Huayu: Hard fight against Zhang Weiping at the beginning

Chapter 572 Acquisition of a Company
Tuk-tuk-tuk~
There was a knock at the door. Zhang Chen looked up and saw Zhong Lifang.

"Please come in~"

"Director Zhang, you wanted to see me?"

Zhang Chen gestured for the other person to sit down before saying, "I called you here because I have something to discuss. I want to acquire a film special effects company, and I'd like you to help me with that."

Zhong Lifang nodded: "Does Director Zhang have any acquisition targets?"

Zhang Chen suddenly became interested: "Aren't you surprised at all?"

Zhong Lifang smiled and said, "I'm not surprised. In recent years, Star Entertainment has handled a large proportion of special effects in its film projects, such as Pacific Rim, 2012, and Gravity. I've looked at the financial statements, and the expenditure on special effects is very high. And each time, we basically cooperate with Hollywood special effects companies, which is quite expensive. If I were you, I would also want to have my own special effects company..."

"Hmm~"

Zhang Chen was satisfied with Zhong Lifang's reaction: "As a leading company in the domestic film and television industry, Star Entertainment does indeed need to address this shortcoming. Do you have any suggestions?"

Feeling that Zhong Lifang had some knowledge in this area, Zhang Chen simply asked for her advice.

"There are two options: either acquire a foreign visual effects company directly, or cultivate one ourselves. I prefer the second one..."

"why?"

"First of all, foreign special effects companies generally have inflated market value and high labor costs, making them not cost-effective."

They are basically experts in special effects production in a specific field, so even if we buy them, we will still need to continuously invest in them.

For example, Digital Domain specializes in particle fluid dynamics, but its current financial situation is not good, and it plans to sell.

Digital Domain was once valued at $300 million, but now it's only asking $30 million.

Even so, it is still inflated.

I've heard that Digital Domain is suffering from severe talent drain and doesn't have much core technology. If we actually buy it, we'll be ripped off; it's like paying 3000 million for an empty shell..."

"Oh, you know a lot about this!"

Zhong Lifang smiled: "Because the route I designed for Pegasus Motion was to acquire Digital Domain, introduce their low-end technology, create cheap special effects for low-budget films in China, and then find an opportunity to go public..."

Zhang Chen thought about it and realized it might actually work.

When people talk about special effects, they always think of high-end, sophisticated, and classy effects, but in fact, the market for low-budget special effects is much larger.

This is also a piece of fat meat.

Many special effects companies in later generations dared to open for business after spending tens of thousands of dollars to buy a few Hollywood templates.

It's a pity that Li Ming died too early, otherwise he might have been able to go public.

Zhang Chen recognized Zhong Lifang's talent, but he also had his own doubts: "I feel like training her is too slow."

Bosses always want immediate results.

He doesn't have the time to train him slowly.

“We can acquire several domestic visual effects companies, integrate them, and then purchase technology from Hollywood visual effects companies. This way, the labor costs will be the lowest, and the technical capabilities will be sufficient. Then we can feed them a few projects, create some representative works, and the company can start taking on more work…”

Zhang Chen's eyes lit up. Wasn't this the growth path of Tiangong Yicai?

"Okay, you'll be fully responsible for this."

"Okay, if there's nothing else, I'll head out now."

"Wait a minute~"

Zhang Chen stopped Zhong Lifang, who was about to leave: "There's one more thing, but it's a personal matter. I want to acquire an American game company called Riot Games. Can you help me find a reliable agency to handle this?"

Riot Games is a company that many people don't know.

But all you need to know is that this is the company that developed League of Legends.

League of Legends is a cash cow. Tencent, relying on its exclusive distribution rights for League of Legends in mainland China, managed to acquire Riot Games in just two years, which shows how profitable the game is.

This kind of opportunity to make money is definitely not to be missed.

Zhong Lifang: "A foreign company? Hmm, then we'll need to find an agency. I'll let you know later."

Acquiring a domestic company and acquiring a foreign company are two completely different things.

Zhong Lifang can handle the acquisition of domestic companies on her own.

However, foreign companies must use an agent.

Furthermore, it is necessary to assemble a professional team that includes cross-border investment banks, US law firms, Chinese law firms, and accounting firms.

These institutions cover the entire process, including legal compliance, financial due diligence, transaction structure design, and cultural coordination, and are the core guarantee for reducing risks and increasing the success rate of transactions.

This logic applies not only to acquisitions of gaming companies but also to the general principles governing early cross-border mergers and acquisitions by Chinese companies.

……

The movie "Aftershock" was filmed in Tangshan. The Tangshan Municipal Government designated a piece of land specifically for filming, and it will later be transformed into the Tangshan Earthquake Museum.

