The richest person in Chinese entertainment

Chapter 154: Failure to reach an agreement and raising the stakes
When signing the agreement, Zhang Chen set a lot of clauses to prevent him from losing control of the movie.

What Kevin said was actually one of them, that is, Warner has the right of priority investment.

“Of course it works, but”

“Have any other companies approached you?”

"Yes."

In fact, during the few days of waiting for Warner to come, in addition to Han Sanping of China Film who came directly to visit, other film and television companies that guessed that the copyright of "Harry Potter" was in Zhang Chen's hands had expressed their intention to invest to Zhang Chen through company channels.

This naturally includes some big Hollywood studios.

"Which ones?" Kevin asked nervously.

“Basically all the Hollywood companies have inquired about this.”

"What does Ang mean there?"

"I would definitely give priority to Warner, but some companies offer too much."

"What did they promise you?"

What Warner was most worried about finally happened. Although it was expected, when it really came to this point, it would be impossible for Warner to get the profits from the sequel at the most favorable price.

"It's not like I promised anything. I believe Lorenzo should have mentioned that I would be filming several TV series when he reported to you, right?"

"Yes."

"I believe Kevin is very familiar with the company 20th Century Fox."

"Leon, 20th Century Fox has no control over the affairs of News Corporation."

Zhang Chen's meaning of mentioning 20th Century Fox is very clear, that is, in terms of future TV series sales, Warner's TV stations will not be able to compete with News Corporation, which owns many channels around the world.

But Kevin's rebuttal is not without reason. Although 20th Century Fox is a subsidiary of News Corporation, Star Media, which owns many channels, and News Corporation itself will not have their financial reports affected by one business of 20th Century Fox.

"Kevin, this sentence seems to apply to Warner as well, right?"

Kevin now only represents Warner Bros. Pictures and has little to do with Warner Television. The situation is the same as that of 20th Century Fox.

Negotiations reached an impasse again.

Zhang Chen would not release the eagle until he saw the rabbit, but Kevin could not release the rabbit.

"Leon, is there nothing else to talk about?"

Kevin could no longer suppress the anger in his heart.

"Kevin, a promise without legal binding force is just a piece of waste paper. I am just protecting my own rights from being infringed. If you want to blame someone, just blame Hollywood for having too many 'glorious deeds' in the past."

"So what kind of agreement would it take for you to believe it?"

"Box office share."

"This is impossible!"

Zhang Chen shrugged and watched Kevin stretch out his hand toward the door of the living room, indicating that he could leave.

"Leon, listen to my explanation!"

"Kevin, how can I trust you? I just told you about the box office share, but I didn't specify how much investment would be the share of the box office. But you rejected me before I even heard it. Can I understand that as..."

"You just want to trick me?"

"Leon, that's not the case. Listen to me."

"Okay, I think Kevin, you may not have figured out one thing before you came. I have many ways to make money, so I can make this movie or not, but if I do, I must ensure my own interests. Hollywood is not just your Warner company, right?"

The threatening effect of Zhang Chen's last sentence was actually not that great.

Both of them knew that if each sequel of "Harry Potter" sought cooperation with a different Hollywood studio, there would be only one result, that is, Zhang Chen would not get any profit from even one movie.

Those Hollywood companies that have obtained the filming rights will happily take a sequel, shoot it and sell it for money, and then kick Zhang Chen out without having to consider the issue of a sequel at all.

"Can you let me think about it after I get back to the hotel? I'll also contact headquarters to see if I can help you in other ways."

Kevin had no better reason to convince Zhang Chen at this time, so he could only go back home temporarily and talk again when he had a comprehensive plan.

"I look forward to your coming at any time. I look forward to you giving me a satisfactory answer."

The argument was finally over. Although nothing was accomplished, Zhang Chen did not gain nothing.

At least he knew that Warner wanted to trick him.

Then he became more determined to give out some benefits next time.

The worst outcome is getting no dividends.

However, since the movie was released, sales of peripheral products have enabled Zhang Chen's company that produces movie peripheral products to generate nearly $3000 million in sales. After deducting costs and taxes, the net profit is about $2000 million.

According to the original investment share of the film, Zhang Chen owned a 1.4% investment share of the 40 million yuan production cost, which is an expenditure of 5600 million yuan.

At present, almost half of the expenditure has been recovered in less than a week. If Warner does not go to extremes and does not change the supplier of peripheral products, Zhang Chenguang will be able to recover the cost by selling movie peripheral products.

"Boss, what should we do next?"

Li Xiaoping was listening in the whole process. Her English level was OK, but it was still not enough for her to use it directly in the negotiation with Kevin, so she was just listening in. Now that she had roughly digested the results of the negotiation between the two sides, she also wanted to know what actions Chenguang Entertainment would take next, which was also something she, as the president of Chenguang Entertainment, should be concerned about.

