Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 225 Director Lu, Eagle King invites you to film "Myth"

Han Shanping was busy attending a meeting at the bureau in the afternoon and was picked up by Gao Chengsheng before he had lunch.

Lu Kuan looked at Dong Shuangqiang's relaxed demeanor and said with a smile, "Old Dong, it's almost 11 o'clock. Are you trying to skip a meal?"

"That's right, such a great artist, why does he always resort to the same malicious and hurtful things as June Cold?"

"Okay, okay, okay. Today is the 25th. It's Chinese New Year before the end of the first month. I'll take care of this meal. I'll work in the company cafeteria."

Dong Shuangqiang took out a pack of cigarettes and threw it to him: "Go! You're too stingy. No wonder Wenjie makes so much money. It's all your coins saved up, right?"

Boss Lu looked at the little panda he threw at him and understood immediately.

He stayed put because he wanted to speak up for his brother-in-law.

The legendary special cigarettes in Haizili were the cigarettes that Feng Chu presented to him as a tribute at the Shidu Film Studio that day.

Boss Lu crossed his legs and said, "Alright, Brother Dong, let's stop wasting time. What's going on?"

"Hey, you're the one who's most experienced in human relationships. Al Pacino knows a woman by her scent, but you know things by the smoke!"

"Feng Chu..."

Lu Kuan thought Dong Shuangqiang was going to plead for his brother-in-law before returning to work on the crew, but he didn't expect him to be so decisive.

"I sent Feng Chu back to his hometown. You can't even see him in Peking anymore, let alone Shidu."

"This is my fault for not judging people well. I'm sorry, brother."

"Hey, what are you talking about? Everyone has relatives and friends who can help them get things done through connections. As long as it doesn't affect work, it's fine."

If Feng Chu hadn't been so naive, Lu Kuan wouldn't have humiliated him in public.

After all, it was Feng Chu who was beaten and it was Dong Shuangqiang who was embarrassed.

Although this person is low-key and not well-known in the domestic entertainment industry, there are several big figures standing behind him.

"Brother Dong, let me be honest with you. Our cooperation is based on our brotherly relationship and our common interests."

"The existence of Feng Chu will firstly damage our relationship, and secondly, it will not be beneficial to the filming of the movie. He is a black sheep."

"If you're doing this, please send someone over quickly. I'll finish filming the remaining episodes in the next two or three weeks. If someone comes now, we can take over the work sooner."

Dong Shuangqiang asked in surprise, "What about Xu Zheng?"

"He's just a cover guy, doing the job temporarily."

"Okay, okay! No problem. This time, I'll transfer you the vice president of Lao Huayi. I'll make sure you take care of the logistics of Zhu Xian!"

Boss Lu smiled but said nothing. Everyone knew that being a producer was a lucrative job.

He found an excuse to kick Feng Chu out and replace him with his own man Xu Zheng. Considering the cause and effect, there was nothing wrong with it.

But some things can't be measured by reason or not. Can men reason with their girlfriends or wives? Is it useful?
If Lu Kuan was unreasonable this time and drove a wedge between the two of them, it would be completely unnecessary.

When the water is clear, there will be no fish, and when the water is clear, there will be no evil.

As long as the producer can do his job well and keep the crew in order, it doesn't matter if his hands are not clean and he gives it to Dong Shuangqiang as a favor.

Feng Chu was one of those brainless people who did things in an ugly way, making everyone embarrassed.

Boss Lu suddenly remembered something: "Boss, do you have any connections to help me find a piece of land within the Third Ring Road?"

"What do you mean? You think the profits from movies are too low, so you want to build a building and sell it?"

Lu Kuan smiled and said, "That's right, I'm planning to change my career. Selling houses is still more exciting. I can only make one or two movies a year at most, and the money is too slow!"

"Hahaha, stop talking nonsense. Are you planning to build a headquarters building?"

Lu Kuan nodded. "It was fine originally, but this year they suddenly hired over a hundred people in the variety show section, and the backstage department was also expanding, so we couldn't recruit any more people."

He hasn't even counted the people at Blog.com and its subsidiary Douban.

Together with Butian Pictures, Wenjiexi Film Distribution Company and New Vision, there are more than 1500 people in total.

Moreover, the company's business is still expanding, and it really needs to establish a base.

Putting aside other things, my office as the president and my bedroom are only a few dozen square meters. Who can use them?
"Over there on the Fifth Ring Road, I'm..."

Boss Lu interrupted him: "I want to stay within the Fourth Ring Road, the Third or Fourth Ring Road is fine, let's see the price."

Dong Shuangqiang stared at him with wide eyes: "That's not cheap, right?"

Boss Lu sneered in his heart, how expensive can it be?

Don’t buy it now, it will be more expensive later!
According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2004, Shanghai's commercial housing market topped the list with an average price of 5381 yuan, followed closely by Beijing and Guangzhou.

