Huayu: Director started with art films

Chapter 53 [Inviting Izumi Sakai, high director salary] Please read
"Okay Sister Amy!"

Huo Wenxi was stunned at first, then immediately nodded and agreed.

"Why don't you clean up quickly?"

"Yes!"

Looking at Huo Wenxi packing, Amy didn't spend much time looking at him. She turned around and called the airport to buy a plane ticket.

"Wenxi, congratulations. Sister Amy is taking you to Japan. You must be going to meet Director Li."

"Yes, Wenxi, I really envy you."

"..."

The two newcomers nearby showed envious expressions. They received a notice from Sister Amy this morning saying that Director Li was in Japan and was preparing to discuss filming cooperation with Toho Film Company.

Now that Sister Amy is bringing Huo Wenxi over, isn't it obvious that she wants Huo Wenxi to become familiar with the relevant business so that she can be entrusted with important tasks in the future?

Otherwise, they are all newcomers and have only been in the company for two days. Why should he take Huo Wenxi with him and not them?
Faced with the envious words of his colleagues, Huo Wenxi smiled and said nothing more. Instead, he speeded up the work at hand.

ten minutes later.

Amy came back again and took Huo Wenxi directly to the airport.

at dusk.

Tokyo International Airport.

Li Yishu stood at the airport entrance, chatting with Izumi Sakai while waiting for the people from Hong Kong Island to come out.

After a day of private time together, their relationship gradually became more familiar. Izumi Sakai smiled more while talking and was not as restrained and nervous as before.

"Ms. Sakai, have you ever thought about becoming an actor?"

"Actor? I haven't thought about it. I don't think I'm suitable for it."

Izumi Sakai shook her head. Her personality made it impossible for her to show the emotions that an actor should have in front of the camera.

"How will you know if you don't try?"

Li Yishu smiled and said, "You heard it yesterday. Dongbao and I are planning to collaborate on a new movie. I'm already writing the script for a romance film. If you're interested, I can let you try it out."

"Forget it, Director Li. I really can't act."

Izumi Sakai hesitated for a few seconds, but still shook her head and declined.

“You have to be bold and try.”

Li Yishu smiled and said, "I will give the script to Dongbao for polishing tomorrow. I will ask them to send you a copy then. You can read the script first. If you are worried that you can't understand the script, you can read the translated original novel later."

Izumi Sakai's appearance is not very beautiful, but she gives people a melancholy and pure feeling.

She played two roles, Fujii Itsuki (female) and Watanabe Hiroko. In terms of character image, she is definitely more suitable than Nakayama Mihui.

In fact, Li Yishu also thought about making this movie in China, but considering the current domestic film market, it can't bring in much box office.

Even if it was released in Japan, due to the limitation of being a Chinese-language film, it would be very good if the number of viewers could be hundreds of thousands more than "The Mountain".

"That Mountain" is a Golden Lion Award-winning film after all, and he personally came to Japan when it was released, which can be regarded as squeezing the market potential of this film to the greatest extent. It is estimated that it will not be able to continue like the last life.

So after much deliberation, it was decided to make "Love Letter" into a Japanese film while retaining the domestic copyright.

"I... okay, thank you, Director Li." In the end, Izumi Sakai didn't feel comfortable enough to continue saying no.

She was invited twice in a row, so regardless of whether she wanted to act or not, she had to express a positive attitude.

Just then, figures began to appear at the exit one after another, and Li Yishu also turned his attention there.

Although he had never seen Amy, he was holding a sign in his hand, so he thought the other party should be able to see it.

After a while, two people came over. The woman in the lead was about 30 or 40 years old, and behind her was a young girl who looked very similar to Qingxia.

Amy had never met Li Yishu before, but she had seen his photo in the newspaper. When she saw that he was the one picking her up at the airport, she immediately walked over and said, "Director Li, I'm so sorry to bother you to pick me up in person."

She spoke Mandarin quite well, which made Li Yishu very satisfied. "It's okay. I can also talk to you about some details of the cooperation with Dongbao."

"By the way, your English is pretty good, right?"

“It’s OK. I can communicate with foreigners.”

"Let me introduce you, this is Izumi Sakai, a popular female singer in Japan."

Amy immediately communicated with the other party in English: "Hello Ms. Sakai, I am Amy, the temporary person in charge of Director Li's company."

"Hi Amy."

Izumi Sakai gave a polite smile.

"Let's go, I've booked a hotel for you."

Li Yishu glanced at the girl following closely behind Amy. He always felt that she looked familiar. Not only did she look like Qingxia, she also looked a bit like a celebrity.

After arriving at the hotel, Izumi Sakai left first. She said she had to go back to the company in the evening to record songs for her new album.

From Amy, Li Yishu also learned that his shell company had undergone significant changes. The office was temporarily located at Tomson Film Company in Xuzhou, and there were five people including Amy.

