Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 910 My Cultivation of Tao
Upon hearing Mr. Liao's words, Chen Fan's heart stirred. He suddenly remembered that Ye Yufeng had once told him that Mr. Yuan had expressed interest in the film "Monk Comes Down the Mountain".

He was quite interested at the time, but since no one came looking for him later, he put the matter out of his mind.

Upon hearing Mr. Liao mention it, I immediately remembered this matter and asked, "Do you know General Manager Yuan of China Merchants Group?"

Mr. Liao nodded, looked at him and smiled, "We do have some connection."

He paused for a moment, then looked at Chen Fan with a hint of curiosity and asked, "Did President Yuan mention this to you?"

Otherwise, why bring up General Manager Yuan for no reason?
Chen Fan shook his head and smiled, "No, not at all. I haven't met with President Yuan in a long time either. A friend told me that President Yuan mentioned that some friends in the Hong Kong film industry want to import this movie to Hong Kong."

You just said you contacted me because of this movie, which reminded me of that, so I asked you about it.

Mr. Liao smiled and nodded, "That's quite a coincidence. I did mention this to President Yuan."

At this point, he suddenly changed the subject and asked, "I wonder if Brother Chen agrees?"

Although the copyright of this film belongs to Jiangnan Film Studio, everyone knows that unless Jiangnan Film Studio wants to part ways with Chen Fan in the future, there is only one person who can make the decision, and that is director Chen Fan.

As for the internal approval of the relevant departments, that is the least important thing. Both he and Chen Fan have the ability to obtain film export quotas.

So if you want to buy this movie, the best thing to do is talk to Chen Fan directly.

Upon hearing his words, Chen Fan replied without hesitation, "I agree, no problem."

Upon hearing this, Mr. Liao's face lit up with joy, and he said with a smile, "Thank you, thank you. Brother Chen, don't worry, we will definitely do a good job in distributing this film, and it can be shown in South Korea, Southeast Asian countries, and so on..."

He had just finished speaking when Chen Fan suddenly waved his hand to interrupt him, "Brother Yuan, I said I agreed, but I didn't say I would give you all the overseas copyrights. I only agreed to give you the Hong Kong copyrights; the ones from other places are not acceptable."

Mr. Liao's smile froze instantly, and he looked at him in confusion, "Could it be that the screening rights for other regions have already been sold?"

Chen Fan shook his head and smiled, "No, not at all."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "To be frank with you, I've already reserved the overseas rights to this film for the American Qianfan Media Group. However, they haven't finished integrating the film's distribution resources yet, otherwise they would have already shown the film abroad."

In other words, you've now gotten ahead of them, so I can decide to allocate Hong Kong separately for you; otherwise, you wouldn't even get this small portion.

A hint of surprise appeared in Mr. Liao's eyes. "Is America's Qianfan Company also going to enter the film industry?"

Chen Fan nodded slightly and smiled, "Since you know about the American Qianfan Company, you should also know about their relationship with me."

Mr. Liao nodded immediately, "Before coming to see you, I definitely had to investigate thoroughly. Qianfan Company was originally Zhou's Publishing House, which published the fantasy novel 'Legend of the Dragon Knight,' which was popular in Europe and America. Later, Mr. Zhou handed the company over to his eldest daughter, Zhou Yali, who is also your cousin, Director Chen."

After Ms. Zhou took over the company, she integrated it into a cultural publishing group, successively establishing partnerships with Takahashi Publishing House (known for its small-format books) and several established European publishing companies, and acquiring the rights to many books with significant adaptation potential.

At this point, he suddenly realized, "That's it! Qianfan Company already held the film adaptation rights to 'Legend of the Dragon Knight,' which attracted a lot of competition from Hollywood film companies, but they kept them and didn't sell them."

Later, they integrated resources with several foreign companies and acquired the adaptation rights to many best-selling books. With so many adaptation rights, they were naturally preparing to enter the film and television industry.

He shook his head and said with a wry smile, "Since it's Qianfan Company that wants it, I naturally dare not compete for it. Even just the screening rights in Hong Kong are fine."

We're all family. As long as we don't sell the copyrights cheaply, the benefits will stay with us. We're already being generous by leaving them Hong Kong. What more do they want from Southeast Asia?

Thinking of this, Mr. Liao suddenly had an idea and asked in a low voice, "Brother Chen, could you tell me how much the screening rights were sold to Qianfan Company for?"

