Chapter 470: Lure Them In First, Then Kill Them

Liu Tianxian was like this: though soft-hearted, she preferred to avoid trouble, but sometimes her disgust was impossible to suppress and showed through clearly.

Eyes cannot lie, so when she saw the reporter sneaking photos of her, her gaze was cold.

Photos of them laughing and chatting with Macau officials and liaisons at the hotel entrance were quickly leaked by that reporter.

Probably afraid of the Principal, he didn't demand protection money from Yutu—he just sold it straight to the media; previously, paying protection money was enough, but now self-media has grown so powerful.

Both video and images were available, but since it was nighttime and taken from afar, they appeared very blurry.

Without specific pointing out, no one could tell who was who, so the leaker kindly added large headshots to the images, labeling one as Liu Tianxian and the other as the Principal.

The other three weren't named—the reporter didn't recognize them.

But from their posture and aura, it was clear they weren't ordinary people.

This is personal, so that's all the prize money.

"She just had dinner—how is this even news?"

This left Hou Miao speechless—it was too vague. How grand? How lavish? How eye-catching? Nothing was concrete.

"First, draft a plan based on a hundred-million standard. Don't show it to me—once it's done, take it to Tan Sijiang in Macau. If they approve, execute it." Fang Hong instructed.

Probably even getting them to secure a few sponsors would be hard—not because Fang Hong looked down on them, but these old academics stuck in offices simply lacked such thinking.

"Aren't I always busy? For my career, for my love—but no matter how busy I am, I've always missed you." Fang Hong blurted out.

"It's just a normal dinner—after all, they're dating, in a romantic relationship."

Fifty million must make some noise!

"Boss Tang, you're being unreasonable—this conversation can't go on." Fang Hong sighed.

Of course, such a film would never be imported domestically.

"Say it, Fang—what do you want?" Donna grew more serious.

Hearing this, Hou Miao indicated he understood.

"I've organized a film festival and want you to come attend—while you're here, you can also buy a few of our films for overseas distribution." Fang Hong's real goal was to get her to buy films.

Many don't understand: Zhang Yuqi has looks, has figure—isn't she desirable? Why go to prostitutes? Maybe he got bored of homegrown flowers and wanted to taste wild ones for excitement.

"It's just too blurry—can't see anything."

"I'll introduce you sometime. I'm calling now because I need your help." Fang Hong said.

"Do it to a hundred-million standard." Fang Hong was extravagant.

"Hey General Manager Tang, how've you been?" Fang Hong said.

"Just joking, don't take it personally—you still haven't introduced me to your love interest. Who's the girl? Let me see if she's pretty." Tang Na smiled.

Zhang Yuqi was fierce—not only did she slap Wang Xiaofei, she also kicked Wang Quanan hard—absolutely brutal.

"Not much—you know we're starting from scratch, with zero foundation. To attract people to submit films, profit is the simplest way." Fang Hong said.

Even high box office won't matter much—a single film barely reaches two or three hundred million dollars. If you care about such figures, it means the other four are already in decline.

In China, this budget is quite decent, but in Hollywood, it's low-budget, utterly unremarkable.

Of course, he had his own plans—he'd hustle Tang Na into buying several award-winning films once she arrived; if she didn't buy, she couldn't return to the United States.

After being edited and written up by junior staff, these images sparked some buzz when leaked.

"Get Out" premiered globally in fifteen countries on Friday, June 13.

"Why can't someone like me have love?" Fang Hong was utterly speechless.

Comments ranged wildly, but this news didn't cause a major stir—everyone had already quietly known about Liu Tianxian and the Principal's relationship.

Showing it to Macau means letting them supervise execution—after all, they're nearby, and they've invested so much money; they naturally want to send people to see what you're doing.

If it were the Principal's film, she'd be genuinely interested—previous ones like "Now You See Me" and "Lucy 1" were decent—but if it were domestic Chinese films, her interest dropped.

"Hahaha, sorry—I spoke the truth. I'm shocked you, such a domineering, autocratic person, could have love." Tang Na laughed.

