Chapter 38 The Kindness of Light

Chapter 38 The Kindness of Light

Chapter 38 The Kindness of Light

During the roadshow, Zhang Chen also took time to accept an interview with "Popular Movies", which was also arranged by Guangguang.

"Popular Movies", "Global Screen", "Movie World" and "Watching Movies" are considered to be film magazines with good sales nowadays.

Especially "Popular Movies", which can guarantee sales of more than 500,000 copies per issue, is considered the leader and has great publicity value.

Nowadays, it is a great honor for a star to be on the cover of "Popular Movies".

"After we joined the WTO, it meant opening up the market. How could we compete with Hollywood? We definitely couldn't compete with special effects and high-concept blockbusters. We had to find another way. Costume blockbusters were one direction, and we could also try local comedies and horror films. So we had "The Dark Invasion"..."

"In fact, I have loved movies since I was a child. When I was in the cinema, I saw a beam of light from the projector shining on a white cloth, and it turned into a person or various beautiful scenery. I thought it was very magical. At that time, a seed was planted in my heart to become a filmmaker."

"I'm not afraid of competition at the same time. Blockbuster and low-budget movies are actually two different tracks...

Blockbusters are definitely the future trend. With the market downturn, the film industry hopes to bring back fans who have left the cinema through big productions. This is not wrong. A person can only watch a limited number of movies a year. Only blockbusters that are excellent in all aspects can attract people to the cinema...

But big investment does not necessarily mean big profits. Movies are not only a commodity, but also a work of art, in which the human factor plays a large role.

"Darkness" has proved that a small budget can also create miracles. As long as the script is good, the actors are good, and the production is excellent, the box office will not be bad..."

Zhang Chen said a lot to Popular Movies, but no one knows how much of it will be published in the end.

After coming out, Zhang Chen received another call from Dong Jianqiang. He thought he would be scolded about "Super Interview", but unexpectedly the other party did not mention it at all, but talked about the overseas copyright issue.

"Chen Guofu from Columbia is interested in your movie... We have negotiated 120 million for you... If you have no objection, you can sign the contract on Friday. If you have any objection, you can come back and renegotiate..."

Chen Guofu? Zhang Chen knew this person, and he was a legend in Taiwan.

A person who has never received any formal professional training, started as a film critic, and has worked as a planner, screenwriter, director, and producer for the Golden Horse Awards. He finally became the director of the Asia production department of Columbia Pictures, responsible for the production and distribution of Chinese-language films. In 06, he left Columbia and joined Huayi. He is best known for producing "The Sound of Wind".

To be honest, he was a little surprised. He thought it would take some time to get the overseas copyright, but he didn't expect that someone was already eyeing it before the film was even released.

but……

"120 million is too little?"

"I said dollars!"

"Oh oh, that's ok."

Colombia, $120 million, not a bad price.

As far as he knows, the prices of other films that have sold overseas copyrights are roughly in this range.

Japan's "Ghost Water" was sold to Fox for US$120 million, South Korea's "The Invisible Lover" was sold to Hollywood for US$130 million, "Red Lotus" was sold for US$100 million, and Hong Kong's "Infernal Affairs" was sold for US$175 million.

There are actually two models for film exports. Either you settle the bill directly in one go, and the profit afterwards is up to the film distributor and the theater chain.

Or find a foreign distributor to distribute the film and share the box office revenue according to the contract ratio.

Given Zhang Chen’s size, he can only choose the former.

Guangguang is not interfering in other people's business. They are just trying to show goodwill. He is a new director and if he had negotiated with Columbia himself, he would definitely not have been able to come to this price.

Moreover, the light can be transferred from one hand to another. For example, they negotiate a price with Columbia, then buy the copyright from themselves at a lower price, and then resell it to Columbia to make a profit from the difference.

In fact, there is absolutely nothing wrong with them doing this. China Film and Shanghai Film have done this a lot because they make money from the information gap. Others have channels to sell their products, but they don't, so they should let others make money.

If it was Huayi or China Film, they would have definitely done the same, but Guangguang did not. It was obviously a gesture of goodwill, and Zhang Chen decided to accept this goodwill.

"What's wrong?" When the call came, Zhang Chen was with Che Xiao, Zeng Li and others.

"Nothing, Columbia wants to buy the overseas rights to The Dark Invasion."

"Did it really sell?" Che Xiao sighed. When Zhang Chen persuaded Mr. Li, he said that overseas copyrights would be pure profit. She didn't expect that it was actually sold.

"how much is it?"

"120 million." "Oh, that's a lot."

"Dollar!"

"Ah~~"

Hearing the exclamation, Zhang Chen's evil taste was satisfied, as if he had completed some kind of reincarnation.

Zhang Chen did not continue this topic, but started thinking about Friday's events. He had to sign contracts with DVD manufacturers, Columbia, and also have dinner with Mr. Wang from Huayi in the evening. It seemed that time was a bit tight.

The two women next to them were calculating on their own. 120 million US dollars, based on the exchange rate of 1:8, is 960 million Chinese yuan. Oh my God, it's close to 1000 million.

According to the agreement between him and Mr. Li, Zhang Chen owns a 40% share, which is close to 400 million.

400 million! Making movies is really profitable. Director Zhang is so awesome.

Zhang Chen didn't pay any attention to the expressions of the two women, and didn't know that the way Zeng Li and Che Xiao looked at him were different from before.

……

In a blink of an eye, it was Friday. The last roadshow ended and Zhang Chen and others flew back to the capital.

As soon as I landed, I received a call from Teacher Fu, saying that the school leaders wanted to meet him.

Well, the already tight time has become even tighter.

Zhang Chen told himself that he must not get cocky because he is still a student.

He rushed to Beijing Film Academy to meet the leadership. The leadership didn't actually have anything important to say, just some encouragement. Naturally, Zhang Chen thanked the school and the leadership for their cultivation.

Just after I came out of the principal's office, Guangguang called again, all with good news.

In five days, they basically traveled to all voting-rich cities and first- and second-tier cities, and the effect was very obvious.

According to the daily reports sent back by Guangguang, although "House of Flying Daggers" has occupied almost all mainstream media, the box office of "Darkness" has not dropped much and is still moving forward steadily every day.

There was a slight increase after Wednesday.

……

"Mr. Cheng, I wish us a pleasant cooperation."

The negotiations on the DVD copyright went very smoothly, and Zhang Chen sold the copyright to the company that contacted him for 60 yuan.

The price of 60 actually exceeded expectations. Zhang Chen originally thought that it would be good if he could sell it for 3 or 40.

This is of course due to the box office performance of "Darkness" in the past two days.

Zhang Chen did not expect more. To sell the DVD rights of a movie like "Hero" for a sky-high price of 1400 million yuan required the right time, the right place and the right people, none of which could be missing.

Didn’t you see that the next year Zhang Weiping announced that he would sell the DVD rights of "House of Flying Daggers" for 2000 million, which scared everyone away?

Later, due to the bad reputation of the film, it was almost a failure and was finally sold at a low price of only 300 million.

As for why it can be sold for 300 million even at a "low price", of course it is because the production team includes big directors and big stars.

King Liu and others still have a lot of box office appeal in Southeast Asia.

For a brand new game like "Dark Invasion", 60 is already a lot.

……

The contract with Columbia was also signed with Guangguang, but neither Chen Guofu nor Wang Changtian showed up. No one knew why. A staff member came from Columbia and Dong Jianqiang came from Guangguang. However, Zhang Chen didn't care. As long as the check was transferred, it was fine.

(End of this chapter)