Chapter 1054: Sponsorship Solicitation

Zhao Fusheng had always been the type to firmly follow through once he set a goal.

Since he said he would cause trouble for others, he meant it and would never give up halfway.

Soon, Yu Feihong terminated her contract with her original agency and registered her own personal studio, and Jiang Wen also established his own studio.

These two news items did not attract media attention, as they were not the type to be high-profile. In the entertainment industry at the time, paparazzi had not yet become so rampant that they would specifically stalk a celebrity.

No one noticed that the personal studios of Yu Feihong and Jiang Wen had quietly been signed into Future Films.

"Let's not announce it to the public for now."

On the day of signing, Zhao Fusheng said to Yu Feihong and Jiang Wen, "We'll make the announcement after the filming of 'Kung Fu' is complete."

Yu Feihong and Jiang Wen naturally had no objections. Zhao Fusheng gave each of them two percent of Future Films' shares, meaning they were now among the owners of Future Films.

People's thoughts change as their positions shift.

For example, before, Yu Feihong and Jiang Wen were Zhao Fusheng's close friends; they would worry for him and feel that certain external actions against Future Films were excessive.

But they could only express their emotions. They didn't feel it as deeply.

Simply put, since they hadn't experienced it themselves, it would be the same for anyone.

Now, if anyone secretly targeted Future Films, they would become enemies of Jiang Wen and Yu Feihong. After all, they were shareholders of the company; targeting Future Films meant taking money from them.

Blocking someone's financial path is like killing their parents.

This principle is the simplest.

Similarly, once Zhao Fusheng's plan succeeded, the interests of many artists would be tightly bound to the company. Anyone who secretly caused trouble would be cutting off the artists' lifeline.

"Do I need to secretly contact some people?" Jiang Wen asked Zhao Fusheng after thinking.

In his view, since Zhao Fusheng planned to recruit people, he must be secretly contacting a group.

Zhao Fusheng shook his head: "No rush. Stephen Chow's movie is about to start filming, and the TV series 'Soldiers' Sortie' is also about to form its crew. Once everything is ready, we'll make our official debut."

Clearly, he intended to settle the matter in one fell swoop.

Jiang Wen shrugged, exchanged a glance with Yu Feihong, and said nothing more.

Although he might be a good director when making films, Jiang Wen was self-aware enough to know that the gap between him and Zhao Fusheng in business was as vast as the distance from the capital to New York.

So he fully accepted Zhao Fusheng's decisions.

"By the way, Old Jiang, since you're now a shareholder of the company, why don't you be the producer for 'Soldiers' Sortie'?" Zhao Fusheng suddenly said to Jiang Wen.

Jiang Wen was startled, then laughed.

He naturally understood Zhao Fusheng's intention. Previously, when he wanted to help as a friend, Zhao Fusheng would refuse and keep him out of the mess. But now that he was a shareholder with interests tied to the company, whether major or minor, he naturally needed to contribute.

"No problem." Jiang Wen nodded readily and agreed.

Bai Jie, who had hurried back from Hong Kong, gave Zhao Fusheng a look. Zhao Fusheng nodded to show he understood. They calmly saw off Jiang Wen and Yu Feihong before returning to the office.

"What's wrong?" Zhao Fusheng looked at Bai Jie and asked.

"The budget is definitely insufficient." Bai Jie looked at Zhao Fusheng with a wry smile. "I had people carefully calculate the requirements Stephen Chow put forward; it will cost at least fifteen million US dollars."

Zhao Fusheng nodded. To be honest, this didn't surprise him. He had discussed the script with Jiang Wen before, and according to Jiang Wen, if they wanted to shoot all the grand scenes Zhao Fusheng had written, given Stephen Chow's personality, the budget would inevitably exceed expectations.

"What should we do? Should I talk to Stephen Chow?" Bai Jie hesitated, seeing that Zhao Fusheng wasn't speaking, thinking he was worried about the funds.

Zhao Fusheng laughed and waved his hand: "No need. This is normal. But we can't just be an ATM, giving money whenever asked—that would be too embarrassing. How about this: you prepare a sponsorship proposal for me."

Sponsorship proposal?

