Chapter 255 Chapter 266 [I will find you to learn about the economy and the next trend in Hollywood when I have time]

“Great!”

Chen Meijuan’s face lit up with joy.

Lin Zhiling also agreed hesitantly: “Then…thank you Director Li.”

“You’re welcome. Did you just say you were a student at the University of Toronto?”

“Yes, Director Li.”

“What major did you study?”

“I majored in Western art history and economics.”

“Double major?”

“Yes, Director Li.”

Li Yishu was a little surprised. He really didn’t know that Lin Zhiling actually studied two majors. No wonder he had read in newspapers and online news that she was both smart and beautiful.

“That’s great. I just happen to have some financial problems. Can you help me solve them when you have time?”

“No problem, Director Li. Although I’m still a student, I can consult a teacher.”

“Haha, just kidding. Okay, go get ready.”

After half an hour.

The filming of the scene where the motorboat wreaks havoc on the beach has officially begun.

Looking at Lin Zhiling in a swimsuit, her figure was flat, totally different from the curvy figure of Taiwan’s top model in the future.

Li Yishu also felt that this airport really needs to be developed before it can have a spectacular scene of soaring into the sky.

The scene between Lin Zhiling and her classmate Chen Meijuan was over in just one scene.

After the filming, the two of them hurried to the makeshift dressing room. After changing their clothes, Chen Meijuan looked at the director standing there directing the actors and couldn’t help but say, “Zhi Ling, I saw Director Li staring at you just now. Do you think he has a crush on you?”

“What nonsense!” Lin Zhiling blushed and said quickly, “How could such a big director like me?”

“Haha, I just said it casually and you blushed. I think you have a crush on Director Li. But it’s true. He is the godfather of Asian movies at such a young age and he is so handsome. Who wouldn’t like him?”

Chen Meijuan looked at Li Yishu who was scolding Fang Zun in the distance with a crazy look on her face: “I wish I could have a boyfriend as handsome as Director Li.”

Meijuan Chen is a second-generation Chinese in Toronto. She doesn’t know much about Li Yishu, but thanks to the fact that Li Yishu won the European Three Golden Globes some time ago and the International Edition of Time magazine described him as the godfather of Asian cinema, she has a clear understanding of this young Chinese director.

The biggest benefit of Time magazine’s exaggerated coverage of Lee Yi-shu is not only that it has doubled his influence in China, but also that his popularity has been completely increased in overseas Chinese circles.

Nowadays, Li Yishu is more or less a well-known Chinese director in the overseas Chinese community.

Although he was quite popular before, his works were popular but he was not. After all, overseas media cannot be like domestic media, where there are TV stations, newspapers, weekly magazines and other media reporting on him from time to time.

“Okay, Chen Meijuan, stop being a fangirl and hurry up. It’s already past four o’clock. Go back to school.”

Lin Zhiling shook her head. She didn’t think that an international director like Li Yishu would be interested in her best friend.

Just as the two turned around and prepared to leave, a white female assistant suddenly ran over and said, “Hey, wait a minute.”

Lin Zhiling stopped and looked at the other person in confusion: “Hello, what can I do for you?”

The white female assistant smiled and said, “You haven’t received your salary for guest appearance yet.”

“No, thanks, we…”

Before Lin Zhiling could speak, the white female assistant handed over the paper envelope in her hand and then turned and left.

After she ran away, Chen Meijuan said in surprise: “Zhi Ling, look at how much money there is!”

“Go back and watch it later, or you might miss the bus.”

Lin Zhiling held the envelope tightly. She clearly felt that the envelope was a bit thick. She had some guesses in her mind, so in order to prevent Chen Meijuan from taking it away, she also put it in her bag.

Hearing that they would miss the bus, Chen Meijuan said hurriedly, “Then let’s go back quickly.”

The prices in Toronto are still quite expensive, and taxis are quite expensive, so they usually travel by bus.

University of Toronto.

After returning to the dormitory, Lin Zhiling took out the money in the envelope immediately and gave it all to Chen Meijuan without counting.

“Ah, Zhiling, give them all to me?” Chen Meijuan asked in surprise.

“Yeah, without you, there would be no money for the guest appearance. You can treat me to a meal later.”

“Hehe, okay. Then I won’t be polite.”

Chen Meijuan counted the money happily. It was quite a lot, enough for her to have a few big meals.