This year, the C position in Shanghai's Lujiazui still belongs to the Jinmao Tower, which stands quietly on the east bank of the Huangpu River, waiting to debut in the future with two other skyscrapers nicknamed "bottle opener" and "egg beater".

The tallest building in Beijing is still the Jingguang Center. It was not until June this year that the construction of the Yintai Center, which will replace it with a 6-meter main tower, broke ground.

At the beginning of the millennium, other large companies in other industries, except for real estate companies, did not have the idea of ​​dominating the territory. Take Huayi, a competitor of Wenjie Yishi as an example.

It was not until 2015, the peak of their career, that Huayi acquired the headquarters property from Huayuan Real Estate.

Through the target company's equity and debt, the company acquired Kunlun Apartment's 8167-square-meter high-end apartment project and converted it into office property at a cost of only 4 million yuan.

In 2004, Boss Lu was not involved in the real estate business, otherwise he would have spent all his money to buy land.

In today's world, building or acquiring a Grade A office building with a slightly larger floor area around the Third Ring Road is enough.

Several of their own companies occupy a part of the land, and then rent out the idle floors when the land price skyrockets in the future. Those coal bosses and Internet giants are stupid and have a lot of money!

However, Dong Shuangqiang was still far from understanding Boss Lu's background, and was a little shocked by his idea of ​​going straight to the Third Ring Road.

Where the hell did you get so much money?
"The Third Ring Road isn't that expensive right now. The better the location, the more it can attract high-quality talent."

"What is the most expensive thing in the 21st century? Talent!"

Boss Lu smiled and gave away Ge Da Ge's lines in next year's "A World Without Thieves". Mr. Dong opposite him stroked his chin and tried to find a way out for him.

"There is a piece of land, and it will be delivered in the first half of the year. But they are planning to collect rent from it. I guess it is only for rent and not for sale."

"where?"

Dong Shuangqiang stood up and walked to the map of Peking in Lu Kuan's office. He lay on the map and fumbled around for a while, then pointed to a plot of land within the 3.5 ring road.

"Here, between the West Third Ring Road and the Fourth Ring Road, near the Zhongguancun High-Tech Plaza, quite close to Haidian Park."

Lu Kuan looked around to see the location advantages: "How big is it?"

"It's over 7 square meters in construction area. It's huge!"

"Fuck, that must be the 17th or 18th floor, right?"

Dong Shuangqiang smiled and said, "Yes, it has eighteen floors above ground and four floors underground. It is a unit of the Ideal Industrial Development Group."

ideal?

I'm fucking destined to be involved with trams my whole life, right?

The road is wide and the place looks more and more familiar. Could it be the Ideal International Building?
"Are you talking about the Chinese physics ideal?"

Dong Shuangqiang was stunned: "Yes, you know him?"

Boss Lu stared at the map with a smile, his thoughts drifting to his past life.

He didn't know who owned the Ideal Building, nor was he interested.

But when he first started in the public relations industry, he went to the Ideal Building almost once a week.

Because Xinlang Entertainment is here!
Buying draft articles, buying retractions, sending lawyers' letters, what haven't you done?
It's common to smoke and socialize with the security guard near the employee passage at the back door.

The Ideal Building, which was just completed in 2004, witnessed almost the entire process of the flood of Internet giants sweeping into Zhongguancun.

At that time, big companies were not yet called big companies, and no internet company’s employees could fill an entire building.

Internet companies such as Xinlang and Baidu, and IT hardware manufacturers such as Patriot are all entrenched in the Ideal Building, sharing the stairs and the atrium.

Mr. Lu remembers very clearly that there was a rule in Ideal International Building at that time:
The two tenants with the largest leases can hang their own logos on the top of the building. At the beginning, the most powerful ones in the building were Sina and Patriot.

Until Baidu went public in 2005, it created 8 billionaires, 50 multi-millionaires and more than 200 millionaires overnight.

Robin Li sent someone to contact the property management of Ideal Building and said, "We are so awesome, shouldn't we put this logo on the wall?"
After unsuccessful communication, Baidu decisively bought property in Xi'erqi outside the Fifth Ring Road. They even built the building themselves. They can hang the logo horizontally or vertically as they wish.

"Boss, what are the prices of office buildings around here now?"

"About 5 yuan."

This refers to the daily rental rate per square meter.

Boss Lu nodded. It was pretty much as he expected. At this moment, the most luxurious office building in Beijing was the China World Trade Center.

The current rent at Guomao is US$48/month/square meter, which is only 12 yuan per square meter per day.

"Do you know roughly how much it would cost?"

Dong Shuangqiang stared at the audacious Boss Lu in astonishment.

No, buddy, are you serious?
"No, no matter how much it costs, if you want to force a purchase on a property that's only leased and not sold, you're going to have to shell out over a billion. Where are you going to get the money?"

