China Entertainment 2000

"I congratulate you on your prosperity~

"I congratulate you on your brilliance~

"The best ones please come over, the bad ones please go away

"The more gifts you have, the less blame you will feel~~~"

Zhou Yi, who wrote the lyrics, couldn't hold it back, and couldn't help humming it out while writing.

There's no way, the melody of this string of lyrics has really been engraved into DNA, and it's impossible to forget it.

As one of the most popular pop songs in the global Chinese community, "Congratulations on Getting Rich" can completely pull all the pop album songs together. The only ones that can stand with it are "Congratulations" with the new lyrics and "Good Luck Comes" which was first performed on this year's Spring Festival Gala.

A true divine song, it fully interprets what it means to be vulgar and elegant, not the kind of forced bragging.

"What is this you wrote, a new song? Why do the lyrics look so festive? Is it for the Spring Festival Gala?"

Cai Zhuoyan, who came to find Zhou Yi, came over curiously, looked at it for a few times and asked, "Could it be that what the news said is true, you are going to sing two songs on this year's Spring Festival Gala? ”

“Congratulations on your prosperity”, a Chinese New Year blessing that is only commonly used during the Spring Festival, frequently appears in the lyrics, making it hard not to let people daydream.

“I guess so. How come you have time to come here today?”

Ignoring the hands that were already around his neck, Zhou Yi smiled and teased: “Aren’t you filming? Brother Chenglong is almost going crazy because of the budget, how can you still run out?”

For Chenglong, who is currently filming the movie "New Police Story" at a high intensity, the most important thing is to finish the remaining scenes with closed management as much as possible when the overspending gap is getting bigger and bigger.

Because this movie is the first movie produced by the company jointly established by Yinghuang and Chenglong, the main and outstanding characters in the movie are not surprisingly all from both sides.

As a character with a bright spot in the movie, Cai Zhuoyan should not be able to leave the crew at this point.

“Then I have to thank you. Who dares to neglect you, the emperor of Chinese music? ”

Since they were already frank with each other, Cai Zhuoyan did not hide anything: "You don't know, Brother Chenglong is now counting on your cameo to make up for the overspending budget, otherwise it will be difficult for this movie to make a profit at the box office, so he sent me to find you."

Because Chenglong insisted on real shooting, the funds for this movie alone soared to 120 million Hong Kong dollars, and then because Zhou Yi had to make a cameo, the salary had to be increased by a large amount.

That's not even counting the tea and water fees needed for publicity before and after the film was released.

It is absolutely impossible to recover this cost by relying solely on the Hong Kong and Taiwan markets, and everyone knows it. The mainland market - no, to be precise, the overseas copyright market is where Chenglong makes money.

Many people may have no idea about Chenglong's overseas copyright market. Let's put it this way, no one in the entire Chinese-speaking world can sell better than him.

With the so-called Taking the Police Story series as an example, Cheng Long later released another bad movie, Police Story 2013. Judging from the box office and plot alone, it was undoubtedly a flop. At that time, Cheng Long's reputation in China had already declined and became synonymous with bad movies.

But even in the trough period of Cheng Long, in the overseas copyright market, the producer's copyright income from the movie Police Story 2013 alone reached 30 million US dollars.

In countries such as Japan, India, Singapore, Turkey, the Middle East, Greece, and even Cyprus, which ordinary passers-by may not know where they are or what they do, the copyright of Cheng Long's movies can still be Enough to sell.

A little bit adds up to a lot. Only Chenglong can make 30 million US dollars in the world before the film is released.

This is why Chenglong still has a lot of investment companies lining up to find him to make movies even in 2024.

Personal relationships are personal relationships, and making money is making money. When Chenglong's golden signboard is no longer loud and the mature copyright market abroad can't sell it, then naturally no investors or investment companies will look for him again.

The same is true for "New Police Story".

In terms of box office, the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong are not good. Because domestic audiences We are not ready to see a Cheng Long who can't fight appear on the screen, and the plot flaws are too big to be ignored.

But in terms of copyright, the film has sold more overseas than Stephen Chow's box office hit "Kung Fu" thanks to Cheng Long's name.

Now Zhou Yi has joined. As a global top star, Zhou Yi's first big screen gimmick can attract many people even overseas, and naturally there will be copyright owners willing to pay a higher price.

"However, although I have long known that the status is a real thing, isn't it a bit too outrageous that you took away 3 million US dollars for a guest appearance of less than 10 minutes. ”

When Cai Zhuoyan saw Zhou Yi's nonchalant posture with his legs crossed, she couldn't hold back.

Converted into RMB, it's more than 25 million, which is higher than the box office of more than 90% of domestic films this year. It's simply outrageous.

