Chapter 396 Liu Zhou's Conditions and Benefits
Time flies, and five days passed quickly.

During these five days, "The Whistleblower" once again earned 38 million at the box office.

After a total of fifteen days of release, the film’s total box office has reached 2.29 million.

At this time, "Overheard", produced by Golden Harvest Hong Kong Company and starring Liu Qingwan, Louis Koo and Ng Man-cho, was officially released.

As one of the few Hong Kong films that have been released since the new century, "Overheard" is of quite good quality, and it earned eight million at the box office on the first day of its release.

Next is the weekend, and it shouldn’t be a problem for the single-day box office to exceed 10 million.

The performance of "Overheard" is indeed good compared with other Hong Kong films, but it is not very comparable with other films produced by Golden Harvest.

But no matter what, at this critical period, the outstanding performance of "Overheard" can be regarded as icing on the cake for Golden Harvest's listing.

But Liu Zhou was not in the mood to pay attention to it at this time. Accompanied by Zhang Zhao, he went to meet people in Tangshan to discuss the Liu Zhou version of "The Tangshan Earthquake".

What Liu Zhou didn't expect was that the person who came from Tangshan was the leader in charge of publicity, who was one of the most influential people there.

The other party was very enthusiastic. When he saw Liu Zhou and his group coming over, he immediately stood up and said with a smile:

"I have long heard of Director Liu's great name. Seeing him today, I am sure he is as famous as he is said to be."

"I'm not that famous, but I didn't expect that something as trivial as a movie would alarm Minister Zhao."

"Movies are no small matter. Our entire team takes Aftershock very seriously. Our top leader has personally expressed his hope that Director Liu can direct this movie."

Hearing what Leader Zhao said, Liu Zhou suddenly realized:

"I was wondering why you suddenly suggested that I direct it."

"So I heard from Mr. Zhang that Director Liu wanted to talk to us in person, so I rushed over from Tangshan."

If it was an ordinary director, of course he wouldn't need to step in, but Liu Zhou was not an ordinary person. Not only was he famous, he was also a wealthy man, so even he didn't dare to neglect him.

What's more, there were instructions from their team leader, so he, who was in charge of publicity, came here in person.

The two exchanged a few brief greetings and then got down to business.

"Leader Zhao, let's talk business. If I were to direct the movie Aftershock, my pay would probably not be cheap."

Since it is a commercial collaboration, it is impossible for Liu Zhou to make this movie for free. Even for Golden Harvest's movies, Liu Zhou charged market prices.

"Director Liu, how much is your salary?"

"Fifteen million plus 5% of the mainland box office share!"

Liu Zhou's offer is not expensive at all. Since "The Martian", Liu Zhou's box office appeal is no less than Zhang Yimou, and even slightly exceeds it.

His remuneration for "Interstellar" was 20 million yuan as director, screenwriter and producer plus 5% of the mainland box office share.

Liu Zhou was not as honest as Zhang Weiping. He was fooled by Zhang Weiping's words and took a few millions and didn't care about it anymore.

Although Jiahe is Liu Zhou's company, public is public and private is private. When it first started, Liu Zhou could just take some money and leave it at that.

Now that Jiahe has grown so big, it is certainly impossible for Liu Zhou to just take some symbolic money. What's more, Jiahe is about to go public, and it has to be handled impartially after the listing.

If they can really reach a cooperation with Tangshan according to Liu Zhou's idea this time, his fee of 15 million would be considered a discount, after all, he has included the screenwriter's salary.

As for the box office share, Liu Zhou also did this to reduce the investment pressure of his partners and share the risks with the investors.

Otherwise, Liu Zhou’s pay would need to be increased by at least 20 million.

After all, the guaranteed box office for a movie directed by Liu Zhou is at least 100 million, or even 200 million, so the investors will not lose anything.

Liu Zhou simply does not cooperate with external companies. If he spreads the word that he wants to cooperate with other companies on a movie, several big companies in the circle will rush to write checks to Liu Zhou.

Han Shanping was knowledgeable and well aware of Liu Zhou's market situation. He had no objection to him taking 20 million plus box office dividends.

But Leader Zhao is not an insider and he is not clear about Liu Zhou's market price. What if all other conditions are agreed upon but he is scared by Liu Zhou's pay in the end? Then Liu Zhou would be in a dilemma.

