frequently between the three countries.

Li Qiutang was not surprised to receive Huang Xiaoming's call. He also gave him the phone number of the casting director of the crew and asked him to contact the casting director directly.

"It shouldn't be difficult for you to get an audition opportunity, but whether you can pass it depends on your own performance."

With Li Qiutang's connections, Li Qiutang was only willing to open such a back door.

Liu Yifei? How can it be the same?

Although Weta Digital's headquarters and production center are in New Zealand, New Zealand is far away from the United States, the world's largest film market. Therefore, Weta Digital also has a large branch, or office, in the United States.

A lot of work for Li Qiutang and Weta Digital is done in the United States, so there is no need to fly to New Zealand.

Weta Digital expanded its staff and upgraded its equipment to complete the special effects work for "Avatar", which benefited Li Qiutang and the "In Time" crew.

The production of "Avatar" has entered the later stage. According to the common practice in the industry, Weta Digital will gradually reduce the size of the company, but suddenly it took over the motion capture work of "In Time", and some outstanding engineers can be seamlessly transferred to the "In Time" crew.

Li Qiutang even secretly asked an animator in charge of the production of "Avatar" whether he was willing to work in China.

But was rejected.

This animator basically doesn't watch Chinese-language movies and has no idea about the development of the Chinese-language film market. His impression of Chinese movies is still the old Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest kung fu movies. In his eyes, Chinese-language movies don't need special effects. Even if they develop in the future, they will still ask them to do special effects like Li Qiutang did. It's not cost-effective to start a business in China to do special effects.

Li Qiutang stopped talking and stopped poaching. It seemed a bit unethical to work in someone else's company doing special effects and poaching their employees.

Li Qiutang conveniently registered a shell company called Lantern Entertainment in the United States to take advantage of the situation.

He had no intention of doing business in the United States. Li Qiutang really felt that the domestic market was enough for him.

But sometimes, you have something to eat even though you don’t want to.

It would be fine if Li Qiutang couldn't remember it, Lantern Entertainment would just leave it there, but Li Qiutang was naughty that day and saw a novel called "The Hunger Games" on the shelf recommended by the bookstore today.

Even with her half-baked English, Li Qiutang knew that these three letters translate to "The Hunger Games".

Li Qiutang spat at herself in her heart: "How stupid! You only know that Twilight was a global hit, but you forgot about The Hunger Games."

Li Qiutang bought a copy of "The Hunger Games" and tried to contact the publishing house to inquire about the novel adaptation.

The publishing house said that the rights to the film and television adaptation of "The Hunger Games" were still in the hands of the original author. Li Qiutang got the author Susan Collins' phone number and email address through the publishing house.

If Li Qiutang hadn't seen "The Hunger Games" in the bookstore, she would never have thought of making a movie in the United States.

Now that the opportunity is in front of her, Li Qiutang will give it a try regardless of whether it will succeed or not.

But the question now is, even if she is willing to pay to shoot "The Hunger Games", why would Suzanne Collins sell the copyright to an Oriental who has no roots in Hollywood and only a shell company?
While trying to contact Susan Collins, Li Qiutang worked on improving the organizational structure of Lantern Entertainment, at least to make the company look presentable.

In a place like the United States, as long as the money is provided, anything can be done, let alone setting up a film company.

After paying a considerable consulting fee, Li Qiutang contacted Michael Lynn, the former co-chairman and CEO of New Line Cinema, who was looking for a job.

The old man also committed a sin. New Line Cinema's big gamble on "The Golden Compass" suffered heavy losses and directly wiped out the company.

New Line Cinema, which had originally maintained an independent operation, was ruthlessly merged by its parent company Warner.

Founder Robert Shea and co-chairman Michael Lynn both resigned.

Speaking of which, Li Qiutang has a history with New Line Cinema. The American copyright of "Comet" was sold to New Line Cinema, but no one knows how it sold.

Michael Lynn took this job opportunity very seriously and didn't care that his boss was an Oriental.

Although the new line is gone, Michael Lynn's abilities and connections are still there, and this is what Li Qiutang values.

Li Qiutang hired Michael Lynn as CEO of Lantern Entertainment, and his first task was to deal with Susan Collins and "The Hunger Games".

In fact, it can be understood that Lantern Entertainment asked Michael Lynn to be the negotiator to negotiate the film and television adaptation rights of "The Hunger Games" for the company. In order to facilitate Michael Lynn's actions, he was given the title of CEO.

If the deal is successful, Michael Lynn may be able to continue to be the CEO, and even manage this project on behalf of Lantern Entertainment and return to Hollywood. If the deal is not successful, Michael Lynn will just have to go back to where he came from.

Li Qiutang didn't know Susan Collins. Who knew if this middle-aged white American woman had prejudice against Orientals? If she saw that she had yellow skin and stopped selling the copyright, she would have worked in vain.

It would be best to ask a Hollywood veteran like Michael Lynn to talk to her.

Li Qiutang is still busy with Weta Digital's affairs.

(End of this chapter)