From the script, the full role is less than 10 minutes, and this is the plot that Chenglong and his team have expanded, just to make Zhou Yi's guest appearance as long as possible. Anyway, it's a reverse order at the end of the film, so it won't have any impact on the main plot of the movie.

"If Chenglong wants to get paid, he can take the 120 million Hong Kong dollars budget for your movie alone, which is not even enough; Li Lianjie took the initiative to reduce his salary for starring in "Hero" and gave a friendly price, but he still got 8.5 million US dollars.

"I got 3 million US dollars for a guest appearance, which is already a friendly price among friendly prices."

Zhou Yi put away the paper and pen, stood up, put his hand on the woman's shoulder, and walked out with her.

If Chenglong hadn't helped him with "Rush Hour 2" when he entered the North American market, this friendly price would never be obtained, and Zhou Jianhui would not agree to let him go, even if Chenglong tempted him by bumping into Jiang Wen.

While walking, Zhou Yi stopped when passing by the door of another recording studio-he saw a very familiar person.

"Ayi? Asa?"

"Sister Sammi, what a coincidence, are you recording a song today? "

Cai Zhuoyan, who also saw someone, raised her hand and said hello to Zheng Xiuwen, a member of Warner Tianhou Palace who had gradually lost her voice in the music scene. Zhou Yi's hand was still on her shoulder, which made her feel even happier.

"Yes. "

Sammi Cheng, who already knew about their secret, was not surprised at all, but rather a little surprised.

As we all know, since the Zhou Runfa incident, Zhou Yi has rarely intervened in the album recording of Warner's internal singers, and they themselves have no objection.

They are all old hands.

In the eyes of outsiders, this is Zhou Yi's punishment for them not standing on his side, which is understandable.

He does not have double standards, but treats everyone equally - Zhou Yi does this in mainland Warner, and Song Ke's faction, who is at odds with Zhou Jianhui, has also not received Zhou Yi's attention.

Only Wang Feng, who changed his position, got the opportunity. Not only did Zhou Yi look at his songs, but he also entered his recording studio.

And F.I.R., a new band signed by Warner in Taiwan, got the opportunity to be brought by Zhou Yi to the China-Korea Concert as a band after a good group.

Aside, Fang Datong, who worked behind the scenes of the album, immediately came up and called out politely: "Hello, Brother Yi, I'm Fang Datong, just call me Datong."

"Fang Datong? I heard people in the company talk about you. "

Zhou Yi pretended to be enlightened.

This was not a lie, after all, Fang Datong was still well-known in Warner and even in the Hong Kong music circle - as a behind-the-scenes music producer.

In 2000, he joined Warner with his own demo, but because of his poor appearance and limited vocal conditions, he did not get a chance to debut, so he became a behind-the-scenes staff member of Warner (Hong Kong), responsible for music production.

Over the years, he has made a little bit of a name, but not much.

Of course, Fang Datong has never forgotten that he actually wants to debut. , while quietly accumulating connections, he also kept making demos in order to impress the senior management of Warner (Hong Kong) and then let him debut.

He even thought about debuting at Universal or Sony, but it was obvious that Sony, Universal, and EMI had no time to deal with him because his music and singing style was "too weird".

The rhythm and tone that are more difficult to learn than Tao Zhe-style R\u0026B, it is difficult to say that you can break out in the Chinese music scene. Even if you can make a breakthrough, you can't become a big hit, and it is destined to be well-received but not popular.

"Sister Sammi, then we won't disturb you to record the song."

After saying hello, Cai Zhuoyan pretended to be innocent: "Brother Chenglong is still waiting for us."

"Okay, you guys are busy. "

Cheng Xiuwen, who wanted to repair the relationship and invited Zhou Yi to the recording studio, could only sigh helplessly in her heart, with a smile on her face. Only Fang Datong was watching Zhou Yi's back as he talked and laughed with Cai Zhuoyan, and his lenses were somewhat reflective under the light.

If you want to find someone who knows a lot in Warner, Zhou Yi is undoubtedly the best candidate.

And he also believes that Zhou Yi is someone who can definitely understand his music. After all, his understanding of Western music types is obviously better than all domestic music producers.

If possible, he also wants to join the Zhou Yi Gang within Warner.

"You are right, what is the help or not? Warner will become Zhou Yi's one-man show next year."

Taiwan, Chen's house.

Warner's deputy general manager Chen Zeshan looked at the sunset outside the window, sighed, put the contract documents on the table, and looked at the man in front of him--

Sony Music Greater China President, Cui Zhendong.