Lu Kuan smiled and said, "Look, the current housing price there is only about 6000. Based on his monthly rent of 150, the rental-to-sale ratio is so damn good, just buy it!"

"I think if this company wasn't so stubborn and didn't insist on holding onto the building, they might be able to sell it for a little more money."

Seeing that he wasn't joking, Dong Shuangqiang smiled bitterly and took out his phone: "I'm really impressed by you. Go ask for you."

The capital tycoon who once boasted of his generosity returned without a word.

"About 8 million."

Lu Kuan slammed the table excitedly: "Almost!"

"Even if he can rent out all the buildings once they're finished, the rent would be 1000 million a month."

"Subtract the developer's bank loan capital costs, public facilities operation and maintenance costs, property management, energy consumption, and monthly taxes!"

"I estimate that even with the most impressive management team, the price would still be around 500-600 million."

"Besides, this is the income from renting out the place. How can such an expensive place be rented out so quickly?"

Dong Shuangqiang nodded silently and said, "Normally it's impossible for it to be fully rented out. The Resource Building and Peking University Resource Hotel, both of the same grade, are priced similarly, and yet they're more than half empty."

Boss Lu nodded. "Let's just assume a 30% vacancy rate. That's acceptable, right? It'll take almost 30 years to recoup the investment!"

This certainly does not dynamically calculate the rent growth, and no one could have predicted that it would increase so wildly in the future.

5 yuan is already considered a high price in the current Beijing office market.

Dong Shuangqiang pondered and said, "How much money can you afford?"

"If you really want to buy it, I can... ask."

Boss Lu knows it very well. You're just asking. If you just take out a few character cards, the other party will be scared to death!
However, if the boss really helps me lower the price, it will be a great favor.

He has to pay it back.

"One billion, let's say. Not considering the financing costs, leave them at least 10% profit. That way, your negotiation will be easier."

Dong Shuangqiang exhaled a puff of smoke, still extremely puzzled: "Brother, do you have that much money?"

"Don't worry about it. I can borrow it anyway."

Old Dong burst out laughing and thought to himself, you are really awesome.

After making a movie worth a few million, he is going to buy a building worth tens of billions.

"Alright! I'll try my best, but I can't guarantee anything!"

Boss Lu warmly grasped Dong Shuangqiang's hand, tears in his eyes: "Brother Dong, if this is done, you will be my real brother!"

"Go to hell! Your own brother will be killed by your scheme!"

"Hahahaha!"

Dong Shuangqiang took on a difficult task and left. Boss Lu took out a pen and paper to write and draw, figuring out how to get the 10 billion yuan.

Raise funds yourself and borrow a part of it, and use the rest of the money to play with other people's money.

Lu Kuan doesn’t have a lot of money in his account now, but he doesn’t have much debt either!

The Hong Kong branch of Wenjie is now just a shell company, which is used to prepare for the acquisition of Golden Harvest next year.

The American company Wenjie is also an asset-light operation, with the proceeds from "Paranormal Activity" constantly accumulating in its account, which is the reserve fund for "Alien Land" and the funding pool for future films by Justin Lin and others;

Butian Films is back on track, having taken on some of the special effects work for "House of Flying Daggers", "The Promise", and "A World Without Thieves", as well as its own "Zhu Xian" and "The Foreign Land".

Not to mention the distant past, self-sufficiency will be no problem this year;

Like other internet companies of the same time, such as Penguin and Wangyi, Blog.com relied on its ringback ringtone business to turn a loss-making operation into a small profit. Once the voting channel, brought about by the phenomenal popularity of "Super Girl," was launched, it became another windfall.
Focus Media's previous 7000 million yuan has not been completely burned through, and it has been operating healthily in the past few months thanks to several films produced by the media.

Focus Media went public in 2005, and its value soared to US$6.8 million. It can only go up in this life!
The remainder is the film and television production business expenses of Wenjie itself, which is also maintained within a reasonable range.

Apart from the blockbuster "Alien Land", which leveraged $1000 million to generate $7500 million, no other production has exceeded 1500 million RMB.

The risks are completely controllable.

Therefore, it is not the case that Lu Kuan eats from his bowl and looks at the pot.

Rather, these core departments are an indispensable part of the film industry chain he has created.

The lack of any one of them may disrupt the healthy operation of a department, including the derivative business that has just been agreed to be handed over to Dongzi's e-commerce platform.

Imagine how the world after the "small perfect body" will make a movie.

