Chapter 173: Headquarters Building and

Looking at the building before him, Wei Jin was very satisfied; Chen Zhiming's eye for things was quite good after all.

Jialong International Center is located near Chaoyang Park in Chaoyang District, boasting a superior geographical location.

It was just completed at the end of last December, with a building footprint of nearly 6,000 square meters and a total floor area exceeding 55,000 square meters, of which 40,000 square meters is office space.

The total number of floors is 22 above ground and 3 underground, with a total height of 88 meters.

He had been in contact since after the Spring Festival last year; the asking price was very high at the time, and knowing that property prices would undergo a correction, Wei Jin kept stalling while urging the other party to speed up completion.

In the second half of last year, property prices in Beijing took a 20% dive, and the developer could no longer hold on, repeatedly seeking out Wei Jin Company in hopes of closing the deal quickly to recoup funds, but Wei Jin was still not satisfied with the price.

It wasn't until last month that the other party finally couldn't hold out any longer and agreed to a deal at five percent below the current market price.

The total price reached 500 million; naturally, Wei Jin would not withdraw working capital and instead went straight for a bank loan—why not use it when the interest rate is so low?

The company has already begun moving here in succession; for a company of hundreds or thousands of people, moving is no easy task.

Wei Jin works directly on the top floor, and basically every department has been allocated an entire floor.

Even so, the entire building still seems very empty, but Wei Jin is not in a hurry; the company's development must be done step by step.

Subsequent investment companies, Shanhe Games, Yinxiang Net, and other subsidiaries will also move here. —— The Oscars this year officially concluded a few days ago; the Coen brothers' *No Country for Old Men* was undoubtedly the biggest winner of this year's Oscars, sweeping four major awards including Best Film, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Additionally, the action film *Bourne Ultimatum* starring Matt Damon actually took home three awards: Best Film Editing, Best Sound, and Best Sound Editing, which did invite quite a bit of controversy.

In the luxurious office, Wu Ershan sat upright on the sofa, his somewhat broad back straight as if waiting for a lecture from his superior.

Quietly flipping through the storyboard script in his hands and comparing it from time to time with the images in his mind, Wei Jin nodded with satisfaction.

"Not bad, I didn't expect your efficiency to be so high."

"Hehe, as long as you're satisfied, Boss Wei, as long as you're satisfied."

Hearing this, Wu Ershan revealed a simple, honest smile, and his previous anxiety was swept away; he finally had the opportunity to direct a big-budget film.

"Let Chen Xi be your producer this time; I'll take a credit as executive producer. You go ahead and start the pre-production preparations."

"Alright, Boss Wei, then I'll head out first."

With a face full of smiles and a heart full of excitement, Wu Ershan had just walked out when he saw a big shot.

"Director Xu, are you here to see Boss Wei too?"

Facing Xu Laoguai, Wu Ershan's attitude was very respectful; the former's seniority and achievements were far higher than his own as a newcomer.

"Yes, we had an appointment. Is Boss Wei busy right now?"

The news that Wu Ershan was about to direct *Painted Skin 2* was no secret within the company, and countless people lamented his good fortune; Xu Laoguai was no exception—this was the benefit of having a mentor.

"I just came out, no, he should be waiting for you."

"Alright, then I'll head in. See you later."

Xu Laoguai did not stand on ceremony further, took his briefcase, and walked into Wei Jin's office. —— "Director Xu, the script is not bad, but the logic could be a bit tighter; there are still some loopholes in the deduction."

After finishing *Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame*, Wei Jin looked up at Xu Laoguai: "Also, have you made a detailed budget for the investment?"

"I have, the investment will be about 100 million."

Xu Laoguai spoke with an accent and was somewhat anxious; his previous few works had all lost money, and the investors no longer trusted him much.

This script came from a serialized novel by an online author, and Wei Jin Company had secured the rights; Xu Laoguai was responsible for proposing ideas and working with the script center to perfect the screenplay. Although Xu Laoguai had joined the company, he could still take on outside films; at this moment, he had just finished filming a woman-centric movie, *Women Don't Bad*, starring three currently popular actresses: Zhou Xun, Gwei Lun-mei, and Zhang Yuqi.

However, that was an investor's requirement, and the film was not what he wanted; he still preferred films in the costume, martial arts, and xianxia genres.

"The investment is too large; under the current circumstances, the pressure to break even is quite high."

Hearing this number, Wei Jin frowned; an investment of 100 million at every turn—how was the budget calculated?