"When Zhou Yi takes the position, those who depend on him will definitely take the position together. Your position, Zhou Yi's agent Qian Jiang is settled. So, instead of staying at Warner, you might as well come to Sony. Wang Lihong, Cai Yilin, and Jay Chou can all be led by you. "

Cui Zhendong, who came to Warner with a hoe, smiled slightly: "Believe me, EMI can't give you this condition. They only have one young ace, Xiao Yaxuan, and I believe there is no need to say more about her relationship with Zhou Yi.

"As for Universal, they are out of date."

When Edgar signed the contract with Zhou Yi in the United States and began to prepare for related matters, the international record companies naturally found out about the situation of Zhou Yi's contract renewal.

In contrast, Chen Zeshan, who has outstanding abilities within Warner, has become the best candidate for poaching in China by several giants.

EMI was the first to extend the olive branch, but because Yao Qian was still there after his promotion, he could only be the vice president in the past, and it was impossible for him to lead the ace Xiao Yaxuan, so he had to choose to give up.

Universal…there is no trump card worth looking at, Chen Zeshan took a glance and threw it into the trash can.

Only Sony, with Cai Yilin, Wang Lihong and Jay Chou as the three trump cards, the position of general manager is within reach.

I have to admit that this contract is very tempting.

There is no need to say more about Cai Yilin. If he turns around and goes to Universal now, then this hard-working woman he has always been optimistic about will definitely be willing to jump ship from Sony and follow him. But in that case, it is somewhat weak.

The penalty for breach of contract between Zhang Huimei and Warner is too high, and he dare not pry her away before it expires; Naying went home to fall in love again and retired from the music scene.

Sammi Cheng and Aaron Kwok turned to the film industry and had no intention of deepening their roots in the music industry.

There is no need to say more about Sun Yanzi. Although the relationship between the two of them is still good, it is somewhat a pipe dream to let her jump ship and betray Warner.

After all the calculations, the only person willing to go with him is Cai Yilin, who is greedy for more. It would be better to just jump to Sony directly, and Cai Yilin doesn't need to change.

"In that case, please give me more advice next year, President Cui."

"We are pursuing win-win, President Chen."

It is undoubtedly a cause for celebration for Cui Zhendong to be able to poach Chen Zeshan, who is increasingly unhappy at Warner.

Sony is not without marketing talents, but compared with Chen Zeshan, the ability of those people is not good enough.

Most importantly, he needs a "white glove".

As the president of Sony Greater China, he was originally a benchmark with Warner Zhou Jianhui and EMI Zheng Donghan.

Have you seen these two presidents personally hype up their cricket opponents?

There are some things he can do, but he can't say, because it would be embarrassing for a president to fight.

Senior executives can talk nonsense, general managers can fight nonsense, but the president of a large group who represents face cannot.

At this time, he needs someone who can be his mouthpiece, strictly help him to execute and implement his ideas, and Chen Zeshan, who has a strong subjective initiative, is such a person.

Because Chen Zeshan is shameless enough.

He has already formulated the future development route of public opinion for Wang Lihong and Jay Chou. That topic is somewhat shameless. After all, "guarding the house" doesn't know what he is guarding.

As for the first sister Cai Yilin... copying Japanese female singers such as Namie Amuro and Ayumi Hamasaki also requires strong psychological endurance.

"Ah? What did you say? Brother Shan, you are leaving?"

Shanghai, the hotel where the crew members of "Kung Fu" stayed.

After completing the filming of today's scenes, Sun Yanzi, who had entered the countdown of the crew time, received a farewell call from Chen Zeshan, and was stunned on the spot, even forgetting to bite the green dates in his mouth.

To be fair, although Chen Zeshan often forced her to travel around the country, it must be admitted that Chen Zeshan was actually very good to her and was extremely concerned about her career. Everything was arranged in an orderly manner.

Although the strictness always made her complain.

"Yes, all good things must come to an end. Without my supervision, remember not to be too lazy and waste your hard-earned popularity. Many people want it but don't have it." Chen Zeshan, who loves and hates Sun Yanzi, said with a smile.

"How could it be, Brother Shan, I'm very hardworking."

Sun Yanzi shrank his neck unconsciously and wiped the dates on the collar of his pajamas, laughing: "Then I wish you a prosperous career in the future, Brother Shan, and we will be rivals in the future."

On the evening of December 11, 2003, a major event happened inside Warner-

Chen Zeshan handed in his resignation letter and began to work on the handover, standing the last shift;

Zhou Jianhui did not hesitate at all, just said a few polite words symbolically and went through all the procedures, very quickly.

On the same night, Hong Kong Warner staff member Fang Datong submitted his painstakingly created new demo to the company's internal music library and mailed it to Zhou Yi, who was currently at Hong Kong Warner, eager to join the Warner Zhou Yi Gang.

He named this demo "Wukong".