National Tide 1980.

Chapter 1280 The Prodigal Son

It is really not easy to make such a big deal.

Although the two French film production companies that Ning Weimin prefers are both old-established studios with a long history, this also means that their procedures are cumbersome and their structures are bloated.

So with such a large sum of money involved and a complete buyout clause, even the presidents of the two production companies found it difficult to make a decision easily.

In order to avoid criticism and blame afterwards, they believed that the outcome of this matter must be discussed by the board of directors and the consent of the majority of directors must be obtained.

Even for the two parties to formally start contact and enter the negotiation process, it is not that easy.

You know, faced with a young man from the East who suddenly showed up and asked to do business worth hundreds of millions of francs, none of the top executives of the two French film production companies dared to believe him rashly.

What’s more, it comes during the special period of the Cannes Film Festival.

Don't forget, Ning Weimin originally came to Cannes just to sell film copies.

How come he suddenly turned into someone who wanted to buy a copy?

This is too magical, this isn't how things should work!

Especially in the European film industry, no one or company has dared to make such a big deal, which makes this matter inevitably suspicious.

  What's the point of him having so many copies of old movies?

Going to Asia for promotion?

Just kidding.

Why do so many audiences like these old movies?

It's becoming increasingly difficult for new movies to attract audiences these days, let alone these old stories.

The most important thing is that Fog Studios is not well-known.

It's not even on the list in Japan, and no one in Europe has even heard of it.

Such a studio has no goodwill at all.

So from the French perspective, it is easy to regard Ning Weimin as an industry liar who talks big and intends to play some conspiracy.

In fact, after the news spread, some people speculated that Ning Weimin might want to use the fame of the two production companies and release the news of the purchase of the film library to hype his own film. This was his real purpose.

Needless to say, no one is willing to spend too much time and energy on something that has no results, and no one wants to be taken advantage of by others and be cheated like a fool.

Therefore, if we want to contact them about this matter, there needs to be a prerequisite, which is that the boards of directors of the two French film studios must first confirm that Ning Weimin is indeed sincere and really wants to make this deal.

And he would have to prove that he had the money and the ability to make the deal he proposed.

Although Alain Delon has been acting as an introducer, this is not enough. The key is to get Ning Weimin to present a letter of credit of at least 50 million US dollars.

Of course, if Ning Weimin really has the sincerity and ability to complete the transaction, he must also prevent the news from leaking and causing others to disrupt the situation.

After all, everyone's movie copies are just sitting in the warehouse, and it's enough for two companies to compare prices with each other.

So the feedback from the two French studios was to tell Ning Weimin their two demands.

First, this matter must be kept confidential before it is formally discussed and cannot be publicized.

If the media gets to know about this, the matter will just stop and they won't admit it.

Second, Ning Weimin must provide a letter of credit of 50 million US dollars as soon as possible, or proof of monetary assets equivalent to 400 million francs in order to move forward with this matter, otherwise there is no point in discussing it.

Of course, these two points are not a problem for Ning Weimin.

Confidentiality is a must.

In fact, Ning Weimin just wanted to complete the transaction safely.

As the saying goes, the longer the night, the more dreams you have. He had no intention of allowing more film production companies to join the bidding.

He has both the money and the time.

Proof of assets is not a problem at all.

Almost all of his overseas assets were in accounts at the Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, and France happened to be the headquarters of this bank.

So in response to the requests of the two studios, he only needed the head office of Crédit Agricole CIB to issue a financial guarantee for him, which could be confirmed by phone and fax.

In fact, what really troubled him was another problem - the transaction involved such a huge amount of funds and was related to future long-term interests. He needed a trustworthy lawyer to help him sign a flawless agreement.

  The biggest trouble he is facing now is the legal red tape and the possible traps in the contract. What should he do in a foreign country where he is unfamiliar with the place?

Of course, you can only rely on trustworthy friends for help.

So as expected, Ning Weimin spoke to Alain Delon again.

I hope he can recommend me a good lawyer who is good at dealing with film companies and has decent skills.

Alain Delon directly recommended his lawyer to Ning Weimin, saying that his lawyer was most familiar with film-related terms and had dealt with the two French studios, and should be able to meet his requirements.

