China Entertainment Times 1999

Chapter 296 Overseas Promotion, Samsung True Princess! (Please subscribe!)
"The ambassador for all Mercedes-Benz models in Greater China, with a two-year endorsement fee of US$400 million, two advertisements and three events per year."

Wang Jinhua explained the terms of the contract to him.

Mercedes-Benz’s endorsement price is double that of Dior’s one million US dollars, which is in line with his current status and commercial value.

Except for the slightly too many advertisements and activities, Lin Xuan is quite satisfied with this contract.

"If you agree to sign the contract, you will have to drive a Mercedes-Benz when attending public events from now on."

"I also drive a Mercedes-Benz now. I can still make money by signing a contract, so why not. There are just a lot of advertisements and activities. You can talk to them again."

"Ok, I see."

Wang Jinhua folded the documents and pointed at the door:
"Wang Zhongjun is waiting for you in the conference room. Zhang Jizhong and Yu Ming are also there. They are probably talking about "The Legend of the Condor Heroes"."

"Then I'll go there first."

"Wait a moment."

"The initial budget was 3500 million. If Director Lin does not participate, then the 500 million will be removed, and the total production cost will be 3000 million."

For any drama that he doesn't like, at least one of the ratings and word-of-mouth will collapse, and there is a high probability that both will collapse.

After the cooperation was agreed upon, Zhang Jizhong began to plan the time.

Lin Xuan asked curiously.

When they came to the reception room, Zhang Jizhong, Yu Ming, Wang Zhongjun, and Wang Zhonglei were chatting.

"Hey, the great Berlin director is back."

Zhang Jizhong took out several documents from his bag and handed them to several people present.

Since you suspect that he is not telling the truth, the easiest way is to get him to invest together.

After hesitating for a moment, Lin Xuan nodded and said: "Okay, then I will invest 1000 million."

Wang Jinhua stopped him again: "Looking at your indifferent expression, I guess you don't plan to participate in the show."

Lin Xuan looked through the budget sheet, and Zhang Jizhong wrote it in quite detail.

"Director Zhang only offered 500 million?"

"Director Lin, tell us the truth. Is it because there is something wrong with the script that you don't play Yang Guo?

Lin Xuan sighed and said: "I am disappointed with Director Zhang. I have thought about it seriously during this period. It is really not interesting to shoot a costume drama. Yang Guo should let someone else act."

"Your record is unprecedented and unprecedented."

You are a director and a screenwriter. The right way is to make a few in-depth works, win a few awards, and expand the age group of your fans. "

500 million is not a small number to him.

As for the age record, it seems unattainable now, but in the future there will be a little girl who won the Berlin Film Festival Best Actor Award at the age of 9. That will be called unprecedented.

"Not only is he a great director, he is also the youngest award winner in Berlin."

Lin Xuan shook his head and explained: "Jin Yong's original work is right there, and the TV series can be filmed according to it. What's the problem? I really don't want to make any more costume dramas."

"Director Lin, do you want to invest?"

Lin Xuan smiled and said: "Sister Hua still understands me. Since we want to transform, we should be more thorough.

Wang Zhongjun made a clever suggestion.

"I am powerless and short of money, so I scraped together this 500 million yuan."

Hearing this, several people present smiled.

"Is the investment... budget ready for this show?"

If he didn't want to, then Wang Zhongjun wouldn't dare to gamble.

If you have any questions, you can ask them. The filming of the TV series hasn’t started yet, so the script can still be changed. "

"Then are you interested in investing? The three of us will invest together."

I've hit the ceiling of costume dramas. The upper limit is not high, and I can't break through it no matter how much I act. "

Hearing this, Zhang Jizhong looked disappointed and turned to look at Wang Zhongjun.

The five of them chatted for a while, and then Zhang Jizhong said: "It's still about "The Legend of the Condor Heroes". I was busy with work a year ago, so I guess we have time to talk now."

Wang Zhongjun said: "Then Huayi will invest 1500 million."

It's not that they are not confident, but Lin Xuan's eye for reading scripts is so good.

Lin Xuan smiled and waved his hand: "What a great director, it's not like he won the Golden Bear Award."

After hearing this, Wang Jinhua nodded in agreement: "Your idea is correct. The road of being a costumed male god has come to an end. No one can surpass you for at least ten years.

If Lin Xuan is willing to invest, it means that what he said is true. There is nothing wrong with the script, but he just doesn't have time or doesn't want to shoot it.

Lin Xuan smiled and gave a thumbs up. His route plan for the next two years was exactly the same as what Wang Jinhua said.

Although it won't hurt his muscles and bones, if he loses this money, Lao Zhang will have to live a hard life for a while.

"It's been done a long time ago. That's what I came here for today."

The four of them had doubts on their faces, suspecting that Lin Xuan was hiding something.

Preparation, location scouting, casting, and group training.

