The opening of China Entertainment Group gave Jay Chou a head-on confrontation

Chapter 583 Warner's One-Man Show

"Congratulations on your fortune~
"Congratulations on your wonderful performance~
"The best please come, the bad please go away
"The more courtesy, the less blame~~~"

Zhou Yi, who wrote the lyrics, couldn't help but humming as he wrote.

There is no way, the melody of this lyrics has truly been engraved into our DNA and we can’t forget it even if we want to.

As one of the most popular songs in the global Chinese community, "Gong Xi Fa Cai" can definitely bring all the popular album songs together to A. The only ones that can stand alongside it are "Gong Xi Gong Xi" with rewritten lyrics and "Good Luck Coming" which was first released on this year's Spring Festival Gala.

A truly divine song, it fully illustrates what is meant by "the most vulgar is the most elegant", and it is not the kind that can be forced.

"What is this you wrote? A new song? Why do the lyrics look so festive? Is it for the Spring Festival Gala?"

Cai Zhuoyan, who came to see Zhou Yi, came over curiously, took a few glances and asked, "Could it be that what the news said is true? You are going to sing two songs in this year's Spring Festival Gala?"

"Wish you good fortune and prosperity", a blessing commonly used during Chinese New Year, appears frequently in the lyrics, making it hard not to let people daydream about it.

"I guess so. How come you have time to come here today?"

Zhou Yi ignored the hands that were already around his neck and said teasingly with a smile: "Aren't you filming? Brother Chenglong is almost going crazy because of the budget, how can you run away?"

For Cheng Long, who is currently filming the movie "New Police Story" at a high intensity, the most important thing is to finish the remaining scenes as much as possible with closed management when the overspending gap is getting bigger and bigger.

Because this movie is the first movie produced by the company jointly established by Yinghuang and Chenglong, it is no surprise that the main outstanding characters in the film are all people from both parties.

As a character with relatively bright spots in the film, Cai Zhuoyen should not be able to leave the crew.

"Then I have to thank you. Who dares to neglect you, the emperor of Chinese music?"

Since they were already frank with each other, Cai Zhuoyan did not hide anything: "You don't know, Brother Chenglong is now counting on your cameo to make up for the overspending budget. Otherwise, it will be difficult for this movie to make a profit at the box office, so he sent me to find you."

Because Cheng Long insisted on real shooting, the funding for this movie alone soared to 1.2 million Hong Kong dollars. Then, because Zhou Yi was invited to make a cameo appearance, a large amount of additional salary had to be spent.

And that’s not even counting the publicity and promotion fees needed before and after the film’s release.

It is absolutely impossible to recover this cost by relying solely on the Hong Kong and Taiwan markets. Everyone knows this. The mainland market - no, to be more precise, the overseas copyright market is where Chenglong makes money.

Many people may not have any idea about Chenglong’s overseas copyright market. Let’s put it this way, no one in the entire Chinese-speaking world can sell better than him.

Taking the so-called "Police Story Series" as an example, Cheng Long later produced another bad movie "Police Story 2013". Judging from the box office and plot alone, it was undoubtedly a flop. At that time, Cheng Long's reputation in China had already declined and became synonymous with bad movies.

But even during its low period, Chenglong's copyright income from the overseas copyright market alone reached 2013 million US dollars from the copyright of the movie "Police Story 3000".

The copyright of Chenglong Films can still be sold in countries like Japan, India, Singapore, Turkey, the Middle East, Greece and even Cyprus, where ordinary people may not even know where they are or what they do.

Little by little, it adds up to a lot. Only Chenglong in the entire Chinese film and television industry can earn 3000 million US dollars worldwide before the film is released.

This is also the reason why even in 2024, there are still a lot of investment companies lining up to ask Chenglong to film.

Personal relationships are personal relationships, and making money is making money. When Chenglong's golden signboard is no longer well-known and can no longer be sold in the mature copyright market abroad, naturally no investors or investment companies will look for him anymore.

The same is true for "New Police Story".

In terms of box office, the film didn’t do well in both Mainland China and Taiwan. This is because domestic audiences are not ready to see a Cheng Long who can’t fight appear on the screen, and the plot flaws are too big to be ignored.

But in terms of copyright, this film has sold more copies overseas thanks to the Chenglong name than Stephen Chow's box office hit "Kung Fu".

Now Zhou Yi has joined the cast. As a global top star, Zhou Yi's first big screen appearance will attract many people even overseas. Naturally, there will be copyright holders willing to pay a higher price.

"However, although I already know that celebrity status is a real thing, isn't it a bit too outrageous that you took away 10 million US dollars for a cameo of less than 300 minutes?"

When Cai Zhuoyeon saw Zhou Yi sitting with his legs crossed and looking lazy, she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable.

Converted into RMB, it's more than 90 million. It's higher than the box office of more than % of domestic films this year. It's simply outrageous.