Therefore, it is better to make the money issue clear in advance. If the other party does not agree with Liu Zhou’s offer, he will give up the project and there will be no need to discuss further.

There is no way he would lower his pay just for this movie, even though he is not short of money anymore, but this is the rule.

However, unexpectedly, after hearing Liu Zhou's offer, Leader Zhao was only slightly relieved and agreed immediately:

"No problem. Although I don't understand the market, Director Liu should be worth this price."

Leader Zhao thought that Liu Zhou would offer a price of tens of millions. In that case, he might still hesitate and he might need to go back and discuss it.

But if it comes to 15 million, he can make the decision, and as for the box office share, he doesn't care at all.

They in Tangshan invested in this movie not for money, but for publicity. As long as this goal can be achieved, they will not be jealous even if Liu Zhou can get 100 million yuan later, because that is Liu Zhou's ability.

Moreover, the Tangshan today is not the Tangshan of more than ten years later. It is now the central city of the Bohai Rim Economic Zone, and the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan Economic Zone is as famous as the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta.

This is also Tangshan’s most glorious period, putting pressure on the capital of Hebei Province to the point of suffocation.

So Tangshan is rich now, otherwise it would have wanted to occupy 50% of the investment share without any explanation.

In addition to wanting to have a say, another major reason is that they are wealthy and confident.

Although Liu Zhou was somewhat surprised by the other party's generosity, since the other party agreed, he did not think about it any more and continued:

"I plan to make Aftershock into a first-rate blockbuster comparable to the Hollywood blockbuster The Day After Tomorrow, so the investment may be correspondingly larger."

"How much to invest?"

"About 50 million US dollars, equivalent to about 400 million RMB. I heard from Mr. Zhang that Tangshan wants to take 40% of the investment share. I wonder if Leader Zhao is willing to follow suit?"

This silenced Leader Zhao. He originally thought that the investment in the movie "Aftershock" would be only 100 or 200 million yuan at most, but he didn't expect that when it came to Liu Zhou's hands, the budget doubled.

"Director Liu, this investment is a bit beyond our expectations. I need to go back and discuss it with others before I can give you a reply."

"No problem. I know this may be a little abrupt, but if you, Leader Zhao, are a little worried, we at Golden Harvest can take a larger share of the investment." "Let's talk about this later. Let's talk about the script. I heard from Mr. Zhang that Director Liu has new ideas."

Liu Zhou handed the outline of the script he had written to Leader Zhao and said:
“The script of the movie is not mature yet, and now there is only an outline. I hope the movie tells the true history, rather than writing it arbitrarily.

The script should be an artistic creation based on real events. I hope the characters have prototypes and their experiences are real and credible, so that the film will be convincing.

So I will arrange for someone to carefully polish the script and personally visit Tangshan to collect information.”

Liu Zhou didn't have time to complete the script of "Aftershock" independently. He didn't have the time.

Therefore, if the cooperation can be achieved, he will look for a big name in the industry to cooperate with. He will provide an outline and some of his own ideas, and then let the other party fill in the story content.

According to Liu Zhou's design, the main storyline is that the heroine's mother fell seriously ill before the earthquake, so she took her daughter back to her hometown to see her mother.

Her mother's home is in a county town near Tangshan, so she and her daughter were able to escape the disaster.

But her husband and son were still at home. Missing them, she ignored her family's dissuasion and braved the aftershocks, taking her daughter on the journey home.

Along the way, the heroine experiences many difficulties, and her journey home will also be the focus of the film.

When she finally returned to Tangshan, she found that it had become a ruin and her family was buried in the rubble.

The heroine frantically dug around in the ruins, she believed her husband and son were still alive...

Liu Zhou's script only tells the story of the year when the earthquake occurred, and does not extend it to more than 30 years.

There is one thing that is similar to Feng Kuzi's version, that is, both use the gathering of a family to reflect the disaster, and tell the story of family affection and human nature from the perspective of ordinary people.

This can make the film closer to ordinary people and closer to life, making the film more down-to-earth.

This is also the standard script-writing technique in Hollywood. When Hollywood shoots a big event, it never starts with the event itself, but rather digs out some things in the event that reflect human nature from a small person.

