Chapter 226

Why did Cao Yang want to film "Inception"?

It could be said that everyone who has seen this film would probably say "awesome" in their hearts, right?

This is a film with class.

The film's themes involve dreams, the subconscious, reality, and illusion; these philosophical contents easily trigger thinking and increase depth.

The multi-layered narrative structure is also a key point.

The nested dream structure in the film, where the speed of time passing is different at different levels, is a complex design that requires the audience to concentrate to understand, which might make people feel the film has more substance.

Additionally, when the character asks, "Isn't the waking world also some kind of collective dream?" the film has already touched upon the Eastern philosophical thinking of Zhuangzi dreaming of a butterfly.

This is also easier to trigger deep thought and debate among the Chinese people.

If one were to say this was another experimental film, absolutely no one would doubt or deny it.

Cao Yang had just won the Oscar for Best Director; if he produced "Inception," to use a pretentious phrase, it would solidify his "divinity."

It's hard to say what his status in Hollywood is, but domestically, he would definitely be the undisputed No. 1 from now on, the kind that even the highest levels could register; as long as he didn't court disaster, no one would dare do anything to him.

Tang Mu Rothman frowned and began to ponder.

Before this, Tang Mu Rothman and Columbia had never considered filming "Inception."

They had only hesitated between "2012" and "The Hunger Games," and the reason they finally chose "2012" was because the 550 million dollar global box office of "The Day After Tomorrow" made them decide.

As for "Inception"?

Tang Mu Rothman had indeed seen it.

"Inception" and "2012" were both novels in "Cao Yang's Fantastic Journey I," and he had read all five pieces inside at the time.

To be honest, among the four pieces "Inception," "Interstellar," "The Martian," and "Gravity," except for "Inception" which he didn't quite understand, the other three all had a bit of "hard" science fiction flavor.

Tang Mu Rothman felt that Cao Yang was just a director; what did he know about science? Would the "hard" science fiction he wrote have many loopholes? If there were logical problems, it would be easy for opponents to seize the handle and attack it once filmed.

Therefore, "2012" was the best choice.

Did something like "Inception," which had made him dizzy and confused at the time, have any potential?

"What is the approximate budget for this film?"

Tang Mu Rothman considered for a while and still asked.

Since Cao Yang wanted to film this, even if Tang Mu Rothman wasn't interested, he had to ask everything clearly and go back to discuss whether Columbia would follow or not.

Tang Mu Rothman actually understood that with Cao Yang's current hotness, as long as he proposed a film he wanted to shoot, Columbia would follow even if they didn't look favorably upon it, holding their noses.

At most, they would pull in a few more investors to share the risk together.

No, no, no; before Cao Yang failed, pulling in investors wasn't called sharing risk; this was Columbia "showing mercy" by giving them a chance to participate.

Thinking about it, there were still many studios willing to participate.

Hollywood studios are also very "superstitious"; they "superstitiously" believe in big directors, especially big directors like Cao Yang who haven't failed yet.

Cao Yang had already roughly calculated the film's budget, and he replied: "Because I want to use real-scene shooting in many places, I need a budget of about 160 million."

Tang Mu Rothman breathed a sigh of relief; fortunately, fortunately, Columbia's budget for "2012" was about 180 million, and "Inception" was only 160 million...

Actually, what the hell is fortunate!

"2012" was a comprehensive consideration, combining various factors, and Columbia felt it could have a two-thirds success rate.

What kind of thing is "Inception"? A stream-of-consciousness film that actually requires an investment of 160 million dollars! Looking at Cao Yang's meaning, even 160 million might not be enough.

At this moment, Tang Mu Rothman didn't think about giving up.

The thought that first popped into his mind wasn't to find partners to share the risk, nor was it to think about bank financing to reduce risk, but rather he thought of the private equity funds that had entered Hollywood in large numbers since last year.

In 2004, Wall Street's private equity funds and hedge funds joined the ranks of film investment in the form of film investment funds; the common nature of high risk and high return made the method of third-party equity financing spread rapidly.

It even caught up with the situation where films were mainly financed through bank loans in the past, becoming another popular choice in Hollywood today.

To put it bluntly, the advantages of private equity funds are too obvious.

The most important point is that the use of funds is relatively flexible, not as "harsh" as bank supervision.

This gives big studios more room for "operation," greatly reducing their own risks.

Additionally, due to the choice of registration location, private equity funds can utilize policy advantages in different regions.

