Chapter 602: Malèna

Hollywood, Beverly Hills, inside the Montage Hotel.

Chen Jiajun had just finished enjoying Monica's meticulous care, and his entire being felt sublimated.

Holding Monica's plump body, Chen Jiajun said with a smile on his face: "How does it feel to be an extra in a big production crew?"

Monica frowned and said: "It feels... quite a bit more formal than independent films, but there is more backstabbing and intrigue."

"Normal!" Chen Jiajun said with a smile: "Hollywood has always been a vanity fair; if you can't adapt, you will be eliminated."

The only thing Chen Jiajun could provide Monica was a platform for fair competition that didn't require her to take off her clothes; if she herself was unwilling to walk that path, Chen Jiajun would have no way to help.

After all, he was not a god; how could an outsider change the operating rules of Hollywood that had been in place for decades? If Monica couldn't even handle the backstabbing within a film crew, Chen Jiajun wouldn't mind simply keeping her hidden away, just letting her be a canary in a gilded cage.

Monica also heard what Chen Jiajun meant, nodded, and said: "I will adapt. By the way... honey, an Italian director sent me a project, and I'm a bit unsure about it."

"Oh? What kind of project? Tell me about it," Chen Jiajun asked with some curiosity.

"It's this!" Monica took out a script and handed it to Chen Jiajun.

There was no title for the film on the script, only a code name.

But the more Chen Jiajun looked at this script, the more familiar it felt.

The script was very simple: it told the story of a beautiful widow through the perspective of a young boy on Sicily.

And as Chen Jiajun looked at this story, it actually stirred up dusty memories.

*Malèna*, a film that many people found unforgettable after watching.

This film could be said to have displayed Monica's charm to the fullest, and it was also the film for which Monica Bellucci was best known.

After Chen Jiajun finished reading the script, he said to Monica: "What, does this director need to raise investment?"

Monica nodded and said with some embarrassment: "I think this script is quite good, so..."

Chen Jiajun smiled and said: "The script is indeed good. As the absolute female lead, it will certainly make you famous. You should invite that Giuseppe Tornatore to Netflix to have a chat!"

Monica immediately said with a look of surprise: "Really? You are so kind!"

Chen Jiajun nodded, then warned: "But you must also be careful of those European directors. These bastards are all PUA masters, using excuses like 'art' to package their sinister intentions and trick actresses into taking off their clothes."

Chen Jiajun wasn't just spouting nonsense; in another timeline, Monica Bellucci had been tricked into a limp.

She filmed quite a few so-called "art films" and became a sex symbol.

Since Monica was with him now, Chen Jiajun certainly wouldn't let such things happen; even the explicit scenes in *Malèna* wouldn't exist! Monica had been with Chen Jiajun for quite some time now.

Although she knew Chen Jiajun was a philanderer, whether as a boyfriend or a lover, Chen Jiajun was incredibly qualified.

If she wanted resources, he gave resources; if she wanted money, he gave money.

Even if he was a bit petty and had a strong personality, it was no big deal.

At the very least, he was much better than those bastard men who would pull up their pants and refuse to acknowledge her.

So regarding Chen Jiajun's words, Monica just smiled and then leaned down...

Just as Chen Jiajun was enjoying Monica's service, the matter of film library licensing had also entered the final stage of closing the net.

With Netflix making such a big scene with great fanfare, many second-tier manufacturers finally couldn't sit still.

Many people began to take the initiative to contact Netflix.

Cao Weicai was very skilled at grasping people's hearts; the more it reached this point, the more he put on airs.

He acted as if he looked down on these second-tier manufacturers, refusing to take anything but the six major film libraries.

"To be honest, your Lionsgate library is not enough to support Netflix's operations!" A member of the negotiation team faced Brian, the COO of Lionsgate, with an arrogant look.

Brian, however, said good-naturedly: "But Lionsgate's library licensing is cheap! As far as I know, it is not an easy thing to take down the libraries of the six major Hollywood companies."

"But we won't just collect any film!" The negotiation team shook their heads like a rattle: "Whether it's DVD rentals or online streaming, it all comes down to the same thing. Only the most popular movies can bring in more revenue. We at Netflix aren't the kind of indiscriminate trash like Blockbuster."

The negotiation team played the "money is king" principle to the fullest, finding all sorts of faults anyway.

"Many of our Lionsgate films are very popular in disc rentals!" Brian seized this opportunity and began to output aggressively.

In the end, the negotiation team seemed to be "persuaded" by Brian and decided to report it to Marc Randolph, the COO, to make the decision.

Such situations kept happening in front of many second-tier manufacturers.

