Chapter 15 Reaching Cooperation

Chapter 15 Reaching Cooperation

Chapter 15 Reaching Cooperation
Mr. Li smacked his lips. He was surprised at the subject matter of the script, which was actually a horror movie, and it seemed quite good.

This aroused the interest of Mr. Li, who is also a young man.

Seeing the other party's expression, Zhang Chen knew something was going to happen: "What do you think of this story, Mr. Li?"

"It's quite exciting," Mr. Li thought for a moment, and added, "It's just too tragic. Almost everyone died in the end."

Seeing that the other party had no plan, Zhang Chen began his own performance.

"Mr. Li, this time we came to you to solicit investment, not to take you for a fool, but to seek a win-win situation."

"Oh?"

Seeing that the other party's interest was aroused, Zhang Chen continued: "For me, making the movie is important, but it is equally important to let the investors make money. There is a generally accepted theory in the film industry: comedy, erotic and horror films are the easiest to make a small profit with a big investment.

This is not nonsense. Take Korean films for example. Korean films have experienced explosive growth in recent years, with all kinds of themes and a hundred flowers blooming. This year, a phenomenal work such as "Taegukgi: Flying Taegukgi" was born, which directly broke the country's box office record.

But the mainstay of their market has always been comedy, such as My Sassy Girl in 01 and Sex Is Zero in 02. The latter is an erotic comedy, which is a comedy that uses eroticism as a joke, and still belongs to the category of comedy. The Hollywood equivalent is the American Pie series. These films have all been successful, otherwise there would not be sequels. "

Speaking of this, the richest man Li nodded in agreement.

He has seen both "My Sassy Girl" and "Sex is Zero", especially the latter, which is still fresh in his memory.

Especially the scene where Ha Ji-won crossed her legs in the cafeteria, Lim Chang-jung spit out his food, and he also spit out his food.

"In that case, why doesn't Director Zhang make a comedy?" Mr. Li put himself in the situation and felt that a comedy should be easier to succeed than a horror movie.

Zhang Chen knew that the other party would definitely ask this question, "From that perspective, comedy is indeed a good choice, but our situation is different.

We have the Hong Kong film industry as a bridgehead. After a long period of exposure to Hong Kong films, Chinese people have already reached a very high threshold for comedies. Unless they can find a new way like Feng Kuazi did, it will be difficult for them to succeed.

Moreover, comedy films are very selective about actors. Only Stephen Chow can play nonsense, and Feng-style comedy is played by Ge You. Without them, the film is like cooking without seasoning, bland and tasteless. "

As everyone listened to Zhang Chen talk, they thought to themselves that this was indeed the case.

"So I chose horror movies. This genre is quite special. Due to some special reasons in our country, many themes cannot be filmed, resulting in an almost blank horror film market. However, there is still market potential. The audience is there. If we can occupy this track, the possibility of success is very high."

Zhang Chen once again brought out his low-cost theory, and Mr. Li, the richest man, was stunned.

The same was true for Che Xiao and the other two. It was the first time they heard Zhang Chen talk about this, and they were deeply shocked.

In their previous lives, no one had ever analyzed the subject matter so clearly from a business perspective.

The two of them suddenly felt enlightened. It turned out to be because of this...

The only person at the scene who was better off was Cao Bingkun, because he had already heard it once in Director Fu's office.

Mr. Li couldn't help but sit up straight. This director has something in his mind.
This is his real thought at the moment.

Only professionals can do professional work well. This is a universal value that all coal bosses understand. As for movies, Zhang Chen has proved that he is a professional.

In his heart, Mr. Li was shaken. He looked at Zhang Chen...

It's only 200 million, and what's more...

Thinking of this, Mr. Li unconsciously glanced at the beautiful figure next to him. His eyes met the other person's, and his heart was beating fast.

Zhang Chen didn't know what Mr. Li was thinking, so he continued to guide the conversation. "The biggest problem with horror films is getting approved. That's what I'm going to talk about next. You should have noticed that my film is different from other horror films in China. It doesn't involve ghosts or anything like that..."

