Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 323 New Project Arrives

The first batch of students for the China-US Film Talent Exchange Program have been selected.

There were four people in total, all of whom were directors, selected personally by the General Administration. Li Qiutang’s effort to squeeze in a special effects director position failed.

They are Lu Chuan, Xue Xiaolu, Wuershan and Xu Haofeng.

Lu Chuan, who just failed, attached great importance to this opportunity to go to the United States for exchange and study acting. Although he did not admit that the box office and reputation failure of "The Banquet" was due to his poor filming, the reality is that he did lose in the competition of the Lunar New Year box office.

He doesn't think there is anything wrong with his directing, but the performance of the film shows that something went wrong. This exchange abroad should help him find that problem.

What he learned from this exchange and study is not important. What is important is that he was selected for this program, which means that he is still valued by the higher-ups and he is still the "future pillar" of Chinese films that is highly expected.

You, Li Qiutang, are so awesome, why weren't you selected? Or maybe you're not valued by the higher-ups. Lu Chuan thought to himself.

The four students set off, and Director Li, who proposed the China-US film talent exchange plan, is now entertaining a distinguished guest in Hong Kong.

Song Ge, general manager of Wanda Films.

Wanda owns the largest cinema chain in the country. In recent years, it has begun to move from the cinema chain to the downstream areas of investment, production and distribution in the industry.

Although Wanda is rich, it is still a green hand when it comes to investment and production outside the cinema industry.

Although the scale of the several plays they invested in was not large, they all lost money without exception. This also seriously hindered Wanda's expansion into the production field. They had to consider whether they would lose more if they rashly entered the more risky production field.

So their choice is to work with a mature production company and learn from the experience first.

Their first choice was Autumn Pictures.

That’s a very good idea. I will learn film production from you, and you will learn cinema construction and management from me. Didn’t you just open a cinema?

And their target was Li Qiutang.

Because Song Ge brought a project that he thought Li Qiutang could not refuse - "Ghost Blows Out the Light".

"I flew all the way from Yanjing to Hong Kong specially. Please accept my sincerity." Song Ge said with a smile.

"Thank you for your hard work." Li Qiutang poured Song Ge a cup of tea.

Wan Da’s judgment was correct. Li Qiutang really wanted to shoot a fantasy adventure. In the autumn, he competed for the copyright of "Ghost Blows Out the Light", but lost to China Film and Wan Da.

I didn't expect it to fall into my hands.

“But I have a film that I’m promoting.”

"I know that," Song Ge said nonchalantly, "Our film project has just been approved and the script is still being adapted. You can finish your own film and then take over. We have plenty of time."

Wan Da has calculated the time for Li Qiutang.

But the big director has his own temper, so Li Qiutang first made it clear to Song Ge: "If I accept, the crew will have to follow my rules. I want to take charge."

Wan Da chose Li Qiutang just to hand over the project to him: "That's no problem." Li Qiutang's status in the circle is there, and Wan Da respects his crew's authority.

Not to mention, what Wan Da wanted was to learn about the production experience of Li Qiutang's team.

"Okay." Sometimes the cooperation is just like that. I'm interested, you have a project, just say a few words, "Let our two companies discuss the details later." This is about the remuneration issue, Li Qiutang usually does not discuss it in person. "Okay, then we will sign the formal cooperation contract after you return to Yanjing."

"it is good."

"It's a pleasure working with you." Song Ge extended his hand.

"Pleasant to work with."

Li Qiutang is not Wan Da's only candidate. The success of Painted Skin 2 proves that Wuershan also has the ability to manage special effects blockbusters, but Li Qiutang is undoubtedly the best choice.

Why should I choose someone else if I don’t have a Golden Globe Award for Best Director?
Song Ge stayed in Hong Kong for two days and visited several scenic spots with Li Qiutang before leaving with satisfaction.

After Song Ge returned to Yanjing, Wan Da Film and Television immediately informed Qiu Tian, and the two companies began preliminary discussions.

Qiu Tian was not surprised that Li Qiutang took on "Ghost Blows Out the Light", nor did he stop him. "Ghost Blows Out the Light" is a popular IP that all companies are vying to buy, and Qiu Tian was also thinking of giving it to Li Qiutang when competing for the copyright.

The performance of "Chinese Zodiac" on the first day and the first weekend was very strong. I was worried about it in the fall, but now it seems that I was too worried.

After New Year's Day, "Lost in Thailand" announced that its box office had exceeded 10 billion yuan, becoming the first domestic film to do so.

At that time, the box office of "Chinese Zodiac" had just exceeded 6 million.

In the fall, many employees received generous bonuses for this movie, especially those in the distribution department. Li Qiutang personally promised that as long as the box office of "Lost in Thailand" exceeded 10 billion, the distribution department would receive 18 salaries this year.

No one objected at the time, but now that it has exceeded 10 billion, the finance side has some opinions. They think the issuance department got a bargain and should not get the highest bonus in the company. 18 salary is too high and 15 salary is about right.

But Zhang Zhao rejected the financial suggestion. The 18-yuan salary was the same as the 18-yuan salary. Qiu Tian made more than just the return on investment from this movie. The first domestic movie with a box office of 10 billion yuan was born in Qiu Tian's hands, which meant that Qiu Tian had officially become a large-scale domestic film company from a startup company!

A big company that is thriving in investment, production, distribution, cinemas and even overseas co-productions!
This change in status cannot be measured by money, and both Li Qiutang and Zhang Zhao are willing to pay the money to reward the team.

Zhang Zhao even criticized the finance department for being "petty-minded" and asked them to take a long-term and macro view.

Xu Shanzheng of course became an instant hit, or in other words, he is the biggest winner of "Lost in Thailand" other than the autumn version!

The producer of Lost in Thailand, Chen Zhixi, also became famous overnight. A blockbuster with a box office of 10 billion yuan was created under her hands.

Zhang Zhao acted very quickly. Right after New Year's Day, he signed Chen Zhixi as vice president of Autumn Pictures.

too fast!
Many companies in the industry are still waiting and watching. Chen Zhixi has made a success with one film, but what about the next one? If she can make two or three hit films in succession, it won’t be too late to make a move then. People won’t run away.

I didn't expect Zhang Zhao to act so quickly and give such a high-level position as vice president for just one film.

Zhang Zhao's reasoning was: "Making a film is a gamble, hiring people is also a gamble, once you've made the right move, just go for it, there's nothing to be afraid of."

Li Qiutang would also dare to take the gamble. Chen Zhixi was new to producing and might not be very mature in all aspects. Lost in Thailand became a big hit because of her, but Li Qiutang dared to bet that she could get better training and development in the autumn.

As for joining Autumn, Chen Zhixi feels that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. The disadvantage is that she will be regulated by the company and will not be as free and flexible as before when she made independent investments. The advantage is of course that the platform is bigger, there are more resources and more funds.

After Chen Zhixi joined the company, Li Qiutang called her specifically and said that his words were always trustworthy. After he came back from location scouting, he would contact Hollywood for Chen Zhixi and send her to learn the most advanced film industry production process.

In a corner where no one was paying attention, Liu Yifei took off from Paris but landed in Hong Kong.

(End of this chapter)