In the end, several second-tier manufacturers reached agreements with Netflix and signed non-disclosure agreements with Netflix.

After all, Netflix was still maneuvering with the six major manufacturers, which seemed understandable.

But a few weeks later, the situation took a turn.

Netflix announced that it had reached film library licensing agreements with three second-tier manufacturers, including Lionsgate, DreamWorks, and Legendary Entertainment.

The number of films licensed reached tens of thousands.

Subsequently, Netflix cut off contact with the six major companies.

Since the library licenses were already in hand, Netflix was no longer willing to be a sucker.

This caught the six majors off guard, and they all approached Mark to talk again.

Under Cao Weicai's maneuvering, Netflix had always held the initiative, so the matter of library licensing went very smoothly afterward.

Although the six majors might not be willing to open all their library licenses, it was already enough for Netflix.

"The licensing is done; the next key is Netflix's streaming business."

Cao Weicai rubbed his temples and said: "To be honest, Boss, is this decision really correct? The risk is simply too high!"

Although the momentum of internet development had indeed been very strong recently, Cao Weicai didn't think it would become the mainstream.

Chen Jiajun smiled and took out a report, handing it to Cao Weicai.

"Apple? Smartphones?" Cao Weicai was confused after seeing the document.

Chen Jiajun smiled and took out a smartphone that Ao En had produced, then played a video in front of Cao Weicai.

This immediately left Cao Weicai stunned.

Chen Jiajun smiled and said to Cao Weicai: "Do you think that if this kind of smartphone is mass-produced, streaming media has a chance? If everyone has a smartphone in their hand, and all of them have Netflix software installed, and everyone can watch movies and TV shows on their phones, do you think there's a chance?"

Cao Weicai reacted immediately and said with ecstasy: "If that's really the case, then there's a huge chance!"

Chen Jiajun nodded and said, "So next, you should go talk to Apple! Steve Jobs is a very visionary person; I believe he should be able to see the benefits of cooperating with Netflix."

Cao Weicai was suddenly full of confidence: "I understand, Boss! Leave this matter to me!"

"By the way, find a Professional Manager for Mark!" Chen Jiajun said, feeling somewhat speechless: "Look at how difficult it is for the kid!"

Cao Weicai said with a smile: "I know, I have been looking for a headhunting firm to poach someone!"

Just as the two were talking and laughing, Mark ran over.

The business of the past few days had tortured him badly; he handed the film licenses from major companies to Chen Jiajun: "Boss, can our streaming media business start now?"

Chen Jiajun shook his head and said: "No rush, there is one more thing that needs to be done first..."

"But Boss, quite a few companies are already preparing to imitate us! For example, the American Video Company," Mark said anxiously.

Chen Jiajun said with a smile: "Mark, when doing DVD rentals, what do you think is the most important thing?"

Mark did not understand what Chen Jiajun meant and shook his head in a daze. "Content, content is king!" Chen Jiajun said with an inscrutable expression.

"Just as you said, things like buying a film library to build a video website are too easy to follow as a trend."

Chen Jiajun said with a smile: "If the Big Six companies enter the field themselves and follow the trend to do streaming media, what do you think will happen?"

Mark was a technician, but he was not a fool.

He quickly thought of the seriousness of the matter.

Once Netflix achieved results, causing other film companies to become jealous and enter the field themselves.

Netflix's scale could not compare to these content producers.

Moreover, the Big Six all had large conglomerate corporations behind them; imitating Netflix to create a streaming video website was simply too easy.

Thinking of this, cold sweat broke out on Mark.

The streaming media business he envisioned was actually not a good thing for Netflix!

Chen Jiajun looked at Mark with a smile and said: "How is it? Thought of it?"

"Then... Boss, what do we do now? The licensing fees have already been paid out," Mark became flustered.

Chen Jiajun decided not to scare this guy anymore, waved his hand and said: "Don't panic, what I said was just a hypothesis! In this thing called the internet, we currently still occupy the advantage!"

Given the current state of the internet, Yahoo is still the sole dominant force.

This is Netflix's absolute advantage; at least within these few years, it is unrealistic for anyone to want to surpass Yahoo.

Moreover, online video technology is not as developed as in later generations; at least it will take ten years before those Hollywood companies notice this piece of fat meat.

Such a long time is enough for Netflix to slowly accumulate technology and content.

Chen Jiajun told Mark about the fact that smartphones were about to be released, and then said to Mark: "For Netflix to gain a foothold, it still has to rely on content, especially self-produced content!"

After listening, Mark nodded incessantly.

"So your next task is to accumulate technology and shift some of your focus to smartphones," Chen Jiajun said with a smile: "Then rely on high-quality self-produced content and strive to become an overnight success! Give Hollywood a bit of streaming media shock!"

