Who says Beijing Film Academy has no great directors? (2002)

Wen Ziren at that time was not yet the Hollywood director he would become in the future, nor had he directed "Furious 7" or "Aquaman" which grossed $26 billion at the box office.

Across from Chen Yan, Wen Ziren even seemed somewhat uneasy.

Wen Ziren rubbed the back of his hand and asked, "Director Chen Yan, is there anything you want to tell me?"

Chen Yan looked at Wen Ziren and said slowly, "I would like to invite you and your partner to come to my company and work for me in Hollywood. I will give you a fixed fee plus commission. The director's fee will be 5% higher than the market rate, and you will receive 10% commission on the film."

Wen Ziren is currently just an ordinary director, not even a professional yet, but he has ambitions, so he hasn't agreed to Lionsgate's binding contract yet, only agreeing to film "Saw" first.

Chen Yan didn't mention the screenwriter's fee, because he himself is an incredibly powerful resource.

Leigh Whannell was just a side effect; Chen Yan's main goal was to seduce Wen Ziren. He simply couldn't manage directing all the films on his own, but the young girl he wanted to raise was quite expensive and resource-intensive.

"what!"

Wen Ziren was surprised because Lionsgate had approached him not long ago with the same promise, but instead of signing him directly, they offered to sign him to several film contracts, with far less compensation than Chen Yan had offered.

"Are you always making horror movies?" Wen Ziren hesitated. Every director wants to break into the mainstream of serious films and win box office and awards.

"Of course there's more. I'll slow down my filming pace later, so I'll allocate some resources to you guys," Chen Yan coaxed gently.

Chen Yan's resources are all top-tier, resources that have been recognized by the market in later generations.

"Director Chen, I'm sorry, I may need to go back and discuss it with my partner," Wen Ziren replied after thinking for a moment.

"Of course, I look forward to your reply." Chen Yan was just casually trying to get Wen Ziren to do something; it wouldn't matter if it didn't work out, he could still sign a contract for a single work with him.

All the work here is nearing completion; all that's left is the long process of creating special effects.

Chen Yan handed everything over to Sony. James would report to him on Sony's progress and quality, and he would also fly over to check on things whenever necessary.

Chen Yan then took Liu Yifei and her daughter back to China.

I didn't expect to receive a call from Zhang Jincheng as soon as I landed.

Cai Yinong signed a young girl from the Beijing Dance Academy in March, and she is now debuting under the names "Little Liu Yifei" and "Liu Yifei's Cousin".

He felt that Cai Yinong was maliciously using Liu Yifei for publicity and asked Chen Yan how to respond.

"Heh, just clarify on Weibo that Liu Yifei doesn't have a cousin." Chen Yan's first thought was to issue a statement to slap Cai Yinong in the face.

"Weibo? Boss, do you mean blog?" Zhang Jincheng asked in confusion.

Chen Yan exclaimed, "Right, blogs." He almost forgot that Weibo hadn't even started yet, and even its predecessor, Fanfou, didn't launch until 07 at the earliest.

The blog currently has around 30 users.

After thinking about it for a while, Chen Yan decided that it was not a good time to invest in Weibo, as the penetration rate of mobile phones was too low. He suggested that they could put this matter on the agenda in two years.

After hanging up the phone, Chen Yan breathed a sigh of relief. He still didn't have enough funds; everything he wanted to do was so expensive.

Chen Yan Film & Television Media Statement: Ms. Liu Yifei has no relatives in the entertainment industry.

"Hahaha, Tangren got slapped in the face, didn't they? They created a little Liu Yifei, but Chen Yan denied it on her first day back in China."

"These days, every woman in the industry tries to piggyback on Liu Yifei's popularity. Is our Qianqian just a publicity stunt?! Come watch 'Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils' when you have time!"

"Boycott Tangren Media products! Boycott Tangren Media artists!"

When Cai Yinong saw the news, her expression was very bad.

Liu Shishi encountered this incident right after her debut, and she's extremely flustered now, having cried all morning.

Cai Yinong came out and handed Liu Shishi a tissue, saying softly, "Alright, stop crying. You have an event tomorrow. Do you want to see your fans with swollen eyes?"

Liu Shishi wiped her eyes and stared blankly at Cai Yinong.

Cai Yinong felt even more frustrated. This girl was indeed quite pretty, but why were her eyes so dull, lacking the liveliness of Liu Yifei's eyes?

"Sister, what am I going to do now?" Liu Shishi's eyes welled up with tears again, and this time she looked a little aggrieved.

"What can we do? Let's just shift everyone's attention." Cai Yinong slowly stood up and patted Liu Shishi's head.

Zhang Jizhong's version of "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" had decent ratings, averaging between 3% and 5% during prime time nationwide. Zhang Jizhong himself stated in an interview that the peak ratings in Beijing reached as high as 16.9%.

Liu Yifei's portrayal of Wang Yuyan became an instant hit, and now she's truly famous. Her previous films failed to raise her national profile, but "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" did.

The current martial arts genre is still in its twilight years, and its popularity is no less than other dramas. Liu Xiaoli has been busy taking Liu Yifei to various places for promotional events again, as she needs to catch up on the publicity that was lacking for "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils".

Before, there was nothing I could do while I was abroad, but now that I'm back, I still have to go where I need to go.

In May, "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" had basically finished its run in various regions, and some places had even started a second run.

After Chen Yan returned, he recruited another group of people and divided up some of the company's business.

Then Han Sanping made a phone call and summoned Chen Yan away again. Chen Yan knew perfectly well that Han Sanping was definitely thinking about his novel, "Buried Alive".

As expected, when Chen Yan arrived at Han Sanping's office, Han Sanping eagerly poured him tea. After a few pleasantries, he turned the conversation to "Buried Alive".

The rights to this series were sold in Berlin long ago, and after deducting production and filming costs, it netted $1500 million.

"That's enough, Mr. Han. I won't drink anymore. Let's just go with this film as a batch release." Chen Yan stopped Han Sanping from pouring him more tea and quietly summarized the game.

Han Sanping is now essentially the de facto head of China Film Group, so it's not a bad thing to give him a good word in advance.

Han Sanping breathed a sigh of relief; he thought Chen Yan would continue to argue with him.

The truth is that apart from the release of Chen Yan's two films, China Film Group's other investments this year haven't made much of a splash.

That's why Han Sanping got anxious. Without good projects and box office success, there would be nothing to brag about in the report.

The co-produced films "A World Without Thieves" and "Kung Fu Hustle" are both scheduled for the end of 04, which is not enough to quench his immediate thirst, so he set his sights on Chen Yan.

"Chen Yan, give me face and don't say I, Old Han, am bullying you. Here's the deal: next year I have two top-tier projects, Emperor Entertainment's 'The Myth' and Chen Kaige's 'The Promise.' Both are big projects. Are you interested?"