In order to show his sincerity, Alain Delon also took the initiative to suggest that Ning Weimin could use this person to draft the general terms first, and then the final agreement could be reviewed by the legal advisor of Pierre Cardin headquarters, so that it would be foolproof.

But even so, Alain Delon was outspoken in expressing his personal opposition and repeatedly advised Ning Weimin not to make this unprofitable deal.

He couldn't say anything in front of the representatives of the two film studios.

But after the people from the studio left, when he was alone with Ning Weimin, in order to make him stop in time, Alain Delon couldn't help complaining about Ning Weimin's "stupidity".

"Listen to my understanding first. Are you willing to spend hundreds of millions of francs to buy the film copies that are about to be buried in the dust in the film libraries of the two production companies. And you only ask them to buy a movie you want to sell in Cannes for three million?" "That's almost it, but you forgot that they have to guarantee that it will be shown in the five major cities in France for three consecutive weeks..."

“Who cares!”

In response to Ning Weimin's supplement, Alain Delon said angrily that the more he looked at Ning Weimin's calm attitude, the angrier he became.

"I can't believe that you have so much money at your age! What I can't believe even more is that you are going to waste it like throwing it into the sea. My friend! You are going to spend hundreds of millions of francs. Not to mention in your country, you can live a luxurious life even in France. Why do you want to use such a huge sum of money to exchange for thousands of old copies that are of little use? I always thought you were a smart man, but I really can't understand why you would make such a doomed loss!"

Alain Delon's tone became sharp due to his emotional fluctuations, but Ning Weimin felt Alain Delon's concern.

He didn't take it as an offense at all and still had a smile on his face.

"How can you say it's useless? Movies are an art form. What I bought were works of art created by many great artists. Many of them should be yours and Catherine's works. You won't deny your own movies, will you? Of course, maybe these things don't have much value in Europe, but it's different when I get them to Asia. People in many countries haven't seen them yet. Who knows how big the potential market is? Apart from anything else, at least the development of my motherland's film industry requires watching a lot of movies. Europe is the origin of movies, and France is a European film power. I believe I won't..."

However, his compliments were of no avail.

Instead of being convinced, Alain Delon lost his patience and interrupted, criticizing directly.

"Don't be so optimistic! You are still too young! And you don't seem to know much about the film industry!"

He then enumerated what he considered to be the various drawbacks.

"Did you know that film copies are difficult to preserve? If the warehouse is dry, the film will easily catch fire. If the warehouse is damp, the negatives will not be well preserved and will easily become moldy and deteriorate. Therefore, any professional film studio must use a constant temperature and humidity warehouse to preserve the film, and the preservation cost alone costs a lot of money every year."

"For this reason, when the film industry was in a slump a few years ago, European film companies destroyed a large number of early films to recover the silver ions in the films. Why would you spend such a large sum of money to buy out other people's troubles? The money you paid is enough for them to solve the filming funds for at least several years. But when these copies are in your hands, they become your troubles."

"How do you cash in? Even if the Japanese film market is still big enough, how many tickets can you sell if you re-screen it in theaters? Even my movies, like Zorro, only made 500 million yen when it was released in Japan. For these old movies now, even if you just sell videotapes and rent them to TV stations for broadcast, you won't be able to recover your costs even if you play them for a hundred years."

"Of course, for you, there may still be the Chinese film market. I have to say that the market size is indeed large. But the ticket price is too low. Especially for my films, most of them have been licensed to China by the French government for free. How can you benefit from it? Not to mention that China's censorship system is so rigid that most French films cannot pass..."

It is a fact that Ning Weimin seriously lacks common sense related to the film industry.

When Alain Delon told him about the difficulty in preserving film copies, he was shocked. This was a safety hazard he had never thought of.

Moreover, Alain Delon is indeed an elder brother who is very sincere to him and has thought of almost all the disadvantages for him.

Ning Weimin was truly grateful. When it comes to friendship, Alain Delon did a great job.

However, even so, although he was grateful, he could not reveal to Alain Delon the real reason why he wanted the deal to be completed.

