Huayu: A Commercial Director

Chapter 28 Co-productions

"Director Chen Shouzhe was spotted at the airport, accompanied by Chairman Ren from Shanghai Film Group, Vice Chairman La from China Film Group, and Ye Ning from Wanda Group, all on the same flight."

This news has attracted the attention of countless people in the industry. Just yesterday, they were discussing Chen Shou's plans to prepare for a new project and were making inquiries everywhere.

Now four companies have actually taken off. Where are they going?

"Brother, I found out. It's a co-production. That lousy comedian acted as a go-between, but we don't know the specifics of the project yet."

Inside Huayi, Wang Zonglei arrived at his brother Wang Zongjun's office.

"A co-production? Find out what kind of project it is and see if we can get involved."

"I've already had people inquire about it. I didn't expect that lousy comedian to have some talent; he actually managed to get a co-production project."

"You'd better not get caught doing those things."

"No, he won't be able to find out at all, but Wang Fox probably already knows."

"He wouldn't talk nonsense. By the way, wasn't he there this time?"

"Well, no."

"Alright, go and find out as soon as possible. Try to get as much of the co-productions as possible. The group's stock price needs more stimulus."

"no problem."

Film and television companies are all the same; they're all making inquiries, and those with connections have already gotten insider information.

Co-production.

It's undoubtedly a big pie, and if the project is good, everyone wants a piece of the pie.

Hong Kong
"You said Director Chen has a good impression of our company. See if you can get a ticket for a co-production. We have markets in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, and our strength is not weak."

Mr. Yang has already heard some news. For companies like Emperor Entertainment that want to expand northward, co-productions with large investments are undoubtedly the best way to get on board.

"I've already asked, but he's on a plane and we can't reach him at all." Huo Wenxi sighed. She had called Chen Shouzhe yesterday, but couldn't get through.

It seems we can only wait for news from Chen Shouzhe and see if we can get a ticket then.

Emperor Group has money, but it lacks good projects.

They missed both of Chen Shou's projects; they couldn't offer help when things were going well, so it was difficult for them to add to Chen's success.

Many people even called Wang Changtian to ask him why Guangming hadn't followed up.

Old Wang rolled his eyes a few times. A two-hundred-million-dollar investment—he was gambling with his life! He wanted to play this kind of project too, but he couldn't afford it.

The company's management was all wondering if they could get tickets to get in, and the actors were excited too.

Because co-productions mean there are Chinese actors involved, and quite a few at that.

The last successful co-production was Huayi Brothers, where Liu Yifei got the biggest slice of the pie, with two kung fu stars acting alongside him.

What about this time?

Everyone is eyeing the opportunity, especially some actors who have a good relationship with Chen Shou, who have already started making secret contacts.

"Hello, Teacher Yu, are you at the horse farm?"

"I'm planning to go and have some fun, it's settled then."

"Hey Mr. Guo, are there any tickets left for tonight's performance? I'm not asking you to give them to me, I'll buy them myself, please save a few for me."

Chen Shouzhe could no longer be contacted on the plane, but he had a well-known weakness. Although he was unmarried and had no one to influence him, he had a mentor, Teacher Yu Qian, who was the biggest breakthrough point.

The horse farm in Daxing suddenly became lively, attracting many A-list celebrities.

After a flight of more than ten hours, Chen Shou led his men to Columbia Company without stopping after landing.

Walker and senior executives from Columbia Company came out to greet him. Seeing that Chen Shou had secured the investment in just a few days, they were truly surprised that Chinese companies were already so wealthy.

The signing went smoothly. Columbia had been preparing for this for a while, and all that was left was casting. Chen Shouzhe would be joining the crew as a screenwriter and assistant director, which was a very important learning opportunity for him.

Learning is a lifelong pursuit, and there is much that cannot be learned in China. People who clamor to abolish English are either bad people or have been brainwashed.

Anyone who has received a proper education knows that many academic papers and documents are in English, and even when translated, the meaning may still be somewhat distorted.

If you want to learn from other people's advanced technology, you must learn from their strengths and extract their essence.

Working in isolation will never lead to success; it's no wonder that you can't surpass others. Standardization is a lesson learned the hard way.

They could only envy Colombia for coming up with $120 million in one go; a company with strong capital is just different, there's no comparison.

After signing the contract, Chen Shouzhe breathed a sigh of relief. Next, he would go back to China to prepare the actors, and then bring them back to the United States.

