blueteamnovel Chapter 24 Ning Hao's "Brother Yi"
Chapter 24 Ning Hao's "Brother Yi"
......
A small three-bedroom apartment in Fangyi, near Beijing Film Academy.
In his bedroom, he sat at his desk, his hands flying across his laptop, furiously writing his second script.
[Phone Booth] The arrow is on the bowstring. Before the movie's release, the director had almost nothing to do.
The film will be busy when it's released, as I'll be traveling around with the cast and crew to promote it.
To avoid being distracted before the film's release, he has been spending most of his time at home creating these days.
Fang Yi was well aware that his current high regard from Huayi was largely due to the 245 million overseas copyrights for "Sniper Phone Booth".
As for the mainland market, the performance of domestic box office results remains to be seen.
Due to market size limitations, "Phone Booth" will never be able to gross $100 million at the box office in its home country, just like it did in the previous film.
Even if converted to RMB, it wouldn't sell for 100 million, and even with the 245 million USD copyright fee, it's probably still unlikely.
What he needs to do now is clear his mind, calm his nerves, and start preparing for his second film.
Only by proving itself with one film after another can a company truly win the long-term favor of the market and capital.
Fang Yi knew that the outstanding performance of a single work was far from enough. He had to continuously produce high-quality content in order to gain a foothold in the fiercely competitive film and television industry and reach the pinnacle of Chinese-language films.
Having lived two lives, Fang Yi didn't want to be tied to Huayi Brothers alone. Establishing a studio, building his own filming team, and setting up a film and television company was the right path for him.
Of course, all of this takes time and, more importantly, money.
He has already cashed the check given to him by Wang Zhongjun at the bank. Combined with the 200 million yuan in revenue from the Asian copyrights purchased by Yindu Group, he has 640 million yuan at his disposal.
Of that, 400 million was reinvested in the previously purchased stock, Hudong Heavy Machinery, a subsidiary of China Shipbuilding Corporation.
With the remaining money, he planned to go all in on "Crazy Stone" and grab a bargain.
"I wonder how many coal mine owners Ning Hao managed to win over?"
Fang Yi stopped typing, lit a cigarette, got up and went to the window. The sky outside was dark and gloomy, with flashes of lightning occasionally streaking across it.
It's going to rain!
Just then, the cell phone on the desk buzzed and rang with a pleasant ringtone.
"I'll wait for you in spring, my longing turning into rain on the wind, waiting for the flowers to bloom again so we can be together... We'll guard our one and only relationship between heaven and earth..."
A gentle and sweet rendition of Yang Yuying's "Waiting for You in Spring" pulled Fang Yi back from his thoughts.
He returned to his desk, extinguished his cigarette in the ashtray, and picked up his phone to answer a call.
"Feed..."
"Brother Yi, my dear Brother Yi, congratulations!"
On the other end of the phone, Ning Hao's voice came through, rough and loud, with a hint of endearing charm.
"Ha... Haozi, where are you?"
"Joy comes from this..."
Fang Yi chuckled, instantly realizing that the other party had seen the news about the "Sniper Phone Booth" and knew about the copyright fee.
To promote his film, Wang Zhongjun invited several media outlets to the Huayi office building, and the news had already spread within the industry.
He has received congratulatory calls today from celebrities such as Deng Chao, Huang Xiaoming, and Fan Bingbing, as well as many classmates from the Beijing Film Academy.
She was very happy when Fan Bingbing was mentioned on the phone, and asked him when he would repay the money.
Fang Yi said he would pay back in a while, which made the beautiful woman grumble and complain that she didn't even have money to buy cosmetics.
I don't believe you for a second!
Let's pay it back after a while; there's no such thing as paying it back right after borrowing.
Oh, right.
Liu Yifei also received a phone call. She was at school at the time and overheard her classmates discussing the "sniper phone booth" during break time.
The girl appeared calm on the surface, but was very excited inside. She secretly went away from her classmates to congratulate Fang Yi.
It was afternoon, and the cheerful voice on the other end of the phone, as melodious as a nightingale's, made him feel the girl's happiness even through the phone.
The two agreed that when the movie was released, he would take the little girl to the cinema to watch it and he would treat her to a meal.
