Chapter 103: Cooperation

The news that Zhou Xingxing came to visit the set had already been reported to Han Sanping.

He was currently busy with the preparations for the film Wuji, and although the company had earned a lot of money from its cooperation with Jiang Heng.

But as a large company like China Film, it cannot rely too much on Jiang Heng; it must also support other directors.

Upon hearing that Zhou Xingxing had suddenly come to the capital, Han Sanping immediately sensed an opportunity there.

He immediately called Jiang Heng, asking him to receive Zhou Xingxing first, and said he would come over himself.

After hanging up, Jiang Heng laughed and said, 'This saves us trouble; Director Han will be here shortly!'

Hearing this, Zhou Xingxing felt somewhat uneasy.

Now that he understood the mainland film market better, knowing the weight of the vice chairman and general manager of China Film Group, he became even more determined in his decision to invite China Film to participate in the investment.

After chatting for about half an hour, Han Sanping arrived. Jiang Heng raised his hand to check his watch and said, 'Perfect, the crew should start shooting over there; you two talk first, and I'll treat you to dinner tonight!'

Han Sanping said, 'Ah, now that we're on the ground in the capital, of course I'll handle the arrangements!'

Jiang Heng didn't argue with him, laughed, and went back to filming.

On the set, it was still the scene opposite Tang Yan.

The little girl, having interacted with Jiang Heng more often, was finally less shy; during breaks in filming she would chat under the pretense of asking for advice, and they became increasingly familiar.

'Hey, Director Jiang, Lord Xing is coming over; he's not here just for a cameo, is he?'

'Exactly!'

'Wow, the cast of our film is incredibly strong! Just for the sake of seeing the stars, many people will flock to the theaters!'

'Exactly, so you need to work hard—with so many people lifting you up in a sedan chair, if you don't perform well you'll get scolded!'

Tang Yan instantly looked pitiful, saying, 'I've given it my all, Director Jiang, you know I've never studied this!'

Jiang Heng nodded slightly, saying, 'So then, after your scenes are wrapped up, go take the exams for the Central Academy of Drama and Beijing Film Academy!'

'Oh, alright!'

In front of Jiang Heng, Tang Yan put on a bitter face, then instantly broke into a happy smile, thinking to herself, 'Should I apply to the Central Academy of Drama or Beijing Film Academy?'

Thanks to her status as the female lead in Jiang Heng's new film Splitting the Mountain to Save Mother, Tang Yan could easily get into either school.

Precisely because she had a choice, she often found herself troubled by this happy dilemma.

That evening, Jiang Heng attended the banquet arranged by Han Sanping, and he also invited Tang Yan to come along.

Upon getting into Jiang Heng's car, she felt her heart race, and the words her best friend had said earlier instantly came to mind.

'Don't be nervous; you're an artist from our company, bringing you along is just to show you the world. Although Zhou Xingxing's new film certainly won't cast you as the lead, even a supporting role—well, forget it! You don't need to overthink it later; just think of it as a reward for your recent hard work on set, a big meal to treat yourself.'

Upon hearing this, Tang Yan instantly let out a sigh of relief, laughing and saying, 'Then I'll just focus on eating!'

In order to cut production costs, the crew basically ate boxed meals throughout the shoot.

The quality of the meals for the main creators could be several grades higher, but it still couldn't compare to the banquet at the hotel, leaving everyone in the crew drooling.

After driving to the hotel arranged by Han Sanping, Jiang Heng led Tang Yan into the reserved private room.

The interior was lavishly decorated, and the dining table was also large.

Han Sanping, Zhou Xingxing, Hong Jinbao, and several senior executives from China Film, Star Glory, and Outstanding Rising Film Company sat together, about a dozen people.

Before the food and drinks arrived, they were still discussing the investment in the film Kung Fu.

Han Sanping said directly, 'Director Jiang, China Film has invested in over ten films this year, especially your film with He Jia, which has a huge budget! Now that it's year‑end and the budget is tight, we can probably scrape together only three million (US dollars) here.'