Anyone in this situation would be in good spirits.

Doubling it like this—surely it won't just attract people, at least it'll make them interested. Eight million for a low-budget film means immediate cost recovery.

They just hadn't admitted it yet—having dinner together didn't seem like much!

First place was "Jump Street 2."

She'd collaborated with him for years and communicated several times—in her mind, the Principal was domineering, hoarding everything for himself, letting no one else have any.

Once people saw the Principal had channels to push films to overseas distributors, wouldn't they flood in for the next Macau Film Festival?

How many of those office-bound old academics could even do that?

"Just go ahead and do it—whether it's good or bad, we'll fix it later." Fang Hong said again.

The committee needs coordination: budget management, propaganda and promotion, venue setup, guest invitations, volunteer recruitment, event security, plus supplier coordination, material sourcing, resource connections—endless tasks.

"No requirements—grand, lavish, eye-catching." Fang Hong held up three fingers.

The Huabiao Awards Awards were higher: one million and four million standard.

Dollars were still very tempting.

"Your films? Not your own film?" Tang Na confirmed.

Of course, that'd be too petty—Cannes only had a couple hundred million tops; the Principal was going for something this big right away.

"Oh my god, are you serious? You can have love?" Tang Na was stunned again.

Big scandals included "Feng Fei Reunion," and after Huang Haibo, Wang Quanan was also exposed for soliciting prostitutes.

The opening achieved by "Hero" had been squandered by these three films.

They were paying—so he just executed!

"Edge of Tomorrow" was a flop, couldn't even beat a low-budget horror film.

Clearly, this person was in great spirits—"Get Out" had a steady box office rise, and "Don't Breathe" had been a huge profit earlier.

Who'd have thought such a friendly public star was so wild behind closed doors?

This way is fine now—everyone gets meat to eat.

After reaching an agreement with Hou Miao, Fang Hong made a call across the ocean to ask Donna for help to lend support.

Upon its release in North America, Get Out immediately gained high popularity, earning $10.834 million on its first day; they chose this release window because Transformers: Age of Extinction was coming out at month's end, so they avoided competing with it—this film became wildly popular globally.

The industry is too politically correct, and the members of the Golden Rooster and Huabiao Awards committees are all from the Federation of Literary and Art Circles or the Film Association—there's not a single person who can simply organize an award ceremony well.

"The entertainment industry is so deep—Principal and Liu Tianxian are having dinner."

When Fang Hong brought him in, he asked: "Principal, what are your requirements for this award ceremony?"

Before coming, he looked into the ceremony's budget—typical award ceremonies cost tens of millions; last year's Golden Horse Awards were only 16 million.

It's a pity we can't acquire this company—not only can't we acquire it, we must protect it; if we cooperate with other Hollywood distributors, this meat will be gone.

Get Out, this low-budget, high-grossing film, made Universal huge profits—after all, their cooperation with China has never failed.

Sometimes Fang Hong looked at Liu Tianxian, saw her unkempt, wearing a hospital gown at home, and thought she was ugly—it was normal.

For example, give 8 million for a 4 million request; give 2 million for a 1 million request.

"Alright, for your sake, I'll go to the film festival you mentioned with a team—but I can't guarantee I'll buy anything." Donna agreed.

If you nitpick over everything, you'll never finish nitpicking!

But there's another reason: outsiders see stars as glamorous and fit, but at home they're all the same—they show their ugliest sides to each other.

And this small company doesn't violate the core interests of the other four Hollywood majors.

It recouped its cost in one day, showing incredible dark horse potential! The film's investment was only $4.5 million, equivalent to over 30 million.

Everything involving China and the United States is pre-arranged—just follow the routine. Recently, Fang Hong has been rushing around to organize the Macau International Film Festival committee.

Of course, authority takes time to accumulate—it's not about how much money you spend.

For team awards like Best Film, Best Low-Budget Feature, and Best Documentary, the prize money is three million.

