Chapter 253

The next morning, Liu Yifei didn't let Lin Nan take her to the Beijing Film Academy.

Her look had also changed to a light, almost bare-faced makeup, wearing a simple casual hoodie.

With all her jewelry removed and a high ponytail, Liu Yifei looked even more pure and refined.

At first glance, it looked like she was the one going to take the art exam, rather than going to be a re-examination guest.

"Mm, I was indeed too conspicuous yesterday; I want to be more low-key today."

Hearing Miss Liu's words, which showed no self-awareness, Lin Nan couldn't help but chuckle and complain:

"Unless I change your face, otherwise, there's no way to be low-key."

Liu Yifei wore a smug, satisfied expression, rolled her eyes at Lin Nan, and giggled.

"I'll take that as a compliment. I have to go."

Putting on her sunglasses, Liu Yifei nimbly sat into the Ferrari.

"Drive slowly!"

"Got it."

Watching the red car body speed away, Lin Nan shook his head; driving this car to school is not low-key at all!

…………

As a film director, Lin Nan heard quite a bit of news today about Kodak officially filing for bankruptcy protection.

This is the world's largest film manufacturer, affecting the entire film industry.

Fortunately, Lin Nan had started mixing digital cameras and film shooting long ago when making movies.

Unlike Feng Xiaogang and the others, who would next face the adaptation process from pure film movies to digital cameras.

I heard the *Back to 1942* crew is currently hoarding film. Other powerful big directors are doing the same thing! They prefer the texture of film movies and are used to shooting movies with film. This time, they are forced to learn and adapt to digital cameras.

Additionally, Kodak publicly announced the sale of the Oscar naming rights it owns, which still have eight years left.

In the domestic film and television circle, many big companies are eager to move, such as Huayi, Bona, Orange Sky, Yinghuang...

But the one shouting the loudest was that guy Yang Zai, who immediately clamored on Weibo:

"The Oscar naming rights, this is a great project! Juli Pictures has decided to invest in the bidding to buy it!

We will take the lead in contributing to the domestic film industry's entry into Hollywood..."

The slogan was shouted very loudly, but what it met with was one-sided booing and mockery online and in the industry.

"You previously swore to invest in filming 10 movies with costs over 100 million, how did that end up with nothing?"

"I heard Juli Pictures is already an empty shell, and the people have all been dismissed, is that true?"

"Huang Shengyi has clearly been secretly married to you for several years, yet you still pretend to be single on shows, flirting with men..."

……

The aftereffects of *The Sorcerer and the White Snake* clearly haven't passed yet.

Yang Zai says one thing, and he can instantly be retorted ten times by netizens and the industry, and in the end, he had to delete the Weibo post in a dejected manner, pretending nothing happened, leaving only a joke behind.

……

Tudou originally went through five rounds of financing, receiving a total of 135 million US dollars.

Then it was burning money, buying copyrights, continuous losses, and constantly increasing market share.

Originally, everything was developing in a positive direction, until that incident with Wang Wei himself...

Youku came from behind, was the first to list in the US, and the situation instantly reversed.

Lin Nan met Wang Wei at the company, and besides him, there were quite a few people from law firms and accounting firms.

One equity agreement after another, signing, fingerprinting, stamping, filing... not missing any link.

After finishing these procedures, the irrelevant personnel were sent out. For these people, red envelopes on top of their fees were indispensable.

In the office, only Lin Nan and Wang Wei remained.

"Lin Dao, you understand. Although the financing amount was 135 million US dollars, the market value is much higher than that."

Lin Nan nodded; he certainly understood this principle, after all, Tudou had also expanded its territory so much.

Even if incidents happened one after another, the market value wouldn't drop to that little.

"That 850 million has already been spent."

Even with mental preparation, hearing this, Lin Nan couldn't help but gasp.

Spending 850 million in a month or so, he had never done that before.

He only spent 60 million dollars on the Beverly Hills villa.

Of course, that was Lin Nan taking advantage of the subprime mortgage crisis, and it has appreciated quite a bit now.

"It doesn't matter if the money is spent, as long as there are gains. However, what's going on with these?"

Lin Nan asked.

There were a few guys who were shouting about wanting to exit before, but now they were making excuses!

Wang Wei was also a bit troubled, "There are always smart people who want to gamble, especially when they know new capital is entering to take over."

"But fortunately, I will put these few at the end and fight a protracted war.

The most important thing now is that I need money to continue repurchasing shares; quite a few shareholders are waiting. Also, my share..."

Lin Nan knew what Wang Wei was saying.

"I won't break my promise. After we recover enough shares from those people, we will re-inject capital.

At that time, your 15% will be worth more, and Tudou still needs you, the founder, to continue steering the ship."

Wang Wei nodded with satisfaction, looking at Lin Nan:

"When can the new funds arrive?"

"Very soon, in these few days."

……

Half an hour later, Wang Wei left Lin Nan Pictures.

According to the original plan, Lin Nan would enter the market first to ensure he got enough shares, and then the three companies would act together.

He took out his phone and called Ye Ning.

"Lin Dao? The box office for *Pacific Rim* is great, it's already reached 1.3 billion. By the end of this week, it should reach 1.32 billion."

Ye Ning's voice was filled with excitement; *Pacific Rim* was his biggest achievement in the last two years.

"I'm not calling about that."

"Then?"

"General Manager Ye, notify your group. You can enter the market; Tudou needs funds."