Jiang Heng looked at Zhou Xingxing and said, 'In other words, there's still a shortfall of twelve million US dollars?'

Zhou Xingxing nodded, his expression a little embarrassed.

Twelve million US dollars doesn't sound like much, but when converted to renminbi it's roughly a hundred million!

For such a huge investment, not to mention that he doesn't have that much liquid capital—even if he did, he wouldn't dare to put it in.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Heng calmly said, 'Fine, I'll cover the rest. Well, let's draft a contract later, nail down the cooperation details, and then I'll transfer the money into the crew's account.'

Zhou Xingxing was taken aback; he hadn't expected Jiang Heng to be so straightforward—this is an investment of over a hundred million!

In Xianggang there are many wealthy people, but pulling in such an investment is also quite difficult.

Otherwise, historically he wouldn't have turned to Columbia Pictures for investment!

'Mr. Jiang, thank you for your trust in me. Rest assured, I will definitely make this film well!'

Everyone says Zhou Xingxing has a solitary personality; if it were any other Hong Kong star coming to the mainland to seek investment, they'd surely be expected to toast.

But he merely expressed his resolve solemnly, saying he would definitely make the film well.

Yet everyone present also believed he would deliver a good film—the reputation of the set as a tyrant is no empty boast.

Tang Yan, standing nearby, felt that her worldview had been refreshed upon hearing this—it turned out someone could decide on a hundred‑million‑yuan investment as casually as buying vegetables, just with a wave of the hand!

Speaking of which, the moment Director Jiang said he would invest, he really was handsome!

Seeing Tang Yan's little‑fangirl expression, Tian Qiewen couldn't help but show a bitter look.

More than half of the investment in the film Kung Fu came from Jiang Heng, and he also brought along his company's female artist—could he be intending to designate the female lead? That would be troublesome.

Fortunately, during the meal Jiang Heng never brought up the female lead, and Zhou Xingxing seemed not to have considered it either; they talked the whole time about what kind of effect they wanted to achieve.

Hong Jinbao was very interested in this, and he ended up getting along very well with Zhou Xingxing, ultimately agreeing to have him serve as the action director.

Jiang Heng thought to himself, 'I hope these two won't end up falling out midway like they did in history.'

Of course, since it hasn't happened yet, he couldn't very well say anything about it in advance.

In the following days, the executives and legal teams of the three companies gathered, signed the contract, and the crew's most important funding issue was thus resolved.

During this period, Zhou Xingxing stayed on the set of Splitting the Mountain to Save Mother, watching how Jiang Heng filmed and asking many questions about the design of the special‑effects scenes.

Finally he simply took out the script of Kung Fu and discussed how to shoot several fight scenes.

The result was that Jiang Heng casually said a few lines, described the scene, and Zhou Xingxing felt it was exactly to his liking.

'Um, Director Jiang, how about you serve as the film's executive producer?' Zhou Xingxing proposed.

Jiang Heng didn't refuse either, and in the end he was credited as both the producer and executive producer of the film Kung Fu.

Talking about actors, he also recommended Feng Xiaogang for a cameo as the boss of the crocodile gang.

Originally, Zhou Xingxing, who always pursued perfection and made films extremely slowly, suddenly realized that after coming to Jingcheng and contacting Jiang Heng, the preparations for the film Kung Fu were progressing so fast they were about to take off.

If this continues, they could start shooting at the beginning of 2002, and the Lunar New Year slot could hit theaters!

"Director Jiang, before others said you were a genius and I didn't believe it, but this time I'm truly convinced! No wonder you can put out a big-effects film every year—your great ideas and creativity are just too much!"

Jiang Heng chuckled, "Starting next year, it won't be just one film per year; I plan to speed up even more, aiming for three films every two years."

"You're starting another new film?" Zhou Xingxing wondered.

"Mm!"

"What are you filming?!"

"The Matrix, a sequel!"

(End of chapter)