Reborn in America, I'm serious about making money.

"Today is a creative meeting. Universal has sent over a lot of expansion packs. Let's all study them together. Time is tight and the task is heavy, so I won't say much more. Let's start watching the videos."

After the factory manager finished speaking, he had someone start playing the videotape. It was a documentary, similar to Animal World. After signing the contract, both parties sorted out the details. In order to more realistically recreate the African savanna and the authenticity of the lions and other animals, Universal provided a lot of material.

"Everyone, take a look at these photos, then go back and finalize the 'actors' looks. Meeting adjourned now."

After the screening, the factory manager sent out a large number of photos of the main characters in various animal poses and movements.

The first deposit of US$1.5 million has been transferred to the Bank of China's account, which makes many people happy. In addition, the other party later bought out the license for US$3 million, bringing the total to about US$8 million.

The higher-ups attached great importance to this project, urging them to complete the task better and faster to meet customer needs. Shanghai Animation Film Studio mobilized all its key personnel and elites, halting all other work for this animated film. Moreover, the other party provided a large amount of more advanced equipment and technology, for which they were naturally very grateful. This partner was incredibly helpful.

In three days, the ten main characters each prepared twenty alternative plans.

Universal's representative, Douglas, did not return but stayed to participate in the project. She was deeply impressed by the speed at which Shanghai Animation Film Studio had achieved its goals.

"You guys are incredibly efficient. If those lazy guys knew how fast you were, they'd be out of a job."

The liaison representative had to offer an awkward yet polite smile...

More than an hour later, Douglas and the two people who came with her selected three or four roles for each character and then faxed them back to North America.

During this time, everyone began to discuss and analyze the plot development.

"This is a script from Universal, telling the story of the Lion King's son's revenge. As you've all seen, the plot emphasizes a dramatic rise and fall, showing the young lion prince's growth, his successful revenge, and his eventual gain of the love and respect of the other animal groups on the savanna, ultimately becoming the new Lion King." The factory manager continued, "They've shown us a classic tale of a prince's revenge, and there are some echoes of that story in it."

Today's meeting topic is this. Everyone reached a consensus and started drawing up the storyboard. The storyboard provided by Universal is very detailed, and they need to refine it.

"Now, let's assign tasks..."

While they were busy, a unique casting call began.

"You've seen the photocopies? Let's start casting."

This is the final photo shoot for the characters in the animated film. Unlike in the past, this casting call included the elderly, middle-aged, young adults, teenagers, children, and both men and women. They began to score these actors and choose their favorites.

The process was short, taking only half a day to finalize the actors' images. When Zhang San received the photos, he found them to be similar to the Lion King he had seen in his previous life, but he felt that this version was more comfortable to watch.

"Go and register the copyright for these images."

He wasn't a talkative person, but his orders were faithfully carried out by Robert. Soon, Universal's legal department began to operate, drafting documents and registering copyrights with the copyright office, which we won't go into detail about for now.

On the mainland side, the image was also finalized immediately.

With everything ready, production naturally began. In this economically driven era, the saying "everything is about money" was no joke. Basically, a large number of artists from all over the country gathered at the Shanghai Animation Film Studio.

It wasn't that they were willing to accept help from their other sister units, but rather that they wanted a share of the pie.

The reason for this is quite simple: six million US dollars to make an animated film was unprecedented in the history of Chinese cinema up to 1990. However, since the client was Americano's Universal, they knew it was quite reasonable.

"I think there are still some doubts about the capabilities of Shanghai American Film Factory in this matter. Changchun Film Studio needs to send people to provide support. As the saying goes, when one place is in trouble, help comes from all sides. We cannot sit idly by."

With the arrival of people from Changchun Film Studio, the people from Xi'an Film Studio couldn't refuse to support them. They also expressed their thoughts, noting that they had quite a few talented people in this field, and that more people meant more strength.

"The people of Changchun Film Studio have shown their style, and we people of Xi'an Film Studio should do the same. There's no need to say more; we will send people over there."

If people from Xi'an Film Studio went, how could other film studios be left behind? They naturally had to go and provide support as well. In the end, more than thirty people came. Fortunately, all of them were animators, so they were easy to assign.

"The other party's script is very detailed. We need to divide it into several segments and group them up. Everyone here is a professionally trained actor, so I won't say more."

The people at the Shanghai Film Studio didn't say much, otherwise their subordinates would accuse them of abusing their power and reporting it to their superiors. Although they wouldn't say anything about themselves, it would definitely leave a bad impression on their superiors.

Having more people also has its advantages. With the addition of more than 30 people who came from all over the country and more than 30 people from the Shanghai Animation Film Studio itself, there were nearly 70 people in total, and they began to divide the work.

When Douglas arrived, she saw dozens of people from the Shanghai Animation Film Studio making animation, which shocked the three of them for a long time.

This is way more impressive than Tissini. When did the number of people suddenly double?

"Great! I have even more confidence in our collaboration now. Your production is excellent, and if the box office results are satisfactory, we will thank you."

His real thought was that if we succeed, we'll give you a bonus, and we can continue to collaborate next time. This way, mainland artists will work even harder.

The mainland's thinking is that if we do well this time, we won't be afraid that you won't come to us. In that case, won't foreign exchange keep flowing in?

Funded by Universal Pictures, produced in mainland China, and enjoyed by audiences worldwide, this is definitely a win-win situation.

Three days later, the three-minute short film had been roughly edited; Douglas and the other two went to the screening room to watch it.

"I didn't expect you guys to be so fast!"

They exclaimed in surprise, still quite shocked inside.

The factory manager smiled and said, "We manufacture by disassembly. Let us see if we can meet your needs."

The lights in the screening room dimmed, and then the movie began.

The very first shot captured the ancient and desolate nature of Africa. Shanghai Animation Film Studio is a professional in this regard; after combining materials and studying them together, they decided that the film should shock the audience and grab their attention.

With this consensus, things became much easier; combined with the Universal script, the opening scene came about; after it finished playing, the three of them looked at each other and felt that the scene was very vivid.

"At this quality level, it's absolutely fantastic!"