Since this film is to be promoted overseas, it should delve deeper into family affection and human nature, because these are common to the whole world.

Unlike the Feng Kuzi version, the second half of the movie almost becomes a family ethics drama.

Such a story would be popular in China, but no one would want to watch it overseas, so it was inevitable that his "Aftershock" would flop overseas.

Leader Zhao spent more than ten minutes reading the script outline and said with a smile:

"Director Liu, the reason why we attach so much importance to the film "Aftershock" is that we hope to use this film to publicize the great achievements made in the 30 years since the Tangshan earthquake.

But I think your script doesn't reflect these things. Do you think you can modify it and shoot from 76 to 06 to show the changes in Tangshan over the past 30 years?"

"Leader Zhao, if we shoot it according to your method, the audience may be 10 million, but if we shoot it according to my idea, the audience may be 100 million."

"Can the gap be so big?" Leader Zhao felt that Liu Zhou was exaggerating.

“It’s this big. According to your idea, Leader Zhao, the movie will be obviously top-heavy. The biggest impact on the audience is the earthquake, which is played out in the first thirty minutes.

The rest of the story can only tell the changes of this family in the next thirty years. The whole story lacks focus and explosiveness. "

Liu Zhou then recalled Feng Kuzi's version of the story and continued:

“I could also divide the story into two lines, with the mother and daughter separated for thirty years and finally reuniting, but it still lacks enough power!

This kind of filming is acceptable in China, as we all know about the earthquake, but it is not acceptable overseas, as they do not have the same deep feelings as we do.”

After listening to Liu Zhou's story, Leader Zhao fell into deep thought. He didn't know whether Liu Zhou's analysis made sense, but he knew that filming according to Liu Zhou's way of doing things did not meet their propaganda needs.

But when he thought about what he said about 100 million people watching this movie, he felt excited again.

Liu Zhou watched Leader Zhao remain silent, and then added:

"Leader Zhao, I know you want to raise the profile of Tangshan and improve its reputation through this movie.

In fact, it is not a new thing to create a super business card through film and television dramas and then promote the development of tourism. "Shaolin Temple" saved Shaolin, and "Raise the Red Lantern" made Qiao Family Courtyard famous at home and abroad.

The name of our play is "Tangshan Earthquake". It is a title promotion that will shape the spirit and image of the entire city and greatly increase the city's popularity.

This is just the impact after the movie is released. Before the movie is released, all our major activities for this movie, including the start of filming, wrap-up, and premiere, will be held in your local area.

In two to three years, not only will domestic media continue to pay attention to this matter, but even overseas media will pay attention to it. This is a level of exposure that cannot be achieved even if CCTV spends hundreds of millions on advertising.

And I think that when the shooting is done, instead of doing a one-off set, Tangshan can completely build a retro 1970s film and television base.

It will be built into a film and television base that integrates film and television cultural experiences, including film and television shooting, catering and accommodation, sightseeing and shopping, entertainment and leisure.

It has both cultural experience and characteristic commercial street functions, and can also meet the needs of location shooting for film and television works. It can definitely become a new business card for the entire city!

I think Leader Zhao should have understood the strength of Jiahe before agreeing to cooperate with us.

If I were to take over this project now, I would be able to make the city of Tangshan famous overseas through the movie "Aftershock".

Leader Zhao, what do you think? "

Liu Zhou has listed all the benefits one by one. Although the changes in the city cannot be directly promoted through movies, the publicity effect is just as good, and even better.

Liu Zhou felt that as long as the other party was not too rigid, they would agree to his request.

Liu Zhou was right. Leader Zhao was indeed tempted, especially the idea of ​​building a film and television city, developing catering and entertainment, and making it the city's business card. It was truly eye-opening.

They never thought about it in this way.

And although it is somewhat contrary to their original idea, if Tangshan can be promoted overseas, it will be a definite political achievement.

Now, not only in the entertainment industry, but in fact at every level, as long as it involves overseas, it feels like a remarkable achievement.

But this was not something he could decide alone, so Leader Zhao said:

"Director Liu, your idea is indeed very good, but it involves the most core issue. I need to go back and report to my superiors."

(End of this chapter)