Huayu: Director started with art films

Chapter 36 [Copyright sold for tens of millions, returned to China with a Golden Lion] Please read
Noon the next day.

After Li Yishu woke up in the hotel room, he was told that a group of film producers had come outside, all of them were there to buy the overseas rights to his film "That Mountain".

"Let them wait first."

Li Yishu is in a good mood. Now that he has won the Critics Award and the Golden Lion Award, and the value of overseas copyrights has soared, it can be said that he will receive at least tens of millions of dollars in copyright fees this time.

Qiu Fusheng was worried that Li Yishu couldn't handle it alone, so he arranged for an employee who was good at overseas copyright transactions to come over.

Naturally, Li Yishu would not refuse this. This was his first time participating in such an overseas copyright transaction. Before, it was just an intention negotiation. Now that it has really come to fruition, without professionals, he might lose a lot of money.

Before the film producers arrived, Li Yishu also had a conversation with Brother Wang, who was arranged by Qiu Fusheng. He first estimated the approximate copyright price in the region and set a tone, and then allowed the film producers downstairs to come up.

"Everyone, this is a movie that won the Venice Film Festival Critics Award and the Golden Lion Award, and it has received rave reviews from critics. I believe it will be very popular in your country..."

“We’ll give you $200 million!”

More than a dozen film producers in Europe seemed to have communicated in advance and directly offered a price of 200 million US dollars to buy the copyrights of all Western European countries.

However, Li Yishu did not discuss the price with them first, but instead advised them to buy the copyright for the entire Europe, including the copyright in the Soviet Union, which had not yet disintegrated.

After some bargaining, they went to the side to communicate with each other. Perhaps they felt that it was not without profit to obtain the copyright from the Soviet Union, so they nodded and agreed, offering a price of 250 million US dollars.

"250 million? Too little. There are so many countries in Europe, including the Soviet Union. How much does it cost per country? This is a Golden Lion Award-winning film! The full European copyright will cost at least 300 million."

The group looked at each other, thought for a while, and then nodded in agreement.

Obviously this price is within their expected range.

It was eventually sold for $300 million.

Although this price is not low, it is the price obtained by selling all the copyrights for the whole Europe. The average price for one country is less than 50,000 US dollars.

No matter how difficult it is to sell, it is not difficult to make a profit if the product is spread across the entire European market. If you want to make a profit, you have to work slowly.

Li Yishu was quite satisfied with the price, and estimated that it wouldn't be much more.

Then go directly to the next one.

He turned and looked at the two North American film producers.

Unlike Europe, North America is now the world's largest box office and video market.
"$200 million!"

Before Li Yishu could speak, a North American film producer directly quoted a price.

When other North Americans heard the price, they all shook their heads, saying it was too high.

Most of these film producers are small and medium-sized, and they can only operate films worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Once the investment in purchasing copyrights is too large, they do not have the resources and ability to recoup the investment or even make a profit.

Brother Wang said, "Director Li, this price is actually about the same. The market in North America is very good, and there is also a market for art films, but it requires a certain level of ability to operate."

In Europe, more than a dozen film producers jointly acquired the entire European copyright, and each person received only a few hundred thousand dollars, so there is not much pressure to make a profit.

But it is different in North America. One company cannot handle the whole business, and it is difficult to share the profits with multiple companies.

If someone can give me $200 million directly, I'd better sell it quickly.

"Okay." Li Yishu nodded and agreed to the deal.

It would be better to negotiate now while you have just received the Golden Lion Award so that you can maximize your profits. This may not be the case after a while, so it is better to sell it early and lock in the profits.

Next Japan!
It is also the copyright sales place that Li Yishu values ​​most.

"Mr. Li, we are willing to..."

Before Tanaka Ichiro could speak, Li Yishu interrupted him and said, "Mr. Tanaka, I want to sell all the Asian copyrights except those in China to you, Toho, for $800 million."

"800 million?!"

Ichiro Tanaka was shocked. The price was too high and it also excluded China, the country with the largest population.

"This, Mr. Li, this price is too high. It's higher than in North America and Europe."

"No, no, Mr. Tanaka..."

Brother Wang is from Hong Kong, so he naturally knows that Japan is one of the important ticket markets for Hong Kong films. He has also dealt with people in the Japanese film and television industry many times. He spoke directly:
"The prices in North America and Europe are not low. The main audience for this movie is in Asia. I often go to Japan and I know very well that this movie has a large audience in Japan. And there are also South Korea and Southeast Asian countries..."

"But, but $800 million is still too high."

Ichiro Tanaka has watched this movie several times and likes the story very much. He also believes that the Japanese can accept this art film.

But the price of 800 million US dollars is still a bit too high.

"So what does Mr. Tanaka mean?"

"This…I need to make a call."

"can."

Ichiro Tanaka ran out to make a phone call.

After more than ten minutes, he came back and gave the final price: "600 million US dollars to buy out all copyrights except Europe, North America, and China, including Africa!"

There are also several developed countries in Africa, especially South Africa, which has not yet been troubled by Mandela. Its economic conditions are better than many European countries.