"Compress the costs and keep it under 80 million. Also, you know the company's rules..."

Wei Jin did not finish his sentence, but Xu Laoguai already understood that this meant he had to invest 20% himself; thinking of this, he actually felt that the budget might have been set too high.

This tactic of Wei Jin's was truly effective against many directors accustomed to using investors' money to film their own projects; at the very least, Xu Laoguai dared not risk over 10 million. One had to know this guy had a long history of frequently requesting additional investment and playing with grand scenes—he was known as the "special effects fanatic."

"Boss Wei, I will plan it out in more detail and come back to communicate with you in a few days." —— After Xu Laoguai left, Wei Jin began to organize his thoughts.

Time had already entered March, and the company's projects had begun one after another.

*Bodyguards and Assassins* had completed its pre-production and would start filming in the Hong Kong City of Shanghai soon.

In terms of television dramas, *Snow Leopard* had already started; the rights to the original novel *Special Warfare Pioneer* had been secured long ago, and this could be considered an early "cool" novel with a War of Resistance theme.

Furthermore, the script for the *Ghost Blows Out the Light* TV series had been perfected; it was just waiting for approval to be officially launched. Wei Jin intended to film the TV series first, which could also serve as a warm-up for the films in the next two years.

*Crazy Racer* had also entered the promotional stage; Ning Hao's reputation was quite good, and there were already many people online looking forward to it.

*The Equation of Love and Death* was scheduled for June 6th; waiting any longer would only increase the competition, and since it had already nearly broken even, there was no need to be overly demanding.

*The Voice* was also in preparation, and several television stations had already expressed interest in cooperation; they were currently negotiating the specific revenue sharing.

*Ip Man 2* had also finished filming and was in post-production; Emperor Motion Pictures intended to schedule it for National Day, which Wei Jin also felt was appropriate.

In South Korea, the branch office had long been prepared, and Wei Jin had provided several scripts. He had watched plenty of Korean films in his past life, and they were truly bold in their scale, offering an excellent viewing experience; they were currently launching their first disaster film, *Haeundae*.

Seeing that all tasks were progressing steadily, Wei Jin planned to give himself a vacation and start new projects in the second half of the year.

Additionally, regarding Huayi's stocks, Wei Jin did not hold them all himself; the reason was simple—the quantity was too large and had already exceeded the red line, which was unfavorable for subsequent selling.

In the end, the subscription list Wei Jin reported to Huayi was 10 million shares for Ceng Li, 10 million for Gao Yuanyuan, 10 million for Jing Tian, 10 million for Liu Yifei, and 10 million for himself.

This allowed him to firmly hold the shares in his hands to keep Huayi in check while also being able to withdraw at any time; besides, it could be considered a bit of pocket money for the women. —— The launch of the *Crazy Racer* promotion also caught the attention of *The Forbidden Kingdom*, which followed suit with its own actions.

Huayi, in conjunction with Li Lianjie's "One Foundation," announced to the public that starting from *The Forbidden Kingdom*, a portion of the proceeds from all future invested films would be donated to charity.

Whether it was true or not, the promotional effect was achieved anyway.

What surprised Wei Jin was that Gu Changwei's *Spring Breeze* and Wang Xiaoshuai's *In Love We Trust* were also placed in this time slot; he didn't know what they were planning, perhaps they had self-awareness—these types of award-seeking films didn't consider box office.

In addition, Chen Laoshi's new film *Sniper* had not passed the review, but no guidance was given either. The investor, Media Asia, was very dissatisfied and directly accused them in front of the media of "punishing without teaching."

Wei Jin was not surprised by this at all; that bunch of old fogies operated that way. If you didn't pull strings, they would never tell you directly why something didn't pass, as if doing so could highlight their power.

On the other side, media reports revealed that Wang Jinhua had submitted her resignation to Orange Sky, and the two sides were in the process of handing over business.

Reporters could not find Wang Jinhua and could only interview Orange Sky, to which Orange Sky vaguely stated they were unaware.

In fact, the industry was not surprised by this; long before, Orange Sky had established a new brokerage company outside of Wang Jinhua's company, and Wu Kebuo's intentions were clear to all.

It was only reasonable that Wang Jinhua was unwilling to continue wasting time, but Wei Jin knew that as time went on, this kind of pure talent agency would become less and less competitive; once actors' salaries went up, even fewer people would be willing to stay.

The first update of the day; I humbly request that all readers kindly provide a subscription, add to favorites, monthly ticket, or recommendation ticket. Thank you, everyone! (End of chapter)