Chapter 345: Yi

Victory Banquet

Seeing Yan Li was talking with Fan Xiaopang when Huang Zong from Dongfang Films sidled over, not directly interrupting but circling nearby.

"Someone's coming, go around first."

Seeing Yan Li reminded him; Fan Xiaopang stood up, and as he passed Huang Zong, the latter smiled and greeted him, but Fan Xiaopang merely nodded politely.

She had no fondness for this Hong Kong heir—he was the one behind the yacht gate scandal.

No woman likes someone who tries to find women for her man!

Not just Fan Xiaopang—even Qin Dong had a lukewarm opinion of Huang Zong; when Seeing Yan Li hosted gatherings in Xiangjiang, the two had shown up out of politeness, but afterward they'd mocked him behind his back.

Huang Zong understood the situation but dared not provoke them, so he pretended not to notice Fan Xiaopang's coldness and chatted with Seeing Yan Li as if nothing were amiss.

"Mr. Yan, I'm truly grateful this time."

"Just mutual benefit."

Seeing Yan Li raised his glass and clinked it with Huang Zong's—this Lunar New Year season, their collaboration had indeed been pleasant.

Never mind *Ip Man*—the two companies jointly invested, Dongfang handled production, Yi'an handled distribution, and they made a hefty profit.

Domestic box office alone turned a profit; Hong Kong and Southeast Asian markets also brought in earnings, but more importantly, domestic and international licensing rights were highly sought after.

Many don't understand why today's top action stars earn more than regular popular movie stars.

Aside from the difficulty of filming and actor scarcity, it's because action films are among the few genres foreign distributors are willing to buy.

Thanks to the efforts of multiple kung fu legends and countless films and cultural exports, the term "Chinese kung fu" has become one of China's labels, with a global fanbase.

A fanbase means a market—even if small, it's profitable.

Thus, a successful kung fu film like *Ip Man* differs from ordinary popular movies: it has broader and longer-lasting reach and revenue potential.

Over the years, Yi'an has also participated in overseas distribution of some films; while *Ip Man* may not have had the highest price tag, it was undoubtedly the best-selling.

Dongfang Films and Huang Zong cared about overseas earnings; Seeing Yan Li saw the overseas channels and the significance of going global—both mattered greatly to Yi'an.

Over the years, Seeing Yan Li hadn't prioritized overseas distribution due to limited channels, meager profits, and a clear understanding of how difficult it was for Chinese film and television to go abroad.

But that was before!

Previously, Yi'an prioritized profit; unprofitable, labor-intensive ventures were naturally ignored.

Now, Yi'an wants to go public and further raise its stock price—it can't focus solely on profit.

Overseas markets, international influence, cultural export—these are all story elements that can boost company valuation, industry standing, and official favor.

This year, Yi'an will establish a dedicated overseas division to coordinate with film, television, distribution, talent agency, advertising, and even theater departments for international market development and cross-border projects.

Not just Yi'an—Weibo is also considering launching an overseas version, to see if they can snatch market share from Facebook and Twitter.

*Ip Man*, *Painted Skin*, and the idol dramas and nationality-free films Seeing Yan Li and Fan Xiaopang mentioned are all part of Seeing Yan Li's grand strategy for cultural export.

How much market they capture is secondary; the key is to make a loud splash, take solid, steady first steps, and give Seeing Yan Li good stories to tell.

Hmm, Seeing Yan Li felt he was increasingly becoming like the very people he once looked down on—Fatty Yu and the Wang brothers…

Besides *Ip Man*, Dongfang Films' *All for Love*, also distributed by Yi'an, earned nearly 50 million, a substantial return.

Having tasted success, Dongfang Films now wanted to cling tighter to Yi'an's leg; Huang Zong came to Jingcheng for the banquet to strengthen ties and inquire about this year's collaboration.

"I just spoke with Bullet—the summer slot is open; once your script's ready, start preparations."

Yi'an had no intention of getting involved in *Ip Man 2*—Dongfang Films had already done an excellent job, with strong word-of-mouth and box office success; let them keep the same team.

Yi'an provides funding, coordination, and distribution; each plays their role, mutual benefit.

"Wonderful! With Mr. Yan's involvement, everything's settled."

Huang Zong was overjoyed—since *Ip Man*'s success, Bullet had grown close to Yi'an.

Although Seeing Yan Li had already made his position clear, the Huang family still feared Yi'an would leave them behind and not include them.

Now, with Seeing Yan Li reiterating and explicitly stating Dongfang Films would continue production, it signaled the Huang family could keep eating from the *Ip Man* pie.