The copyright management department of Wenjie provides script materials, and the screenwriter team provides the script;
Contracted directors and hired directors are responsible for filming;

During the filming process, [Butian Film] provided special effects services;
After filming is completed, the distribution will be handed over to [Wenjie Xiying], a joint venture with Xiying Studio, or jointly distributed;
Before the release, Focus Media was responsible for offline advertising and marketing;

At the same time, the variety show department of Wenjie will cooperate with Travel Channel to carry out advertising and marketing on the satellite channel;

And opinion hubs such as Blog.com and Douban.com will collaborate on Internet advertising and marketing;

When scheduling films, Golden Harvest, which will expand northward from Hong Kong in the future, will provide more than 80% of the screenings, and other cinema chains will have to negotiate accordingly;
Immediately afterwards, various derivative products of the movie will be sold in the [Wenjie Online Mall] and [Golden Harvest Wenjie] cinemas, making another huge profit.

Beautiful, so beautiful, highlighting the fact that she does not ask for help from others!

If anyone wants to target Wenjie again, they can either come after him personally or use undercover tactics, and we will counter their moves accordingly.

Let’s get back to the 10 billion yuan for buying the house.

The most direct way is to mortgage the shares of Blog.com to venture capital. The most recent inquiry from IDG was a 30% stake offer of US$7000 million.

Whether using the shares of Wenjie as collateral or borrowing from Dong Shuangqiang, Yinghuang, or Hua Guoxing, it should not be a big problem to raise 10 billion.

In fact, the key to whether it is cost-effective lies in whether the soaring land prices can keep up with the interest rates of banks and venture capital loans.

Unfortunately, this kind of pros and cons is obvious to the reborn:
From 2004 to 2014, housing prices increased tenfold in ten years, which is definitely a huge improvement over interest rates.

It’s really worth it to use the bank’s money to increase your own value!
2004 was the last year before Chinese cinema turned .

Also, because of the cultural industry concept proposed by Shi Liudazhong, many policy changes took place in the domestic film industry at the beginning of this year.

For example, after the symposium of "Lu Kuan Tongue Battle with the Seven Gentlemen" at the end of last year, Wang Xiaoshuai's "Seventeen Years Old Bicycle" was announced to have passed the review after 4 years, and will be renamed "Bicycle" and released to the public.

For example, Section Chief Jia also received an official notice from the film festival, ending his underground fate since "Xiao Wu".

At the same time, his new film "The World", a collaboration with Shanghai Film Studio, also passed the review and was officially approved.

The rough fate of these sixth-generation people had nothing to do with Boss Lu. What attracted his attention more were two pieces of news from Hong Kong and overseas.

First, Golden Harvest went north and announced that it would enter Shenzhen and build a cinema with 12 screening halls on Bao'an South Road in Shenzhen. It is expected that it will be the largest and best cinema in the mainland after completion.

Next is Warner Bros., a subsidiary of Time Warner, one of the nine major film companies in the United States, which is accelerating its entry into the mainland market. After joining the Shanghai Yongle Cinema last year, its cinemas in Jinling and Tianjin are about to be completed.

The background of Warner Bros.' aggressive rise is that starting from New Year's Day 2004, the state stipulated that foreign capital could exceed the 7% controlling stake in cinemas in seven cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, and could reach a maximum of 49%.

The approval authority for foreign-invested cinemas has also been delegated from the central government to provincial-level commercial administrative departments.

Spring River Plumbing Duck Prophet.

All of this indicates that the domestic film industry is about to make rapid progress after Shi Liuda.

From the government to the industry, everyone is working hard to prepare for the centenary of domestic films next year.

This, of course, also includes the Eagle King who had earlier led his troops north.

At the end of February, Boss Lu went to a small alley near Houhai for a banquet, where Eagle King Huo Wenxi invited him.

Although the place is located in a small alley, the luxury of the dining venue has not diminished in the slightest.

Huo Wenxi held the banquet at the Mei Mansion Banquet Hall. The place was not big, but the several courtyards named after plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum were elegant and quiet, with unique style.

Boss Lu looked at the "Mei Mansion Family Banquet" with great interest. This was originally the private residence of a prince in the Qing Dynasty, to see how it differed from his own house.

Huo Wenxi was already waiting for him at the door with a girl wearing sunglasses.

"Mr. Lu, welcome."

"Wow, two beautiful ladies from Hong Kong are here to greet me? I'm so flattered."

Another person who wore sunglasses to hide her true face was Zhang Bozhi, the female lead chosen by Boss Lu in "Love Is Not Blind".

The staff at the Mei Mansion family banquet were also very well-behaved, bowing slightly towards him with professional smiles.

"Please come to our house, distinguished guest."

They speak in a very elegant manner, but it's not that they are being mysterious, it's just the rules of the restaurant.

At the Mei Mansion family banquet, the boss is called the host and the manager is called the chief steward.

The menus here are all handwritten by the manager himself, and the dishes are from hundreds of dishes handed down from Mei Lanfang's family.

Guests cannot order dishes, they just need to tell the butler their budget and the butler will arrange the dishes according to the season and ensure that they are satisfied.

Several people sat down in the antique private room, with a faint scent of incense lingering around their noses.

