Huayu: Director started with art films

Chapter 92 [Wan Yan VCD! His last name is Huo? Could it be him?]

The next morning.

Six Nations Hotel.

In the restaurant, Qiu Fusheng came forward to greet him enthusiastically: "Director Li, congratulations."

"Hmm?" Li Yishu was slightly stunned and didn't quite understand what he meant.

Qiu Fusheng smiled and explained, "The movie you shot in Japan has attracted over 10 million viewers. I heard that your original novel is also selling like hot cakes in Japan."

"Mr. Qiu also knows about this?"

"It's not just me who knows about it, the whole of Hong Kong and Taiwan is in an uproar!"

Qiu Fusheng had a smile on his face as he looked at Li Yishu as if he was looking at a mountain of gold.

Fortunately, he had already established a deal with the owner of this gold mine a long time ago, and now it was time to cooperate with the mine owner and dig this gold mine together.

"It caused a sensation in Hong Kong and Taiwan~"

Li Yishu raised her eyebrows and said with a smile, "It's just a small achievement, nothing to worry about."

"This is more than just a small achievement, it is unprecedented. Although this is not a Chinese film, it also proves that Director Li's directing ability is so impressive that even the Japanese are impressed."

Qiu Fusheng was filled with emotion. With tens of millions of moviegoers, that would mean a box office of 150 billion yen. Bruce Lee's most sensational movie at that time, "Enter the Dragon", only had a box office of 50 billion yen.

Although the times are different, with a time difference of nearly 20 years, even if the box office results are cut in half, it is still a full 70 billion box office.

Li Yishu laughed and said, "If you keep praising me, Mr. Qiu, I won't be able to suppress my smile."

"Haha, there's nothing to be depressed about. Director Li has achieved such amazing box office results at such a young age. It's normal for him to be happy."

Qiu Fusheng was relieved to see that Li Yishu was still the same as last year.

Then the two sides sat down and began to talk about cooperation.

Li Yishu asked, "What type of film does Mr. Qiu want to make?"

Qiu Fusheng shook his head and said, "I'm fine with anything, whether it's an art film or a commercial film, as long as it's what Director Li wants to shoot, I support it no matter what the subject matter is. And whoever Director Li wants to invite to star, I support it 100%, and I will try my best to help coordinate it."

"Mr. Qiu, Mr. Xu and I are working on a new movie together."

"I know. It's a martial arts movie."

"So I don't have any ideas at the moment. Mr. Qiu, how about waiting for a while?"

Li Yishu hasn't decided yet what kind of film to collaborate with Qiu Fusheng on, or to put it another way, he doesn't know what type of film to make.

He has considered commercial films, and there are too many commercial films suitable for Hong Kong and Taiwan, such as "Infernal Affairs", "Cold War", "Wushuang", "Overheard"...

These are considered to be excellent Hong Kong films in later years.

But Li Yishu has not yet decided which one to choose.

As for art films, he had also thought about them. For example, when he visited Gong Li on the set in Northwest China a few years ago, he thought of the film "Hidden in the Dust".

If Gong Li starred in this film, it would definitely win awards abroad, and might even bring Gong Li a Best Actress award.

"No problem, Director Li. We'll start shooting whenever you say we'll start shooting."

Qiu Fusheng didn't care at all. He just wanted to catch Li Yishu's express train and make a fortune from it. Based on his many years of experience and knowledge in the film industry, he believed that Li Yishu was now at the peak of her life as a director.

Basically, as long as you don't interfere with the creative work, Li Yishu will definitely be able to make good movies and bring in high returns. Qiu Fusheng has seen this in many directors in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

"Okay, when I come back with an idea, I will definitely contact Mr. Qiu as soon as possible."

Li Yishu smiled. He was not short of money now. He was mainly interested in Qiu Fusheng's connections, so that it would be convenient for him to release his movies in Taiwan in the future, so that the box office would not be stolen on a large scale.

He knew that in the 1990s, criminal gangs were rampant in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and it was not uncommon for cinemas to steal box office revenue.

"By the way, Director Li, could you please tell the people at Toho to give me the distribution rights of Love Letter in Formosa, and let me make the video tape as well?"

Qiu Fusheng's film company is quite big, not only engaged in film production and distribution, but also videotape business.

"Of course, no problem. Publishing it and making a videotape are all fine..."

Li Yishu was suddenly stunned. Videotape? VCD? DVD?

The long-forgotten memories also made Li Yishu's eyes gradually brighten.

Wan Yan VCD!

Almost forgot about this.

Seeing that Li Yishu didn't say anything, Qiu Fusheng couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong, Director Li?"

Li Yishu came back to her senses and said, "Nothing, I just remembered something. Mr. Qiu, I have the copyright of Love Letter in China. I will arrange for someone to talk to you later."

"Thank you Director Li, I believe Director Li's movie will be a big hit in Taiwan!"

Qiu Fusheng was overjoyed after hearing this. He did not expect that the copyright of "Love Letter" in China was all in the hands of Li Yishu.

The day.

Huo Wenxi hurriedly flew from Hong Kong Island to Yanjing.

Amy was originally here, but she went to Japan to discuss box office sharing with Toho. Now the movie has been taken off the screen, and some of the subsequent shares have not been paid, so she has to go and urge them to do so.