Zhang Chen came to visit the set.

Zhang Yimou's version of "Aftershock" is naturally different from Feng Xiaogang's version of "Aftershock," with almost the entire cast replaced.

Apart from a few supporting roles played by relatively well-known actors, the brother and sister roles were all played by newcomers.

Zhang Chen looked up and saw that it was Mao Xiaotong.

Zhang Yimou, standing nearby, said, "What, don't you recognize him? Wasn't he the person you recommended?"

Zhang Chen chuckled: "No, I don't know this girl. I just heard that she has a bad background and wanted to help her if I could. But I absolutely did not mean to interfere with your casting. Whether you use her or not is entirely up to you..."

Zhang Yimou: Damn it, you say you won't interfere, but why are you recommending people to me? Do you think I should use the people you recommend?

Fortunately, Mao Xiaotong is not entirely without merit, so even if Zhang Yimou does her a favor, it won't necessarily affect his film.

They called "Cut!" and Mao Xiaotong and the actor playing her younger brother came over.

"Thank you for the recommendation, Director Zhang!"

She clearly knew that she got the role because of Zhang Chen's recommendation, and she generously came up to thank him.

Zhang Chen waved his hand: "No need to thank me. I was just mentioning it. It's still up to you or the director to decide."

Mao Xiaotong has a very sweet smile.

Zhang Chen was approachable and chatted with everyone. The girl wasn't shy either, and the two quickly became acquainted.

He stayed one night and left the next day.

Logically speaking, having received such a great favor, one should definitely repay it.

But Zhang Chen waited all night and Mao Xiaotong didn't come to express the agreement.

Pshaw, they don't even understand the principle of repaying a drop of kindness with a spring of gratitude.

However, he was just daydreaming. With Mao Xiaotong's delicate and refined appearance, she wasn't his type.

This girl's acting skills are so-so; apart from having a delicate, refined air about her, there's nothing particularly special about her.

However, they are quite energetic when they dance.

...In April, "City of Life and Death" was released.

This movie has been criticized almost non-stop since its release.

Lu Chuan's previous films, such as "The Missing Gun" and "Kekexili," were mostly met with satire, but "City of Life and Death" was genuinely criticized.

Trying to find humanity in the Japanese devils? Who else should we criticize but you?
Despite the criticism, the movie was still showing online.

All I can say is that they have powerful backing; there's nothing I can do about it, as the investors are China Film Group and Stellar Media.

Star Media is really rich these days. It's the number one cinema chain in China, and it likes to tie itself to directors.

It invested in Lu Chuan's "City of Life and Death" and "The Last Supper," as well as Chen Kexin's "The Warlords," "Wu Xia," and "The Guillotines"...

It's clear that Star Media has its own ideas; they invest in both art films and commercial films, obviously wanting to walk on two legs.

Unfortunately, his eye for target selection was poor; every throw he made went wide.
But it doesn't matter, there's a Heaven on Earth behind it.

After the Heaven on Earth nightclub closed down, Star Media no longer had the money to invest in movies.

Star Entertainment also has a movie being released at the same time, "Lottery," which is the one starring Yang Qing.

Zhang Chen didn't attend the premiere, but recorded a video message to express his blessings, stating that he was currently filming "Pacific Rim 2" in Hengdian and couldn't attend. He wished the film great box office success.
Lu Yang was there to help keep things under control.

After the release of "Lottery", a roadshow in 17 cities was immediately arranged...

If it's a Zhang Chen movie, they basically don't do promotional tours anymore.

But Yang Qingde~
A nobody is nobody; they have to rely on promotional events to gain popularity.
The creative team worked tirelessly, and the results were surprisingly good.

At each destination, as soon as the group got off the bus, they were surrounded by hundreds of people.

Don't worry, they're not gangsters, they're all Han Geng's fans.

Sure enough, Li Dan was right: "Idols hire bodyguards precisely to keep out fans!"

The current situation is that Han Geng can't even get out of the car.

The moment he showed his face, hundreds of fans chanted in unison, "Oppa, I love you~"

Then the crowd surged forward.

It looked like a mass incident was about to happen, but fortunately the cinema was prepared.

Security guards cleared a path and escorted everyone in through a side door.

Yang Xiaomi was truly shocked when she first saw this scene.

She knew Han Genghong from the beginning, but how popular could he be?
It's not like I've never been famous before~
Then when they arrived at the scene, they found that it was not the same thing at all.

Han gave him a real lesson on what the charm of an idol is.