Chen Jiajun had already told Mark everything Netflix needed to do in the next few years, which was equivalent to feeding the food into his mouth.

Mark was not a fool, so he naturally understood Chen Jiajun's plan.

He hurriedly nodded and said: "I don't need to worry about the technical side, I should be able to handle it, but..."

Cao Weicai said with a smile: "I know what you are worried about, but this point will be resolved soon; I have already asked a headhunting firm to poach someone!"

"That's good!" Mark nodded, his whole person full of energy.

Although he was the company's Chief Operating Officer, he was not the type of person greedy for power; he understood where his strengths lay and also knew what he was not good at.

Therefore, he was not only dissatisfied with Chen Jiajun's proposal, but instead appeared very happy.

When Mark returned to Burbank to make preparations, the headhunter also delivered suitable candidates to Cao Weicai's desk.

"Robert Iger?" After seeing this name, Cao Weicai grimaced.

It was not that the person chosen by the headhunter was not good, but that he was too good.

So much so that Cao Weicai's first reaction was that with Netflix's scale, they probably could not recruit this big Buddha.

"You are worried that Robert won't come to our company," Chen Jiajun looked at Cao Weicai with some amusement and said.

Cao Weicai nodded: "Someone from the Big Six, who once served as the Chairman of Disney! This kind of person... is probably hard to deal with!"

Chen Jiajun said with a smile: "Let me tell you a piece of good news: Disney is currently in internal turmoil. And Robert Iger has been exiled to Japan; this is a good opportunity!"

"Oh?" After hearing the news from Chen Jiajun, Cao Weicai's eyes suddenly lit up.

Chen Jiajun said indifferently: "I think this kind of person is worth you making a special trip."

"I understand, Boss!" Cao Weicai immediately nodded: "I will book a flight for this evening."

His subordinates were busy, but Chen Jiajun had some free time here.

He spent all day in contact with Monica and that Italian director.

This director named Giuseppe Tornatore was actually different from what Chen Jiajun had imagined.

He was really not the kind of trashy director who specifically tricked actresses into taking off their clothes.

Because through conversation, he learned that the second film this guy directed was the famous Cinema Paradiso, and the one before that was The Legend of 1900.

Although Chen Jiajun was not very familiar with this director, he happened to have seen both of these films.

It was just that what puzzled Chen Jiajun was why a director of the level who won awards until his hands were soft would come out to raise investment?

However, after an in-depth conversation, Chen Jiajun discovered he was wrong; this director had simply taken a fancy to Monica.

So after Chen Jiajun had a conversation with the other party, he immediately called over the Netflix staff.

Upon learning that Chen Jiajun wanted to invest, Giuseppe Tornatore became a bit awkward at this moment: "Sorry, Mr. Chen, I have already discussed this project with other companies before?"

"Ah?" Chen Jiajun was stunned for a moment: "Who is it?"

"Miramax Films," Giuseppe Tornatore spread his hands and said: "As far as I know, the president, Harvey Weinstein, might be a bit..."

Hearing Giuseppe Tornatore's embarrassed expression, Monica could not help but laugh.

She still remembered how Chen Jiajun treated that Mr. Weinstein.

A single sentence was enough to scare the other party into not daring to spout any more nonsense.

So Monica smiled and said to director Giuseppe Tornatore, "You don't need to worry about this; Weinstein wouldn't dare to make things difficult for you."

"Huh?" Giuseppe Tornatore looked bewildered: "This... what does that mean?"

Chen Jiajun smiled and said, "You can rest assured and cooperate with Netflix; I will handle the rest!"

After hearing Chen Jiajun's extremely confident reply, Giuseppe Tornatore immediately felt at ease.

After all, Harvey Weinstein had a poor reputation, but he was a bona fide Hollywood big shot.

Offending him would make it very difficult to continue surviving in Hollywood.

Since Chen Jiajun said he had a way, then that was for the best.

After all, the funding provided by Netflix was sufficient.

Subsequently, Chen Jiajun had his subordinate make a call to Miramax Films and found Harvey to say a few words.

Harvey was very sensible and took the initiative to withdraw from this project, handing the project over to Netflix.

After all, Chen Jiajun had proactively given Harvey face; it was just one project, and Harvey didn't need to offend a big figure like Chen Jiajun.

After both sides finalized the cooperation matters, Giuseppe Tornatore took his leave.

As a director, he still had many things to do.

And after Chen Jiajun helped Monica secure "Malèna," he could be considered to have fulfilled his obligations as a lover, so after lingering with Monica for two days, he also left Los Angeles. (End of chapter)