Chapter 27: Cooperation Settled

Out of considerations of laziness and such, Jiang Heng, although he made Wu Yan Zu famous, did not sign an agency contract with him, but only signed a preliminary agreement for a few films.

After all, the Xianggang entertainment industry is a place where dragons and snakes mix; even he himself dares not say he has full self-protection ability, always ready to fly to the Neidi, so naturally he cannot claim to be protecting the other party.

Moreover, signing him would require considering his career development; Jiang Heng really couldn't be bothered to worry about that.

As for signing Li Meiqi, on one hand he felt the little girl was pleasant to look at by his side.

At the same time he felt it was not easy for a young girl to go out and make her way, so taking out the agency contract would at least prevent her from being dragged into shooting overly revealing films.

Furthermore, girls differ from boys; as long as their looks pass muster, even if they just play bit parts or be vases in many films, they can still guarantee popularity.

After a few years, if Li Meiqi says she wants to leave Outstanding Rising Film Company and strike out on her own, that's up to her.

In short, at present Jiang Heng, being isolated and weak, has no thought of making money from the agency business.

If the company later grows in size and has more talent, that's another matter.

Moreover, upon hearing Jiang Heng's words, Wu Yan Zu was overjoyed.

His pay for filming The Matrix was not small for an ordinary person, but after becoming famous it was not enough.

Fortunately he then landed another film and several advertising endorsements, bringing in considerable income.

However, at this moment the Xianggang film industry is in decline, and the scripts offered to him are all small investments, with nothing novel.

Wang Jing, on the other hand, had come up with a spoof of The Matrix script wanting him to star, but he refused on the spot, leaving him temporarily with no film to shoot.

Just then Jiang Heng called—how could he not be happy!

"Rest assured, I'll definitely keep the schedule open for you; may I ask what kind of film you'll be shooting?"

"A special-effects blockbuster about dinosaurs!"

"Will it be released worldwide too?"

"Of course!"

"Great, I'll definitely keep my schedule open; hey, should I report to the set early to do some training?"

Jiang Heng thought for a moment, then said, "Fine, if you're free just come over first; anyway, the production preparations are only a near-future matter."

After hanging up, Jiang Heng called Li Meiqi; after The Matrix was released, she had not taken any film scripts, but had instead taken on several cosmetic advertising endorsements.

The fees were not low, so she also had considerable personal wealth.

Knowing that Jiang Heng's side couldn't do without her film work, she felt quite at ease staying there.

"There's a film to shoot? Good, good, I'll go right away!"

After hanging up and starting to book a flight to Jingcheng, not mentioning that, he said Han Sanping returned to hold a meeting, telling the Beijing Film Studio's leadership about Jiang Heng's story outline and investment amount, leaving everyone present secretly astonished.

"Several tens of millions?"

"Listening to Jiang Heng's description, maybe it'll be eighty or ninety million?"

"Relying only on the Neidi and Xianggang film markets, recouping the investment would be somewhat difficult."

"As for profitability, it all depends on overseas box-office performance."

"However, with the first two Jurassic Park films having ultra-high global box office beforehand, the Beijing Film Studio's leadership was still nervous yet excited."

"I think we can give it a try; judging from The Matrix's film quality and box-office performance, Jiang Heng still understands special-effects blockbusters and Western aesthetics well; even if the new film can't reach The Matrix's height, it won't be too bad!"

"Another said: 'Actually, for a film like Jurassic Park, what you watch is all kinds of dinosaurs and the humans' chase-and-escape scenes; as long as the visual effects are passable, the plot just needs to be roughly okay. His story outline is still quite novel!'"

"Would a bunch of people going to the prehistoric world be too absurd?"

"Kind of!"

"How should we write it? We can't just copy Jurassic Park, writing about some big businessman building a dinosaur park on an island—what kind of businessman would have that kind of power? A coal boss? Or a beverage company boss?"

"Coal bosses go after beauties—who would go after dinosaurs!"

""Hahaha!" The people inside laughed uproariously."

"Han Sanping flicked ash from his cigarette, saying, 'Actually I've also thought about it—settings like Jurassic Park, King Kong, or Godzilla really don't suit our national conditions; we can't let monsters tear down buildings in Shanghai, can we!'"

"That definitely wouldn't do; the impact would be too bad!"

"Exactly, some viewers have limited comprehension and would take it as real!"

"A group of people discussed at length; although some had objections to Jiang Heng's story outline, they couldn't come up with a better plan, so they reluctantly agreed."

"Later they discussed film investment; although Beijing Film Studio's financial situation was better than other production companies, it was still only strong in a limited way."

"Everyone feared that investing too much would lead to greater losses later, so they thought it better to invest less; ten million would suffice."

"Han Sanping, after much persuasion, managed to raise the amount to fifteen million, but that was all."

"Afterward they called Jiang Heng, told him the maximum funds they could provide, and asked whether he needed to find other investors."

"Jiang Heng said: 'No need, I'll cover the rest myself!'"

"Han Sanping was taken aback by those words; in this era, film production, especially for larger investments, basically involves multiple companies jointly investing and sharing risks."

"Films like The Matrix, which are exclusively invested in by Jiang Heng's Outstanding Rising Film Company, are rare indeed."

"\"Director Jiang has such boldness—I admire him, I admire him! \" Han Sanping said sincerely."

"Jiang Heng chuckled twice, thinking, 'If it weren't for the need to build connections and networks in the Neidi, I could have covered everything myself without any trouble!'"

"With the initial investment cooperation intention reached, Jiang Heng continued to stay in the hotel writing the script, while Han Sanping began to ponder the allocation of roles among the actors."

"As for the male and female leads, there's no need to mention—they will definitely be given to Wu Yan Zu and Li Meiqi; these two have some fame in the global film market, so the film will sell better in the future."

"For other roles, as long as he makes a definite suggestion, Jiang Heng should be able to agree."

"Considering that Li Meiqi already plays the female lead, it wouldn't be good to have too many female roles; thus, between Liu Bei and Xu Qing, only one could be chosen."

"As for Ge You, he could be made to play the archaeological team leader."

"Having thought these over, Han Sanping called the two of them; both were overjoyed."

"Han Sanping again reminded them to keep it secret before hanging up."

"On Jiang Heng's side, after Wu Yan Zu and Li Meiqi arrived, he had Han Sanping help arrange physical training, while he himself remained in the hotel revising the script."

"Who would have thought Columbia Pictures called, saying they were preparing to hold a premiere for The Matrix in North America, asking him to bring the male and female leads over to participate in promotion."

Jiang Heng naturally was happy to participate; after all, it's a profit-sharing distribution model—the better the promotion, the higher the box office, the more he gains!

He immediately took Wu Yan Zu and Li Meiqi by plane to Haolaiwu.

After the plane landed, people from Columbia Company came to pick them up.

Not only that, a large number of reporters also came, surrounding Jiang Heng's entourage so tightly that not even water could leak through.

"What's going on?" Jiang Heng asked.

"Um, it's still about the script; we're claiming you want to countersue the Huasuan Company, accusing them of defamation!"

"Holy shit!" Jiang Heng couldn't help but mutter a curse, thinking to himself: "When it comes to bottom lines, yours are lower!"

(End of chapter)