The richest person in Chinese entertainment

Chapter 155 Zhang Chen: I am extremely reluctant to accept this $2 million

Chapter 155 Zhang Chen: I am extremely reluctant to accept the two hundred million dollars

"Boss Zhou, can you agree to this condition?"

Zhang Chen was very surprised because Kevin had just proposed a condition that was very disadvantageous to Warner Records.

Kevin suggested that Warner Records continue to sign a record contract with Zhang Chen.

The contract price this time is as high as 2 million US dollars, and the contract period is also five years.

But, most importantly, there are absolutely no strings attached.

He doesn't need to complete any album or give many concerts.

It was like giving money to Zhang Chen.

"Zhang Chen, this is what Warner Records wants, and I can't refuse it." Zhou Jianhui also felt that the contract was too outrageous.

When Zhang Chen heard that Zhou Jianhui didn't know the truth, he didn't ask any more questions and just started thinking by himself.

The people from Warner, including those from Morning Light Entertainment, were quietly waiting for Zhang Chen's answer.

Zhang Chen was actually thinking about a question: Is there any pitfall?

The more tempting the conditions, the greater the price they often come with.

He began to put himself in the shoes of Warner Pictures, Warner Records, and even its parent company Time Warner, trying to look at the issue from their perspective.

First of all, for Warner Bros., the success of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is undoubtedly a shot in the arm for Warner Group's sluggish film and television company.

Rowling has now updated the novel to the fifth volume, which means that Warner will be able to have at least one blockbuster movie to consolidate its production business in the next five years.

Therefore, Warner Bros.’ goal is very clear. They must obtain the rights to shoot the sequels, and it would be best if all subsequent sequels were completed by Warner Bros. This is the core demand of Warner Bros.

Secondly, for Warner Records, the mainland market is now basically stable.

He also suddenly remembered that it seemed that Na Ying and Sun Nan, at the instruction of Warner, had signed a record contract with the record company jointly established with Chenguang Entertainment - Warner Chenguang.

Warner Records is doing very well in Southeast Asia, but in the European and American markets, apart from Linkin Park, which has just become a little famous, there are no other singers to show off.

It can be said that a large part of Warner Records' profits in the past few years were created by Zhang Chen.

The benefit to Warner Records is that Zhang Chen can make money for them.

But this is an open-ended contract.
Warner is betting that Zhang Chen can bring them more than $2 million in profits in the next five years.

So is it possible that Zhang Chen will release a new album in the next five years?
Zhang Chen analyzed from the perspective of Warner Records that an album will definitely be released.

Finally, it’s Time Warner. Is making money the most important thing for them?
Thinking of this, Zhang Chen looked up at everyone in Warner.

The largest shareholder behind Time Warner.
They want to control the world's news dissemination channels and continuously output culture and ideology to the world.

Then it would be impossible for Zhang Chen to sell domestic martial arts TV series overseas and broadcast them on their channels.

These three items added together actually mean using a contract that is very likely to make a profit in the future to make Zhang Chen give up the idea of exporting his TV series overseas.

But they didn't say it explicitly, they just put a very tempting cake there for Zhang Chen to choose.

"Mr. Zhou, how many new albums do you think I will release in the next five years?"

Although it was just speculation, Zhang Chen couldn't think of any reason to reject the contract.

If he wants to sell physical albums, he must have a record company with business all over the world.

And now Warner's contract terms are so lenient that there is no reason to refuse.

Now all we can do is see if we can try to get them to reveal some clues.

"Zhang Chen, it doesn't matter whether you release an album or not, the $2 million will be yours."

Zhou Jianhui's answer did not achieve Zhang Chen's goal.

If Zhou Jianhui answered "yes", then Zhang Chen would use this sentence to accuse Warner of exchanging a non-loss business for the benefits in Zhang Chen's hands.

Unfortunately, Zhou Jianhui's answer ruined Zhang Chen's fishing plan.

"What about the box office share?" Zhang Chen asked tentatively.

"Leon, this will be very difficult for us. We have already produced a letter of commitment for $2 million. You said that a legally binding contract was needed. We have brought it and now we are waiting for your opinion." Kevin said firmly.

This is a difficult situation, Zhang Chen muttered to himself.

