China Entertainment: I just want to give my child a home

Chapter 217 A negotiation in which Chen Dong takes the initiative

There was no military parade on National Day this year, but it was raining lightly.

A motorcade was racing along the busy road, attracting many people to stop and look curiously even in the capital.

Because this is still 08.

As this motorcade walked, there was more than one paparazzi car behind it.

Paparazzi cars followed the motorcade into an international airport in the capital.

buzz~
Soon, the sound of planes cutting through the clouds and the roar of engines could be heard in the sky.

"Director Chen, the delegations from Warner Bros. and Lions Gate are here."

Chen Dong nodded, got out of the car, and waved to a group of entertainment journalists who had already set up cameras next to them, as a greeting.

Then he took Lu Yang, Chen Xi, Sang Lin and other core members of his directing team towards the exit of the airport.

This time, Warner and Lionsgate came over on the same day, and even chartered a plane together. Obviously this was not a coincidence, but that they had reached some kind of cooperation before this.

However, Chen Dong is not panicking because he knows that even alliances are fragile in the face of interests, not to mention that Warner and Lions Gate should just reach a consensus.

There were about ten people on both sides.

The team was led by a powerful vice president, and they were all acquaintances of Chen Dong.

The two parties met, exchanged polite greetings, then conducted a brief interview at the airport, and then drove away in the motorcade brought by Chen Dong.

Originally, we should let the 'guests' who came from afar have a night's rest tonight, and everyone would discuss the project the next day.

But both Warner representatives and Lionsgate representatives expressed their intention to get to work immediately.

Then Chen Dong could only fulfill his wish.

At the negotiation table that night, Warner and Lionsgate were indeed in cahoots and wanted to share 60% of the investment in "Interstellar."

How could Chen Dong agree?

"Two gentlemen, your offer is not gentlemanly at all."

Chen Dongxian directly rejected the wave of temptations launched by the other party.

Then he spoke unhurriedly: "I think, before formal negotiations, we must first confirm one thing - that is, the "Interstellar" project is fully led by me. You two have no objections to this, right?" ?”

Today, even when Chen Dong faces Hollywood giants like Lionsgate and Warner, he has enough confidence to say such things without stage fright, but they don't find it ridiculous.

The person in charge of Warner and the person in charge of Lionsgate looked at each other at this time. They both knew that as long as they nodded, the right to speak in the next negotiation would fall into Chen Dong's hands, but they actually had no choice.

"No comment."

"Me too."

"very good."

Chen Dong smiled with satisfaction, then stretched out four fingers: "Then according to my plan, the investment share I can get out is actually 40%..."

Before he could even finish his words, objections started to sound.

"Chen, 40% is not sincere at all, and you should know that for a big project like "Interstellar", if you want to make money back, you simply cannot rely on your Chinese market. You must rely on the global market."

"Of course I know this, but you two must also understand that our country does not have overseas distribution channels."

Chen Dong didn't care whether he was bragging about whether he had drafted it or not. He just used the tiger's skin to pull the flag and brought in giants like Sony, Uni Asia, or Disney.

Not to mention, it really shocked the opponents at the negotiation table.

Of course, Warner Bros. and Lions Gate were not fooled by Chen Dong into directly agreeing to his proposed June 4th split, but were willing to take a step back.

"50%, we are responsible for the overseas promotion and distribution of the film, at least 50%, Chen, this is our bottom line."

"Oh, okay, 50% is 50%."

Although he sighed, this 50-50 split was actually what Chen Dong expected from the beginning.

However, he was a little curious: "How should we divide this 50% investment share between your two families?"

"Chen, I think your question can be told to you after James and I have discussed it, because we don't know yet."

Chen Dong smiled lightly, skipped the topic, and talked about the role.

"As for the character issue, it's still like "Inception". The Asian characters belong to you, and the other characters belong to us..."

"No, there's a slight change to the rules."