For example, avoiding taxes through Cayman Islands structures, or tax incentives in Ireland and Luxembourg, can reduce production costs.

Production costs are transferred and priced through IP licensing fees, and the effective tax rate is suppressed to 9.7%, which is much less than the 21% in the US.

At the same time, they can also get government subsidies through different strategies.

Private equity funds combined with producers can obtain a 25% tax rebate in the UK + a 20% location subsidy in New Zealand, and can also superimpose EU Media program financing...

The more Tang Mu Rothman thought about it, the more he felt the feasibility was very high.

For private equity funds, they have their own set of analytical and calculation methods, but no matter what this method is, the weight of the director in a film is definitely one of the heaviest.

And for any private equity fund, Cao Yang, who has just won the Oscar for Best Director and has never failed, is the best choice for his films.

What if it's Cao Yang plus Depp, who won back-to-back Oscar Best Actor awards?

Tang Mu Rothman suddenly remembered that "Inception" seemed to be a protagonist team, so what if a few more big stars were added?

Wouldn't private equity funds break their heads trying to join in? Then there would be something to talk about.

Using private equity money to share Columbia's risk and also reduce production costs; maybe he could try it?

"My dear director, this matter is not in Columbia's plan. I have to go back and discuss it, and I will give you a perfect answer as quickly as possible."

Tang Mu Rothman came in a hurry and left in a hurry.

Not long after he left, Han Zong came over, first chatting about this and that for a while, and then tentatively asked: "Junior brother, does Columbia want to implement 1+1?"

Han Zong was somewhat aware of the 1+1 plan that Columbia and Cao Yang had reached initially.

Ever since "District 9" broke the domestic box office record, Han Zong had been thinking, does China Film Group have a chance to follow up once more?

The revenue generated by "District 9" was, for Han Zong, mainly political achievement, which was truly too great.

He believed that with the success of "District 9," Columbia and Cao Yang's next film plan would only be bigger.

"Hmm, Columbia wants to film '2012,' and the budget is up to 180 million dollars."

"How much?"

Han Zong heard 180 million dollars clearly, but he still suspected he had heard wrong.

Not to mention 180 million dollars, even 180 million RMB was an astronomical investment for the domestic market; among the films currently released, only Zhang Yimou and Cao Yang had reached this level.

180 million dollars... it was truly unimaginable.

Converting it according to the exchange rate, that's almost 1.5 billion RMB!

It was almost catching up to the total national box office in 2004!

"180 million dollars, but I refused it," Cao Yang said with a smile.

Refused... refused...

This sentence echoed in Han Zong's ears, so much so that he opened his mouth, not knowing what to say for a moment.

A belly full of words couldn't be held back, and a belly full of words reached his mouth only to be swallowed back down.

Junior brother, do you know...

That's an investment of 1.5 billion; why did you refuse it?

Refusing is good, that's an investment of 1.5 billion; if it gets messed up... I don't know what the hell to say either!

"I don't want to film '2012' right now; I have a Chinese art-house film to shoot in my hands, and I will push it forward immediately after I go back."

Cao Yang said with a smile.

"Uh..."

Han Zong had a belly full of words again; he really wanted to grab Cao Yang by the neck and ask loudly in his ear: "You have a film with a 1.5 billion investment that you don't film, and you're filming what... art-house film?"

Uh, art-house films are good; as directors, filming art-house films is good...

But that's a super production with an investment of 1.5 billion!

There are definitely no more than ten directors in the world qualified to use so much capital!

Probably at most five!

As a traditional director, Han Zong felt that Cao Yang wanting to film a pure art-house film was something he should have fully supported.

But no matter how traditional a director is, they can't ignore a budget of 1.5 billion, right?

"I..."

Han Zong originally wanted to say that he supported Cao Yang in filming an art-house film, but the monetary weight of 1.5 billion suppressed the words he wanted to say later.

!

"Actually, what I want to film is another movie called 'Inception.' This film requires a lot of real scenes and CG; just the preliminary preparation work won't be done in less than half a year. I can just use this time to film that Chinese movie."

Cao Yang saw that Han Zong was holding it in uncomfortably, so he smiled and explained quickly.

"How much is the investment?"

As soon as Han Zong opened his mouth, he wished he could slap himself; as a director from a traditional background, when did he become like this?

Art!

Film is art; how can it be linked to the hateful stench of money?