“I’m going to take a shower.” After Lin Zhiling packed her clothes, she went into the bathroom with her bag.

Both of them come from well-off families and live in a double dormitory with an en suite bathroom.

As soon as Lin Zhiling entered the bathroom, she immediately opened the envelope and found a business card inside with only a name and a number on it.

The name, as expected, is Lee Yi-su.

Lin Zhiling’s breathing quickened. Although she didn’t think Li Yishu would be interested in her, this business card still made her imagine a lot.

Soon she noticed that there was a line of words written on the back of the business card: I am very interested in economics, remember to call me.

at dusk.

As the crew was packing up to leave, Li Yishu received a call from Amy.

“Boss, Final Destination has been confirmed to be released on April 4st, which happens to be the Easter season in the United States.”

This movie started promoting long after Lee Yi-su won the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival, and the effect was very good. After nearly a month of promotion, it has aroused the expectations of quite a number of horror movie fans in the United States.

The American niche weekly “Horror Night” is full of expectations for this movie.

Just because the film’s creative team is very strong.

Although this movie doesn’t have any famous actors, its producer and director are extraordinary people. The producer + screenwriter is Lee Yi-su, a triple-Award Grand Slam director in Europe, and the director is Lee An, who won the Golden Bear Award at the 1993 Berlin Film Festival.

This eye-catching combination alone is enough to make countless horror and non-horror movie fans look forward to the movie “Final Destination”.

Everyone wants to see what is different about horror films shot by art film directors.

“What competitors were there at the same time?”

“There’s only one movie, Easter Island, but it’s coming out on April 4th, so there won’t be much competition with us.” After learning that there won’t be much competition, Li Yishu nodded and said, “Have you notified Director Li An?”

Amy said, “I’ve already notified him. Director Li An said he would return to the United States a day in advance to attend the movie premiere.”

“Well, I will also be there to participate.”

Li Yishu thought of Jiahe’s matter and asked, “By the way, how is your investigation going on with Jiahe’s matter?”

“I’m just about to report this to you, boss!”

Speaking of this, Amy quickly said, “I checked with my friends in Hong Kong. Golden Harvest Film Company is preparing to submit an application for listing in May. If nothing goes wrong, it will definitely be successfully listed before the end of the year. The current valuation of Golden Harvest by the outside world is about 15-20 billion Hong Kong dollars.”

“Just such a small amount of money?” Li Yishu was stunned. He did not expect that the market value of Golden Harvest Film Company was only around HKD.

“That’s already very high, Director Li.”

Amy immediately said, “The current market value of Shaw Brothers Films is less than 2 million.”

“That’s because Shaw Brothers stopped production, so the valuation is definitely too low. Golden Harvest’s box office has been very high in recent years, and its financial statements are expected to be very good. I estimate that after it is actually listed, the market value should be able to stabilize at around HK$25 billion.”

Li Yishu frowned, thought for a while, and said, “Amy, when you finish your current work, go back to Hong Kong and meet Zou Wenhuai in person and have a good talk with him.”

“What is your target price, boss?”

“My bottom price is to give out 1000% of the shares + million US dollars in exchange for at least % of the other party’s shares. Of course, the fewer shares the better.”

“This… I’m afraid Mr. Zou won’t agree to it?” Amy didn’t expect that Li Yishu was only willing to give out 5% of the shares.

Li Yishu said, “That’s all. If Zou Wenhuai doesn’t want to, then tell him that I can buy 25% of his shares at a premium valuation of HK$ billion, and he will also agree to cooperate with Golden Harvest on a Hong Kong film this year.”

Li Yishu still attaches great importance to the shares of Art Entertainment Group.

Although Art Entertainment Group has not produced a film not directed by him so far, “Final Destination” is about to be released. As long as this movie can get a box office of more than 2000 million US dollars in North America, the series of films can continue to be filmed in the future.

At that time, we can sign contracts with some horror film directors and specialize in making low-cost horror films. Even if they are not released, we can still make money from the videotapes.

Not to mention that TV dramas in the mainland will also be a big money-making business in the future. Li Yishu will naturally not sell his shares at a low price so early. The reason why he agreed to exchange shares with Golden Harvest is mainly because he coveted Golden Harvest’s film library and the global distribution channels that have been developed for more than 20 years.

