Chinese Entertainment: Directors Start with the Fairy Sister

"First print run royalty 11%, subsequent print runs royalty 13%, online royalty 40%..."

"Mr. Brown," Zhao Yanxi said calmly, "I think this profit sharing is still unreasonable; 11% is far too low."

That's not how bestselling American novelists get their share of the profits!

The first printing royalties are generally above 13%, and the reprint royalties can even reach 15% because there are fewer intermediary fees.

"Oh, dear Mr. Z," Enzo Brown shook his head and said, "While our revenue share for physical books isn't high, our online royalties are definitely the highest in the entire United States!"

"No one can be more generous than Brown Publishing! And right now, ebooks are the future of novel publishing, aren't they?"

"Of course," Zhao Yanxi smiled and said, "but that shouldn't be a reason to withhold royalties from physical copies! They don't seem to be related."

"So, Mr. Z, what do you mean?"

Mr. Z, the pen name Zhao Yanxi used when writing "Fifty Shades of Grey," will most likely be buried in the annals of history.

"First print run royalty is 12%, subsequent print runs royalty is 14%!"

"No, this is impossible..."

Before Enzo Brown could finish speaking, Zhao Yanxi interrupted him.

"Mr. Brown, do you know why I invited you here?" Zhao Yanxi said with a faint smile, "To be honest, I am not only an author, but also a director."

"In my own country, I wrote a novel and had it made into a movie, which more than doubled the novel's sales! And now that I've written the 'Fifty Shades of Grey' series in Hollywood, I'm definitely going to adapt it into a movie too!"

"Mr. Z, this is Hollywood, not China!" Enzo Brown seemed to have heard something amusing. "What we have in abundance here are directors."

"Hehe," Zhao Yanxi chuckled, "but I feel like it's easier to make money here than in China."

"Does Mr. Brown know how much my first film cost and how much it grossed?"

"How much?" Enzo Brown asked with a hint of curiosity.

"The production cost was around $30. As for box office, it's already $1.2 million in North America, and the global total should be around $1.6 million!"

"Haha, Mr. Z, do you think this is possible...?"

Before Zhao Yanxi could speak, Enzo Brown stopped laughing and looked at Zhao Yanxi with a surprised expression: "Mr. Z, are you talking about that movie, 'Paranormal Activity'?!"

"Of course," Zhao Yanxi smiled and said, "I think its box office performance should be enough to prove my directing ability, right?"

"Of course, being able to make good horror films also makes one an excellent director..."

After some negotiation, Zhao Yanxi finally finalized a contract with the publishing house.

The initial print run royalty rate remained unchanged at 11%, but the initial print run was set at 30 copies. These 30 copies were counted in the reprint count, and the reprint royalty rate was increased to 14%!

......

"Well, while novels can be profitable, they're just a drop in the ocean compared to movies," Paul chuckled. "The box office revenue share for 'Shutter' has dropped again."

"Besides the more than 1000 million I told you about last month, it has reached 1500 million US dollars, and there are also more than 600 million in copyright fees and on-demand fees from DVDs and TV stations."

"How long has it been since 'Shutter' was filmed? If you were writing a novel, wouldn't it take you half a year?"

"Hehe~"

Zhao Yanxi laughed. He couldn't very well say that the novel was only 20 words in Chinese, and that if he worked hard, he could finish it in ten days at most, could he?

"I'm going to write a novel and make a movie, but they don't conflict. I happen to have a new script here."

Zhao Yanxi took a script out of her bag and handed it to Paul: "It contains the location requirements and the cast list. Go and prepare for it, and try to start filming at the end of February!"

"Juno? That sounds like a girl's name."

"Perhaps it's what you think."

Zhao Yanxi has already made plans. He will definitely continue to make domestic films, since he needs domestic popularity and buzz so he can officially announce his good news with Xiao Liu later.

For example, the film "Painted Skin," which is planned to be filmed this year, is guaranteed to be a good film every year.

The main direction of development in the next three or four years will definitely still be in Hollywood.

In particular, we should take advantage of these few years to make more low-budget, high-grossing films.