"There will be a big change in the film industry next year. Mr. Li, please send people to various parts of the country to find some high-quality cinemas and negotiate with them about acquisition.

In addition, while looking for some prime locations, Morning Glory Entertainment needs to build and renovate some of its own cinemas while acquiring already built ones.

The goal is to have 200 screens in cinemas under Morning Light Entertainment by the end of next year."

"This requires a huge amount of money, and the current funds of Morning Light Entertainment are totally insufficient to support such a large expenditure."

"I will set up a company that specializes in managing cinemas and inject $1000 million into it in the first phase. Morning Light Entertainment will also inject capital into this company. After we have the assets, we will make loans and continue to make acquisitions. I don't need to explain this to you in detail, right?"

“What about this company?”

"You should work harder and take on the job part-time first. I will consider it again after you have trained a suitable person."

Cinemas must be set up. In the domestic film industry, cinema chains are the boss.

Although the operating costs are high, the box office share is the highest during this period.
"What about those TV series? Is it time to confirm them?"

The TV series "The Story of a Noble Family" is easy to produce. The screenwriter and director have already been determined. Now we just need to screen the actors, and then we can move on to determine the main creative team, scout locations, set a budget, and determine the shooting period.

However, Zhang Chen wanted to try an overseas route for "The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber", although the preliminary work has not yet entered the final cost accounting stage.

However, if you want to consider selling the TV series overseas, then the production budget will definitely increase dramatically. According to Zhang Chen, at least a lot of money will be spent on special effects.

"Let's continue to move forward as planned. Use as many actors from the mainland as possible. I don't want mainland actors to play supporting roles for actors from Hong Kong and Taiwan."

"But using Hong Kong and Taiwan actors as the protagonists guarantees ratings."

"Come on, if you can't even speak a few words of Mandarin properly, if you want to be the leading actor in our Chenguang Entertainment's TV series, you should practice speaking Mandarin fluently first."

Are Hong Kong and Taiwan actors really a guarantee of box office and ratings? That's just a side job brought by Hong Kong and Taiwan directors.

Even if it is really useful, it is limited and cannot affect the actual revenue of a film or TV series at all.

At least at this stage when the fan economy has not yet taken off, the celebrity’s fame does not play such an outrageous role.

When Zhang Chen watched TV series and movies starring Hong Kong and Taiwan actors, he felt awkward because the dubbing did not match the lip movements, not to mention that he had to endure not being able to understand the other person's lines when he was acting himself.

"I understand. I will pay attention to it." Li Xiaoping nodded.

She felt that Zhang Chen was prejudiced against Hong Kong and Taiwan stars.

According to Zhang Chen's requirement, the group of actors in Hong Kong are basically unqualified.

Few of those people can speak Mandarin well.

When Chenguang Entertainment really plans to make a movie, doesn’t it need stars from Hong Kong and Taiwan to boost the box office?
She kept all these doubts in her heart and decided to raise them when the actual filming started.

<font style="vertical-align: inherit;">November 1</font>

Three days have passed since the last negotiation with Warner.

Still in the same place, the people around Zhang Chen did not change, but someone Zhang Chen did not expect came from Warner.

"Mr. Zhou?"

Zhang Chen looked at Zhou Jianhui who was sitting next to Kevin, wondering how this person who was in charge of Warner Music Greater China had the time to meddle with Warner Pictures' business?
"Zhang Chen, I actually wanted to have a good chat with you recently."

"Oh? So why are you here today?"

"It just so happened that Kevin and I had the same purpose, so we came together."

Zhang Chen was skeptical about this; he didn't believe that such a coincidence could happen.

Then it was the senior management of Time Warner who brought the two sides together to negotiate terms with Zhang Chen.

"So, tell me the purpose of your coming together."

Zhang Chen was too lazy to guess and asked directly.

“Leon, I heard that your contract with Warner Records has expired?”

"Yes."

"Do you want to renew your contract?"

"I thought you were here to show your sincerity, but it turns out you were here to get more benefits from me?"

For Zhang Chen, he can continue to sign with the record company. After all, in the future he will need someone to help him distribute his records around the world, and he does not have the ability to do so at present.

The producer of the album now has his own company, so he is not afraid that the big label like your company will copy his album and sell pirated albums.

In addition, the music software on both sides is about to be officially tested.

He is the one who sounded the death knell for physical records, and physical records will only be collectibles in the future.

"Leon, listen to me, this contract will definitely satisfy you this time"

　Today's second chapter is 3000 words.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)