Top of the Great Era

Chapter 3038 Hot Money

Unexpectedly, Legendary Pictures actually sent a check the next day.

The bill clearly stated that it was for the script fee.

35 million US dollars.

Zhou Buqi accepted it without hesitation, and then handed it to his secretary Wang Langli, "This is for you."

Wang Langli was so frightened that her face turned pale. "No... No."

Zhou Buqi was a little puzzled, "What's wrong?"

"This is too much."

Wang Langli waved her hands repeatedly, saying she had never seen so much money.

Zhou Buqi grabbed her little hand and stuffed the check into her hand, "This is for your dad's medical treatment."

"me……"

Wang Langli bit her lips tightly, but held the huge check tightly in her hand.

Zhou Buqi said casually, "As for the screenwriter fee, it's yours! Go tell Legendary Pictures and say that you wrote the script. If the screenwriter of the movie is credited, then your name will be used. If there is no credit, forget it. It doesn't matter anyway. The important thing is not to use my name."

Wang Langli's English is very poor, so she was a little embarrassed, "I can't speak it!"

Zhou Buqi taught her, "If you don't know how to do something, ask someone to help you. Tools are the ladder of progress in modern civilization, and they are also a necessary means for a person to grow across social classes. You have to understand that people are the biggest tools. Learning to ask others for help is the biggest lever in life and the biggest way to success."

"Oh……"

Wang Langli was confused.

In the office, she stood beside the big boss's desk, behaving a little shyly, holding a big check in her hand, and she was shaking a little.

Zhou Buqi looked at her strangely, "What's wrong? Is there anything else?"

Wang Langli whined for a while before she whispered, "I can't afford to pay back this much money."

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "You don't have to pay it back! This is not for you, it's for your father's medical treatment."

Wang Langli took a deep breath and said softly, "But there is no free lunch in this world."

The voice was so soft that Zhou Buqi couldn't hear it clearly. "What did you say?"

Wang Langli threw herself at the risk, blushing and shouting, "Boss, I...I'll pledge my love to you!"

Zhou Buqi couldn't help laughing and waved his hand, "Let's talk about it later!"

Since Wang Langli had said it, it didn't matter. She had the courage to throw the pot away and said loudly: "Boss, I'm a virgin, and I'm yours from now on. If...if you need me, I can do it tonight!"

Zhou Buqi joked, "You learn really fast. What? Are you applying what you learn right away? Are you going to use me as a lever in your life?"

"No way!"

Wang Langli stomped her feet in annoyance.

"Okay, go get the CEO for me."

Zhou Buqi sent her away.

He is still in Hollywood, in the headquarters office of Ziweixing Global.

He is focusing on a business project.

The latest news is that Wanda's boss Wang came to Los Angeles to attend the celebration party of "Avengers 2", which was just a temporary arrangement. In fact, Wanda was investing in Los Angeles and they acquired a piece of land near Beverly Hills.

Wanda announced that it will invest a further $12 billion in Hollywood to build its U.S. entertainment business headquarters in Beverly Hills.

For Hollywood, this is a signal.

A "money grab" signal.

Because it is not just Wanda. Since last year, domestic film and television companies have collectively gone overseas and entered the Hollywood market on a large scale. Sino-US co-production has become a major trend, and Chinese capital has become the most popular source of capital for Hollywood.

It's just like robbing money.

It’s so enjoyable!

The big boss of Ziweixing Global is Zhou Buqi. Logically speaking, he should have inherent advantages and be able to take up most of this hot money from Chinese capital... Don’t miss it if you don’t want it!

  Just like the movie project "The Great Wall" that Legendary Pictures is going to make this time, if it succeeds, Hollywood will make more money; if it fails, most of the losses will be borne by Chinese capital. Why not do such a good thing?

Seeing that Boss Zhou approved the project of "The Great Wall", everyone thought that he had thought it through and began to persuade him, hoping that Boss Zhou could put aside his prejudice.

The interests of the company are the main focus.

  Actively participate in cooperation with Chinese capital forces to make the most money!

Of course Zhou Buqi didn't want to do this.

This is no different from cheating people.

The hot money pouring into Hollywood from China, in addition to Wanda, Huayi, and Jieyu Media, is LeTV Pictures, Alibaba Pictures, and Penguin Pictures, all of which are well-known large companies in China. If it can make money and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results, then Zhou Buqi will definitely rush in, and everyone will make money together and be happy.