According to his estimation, "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" will not officially start filming until June.

Without Lin Xuan, the giant Buddha, the filming would have taken at least 5 months.

At noon, a few people went to a restaurant outside to eat.

I sent someone to sign the contract in the afternoon, and the cooperation was finally settled.

…………

A few days later, a racing track on the outskirts of Beijing.

Lin Xuan is filming the first commercial for Mercedes-Benz.

Wang Jinhua talked with people at Mercedes-Benz again and wanted to reduce the number of advertisements and offline activities.

But the other party insisted repeatedly that this was the minimum.

After two talks, Mercedes-Benz was only willing to reduce the number of offline activities once, but the number of advertisements could not be changed.

There are so many cars under Mercedes-Benz, the entry-level models are mainly for young people, the luxury models are mainly for business, and the sports cars are mainly for sports.

Even if divided by type, at least three shots should be taken.

Seeing the opponent's bottom line, Wang Jinhua had no choice but to change her strategy and ask for other benefits for Lin Xuan.

In the end, Mercedes-Benz expressed its willingness to tailor-make a luxury sedan for him.

You can bathe, sleep, cook, and anything you can do at home can be done in the car.

In the future, when he goes to the studio to film, he won't have to squeeze into a small lounge.

Lin Xuan is very satisfied with this contract.

Within two days after signing the contract, photos of the new ambassador appeared on the Mercedes-Benz official website.

He was also dragged to the racing track to shoot the first commercial for the new sports car.

…………

The commercial was shot over two days.

After filming, the crew of "The Dark Side" reunited and flew to the island country for promotion.

In addition to cartoons, the people of the island country also have a special liking for suspense works, and many well-known mystery writers have been born.

Seicho Matsumoto, Ranpo Edogawa, Masashi Yokomori, Shoji Shimada, Yukito Ayatsuji...

As for Higashino Keigo, who will be very popular in the future, it is difficult to rank in the third rate in the world of mystery novels.

The best-seller uses social reasoning and talks about love, hate, and enmity. This kind of thing is difficult to write, so the rate of quality of his books is very low.

The works worth reading can be counted on one hand. Now he is only slightly famous in the mystery novel world, and his real popularity will have to wait until "The Devotion of Suspect X" is published next year.

In addition to mystery novels, there are also many suspense and mystery film and television works.

"Renzaburo Furahata", "Wonderful Stories of the World", "The Chronicles of Kindaichi", "My Scary Wife", and the Internet celebrity drama "Unnatural Death" that will become popular in the mainland in the future.

Lin Xuan's first film "Adult Style of Love" was exported from the island country to domestic sales.

Not only did it achieve good box office results, but the rights to adapt it were also purchased.

Sony Pictures still attaches great importance to this award-winning new work. After signing the contract, it will start the promotion work non-stop.

The island country has introduced many of Lin Xuan's film and television works, and he is very popular here.

In the popularity list of overseas celebrities, they have always been ranked fifth and third.

Especially in last year's "Xiu Chun Dao", the handsome and powerful Ding Xiu directly touched the hearts of the people of the island country. Many fans bought the same Miao Dao to cosplay Ding Xiu.

After the promotion of the island country ended, the crew turned around and went to Bangzi Country.

CJ Entertainment arranged a luxury fleet to transport them to the Shilla Hotel owned by Samsung.

This is the most luxurious five-star hotel in Seoul, and the actual helm is Li Fuzhen, the three-star princess.

Compared to Sony, CJ attaches more importance to cooperation with Lin Xuan.

At the reception dinner that day, Ms. Lee Mee-kyung, the vice president of CJ Group, the head of CJ Entertainment, and the driving force behind the Korean Wave, was even present in person.

Her father is Li Mengxi, the deposed crown prince of Samsung, and before he was deposed, Li Meijing was the eldest princess of Samsung.

During dinner, the two sat together and talked quietly.

She was surprised that Lin Xuan knew Korean, and Lin Xuan was also surprised that she knew Chinese.

After asking, I found out that Li Meijing had studied abroad in many countries and received a doctorate in Chinese history from Fudan University.

Lin Xuan was a little embarrassed. As a high school dropout, he couldn't hold his head high anywhere.

Influenced by his father, Li Meijing loves movies and has invested in and supported many well-known directors.

Including Park Chan-wook, Kim Ki-duk, Bong Joon-ho...

Last year, Bong Joon-ho's masterpiece "Memories of Murder" was invested and released by CJ Entertainment.

However, the film market in Bangzi Country is too small, and the company must expand outward if it wants to develop.

CJ Entertainment has cooperated with many entertainment companies and filmmakers in island countries, Hong Kong Island, Bay Area and other places.

In addition, she also owns 10% of DreamWorks shares and owns the film distribution rights of DreamWorks in Hong Kong Island and mainland China.

Originally, the mainland film market was very small, and CJ never paid much attention to it.