This little girl who looks like Qingxia and also like a celebrity in memory is Huo Wenxi, who later became the gold medal agent for the new generation of artists in Hong Kong.

After learning that it was her, Li Yishu was a little surprised. No wonder she looked so familiar. It turned out to be this gold medal agent.

He remembered the sensational case of the little superstar taking the blame in the millennium. It was Huo Wenxi who handled the overwhelming public opinion and allowed the little superstar to make a successful comeback.

The subsequent nude photo incident also allowed Gillian to make a successful comeback.

No matter what the results are after his comeback, at least he is able to make a living again, which also shows that Huo Wenxi is capable.

Li Yishu has never met Huo Wenxi, the number one gold medal agent in Hong Kong Island, but Wang Jinghua has. Whether it is the way he speaks or how he behaves, he is absolutely first-class.

This is not why, more than a decade later, so many artists chose to follow Wang Jinghua and leave the then-popular Huayi Brothers to join Orange Sky.

Although Li Yishu has never thought about signing artists with his film company, he can let Huo Wenxi be his agent, who will be responsible for connecting with invitations from Hong Kong, Taiwan and overseas.

"Just talk to them as I said. If we can come to an agreement, that would be great. If not, we can talk slowly."

"Okay Director Li."

The conditions proposed by Li Yishu were a bit harsh, but considering that it was Dongbao Film Company that was asking for cooperation, Amy still had some confidence that the deal could be reached while the general framework of the conditions remained unchanged.

The next morning.

Toho Co., Ltd. sent people over, led by Mikami, the production department manager whom I had met before.

Li Yishu did not participate, but drank coffee with Tanaka Ichiro in the restaurant downstairs.

He put down his coffee cup, took out the script from his bag, and said, "Mr. Tanaka, this is the script. I will be back in Hong Kong this afternoon. Please give it to your company's screenwriting department and ask them to polish it and translate it."

"Okay, Mr. Li, I will arrange everything." Ichiro Tanaka respectfully took the script and put it directly into his briefcase.

"As for the female lead, I think Izumi Sakai is pretty good."

"she?"

"has a problem?"

"No, no, Ms. Sakai has a very good image, but she has never acted before, so I don't know if she can do it."

"Don't worry about that. Her image and temperament are both very good. She only needs to play her true self in this movie."

At this point, Li Yishu thought about it and decided to be more conservative. "There is also Nakayama Miho. You can also invite them both to audition."

Hearing that there was another candidate, Yama Miho, Ichiro Tanaka breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, "Mr. Li, what about the remaining actors?"

"You guys can make your own arrangements. The real core of this movie is only the actress. I plan to play two roles by myself."

"Okay, Mr. Li."

Li Yishu looked at his watch. It was already half past ten. He had to go back to his room to pack up.

Regardless of whether Amy can reach an agreement with Toho today, she has to fly to Hong Kong in the afternoon.

The cross-strait and Hong Kong co-production has been finalized, the script is almost finished, and we can start shooting at any time.

What Li Yishu didn't expect was that just over half an hour later, when he was still packing clothes in the room, Amy came to him with a smile on her face to ask for credit.

"Did they agree to all my conditions?"

Li Yishu was very surprised, because you know, his asking price was not low. Not only did he ask for a director's salary of 500 million US dollars, but he also asked for a stake in the company with the director's salary + script adaptation fee.

This price is not low, and we also have to consider whether Toho agrees, so Li Yishu called out this price based on the box office of "The Mountain".

A Chinese-language film, since its release today, has attracted over 60 viewers.

The number of moviegoers may continue to decline in the future, but it will definitely reach more than 150 million in the end.

The new collaborative film is a pure Japanese film and is a love-themed film. Apart from the high director's salary, other expenses are not that high and can be completed with a maximum of 300 million US dollars.

The production cost was $800 million, and the post-production promotion and marketing cost another $200 million, totaling $1000 million, which is considered a very high investment cost for a live-action movie in Japan.

However, Dongbao estimated that as long as Lee Yi-su's performance was of the same standard, this new love film would attract at least 400 million viewers. Add to that the offline video rentals, and it's not surprising that they agreed to this price.

Amy said, "Yes, Director Li, they agreed very readily. They only accepted a $200 million investment in exchange for 20% of the movie box office share. They are willing to pay an additional $50 for the script adaptation rights."

$300 million salary + 20% box office share + $50 adaptation fee.

Li Yishu felt that the discussion had come to an end, so she nodded and said, "That's it. Amy, you will be responsible for the follow-up details here first, and I will come back next time to sign the contract."

Before 2012, Japan had always been the largest movie box office in Asia. Although it was later surpassed by China, it was still the third largest movie box office in the world.

If the cooperation goes smoothly this time, the distribution of all his films in Japan in the future can be handed over to Toho Co., Ltd., and he won’t have to worry too much about being cheated.

And as long as the movie box office is high, the next "Fireworks" can raise the pay again.

"Okay Director Li."

　Please continue reading, please vote for me, please collect me!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)