Mr. Li nodded subconsciously. "Most horror movies in China are deliberately mysterious. Many of them are just a dream of a mental patient at the end, which makes people feel like eating a fly. But "Darkness" is different. Strictly speaking, it belongs to the category of monster movies. This kind of theme is still blank in our country...

Moreover, I compiled this script according to the Hollywood model, with a standard three-act structure and a length of 90 minutes. The first 50 minutes explain the beginning of the story, the middle 20 minutes are used for development, and the last minutes are the finale. During this process, a suspense is left every ten minutes or so.

The three-act structure has been proven by Hollywood, and basically all Hollywood commercial films follow this template.”

At this time, Mr. Li didn't know what to say. He didn't understand what Zhang Chen said, but he felt it was very professional and impressive.

"The above is about the movie. Now I will talk about how to make money. I just said that I am pursuing a win-win situation in this movie..."

Zhang Chen completely mastered the rhythm, and Mr. Li, the richest man, also perked up after hearing this. Although he had already decided to invest, he was a businessman after all, and it was of course good to be able to make money.

"Why can I guarantee that this film will make money? Because its cost is only 200 million. Generally speaking, the price of a movie sold to a movie channel is about 60 to 140 million. Add in the DVD income and box office share, and there will be no problem in making back the investment. This is already invincible.

The pure profit is the overseas copyright. The subject matter of my film is destined to have no cultural barriers. It is easy to sell overseas copyright or adaptation rights. Think about it, if the location in the play is changed to the United States and the characters are changed to Americans, wouldn’t it be a genuine Hollywood movie? "

After Zhang Chen said this, everyone thought about it and it seemed to be true.

"Don't think it's impossible. Hollywood has bought many remake rights from Asia in the past two years, including The Ring, See You, and Infernal Affairs.

"Seeing the Ghost" sold for $120 million and "Infernal Affairs" sold for $175 million. We are being conservative, so 100 million is not too much, right? Mr. Li, I just said that I won't take you as a sucker. Now you should believe what I said about a win-win situation.

And I dare to brag here again, if you invest in "Dark Invasion", you may be able to make back the 800 million that the old chairman lost in "Heroes of Heaven and Earth" in this movie..."

"Okay, I'll invest in this movie."

If there were various other reasons before, Zhang Chen’s last sentence would become the last straw that broke the camel’s back.

As an idealistic rich second-generation, his biggest wish is to surpass his father.

The reason for the transformation into investment is this, and the reason for providing social security for employees and building residential buildings is also this. This is probably the driving force behind all the idealistic rich second-generations' messing around.

Cao Bingkun and Che Xiao were delighted to hear that Mr. Li was willing to invest. Unexpectedly, Zhang Chen said, "Thank you for your investment, but I haven't finished yet. Next, I will tell you about the distribution plan. Mr. Li, even though you invested the full 200 ​​million, I can only give you 60% of the share at most, and the remaining 40% is mine."

"why?"

Not only did Mr. Li not understand, but Lao Cao and Che Xiao also showed puzzled expressions. Is Chen Zi crazy? He took 200 million yuan from others, but only gave them 60% of the share. This is not treating others as a sucker, this is treating others as a fool.

Lao Cao was ready to be kicked out at the next second.

Zhang Chen did not seem to be embarrassed at all: "I have just analyzed the profit prospects. This is almost a project that is guaranteed to make money. But there is a premise for all this. This is a project I am leading.

Win-win does not only mean that you have to make money, I also have to make money, and every aspect depends on me, the crew assembly, the film sales to movie channels, the sale of DVD copyrights and overseas copyrights, all of these require my connections..."

"Hahaha, Director Zhang, your speech is wonderful. I accept this proposal. When will we sign the contract?" After Zhang Chen finished speaking, the richest man Li did not refuse. Instead, he smiled and applauded.

"Uh?"

Now it was Zhang Chen's turn to be upset. He had originally prepared a lot of excuses, but he didn't expect that the richest man Li would agree directly.

Of course Mr. Li agreed. He was doing business in a coal-producing province and had a deeper understanding of the word "relationship".

In the coal-fired provinces, connections are required in every aspect.

It has reached such an extent that, for example, even something as simple as a traffic accident between two cars on the road, the two cars have to make phone calls to see who is the better.

(End of this chapter)