This director needs to apologize

Chapter 403 There is still room for discussion
As soon as Chen Yiming finished speaking, Luo Xiao's huge body, which was half squatting, suddenly stopped. When he raised his head again, his whole fat face was filled with surprise and excitement.

However, his eyes conveyed an emotion of uneasiness and suspicion. His body swayed a few times, and he seemed unable to withstand the impact, and sat down on the ground.

Li Jun was also delighted. He walked forward and laboriously picked Luo Xiao up from the carpet. He looked up at Chen Yiming with eyes full of gratitude.

After a while, the three of them sat down. The first sentence that Luo Xiao said again made Li Jun almost unable to hold back and cover his mouth with his hand.

"Director Chen, to be honest, being a nominal consultant may not be enough. According to my first version of the script, the minimum investment amount must reach 1.8 million yuan. Currently, the investment that has been confirmed is only 7800 million yuan.

To be frank, you are the only director in the film industry who can get investors to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in investment without reservation. In other words, I am not the only director in the industry who wants to be your pendant.

Investors are all very cautious and will not act until they see the rabbit. An investment with such a high risk will hardly be realized without your substantial participation.”

Chen Yiming chuckled and said, "So I have to be the chief planner and chief screenwriter?

It’s really interesting. Is the name Chen Yiming valuable or not?
If it is really like what you said, that the gap between our status is so huge, aren't you afraid that after the investment is in place, the investors will suddenly put pressure on me and require me to be the director myself?

I think you should be very clear about how high the probability of such a thing happening is. In that case, the pile of original works in front of you will be of no use. You can just replace them or kick you out. Your rights and interests will not be protected at all.

You worked hard on the script, you went out of your way to arrange the investment, you bet all your money on it, and then you bet everything on my purity and gentlemanly character. Do you believe it yourself? Is there really such a person in this circle?"

The atmosphere in the room took a sharp turn for the worse. Li Jun was so anxious that his face was filled with emotions. He sat there restlessly but couldn't say anything.

Because the problem is there, turning a blind eye to it doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

After a long while, Luo Xiao said in a very depressed voice, "Director Chen, I can only trust you, because I can't find any other way.

I mortgaged my property and scraped together the money to redeem "Moving Mountains". I don't understand, and don't want to understand, why an old friend who had been with me for more than ten years suddenly had nothing to do with me.

How ridiculous! He sold me something that belonged to me, and I should be grateful to him because he only made 200 million from me, which is considered very generous among his peers.

I suppressed my nausea and edited the script to satisfy the investors, just to allow "Moving Mountains" to see the light of day. I naively thought that since it was the first film, setting the budget lower would be a good start so that it could be successfully completed and released in theaters.

So I was really naive. Newcomers have no human rights. Even if my debut work was not a failure, it was the same. In their eyes, recovering costs is the first priority, and three parts production and seven parts marketing is a safe profit formula.

Director Chen, I know my request is unreasonable, and you have no reason to get involved in this trouble. But since you agreed to be my consultant, it means that you have some recognition of the project "Moving Mountains", and there is a certain basis for cooperation between you and me.

So why not give it a try? I don't mind following Lee Joon's example and signing a contract with Platinum Duke, even if it's 19:1, as long as you can support me in making "Moving Mountains."

Li Jun was suddenly stabbed in the back by his old friend. His neck turned red. He quickly interrupted and scolded, "Lao Luo, what are you talking about? When did I say that I signed a contract to sell myself? My contract does not involve profit sharing at all. Where did you hear this nonsense?"

He turned to Chen Yiming and said, "Director Chen, Luo Xiao is confused because he is anxious. This is not his intention. I definitely did not say anything bad about the company behind their backs."

Chen Yiming was amused by Li Jun's ridiculous behavior and waved his hand, "Shut up, you're making things worse."

He looked at Luo Xiao again and said in a gentle voice, "Director Luo, I understand your situation. It is indeed difficult to take on a large project worth hundreds of millions for the first time.

You may hope to pull me in to fight against the producers sent by Diquan Capital to restrain you. Not to mention whether it is impolite to use me as a shield, nor to comment on whether the method of using my name to pull other investors to compete for the right to speak will work. From the perspective of a person who has been through this, I am still willing to give you some suggestions based on my experience.

From the very beginning, your self-castration approach was wrong. Only the director has the final say on what a movie should be like. Is the biggest selling point of "Moving Mountains" really the intricate group portraits in extreme situations? Obviously not!

Compared with the visual spectacle of galaxy destruction and the crazy creativity of mankind's self-rescue, the so-called analysis of human nature and depth of thought are nothing but embellishments and pendants.