In the hotel room, Huo Wenxi looked at Li Yishu a little nervously. She didn't know what her boss wanted to do to her. Should she refuse or accept it? Should she... accept it, right?
Li Yishu didn't notice Huo Wenxi's hesitant and shy expression, and said directly: "I have booked two tickets. Please fly with me to Hefei tomorrow morning."

"Ah?" Huo Wenxi was stunned for a moment, then reacted and said, "Boss, what are we going to Hefei for?"

“To invest.”

Li Yishu's eyes flickered. After meeting Qiu Fusheng in the morning, he had been thinking about Wan Yan's VCD.

He is quite familiar with Wanyan's development process. After all, he has experienced this era. Li Yishu still remembers that when Wanyan first launched VCD, it was hailed as the light of domestic technology.

Because in the 1990s, there was almost no independently developed electronic product in China. All of them were copied from others, using technology and production lines imported from abroad.

Wanyan VCD is the first electronic product independently developed and unique in the world.

But unfortunately, it took Wan Yan less than two years to go from glory to the bottom and eventually become a nobody.

The reason is that there is no relevant intellectual property rights registered~
Ridiculous, right?
But this is understandable. In the 1980s and 1990s, there was almost no copyright awareness in China.

Especially in state-owned enterprises, once someone produces a more advanced product, sister units will come to learn from the experience.

For example, if a technology is invented that can extend the shelf life of canned food, state-owned canning factories across the country will immediately send representatives to learn from it.

The factories that invented the technology not only had to provide training and skills, but also had to provide these representatives with food, clothing, housing and transportation. They did so under the guise of taking care of and supporting their brother units, and they couldn't let the comrades from other places make a wasted trip.
In this situation where there is absolutely no concept of intellectual property rights, patent rights, etc., it is understandable that Wan Yan's boss did not think of registering a patent.

Moreover, Chinese people recognize brands. For the same product, they will recognize their favorite big brands.

Later, in the TV series "Prosperity" filmed by Wang Jiawei, there was a mention of imitation Sanyang brand products. The quality was almost the same as Sanyang brand, but why did people only recognize Sanyang brand?
After all, imitations are not brands.

"To invest? Boss, what are you going to invest in Hefei?"

Huo Wenxi was confused.

"Don't worry about it. You'll know when you come with me."

"Oh, okay boss."

"Okay, you rest here early. I'll be next door. We'll leave for Hefei at three in the evening."

Li Yishu bought a ticket for the early morning, and in order to avoid missing the time, she directly booked two rooms in the hotel.

The next afternoon.

Hefei High-tech Industrial Development Zone.

"Thunder Monkey, I'm from Xiangjiang..."

Huo Wenxi was communicating with the security guard in Cantonese.

"Ah? Can you...can you speak Mandarin?"

The security guard was dumbfounded. He had no idea what this beautiful and fashionable lady was saying.

Li Yishu stepped forward and said, "She said she is a businessman from Hong Kong and wants to talk to the leaders of your industrial park about investment."

“Hong Kong businessmen!”

The guard's eyes lit up. He knew that many Hong Kong businessmen from the south had come to invest in the mainland recently. He didn't expect that they would come to Hefei. He immediately said:

"Wait a moment, I'll call the leader."

Looking at the guard's excited expression, Li Yishu sighed slightly. This was why he wanted to ask Huo Wenxi to come over from Hong Kong.

Hong Kong businessmen have a great reputation these days. Many people are saying that Shenzhen’s development is largely due to the investment of Hong Kong businessmen. It’s really ridiculous.

However, this also indirectly reflects how good the preferential treatment brought to Hong Kong businessmen in the early 90s was.

After a while, the leader of the industrial park came over and warmly invited the two to go to the office building of the industrial park.

The leaders of the industrial park naturally don’t understand Cantonese, but fortunately there is Li Yishu as a translator.

After some friendly negotiations, the other party heard Jiang Wanmeng's name and asked someone to check it out. After getting the information and confirming that he was from their industrial park, he nodded and said:
"Yes, Jiang Wanmeng is indeed from the Industrial Park, and he is an engineer at the Television Technology Research Institute. What do you want to see him about?"

Huo Wenxi said a few words in Cantonese, and Li Yishu pretended to nod and said, "It's like this, Director Zhang, Miss Huo went to the United States to attend a technology exhibition before, and knew that Engineer Jiang Wanmeng was also there. She was very interested in the technology he mentioned, so she came to Hefei this time."

"Okay, please wait a moment, I'll go call someone."

Director Zhang left in a hurry.

Of course, he didn't go to find Jiang Wanmeng, but ran to report the matter to his leader.

After all, he had temporarily confirmed the identity of the Hong Kong businessman. Judging from the temperament he displayed, the incomprehensible Cantonese, and the big mobile phone, it didn't seem fake.

"Huo? Are you sure the other person's last name is Huo?"

"Sure. He looks quite young, probably around twenty years old. He's dressed very fashionably."

"It can't be him, right?"

The top leader of the industrial park frowned.

Twenty minutes later.

In the office, Li Yishu finally met Jiang Wanmeng.

"Thunder Monkey..."

Huo Wenxi stepped forward and muttered something, which confused Jiang Wanmeng.

(End of this chapter)