If Zhang Chen were there, he would definitely say, "What's so special about this? In later generations, people even wear wedding dresses to concerts!"
The movie theater was packed with people, with 100% occupancy.

Yang Qing felt extremely fortunate for his decision back then.

With Han Geng on board, what's there to worry about at the box office?
Han Geng is all about box office success.

Lu Yang, who was initially worried that Yang Qing wouldn't be able to handle the situation and had decided to accompany him to a few roadshows, was also surprised.

Then I remembered what Zhang Chen had told me about the 'fan economy'.

These fans are all willing to pay for tickets; isn't that the foundation of box office success?
It seems like a shortcut to success has been discovered.

He immediately called his senior to inform him of this shortcut: "Senior, I've discovered that you can make a fortune by simply finding two idols and making a movie?"

Then his senior brother poured a bucket of water on his head: "You're dreaming! Fans aren't stupid. You can do this once or twice, but if you keep trying to fleece them, they won't buy it anymore!"
Movies should ultimately win with quality.

After several roadshows, everyone had a very good impression of Han Geng.

This young man is so polite.

He was exceptionally polite to fans, staff, and fellow roadshow participants alike.

No matter how chaotic the scene is, he never loses his temper, never acts like a diva, and is always polite to everyone.

Of course, I was very polite.

Han Geng has already decided to return to China to develop his career, so of course he needs to make a point of making connections and expanding his network of contacts.

Especially the directors at Star Entertainment.

Zhang Chen, Lu Yang, and Yang Qing are all high-quality resources.

What is a burden for others is a blessing for him, something he could only dream of.

But what others don't know is that, in their eyes, Han Geng always has a smiling face, never complains about hardship or fatigue, and her professionalism is far superior to that of many domestic celebrities.

The key point is that they acted in the film without receiving any payment, and even paid for their own return flight home.

Not only did he receive no payment, but he also accompanied the project on a roadshow in 17 cities.

What kind of spirit is this? This is the humanitarian spirit of sacrificing the individual for the greater good!
Roadshows are incredibly tiring; even those who received money found them unbearable, but Han Geng seemed completely unaffected.

I later found out that it was much more tiring for them in South Korea.

Sleeping only two or three hours a day is common for them, and the amount of work involved in roadshows is like a vacation for them.

Another wave of heartache washes over me. What kind of lives are these compatriots who went to South Korea living?
The roadshow was tiring, but the results were fantastic!
Yang Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief after the box office results for "Lottery" came out.
Zhang Chen promised him that if the box office reached 3000 million, he would be given the opportunity to direct "Lost in Thailand".

How much did "Lottery" gross?
410 million on the first day, 588 million on the second day, and 501 million on the third day.

It surpassed 1500 million in its first weekend.

It's settled~
This result is extremely poor for Star Entertainment, whose top performers can break 100 million in two or three days. But for Yang Qing, a new director, it is already very satisfactory.

"The final box office will likely be between 5000 million and 8000 million."

Lu Yang felt a little regretful. He had originally thought that with some effort, the lottery might even break 100 million.

It seems that since last year, movies have become incredibly easy to gross over 100 million yuan.

Even Feng Xiaogang's "If You Are the One" broke 3 million yuan!
"Could this be the next Ning Hao?"

Ning Hao's first film with Star Entertainment was "The Descent 2," which grossed over 60 million yuan. However, his second film grossed over 100 million yuan.

Moreover, "Lottery" has a similar feel to "Stone" and "Racing," but it's not obvious.

Why not call it "Crazy Lottery"? Maybe it would break 100 million!
There are many positive reviews about "Lottery" online.

That was hilarious! I was laughing so hard I almost died in the movie theater!
It was funnier than I expected!
The jokes were so frequent, I was laughing so hard I was doubled over!
For a new director, this is quite good!
However, there were also negative voices:
Han Geng's screen debut is actually a comedy?
It feels like a complete rip-off of "Gas Station Attack"!
This movie is so silly, should I laugh or not?
To be honest, the humor wasn't exactly sophisticated.
Inside the door to see the door, the layman to watch the fun.

While the audience only cares about whether it's entertaining or not, other companies in the industry know that Star Entertainment has succeeded again.

For a film like "Lottery," the biggest cost is the actors' salaries, but I heard the total cost didn't exceed 500 million.

Judging from the current box office trend, the total box office will be at least 5000 million.

We broke even in just three days over the first weekend – a solid big profit!
This is exactly the kind of project that every film and television company dreams of, but unfortunately, it has become Star Entertainment's project.

What they couldn't understand was what magic Star Entertainment possessed that allowed an unknown director to suddenly become successful after joining Star Entertainment.

(End of this chapter)