"Boss Lu, knowing you're from Jiangsu Province, I've arranged for them to have some Huaiyang cuisine today, which should suit your taste."

Boss Lu smiled and said, "Mr. Mei Lanfang is from Taizhou, Jiangsu Province. I'm sure I'm used to his family banquet dishes."

"Is it wronged you two?"

Zhang Baizhi's Mandarin is now standard, after all, he has been transformed into the appearance of Boss Lu.

"Huaiyang cuisine is delicious. We also went to Hong Kong to find authentic restaurants, but it's definitely not as authentic as here."

Huo Wenxi also smiled and said, "It seems that today we are at Mr. Lu's home turf. I'll have to trouble you to introduce him to us later."

Two beautiful Hong Kong girls, one big and one small, flattered Boss Lu for a long time like soft jade. Boss Lu thought that they must have come to him for no reason.

"Sister Mani, thank you so much for the New Year gift from Boss Li. Did you receive the painting I gave him?"

"Of course, of course. Mr. Li has placed paintings in the most important place in his study, filled with calligraphy and paintings by famous people from various dynasties."

Boss Lu laughed heartily. "That's really unfair to these writers. I just drew a storyboard while filming 'The Drummer'. I thought it was pretty good, so I just wanted to show my appreciation."

Huo Wenxi smiled gently, she actually knew the inside story.

This was because Li Shoucheng had been told by Uncle Chen to ask Lu Kuan for something that would bring him good luck.

After much thought, the only items that count are those related to "The Drummer", the game that made him famous.

So Huo Wenxi asked for it on the pretext of observing it.

Generally speaking, as long as the director is not a professional director who has changed his career halfway, he or she will have a deep foundation in art.

Because they draw storyboards and storyboards all year round, they are very accomplished in shaping the lines of light, lens, and character images.

Impressionism is all about playing with light and shadow.

Boss Lu glanced at Bai Zhi, who seemed a little reserved. He really had no chance to contact her since the last phone call.

"Bozhi's performance in 'Love Is Not Blind' was very good. We hope to continue working together if there is a chance."

"Thank you, director, for your cultivation." The box office of "Love Is Not Blind" has been soaring all the way, and because of the fermentation of word of mouth, it has not stagnated even a week after Valentine's Day.

This type of chick flick is really a novelty these days. After being released for half a month, the box office has barely exceeded 5000 million!
In 2011, the box office of "Love Is Not Blind" exceeded 3.5 million in three days, and the total box office after it was taken off the screen was reported to be million.

An unknown female teacher from Beijing Film Academy made a seemingly ordinary love movie, and it managed to get box office numbers that almost exceeded those of "Cell Phone" in just half a month.

Where the hell can I go to seek justice?

The distribution strategy, release selection strategy of Wenjie and Lu Laoban, as well as the advertising effectiveness of Focus Media, are all soaring in value.

In fact, they are just surprised by what they have seen. The 5000 million is not too much, nor too little. It needs to be put in the bigger picture.

In 2011, the total box office in China was 131 billion yuan, and the 3.5 million yuan from "Love Broken" accounted for 2.7%.

Without considering Boss Lu's butterfly wings, the total national box office after 2004 was 15.7 billion. Even if "Love Broken" can finally reach 8000 million, it only accounts for 5%.

It’s not an exaggeration.

However, nowadays, filmmakers from the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan lack anticipation for the rapid expansion of the mainland film market.

Even though they were very optimistic, they still underestimated.

The waiter started serving the dishes, and the three of them ate and chatted.

Huo Wenxi inquired, "Director Lu, what are your plans for this year's production?"

"Oh, I have a script that I'm still polishing, and I expect to start filming when I get back from Cannes."

"Is that so? I wonder if there are any funding needs. Eagle King has always been eager to cooperate with Road Guide, no matter what aspect."

Boss Lu said with a smile, "This time I decided to be willful and make a movie that I like and try some film techniques."

"Compared to the market and audience acceptance, it may not be too high. Let's wait for a more suitable opportunity!"

Huo Wenxi had no objection, this was just her suggestion. After just a few drinks, she revealed her true purpose.

"Mr. Lu, this year our company and Jackie Chan are collaborating on a film similar to your film 'Alien Land'. There's no budget for special effects."

"The total investment for the project is currently approximately 1.2 million RMB. I wonder if Mr. Lu is interested in directing it?"

Boss Lu laughed silently while holding his wine glass.

I was quite happy to hear the first half of the sentence. Comrade Xiaolu, a salesperson from Butian Film, brought another business to the company.

Why does the second half of the sentence try to hook myself?

This is not a good movie!
The total investment of "The Myth" was 1500 million US dollars, which is about 1.2 million yuan at the current exchange rate. However, its domestic box office was only 9700 million yuan and its overseas box office was 1.74 million yuan.