Bai Jie was taken aback, a bit confused.

Zhao Fusheng paused, then realized that on the mainland, there wasn't much product placement in filmmaking. Unlike in Hong Kong, where film commercialization was more advanced and product placement was handled more professionally.

"It's about products that need to be placed as advertisements in the movie." Zhao Fusheng looked at Bai Jie and explained patiently.

Many people think product placement in movies is a new thing, but that's not correct. The history of product placement is roughly as old as the history of film development.

The earliest product placement dates back to the Lumière brothers, who included their father-in-law's brewery in one of their films.

That was the earliest movie advertisement.

Next came Edison—yes, the great inventor who invented the light bulb—who turned product placement into a formal commercial practice.

In modern times, Hollywood's product placement developed rapidly, especially after the success of Spielberg's alien movie, which made many businessmen realize that film promotion could indeed bring huge business opportunities for their products.

In Hong Kong, it started with acknowledging a company's sponsorship, and later evolved into formally placing products in movies.

In later years, any big-budget movie would inevitably involve sponsorship solicitation. The reason was simple: it reduced the risk of film production.

This wasn't fraud; it was the same for any film.

Especially after entering the millennium, film investments grew larger, with a single movie often costing tens of millions or even hundreds of millions. If only one or two companies invested all the money, a single misstep could be disastrous.

Take Future Films as an example. If not pushed to the brink, and without Zhao Fusheng personally stepping in, Bai Jie would never have agreed to invest almost all the company's liquid capital in just one movie and one TV series.

No kidding—whether it was 'Soldiers' Sortie' or 'Kung Fu,' if either lost money, Future Films would struggle to breathe for a long time.

So after Zhao Fusheng explained what an advertising sponsorship proposal was, Bai Jie's eyes lit up, and hope flared instantly.

Clearly, she was planning to go to Hong Kong and squeeze some money out first.

"Don't rush." Seeing Bai Jie's expression, Zhao Fusheng knew what she was thinking and smiled to stop her. "First, contact Zheng Yao. She should have plenty of high-quality clients. Reach out and see if they're interested in sponsoring."

He paused and continued, "Also, since this movie is under Stephen Chow's name, don't forget to use him in Hong Kong. I believe he'll be willing to help."

After all, Stephen Chow was not only the lead actor and director but also entitled to a share of the box office. How could he not participate in sponsorship solicitation?

As the saying goes, use people to their fullest and things to their best. In Zhao Fusheng's view, if Stephen Chow wanted to share in the movie's profits, he had to put in the effort.

Expecting to take real money from his wallet for nothing was a pure fantasy!

"Okay, I understand."

Bai Jie nodded repeatedly. Since Zhao Fusheng had given her the ideas and direction, she knew what to do next.

...

...

Before Zhao Fusheng could go home after leaving Future Films, he received a call from Dong Chenxi.

"James wants to see you." Dong Chenxi's first words made Zhao Fusheng frown.

"What's going on?" Zhao Fusheng asked curiously. "It hasn't been that long; why is he suddenly in a hurry?"

Since their last meeting, James had been silent. Zhao Fusheng even thought the guy had given up. But unexpectedly, he suddenly came looking for him.

Dong Chenxi replied with a wry smile, "I'm not sure of the details, but James explicitly said he has important matters to discuss with you."

Zhao Fusheng raised an eyebrow. Important matters?

In his view, there was no real friendship between him and James. In other words, what James called important matters most likely concerned the business of the Shengda Technology shares Zhao Fusheng held.

Zhao Fusheng took this matter very seriously. After thinking it over, he nodded to Dong Chenxi and said, "Arrange it. Ask him to come to the company now. I'll be there soon."

Regardless, since James had initiated the meeting, it meant his patience was wearing thin. Today's meeting might determine the final outcome of the negotiation.

Business negotiations are like that. Even though inside you might want to stab the person who keeps tearing apart your arguments and speaking ill of your company, on the surface you have to be polite and courteous, putting on a perfect show of hypocritical gentlemen and true villains.

For Zhao Fusheng and James, whoever contacted the other first meant they could no longer afford to wait.

In this round, it seemed Zhao Fusheng had already won half the battle.