Chapter 48: with translation of chapter title

Luoshanji, Beverly Hills.

Jiang Heng lay on the rocking chair in his own courtyard, leisurely enjoying the afternoon sunshine.

This is what he bought after receiving the box office revenue share from The Matrix in North America, costing less than four million US dollars; it is a luxurious and exquisite French-style villa covering 0.68 acres, about 2750 square meters, built in 1987.

Entering the carved main gate, there is a circular driveway built around the fountain pool; the courtyard also has a leisure cottage with a barbecue area and outdoor dining space. What most moves Jiang Heng, however, is the beautiful swimming pool featuring hydrotherapy and waterfall landscaping.

Unfortunately, reality is not like in All's Well, Ends Well where a beautiful neighbor in swimwear comes over to borrow the pool.

The visitor was Li An, who was then preparing Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

In terms of funding, only Jiang Zhongqiang of Anle Pictures is willing to invest, but it falls far short of what Li An had anticipated.

Someone suggested he ask Jiang Heng, since everyone knows he made big money from his two films and might be willing to invest.

Jiang Heng was indeed somewhat surprised by the call, because in his impression the film was invested by Columbia Company.

He did not know that the film actually had eight investment companies, with foreign capital not exceeding half, making it a genuine Chinese-language film.

As for the emergence of Sino-American co-productions, that too has its historical context.

Hong Kong films declined; the top talents all went to Hollywood, so many big productions naturally lacked funding and were shelved.

It was against this backdrop that Hollywood capital tried to break into Xianggang and the mainland.

The reason is simple: the annual quota of ten imported blockbusters is really too few for them.

They wanted to bypass the regulations and enter the Chinese market without restrictions.

Historically, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon pioneered a new model of cooperation between Hollywood production companies and Chinese-language film companies.

Later, Zhou Xingxing's Kung Fu also adopted the same model for its production and release as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Zhang Yimou's Hero, while not accepting American investment in production, sold the North American distribution rights before filming for over 15 million US dollars.

That film's total investment was only 30 million US dollars, so recouping half the cost directly; essentially it's no different.

However, given a choice, most Chinese-language directors are unwilling to accept Hollywood investment.

After all, over there it's a producer-driven system, and the director's approval authority is not the greatest.

Look at Zhang Yimou's The Great Wall: if he had more approval authority, the film might not have been that good, but it wouldn't have been so bad either; it fell far below standard.

Li An had been around in the US for many years, so he naturally knew the ways of Hollywood big studios.

After turning thirty, he once stayed at home unemployed for five or six years, during which he also went to the set to do odd jobs.

But most of the time he was at home writing scripts; he would take them to the big companies, they'd point out a bunch of flaws, ask him to revise, and after endless revisions nothing came of it.

Then they'd ask him to write another one, and that's how he frittered away five or six years.

Seeing that he couldn't make it in Hollywood, he returned to Treasure Island and directed the film Push Hands, earning a nomination at the 28th Golden Horse Awards, which finally gave him some recognition.

Afterward he directed several more films in succession, winning international awards one after another.

But by this time, martial arts films were already on the decline.

Whether in box office or investment scale, both had sharply decreased.

After 1995, he went back to Hollywood again and directed several low-budget films.

But deep down, he had always wanted to bring the martial arts world he understood onto the big screen.

Indeed, a few Hollywood companies were interested in his script, but when they saw the required investment amount, they backed off.

Li An, feeling helpless, went to Xianggang to seek investment, but only Jiang Zhongqiang of Anle Pictures showed interest.

However, faced with a production cost of 15 million US dollars, Jiang Zhongqiang didn't dare to take it all on, and advised Li An to keep looking.

Through various intermediaries making phone calls, they finally got in touch with Jiang Heng.

"Director Li, what are your preliminary plans for this film?"

"I'd like to ask Li Lianjie to play Li Mu Bai and have Shu Qi play the female lead!" Li An said sincerely.

Jiang Heng laughed, thinking to himself that you wanted those two, but in the end you didn't manage to get either of them!

Originally in history, Li Lianjie refused Li An because his wife was pregnant.

As for Shu Qi, she was turned down by her boyfriend and manager Wen Zan, and the two broke up over this.

Jiang Heng knew these things, but he didn't say more; he only said he wanted to see the script.

Li An hurriedly handed over the prepared script; Jiang Heng took it, glanced through it roughly, and then said, "You, how much investment do you want?"

Upon hearing this, Li An instantly became nervous.

In fact, before coming, he had also inquired indirectly and knew that many Xianggang film people had recently come to Jiang Heng seeking investment, and all had been turned down.

He had just been giving it a try, never expecting that Jiang Heng's meaning was that he could cover the whole thing!

"Jiang Zhongqiang, the head of Anle Pictures, has invested four million US dollars!"

"Then I'll put in eleven million; how about that?"

He originally wanted to contribute more, and would take more if needed!

But thinking that he should still save, lest Li An spend money recklessly, he forced himself to hold back.

"That really couldn't be better!"

Li An was overjoyed, and after thinking said, "Director Jiang, you make commercial films extremely well; would you consider serving as producer?"

Jiang Heng waved his hand, "Forget it, I really don't have that kind of time!"

Li An felt even more delighted, hearing that this meant he could be a hands-off boss, so he asked Jiang Heng what he was busy with!

"Nothing much; every day I just write articles and scripts, stroll around, shop, prepare to rest for another half a month, then return to Jingcheng to prepare a new film!"

Li An looked at the luxurious mansion before him, and his envy grew ever stronger.

To say the least, over these years he has also earned quite a bit of money, but wanting to purchase property in Beverly Hills is still quite a strain.

What makes him even more envious is that Jiang Heng achieved success at a young age, having such accomplishments at only twenty years old.

By the time he reached thirty, he had already begun to be unemployed!

"Director Jiang's life is truly enviable!"

Jiang Heng laughed heartily, "In this life, you should work when you must and enjoy when you can!"

"Director Jiang lives so carefree!"

Jiang Heng smiled, "I guess so!"

First he got up to write a check for Li An; the latter hurriedly produced two contracts, filled in a few key pieces of information, and after both parties signed and pressed their handprints, he then took the check.

"I have to say, thank you Director Jiang for your trust!" Li An's expression was very sincere.

One hundred and ten million US dollars, when converted to RMB is almost one hundred million.

One hundred million RMB in '99, really a huge sum!

In just a few words they decided on a hundred‑million‑plus investment; where does he get such confidence!

Even Li An himself doesn't have that much confidence.

He doesn't even dare imagine what to do if the film's box office is poor after release!

Jiang Heng was very calm, "Ah, it's no problem; just go ahead and do your best. I guarantee I won't interfere with your creation. Of course, the financial side still has to follow the rules!"

(End of chapter)