Li Yishu glanced at Brother Wang and saw him nod, so she agreed, "Okay!"

They had originally calculated that the Japanese film producers would definitely want it, so they asked for a high price and waited for the other party to bargain.

Ichiro Tanaka breathed a sigh of relief and immediately bent down and bowed: "Arikado Kuozha!" After signing the contract, Li Yishu left a HSBC account to the other party. This was the account he opened with the help of Qiu Fusheng a few days ago.

He chose HSBC because it was close to Hong Kong, making it convenient for him to handle the money.

All copyrights except those for China have been sold for a total of 1100 million US dollars!
As expected, the profits brought by the Golden Lion Award were greater. Before winning the award, the Japanese only offered a price of 20 US dollars.

Although the price has increased 30 times, they are not at a disadvantage, after all, they have copyrights from hundreds of countries! It’s just that Africa accounts for more than half of them.

Li Yishu does not seek profit sharing because he is worried about being cheated. Now he does not have the ability to settle the accounts, and the country does not have the ability to do so either. It is better for him to just sell the copyright honestly.

If the movie sells well in Japan, the worst that can happen is that the copyright of the next movie can be sold at a higher price.

The copyright transaction was completed here, and Li Yishu stayed for another two days.

After waiting for HSBC to notify him that the money had arrived, he returned to China with Gong Li, Zhang Yimou and others.

This time, the copyright fee for Zhang Yimou's "Raise the Red Lantern" should not be as high as his.

The main problem is the subject matter. It is not as popular as Lee Yi-su's rural father-son love movie.

But making a profit is definitely not a problem. When Zhang Yimou was flying back, he always had a smile on his face.

It can be seen that a lot of profit was made after the copyright was sold. Qiu Fusheng is not a stingy person, so naturally there will be a red envelope from the great director.

Yanjing.

After an absence of more than half a month, Li Yishu stood at Yanjing International Airport again, feeling excited and nervous.

More than half a month ago, he went abroad in obscurity.

After more than half a month, fans should be cheering and bodyguards should be clearing the way...

Well, none of these.

When I left the airport, no one greeted me or cheered me.

Li Yishu got directly into the car that picked up Zhang Yimou and went to Beijing Film Academy together, while Gong Li went home.

At this Venice Film Festival, two Chinese films won major awards, and both were produced by students of the Beijing Film Academy. The school leaders were all grinning from ear to ear.

So we contacted Zhang Yimou in advance and invited him to visit our school after returning to China and take a group photo together.

Both the senior and junior students won awards at the Venice Film Festival, and when the news spread, it became a good story.

"Kacha kacha——"

A teacher from the Photography Department of Beijing Film Academy personally took more than a dozen photos of Li Yishu and Zhang Yimou, in which the two of them stood under a banner at the gate of Beijing Film Academy, each holding up the trophy in their hands.

It’s quite a coincidence that Li Yishu got two and Zhang Yimou also got two.

After taking the photos, of course, there will be a meeting with the leader.

With the grand prize at her disposal, Li Yishu naturally received high praise from the leaders.

After a lot of trouble, Zhang Yimou left in a hurry, but made an appointment to attend a seminar held by the Ministry of Radio, Film and Television the day after tomorrow.

In the eyes of many veterans in the film industry, there is no problem for Zhang Yimou to win the award.

But many people found it incredible that Lee Yi-su won the award.

They couldn't help but wonder, are Chinese movies becoming popular in Europe now?

Someone proposed this idea, and the people above thought it made sense, so after learning that the two had returned to China, they arranged to hold a seminar on Chinese films overseas the day after tomorrow.

"call--"

In the evening, in Director Situ's office, Li Yishu breathed a sigh of relief, having finally finished all those social engagements.

Situ Zhaodun poured a glass of water and handed it over. "How does it feel to win the Golden Lion Award?"

After Li Yishu took the cup and thanked him, she said with a smile, "Of course it's great to win an award. When I went to Venice, I never thought I could win the Golden Lion Award. It can only be said to be a coincidence."

"Whether it's a coincidence or not, sometimes luck is part of strength."

Situ Zhaodun is well aware that Li Yishu’s winning of the award was definitely due to her strength and luck, but in the final analysis, it was because her work impressed this year’s judges.

"Now that you have won the award, you should focus on your studies. Although you can skip classes with your current achievements, you are still a student after all, and you still have to attend the classes you are supposed to attend."

"Well, I know this teacher. I will report to him tomorrow, but..."

"But what?"

"But I may have to shoot a new movie early next year, so I may have to take some time off."

"A new play? You have an idea so soon?"

"I was invited to play the book Farewell My Concubine by Taiwan writer Li Bihua. Do you know it?"

Situ Zhaodun was slightly startled, and was very surprised. "I know this movie. Didn't the investor always want to find Brother Chen Kai to shoot it?"

"Maybe now I think I'm more suitable for this movie."

Li Yishu smiled. With "Farewell My Concubine" in hand, is the Palme d'Or far away?

I don’t know how the great poet Chen is doing now, but I think he should be on his way back to China.

　May 5st, please give me double the monthly votes, please collect it, and please read it again!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)