410: Chapter 410 Wu Yue Continues to Exert Force

...

What is a top-tier celebrity? Wu Yue once said, a top-tier celebrity is someone flying all over the sky.

While Lin Chuyan was busy writing the script and drawing storyboards, Wu Yue had already made contact with Emperor Group through Director Du Qiyu's connections.

Consequently, Lin Chuyan took his script and continued on to Hong Kong.

He still felt a bit apprehensive.

"Brother Yue, chatting with Director Du Qiyu and Director Chu Dong is fine since we're all so familiar with each other; bam, I just need to throw the script at them and that's it. But how do I talk to Boss Yang? Is there anything I need to be careful about?"

"What's the big deal? You aren't his employee."

"That's true, but..."

Lin Chuyan mainly didn't know how to approach a stranger to solicit investment.

Wu Yue emphasized again: "Even though we are asking for a favor, it's still a normal business collaboration. The theme of the conversation is just one thing: we can make him money. Just don't deviate from that theme."

"Understood." However, Lin Chuyan was still uneasy. "You keep an eye on me while we're there. To put it bluntly, I only have three tricks: the script is great, everything that needs to be prepared is ready, and I have high popularity that can carry the box office. But if he doesn't have much interest in collaborating, there's nothing I can do."

Wu Yue gave him some reassurance: "Same as always, you talk about the technical side, and I'll handle the rest."

"Okay."

...

Upon arriving in Hong Kong, the trio went straight to the Emperor Group headquarters.

Because they had an appointment and the timing was just right, Boss Yang was already waiting for them in his office.

Leaving Xia Zhi to wait outside, Lin Chuyan and Wu Yue pushed open the door and entered under the guidance of the secretary.

Boss Yang was the oldest person Lin Chuyan had come into contact with since entering the entertainment industry, about ten years older than his teacher, Li Mujian.

At around 70 years old, perhaps because of living in comfort, he didn't look decrepit. He wore a pair of glasses and still possessed a refined temperament, which made him seem quite approachable.

Boss Yang wasn't sitting behind his desk, but rather on the sofa.

Lin Chuyan was still thinking about how to open the conversation, but the other party greeted them first.

He raised his hand: "Nickname, sit here."

He smiled again: "Director Du Qiyu calls you that in front of me, so I'll call you that too."

Lin Chuyan and Wu Yue exchanged glances and took their seats.

Before they could speak, the other party spoke again: "What would you like to drink?"

"Plain water is fine."

A staff member brought over two bottles of water.

Lin Chuyan finally found an opportunity to speak: "I've been to Hong Kong to film 'a moment of romance' and shoot for 'City Magazine', but after all this time, I haven't paid my respects to Boss Yang. It's been a bit impolite of me."

It looked like he was positioning himself in a lower position, but it immediately reminded Boss Yang that the person sitting opposite him now had extraordinary influence.

Was this a reminder? Or just a casual remark.

"It's never too late to meet; it's good that you're here."

Lin Chuyan nodded, intending to get straight to the point: "You know why I'm here today. I've brought a script and would like to tell you what kind of story this is..."

Boss Yang interrupted him: "No rush, let's chat first."

Since he said so, they would chat.

"Is your plan, Nickname, to transition into directing your own films?"

"It's not really a transition," Lin Chuyan shook his head. "And it's not because I can't film in mainland China. To be honest, there are still many directors who want to cast me, even some more international-level ones, like big directors from Japan and South Korea."

"It's just that..." Lin Chuyan spoke eloquently, "as for the scripts from those directors that I've seen so far, I don't think my 'la la land' is inferior to them. So, why should I look far afield?"

This was the spirit of a young person, and also a way to advertise his own film.

"Hahahaha!" Boss Yang was noncommittal and continued to ask, "So what are your plans for this year? Are you just filming this movie?"

"Not just that, there are quite a few things to do." Lin Chuyan didn't hide other matters just because he wanted to solicit investment for the film; he told the truth. "Before filming 'la la land', I should first shoot an animated short film. The script is already written, and it's called 'summer of the little monsters', which is a story derived from 'journey to the west'."

"At the same time as shooting the short film, I will also complete the preliminary preparations for the upcoming concert."

"Director Du Qiyu also has a new film to shoot, which I estimate will be soon." Lin Chuyan smiled. "Only after that will it be 'la la land'."

Boss Yang listened silently, and only after he finished speaking did he smile: "I envy you young people, you have such boundless energy."

"Do you know what I envy most about you?"

Lin Chuyan shook his head.

"You are very hardworking, and your path has been very smooth. You work hard, and each time you are rewarded; this kind of luck is better than 99% of people."

Lin Chuyan didn't know how to respond to that for a moment.

"I don't need to look at the script. Director Du Qiyu has already told me everything that needed to be said. He says the script is good, so it must be good. He says you are very talented, and I can see that too. But with things like movies, Nickname, you also know that good films with good actors are often acclaimed but not profitable. Moreover, I don't believe that a person can remain lucky forever."

Although Boss Yang had lost money on countless films he invested in, when a stranger comes to his door asking for such a large investment and wanting him to put in the effort, there has to be a reason, right?

Boss Yang didn't hesitate at all and said bluntly: "The musical genre is unpopular, and your fame isn't enough to carry the North America box office."

"Actually, even without the North America market, it would be fine if it could be like 'a moment of romance', but unfortunately, the mainland is the biggest part of the Asian box office, and currently, you can't get into it."

Boss Yang was talking business: "Meeting today is actually just to give you a chance to convince me. No rush, drink some water."

The other party had shut down the conversation completely, so how could he convince him?

He wouldn't look at the script, good films with good actors weren't enough, and he claimed everything before was just luck—so what else was there to say?

Lin Chuyan didn't think the other party was talking nonsense.

He wasn't someone with a personal connection to him like Director Du Qiyu, and from his perspective, what he said was the plain truth.

Silence.

Thinking.

It felt like a dead end.

But Lin Chuyan hadn't been thinking for more than a few seconds before Wu Yue patted him on the shoulder and spoke up.

"Boss Yang, is there some misunderstanding here?" There was confusion in Wu Yue's tone. "Why do you say we can't get into the mainland market?"

Boss Yang raised his eyebrows but didn't speak.

Why talk about something everyone already knew?

His own films from Emperor Group still had to cooperate with mainland distribution companies if they wanted to be released in the mainland. It was useless to come to him for this; he really couldn't help.

Wu Yue's acting skills were getting better and better, definitely better than Director Du Qiyu's; the difference between the two was at least 5 Feng Liqians.

At this moment, he suddenly acted "suddenly enlightened," and smacked his lips: "Sorry, Boss Yang, I forgot to tell you the most important thing."

"What thing?"

"About the mainland market." Wu Yue smiled nonchalantly. "Because Director Chu Dong also invested in 'la la land', he specifically took us to meet with the leaders of China Film Group a few days ago."

"You know, our Xiao Yan has always had a very good relationship with those within the system."

"They read the script, decided to invest in this film, and also indicated they would fully support Lin Chuyan."

"After all, our Xiao Yan is currently the only young person in the country who truly possesses influence within Asia and even on a global scale."

"They aren't doing it for anything else, just to let young Chinese directors be able to go out into the world and continue to expand their influence. For them, if this is successful, it is an achievement no less significant than the box office."

Boss Yang's eyes lit up.

Lin Chuyan: ???

Playing one side against the other, huh? Lying to both sides, huh? You're really something, Brother Yue.