Judging from the script, the total number of scenes is less than 10 minutes, and this is the plot that Chenglong and his team expanded, just to allow Zhou Yi's guest appearance time to be as long as possible. Anyway, it is a reverse order that only appears at the end of the film, which will not have any impact on the main plot of the movie.

"If Chenglong wanted to get paid, he could spend the 1.2 million Hong Kong dollars budget for this movie alone, and it wouldn't even be enough; Li Lianjie took the initiative to reduce his salary for starring in "Hero" and gave a friendly price, but he still got 850 million US dollars.

"The $300 million I got for a guest appearance is already a very friendly price among friendly prices."

Zhou Yi put away the paper and pen, stood up, put his hand on the woman's shoulder, and walked out with her.

If Cheng Long had not helped him with "Rush Hour 2" when he entered the North American market, it would have been impossible for him to get this friendly price. Zhou Jianhui would not have agreed to let him go, even if Cheng Long had tempted him by offering him the chance to collide with Jiang Wen.

As he was walking, Zhou Yi stopped when he passed by the door of another recording studio - he saw a familiar-looking person.

"Ayi? Asa?"

"Sister Sammi, what a coincidence, are you recording a song today?"

Cai Zhuoyen, who also saw someone, waved to Zheng Xiuwen, a member of Warner Tianhou Palace who had gradually lost her voice in the music scene. Zhou Yi's hand was still on her shoulder, which made her feel even happier.

"correct."

Sammi Cheng, who already knew about their secret, was not surprised at all, but rather a little surprised.

As we all know, since the Zhou Runfa incident, Zhou Yi has rarely intervened in the album recordings of Warner's internal singers, and they themselves have no objection.

We are all veterans, so we have to accept defeat.

To outsiders, this was Zhou Yi's punishment for them not standing on his side, and there was nothing wrong with it.

He does not have double standards, but treats everyone equally - this is what Zhou Yi does in Warner in mainland China. The Song Ke faction, which has a conflict with Zhou Jianhui, has also never received Zhou Yi's attention.

Only Wang Feng, who changed his position, got the opportunity. Not only did Zhou Yi see his songs, but he also entered his recording studio.

And F.I.R, a new band signed by Warner in Taiwan, got the opportunity to perform as a band at the China-Korea Concert as soon as Zhou Yi did a good job.

On the side, Fang Datong, who worked behind the scenes on the album, immediately came over and politely called out, "Hello, Brother Yi, I'm Fang Datong, just call me Datong."

"Fang Datong? I've heard people in the company talk about you."

Zhou Yi pretended to be enlightened.

This is not a lie. After all, Kris Wu is quite famous within Warner and even in the Hong Kong music circle - as a behind-the-scenes music producer.

In 2000, he joined Warner with his own demo, but due to his poor appearance and limited vocal conditions, he did not get a chance to debut. Instead, he became a behind-the-scenes staff member of Warner (Hong Kong), responsible for music production.

After a few years, he has gained a little bit of fame, but not much. Of course, Fang Datong has never forgotten that he actually wants to debut. While quietly accumulating connections, he has also been making demos in order to impress the senior management of Warner (Hong Kong) and then let him debut.

He even considered debuting with Universal or Sony, but it was obvious that Sony, Universal, and EMI were too busy to pay attention to him because his musical style was "too weird."

It is hard to make a breakthrough in the Chinese music scene with rhythms and intonations that are harder to learn than Tao-style R&B. Even if one succeeds, there is no way for it to become a big hit, and it is destined to be well-received but not commercially successful.

"Sister Sammi, then we won't bother you while you record the song."

After saying hello, Cai Zhuoyan pretended to be innocent and said, "Brother Chenglong is still waiting for us."

"Okay, you're busy."

Sammi Cheng, who wanted to repair the relationship and invited Zhou Yi into the recording studio, could only sigh helplessly in her heart, still smiling. Only Fang Datong was staring at Zhou Yi's back as he talked and laughed with Cai Zhuoyen, his lenses reflecting some light under the light.

If you want to find someone who is very knowledgeable in Warner, Zhou Yi is undoubtedly the best candidate.

He also believed that Zhou Yi was the one who could definitely understand his music. After all, his understanding of Western music genres was obviously better than that of all domestic music producers.

If possible, he also wants to join the Zhou Yi Gang within Warner.

"You're right. What's the point of helping or not helping? Next year, Warner will be ruled by Zhou Yi alone."

Taiwan, Chen family.

Warner's deputy general manager Chen Zeshan looked out the window at the sunset, sighed, put the contract documents on the table, and stared at the man in front of him.

Cui Zhendong, President of Sony Music Greater China.

"When Zhou Yi gets promoted, those who depend on him will also get promoted. Your position is taken by Zhou Yi's agent Qian Jiang. So, instead of staying at Warner, you might as well come to Sony. Wang Lihong, Cai Yilin, and Jay Chou can all be managed by you."

