1979: The child's mother is a celestial being.

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"Mr. Chen, could I have a few minutes to discuss film copyright in your country?"

"you are?"

"I am Kenji Makino, the theater manager of Tohoju Company in Japan. I am very happy to meet some Asian friends in Cannes."

She's a scumbag!
Chen Fusheng mentally criticized the other party's name, then consulted with Deputy Director Shi before turning back and nodding to the Japanese film producer with a smile.

However, considering that this was not a place to discuss business, Chen Fusheng thought for a moment and suggested, "I remember there seems to be a coffee shop over there. Why don't we talk there? What do you think?"

"That's a good idea."

As for the lunch break, it has been cancelled, of course.

Moreover, it wasn't just Chen Fusheng whose lunch break was canceled; everyone's lunch break was canceled.

Since Deputy Director Shi is also going to the coffee shop with Chen Fusheng, will the rest of the people be able to sleep when they get back?
Besides, there wasn't much time to rest anyway.

"This is our team leader for this trip, Shi Fangyu."

On the way to the coffee shop, Chen Fusheng also gave the Japanese film producer a brief, albeit somewhat evasive, introduction of Deputy Director Shi's identity.

Soon, they arrived at the coffee shop.

Although it was noon, the coffee shop was still quite crowded.

I guess these foreigners don't have the habit of taking a midday nap.

They chose a corner where no one was around and sat down.

After the waiter came over and we each ordered coffee, we started talking about business.

"Mr. Chen speaks good English and his acting is superb. May I ask if you have any overseas study experience?"

"I haven't studied abroad, but I speak English fairly well because I majored in English in college and even worked as a college English teacher for two years." Since you're traveling abroad, you have to define your own identity, so Chen Fusheng didn't need to emphasize his teaching assistant status at this point.

"Mr. Chen is actually a university professor..." Makino Kenji was shocked when a waiter came over with coffee, interrupting their conversation.

As soon as the waiter left, Chen Fusheng seized the opportunity to speak and asked directly, "We don't know much about your company. Mr. Makino, could you please introduce it to us?"

He had actually heard of Tohoju-shiki Company before and knew that it was one of the most influential film companies in Japan.

“Yes.” Makino Kenji nodded, then proudly introduced their company to the two Chinese men in front of him.

"...Currently, our Tohoju Company's business covers film production, distribution, exhibition, and other performing arts. We also own several well-known theaters. We are currently the most influential and powerful film company in Japan, and even on a global scale, we rank among the top."

Chen Fusheng thought to himself that this guy was just bragging.

He couldn't help but turn around and exchange a glance with Deputy Director Shi, and to his surprise, Director Shi nodded at him.

'Wow, so impressive! Then it's not unreasonable for me to ask for a higher copyright fee, right?' he thought to himself.

Previously, there weren't many film companies bidding for the overseas rights to "Cow," so Chen Fusheng thought of selling it as a package deal.

However, he felt that there should be quite a few film companies interested in the copyright of "Andhadhun" in the copyright trading market. This was evident from the audience's reaction in the theater this morning and the business cards he received. Therefore, he planned to sell the overseas copyright separately in order to maximize his profits.

However, selling them separately presents a problem: during the film festival, the copyrights for most countries and regions must be sold, not all of them can be sold after the awards ceremony, because by then they simply won't be sold out.

As for which countries and regions' copyrights are suitable to be sold during the film festival, and which are suitable to be delayed until after the awards ceremony to gamble on whether there will be any awards, Chen Fusheng has his own set of standards.

His criteria are not complicated. He mainly follows the principle of selling as much as possible in small markets, and only in large markets does he need to wait.

As for what constitutes a large market?

The country where Makino Kenji is located is that country.

So although Chen Fusheng is currently discussing copyright matters with the other party, he is not in a hurry at all. His only purpose is to find out what the other party is capable of.

There was absolutely no intention to achieve a transaction.

Of course, if the other party offers a price that exceeds his expectations, his standards are actually quite flexible.

"I was surprised to learn that your company is so capable. Well then, I'll get straight to the point. Mr. Makino is surely aware of the quality of 'Andhadhun,' which is so well-known that even Westerners can understand it. I believe it will be a huge success if it's released in Japan. So, Mr. Makino, could you give me a fair price?"

“I don’t deny the excellence of ‘Andhadhun’, but the box office performance of a film after its release is too uncertain, and... and the reason I came to see Mr. Chen in such a hurry is that I hope we can talk about film copyrights of more countries, not just Japan’s.”

Chen Fusheng and Deputy Director Shi exchanged a glance, surprised that this man had such a big appetite.

Previously, Deputy Director Shi had only been observing, but now he couldn't help but interject, "What do you mean by 'more countries'?"

"For example, Asian countries such as South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, and Indonesia."

Chen Fusheng thought that Makino Kenji was after the global copyright, but it turns out he still has some self-awareness.

He nodded and said, "We can talk, but I don't know how much all those countries you mentioned could offer in total, Mr. Makino."

How many are you planning to sell them for?

"To be honest, we don't know for the time being either. It mainly depends on whether Mr. Makino's offer can impress us."