"change?"

"That's right, as investors, you enjoy the right to nominate all leading actors." When Chen Dong said this, he thought that his wife had already occupied a quota, so he added: "Except for Murphy, the male lead, daughter."

"Only the right to elect?" "Yes, the final decision rests with me. As I emphasized at the beginning, "Interstellar" will be fully controlled by me, and I am naturally responsible for the quality of this film project."

Seeing the concerns flashing on the faces of the two directors, Chen Dong added: "I will arrange an open audition for this movie. If the person you recommend meets the requirements of the role, I will definitely give it priority."

James, the head of Lionsgate, skipped the question they were discussing and instead asked another question: "Chen, you just said that Murphy's role has been confirmed, right? Can you tell me who it is?"

"My wife."

"Crystal?"

After the person in charge of Warner asked, James asked again: "Which period of Murphy will your lady play?"

In "Interstellar", the character Murphy will go through three age spans, namely girlhood, adulthood, and old age.

As the person in charge of negotiating with Chen Dong in China this time, whether it is Warner's vice president or Lionsgate, they are all familiar with the characters in the play.

They have no objection to Chen Dong's plan to let his wife play Murphy, but the problem is that it is impossible for her to play three age groups by herself, right?

It is true that today’s makeup technology can also be achieved with post-production.

but,

It will be very reluctant.

This is a blockbuster with an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars, not a small workshop with millions of dollars, which pursues realism and quality.

There's even a 3D effect.

Any flaws would be an insult to the ultra-high budget.

Chen Dong obviously understood the concerns of these people, so he explained: "Crystal will only play the teenage and adult stages. As for the elderly stage, I will look for actors again."

The span between girlhood and adulthood in the play is only ten years, so it's not difficult to switch between a little makeup and a different look.

On the contrary, the replacement of Murphy in these two periods in the original version was a failure in Chen Dong's opinion, because it has only been more than ten years, how much can the appearance change?

James nodded with satisfaction at his explanation, but continued to ask: "What about the male protagonist? This role is very important, and there are not many people in your country who can play it."

"How about Cheng Long?" Of course Chen Dong knew what James wanted to express. He was simply looking for someone with a global audience to play the male lead. There were not many Chinese actors who met this requirement, but there happened to be one.

Yes, one.

Kung Fu Emperor Li Lienjie was a little bit worse.

"Jack, he can do it."

Only then did James express his opinion on Chen Dong's desire to have full control over the final decision-making power of the film's characters.

His opinion is that he has no opinion.

Upon seeing this, the person in charge of Warner also agreed.

Afterwards, they exchanged views on the film's investment budget and reached a consensus.

The initial investment budget is determined to be US$1.55 million, and if it is insufficient later, it will be supplemented on a proportional basis.

At the same time, issues such as serving the Tao and the post-production of the film were also discussed one by one.

The negotiation took a long time, more than four hours.

However, the progress of the negotiations is very gratifying, and the main issues have been resolved. The subsequent detailed negotiations are left to the professional people in the team.

……

The one-month deadline given by Chen Dong to Wen Muye has not yet arrived, but he will have to go to Xiangjiang in two days, so he can only call to urge him.

As for the purpose of his trip to Xiangjiang this time, it is not difficult to guess, it is to deliver a script to Cheng Long.

The reason why I went in person was to show my sincerity.

After all, a true international superstar like Cheng Long never lacks film contracts.

If you were declined on the phone and then came to the door again, you would be a bit inferior.

So he was going to visit directly.

It was indeed a bit hasty for Wen Muye to receive the urging call from Chen Dong, but many things in this world are not meant to appear until you are ready. More often than not, things happen suddenly.

"Is there any problem? If there is any problem, you can come back in a few days..."

"No problem. When Director Chen leaves, I will go with you."

"Okay, then book a flight for next Tuesday. There are still three days left. You can be more prepared."

(End of this chapter)