The lead couple are American, but the scientist and stepfather could be played by mainland Chinese actors, and the initial setting of India has been changed to China. The story begins in China, with a Chinese physicist discovering anomalies in the Earth's crust and sharing them with his friend working in the United States. Many of the later special effects scenes are not only set in the US but also in various Chinese cities, showcasing contemporary China to the world through the film—this is the main purpose of this co-production.

China Film Group, Shanghai Film Group, and Wanda Film Group were extremely excited. They saw more of the film's content and were increasingly optimistic about it. Such a thrilling apocalyptic blockbuster was sure to make history and leave a significant mark on film history.

They didn't stay long before returning to China, spending most of their time in the air.

Upon landing, they were spotted by reporters, who swarmed around them like cats smelling fish.

"Director Chen, is your trip to the United States related to the film?"

Is it a co-production?

"Director Chen, is this the co-production you directed yourself?"

"Director Chen, how much is the investment this time?"

"Mr. Ren, could you give us a hint about the movie?"

"Mr. Ye..."

Surrounded by a large crowd, Chairman Ren said with a smile, "It will be announced tomorrow, then everyone will know."

Chen Shouzhe didn't say anything. Under the cover of his assistant, they got into their respective cars and drove away.

However, the media wouldn't let them off the hook. Although they didn't say anything, they still analyzed things from Ren Dong's tone.

"Director Chen and others returned to China. Ren Dong of Shanghai Film Group said that the announcement would be made tomorrow, which means that the co-production has been confirmed."

"It will be released tomorrow, confirming it's definitely a co-production."

"Will director Chen Shouzhe direct a co-production?"

"Director Chen Shou is taking his steps toward international success."

When it was confirmed to be a co-production, the film and television industry was in an uproar. Chen Shouzhe's phone was ringing off the hook, so he simply turned it off, ignored everything, and closed his eyes to think about how to cast the actors.

Chinese-American scientists, Chinese-American dentists, and domestic actors—after all, actors from the roof of the world.

For some reason, when Chen Shou closed his eyes, a pair of 'clean' eyes appeared, which almost startled him.

"No, no, this won't do." Chen Shou hurriedly shook his head.

He went back to the horse farm and hid there. The next day, together with five other companies in Colombia across the ocean, they issued a joint announcement.

[The new film "2012," directed by Roland Garros and primarily invested in by Columbia Pictures, China Film Group, Shanghai Film Group, Wanda Pictures, and Shouzhe Film Group, has officially been greenlit for production. Based on the Mayan apocalypse, the film will be a joint production between the two countries.]

[It is reported that the film has a budget of up to 2 million US dollars. Chinese director Chen Shouzhe is the screenwriter and assistant director of the film, and will work with director Roland to select the characters and handle the filming tasks.]

Two hundred million? US dollars!!

"My God, with the current exchange rate, it's more than thirteen small goals."

"Wow, a movie like 'Thirteen Small Goals'? Wasn't 2012 supposed to be the end of the world for the Mayan civilization?"

"Disaster blockbuster, special effects blockbuster, I already want to see it in the theater."

"Director Chen is awesome."

"A co-production means there will be Chinese actors. Who should we choose?"

"I can't wait! Director Roland is a master of disaster films."

"Any movie with Chen Shou is bound to be a bad movie; his movies are absolutely terrible."

"If you're so good, why don't you make a movie that makes 1.5 billion?"

"If he were capable, he wouldn't be here spouting nonsense."

All the companies in the domestic film and television industry are envious. They definitely can't handle an investment of 200 million US dollars. Only foreign companies can lead this.

However, with four domestic companies involved, they were wondering if there was a way to get involved.

All things considered, only Chen Shou can get a share. State-owned enterprises can forget about it; there's no way they'd transfer such a deal. Wanda? Wanda isn't short of money.

The highest box office for a domestic film has only exceeded 15 billion yuan, while a single film from another country has an investment of 13 billion yuan. How can you compare them?
Film companies are all looking for Chen Shouzhe, and the actors are even more excited.

This is a tremendous opportunity to enter the global market, and it's a much larger investment than Huayi Brothers' co-production investments in previous years.

Although it's a disaster movie that sells special effects, the actors will definitely have plenty of screen time, and they're all frantically searching for Chen Shouzhe.

More than a dozen luxury cars arrived at the horse farm early in the morning.

(End of this chapter)