"Haozi, how's it going? How much investment did you secure for your movie?"
Fang Yi exchanged a few pleasantries with Ning Hao before changing the subject to business.
"Don't even mention it. Those fat, greasy-looking guys were initially very interested, but as soon as they heard it was a low-budget comedy with a production budget of two or three million, their attitude changed immediately. They said the project's investment was too small and it was boring!"
"Damn it... These coal bosses don't know anything about real products; they deserve to be scammed and slaughtered!"
On the other end of the phone, Ning Hao was filled with anger, with nowhere to vent his frustration.
Fang Yi shook his head and chuckled, comforting him, "They don't know what's good for them. But you still have your younger brother, right? How about I invest in you?"
"real!"
"Yi Zi, I call you Brother Yi, and it's Brother Yi who's really loyal to me. Don't worry, I promise I won't let you suffer any losses!" Ning Hao thumped his chest loudly, afraid that Fang Yi would change his mind.
"Okay, it's settled then. Let's get together sometime in the next couple of days and finalize things."
"No problem, I'll be waiting for Brother Yi!"
After hanging up the phone, Fang Yi smiled slightly, surprised that he had become an investor in "Crazy Stone" so easily.
He relaxed, while Ning Hao on the other side let out a long sigh of relief and gulped down three large glasses of beer.
All the rejections and heartache of the past few days vanished in that moment.
Ning Hao was grateful to Fang Yi and made up his mind to make a great film, "Crazy Stone," so that those who didn't know its value and refused to invest would regret it.
Hua Yi was among this group.
Damn, Yi Zi is really lucky to have such a good teacher.
Ning Hao's resentment came quickly and went quickly; his artistic mind immediately shifted from the person who rejected him to his teacher at the Beijing Film Academy.
He steadied himself, gave an OK sign to the eagerly waiting Huang Bo, and excitedly said, "It's done, Bozi, we've secured investment for this film!"
"Alright, alright, come on, cheers!"
Huang Bolian said "good" three times, grabbed a beer bottle and opened it with his mouth, then shouted to the food stall, "Boss, another plate of grilled skewers, a few more kidneys, and ten more bottles of beer!"
"Okay..." the shop owner replied in a drawn-out voice.
.......
June 5th, five days until the release of "Phone Booth".
Fang Yi drove to a somewhat old residential area near the old August 1st Film Studio.
At the entrance of the residential compound, two figures were smoking and waiting; it was Ning Hao and Huang Bo.
Beep beep...
The horn rang, and Fang Yi slowly pulled the car up beside the two of them.
"Haozi, have you been waiting long?"
"It's nothing, just the time it takes to smoke a cigarette."
Ning Hao smiled, stubbed out his cigarette, beckoned Huang Bo to get in the car, and sat in the passenger seat himself.
Here's a little joke: aside from government leaders, many private business owners and entrepreneurs like to sit in the front passenger seat when they're in a car.
It seems that sitting in the front provides a better view and better reflects the boss-like spirit in one's heart.
Ning Hao and Huang Bo were in this situation, with the former feeling more comfortable sitting in the front.
The latter appeared reserved upon boarding the car, and after greeting Fang Yi, remained silent.
Fang Yi glanced at Huang Bo through the rearview mirror a few times, secretly amused that he was a future comedic talent and yet dared not speak.
Huang Bo's initial awkwardness didn't last long; he quickly warmed up with Ning Hao and Fang Yi's occasional encouragement.
By the time the Volkswagen arrived at the Huayi office building, the guy had already told two dirty jokes.
The car passed by Huayi Company, and amidst Ning Hao's unusual appearance, it sped across a main street and stopped in front of a nearby office building of similar height.
"Come on, follow me."
Fang Yi parked the car and led the two into the office building.
The three took the elevator directly to the eighteenth floor. Ning Hao and Huang Bo secretly observed from behind, each with their own guesses.
bite..
The elevator doors opened.
Fang Yi took the lead, guiding the two across the smooth ground to the front of an office with a mahogany door.
"Gentlemen, this is my newly opened studio."
"Easy-to-Move People Media & Culture Company!"