Chapter 824: Chapter 343: Imperial-Level Enjoyment (Part 2)

Giving up a bit of future profit in exchange for getting help with everything, that’s a bloody good deal...

Around 10:30, while Han Lie was trying to stall the flaky negotiations, Old Su finally called to share the good news.

Han Lie wasn’t interested in the specifics about how they handled DramaCool, how many connections they leveraged, or how much it cost.

He only wanted to know the outcome.

The result was... Huace was overpowered by Brother Lie’s financial might.

"Manager Wu’s idea is that they provide the IP, script, and promotional channels, taking 30% of the share along with the lead actor, and they don’t bother with anything else. As long as you are willing to invest 70 million, you can have the remaining share of the project, and of course, the lead actress will naturally be yours."

Han Lie’s first reaction was feeling like he was being ripped off.

But he didn’t rush to a conclusion and instead asked Su Xiao, "President Su, what do you think of these terms?"

Su Xiao honestly replied, "From a collaboration standpoint, it’s pretty harsh, but facing such a not-so-cash-strapped big company, from a value parity perspective, it’s actually okay.

An outsider wanting to enter this field, overpaying on investment is inevitable.

Under normal circumstances, most people who want to pay a premium can’t even get in the door, let alone acquire a famous writer’s well-known IP.

This time, it’s also because filming Weiwei is more challenging, requiring effort in special effects, combined with Shan Shan’s not-so-smooth sale, that Huace considered bringing others on board to share the risk...

Still, personally, I am willing to support you. Lemon Entertainment can contribute 10 million and take on tasks like production, placement, and sales, in exchange for a 20% share.

So basically, you spend 60 million to take 50% of the ultimate profits and a lead actress, whether it’s worth it or not, you have to decide for yourself."

Indeed, Weiwei is very popular, but if it premieres next year, can 50% of the share bring back 60 million?

Han Lie doesn’t understand the film industry and just by gut feeling, it’s probably not feasible.

The producer’s revenue generally comes from several rounds of selling the series, including TV and online broadcasting rights, then selling off copyrights and so on, possibly with some product placement income.

Considering various taxes, the total price should reach around 200 million; only then can the net profit from revenue sharing recover the 60 million investment.

It’s only the year 2015... it feels quite challenging.

Perhaps it’s necessary to wait several years patiently to slowly recover the investment through long-term residuals.

So overall, it can earn money, but not apparently much.

However, when you factor in the invisible benefits, it’s a different story.

On the one hand, the improbable girl will likely become famous and explode, jumping from a third-tier naïve rookie to an A-list superstar — in fact, she can stabilize at the second tier even without works; even though she keeps having controversies in her relationships, with incessant negative news, she has stayed relevant all along.

Right now, she isn’t dating the pond master, hasn’t annoyed Shuangzi, and only had one slip-up beforehand, so her situation is quite healthy.

It feels like as long as there’s one weighty work, she could instantly soar to the top stream.

This seems like it doesn’t benefit Han Lie much.

However, lifting his own woman to the first-line actress pedestal, changing her destiny, that sense of achievement can’t be measured by monetary gains.

Does Bro lack money?

Not at all!

When she possesses wealth and fame, becoming the goddess in every man’s eyes, every time he’s with her, it’s even more thrilling, isn’t it a total win!

On the other hand, Lemon as the producer of the project gains tremendous fame and industry reputation, starting to profit in advance, which is beneficial for going public.

In the original timeline, Lemon’s first self-produced series "Good Man" didn’t broadcast until mid-2016; later, caught in a special period, the domestic IPO didn’t materialize, so it had to go public in Hong Kong, which was quite a loss.

Domestically listed, it’s so comfortable, easily a hundredfold P/E ratio, find any excuse to hype it up, becoming a big demon with eyes closed...

Now holding the explosive "Weiwei" in hand, starting to profit a year ahead, and later operating it further, aiming for going public domestically in 2019, making hundreds of billions is no dream.

Compared to the current paltry tens of millions of sale profit from selling shows, which is more satisfying?

Entertainment industry, I don’t play; financial sector, I’m the king of understanding!

So, the business with "Weiwei" is worth doing!

Just as Han Lie was about to agree, he suddenly thought of something and changed his question, "Is the copyright still ultimately in DramaCool’s hands?"

Su Xiao patiently explained, "DramaCool holds the novel’s adaptation rights for audiovisual work, turning it into a TV series, since the producers are the three of us, we jointly hold the copyright, exercising it through unanimous agreement.

If unanimous agreement can’t be reached without just cause, no party can prevent the others from exercising rights other than transfer, but the income obtained must be reasonably distributed among all cooperating authors.

So, the series’ copyright earnings are distributed according to the agreed-upon proportions, while DramaCool still holds the movie adaptation rights for "Weiwei" until Gu Man’s authorization expires...

Of course, I currently don’t know how their film adaptation contract is signed, but it doesn’t have much to do with us."

Han Lie understood, then had a sudden inspiration.

"I feel that Huace doesn’t see ’Weiwei’ as an indispensable top project, their estimated production cost is about 70 million, estimating the highest profit no more than 200 million.

It’s equivalent to wanting to gamble with the film rights, at most earning 60 million if successful; if not, just losing the initial purchase price...

In that case, could I possibly buy the entire film rights for fifty or sixty million, then invest another 70 million to produce the TV version ourselves?"