But as Zhang Yimou and Lin Xuan continued to set box office records, the whole world understood that the mainland market was about to rise.

A discerning person like Li Meijing can naturally see it.

Therefore, she came to the dinner just to discuss cooperation with Lin Xuan.

After dinner, the two went to the hotel room to talk in detail.

CJ Entertainment wants to enter the mainland market, and Lin Xuan is also interested in finding a partner overseas.

The reason is very simple. The censorship system for mainland films and co-productions is basically a double standard. The scale of co-productions is obviously larger.

Another reason is that there is no film censorship system in Bangzi Country, only a film rating system. It is rare that a film cannot be released after filming.

If you encounter a situation where the script fails to pass the review when making a movie in the future.

He can move the background of the story to Bangzi Country, so that he can successfully evade censorship.

However, no matter how awesome the movie rating system is, there is nothing that can be done when it comes to a ruthless person like Kim Ki-duk.

He will make a movie called "Mobius" in the future, in which a mother and her son drive on the highway were directly banned by the film department of Bangzi Country.

Lin Xuan and Li Meijing talked about investment, production, distribution, acting, and then entering Hollywood.

She didn't leave the hotel until late at night.

Looking at the empty room, Lin Xuan felt helpless.

They say that the entertainment industry in Bangzi Country is very dark, and celebrities are just playthings in the hands of chaebols. Why didn't they arrange one for me? There is no sincerity in cooperation at all.

This was someone else's territory. He didn't dare to go to Fan Xiaopang and Gao Yuanyuan's room, so he could only go to bed alone.

The next morning, the crew discussed the announcement with CJ's people at the hotel.

During lunch time, the department head of CJ Entertainment invited them to eat, and the waiter brought them a bowl of instant noodles and several plates of kimchi.

Fan Xiaopang and Gao Yuanyuan were both dumbfounded, holding chopsticks and not knowing how to start their mouths.

Seeing that Lin Xuan and the others were having a great time eating, the two of them managed to take a few bites.

After CJ's people left, Fan Xiaopang complained: "They actually invited us to eat instant noodles at a business banquet. Are these people intentionally insulting us?"

Gao Yuanyuan nodded in agreement with an unhappy expression.

Lin Xuan smiled and explained: "Is there a possibility that instant noodles and kimchi are what they consider a big meal?"

"real or fake?"

"You lied to us. How can we treat instant noodles as a big meal?"

Although it is incredible, Bangzi Country has a special liking for instant noodles.

When a friend comes to visit, if you treat him with a few bags of instant noodles and let him sleep on the floor, no one will say you didn't entertain him well.

These cultural differences are simply incomprehensible to mainlanders.

At around two o'clock in the afternoon, the crew went to the cinema to walk the red carpet to promote the movie.

Many fans came to the scene, and many of them held up signs and posters of Lin Xuan.

Jiang Zhiqiang is not lying. His popularity in Japan and South Korea is definitely at the level of a superstar.

"Aniha Seyo!"

After walking on the red carpet, Lin Xuan took the microphone and said hello in Korean, and the fans around him became even more crazy.

A mainland superstar, a billionaire box-office director, and the youngest winner of the Berlin Film Festival can actually speak Korean.

What does this mean? It means that the culture of wuli Korean nation has influenced Asia and gone global.

Lin Xuan said a few words in Korean and made fans climax on the spot. The root of the problem is cultural inferiority.

This is not only the case in Bangzi Country, the situation in the mainland is even more serious.

My family's English is not standard and can be ridiculed wildly by netizens.

After ten years of filming, no one asked me about it, and the word "poor haha" was known to the world.

And foreigners can just say a few twisted "hello" and "goodbye", and netizens can praise how well they speak Chinese.

This double standard is so shameless.

Back to the topic, in order to support the crew, CJ Entertainment invited many well-known directors and actors from Bangzi Country to participate in the film premiere.

Bong Joon-ho, the director of "Memories of Murder", Park Chan-wook, the director of "Oldboy", Lim Kwon-taek, the director of "The Drunken Master", and Kim Ki-duk, who they met at the Berlin Film Festival.

As for actors, there is the female star Lee Young-ae who became famous in Asia last year with "Dae Jang Geum".

Kim Hee-sun is the most beautiful woman with abundant TV dramas and fashion resources.

Jun Ji-hyun became the national goddess with "Untouchable Love" and "My Sassy Girl".

Song Hye Kyo is the Qiao sister who has soared to the sky with "Blue Life and Death" and "L.A. Life and Death".

Mainly focusing on the film industry, she has filmed "The Drunken Painter" and "If Love Has God's Will", and is known as Son Ye-jin.

It is no exaggeration to say that the most popular male and female stars in Bangzi Country are gathered in the theater.

The influence of CJ Entertainment in Bangzi Country is evident.

(End of this chapter)