Chen Fusheng's somewhat nonchalant answer not only surprised Deputy Director Shi, but also made Makino Kenji, who was on the other side, feel a bit of a problem.

'I almost thought this somewhat impatient Chinese man was just a greenhorn, but he turned out to be a negotiation expert.' After thinking carefully, Makino Kenji tentatively offered a price: '70 US dollars.'

Upon hearing the offer, Chen Fusheng's last glimmer of hope vanished, and he lost all interest in continuing the negotiation.

After downing his coffee in one gulp, he glanced at his watch, exchanged a glance with Deputy Director Shi, and then said politely:
"Mr. Makino, it seems the afternoon screening is about to start. Why don't we stop here and continue next time?"

Makino Kenji could easily understand the underlying meaning in Chen Fusheng's words. To be honest, this decisive and efficient negotiation style caught him completely off guard.

Forget about beating around the bush, and hurriedly asked, "Mr. Chen, are you dissatisfied with the price I quoted?"

“Yes, your offer is far from our expectations, so I don’t think there’s any need to continue negotiating,” Chen Fusheng replied decisively.

However, his contradictory statements not only confused Makino Kenji, but even Deputy Director Shi was somewhat dumbfounded. But this was simply business negotiation tactic, and aside from being a little annoyed, Makino Kenji didn't see anything wrong with it.

Of course, he still couldn't give up and pressed Chen Fusheng for his expectations.

“If it’s an overseas copyright from an Asian country, our price is this amount.” Chen Fusheng held up two fingers to Makino Kenji.

"200?"

"US dollars," Chen Fusheng added the unit.

Then he noticed that Makino Kenji's lips twitched, and he shook his head and said, "That's impossible. Believe me, your movie won't sell for that much in Asia. How about this, I'll give you another million dollars?"

"We can sell you all the rights to the film in Japan for one million dollars."

"Mr. Chen, your appetite is too big."

“It’s not big at all. You can make much more money by taking our movie.”

“A million dollars is absolutely impossible unless you add other Asian countries.”

"Then there's nothing to talk about."

Talk fell apart.

But the talks didn't completely fall apart.

Because this was exactly the outcome Chen Fusheng had anticipated.

Next, as soon as their negotiations ended, an American film distributor who had been waiting in the coffee shop approached them.

And so began a new round of tug-of-war.

This American film distributor, from MGM, one of the eight major studios in the United States, came up to talk to Chen Fusheng and his team about the global overseas rights to "Andhadhun".

The offer was $300 million, but Chen Fusheng countered with $600 million, which scared the other party away.

As more and more film companies came to see Chen Fusheng and his team, it became less convenient to keep discussing matters in the coffee shop.

So they contacted Ms. Karina, who was in charge of receiving them, and requested a special meeting room from the organizers to conduct the negotiations.

“Annyeonghaseyo…”

"For South Korea, our quote is $30."

"$30 is too high, can you reduce it a bit?"

"This is the fairest price. If you don't want it, then please proceed to the next person."

The South Korean film market is now slightly larger than Hong Kong's, so Chen Fusheng and his team's price of $30 is indeed a fair one.

As a result, the Korean film company on the other end wanted to push the price even lower, and with many other film companies waiting in line, Chen Fusheng eventually lost patience.

Ironically, his outburst caused the Korean film producers to relent.

"Yes, yes, we'll take it, three hundred thousand dollars."

With this successful deal with South Korea, their efficiency in copyright transactions with smaller countries and regions has greatly improved.

"Singapore, $100,000. Congratulations on the sale."

"Myanmar, ten thousand US dollars, a pleasure to cooperate."

"Thailand, $80,000."

"..."

"South Africa, $22."

"Argentina, $11."

"Brazil, $8."

"A total of $15 from Uruguay, Peru, Venezuela, and Colombia."

The negotiations began in the afternoon and continued into the evening at a cocktail party arranged by the organizers, lasting until late at night.

When they dragged their tired bodies back to the hotel and took out all the contracts, they were surprised to find that they had sold to 33 countries and regions on the first day, making $138.6 million.

Although there are 200 countries and regions in the world, not all film distributors come to the Cannes Film Festival. Today, they sold their films to 33 countries and regions, basically selling to all the smaller countries and regions that were interested in their films. Even if there are any 'fish that slipped through the net', there won't be many.

There are still three major film markets whose overseas rights have not been sold.

First, North America.

Second, Europe.

However, not all European countries failed to sell their film rights. In fact, some smaller European countries, such as Luxembourg and San Marino, also purchased the rights.

Third, there's neighboring Japan.

The reason these countries didn't sell their films wasn't because their distributors hadn't talked to Chen Fusheng and his team today; it's just that he intentionally raised the prices, and they didn't want to gamble on whether they would win any awards in the end.

Therefore, the safest approach is to wait until after the awards ceremony to see.

"I'm so tired. Is everything alright tomorrow? I want to sleep in."

"But you probably won't be able to sleep. Lingzi's 'Wilderness' is going to be screened tomorrow morning. You, who stole the show today, have to go and support him."

"...Destroy it."

(End of this chapter)