It's not that Fang Hong doesn't trust them—he simply can't recall anyone in his memory who can set aside certain things, organize a grand award ceremony, and has experience doing so.

First, the committee chair must be chosen—he didn't pick anyone from the industry, but an outsider: Hou Miao, head of Swan Castle Esports.

For individual Golden Rooster Awards—Best Director, Actor, Cinematography, Art Direction, Editing—the winner receives five million.

Because the film deals with sensitive racial issues and is a horror film, it was released in only a few countries.

"Oh my god, Fang, you still remember me." Donna was greatly surprised when she received the call.

"Alright, what's the budget?" Hou Miao asked.

Fang Hong and Liu Tianxian didn't care about this—they let it be filmed and written however they wanted, showing great indifference.

He didn't know if the Macau authorities would hesitate to spend fifty million, or if Tan Sijiang would call him to scold him for wasting money.

Each of the Six Majors has its own subsidiaries—for example, Disney's subsidiary Marvel is a gold mine.

This low-budget film then earned $12.676 million and $9.865 million on the following two weekend days, totaling $33.375 million in box office, defeating Edge of Tomorrow to rank second on the North American box office chart.

"I understand." Hou Miao nodded.

No other reason—having been scammed several times before, international distributors lost everything on The Banquet, A Simple Noodle Story, The Promise, etc. —everyone in the industry knows.

Spending this much over half a year is still affordable, since there are sponsorships and ads to recoup costs. "Isn't this a bit too much?" Hou Miao ventured to ask.

A hundred million must make some splash! "Alright, I understand—I'll go back and gather the team to set up the committee!" Hou Miao didn't waste time—time was tight and the task heavy.

Hearing this, Donna fell silent for a moment.

He could roughly understand the Principal's intent—to completely overturn the old image of the Macau Film Festival.

And the public often saw the two together; online, netizens and fans had long grown used to it.

They hadn't been in contact for years—this sudden call surprised her greatly.

"You can come first and pick—art films are fine too; we have completed films, buy what you like, skip what you don't—either way, you won't lose money." Fang Hong spoke sweetly.

This is also why China has always been safe—Universal and Warner don't want China to seek a fourth party.

And this year's entertainment industry isn't short of big scandals—many stars have been caught using drugs, one wave after another challenging audience limits and perceptions.

You can't tell anything from the planning documents—when the Macau Film Festival opens, he'll just see the final product.

"."

It requires year after year of demonstrating the festival's fairness and impartiality.

To fix Macau Film Festival's shabbiness, prize money must first match mainstream standards—and not just match, but double them.

That's Zhang Yuqi's husband.

Although China is small and its films are low-budget, if they make money, that's enough.

And it's autocratic—no one can give money or take a share.

Only the United States, South Korea, Italy, United Kingdom, Russia, Argentina, and others.

After so many years of cooperation, they should give him some face.

This was his first time doing this—he had no idea what it would turn out like.

"This ceremony must be grand and luxurious, giving a visually prestigious impression; promotion and positioning must be handled well—everything must completely change the previous image and appearance." Fang Hong instructed.

"Fine." Fang Hong had no objections.

Make people feel this film festival is a mainstream one.

"Forgive me for saying so, but I'm not interested in your films—if it were your film, I'd be quite interested," Donna said.

But Hou Miao was different—he had planned countless matches for Hero Glory and had experience.

"Who are you having dinner with? Is there a new drama coming up? Are you joining a new set?"

"Yes, our films." Fang Hong said.

Yutu contributes 25 million; Chang'e Technology contributes 25 million; the bulk—50 million—comes from Macau; for him, there's no pressure.

What used to cost five million now costs ten times as much.

If you don't buy a few films, how will others see the Principal's strength and influence in running this film festival?

Anyway, trick them over first, then kill them—no problem.

Actually, given Universal's scale and distribution channels, spending a few hundred thousand dollars to buy a movie would hardly make them lose money; there's always a market willing to take it off their hands.

But Fang Hong wasn't asking them to buy one or two movies.

(End of Chapter)