"Okay, no problem, I'll report it immediately. Barring any accidents, the funds will be ready by the day after tomorrow at the latest."

This efficiency made even Lin Nan feel shocked; Wanda is indeed worthy of its name!

The same call was made to Wang Changtian, who seemed a bit more rushed.

It seemed like there was an accident with the *Sad Fairy Tale* crew, and the lead actress Liu Shishi had an attack of pancreatitis and was hospitalized.

For a calculating person like Old Wang, a week's delay for the crew was still quite painful.

"No problem, I'll go prepare the funds now, don't worry!"

……

This time, no matter what the bank people said, Lin Nan ignored them; he was prepared to use the ready funds in his account directly. After all, in terms of time, he couldn't wait a week.

……

In the evening, Liu Yifei returned.

"They are simply too desperate; they are only seventeen or eighteen, not even twenty, and they've already started plastic surgery."

"Art examinees?"

"Yes, Dean Wang Jinsong rejected them on the spot, right in front of the examinees. No need to wait until the re-examination results are posted."

Hearing that Wang Jinsong had personally taken action, Lin Nan wasn't surprised; this person is very strict every time he participates in the art exam.

"As a result, in the afternoon, a large group of reporters surrounded the art exam site, saying the school discriminates against examinees who have had plastic surgery."

"Then I'd like to hear how the school responded?"

"It was Teacher Wang who came forward, saying that natural beauty is the most unsurpassable, and he doesn't accept examinees who have had plastic surgery!"

As she spoke, she saw Liu Yifei couldn't help but laugh.

"What is it now?"

"I didn't notice yesterday, but today I saw quite a few 'Little' generation."

Lin Nan was confused by Liu Yifei; what is she talking about?

"Little Fan Bingbing, Little Gong Li, Little Zhou Dongyu... and I even met several 'me's' face to face, Little Liu Yifei!"

Miss Liu held her stomach, curled up on the sofa, laughing until she was almost convulsing. There was no lady-like image to speak of.

Lin Nan also smiled knowingly; isn't that exactly how it is!

Every year during the art exam, in the media reports, there are always a few "Little Fan Bingbing", "Little Liu Yifei", "Little Zhang Ziyi"...

This phenomenon will only increase as time goes on.

……

A sudden meeting invitation from the Film Bureau caught many people in the industry off guard.

It looked like it was quite urgent, otherwise they wouldn't have notified them temporarily in the evening.

Early the next morning, Lin Nan set off for the General Bureau; a nine o'clock meeting is really early!

After arriving, he realized it was indeed a big deal.

Because everyone present was from film companies, directors, and producers, and some had even rushed back from other places.

Several state-owned enterprise bosses looked like they hadn't slept well and were a bit low in spirit.

"What on earth is going on?"

Ning Hao bumped into Lin Nan and asked while yawning.

Feng Xiaogang on the side was also yawning repeatedly; he had rushed back overnight.

Lu Chuan in the distance was chatting very well with some old guys from the system.

……

As soon as the time arrived, Tong Gang on the podium spoke.

"Calling everyone here temporarily today is to discuss an important matter."

The people below, except for a few state-owned enterprise bosses who seemed to know something, all sat up straight instantly and pricked up their ears to listen.

"Yesterday morning, we reached an agreement with the other side of the ocean regarding the Memorandum of Understanding on WTO film-related issues..."

As soon as these words were spoken, 99% of the people on the scene were no longer calm.

Has it finally arrived?!

Tong Gang above sighed:

"Starting this year, the number of imported revenue-sharing films from Hollywood will increase from 20 to 34, and they will all be primarily IMAX and 3D films, with the revenue-sharing ratio adjusted from 13% to 25%."

Before the words had even faded, noisy discussions instantly erupted below, chaotic. It was like a classroom in a school lecture hall that couldn't quiet down.

"Quiet, this matter will be announced in the form of an official document in two days, everyone prepare yourselves. This time, the wolf has really come!"

The noisy sounds erupted again.

"Director Tong, can't it be changed?"

I don't know who asked such a stupid question; not to mention Tong Gang, Han Sanping, Ren Zhonglun, and others in the front row all turned their heads and looked at that person like they were looking at a fool; it was an old guy from the system.

"By the way, to be precise, starting from March, you will be competing head-on with these Hollywood blockbusters. A full 34 of them, basically all commercial films!"

Lin Nan felt a gaze sweep over.

"Director Ning Hao, Lin Dao Nan, Director Chen Kaige, Director Feng Xiaogang, Lu Chuan...

You all should have movies being released this year, just act as the vanguard for once!"

Hearing this, the few who were named were stunned.

Lin Nan understood what this meant; it meant that once their movies were scheduled, at least one imported film would be arranged as an opponent! Two is normal.

"How about finding some separate time to put four, five, six... seven imported revenue-sharing films in?"

Lin Nan jokingly made a suggestion, instantly drawing a chorus of approval.

Especially Feng Xiaogang, who slapped his thigh and shouted that it was a good idea...

But Tong Gang above had a dark face.

"What do you think this is? Playing house? And specifically finding a time to let imported films have internal friction..."

Tong Gang was furious above, and there was dead silence below.

"Don't even think about it, those methods from before can't be used anymore, prepare to fight with real swords and guns! Whether you live or die depends on the quality of your movies..."

Tong Gang's words were very resolute. This time, the group of people truly felt uneasy.

The wolf has really come!

…………

(End of chapter)