The numbers seem to show a profit, but the film was a co-production between Hong Kong and South Korea, with the mainland taking 22% of the revenue share. In the end, it still flopped.

At this moment, Lao Long is box office poison, because the projects he participates in are all based on Hollywood standards, and his own salary alone is enough to cover half of the budget.

With such a production scale, even if one tries hard in the mainland film market, it will not be able to make many waves, after all, the capacity is limited.

In recent years, the only thing that the mainland can do is the "wenjie" model, which is low cost, winning awards, and high marketing expenses.

Low-budget movies are packaged in a variety of ways to "trick" the audience into going to the theaters, and then the box office decline rate is kept to a minimum with good reputation and film quality.

Boss Lu pretended to think for a few seconds and started to make excuses.

"I just finished filming the first few episodes of 'Zhu Xian'. On the one hand, I have a new film project. Starting from May, I will be busy with the Cannes Film Festival and the global release of 'Alien Land'."

"I really can't squeeze out the time."

He smiled and raised his glass: "Thank you Mr. Li for your kindness. I'm sure there will be opportunities for cooperation next time."

Huo Wenxi sighed, thinking that he still hadn't completed the task assigned by his leader.

Then the only thing we can do is to make another good relationship.

"Director Lu, please think about it again. I'll report to Director Li. We can wait until the end of the year, okay?"

Before Lu Kuan could refuse, she interrupted, "But regardless of success or failure, according to the boss, he wants to hand over the special effects work to Butian Films."

"Oh! Boss Li is really open and honest. Come on, Sister Mani, you represent Boss Li. I toast to you!"

Huo Wenxi and Zhang Baizhi were both amused and confused as they watched an artist become a salesperson.

Before the last dish was served, Huo Wenxi suddenly received a call and left the table early.

And settle the bill at the same time.

Boss Lu was amazed and praised her, saying that she was indeed a capable female general on the Eagle King side.

This emotional intelligence and worldly wisdom are on point!

"Let's go, Baizhi. I'll take you home."

Zhang Baizhi naturally saw Huo Wenxi's intention, but this time he didn't want to repeat the torment of the last time.

"Mr. Lu, I heard you have a very beautiful courtyard, even more luxurious than this one."

Boss Lu understood: "The yard is being renovated. Can I take you to another place to have a look?"

Bai Zhi gathered the hair around his ears and said, "Is it okay to disturb you?"

"No, it's just a chance to see if your acting has improved recently."

The former Hong Kong beauty patted him lightly with a look of anger and shyness, and the two of them took a car back.

But it's not Huabin Golf, nor is it a Siheyuan. He won't bring any woman back to mess around here.

A cunning rabbit has three burrows. Boss Lu bought another house in the Rose Garden where he had rented before. It is now known as the best villa in northern Beijing.

Zhang Baizhi and Lu Kuan sat on the second-floor terrace smoking.

This guy might be the only one among Boss Lu’s sex partners who can accompany him.

"Director Lu, I...I broke up with Tingfeng."

Boss Lu glanced at her suspiciously.

What about my condolences?

Oh, it’s really close.

Why the hell did you break up? Don’t you know that Tingfeng’s girlfriend has a speed-up and critical hit buff?
It's boring, really boring.

"It's okay to break up. I can focus on my career."

"I heard that Director Chen Kaige is planning to cast you as the female lead?"

Zhang Baizhi was surprised and said, "Ah? Director Lu is also paying attention to me?"

There is no announcement about the casting yet. Chen Kaige is still in the final preparation stage and filming will start soon.

"He asked me to do the special effects. I heard that."

Chen Kaige also asked about Liu Yifei's schedule, and Yang Siwei directly refused after consulting with Boss Lu.

"Anyone who wants to see what I wear under my cloak, please put down your weapons."

Who the hell can stand this?

I finally developed it over the past two years, even though it's a little rebellious now and sometimes clicks on the wrong tech tree...

Boss Lu put out his cigarette: "Then isn't it awkward for you to be in the same crew with Nicholas Tse?"

"Dating and breaking up is normal. I don't think there's anything wrong with it."

Boss Lu smiled noncommittally and said, "It's cold, come in?"

Zhang Baizhi looked at his mobile phone on the table and felt as if he was suddenly cursed.

A trace of itch emerged between the legs and heart, like a flood that could no longer be suppressed.

"Lu... Director Lu, please don't humiliate me this time..."

Bai Zhi lowered his head, like a star-loving robot controlled by a CPU.

Boss Lu smiled and held her shoulders: "No."

"I'll teach you a line, and you can read it to me later."

The lights on the second floor of the villa dimmed, and spring rain as precious as oil quietly fell outside the window.

Accompanied by the faint sound of soft music, the moonlight adds a bit of charm.

The next day, I went to the Wenjie office.

"real or fake?"

Dong Shuangqiang looked at Lu Kuan, who was rarely out of control, and pretended to take a sip of hot tea.

