580: Chapter 580: IP Development of "La La Land"

Changing the industry status quo was never just empty talk.

The seed of "not letting bad money drive out good" had already been planted in the hearts of the audience. The next step was for Lin Chuyan to continue doing his job, continue growing stronger, and earn more money. At the same time, this great tree of his could also begin to provide shade for the development of the industry—there was no help for it, Yanzi was just too good at earning money.

Take "la la land" for example. The company had calculated that after deducting the investment costs from the box office share, and then factoring in Lin Chuyan's 50% investment stake, and then deducting taxes, his final net profit was approximately 1.28 billion RMB.

This was just the box office revenue. 100% of the copyright for "la la land" was firmly in Lin Chuyan's hands—the contract signed with investors at the time explicitly stipulated it was a "pure theatrical box office profit share." This also meant that the IP of "la la land" still had huge room for profit.

In fact, related development work was already being carried out in full swing.

The experience accumulated from the derivative copyright development of "summer of the little monsters" had now come in very handy.

First was streaming licensing, which was a large sum of money that could be recouped the fastest.

Netflix took the initiative to find Wu Yue to discuss cooperation before the movie was pulled from theaters, and several top domestic video platforms also threw out olive branches.

After multiple rounds of negotiations, Netflix ultimately secured the exclusive global authorization (excluding mainland China) for a period of 5 years, with a licensing fee of 120 million USD; Bilibili obtained the non-exclusive authorization for the China region, also for a period of 5 years, with a licensing fee of 120 million RMB.

Things were a bit better abroad. Domestically, it was truly thanks to Wu Yue's maneuvering. He first signed a letter of intent with one platform, then took the informal terms to find other companies to drive up the price, ultimately driving it to such a high price.

Of course, this price also had premium factors from the heat effect of The Oscars and the freshness of having just been pulled from theaters. The profit potential far exceeded those classic old films.

In short, from streaming licensing alone, the after-tax income could reach 800 million RMB.

That wasn't all. Physical sales were also not to be underestimated. This would start global distribution before the streaming release and launch three versions.

The standard edition (Blu-ray) was priced at 198 RMB, with an estimated sales volume of 300,000 sets; the collector's edition (4K + soundtrack CD) was priced at 399 RMB, with an estimated sales volume of 100,000 sets; the supreme gift box (IMAX version) was priced at 1299 RMB, including Piano sheet music + storyboard manuscript + numbered certificate, with an estimated sales volume of 10,000 sets.

To stimulate price-sensitive users, purchasing the 399 RMB collector's edition also included a half-year Bilibili membership... In short, with this whole set, production costs were 30%, channel commissions were 10%, and the net profit margin was 60%.

With this operation, if it sold well, the profit would already be greater than many other films.

Striking while the iron was hot, brand collaboration plans were also put on the agenda.

First was collaborative apparel. They were actively looking for partners in this area. Fast fashion brands like Uniqlo were potential targets, with a commission ratio of 15% of sales.

Second was collaborative jewelry. Lin Chuyan had endorsements in this area himself, and the brand planned to develop a "City of Stars" series for him. Lin Chuyan only needed to provide authorization, and the licensing fee was 100 million. It meant a 5% commission on jewelry sales, with a guarantee of 100 million.

Third was blind box figures. The well-known domestic brand Pop Mart became his target for cooperation. Although there were only two characters in the film, the costumes and styling in "la la land" were rich, and if the hidden version featured a wedding dress style... the sales were tentatively set at 30 million, with Lin Chuyan taking a 15% cut. In short, the more they sold, the more he earned.

Music and derivative development were also progressing smoothly.

The soundtrack was released before the movie, and it had been continuously bringing him revenue. Currently, Wu Yue was making every effort to advance matters related to the musical adaptation rights.

Broadway producers offered generous terms, paying an advance of nearly 100 million RMB in two installments. In addition, there was an 8% share of global box office, which was undoubtedly a long-term income.

However, both sides were still further negotiating regarding production requirements.

For example, Broadway hoped that Lin Chuyan could be listed as a consultant on the creative team. After all, he was an Oscar-winning director, and having his name on it made a big difference. Lin Chuyan naturally had no problem with this; it was just a name credit.

For another example, Wu Yue's requirement was that after the producer obtained the authorization, they must complete the Broadway premiere within 18 months. This consideration was also very reasonable. You couldn't just let them take the copyright and drag it out, right? A time limit had to be set.

After this series of operations, the profit from all peripheral derivatives, after taxes, was about the same as the income from the theatrical box office... Consequently, when the employees on vacation returned to work one after another, they were greeted by the generous project bonuses distributed by Director Lin.

From the core team's project leads and derivative development directors, to the business and operations staff of the execution team, and down to the sunshine universal bonus, everyone got a piece of the pie.

After discussing with Lin Chuyan, Wu Yue determined the distribution method. Bonuses for frontline employees were issued directly, while the core team adopted a "3:3:4" distribution principle—30% issued immediately, 30% issued in installments annually, and 40% tied to long-term earnings.

In this regard, Lin Chuyan's only requirement was "be generous, give the employees more money."

This was Lin Chuyan's management philosophy: the cultivation of a manager is the cultivation of anti-human nature.

What did that mean? Human nature is naturally unwilling to share good things; people just want to possess more. Therefore, the more this was the case, the more Lin Chuyan had to do the opposite. He firmly believed that an excellent leader should be happy to give employees raises; real money was the most tangible incentive, everything else was just empty talk.

Relying on the generous profits brought by the multi-faceted success of "la la land," Lin Chuyan finally had greater confidence to start announcing his upcoming plans online.

First was the "mr. & mrs. smith" project.

Previously at a media meet-and-greet, Lin Chuyan had only briefly revealed this project. Now, the modified script had completed copyright registration, Lionsgate had also sorted out the incentive payment for Colleen Bell, and Lin Chuyan had re-discussed and finalized the shooting budget with Producer Zhang Man. Everything was ready, and it could finally be officially announced to the public.

[Family, after "la la land", the title of my next film has also been decided. It's called "mr. & mrs. smith". Hmm, I've already talked about romance, this time I'll talk about married life. The male and female leads are still me and Xingxing. A sneak peek: there are gunfights, there are fight scenes, filming starts this year, please look forward to it.]

Hmm?

Netizens were still sighing about "Feng Liqian kneeling down in seconds," not expecting Lin Chuyan to have already started on the next phase.

["mr. & mrs. smith"? Another Hollywood blockbuster, right? Going to keep earning those dollars?]

[Holy crap, married life but there are gunfights and fight scenes? What the hell? Is this married life of yours legitimate?]

[Good, good, good, I just love watching popcorn movies. Will definitely watch it when it comes out.]

Some people were also questioning:

[Can't shoot it in the mainland? Have to run to Hollywood? You babbled a bunch before, I thought you were going to shoot a domestic film.]

But it was quickly refuted by someone:

[Idiot! Everyone said there are gunfights! Damn, why don't you let Lin Chuyan go to your house? Does your house have guns?]