1979: The child's mother is a celestial being.

Chapter 210 Almost Became a Millionaire (Please Subscribe)

In a screening room at Warner Bros.

Heavy velvet curtains blocked out the Los Angeles sunlight today. Several key executives of the company, including President Steve Ross, as well as the heads of the distribution and marketing departments, were sitting in the dark screening room, intently watching an action movie playing on the screen—"Die Hard."

At first, many people were somewhat scrutinizing and skeptical, but soon they put away their underestimation and became serious and attentive.

If the gunfights in the film were just a pleasant surprise, then the hand-to-hand combat between Jackie Chan and Jet Li, which 'abandoned' gunfights, completely captivated everyone.

Because this is completely different from the clumsy fighting and formulaic clashes common in Hollywood action movies. Instead, it is a fighting art that they have never seen before, which perfectly integrates physical strength, skills, agility, and even humor.

Cheng Long's resourcefulness and Li Lianjie's masterful demeanor created a wonderful chemical reaction, resulting in a fight that was both visceral and full of Eastern rhythm.

After they finished their match, a burst of enthusiastic applause erupted in the small screening room.

Before the applause had even stopped, President Steve Ross turned to Chen Fusheng and said:
"Chen, what are the names of these two actors? Their fight scenes are absolutely stunning, like a martial arts performance. Especially the young man who plays the Japanese, I see a resemblance to Bruce Lee in him."

"The main character is Cheng Long, a martial arts star who came from a martial arts background and is very famous in Hong Kong and many Asian countries. The other is Li Lianjie, a national champion trained by our country's martial arts team."

"National champion? No wonder he's so amazing!" Many high-ranking officials around him suddenly realized after hearing Chen Fusheng's introduction.

"The image quality is also excellent. It feels like it was shot in natural light. No, some shots, especially close-ups of people's expressions, are even more detailed than those shot in natural light. The overall visual quality of the film is also more sophisticated... Mr. Chen, does your country possess some advanced photography technology?"

After the movie ended, a director finally found an opportunity to ask Chen Fusheng the question that had been bothering him.

"This has nothing to do with photography techniques."

"What's that for?"

"light."

Seeing that the other person seemed to be deep in thought, and that everyone else was also casting curious glances, Chen Fusheng quickly seized the opportunity to explain to everyone the movie softbox he had invented.

At the same time, he inadvertently emphasized that he had already applied for patents in the United States and Western countries.

Upon hearing this, Warner executives immediately seized the business opportunity and looked intently at Chen Fusheng: "Chen, are you selling this technology? Warner is willing to pay a high price to buy it."

"Sorry, I only license this technology, I don't sell it."

"A million dollars!" Steve Ross didn't waste any words and started throwing money at the problem.

To be honest, $100 million is a lot of money.

If someone had offered him a million dollars for his patent when he first transmigrated, he believed he would have most likely agreed.

But now, his threshold has been raised. Although the money from selling the patent belongs to him personally, a million dollars is no longer enough to sway him.

"Thank you, President Steve, but I still prefer cooperation."

"$200 million."

If Chen Fusheng could resist the temptation of 100 million, his breathing did become slightly heavier when he heard about 200 million.

Of course, he eventually held back because he felt that earning copyright fees would be a more sustainable way to make more money.

But at that moment, another voice in his mind said, "Add another million, and I'll sell it if you add just one more million!"

However, after seeing that Chen Fusheng had refused even $200 million, Steve Ross did not raise the price any further, since he had never even seen what a movie softbox actually looked like.

The conversation then returned to the film itself.

They not only discussed the film script, but also the film's future promotion and distribution.

Seeing that everyone was optimistic about the movie, Chen Fusheng was thinking about whether he could upgrade the publicity and distribution resources from A-level to S-level, but he did not succeed.

Although his movie is a standard American superhero movie with Chinese kung fu as a highlight, its shortcomings are also obvious. First, it doesn't have any top Hollywood stars, and second, the main character is Chinese, so Warner Bros. executives didn't want to take the risk.

Of course, they also made a promise that if the film performed well at the box office, they would consider allocating more resources. As for the release date, after final discussions, Chen Fusheng and Warner Bros. decided on March 1, 1983.

That is, the seventeenth day of the first month of the Chinese lunar calendar.

……

Three days after finishing his talks with Warner Bros., Chen Fusheng, along with his post-production team who had come to learn and the completed film, boarded a plane back to China.

As for his film softbox technology, although he didn't sell it directly to Warner Bros., he licensed it to them for production. He should be able to see the copyright revenue when he comes to the United States again next time.

……

On the very day Chen Fusheng boarded his plane to return to China, the China Writers Association held another internal meeting regarding the Mao Dun Literature Prize.

One of the topics discussed at the meeting was the invitation of the award presenters.

Among them, Chen Fusheng, who is the vice chairman, was prominently listed.

So after the meeting, the person in charge of liaison called the Eastern Company.

The person who received the call was naturally Chen Fusheng's secretary.

"Hello, I am the liaison officer of the Writers' Association. Are you Vice Chairman Chen Fusheng?"

"I'm Director Chen's secretary," Tong Jiang introduced herself first, then asked, "Do you need to see Director Chen about something?"

"Here's the thing, the inaugural Mao Dun Literature Prize award ceremony, established by our Writers Association based on Mr. Mao Dun's donation of royalties, is scheduled to be held in Beijing on December 15th. On behalf of the selection committee, we sincerely invite Vice Chairman Chen Fusheng to be a guest presenter on that day. Could you please convey this to us and give us a reply afterward?"

"Okay, I will pass it on, but Director Chen is still in the United States right now. Due to the time difference, the reply may be a little late. I hope you can understand."

"In America..."

After hanging up the phone, Tong Jiang was about to compile the information and send it to the consulate in Los Angeles via fax when he received news of Director Chen's return to China.

He was immediately overjoyed and said, "Now we don't need to send it."

……

CCTV.

Directors Hwang Il-hyuk and Deng Zai-jun have officially taken on the task of hosting this year's Spring Festival Gala.

Among them, Deng Zaijun was the director who partnered with director Yang Jie at the 79 Spring Festival Gala.

She had just accepted the Spring Festival Gala assignment and came straight to the "Journey to the West" production team.

But she wasn't there to see Director Yang Jie; she was there for Liu Xiaoli.

"Comrade Xiaoli, we would like to sincerely invite your husband to attend this year's Spring Festival Gala and sing his song 'I Believe'. We hope you can make an introduction."

"I'm sorry, my husband is still abroad."

"Oh? When will Director Chen return to China?"

"I don't know either, but he should agree to your request to sing 'I Believe' on the Spring Festival Gala."

"Really?" Deng Zaijun was delighted upon hearing this.

"Yes, the factory manager actually mentioned this to me last time, and I asked him about it. He agreed," Liu Xiaoli said truthfully.

"That's wonderful, thank you, Comrade Xiaoli, and thank you to your loved one too..."

(End of this chapter)