Cui Zhendong, who came to Warner with a hoe to dig talents, smiled slightly and said, "Believe me, EMI can't give you this condition. The only young ace they have is Xiao Yaxuan. I believe there is no need for me to explain her relationship with Zhou Yi.

“As for Universal, they are behind the times.”

After Edgar Jr. signed the contract with Zhou Yi in the United States and began to prepare related matters, the international record companies naturally found out everything about Zhou Yi's contract renewal.

In contrast, Chen Zeshan, who has outstanding abilities within Warner, has become the best candidate for poaching by several major giants in China.

EMI was the first to extend an olive branch, but because the promoted Yao Qian was still there, he could only be the vice president, and it was impossible for him to lead the ace Xiao Yaxuan, so he had to choose to give up.

Universal...there was no trump card worth seeing, so Chen Zeshan just took a glance and threw it into the trash can.

With only Sony, Cai Yilin, Wang Lihong and Jay Chou as three trump cards in hand, the position of general manager is within reach.

I have to admit that this contract is very tempting.

There is no need to say more about Cai Yilin. If he turns around and goes to Universal now, then this hard-working woman he has always been optimistic about will definitely be willing to jump ship from Sony and follow him. But in that case, he will be somewhat alone and weak.

The penalty for breach of contract between Zhang Huimei and Warner was too high, so he did not dare to pry her away before the contract expired; Nayoung went home to fall in love and retired from the music scene.

Sammi Cheng and Aaron Kwok turned to the film industry and had no intention of continuing their career in the music industry.

Needless to say, Sun Yanzi's relationship is pretty good, but asking her to switch jobs and betray Warner is a bit of a pipe dream.

After all the calculations, the only one willing to go with him is Cai Yilin, who is greedy for more. It would be better for him to just jump to Sony. Cai Yilin won't have to change.

"If that's the case, I'll be looking forward to your guidance next year, Mr. Cui."

"What we are pursuing is win-win, Mr. Chen."

For Cui Zhendong, it is undoubtedly something worth celebrating that he was able to poach Chen Zeshan, who was becoming increasingly unhappy at his job at Warner.

It’s not that Sony doesn’t have talent in marketing, but compared to Chen Zeshan, those people’s abilities are not that impressive.

Most importantly, he needed a "white glove".

As the president of Sony Greater China, he was originally competing against Warner's Zhou Jianhui and EMI's Zheng Donghan.

You may have seen these two presidents personally hyping up their cricket opponents?
There are some things he can do but cannot say, because it would be embarrassing for a president to get involved in a quarrel.

Senior executives can talk nonsense and general managers can quarrel with each other, but the president of a large group, who represents the face, cannot do that.

At this time, he needed someone who could be his substitute, strictly help him execute and implement his ideas, and Chen Zesheng, who had a strong subjective initiative, was such a person.

Because Chen Zeshan is shameless enough.

Wang Lihong and Jay Chou have already formulated the future development direction of public opinion. That topic is somewhat shameless. After all, they don’t know what they are guarding by “guarding the home”.

As for the top singer Cai Yilin... following the example of Japanese female singers such as Namie Amuro, Ayumi Hamasaki, etc. also requires strong psychological endurance.

"Ah? What did you say? Brother Shan, are you leaving?"

The hotel where the crew members of "Kung Fu" stayed in Shanghai.

After finishing the filming of today's scenes and entering the countdown of the crew's time, Sun Yanzi received a farewell call from Chen Zeshan. He was stunned and even forgot to bite the green dates in his mouth.

To be fair, although Chen Zeshan often forced her to travel around the country, it has to be admitted that Chen Zeshan was actually very good to her and was extremely concerned about her career, and everything was arranged in an orderly manner.

Although the strictness always made her complain.

"Yes, all good things must come to an end. Now that I'm not around to supervise you, remember don't be too lazy and waste your hard-earned popularity. There are so many people who want it but don't have it." Chen Zeshan, who both loves and "hates" Sun Yanzi, said with a smile.

"How could that be, Brother Shan? I'm very hardworking."

Sun Yanzi unconsciously shrank his neck and wiped the dates on the collar of his pajamas. He chuckled and said, "Then I wish you a prosperous career in the future, Brother Shan. We will be rivals in the future."

On the evening of December 2003, 12, a major event occurred inside Warner.

Chen Zeshan handed in his resignation letter and began to work on the handover, standing guard for the last time;

Zhou Jianhui did not hesitate at all. He just said a few symbolic words and completed all the procedures very quickly.

On the same night, Fang Datong, a staff member of Warner Hong Kong, made a submission in the company's internal music library and chose to mail his new demo, which he had worked hard on, to Zhou Yi, who was currently at Warner Hong Kong, expressing his desire to join the Warner Zhou Yi Gang.

He named this demo "Wukong".

(End of this chapter)