Chapter 10: Down from the Screen, Meeting

"Slap," a stack of newspapers was thrown on the conference table.

"Who can tell me what's going on?"

In the office of China Film, President Yang knocked on the table, his tone unkind.

Vice President Han pulled the newspaper over. The headline was: "Shanghai Film has a keen eye, Film Academy freshman work sells well!"

The sub-headline was more direct: It is reported that China Film once refused to invest in the film.

The newspaper was flipped through by the senior executives at the table one by one, and some middle-level managers participating in the meeting on the periphery didn't dare to make a sound.

"How much is the box office?" Vice President Han asked.

"As of yesterday, it has broken 20 million," a department manager reported.

For a time, the atmosphere in the conference room was even more tense.

"What's ridiculous is that the newspaper says China Film refused to invest, but I didn't know at all. Old Han, do you know? President Jiao?"

The number one person spoke, and what he got were shakes of the head. When this kind of film wasn't famous, how could it reach the eyes of people like them?

But now the situation was that it was indeed famous. This pot had to be carried even if they didn't want to.

"Who saw the person at that time?" President Yang asked.

Someone stood up tremblingly. "President Yang, I saw it, but I followed the normal process. It was impossible to give investment; he was just a freshman."

That person was explaining, but it was of no avail. "You change your post for a period of time, and we'll talk later."

The number one person made a decision lightly, and several senior executives agreed unanimously.

The middle-level managers at the table were silent one by one, trying to lower their sense of existence.

Time came to the 12th, and Lin Nan also learned that the box office had broken 20 million.

The evaluation from the outside was split. The audience felt the plot was quite good, the first time seeing such a plot, very good-looking.

But most of the remarks released by the media were the words of film critics.

"Overall immature, needs improvement," which belonged to a relatively objective evaluation.

Some belittling was still okay. "Open ending, clever," "Eighteen or nineteen years old, what do they know about marriage, unrealistic."

The most extreme ones rose to the level of three views and profession. Besides love films, can't they film anything else? Are these the students and actors of today?

As time went on, the film box office became higher and higher, and the increase became less and less.

Shanghai Film was much more active in these days. They fought a beautiful battle, and they were very enthusiastic about Lin Nan.

And promised that if Lin Nan had a new film plan in the future, they were willing to continue to invest and make concessions.

Lin Nan was a bit moved, but still said to talk about it after the film was down from the screen, the deep meaning was to wait until he got the dividend.

Liu Yifei called Lin Nan, congratulating his film on selling well, and complained that her mother had lost her heroine role.

Lin Nan was threatened by the phone, saying he must find her to play the heroine next time.

Hanging up the phone, Lin Nan went to find his class teacher with a smile.

"Mom, my heroine!" Liu Yifei sat on the sofa and began to mutter, while Liu's mother was helping her organize clothes on the side.

"Alright, alright, next time let your godfather find you a better film crew. If you missed that small crew, you missed it. What if the box office broke 20 million? You are going to film a big director's movie."

Liu's mother didn't even look at her daughter, her tone carrying a sense of normalcy.

"Mom, don't say that about Lin Nan."

Looking at her daughter's angry appearance, Liu's mother didn't speak anymore.

"Teacher, it's still that matter."

"Change major?"

"Yes," Lin Nan affirmed.

"Why do you have to change? Isn't our acting department good? There are only so many people in your class in the director department."

Teacher Zhou's mouth was impatient, but she still took a few sheets of paper from the drawer. "Fill it out, and give it to me."

Lin Nan took it; it was the application for changing majors. "Okay, Teacher."

"You are now the male lead, producer, and director of a 20 million box office movie, and you have some fame in the country. Don't be grinning all day."

"Teacher, maybe it will be 30 million by the end of the month," Lin Nan argued.

The process of changing majors was unexpectedly fast, and the school approved it that day.

When Lin Nan took the stamped document to the director department office, these teachers seemed to know.

In fact, the teachers' offices were not far apart, just a few steps away.

"From now on, you are a person of our director department. You don't need to move the dorm, and classes will follow the director department."

Lin Nan left after finishing the procedures.

The Class of '02 director department originally had a total of thirteen students, six undergraduates plus Lin Nan, seven people, two head teachers, Teacher Zhang, Teacher Jiang. The other seven were national training undergraduates, and the teachers were different.

This year, the teaching staff increased greatly, and Director Tian Zhuangzhuang also returned to the director department to teach.

"Old Zhang, Old Jiang, the strength of your Class of '02 director department has greatly increased," a group of teachers laughed in the office, teasing the two.

"You did this well, and you rebelled in the blink of an eye," Zhu Yawen ridiculed.

"Filmed two movies, maybe the director is more suitable for me, just sit there and shout cut," Lin Nan said with a smile.

Zhu Yawen changed his face. "Director Lin, Director Lin, look at our friendship on weekdays, remember me if there is a play in the future, I can wash it clean," he said, pulling Lin Nan's right hand with both hands.

"Disgusting, get lost."

"Haha, remember to leave a role for me," Zhu Yawen didn't disturb Lin Nan to organize books. The latter had just brought back the books of the director department.