The distribution channel is the most difficult thing for a film company. Why did Spielberg’s DreamWorks, even though almost all of its movies were hits, still fail to become a Hollywood film giant, and instead sold the company?

It all comes down to the fact that Spielberg doesn’t have a large and comprehensive global distribution channel.

Although Golden Harvest cannot compare with the Big Six Hollywood studios, it has been in operation for more than 20 years and still has a great foundation, which is something that Li Yishu cannot achieve in a short period of time.

“Good boss.”

Amy roughly understood what Li Yishu meant. The fewer shares of Art Entertainment Group she gave up, the better. She would rather buy out the shares held by Zou Wenhuai of Golden Harvest at a premium than give up more than 5% of the shares of Art Entertainment.

“By the way, how is the copyright I asked you to buy?”

“We have already bought the copyright for The Bourne Identity, but the other party is only willing to give us a five-year deadline. If we don’t film the movie within that time, we will take back the copyright.”

“It’s okay. Five years is five years. What about the other Mission Impossible movie?”

“Mission Impossible is a bit troublesome. Paramount seems to be interested in adapting the Mission Impossible series into a movie.”

Li Yishu frowned and said, “Let’s talk to Paramount again. If we can’t buy the copyright, we have to cooperate with Paramount to adapt this movie. How about buying other spy novels?”

“In addition to The Bourne Identity, I also bought a few novels about agents and espionage that had good sales in the 1960s and 1970s.”

At this point, Amy hesitated and said, “But why did you buy so many spy novels, boss?”

“Because this is the next trend.”

In the late 90s, a large number of films about agents and spies emerged in Hollywood.

The more famous ones include “True Lies”, “Face/Off”, “007”…

There are even more unknown ones.

Americans themselves love to watch movies about agents and spies, so after Tom Cruise’s “Mission Impossible” became a global hit, this theme became completely popular.

Later films such as “The Bourne Supremacy”, “Taken”, “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” and so on were all projects that were created after the spy-themed films became popular all over the world.

Li Yishu naturally would not miss this opportunity. Regardless of whether he shoots the film or not, he will stockpile some copyrights first.

When “True Lies” starring Schwarzenegger is released in July, it is expected to ignite a wave of agent and spy themes.

By then, reselling these copyrights will be enough for Li Yishu to make a lot of money.

What really interested Li Yishu were the copyrights of “Mission Impossible” and “The Bourne Supremacy”.

These two movies became popular, the former because of Tom Cruise, and the latter because of the director’s sharp editing techniques and a shooting style that is different from the past.

But it is undeniable that both stories are indeed very attractive to the audience.

One is to challenge an impossible task, the other is a small person being involved in a shocking conspiracy, one is a sensory stimulation, the other is a psychological stimulation.

time flies.

In the blink of an eye, it is the last day of March.

After filming the last scene of the day, Lee Yi-su gave the crew a day off and flew directly back to Los Angeles.

It was early in the morning when “Final Destination” premiered in a large theater in Los Angeles, so of course he had to go there to see it in person.

April 4st, April Fools’ Day, at 1: in the morning.

There was no red carpet event. It was a low-budget horror film with less than $200 million in publicity and promotion costs, and there were no big stars joining the film. Having a red carpet event was a pure waste of money.

Therefore, Lion Films simply booked a show in a large theater in Los Angeles and invited senior film critics, media reporters, the main creative team and others to watch the movie on site.

After entertaining these film critics and reporters, Li Yishu also asked people to start showing movies. At the same time, he instructed David, the newly appointed general manager of Golden Lion Pictures, to prepare an extra red envelope for each of these film critics and reporters after they finished watching the movie.

“Boss, I’ve already given it to you.” David said quickly, “I gave it to these people in advance when they invited me.”

“Wrap another one and have someone buy the red envelopes that China uses. After the movie, give them out one by one, saying that this is a Chinese tradition and a blessing.”

“Okay boss, how much is the bag?”

“500 USD!”

More than 30 film critics and reporters came to the scene. Li Yishu didn’t care about this small amount of money. Being able to use money to buy good reviews was definitely a sure win for him.

The quality of this version of Final Destination is fantastic.

Li An’s sense of camera and thriller creation are much stronger than that of the Chinese-American director Huang Yiyu who originally shot this movie.

(End of this chapter)