Chapter 67: The Best New Year

The seven major Hollywood studios themselves had little interest in the film festival, but their subsidiaries were another matter.

In fact, many independent film companies in Hollywood are subsidiaries of the seven majors: Harvey Weinstein’s Miramax belongs to Disney, Focus Features is under Universal, and New Line Cinema’s parent company is Warner.

After acquiring Columbia, Sony also established Sony Classics specifically to handle art films and independent cinema; years later, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was fully driven by Sony Classics, including its distribution strategy and Oscar public relations.

Wu Yuchen had not lied to Harfetz—Sony Classics was the one genuinely interested in his film Car 44.

“Mr. George, Western frontier-style films have always had a dedicated audience in America. If you relocate the setting of Car 44 there, amplify its absurdity and brutality, and add more bloodshed and violence, I believe you’ll see solid returns.”

George, the Sony Classics representative who had come to negotiate, said nothing, silently contemplating Wu Yuchen as he studied him.

Wu Yuchen remained calm and added:

“Miramax reached out to me too, offering a higher price. But to be honest, I trust Sony Classics’ reputation more.”

George raised an eyebrow, then smiled: “Choosing Sony Classics is the right decision. Adaptation rights at $300,000—deal!”

Over the past two years, Harvey Weinstein of Miramax had been riding high in the independent film world; George didn’t want to drag this out any longer. $300,000 wasn’t a high price for Sony Classics—no need to haggle over a few thousand dollars.

Just as this young Chinese director said, after acquiring it, they could hire a few screenwriters to adapt it, flesh out the protagonists’ characters, expand the plot, and create more tension among the robbers on the bus—there was still a high probability of profit.

Wu Yuchen smiled and shook George’s hand. He was already satisfied with the $300,000 price; he didn’t believe Miramax had ever contacted him, and even if they had offered $500,000, he wouldn’t have trusted it.

Because Harvey Weinstein had conned plenty of people before—first he’d quote a high price to hook you, give you a few thousand dollars as a deposit, then when other buyers had left, he’d renege and slash the price to a third or even lower, leaving you helpless. Feng Kuzi had been burned by him and cursed Harvey as a fraud.

Two days later, Wu Yuchen received all the money—$420,000 sat in his account.

To be honest, if he didn’t bring this money back home, he could probably evade taxes without anyone noticing. But he had no intention of dodging taxes—paying legally was every citizen’s duty!

Still, he had his own plan: this sum was currently counted as his personal income, and everyone knew taxes on annual earnings were due between April and June of the following year.

So he planned to leave $300,000 in his overseas bank account to invest after Yahoo’s IPO, and bring back only $120,000 to China. If he brought it all back, converting dollars to Chinese currency would be easy—but converting it back later would be a hassle, costing at least 10% in fees; better not to bother.

He’d pay taxes on this $420,000 income next year; by then, his stocks would have multiplied several times over, so paying over $80,000 in taxes wouldn’t sting much—the tax rate on film rights income was 20%.

Too bad Car 44’s subject matter didn’t fit; by the time he made We Two, films falling under policy-supported categories could apply for cultural industry development grants or tax incentives after winning major awards, effectively offsetting most of the tax burden.

Jiang Qin touched the fashionable coat Wu Yuchen had just bought her, feeling as if these past few days had been a dream. After traveling abroad with Wu Yuchen, they toured Berlin’s attractions, then the short film gained acclaim at the festival, and finally won the Golden Bear for Best Short at the closing ceremony!

Her impression of Berlin was wonderful—almost magical. But now, as the plane took off and the city below shrank, it was time to say goodbye.

Not only Jiang Qin and Wu Yuchen were in high spirits; the crew of Sun Has Ears, flying back to China with them, was equally elated—lead actress and producer Zhang Yu was now radiant with pride.

This sister was generous: a few days ago, she had treated Wu Yuchen and his group to dinner and invited them to return together. She didn’t hide the fact that she’d sold her film rights for $850,000—she announced it openly.

But Wu Yuchen still thought this film would likely lose money; he remembered Sun Has Ears had bombed at the domestic box office.

Back then, Zhang Yu had been bold—she invested 10 million RMB herself, bought a production label from Changchun Film Studio, hired a Hong Kong director, Japanese composers, and a host of top domestic talents, applying her American-produced experience to make this film.

Though it won a directing award, the director was from Hong Kong—who in China’s media would promote it?

Only the rights sale helped recoup some costs; in the end, she still lost several million.

But he wasn’t worried about this wealthy woman—just like him, she’d spent years in America, yet her business acumen far surpassed Tu Honggang’s; she owned a company in America, a fertilizer plant in Shandong, and a mine in Vietnam—she used commerce to fund her films.

After spending over half a month in Berlin, when Wu Yuchen and his group returned to Beijing, they arrived just in time for Lantern Festival.

After dropping Jiang Qin off, Wu Yuchen didn’t rush home—he called Hou Keming first.

“Teacher Hou, Happy Lantern Festival!”

“Happy, happy! You’re back? What was the result?” Hou Keming asked immediately upon hearing Wu Yuchen’s voice.

“Golden Bear for Best Short Film.”

“You really won it?!”

“Really. I’m near campus—should I come over right now and show it to you?”

“Hahaha, yes, yes, come quickly!” Hou Keming’s joy was unmistakable in his voice.

At Hou Keming’s home, Wu Yuchen also met Xie Xiaojing, who had arrived as well.

Hou Keming didn’t bother with formalities when he saw the gift: “Put it aside, put it aside—where’s the award?”

Seeing both of them staring expectantly, Wu Yuchen smiled and pulled out the award.

After examining the award carefully, Hou Keming returned it to Wu Yuchen and said with a smile:

“This Golden Bear for Best Short Film is the best New Year’s gift I’ve ever received!”

Then Hou Keming remembered something and added: “Wait a moment—I’ll make a phone call.”

A moment later, Hou Keming returned smiling:

“I just spoke with Old He. Tomorrow, after Big Scissors starts work, go see him—he won’t give you trouble.”

“Thank you, Teacher Hou!”

After leaving, Wu Yuchen called several people who had been concerned about him, wished them a happy New Year—Lantern Festival hadn’t passed yet, so it was still the New Year period.

After hanging up, Wu Yuchen touched his pager and thought it was time to upgrade to a mobile phone.