The name of Beijing Film newcomer Lin Nan was remembered by the national audience together with the film *Warmth Within*.

Especially don't know who it was, actually publicized Lin Nan's transfer of majors

Now those who mocked Lin Nan for crossing over into another profession shut their mouths; he was really heading down the path of a director.

Time arrived at the 25th, and the box office finally crossed the 30 million threshold.

Shanghai Film Group decided to hold a celebration banquet; this was a huge achievement, earning both fame and money. Most importantly, it was something to write about in the leaders' reports.

Shanghai Film Group had been very generous before; when they invested as a producer, they didn't fight Lin Nan for the film rights, likely because they hadn't expected it to become such a hit, so the rights to "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" remained in the latter's hands.

Now that the box office had broken 30 million, the matter of the rights was brought up.

Because it involved exports, this was another huge chunk of profit, and Lin Nan, who held all the rights, became a hot commodity.

The phone call was very subtle, but Lin Nan could understand the meaning: Shanghai Film Group wanted a piece of the rights, as film distributors had approached them, and the other party was interested in both the film and the rights.

Lin Nan didn't know how to reply for a moment, so he simply stalled, saying he would wait a few more days.

With the film having been in theaters for so long, Lin Nan's name gradually became known to people in the circle, especially his investment share and say in "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"—those who should know, already knew.

"If you want to focus on making films, being a director, and investing in films in the future, I actually suggest you change your studio into a company, recruit some staff; they can be few, but they must be complete."

This was the advice the teacher gave Lin Nan. After coming down, Lin Nan decisively found that agent from before, just changing the name slightly: Lin Nan Film and Television Media Co., Ltd.

Regarding film exports, there are two models: either a one-time settlement, after which any subsequent profit is the business of the distributors and theater chains.

Or find a foreign distributor to release it, sharing the box office according to the contract ratio.

Imported films are roughly the same.

Lin Nan didn't want the trouble and also had self-awareness; he wanted to choose the first option, taking the money all at once.

Time reached the end of the month, and the box office couldn't keep running; it finally stumbled to 31 million and was taken off the screens accordingly.

At this time, he couldn't stall Shanghai Film Group anymore; hearing Lin Nan's intention, Shanghai Film Group gave an option.

Lin Nan would package and sell the film rights to them, and as for everything that followed, whether it was a loss or a gain, it would have nothing to do with him.

Shanghai Film Group held 65% of the investment, and exports required profit sharing, but the rights concerned issues like remakes and adaptations, and the distributors wanted to settle it all at once.

Lin Nan accepted the option given by Shanghai Film Group.

Regarding the export side, with a 35% investment share and the complete rights combined, Shanghai Film Group gave Lin Nan 8 million, after tax.

Lin Nan was very satisfied with this price; he was a newcomer, and no one could say for sure if this film would be successful in Southeast Asia.

"For the box office split, we will urge the theater chains and the authorities; the taxes that should be paid will also be handled by us. The final split amount will be deposited directly into your company's account."

Thanks to "Hero," thanks to Director Zhang and Producer Zhang.

It was their credit that allowed the theater chains to increase the producer's share ratio from 40% to 43%.

Lin Nan estimated slightly, excluding the special business tax, the film industry development special fund, and so on, and then the final split.

He could probably get around 4.3 million.

"If I had known, I should have inserted some advertisements; the theater chains wouldn't have taken a cut of that."

Lin Nan regretted not pulling in advertisements at the time, but then he thought, probably no merchant would have been willing to have him place ads for them.

But he could pay attention to this next time.

The company was still an empty shell; a financial accountant had to be in place first, otherwise, there would be a lot to handle when the split came down.

This month, Lin Nan had truly experienced the thrill of being a star; many people greeted him while walking in school, many of whom he wasn't very familiar with.

"You don't have any plans for the next step, right? If not, then just settle down and attend classes for a few days," this was what the director department teacher said to him.

The main meaning was probably to let him stabilize his mindset and not get carried away.

A few days later, the teacher brought someone Lin Nan didn't know to find him.

"Let me attend a symposium? Is that appropriate?"

Sure enough, once you achieve results, you can't avoid being pulled in to make up the numbers.

A little over a year after entering the industry, the cultural industry took the brunt of it.

Lin Nan was a newbie, sitting in the back shivering; looking at the people above, they were all leaders, either from the State Administration or other culture and tourism departments.

The front row was for leaders of the Television Association and the Film Association, followed by famous big directors and famous actors with official titles.

As a fledgling newcomer, Lin Nan was in the last few rows, holding a pen and putting on a show; he just had to listen to whatever was said above.

"The film and television industry is the most intuitive; I hope everyone values this point. You are all directors, actors, or screenwriters, etc., and are professional talents. I hope you can produce good works, drive the market, meet challenges, and also be able to go out..."

Hollywood was coming in, coming in with knives; anyone could see the result: dimensionality reduction strikes.

Several big directors spoke; Director Zhang was very objective, believing this was a catastrophic issue that would impact and even crush the current domestic film and television industry, but it was also an opportunity that would force us to progress.