Take, for example, the film "Juno," released in 07. With a budget of only $750 million, "Juno" ultimately grossed over $2.3 million worldwide, making it one of the highest-return-on-investment films in film history.

Of course, this 750 million does not include marketing expenses.

But with a box office of 2.3 million, even if the marketing expenses are 2000 million, it won't affect its exorbitant profit margin!

.....

The film "The Promise" has already been released in Los Angeles.

However, it wasn't a formal theatrical release; rather, it was arranged to qualify for individual Oscar nominations, and the release date remains unclear.

It is said that the North American distributor is preparing to shelve "The Promise" in order to further increase its release price.

Zhao Yanxi felt that it was fine to shelve the film, since it wouldn't generate much box office revenue anyway, and it would only damage the overseas market that "Hero" had opened up.

Although the release of "Curse of the Golden Flower" at the end of this year will also cause a disruption.

...

"Yan's out! He's out! Quick, check the website!"

Paul's excited voice echoed from the first floor all the way to the third floor.

Before the words had even faded, the chubby figure appeared at the top of the stairs on the third floor. Zhao Yanxi had no idea when his bulky body had become so agile!

"Look! The Berlin Film Festival has announced the shortlist, and our film 'Buried' is on it!"

"God, you're amazing! You're a genius in the directing world! That magical land of China is truly extraordinary..."

Zhao Yanxi wasn't in the mood to listen to Paul's boasting. She quickly opened the Berlin Film Festival's official website, where the latest news was the list of nominees for the main competition:

"Buried, YanXi·Zhao".

It would be a lie to say I wasn't worried these past few months, after all, this work had never been shortlisted for the top three European films in my previous life.

Although Zhao Yanxi believes that the main reason for not submitting the film was the production team's lack of confidence, rather than the film's poor quality;

But having received no response from the organizing committee, Zhao Yanxi couldn't help but worry that she had placed too much faith in the quality of "Buried Alive." After all, it was a one-man show, and the three major European theater companies might not be interested...

Perhaps this is why others didn't send their children to be selected in my past life...

In short, all sorts of problems were troubling Zhao Yanxi.

Now that the news has been released, he can finally relax.

"Paul, this is great news! I think we can have a drink tonight!"

......

It was the middle of the night in China, but the media was already buzzing!

State media and reporters stationed abroad for several portal websites, including Sina and NetEase, immediately relayed the news that "Buried Alive" had been shortlisted for the main competition.

Although official media outlets and some major portal websites were unfamiliar with Zhao Yanxi, the fact that the director's notes clearly stated "Chinese nationality" is commendable!

Zhao Yanxi is a Chinese citizen.

Putting the two pieces of information together, we can confirm his identity—the author of "You Are the Apple of My Eye" and the hottest young director right now!

Around 2 or 3 a.m., news about Zhao Yanxi quickly dominated the headlines of various media outlets.

Night owl netizens quickly flooded the comment section:

"Is this director Zhao Yanxi? Isn't he the one who makes youth films?"

"Wow, they made an arthouse film in Hollywood and it got nominated for the Berlin International Film Festival?! That's amazing!"

"Young people these days are truly terrifying! How old is Director Zhao this year? Is he 20 or 21? Isn't he our youngest director nominated for one of the top three European directors?"

...

It wasn't until around 8 or 9 o'clock that the name "Zhao Yanxi" completely ignited the film and television industry!

At China Film Group, Han Sanping looked at the documents handed to him by his assistant, completely bewildered.

"Zhao Yanxi? When did he go to Hollywood to make movies? He can even make art films?"

"You underestimated him! He still hasn't gotten through on the phone?"

"Not yet," the secretary reminded him. "Mr. Han, I think I saw a report last time that Director Zhao seemed to have gone abroad. Did he go to Hollywood? There seems to be a time difference there; it's nighttime now."

"Out again? Is he secretly up to something big in Hollywood?"

At Qingcui Garden, Liu Xiaoli, who was having dinner, almost dropped her chopsticks when she saw the message from Chen Jinfei.

"Zhao Yanxi, shortlisted for Berlin?!"