After all, his ideas were too advanced. The Internet had no age yet, and it was impossible to clearly explain what streaming media was, let alone prove its feasibility.

In addition, the profits contained in the film copyright and derivative industries are too great. He kept it strictly confidential, not only because he was afraid that it would affect his other future transactions, but also out of consideration for his own safety.

So he could only play the emotional card and try to explain his motives from another perspective using some reasons.

"I did it for my wife."

Ning Weimin paused and deliberately showed his deep love for Qingzi.

"You probably don't know my wife's current status. Now she is not only a movie star in Japan, but she also bought a production company last year and became the owner of a film company. The movie we brought is the first movie she produced independently after buying Fog Studios."

"But even though the film was a big hit, and the video and soundtrack album also made a lot of money, my wife still couldn't get the respect she deserved in the Japanese film industry. This was because of the Japanese preference for boys over girls, and also because the Kiri Studio had a weak foundation. After all, she was the only woman to become the owner of a film company, and her studio had only produced one film."

"In fact, my wife's Fog Studio not only has no film library of its own, but also lacks scripts, lacks manpower, and almost everything else. It is difficult for Japanese film colleagues to pay attention to it and believe that it can be among the leaders of Japanese films for a long time. So it would be great if we could buy some French films. Once we have these films, we can not only effectively expand the business scope of Fog Studio, but also strengthen cooperation with film companies, TV stations and some independent theaters. We can even use some excellent films in these film libraries to remake some new films that suit Asian tastes. So for my wife to establish a position in the Japanese film industry, these copies are very useful things."

"I finally understand." Alain Delon said, "So... you didn't do this on impulse. You did it for your wife?"

"Of course, when my wife married me, we both did a property notarization and signed an agreement. She didn't ask me for a penny. Even if we divorce in the future, she won't take any of the property. But I have always felt a little sorry for this, and always felt that I owed my wife. Therefore, I have decided to buy these copies with my own money and plan to give them to my wife as a gift. I think that with these copies, I can finally increase my wife's income a little bit. Although the realization speed is slower, it is better in the long run, and it can always relieve her management and financial pressure. Isn't this what a husband should do? I can only help her so much."

Ning Weimin is trying to be sentimental in front of the best actor, which is definitely a case of showing off one's skills in front of an expert.

But the good thing is that he was speaking from the heart, especially since Alain Delon was also a romantic man and had been hurt by love.

After hearing what he said, Alain Delon fell silent, and it took him a long time to mutter something.

"True love comes first, isn't it? I really envy you, you are a winner in love and life. Well, it seems that you really don't care about being a sucker. Now I know that my words are completely redundant. Young man, if you have made up your mind, then do it. I wish you good luck, and I hope you will love each other forever..."

"Don't say that. I appreciate your advice. So, what about that thing we talked about? Crazy Rich Asians, the movie we're about to start shooting, what are your thoughts on it?"

Ning Weimin saw that Alain Delon was a little uninterested, and knew that he was reminded of some past events by the scene, so he deliberately changed the subject to tease him.

"I'd love to help, but in terms of time... I just need to show up? Just a few minutes of screen time? That's fine."

"You'll also be a consultant. We need to understand the living habits of the rich in Europe, so at least during the filming phase in France, we'll need you to accompany us on site and give us instructions. The filming period will probably be about a week."

"Okay then, it's settled. I'll have your people send me the contract later..."

"Okay, what about the reward? How about $500,000?"

"What? Oh my God! Am I crazy, or are you? Do you want me to play the leading role? My friend, I really doubt that you are mentally ill! Are you taking drugs? Just pay me $100,000..."

"Haha, no no, you're a big star. You deserve a big star's price. Just five hundred thousand! You said before, things are different when emotions are involved. Aren't we friends? I have to be worthy of my friends."

"How come you are more like a playboy than I am? I think your wife's film studio will really have problems with you as her husband. Let's not talk about the salary for now. Let's see how much money you will lose when you buy the film library!"

"Ha, can't you have a little confidence in me? Besides, these are two different things. For this film, I'm aiming for a Cannes award. I plan to run it well at the Cannes Film Festival next year..."