1979 Golden Age

Cannes has a Mediterranean climate, with warm winters and cool summers.

The sunshine in May was gentle and bright, shining into this small hotel room from the window. The street outside was quiet. The film festival was coming to an end. The crew who had achieved nothing had left, but the media had reached the most exciting moment, waiting for the closing ceremony grand prize to be announced.

Chen Qi took a pen and wrote and drew on the paper. He stopped to think about it from time to time and compared the data with another notebook.

He is settling accounts.

Dongchang was founded last year with a start-up capital of 4.32 million yuan. It sold the trailer of "Tai Chi 2" in advance and received more than 700,000 yuan, which adds up to about 5 million yuan. It is a lot of money, but the expenses are also large.

The final cost of "Tai Chi 2" was 1.8 million yuan and was produced by Dongchang.

The cost of "Orphan" exceeded the previous plan, and finally reached 1 million yuan, and the co-production with the Great Wall paid half of it.

The budget for "The Love of Ghosts" was 2 million yuan, and the post-production special effects required an American team to do several shots, which were also co-produced.

This is already 3.3 million. I will pay for the film festival promotion myself, as well as the money to run the magazine, and the two gold-eating beasts "Tai Chi 3" and "Beautiful Life". I have allocated a sum of money in the early stage. If there is no money later, Then we have to stop work.

"Orphan" received a good response and was favored by European and American film producers. However, it was a co-production and half of the sales revenue was given to Great Wall, so it had to be sold at a high price.

But there is also a bright side. When "Tai Chi 2", "Orphan's Revenge" and "The Last Love" are released in Hong Kong, the box office will be divided according to the standard and returned to Dongchang. Anyway, they are supporting each other...

"The cost of filming is a bit high all at once. Next year I have to lower it and produce a few low-budget films."

"There are still two residential buildings. How much does it cost to build them now?"

Chen Qi heard Wang Yang mention that the current cost of a brick-concrete house is about 50 to 100 yuan/square meter, with a height of 5 to 7 stories. Of course, the specific price has to be negotiated and depends on many factors.

It’s not like he didn’t know, but he was shocked when he calculated it. Damn, it’s so cheap!

He threw the pen away, and he suddenly felt confident: Oh, the burdens of these two capitals and thirteen provinces are not that heavy!

"Master!"

Qiu Shuzhen suddenly ran in, followed by Tsui Hark. It looked like she had just finished being interviewed.

Tsui Hark knew that Shi Nansheng was fine, so he felt relieved and fully devoted himself to the film festival. There were activities every day. This was his first appearance overseas and he was full of energy.

"Have you finished the interview?"

"Yes, I don't know which small country's reporters insist on interviewing me, and it's hard to refuse their hospitality."

Tsui Hark's face glowed red and he smiled: "What are you doing?"

"Calculate the accounts to plan next year's budget, how much money to spend, how many movies to film, how many buildings to build..."

"Why are you building a building?"

"Please, we are a state-owned enterprise! We must ensure the basic necessities of life for our employees. For example, A-Zhen, if you become a formal employee, you will be assigned a dormitory in Hong Kong, and you can live there for the rest of your life."

"Really? Are you going to split the house?"

"The building I built is in the capital, so I can't share it with you. If the policy becomes more open in the future, I can sign you over directly and you will have a house in the capital."

"Wow! I have a house in the capital!"

Qiu Shuzhen is happy.

"The same goes for you, Lao Xu. If you and Nan Sheng join, you will also be assigned a room, and everything will be covered including birth, old age, illness and death. We have big factories over there, kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, hospitals, canteens, farms, TV stations, everything except the crematorium. have……"

"Okay, okay, don't talk about the crematorium."

Tsui Hark was speechless. This sudden change made him uncomfortable. Fortunately, he still stayed in Hong Kong. The environment was the same. If he really went to the mainland, I heard that there would be meat tickets, cloth tickets and so on.

"Xiao Chen!"

At this moment, Fu Qi knocked on the door and said, "That Roberts is here again, go down and meet him!"

"good!"

Chen Qi rubbed Qiu Shuzhen's head. Qiu Shuzhen made a face at him, and he followed Fu Qi downstairs.

When we arrived at the first floor of the hotel, there was an outdoor coffee. Roberts was already waiting and said with a smile, "Chen, how was your rest yesterday?"

"Not bad! You also asked this question yesterday, and the day before yesterday. Fortunately, it closes tomorrow. You won't ask me how my rest will be tomorrow, right? I should sleep on the plane tomorrow..."

"Haha, why are you so difficult to deal with? I have to harass you every day."

"You are the one who is difficult, okay!"

The two chatted for a while, then sat down and ordered a cup of coffee. Roberts said, "I've thought about it. Let's not waste any more time. I'm willing to offer 4 million for the global copyright of "Orphan"!"

"I sold a total of 4.8 million yuan for "Tai Chi". Your 4 million yuan is so insincere."

"'Orphan' is obviously aimed at the US market, and the risk is very high elsewhere. This is already the highest price."

"But the U.S. market is enough. You are so huge, or are you not confident in the box office?"

"No one can predict the box office, so I can't take any chances."

Many film producers came to negotiate. Roberts's earliest offer was 1.5 million for "Tai Chi 2" and 3 million for "Orphan". The two films were only 4.5 million. Of course, he would not agree.

"The two films must be purchased together. You spent 3 million on "Tai Chi" last time. Should it be at least the same this time?" Fu Qi suddenly said.

"..."

Chen Qi glanced at the uncle. "Tai Chi 2" was produced by Dongchang, and all the money went to Dongchang, but "Orphan's Revenge" had to be divided into half. Fu Qi was speaking for him, because all leftists in Hong Kong knew that this momentum was Who brought it up.

Roberts hesitated for a long time, gritted his teeth and said: "OK! "Tai Chi 2" is 3 million, "Orphan" is 4 million, a total of 7 million US dollars!"

This is indeed a high price.

Fu Qidu agreed, but Chen Qi was still hesitant and shook his head: "It's still a little short."

"Chen, don't go too far!"

cried Roberts, turning red.

"I know you are anxious, but don't be anxious yet. "Orphan's Revenge" is different. You should know better than me..."

Chen Qi wants to do business for a long time and does not want to leave the impression of ripping off people, so he explained: "Even if you put aside the political elements in it, it is still a good thriller, and with the political elements in it, it would be even worse.

Anti-Japanese sentiment is rising in the United States, and your officials and media are taking the lead, with demonstrations taking place everywhere.

Are your Japanese cars very cheap?

Get a new car and put it in front of the premiere, find a mayor or a congressman to smash the car in front of everyone, and it will be a real gimmick. Get dozens more scrapped cars scattered across the states and continue to let the audience smash them, with Detroit focusing on taking care of them.

This method is economical and practical. You are experts in publicity. You are not stupid enough to ask me to teach you, right?

As long as you catch this wave of enthusiasm, your results will not be bad.

"Orphan" actually has a wider audience than "Tai Chi". I checked last year's box office charts in the United States and found that horror films with a moderate level of revenue are between 10 and 20 million. The US box office alone can make up for your expenses.

What's more, what I sell is global copyright, video tapes, and closed-circuit television... 4 million is too little! "

After Chen Qi finished speaking, he deliberately smiled and said: "Or, let's not talk about copyright, but let's talk about box office sharing?"

"Impossible! Impossible! It's better to talk about copyright..."

Roberts shook his head and joked, who are you to dare to talk about box office share? Talking about profit sharing was pretty much the same, but after several interactions, he found that the other party understood the American market very well and couldn't be fooled.

"So what's your price?" he asked.