"Hey, my boss has been running around for more than half a month, how can Boss Lu still ask such a question?"

Boss Lu handed him a cigarette convincedly: "Brother Dong, no doubt about it, it's awesome!"

"9.5 million! I never dreamed I could get this much!"

Dong Shuangqiang lit up a cigarette and said, "Xiaolu, there's something I need to make clear to you."

"Ok?"

"This time it's not my turn to do this. There's a young man behind me who's speaking up for me. I have to ask for this favor from you."

"But he didn't say anything, so don't misunderstand."

"I just really admire your talent. Maybe we'll have a chance to work together on a movie in the future."

Lu Kuan's excitement, as if he had picked up money, suddenly turned cold, and his heart sank.

Young master, listen to this title.

Don’t fucking think he’s another upgraded version of Liu Zeyu.

The key lies in the relationships behind the boss, which are quite complicated.

"Brother Dong, please stop."

"You know me, one is one, two is two. You have to tell me, what does this person want?"

"I get paid for helping you. We're all doing business. It's good for you and it's good for me."

"If he doesn't want anything and saves hundreds of millions, I really don't dare to take the offer."

Dong Shuangqiang was stunned for a few seconds and then laughed, "Why are you so cautious with everyone? How can I harm you?"

"He's a top student from Stanford who studied finance abroad and is planning to return to China and join Morgan Stanley this year."

"That is, I always hear your name in the United States and China, and I know that I know you. So, I took the initiative to lend a hand."

"What can they want from you? You're not some charming beauty, haha."

Damn it, it would have been fine if the boss hadn’t said that, but after he said that, Boss Lu became even more cautious.

It is no secret that top investment banks such as Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase recruit Hong Kong employees. The special status of these employees makes it very convenient for investment banks to conduct business in China.

I won’t go into details, everyone wants to know how.

This is the same principle as how Swiss bank executives win over the children and family members of listed company executives.

Boss Lu decisively refused: "Boss Dong, let's put things in perspective. You can say that, but you can't do it that way!"

"How about this? Wenjie gives up 30% of the shares of Super Girl. You can do whatever you want with them. I'll just repay the favor. How about that?"

Dong Shuangqiang's expression turned somewhat ugly.

With your high emotional intelligence, shouldn't you take the opportunity to invite this young man to dinner, establish a good relationship with him, and then discuss anything in the future?

Why do you act like you're keeping people at a distance right from the start?
Besides, this "Super Girl" is popular, but how much can 30% of the shares be worth?

The boss was a well-connected and well-respected figure in the industry, so he immediately said solemnly, "Boss Lu, I think your actions in this matter are questionable."

Boss Lu waved at him and handed him a research report on the table.

"Old Dong, don't be unhappy, take a look at this first."

"The Third Draft of the Super Girl Advertising Plan and the SMS and Blog Voting Plan Design".

Dong Shuangqiang knew that Lu Kuan was not a person without sense of propriety, and that there must be a deeper meaning behind asking him to read this marketing plan, so he immediately began to turn the pages patiently.

But as soon as I turned to the second page, I lost my mind: "Mengniu? 2500 million for the title sponsorship?"

"This is just the base price, you can turn it over later."

The sponsorship details are set out in the naming plan:

The music department of Wenjie specially composed the song "Sour and Sweet Is You" for the sponsored product of Mengniu Yogurt.

It will be promoted by Wenjie and its holding company Focus Media, with online collaboration by Blog.com and Douban.

At the finals, the popular young actress Liu Yifei will lead the finalists in an opening performance to help the sponsors promote their products and greatly increase their exposure.

The sponsorship and title fee is based on 2500 million and will fluctuate according to the final average ratings of the program and the weighted ratings of the finals, with no upper limit.

“Is Mengniu so generous?”

Boss Lu smiled and said, "Sun Jun and Zhong Lifang from Mengniu's marketing department just finished their discussion yesterday. They are very satisfied with the conditions."

Later, Mengniu's sponsorship fee for Super Girl was said to be around 2000-2400 million, and the holding of "Super Girl" also brought them great value for money.

According to a report by research firm AC Nielsen, the sales volume of Mengniu yogurt in the cities where the competition was held was five times that of the same period.

In the financial report later published by Mengniu Dairy on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the company's turnover in the first half of the year also increased from 34.73 to 47.59.

This is a win-win cooperation.

Lu Kuan added: "We have already negotiated a 2500 million RMB contract with Mengniu as the main sponsor, and we are planning to conduct advertising bidding in different time periods."

"It's mainly the opening and closing of the finals, and the host's announcement."

Dong Shuangqiang was surprised: "It's only been a month, how come..."

He turned to the second page in confusion: "10%?!"

Boss Lu smiled and said, "That's right. The data Soreford just sent back this morning probably hasn't reached you yet."