Chen Fan clicked his tongue, not answering directly, but asking, "Brother Yuan, I heard that from the founding of the People's Republic of China to now, the total value of all the film copyrights we've exported is over three hundred thousand US dollars?"

Upon hearing this question, a hint of unease flashed in Mr. Liao's eyes. He gave an awkward smile and said, "Pretty much, pretty much."

Speaking of this export earnings, we must mention Chen Fan. It was through the Jiangnan Writers Association that he established a cooperative relationship with Takahashi Publishing House, a small-scale publisher, and exported domestic literary works for publication, earning a considerable amount of foreign exchange. This significantly enhanced the Writers Association's reputation in the literary and artistic circles.

The Writers' Association was originally the only unit in the national arts and literature system on par with the Federation of Literary and Art Circles, giving it an edge over other associations. Now, with the emergence of Chen Fan, who can generate substantial foreign exchange earnings, people in the Writers' Association system have to speak more forcefully when facing colleagues from other units.

He suddenly understood why Old Xia insisted on bringing Chen Fan into the Filmmakers Association.

If this were to generate foreign exchange through film, it wouldn't need to be much, just about the same amount as before the publication of "Saint Seiya." The Film Association could then hold its head high a bit, instead of just watching enviously from the sidelines.

If there could be a work comparable to "Saint Seiya"... I dare not even think about it, I really dare not even think about it.

That's a potential foreign exchange earning of one or two million US dollars. It takes many years for one of those films to appear. How could it be created so easily?!
Just as he was somewhat lost in thought, Chen Fan lit a cigarette, exhaled a puff of smoke, and said with a smile, "To be honest, I wasn't sure at first either, since there aren't many examples of mainland films that can be shown abroad."

The owner of Qianfan Company is my relative. If we ask for too much, my cousin will suffer a loss; if we ask for too little, the company will suffer a loss. It's neither appropriate to ask for too much nor too little.

Later I heard that in the 30 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the total value of all film exports amounted to just over 300,000 US dollars, and then I understood.

He held up three fingers and laughed, "That's why I chose this number."

Mr. Liao glanced at his gesture. "Thirty thousand US dollars?"

The total revenue of all the films made in the previous thirty years was only a little over 300,000. So, setting the price of one film at 30,000 was indeed not a small amount.

He had seen the film "Monk Comes Down the Mountain," and it was unlike any other film from mainland China. In fact, he thought it was even more commercial than Hong Kong films. If he could get the screening rights, it could easily gross several million Hong Kong dollars.

He and several veteran comrades had done some calculations behind closed doors and found that the cinemas of companies like Xinlian Film Company were all their own, and they didn't need to share profits with others. Therefore, all the box office revenue they received in their own cinemas was profit.

If they can acquire the screening rights in Southeast Asia, especially for short films, the total profit might reach ten million Hong Kong dollars, which is about two million US dollars.

Not to mention they can also find partners to sell the film to Europe and America. All things considered, the film's value is much higher. This is a significant sum of money, and with Changfeng New's three companies struggling financially, this additional income would greatly help improve their current situation.

That's why he came to talk to Chen Fan in person, and he was prepared to spend a lot of money.

Given the quality of this film, even if we negotiate based on market prices, it should fetch around tens of thousands of dollars, at least one hundred thousand, no less.

So while $30,000 seems like a lot, it's still somewhat insufficient compared to the value of the film.

Just as he was deep in thought, Chen Fan took a drag of his cigarette and said calmly, "Thirty thousand US dollars is too low. How could I let the public suffer such a huge loss?"

Upon hearing this, Mr. Liao abruptly raised his head, staring at him in astonishment. "You're not talking about three hundred thousand US dollars, are you?"

He realized what he had just said.

Buying overseas copyrights for $300,000 isn't actually a bad deal. If you do a good job with promotion and distribution, you can easily make several times that amount.

It remains to be seen whether the newly established Qianfan Group has the capability to issue such a document.

Chen Fan flicked his cigarette ash and said to him, "Three hundred thousand US dollars is the bottom price. Like I said, I have to be fair and impartial. I can't let people say I'm profiting at the expense of the public, nor can I let my cousin lose money to gain publicity."

Therefore, I plan to adopt a profit-sharing approach. A fixed price of $300,000 will be used to guarantee the interests of Jiangying Studio. If Qianfan Company earns more, we will share the profits according to a certain percentage, with no upper limit.

After saying that, Chen Fan smiled and said, "Let's make money together. That way, no one will say I'm using public funds to do favors."