Haven't you made your position very clear? The difference and comparison between the Chinese people's mountain-moving mentality and the Western people's ark mentality, the two philosophies of salvation, and the ukiyo-e life scenes in a day's journey, are they on the same dimension?
Without those visual effects shots that are beyond imagination, what would be left of "Moving Mountains"? What would it mean? Can you castrate it?

Large investment, high risk, long cycle, difficult control, low trust, these are the inherent characteristics of the project "Moving Mountains" and you chose them. If I take the lead, these negative factors will no longer exist? It will be the same no matter who takes the lead!
The step-by-step approach should be to accumulate a certain amount of experience, status and prestige before considering launching this project. I believe that this was what you originally planned, but due to a series of coincidences, you have ended up in this situation now, and you can only face it.

Any stopgap measure that requires you to castrate yourself goes against the grain of "Moving Mountains", and any suggestion that you do subtraction in order to reduce negative factors is simply putting the cart before the horse.

According to your current script, your producer's actions are not unreasonable. The ceiling of a feature film with a soft science fiction background is relatively low. Didn't you see that I also had to include some action elements when I filmed "The 13th Floor"? "

Luo Xiao was stunned by what he said, and his fat face was full of confusion, but his question still showed his straightforward personality, "So Director Chen, do you agree to lend me this tiger skin or not?"

Li Jun was speechless, thinking that Lao Luo’s EQ wasn’t so low before, was it because of a series of blows that caused his genes to mutate?

Chen Yiming felt it was okay. It could only be said that he had too much empathy, or maybe he had a higher degree of favorability towards the little ball in his previous life, so his ability to penetrate Luo Xiao's defense was unexpectedly low.

So he answered frankly, "Borrow! I will borrow double!
Don't you just want to drag me into the game and convince Mr. Han Sanye and Wang Yibai to agree to your request for additional investment in tracing the source of the original document?

If you really want to achieve this goal, it is not enough for me to be named as the chief planner and chief screenwriter. Lao Wang and Mr. Han are not so easy to fool.

This matter is quite complicated!

I'm not an expert in this area, so let Li Jun take you to visit Mr. Ma and Mr. Qi. It's only natural to express your gratitude for using the spaceship that they paid for, right?"

Luo Xiao and Li Jun nodded like pecking at rice.

Chen Yiming leaned back in his chair and continued lightly, "I told Li Jun that I would use Xiao Qi's role in exchange for the right to use the spaceship. When the time comes, you just need to say this, and the rest is my business."

Luo Xiao was a little embarrassed but still managed to argue, "Director Chen, if Mr. Qi's sister doesn't meet the requirements of the script, I will still stick to my decision."

Chen Yiming waved his hand and said, "It's no problem, it's just an excuse."

Seeing Luo Xiao's expression of wanting to ask but not daring to, Chen Yiming further explained, "Now 'Moving Mountains' is already a dish on the imperial circle's plate. Do you understand what I mean?

People are already annoying me, so I can't just interfere for no reason. It's neither against the rules nor reasonable.

You yourself have reduced the project from nine figures to eight figures, and Diquan Capital easily covers it. Wang Yibai can justifiably shut me out. Increase capital? Why? Do I have priority? Do you have the final say?

If you want to get something, you must give it first. If you want to get things done, you can't drag me to talk to Mr. Han Sanye and Wang Yibai. They have to come to me and beg me to talk.

Then my shield to protect you from wind and rain will be truly useful."

Luo Xiao nodded half-believingly, then asked a little embarrassedly, "Your idea is quite difficult, how can we achieve it?"

Chen Yiming laughed and said, "You also know it's difficult, then when you first came into the room, how could you promise me the titles of chief planner and chief screenwriter with such confidence?

Didn't you think at that time that Mr. Han San and Wang Yibai would never agree?"

Seeing the other party lower his head in shame, Chen Yiming did not take it too seriously and replied casually, "I know Mr. Han very well. He is a deep-rooted blockbuster theorist. He would not dislike the original version of "Moving Mountains". The reason for not supporting it is very simple, he does not trust you.

As for Wang Yibai, it is easier to understand. He is a pure businessman who cares about the input-output ratio. If he agrees to a project with high investment and high output, it must be because there are greater benefits other than profit that can offset the risks he bears.

So the way to join the game came out. For Mr. Han San, he is not opposed to cooperating with the magic circle, but he cannot allow himself to lose the dominant position. It is very simple to get him to support you, as long as you show him that your control over the project is not inferior to mine.

As for Wang Yibai, he will be tempted with benefits. As a businessman, there is no one who is not greedy. If he fails to get the benefits he deserves, it is more difficult to accept than losing money. Suppose one day he finds out that I, Chen Yiming, intend to buy your original copyright to make a sequel to "Moving Mountains" and release it after your "Moving Mountains 1", what do you think he will think? "

(End of this chapter)