Warner was blocked by the other party using Zhang Chen's own words.

Zhang Chen began to recall the contract he signed with Warner.

One of them is to restrict Warner's publicity and distribution companies from spending more than the market price on publicity and distribution activities, and the second is to restrict Warner from lending loans to its subsidiaries at more than the normal interest rate when producing films.

By blocking these two points, it will be difficult for their accountants to record losses when doing the accounting.

The most important thing is that they are investment dividends, not cooperation dividends, so it is not so easy to fool him.

"Kevin, I hope we can continue to cooperate on this matter." Zhang Chen sighed, "I still have a lot of high-quality projects on hand. If I don't have a familiar partner, I will be in trouble."

There is no way out. Warner can't get around him because the copyright is completely in Zhang Chen's hands and they have no choice.

He also cannot get around Warner because the risk of changing partners is much higher than it is now. As for producing his own films, he cannot get around these big Hollywood companies with global distribution capabilities, so cooperation is inevitable.

Having boarded each other's ship, they could only work together on the "Harry Potter" project, shoulder to shoulder.

"Leon, you are indeed our Warner's best partner!" When Kevin heard Zhang Chen's answer, the big stone in his heart fell instantly, and his face was full of smiles.

"Then let's sign the contract." Zhang Chen nodded.

To be honest, Zhang Chen still felt a little frustrated. Apart from gaining US$2 million from this negotiation, he did not gain any other substantial benefits.

Moreover, I felt very anxious when I thought that the other party would not only not lose money but might even make a profit from the 200 million US dollars.

But he couldn't blame the other party for anything. The other party's sincerity was there, giving him $2 million without any conditions. There was no reason for Zhang Chen to say anything wrong.

"Boss, you just moved your fingers and another 2 million came into the account, that's amazing."

After the Warner people left, Li Xiaoping looked at Zhang Chen and felt extremely envious of the contract worth $2 million.

"What's there to be envious of? I feel like I've lost out."

"Ah, how is that possible?" Li Xiaoping didn't understand what Zhang Chen meant.

"Actually, forget it. Just think of me as being greedy. Go back and get busy. Speed up the progress of the TV series. As for the production costs, there will be opportunities to go overseas, but you may not make as much money as those people. Just take it step by step."

Zhang Chen didn't know how to explain to Li Xiaoping the twists and turns in today's negotiations.

Many things are just his own guesses.

As for the overseas export of TV series, it doesn’t matter if there is no help from these companies that own TV stations around the world.

It just makes Zhang Chen wait a little longer.

In the Internet age, televisions are an item that is on the verge of becoming obsolete.

Although his overseas company has not yet collected the film and television libraries of several major Hollywood studios, it now has the initial foundation to bring them to market.

Now we just have to wait for the test to be over so that we can export all the films and TV series he can use to the world.

"By the way, please help me contact Yadong. I will release another album at the end of the year."

"Ah? Didn't Warner say that they don't need you to release an album, so the $2 million is yours?" "Do you believe that I really won't release an album, so the $2 million is the buyout fee that Warner gave me?"

Zhang Chen answered unhappily, and without paying any attention to the people who were lost in thought, he turned around and left the reception room.

The album will definitely be released, which is his basic foundation in the entertainment industry. It's just that this point was used by Warner to negotiate, which made him a little unhappy.

However, no matter how unhappy he was, he couldn't really not release an album for five years just to be angry. He still had to make money.

At this stage where his arms are still not as powerful as his thighs, he can only fight for enough benefits for himself.

December 12st was a day when nothing major happened.

At the Capital State Guesthouse, Morning Glory Entertainment and Warner Music Group held a large-scale signing ceremony.

Although the actual contract has been signed, the necessary procedures still need to be followed.

Who will be the world's pop king? This is news that has attracted the attention of media all over the world.

With all the media present, Zhang Chen and Warner pretended to write on the two signing books used for the ceremony.

This means that Zhang Chen has signed another 5-year record contract with Warner.

The contract price is 2 million US dollars!
"Leon, you didn't release an album this year. Is it because of the expiration of your contract?"

Zhang Chen didn't expect that the reporters at the scene were so imaginative.

"It's not because of this reason, but because of my own health. I want to rest for a year."