Before Old Liao could speak, a voice suddenly came from the side, "No, absolutely not. If anyone dares to say anything sarcastic, I'll slap them to death."

The two turned around and saw that it was Elder Xia.

Old Liao immediately stood up to greet him, "What brings you here?"

Chen Fan quickly pulled out a chair and invited him to sit down.

Old Xia helped himself to a chair and sat down. He waved to Liao Yiyuan and said with a smile, "I came over to hear how your conversation is going."

He then looked at Chen Fan and said seriously, "I originally planned to come and ask you to give the overseas screening rights of 'Monk Comes Down the Mountain' to President Liao. He has also prepared a generous sum of money to purchase the copyright."

However, after hearing what you said, the amount is still too little. So I won't say anything more, just do it your way.”

After a pause, he said with a stern face, "The film industry has developed for decades, and a lot of screening rights have been sold. But each film costs at least a few thousand dollars and sometimes tens of thousands of dollars. All of that adds up to just a few dollars."

We used to feel ashamed to talk about money, but that's no longer acceptable. We must change our mindset and liberate our thinking. The practices of the Jiangnan Writers Association and Xiao Chen prove that the path of cultural exchange can be successful.

If literature can generate foreign exchange by going global, why can't movies do the same?
We must establish the idea of ​​generating foreign exchange through film production, and then work towards that goal; eventually, we will succeed.

At this moment, everyone in the hall stopped making noise and listened quietly to Elder Xia's speech.

After he finished speaking, most people nodded unconsciously, and some even applauded enthusiastically.

Although a few people disagreed, they did not object at this time, but only clapped along listlessly.

Old Xia seemed oblivious to them, waving his hand and waiting for the applause to subside before turning to Chen Fan and saying, "I have a question. When it comes to exporting films to generate foreign exchange, we naturally want the amount to be as high as possible. But how did you arrive at your bottom line of three hundred thousand US dollars?"

Is it possible that it won't actually sell for $300,000? If so, wouldn't your cousin's Qianfan Company lose money? Should we lower the reserve price further?

Upon hearing this, Chen Fan immediately smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern, Elder Xia. However, this price was finalized after consulting with my aunt, so there shouldn't be too much difference."

Moreover, on the one hand, I have confidence in my work. I believe that a film that our own people like will also be liked by some people in foreign countries. After all, this film is not an educational film. From the perspective of common human emotions, they are all universal. Since the emotions are universal, there is no difficulty in understanding it, and the audience will be wider.

On the other hand, if Yifan Company really does lose money, that's okay too.

He shrugged and laughed, "At worst, I'll just make a few more movies and sell them to them cheaper to make up for the losses."

As soon as these words were spoken, a chorus of soft laughter filled the room.

Old Xia smiled and shook his head, saying, "It's convenient for your family to settle accounts behind closed doors."

He paused for a moment, then added, "However, it would be best if we didn't lose money, but rather made a lot of money. Because only when Qianfan Company makes a lot of money will they buy more of our country's films, and only then will more foreign audiences like to watch our films. This is a mutually beneficial and virtuous cycle."

Chen Fan nodded repeatedly as he listened, "Yes, yes, when Qianfan Company becomes stronger in the future, I will recommend more excellent films to them. Regardless of how much foreign exchange they earn, at the very least, sending films overseas is also part of cultural exchange."

Since we are now engaged in reform and opening up, cultural exchanges with different countries and systems are essential. Looking out at the world and introducing ourselves to people abroad is also a way to develop and prosper the film industry.

Old Xia was very satisfied with Chen Fan's statement. After chatting for a while, he stood up, leaning on the table, and prepared to leave.

But before leaving, he suddenly turned around and said to Liao Yiyuan, "How's the task that Coach Liao gave you last year going?"

Mr. Liao was taken aback at first, then gave a wry smile, shook his head, and said, "Mr. Liao proposed two themes, one is Shaolin Temple, and the other is Tai Chi. Tai Chi has not yet started, so I arranged for people to film Shaolin Temple first. They have filmed quite a bit of content so far, but..."

He shook his head again as he spoke, "Not good."

Old Xia said "Oh," lowered his head to think for a moment, then turned to look at Chen Fan and smiled, "Little Chen, you have a lot of ideas, why don't you give him some advice?"

Chen Fan's lips twitched slightly, and under the gaze of many filmmakers, he said expressionlessly, "Elder Xia, I cultivate Taoism!"

(End of this chapter)