Chinese Entertainment: Directors Start with the Fairy Sister

Chapter 64 Liu Qianqian's "Questioning," Wanda's Cooperation (More to come, to be posted this morning)

Zhao Yanxi is also a highlight among tonight's guests.

After finishing his conversation with the people from the cinema chain, Wang Zhonglei came over with Li Tao and Fan Tao.

"Director Zhao."

"Director Zhao~ (Director Zhao!)"

"President Wang, ladies," Zhao Yanxi greeted everyone with a smile.

"Director Zhao, our Huayi artists are also very affordable~" Wang Zhonglei said with a smile. "If there are suitable roles, you can also consider our Huayi artists."

"Yes," Fan Jia said with a smile, her sexy and beautiful face full of joy as she raised her wine glass.

'

"We'd be happy to lower our fees for Director Zhao's role."

"yes."

Li Taotao also answered without hesitation.

"Thank you~"

Zhao Yanxi smiled and said, "If needed, I will contact President Wang and the two of you!"

"Okay, okay, you've remembered everything Director Zhao said, right? Come on, let's all toast Director Zhao!"

Wang Zhonglei, Fan Tao, and Li Tao raised their glasses together and clinked them with Zhao Yanxi's.

"Click—"

""

[The premiere of "Crazy Stone" concluded perfectly; the production company predicts that the box office may exceed 100 million yuan. — Part 1]

[Key to casting for "Stone"—cheap and effective!]

[Zhao Yanxi and Huayi Brothers raise their glasses in celebration, sparking speculation of a new film collaboration!]

That evening, the premiere of "Stone" made headlines across the news, including interviews and photos of the celebrity guests.

However, someone secretly took a photo of Zhao Yanxi toasting with Wang Zhonglei, Fan Tao, and Li.

The photo was taken from a tricky angle, omitting Wang Zhonglei from the frame entirely; only Zhao Yanxi, Li Tao, and Fan Tao were seen smiling broadly.

"Holy crap, who did this blue dermatitis thing?!"

Zhao Yanxi was speechless. If Xiao Liu saw this photo, wouldn't he strangle her?

"The heavy rains we missed in those years...the love we missed in those years..."

"

The phone rang suddenly, and the name on the screen sent a chill down Zhao Yanxi's spine—"XiXi".

Clearly, Xiao Liu had been following the premiere closely.

"Ugh."

Zhao Yanxi sighed softly. What is meant to be will be, and her fingertips swiped across the answer button.

"Sissi, you're still awake?"

"No," Liu Yifei replied in an unusually gentle tone.

Just as Zhao Yanxi was about to breathe a sigh of relief, she heard her soft voice ask, "Yanxi, I remember you're not a very good drinker, are you? Was the wine tonight... good?"

"Forehead..."

Zhao Yanxi wiped non-existent cold sweat from her forehead and chuckled dryly, "No...it doesn't taste good. I'll never drink it again!"

"Hmph, drinking is fine, but you have to be careful who you drink with!"

The voice on the other end of the phone remained gentle, yet carried an undeniable scrutiny: "Especially the drinks some people mix, only take a sip, understand?"

"Understood, understood!"

"Good to know. It's getting late, remember to get some rest and don't stay up late!"

"Mmm, you too~"

Having passed the test with ease, Zhao Yanxi immediately beamed with joy.

In his view, being "interrogated" by girls is not a bad thing; it means that they care and are concerned about him, which is why they ask him these questions.

The more Xiao Liu cares, the more it shows she cares about herself, right?

With 8000 million fans, how many of them are worthy of the celestial being's utmost respect?

Aside from some romantic rumors, the media generally gave "Stone" very positive reviews.

It's described as a dark comedy unlike traditional comedies, and the premiere had the audience laughing non-stop.

On May Day, "Stone" will be released nationwide!

Ning Hao led the main creative team to the roadshow to promote the film, while Zhao Yanxi, having nothing else to do, went to the movie theater by herself.

There aren't many strong competitors at this time. The few films by well-known directors are also released in the second half of the year, and the screenings of some imported films are also after the Golden Week holiday.

