Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 596 Cooperation between the two parties
"Ms. Song opened a film company?" Stephen Chow was very surprised when he heard the news.

“Does the mainland allow private film companies to be established?”

In response to Stephen Chow's question, Song Tangtang briefly explained the establishment process of Shengshi Films, and finally emphasized:

"Mr. Zhou, Mr. Liu, although Shengshi Films was established not long ago, it has already invested in the production of several films and TV series. In particular, last year, we cooperated with Mr. Zhang Yimou to invest in the production of Raise the Red Lantern, which achieved impressive results both in terms of box office and word of mouth."

Zhang Yimou!
Although Stephen Chow makes commercial films, he has also heard of Zhang Yimou's name.

More importantly, "Raise the Red Lantern" was named one of the top ten Chinese-language films at the Hong Kong Film Awards last year!

The movie "God of Gamblers" he co-starred with Stephen Chow was only nominated for the Best Actor at the Hong Kong Film Awards last year.

"Oh, by the way, the script for Zhang Yimou's movie was also written by my husband. I asked my husband to be the screenwriter for several of his movies." Song Tangtang added.

After hearing this, Stephen Chow and Liu Zhenwei looked at each other.

As expected, Fang Minghua is known as the number one screenwriter in mainland China, and the reputation is well-deserved.

"Song Tangtang, I have another question." Liu Zhenwei asked, "According to the mainland's policy, private film companies cannot obtain a public screening license, which is what you call a dragon seal. How can the films that the company is preparing to shoot be released?"

"This is very simple." Song Tangtang smiled slightly: "We can cooperate with mainland film studios and purchase dragon logos. Raise the Red Lantern is a cooperation between China Film Co-production Company and China Film Co-production Company."

Song Tangtang briefly explained the cooperation process with China Film Co-production Company, and finally said: "Mr. Zhou, Mr. Liu, don't worry, I can buy the dragon logo of any film studio in the mainland, including Xiying."

This woman is quite capable!
This thought came to Stephen Chow and Liu Zhenwei's mind at the same time.

The mainland is not Hong Kong. There are so many rules and regulations for film and television production and distribution. It is impossible for a private company to handle all of them without the ability.

Maybe it has something to do with the man next to me?
Stephen Chow glanced again at Fang Minghua who was sitting next to Song Tangtang.

But now Fang Minghua was sitting with his legs crossed, looking as if it had nothing to do with him.

He exchanged glances with Liu Zhenwei again, and they understood each other's meaning.

"Ms. Song, we are willing to cooperate with you." Stephen Chow finally made the decision.

"Okay, then can we talk in detail about how to cooperate?" Song Tangtang still had a faint smile on her face.

"OK!"

"Mr. Zhou, Mr. Liu, you guys chat with my wife." Fang Minghua suddenly stood up and said with a smile, "I have something else to do."

After saying that, Fang Minghua added: "I'm not very interested in business matters." Then he turned and walked upstairs.

He's really not interested.

What's so good about cooperation?

They must be arguing with each other, all wanting to maximize the benefits for their own companies.

Fang Minghua believes in his wife's abilities.

Instead of sitting here like this, it’s boring, so I might as well go upstairs and read a book or listen to some music.

Upstairs, Fang Minghua was drinking tea and watching the latest episode of "Yanhe".

Downstairs, Song Tangtang had a heated discussion and even an argument with Stephen Chow and Liu Zhenwei about their cooperation.

The whole morning passed like this, until around noon when it was almost time for lunch, Song Tangtang went upstairs to call Fang Minghua.

"Are you done talking?"

"Well, a preliminary cooperation agreement has been reached."

"it is good."

Fang Minghua went downstairs and warmly invited Zhou and Liu to have lunch together at noon, but they declined.

"Mr. Fang, Ms. Song, we have booked a flight at 2 o'clock. We have to go to the airport now. How about we have dinner together next time we come to Xijing?" Stephen Chow said.

In this case, Fang Minghua did not force them. The couple politely sent everyone to the gate of the yard. After seeing Stephen Chow get into a Mercedes-Benz, they returned to the yard.

He looked at the watch on his wrist: "It's already 12 o'clock, how about not cooking lunch and go to a restaurant?"

"The food outside is not clean, it's better to cook it yourself. You take a rest and I'll do it." Song Tangtang said as she walked into the kitchen, put on an apron and started to work. Song Tangtang didn't like eating out. On the one hand, the hygiene conditions of restaurants outside were really not good, and on the other hand, she felt that there was no home atmosphere.

I don’t have time when I’m busy at work, so when I have free time I like to cook.

The wife went to the kitchen to busy herself, and Fang Minghua had nothing to do so he went over to help, sitting on a small stool to help pick the vegetables. The two chatted while working, and of course they were still talking about the movie.