"What's the physical reason?"

"I'm sorry, it's inconvenient to disclose."

"Are you healed now?"

"Thank you for your concern. I have fully recovered."

In fact, it is a problem of voice change, and Zhang Chen has been paying attention to this matter this year.

But what he worried about never happened. Instead, his voice became deeper as time went by.

However, the vocal range did not narrow during this period.

This means that he is still able to handle a variety of high notes, and it also gives him the ability to perform songs with a sense of story.

This was the biggest surprise for him this whole year.

"Leon, do you have any plans for a new album next year?"

"Already have." Zhang Chen nodded.

His answer made Zhou Jianhui, who was sitting next to him, turn his head in surprise.

But the occasion was not right, and he did not speak.

However, his reaction was caught by reporters at the scene, and one of them immediately raised questions.

"Isn't Warner aware of Leon's new album plans?"

“Oh, Leon did say he would release an album, but I didn’t expect him to have a plan so soon, so I was a little surprised.”

Zhou Jianhui also reacted quickly and answered the question flawlessly.

"Then may I ask Zhang Chen, will you be on the Spring Festival Gala this year?"

This is a young female reporter from China.

Zhang Chen took a look at the badge on the reporter's chest and found that he was a reporter from Sina.com.

Sina.com is also a media that often appears in front of Zhang Chen.

"Sorry, no comment."

He did receive another invitation from the Spring Festival Gala director team, but after he declined on the grounds of time constraints, the Spring Festival Gala director team still insisted on letting Zhang Chen perform.

In fact, it doesn’t mean much for him to perform on the Spring Festival Gala now.

Unless they agree to let him bring a few artists from Chenguang Entertainment to the Spring Festival Gala, this is also the request Zhang Chen made to the Spring Festival Gala director team.

If the other party agrees, then Zhang Chen will go ahead. If not, then Zhang Chen will just spend the New Year with peace of mind.

The preliminary review of the program was only conducted at the end of last month. There are still three months before the Spring Festival Gala officially starts. This is enough time for the Spring Festival Gala director team to consider and for Zhang Chen to rehearse with the Chenguang Entertainment artists who may appear on the Spring Festival Gala.

"Zhang Chen, are you going to sing a new song on the Spring Festival Gala tonight?"

The reporter from Sina.com is also a talented person. When Zhang Chen answered like this, he also guessed that Zhang Chen might refuse to answer due to confidentiality reasons. If it was clear that he would not participate, Zhang Chen would directly answer no.

"My beautiful lady, I don't even have any plans for new songs yet. You asked me if I would sing new songs on the Spring Festival Gala. I don't know if the director team will wait for me."

Zhang Chen looked at the female reporter unhappily. She had no foresight at all. She knew he would be on the Spring Festival Gala and there was a confidentiality agreement, but she still asked him all kinds of questions, and he couldn't answer them.

"Ahem, then I wish you good luck with your creation, Zhang Chen."

The female reporter also heard Zhang Chen's dissatisfaction and felt that her question was a bit stupid, so she awkwardly sent a blessing.

"Well, today's press conference is over. Thank you all for coming from afar."

After the event, Zhang Chen asked Xiao Xue to give a red envelope to each reporter who came here as travel expenses.

This money should be spent. You can't let others come from far away to report the news for you just to save a little money.

Some of the reporters were invited by Warner from the United States, so it is reasonable to reimburse their airfare.

That night, Zhang Chen and Warner's signing conference made the front pages of major media.

"A $5 million contract five years ago and a $5000 million contract this year. This is Zhang Chen's transformation from an unknown to a world pop star."

"After a year of silence, the world pop king Zhang Chen revealed that his new album will be released next year."

"After a year, Zhang Chen may appear on the Spring Festival Gala again. Are you looking forward to his new songs?"

"Brother! Give me the New Year's money!"

"There are still three months until the Chinese New Year."

Zhang's Music Room

The host Zhang Chen is practicing singing.

Liu Yifei, this evil guest, is causing trouble.

"You just made $200 million. When are you going to give me back my little piggy bank?"

"I'm losing a lot of these two hundred million dollars, okay?"

"Are you talking human language?"

"I don't know if it's human language, but it's the truth."

"Shame on you, give me back the money!"