"No wonder a talent show for ordinary people in the Peking region can actually have a 10% viewership rate. It's amazing."

Compare this to the variety show "Dream China" on CCTV's economic channel this year. From Monday to Saturday, the peak viewership ratings never exceeded 3%.

The later "Super Girl" had a regional rating of around 8%, which was also extremely impressive.

However, this time, with the addition of various Internet promotional tools, support from celebrities such as Liu Yifei, and the buff of offline targeted media, it has reached a new level.

Dong Shuangqiang stammered and couldn't speak.

He thought that advertising on Travel Satellite TV would be very popular this year, but the advertising for the prime-time drama "Lush" that he had negotiated with was only worth about 1800 million.

How come this "Super Girl" has such a high value?
It's really like turning stone into gold!
Lu Kuan took the plan from him and turned to the last page.

"Based on the current estimated ratings, the final total price for the Mengniu and time-slot advertising bidding will be around 7000 million yuan."

"And that doesn't even include the share of the text message and blog voting."

Boss Lu calmly looked at the stunned Dong Shuangqiang and said, "Boss, I'm letting you use your 30% stake in this project to repay a favor. That shouldn't be too shabby, right?"

Dong Shuangqiang smiled bitterly and said, "Brother, that's not what I meant."

"That person simply wants to make friends with you, not for this..."

He couldn't say it was just a small thing.

Although it's not as good as the discount that young man got for buying a building by using his connections, it's a legal and compliant business!
It’s different from just giving money directly.

Giving you a chance to open up a business that's clearly profitable is a legitimate operation, and no one can say anything about it.

Lu Kuan smiled and said, "Brother Dong, don't blame me for being ruthless."

"Be close to the government and stay away from politics. This is the code of conduct I set for myself."

"You know better than anyone that people of this level never do good things for no reason."

Boss Lu pushed the advertising plan in front of him.

"I'll wait for your news on this matter. If it works out, we'll make the deal and settle the matter."

"If that doesn't work, I'll just go find another piece of land and build one myself."

Dong Shuangqiang nodded at him helplessly, then left with a dull look on his face.

It wasn't like he had been called in for tea because of these trivial matters in his later life, and Old Zhao, whom Boss Lu had just met, was also very close to the key figures.

Past experience guide for the future.

Lu Kuan picked up the phone and called Long Danni in again.

"Mr. Lu, please give your instructions."

"Director Long looks so radiant, is work going well?"

Long Danni smiled and said, "It went very smoothly. Our variety show team is young and full of energy. It's like being able to command them like an arm."

Boss Lu nodded. Private enterprises are always more dynamic than the old hands in Hunan and Taiwan.

"Well, the Peking competition is about to end, and I have an idea."

"You say."

"We are very popular now. I want to give full play to my subjective initiative and take the initiative to discover and invite some amateurs from other sub-regions to participate."

Long Danni was stunned when she heard this: "What are these people going to do..."

"No, we're not giving them a script and letting them survive. Unless there are special circumstances before the finals, we don't do that."

The idea of ​​road width is also simple.

The first Super Girl contest held by Hunan TV in 2004 was not very popular, and the top three contestants such as An Youqi did not make any splash in the domestic entertainment industry.

What he wants is commercial value, not some kind of civilian talent show carnival for you.

Boss Lu decided to dig out Li Yuchun, Zhou Bichang, Zhang Jingying and others who were part of the most classic Super Girl competition in history in advance.

This serves two purposes.

First, the "Super Girl" brand is a fast-moving consumer product and a monetization tool for Lu Kuan and Travel Channel, and they do not seek long-term growth.

Instead, they squeeze out the value within one or two seasons, quickly convert it into cash, and then sell it off.

To recruit these players to participate in the competition in advance is to overdraw the vitality of the brand in advance.

Second, the sensational effect and revenue of "Super Girl" come from text messages, blog voting, and fan rankings. Without contestants who are unique and recognizable, how can it attract fans?

Chun Ge with a neutral style, Zhou Bichang with black-framed glasses, Zhang Jingying with dolphin voice, and so on.

At this moment, Chun Ge is a sophomore at Sichuan Conservatory of Music, and Zhou Bichang is studying at the well-known Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangdong Province.

Zhang Jingying later participated in another music singing program in 2004, just to change her career.

What's more, the popularity of the first "Super Girl" in this life is far greater than that of the previous life, and its appeal is also at the top level in the domestic entertainment industry.

Long Danni took the order and left, and Boss Lu went to the viewing room to review the film.

It’s “Insidious 1” from Justin Lin from the US.

In later generations, "Insidious" is another low-budget hit horror series film from James Wan and Lionsgate.

The first "Insidious" cost $150 million and grossed $1.9 million worldwide.

The "Paranormal Activity" universe and the "Insidious" series will become the foundation of the company's presence in the North American film market and the main source of cash flow.

(End of this chapter)