Zhao Yanxi came from a cinema under the New Film Union, a cinema chain company jointly established by China Film Group, dozens of cinemas of all sizes in Beijing, and government film and television institutions.

Yanxi Films and New Film Union Cinema Circuit don't have much of a relationship, but the cinema circuit's screening schedule is not bad. Zhao Yanxi roughly estimated that the screening rate on May Day should be no less than 35%!

Thanks to the holiday, there were many moviegoers in theaters, and among the movies released, "Crazy Stone" was the most popular, generating the most news during this period.

During a happy holiday, viewers can easily choose between art films like "The Barber" and comedies like "Stone"!

When it came time to buy tickets, the tickets for "Stone" were the best-selling.

After observing the audience at several cinemas, Zhao Yanxi had a pretty good idea of ​​what would happen: "Stone" would do well at the opening day box office!

As for how well it performs at the box office, that depends on the word-of-mouth feedback from the first batch of viewers.

Zhao Yanxi was not worried about this.

"Stone" is not "The Promise". Even though there are some criticisms, there are definitely more praises than insults!

That afternoon, Zhao Yanxi met with the person in charge of Wanda Pictures at the company.

"Director Zhao, hello, I'm Ye Ning from Wanda Cinemas!"

"Hello, Mr. Ye."

Zhao Yanxi reached out and shook hands. The first private cinema chain in China, and the future number one cinema chain in the country, deserved his attention.

"Does Wanda also want to invest in 'Painted Skin'?"

"Director Zhao, since you're so generous, I won't hold back either," Ye Ning said with a smile. "Since Wanda wants to enter the film and television industry, it certainly won't be satisfied with just doing theater business."

"Director Zhao, you are a director, a producer, and a film and television investor. You belong to the upstream of the industry, and Wanda wants to establish a better cooperative relationship with you."

"Wanda will fully support your company's currently showing film 'Crazy Stone' and the upcoming film 'First Love,' at least in terms of scheduling!"

"Hehe, then I'll leave it to you!"

It must be said that Ye Ning's words were very much to Zhao Yanxi's liking.

My meeting with him today was all for this promise, wasn't it?

As they chatted, the two also discussed the investment amount for "Painted Skin".

"The total investment was approximately 2000 million US dollars, of which 1000 million was for production costs, and my director's fee and script fee were 200 million."

The special effects production cost was 800 million.

Zhao Yanxi handed Ye Ning the total budget that the company team had formulated in April based on the actual shooting situation.

Ye Ning glanced at it and then smiled slightly: "2000 million isn't much! I wonder how much credit line Director Zhao can give Wanda? Wanda can handle any amount!"

As expected of Wanda, they are indeed very wealthy!

Zhao Yanxi liked Ye Ning's way of talking; he laid everything out in the open, and after agreeing on the policies, he would lavishly spend money.

"China Film Group will also participate in the investment. I'll discuss it with President Han tomorrow and then confirm with you. I can guarantee that Wanda's share will be no less than 15%!"

"Okay, thank you, Director Zhao. I'll be waiting for your good news!"

Over the course of the afternoon, Zhao Yanxi and Ye Ning became quite familiar with each other, and even had a casual dinner together that evening.

Both sides had their own needs, and amidst the clinking of glasses, both host and guests enjoyed themselves immensely!

"Boss, Wanda has developed very rapidly last year, closing in on the major cinema chains under state-owned enterprises. At this rate, it will probably become the number one cinema chain in China in just a few years."

Zhao Yanxi didn't say much, but after thinking for a moment, she suddenly asked, "Siwei, do you think we should set up our own cinema chain?"

"Um?!"

Yang Siwei looked at Zhao Yanxi in surprise and asked, "Boss, with our current assets, it seems a bit difficult to develop a cinema chain."

"The construction cost of a typical screening room is no less than 3 million yuan, and a casual cinema would probably cost 20 to 30 million yuan."

'

"Sigh, I'll think about it some more."

"After all, setting up a theater chain isn't something that can be done with just a few theaters."

Yang Siwei was slightly taken aback; she knew exactly where the royalties from "Buried Alive" had gone.

She knew that the boss had his own sources of funding, such as royalties from his two novels;

But now it seems the boss is hiding much more than he knew!