Pulling out his cigarette case, Huang Zong swiftly lit one for Seeing Yan Li, glanced around, then whispered.

"*All for Love* did well—my father plans to continue the Happy Family series and will rely on Mr. Yan's support. By the way, Baby and Wen Yongshan performed well last time—are there suitable roles for them in this one?"

Seeing Yan Li smiled—he understood why Fan Xiaopang and the others had such a low opinion of Huang Zong; he was shamelessly trying to pimp them out.

"Do as you see fit."

Seeing Yan Li paused, considering their past connection; he chose to help the two women, but didn't say it outright, subtly signaling his stance to prevent the Huang family from making presumptuous demands.

…

After Huang Zong left, several others came by in quick succession.

Seeing Yan Li was busy now; it wasn't easy to arrange a private meeting—this gathering was a good opportunity for casual exchange.

Ning Hao pulled Xu Zheng over, and another young man approached Seeing Yan Li, introduced himself as a new director named Yang Qing.

He was here to ask for investment!

With this setup, Seeing Yan Li instantly understood—he couldn't help it; it was too familiar.

There weren't many channels to get Yi'an to invest; submitting scripts directly to the company was the most common route, but the chance of success was the smallest.

It wasn't that Yi'an's staff were lazy—it was that too many projects were unreliable, like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Those who could only submit this way were often newcomers or even outsiders with no connections, no influence, and often no ability.

Anyone with real talent and some standing in the industry usually knew someone, directly or indirectly, who had ties to Yi'an's mid- or upper-level staff, and collaborated through various means—Yi'an's projects came largely this way.

Another route: someone with connections passed the project directly to Seeing Yan Li.

Not many, because those who dared approach Seeing Yan Li directly were either peers of similar stature or close associates and confidants; outsiders needed an exceptionally strong project to even dare speak up.

There were also brash newcomers who blocked Seeing Yan Li with scripts or business plans, demanding investment.

But Seeing Yan Li had never encountered a single one with investment value—it left him slightly disappointed, because such confrontational scenes made better stories.

Ning Hao had recommended projects to Seeing Yan Li more than once.

As a sixth-generation leading director, Ning Hao had long been embedded in the industry, with some connections; recommending suitable projects to Seeing Yan Li was natural, and Seeing Yan Li didn't reject it—in fact, he encouraged it.

He figured that anyone who could hang out with Ning Hao couldn't be too bad.

If you land a good project, the company makes money; if not, you just waste some time—how many film company bosses don't read dozens of terrible screenplays a year?

"Come, sit."

Seeing Yan Li invited the three to sit, and Xu Zheng voluntarily poured wine and tea for everyone.

Xu Zheng appeared in "Crazy Race" and "Love Call Transfer," and also starred in a comedy TV series produced by Yi'an Investment.

To many, he was considered half of the Yi'an faction; Ning Hao, Huang Bo, and he were very close.

Even for this "Crazy Race," the promotion had spoken of a comedy "iron triangle," and though Xu Zheng's role was somewhat peripheral, his name carried weight and his comedic effect was strong—many still bought in.

At first Seeing Yan Li had been puzzled why Xu Zheng had come along, but after chatting, he learned that Xu Zheng had actually been the one to initiate this project.

He knew Yang Qing, and one of the characters in the script had been written specifically for Xu Zheng.

Xu Zheng thought the script and role were good, so he used his connections to help Yang Qing secure investment, and the first big company and big boss he thought of were Yi'an and Seeing Yan Li.

But Xu Zheng felt his own influence wasn't enough, fearing Seeing Yan Li wouldn't take him seriously, so he asked Ning Hao to lend his weight.

"Director Yan, I've read the script. Though some plot points are a bit clunky, overall it's solid, and the investment is minimal—initial estimates put it at two to three million."

With tight budgeting, a box office of five million would turn a profit—extremely high cost-to-return ratio.

Seeing Yan Li wasn't swayed by the low cost; low cost only meant a lower break-even threshold and smaller risk—it didn't guarantee profit.

Small profit is profit; small loss is still loss!

And these new directors—some are careless, some are fearless, some lack experience and can't control costs; budget overruns are common.

By then, the sunk costs are already there—you can't just walk away. They say two or three million, but after filming, the final cost is often 20% higher, even doubled.

Seeing Yan Li flipped through the script outline and proposal Yang Qing had brought.

The settings were indeed simple—a supermarket or convenience store would suffice; as long as actor costs were controlled, and a seasoned producer handled the rest, it shouldn't be a problem.