"It probably needs 160 million dollars?"

After hearing Cao Yang's words, for some reason, Han Zong suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, and even couldn't help but think, fortunately, 160 million dollars is okay; although there is no exaggerated 1.5 billion RMB, there is still over 1.3 billion...

"Senior brother, does China Film Group want to invest a little and make it a co-production again?"

Before Han Zong could say anything, Cao Yang asked again.

Han Zong was startled, feeling his whole body go numb.

"C... can I?"

"If I say you can, you definitely can."

Cao Yang had already planned it; not only China Film Group, but the Youth Film Studio also had to be pulled in, as a congratulatory gift for Hou Keming and Xie Xiaojing's new appointments.

A total of 20% of the investment quota was left for China Film Group and the Youth Film Studio, letting them divide it themselves.

"Slap!"

Han Zong slapped his thigh, a bit uncomposed with excitement.

"Done!"

In the afternoon, Fox Searchlight sent a car to pick up Cao Yang, and Cheng Jianye came along.

During this time, Cheng Jianye had been staying at Fox Searchlight, keeping an eye on the post-production of "Zhu Nuo," afraid that the editor would cut the story off-track.

"'Zhu Nuo' has already had a three-hour rough cut; I've been watching it the whole time, and it's all within the scope of the script."

Cheng Jianye said to Cao Yang in the car.

"Thank you for your hard work."

Cao Yang patted Cheng Jianye on the shoulder.

He was still very satisfied with Old Cheng; he was steady and willing to work, and the key was that he was obedient.

Arriving at the editing room, Cao Yang watched the rough cut version; it basically didn't deviate from the script, and Cheng Jianye's supervisory work was done very well.

This film didn't have big scenes, nor did it need special editing techniques; as long as the narrative was normal and the story was told clearly, it was fine.

After discussing with the editor for a while, Cao Yang could see that the editor had a good grasp of the story's framework and didn't have any special ideas, which was very good.

So, he instructed the editor to cut a version between 90 minutes and two hours.

A version of this length was almost considered the final cut.

We'll see if we're satisfied with it then.

In the evening, Jason Simmons, the president of Fox Searchlight, made a special trip to invite Cao Yang and Cheng Jianye to a meal.

During the meal, he tentatively asked Cao Yang what his plans were; Fox wanted to cooperate with Cao Yang.

Note, it wasn't Fox Searchlight, but the parent company Twentieth Century Fox that wanted to cooperate with Cao Yang.

Cao Yang had just won Best Director and was at the height of his popularity; photos of him eating with the president of Fox Searchlight were published in many media outlets the next day.

Fortunately, Cheng Jianye was also at the scene and was also photographed; otherwise, who knows how it would have been spun.

Hollywood paparazzi and tabloids are no worse than those in Xiangjiang.

Most newspapers were reporting that Cao Yang might cooperate with Fox.

The first one who couldn't sit still was Columbia and Tang Mu Rothman; I was the one who came first...

Actually, cooperating with Cao Yang again was an unchanging premise.

As for which film to cooperate on, Columbia naturally leaned toward "2012," but Cao Yang didn't want to film it, and they had no way.

If it's "Inception," then it's "Inception"; at worst, they would pull in a few more investors or private equity funds to reduce risk.

Of course, these were all things for later.

What Columbia had to discuss and decide before was how much of a share they could give Cao Yang and where the company's bottom line was.

In "District 9," because the film's investment wasn't considered large at the time, Columbia gave Cao Yang 9% of the total box office share.

"District 9" was a big box office hit, and Cao Yang won Best Director; the share couldn't be lower than "District 9," right?

Columbia hadn't reached a consensus on how much of a box office share to give Cao Yang.

It wasn't until many media outlets were reporting on Cao Yang eating with the president of Fox Searchlight that Columbia quickly reached a consensus.

And precisely because Columbia's expectations for "Inception" weren't as big as "2012," their bottom line was a bit lower.

Cao Yang didn't expect that he only mentioned 13% to Tang Mu Rothman, and Tang Mu Rothman "resisted" symbolically for a bit and actually agreed!

Actually agreed!

Cao Yang was a bit dumbfounded.

In his expectations, for a super production like "Inception" with an investment of 160 million dollars, he could get a 10% or 11% total box office share after "arduous" negotiations, which was already the most ideal state.

Who knew the other party would agree so easily?

He asked for a bit too little!

(End of chapter)