"Stephen Chow, Liu Zhenwei, and I have reached a preliminary agreement. We will produce two films, two parts, with an estimated investment of 4000 million Hong Kong dollars. Golden Era Films will account for one-third, which is about 1300 million. We will talk about signing the contract after they make a detailed budget." Song Tangtang said while washing rice.

Fang Minghua frowned slightly after hearing this: "1300 million Hong Kong dollars is equivalent to about 1400 million RMB at the current exchange rate. Shengshi Film and Television doesn't have that much money now, right?"

"Yes, 'Raise the Red Lantern' actually only made 200 million RMB. 'A Native of Beijing' was pretty good, but up to now, the broadcasting rights sold to local TV stations and advertising revenue have been around 900 million RMB, which adds up to only 1100 million RMB, which is not enough at all, and this does not even include the necessary expenses for the operation of my company." Song Tangtang sighed.

"But it doesn't matter. 1400 million is not a one-time investment. We still have time. The three TV series we filmed will generate income. If it's not enough, I plan to borrow some money from Shengshi Books. They have sufficient cash flow now."

Indeed, although Zhao Hongjun was engaged in real estate in Hainan and had withdrawn most of the funds from the two companies, otherwise Shengshi Film and Television would not be in such a mess.

But Shengshi Books was having a much better time. In addition to gradually collecting the debts owed by booksellers, it also published the Dragon Ball series.

Just last spring, the first three volumes of the comic books introduced from Japan's Torimeyama, "Little Monkey and His Friends", "Martial Arts Conference" and "Battle with the Black Silk Army", a total of 15 volumes, were immediately sought after by young people as soon as they were launched on the market.

The first print run of 600 million copies sold out quickly.

Now Shengshi Books is contacting the printing factory and working overtime to carry out the second printing. At the same time, Shu Bin is going to Japan in person to negotiate with Shueisha for the publishing rights of the remaining comics.

Just by selling this set of comic books, Shengshi Books made a fortune.

Since Song Tangtang said that she didn't have any serious problems, Fang Minghua didn't ask any more questions.

What he focused on was how to ensure that the box office would be better than expected once the film was made - or at least not lose money.

Of course this is not something to consider now.

"Minghua, I will hold a meeting at the company after work this afternoon to discuss this matter. Tomorrow I will go to Yanjing to find the leaders of the China Film Cooperative Production Company. I will buy their dragon logo. Besides, Stephen Chow and his team are from Hong Kong after all. They are unfamiliar with the mainland. There are many martial arts scenes in the script, so I also need to find martial arts actors. I want to contact Beijing Film Academy to see if they are interested."

In fact, it is best to look for martial arts actors from Xi'an Film Studio.

Xi'an Film Studio has produced several western martial arts films with a strong style, such as "The Swordsman of Double Flag Town", "Yellow River Hero", "The Magic Whip", "Tai Chi", etc., and is full of talented people.

However, before Fang Minghua came to this era, he had read reports on the Internet that during the filming of "A Chinese Odyssey", due to uneven role distribution and communication problems between the two sides, the martial arts actors of the Xi'an Film Studio directly blocked the Hong Kong martial arts director in the room. The entire crew was in chaos, and Cheng Xiaodong even locked himself in the room and dared not come out.

In the end, the situation was eased only after negotiations between the producers of the Xi'an Film Studio and the representatives of the martial arts actors.

Of course, these martial arts actors are not necessarily all from the Xi'an Film Studio. There are many people practicing martial arts in Xijing, such as Fan Shunjiu, Tian Diaoxia, Zhao Changjun and Cui Yushan.

Especially Zhao Changjun, who, like Jet Li, has won the national martial arts championship.

These people are difficult to deal with. And they are not cooperating with Xi'an Film Studio this time. There will probably be even more trouble in the future. It would be a good idea to follow Song Tangtang's advice.

Beijing Film Studio has also produced many martial arts films, such as "Wulin Zhi", "The Mysterious Big Buddha", "Golden Dart Huang Tianba", etc.

It’s also good to cooperate with them.

"Hey, Minghua, what are you staring at?"

Song Tangtang's words woke Fang Minghua up, and he quickly said, "Tangtang, I think your idea is very good." "Hurry up and pick the vegetables. I need to wash them."

"it is good."

The next day, Song Tangtang took his secretary Xu Hui and several staff members to Yanjing. This time, they were not only looking for the China Film Co-production Company, but also the leaders of Beijing Film Academy. They had to stay in Yanjing for a while.

Fang Minghua became a lonely man again.

I had nothing to do all day, so I would play with the flowers and plants, or take the bean sprouts out for a walk. I almost bought a birdcage.

Do you want to write something?
Fang Minghua recalled the poem "The Textile Girl" he wrote at the beginning of this year about laid-off workers. Now society, both in cities and rural areas, has entered a period of transformation, with a series of contradictions and conflicts. There is so much to write about.

Before Fang Minghua decided what to write, another big name in Qin Province's literary world had finally published a novel after five years of hard work.

Bailuyuan.

(End of this chapter)