But the current situation is clearly a trap.

Domestic hot money comes to Hollywood to invest, hoping to make big money?

It’s simply wishful thinking!

This is an old path that Japan and Europe have taken, and it is a road to death that has long been proven by practice.

Especially since Zhou Buqi had the advantage of foresight, he understood it even better.

When Chinese capital enters Hollywood, it's basically a mess, it's simply a pig-killing scheme in the film industry.

Zhou Buqi didn't want to "kill pigs", especially domestic pigs.

Saving it is unlikely.

He tried many times to save Wanda, but each time ended in failure.

Jason Kilar, CEO of Ziweixing Global, mentioned this matter when reporting the progress of the streaming media business to Zhou Buqi, and said carefully: "The film department submitted a report saying that we are fully cooperating with Chinese hot money. It is expected that in the next five years, our investment costs can be reduced by 30%, while revenue will only decrease by 10%; if the cost savings are invested in new projects, our total revenue can increase by 25%-30%."

In other words, if Boss Zhou accepts this strategic plan for the film business, then in the next few years, with the same investment, Ziweixing Global's total revenue from the film business may increase by 30%!

  If there is money to be made, why not do it?

Zhou Buqi asked: "What do you think?"

Jason Kilar was evasive, “I don’t know much about the movie business.”

Zhou Buqi said: "We are all in the Internet business. No matter what we do, whether it is movies, TV, or streaming media business, our principles cannot change. When choosing between instant gratification and delayed gratification, we must stand on the side of the future!"

Jason Kilar became serious, “Well, I am a long-termist.”

Zhou Buqi said: "In the 80s, Japan developed very fast and hot money flowed into Hollywood. What was the result? The hot money that entered Hollywood basically lost everything. In the 90s, hot money flowed into Europe, and European countries introduced tax rebate and subsidy policies to promote the development of their own film industries. This allowed European capital to replace Japanese capital and become the most popular investor in Hollywood! What was the result? European films became worse and worse, and there were no strong film companies in Europe anymore."

Jason Kilar laughed and said, "Indeed, Hollywood is a vampire that looks beautiful and represents dreams."

Zhou Buqi continued, "After the collapse of Japanese and European capital, Hollywood is facing a cash crunch. What should it do?"

Jason Kilar has been in Hollywood for many years, having transitioned from Silicon Valley. He is naturally familiar with the history of Hollywood's capital development. He said: "Then it was Wall Street's turn. In comparison, Wall Street's operating model is more effective than foreign capital."

Zhou Buqi nodded. "Relying on the theory of investment models, Wall Street designed a set of investment strategies centered around movies, which really worked. If there hadn't been the subprime mortgage crisis, Wall Street might have made a lot of money from Hollywood. Even today, I still think this is the best model for third-party capital and Hollywood to cooperate. But no matter what, looking back today, Wall Street has suffered heavy losses since entering Hollywood, and only a few institutions have succeeded."

The most typical example is Legendary Pictures.

This is actually a patchwork investment company that has developed from Wall Street to Hollywood.

The early investment was only over 2 million US dollars, but now Legendary Pictures is valued at 30 billion or even 40 billion US dollars.

Of course, there is another bigger beneficiary, which is Jieyu Media.

Relying on the foresight of boss Zhou, Xu Baihui led Jieyu Media and actively participated in Hollywood's patchwork investment business in the past few years.

Especially after the subprime mortgage crisis in 08, Wall Street was short of money and decisively sold off various investment assets to recover funds, resulting in major film platter investment institutions selling off a large number of film platter investment assets.

Among them are even super hit projects such as "Alice in Wonderland", "Twilight", "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" and "Avatar".

Under Zhou Buqi's guidance, Jieyu Media acquired a large number of mixed investment assets at a low price, especially nearly 40% of the "Avatar" share. This single business made Jieyu Media earn more than US$15 billion and became a key factor in pushing Jieyu Media's market value to more than HK$1300 billion.

However, times have changed.

After Wall Street suffered huge losses in Hollywood, it no longer comes to Hollywood to invest in a patchwork of investments.

  What will Hollywood do without the capital for investment in the platoon?

Where can I get the money?

  You can’t make a movie without money!

Fortunately, Hollywood has never lacked investors.

The answer now is domestic Chinese hot money.