2001 Media Godfather

Chapter 19 4450!
"I have no grudge against Tiandu."

Chu An's teasing words made Lu Mingze feel uneasy.

What does that mean? It means "better to die than yourself," right?

He stared intently at Chu An for a long while, then suddenly asked in a deep voice, "Little Chu, you won't betray me like Tian Du did, will you?"

Director Lu was terrified of being scammed, and what he was seeing was beyond his comprehension.

In fact, among the capable people Lu Mingze knew, including those influential figures in the entertainment industry from Tiandu Culture, none of them could have done something so outrageous.

The fear of the unknown made Lu Mingze uneasy, so he asked such a naive question.

Yes, Chu An thought he was pretty naive. What's the point of asking? Who the hell is trying to trick you or tell you the truth?
In his previous life, Chu An would have habitually uttered a long string of beautiful and confident words of comfort.

As for whether he will cause trouble for Lu Mingze, that's really uncertain.

The key issue is that this guy is too easily fooled. Not teaching him a lesson would be an insult to the integrity of unscrupulous merchants.

but now……

Chu An pursed his lips, "Do as I say, and I'll help you get through this."

Lu Mingze: "..."

Why don't they just say something more high-sounding and respectable?

The key point is that this fart came from a tender, youthful seventeen-year-old face, which, no matter how you look at it, carried the air of teenage angst and silliness.

With a resigned sigh, he said, "Fine, I'll gamble it all! I accept it!"

Chu An had a strange sense of accomplishment on his lips.

He didn't become complacent because he had collected all the puzzle pieces and had the potential to create a miracle.

But
It turns out that being trusted by an idiot feels pretty damn good!
"Don't forget your promise."

Lu Mingze had said that as long as Chu An got through this hurdle, he would give him whatever he wanted.

Director Lu's mind was a bit muddled, and he replied haphazardly, "You, you, you, you get it done first!"

Pointing to the two contracts worth 2500 million, he said, "This money can't be touched, fine!! Then I won't touch it!"

"But where will 'The Best of Us' get the money!?"

Chu An immediately gave his answer: "Next, invite all your friends in the industry, including directors, actors, and behind-the-scenes staff, to a gathering."

Lu Mingze, “???”

Chu An, “Tell them that the production cost of ‘You Are My Glory’ is 4500 million, and you are willing to give 10% of it to everyone so that we can all participate!”

Lu Mingze, “!!!!?”

Chu An said, "Don't worry, with the groundwork laid so far, they will be willing to invest money, whether from the perspective of profit or fame."

Why is Lu Mingze so skeptical?

Turning 3000 million into 4500 million, a 50% premium—who in their right mind would fall for that?
As a result, Director Lu discovered a fact: he had made a bad choice in making friends; they were all brainless!

Upon hearing that he wanted to sell his shares, they went crazy and sent him money, and even 10% wasn't enough.

If Chu An hadn't stopped him, his friends in the industry alone could have raised ten or twenty million.

And these people are complete idiots. They give money to Lao Lu to make movies, and they still eagerly want to make cameo appearances or join the crew to help out.

You guys are really something, paying your own money to act, paying to join the production team and put in the effort.

Chu An accepted all offers without question. His only bottom line was that he would only take 10%, not a single point more.

Director Lu started doing the math again. 10% of 4500 million is 450 million. If he sells the house, it will be enough to cover the filming costs of "The Best of Us".

Chu An wanted to "appease" these "fools" who couldn't buy more shares.

"Don't worry! I'll make sure everyone earns their money back before filming even starts!"

"Now, everyone can privately contact some investors in the industry with whom they have good relationships and say that Director Lu is willing to sell 'You Are My Glory' for 6000 million and 'With You' for 2000 million, a package deal of 8000 million for the two dramas, and sell 10% of it."

Lu Mingze: "..."

A group of directors and celebrities in the industry: "..."

This is not a difficult calculation.

The estimated production and marketing costs for "With You" were 2000 million. Chu An didn't add any premium; it was essentially a sale at the original price.

Meanwhile, "You Are My Glory" saw its price jump from 4500 million to 6000 million, a 33% increase!
In other words, the shares they just acquired, without even paying for them, have already increased by 33%.

As for Lu Mingze...

Where is Director Lu?

After searching for a long time, we finally found him in the toilet.

The guy is holding his Nokia 3310 phone, which is supposed to be from another timeline, and using a calculator to do some calculations!

10% of 8000 million...800 million! ?

Adding the previous 450 million... 1250 million!!

He now not only has the funds to cover the filming costs, but also the start-up capital for publicity and distribution, and he's even sold his house...

Holy crap! Director Lu's gotten too cocky.

So here's the question: would investors in the industry be tempted by a figure of 8000 million?

Nonsense! Even if it were just "You Are My Glory" alone, they would still invest if it cost 8000 million.

Everyone here is an expert. After reading the script, we don't even need to talk about the CCTV premiere or the sky-high game sponsorship. Just the product placements in the script alone could probably bring in twenty or thirty million.

There are just too many. In the eyes of capital, this isn't a TV drama; it's a commercial break with a storyline.

Investors will only complain that Lu Mingze is offering too little, only 10%...

As a result, capital's fangs turned to the directors and stars who had brought them into the game.

"Are you going to sell your shares...?"

Some people sold on the spot, making a third of the profit. They were extremely grateful to Lu Mingze and promised to help out even if they didn't have a stake in the business.

Some people, however, wanted to wait and see, always feeling that the stingy little merchant named Chu An was being miserly and releasing the money little by little for some other purpose.

then……

They made the right bet!

As the dinner with investors in the industry drew to a close, Chu An was seen smiling broadly.
"Dear directors, senior actors, handsome men and beautiful women, big shots and CEOs..."

"Do you know anyone outside this industry? Like someone in the energy and mining sector? Or in foreign trade and shipping? If all else fails, real estate would be fine too!"

"Let's meet up and talk!"

"Take the two films that Director Lu is preparing for."

"First broadcast on CCTV! Co-produced by the National Space Administration!! Sponsored by a staggering 1000 million yuan!! Xu Shu is tentatively cast! Half of the entertainment industry is involved in the production!!"

"The goal is to create a super epic that is unprecedented and will never be repeated."

"Total production cost: 160 million!"

"We can share 20% of the equity with everyone!"

Chu An looked completely innocent and harmless. But everyone else was like, "!!!"

patter
That was the sound of a wine glass slipping from fingertips.

bump! ! !
That was the dull thud of someone falling down.

Gah! ! !
This is Director Lu's choked sobs before he fainted.

Calm down, calm down! These are all people of status, why are you so agitated?

Chu An looked at his masterpiece and mentally criticized it.

Of course, we didn't forget the mascot either.

"Come on, help Director Lu up."

……

Do you know where those super bad movies with investments of hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars came from?

It's not money laundering as some people think.

Money laundering does occur, but it's not the primary factor driving up production costs.

In fact, most of the exorbitant production costs in other timelines are inflated in this way.

Chu An is already considered to have a conscience; it's not outrageous that 3000 million was inflated to 1.6 million.

In that original timeline, after eight rounds of financing, a production cost of ten million could easily be increased to seven or eight hundred million.

Even if industry capital and foreign hot money can no longer drive up prices, it doesn't matter. There's still the option of going public to reap profits from shareholders!

This is what is known as the capitalization of film and television!

It is also a major cause of the film and television investment bubble.

Of course, if a real investment of 10 million can produce a film, regardless of whether the amount on paper is 400 million, 500 million, or 800 million, then it's considered conscientious.

Sometimes, the initial goal isn't to make a film, but rather to generate hype. The investors from earlier stages have already cashed out and left.

Ultimately, these projects become unfinished projects or extremely bad movies.

Money laundering? If every so-called big-budget production were a money laundering tool, Uncle Hat would have investigated long ago.

Far away.

In short, only Chu An could pull off this kind of film and television capitalization strategy in this era.

Only a script like "You Are My Glory," which is well-rounded in all aspects, has such high feasibility.

Three days later, when the last batch of funds for the stock purchase was deposited into Lu Mingze's account, Director Lu now had 1000 million yuan in available funds, excluding the 1500 million yuan sponsorship from Green Field and the 4450 million yuan loan from the bank.

Yes, the 4450 million was earned from selling shares in two films; it's profit, and he can spend it however he wants.

Reasonable and legal!

At this moment, Director Lu, wearing a hospital gown and with an oxygen tube inserted, lay paralyzed on the hospital bed.

Director Lu was admitted to the hospital three days ago. There was no way he could handle such a major life change.

The number 4450 kept floating in my mind.

Thinking back to ten days ago, I was driven to the brink of despair by Tian Du...

4450...

Think of "You Are My Glory" and "The Best of Us"...

4450...

Think about Chu An again. Screw him, what the hell is he anyway?

I just can't figure it out, I really can't figure it out!

However, Director Lu increasingly believes in one saying:

Talent is something you can't ask for.

Some people turned a manuscript into 4450 million yuan in just ten days.

And some people, like myself, are almost fifty...

He's still so talented!
Okay, Director Lu doesn't think he's any worse than Chu An. While we can't compare to him in business acumen, he certainly can't match his directing skills!

Thinking about it this way makes me feel much better.

Just then, Chu An returned from getting food at the cafeteria and pushed open the door to enter.

Chu An only arrived at the hospital today to relieve Ma Lan on her shift. After settling the financing, he threw himself onto a hotel bed and slept for a whole day and night.

No one knows what he was feeling after he accomplished this.

In his past life, he was besieged by capital, but like Lu Mingze, he remained unyielding.

Chu Anyou remembered that he was standing in the sunset with people from that giant company, feeling helpless and angry just like Lu Mingze.

He went even further than Lu Mingze, releasing all the management contracts of his artists.

If I don't get anything good, you won't get any comfort either!
I'll accept defeat if it's just a hundred or so pounds. But want my artists or my company? Dream on!

Many people might think of Nezha's line, "I don't care whether I live or die, I just want you to die!"

Ha ha
This doesn't apply to Chu An, because he simply doesn't have the ability to kill the other party.

This is the revenge of a nobody, nothing serious.

After that incident, Chu An started from scratch and climbed up step by step.

Yes, he had nothing to begin with, and he was least afraid of starting over. What he was most used to was the arduous journey of climbing up.

Before his transmigration, although things had improved somewhat, they were still far from his peak.

Are there no regrets or resentment?
Of course!
Sometimes, Chu An would think, what if he had a project like "You Are My Glory" back then?

Or if someone were to lend him a hand, or even just accompany him for a while, that would be wonderful!

He placed the lunchbox next to Director Lu's bedside. "You're awake? The doctor said you can be discharged. So when are we going to storm back to Ningyuan?"

Therefore, he chose to help Lu Mingze.

……

At this moment, Chu An transformed back into that sunny and handsome young man, as if he were a completely different person from the greedy, beast-like man he had been before.

Lu Mingze was somewhat dazed by what he saw.

Director Lu removed the oxygen tube, tossed it aside, and sat up.

Instead of eating, he said to Chu An, "Chu Shikui, it's time for us to settle our accounts."

As she spoke, she pushed a bank card in front of Chu An, saying, "This is what you deserve."

……

.

(End of this chapter)