Chapter 1624
An Old Horse Stumbles
Everyone has friends, let alone a veteran in the entertainment industry like Ma Yili.
She debuted in the early 90s and has connections in both Beijing and Shanghai entertainment circles.
Especially after getting together with Guan Hu in the early 00s, he successfully entered the imperial circle.
I got to know Zhang Guoli through the TV series "The Eloquent Ji Xiaolan". In the first part, she played Yan Ruyu, a woman of great talent.
This person inquired and learned that Zhang Guoli had a good relationship with him, so he used his connections to bring Uncle Guoli in as a lobbyist.
"I didn't mean to mess with him."
After listening to Uncle Guoli's words, Zhang Yuan responded.
The other party said, "Be lenient when you can; we're all in the same circle."
"Besides, they're making my movies and earning my money."
"I told him to delete the Weibo post, but he didn't. Instead, he deliberately posted another one, saying some spiteful things."
"President Han has been telling me to avoid causing trouble, and I agreed, which is why I asked everyone to keep quiet."
"Is he doing this to deliberately sow discord between me and Lao Han?"
As soon as Guoli heard his words, he knew that this kid was going to make a big deal out of nothing again and drag others into it.
"Oh, I know that's true. It's tough for you too, managing so many people."
"I've heard about what happened to Wen Zhang in recent years. Not all young people are like you, able to control their temper."
Uncle Guoli was also skilled at speaking, using praise instead of persuasion to resolve the dilemma.
Zhang Yuan also decided to give his uncle some face.
"Alright, that is, you. I'm sure this is the end of it."
Anyway, I was planning to stop here anyway.
His purpose in stopping the other party from performing in these plays was not only as a minor punishment, but also to eliminate the influence of risky artists.
After all, the "Monday Reveal" was a huge scandal, but Ms. Ma handled the public relations very well.
In other words, he abandoned the person who wrote the article.
No more treatment. Just get two doses of useless traditional Chinese medicine and go home to lie in bed and live out your days in peace.
"Yes, that's great." Uncle Guoli readily agreed.
"My dear child, you haven't come home in a long time. Have you forgotten about me?"
"No way, I'm really busy. I'm currently filming abroad."
"When I get back to China, I'll treat you to a meal at my place!"
"Oh, I'll have to wait until you're free."
"I'm busy too!" Uncle Guoli joked with him.
It wasn't exactly a joke, because he soon told Zhang Yuan some shocking news.
"What!" Zhang Yuan exclaimed.
"You have to make a bet with Huayi!"
"Yes, that's why I'm very busy."
"Have you thought this through? At your age, playing this game is extremely risky." Zhang Yuan gasped.
Tsk.
Hua Yi has swindled countless people through his gambling schemes.
Why do I say he's a swindler?
Others might not know, but Zhang Yuan knew it all too well!
First of all, this kind of performance-based agreement is a win-win situation for capital. If Party B succeeds in the performance-based agreement, they go public and make money. If Party B fails in the performance-based agreement, they swallow your company or split it up and sell it for money.
In the entertainment industry, when it comes to gambling, among big stars, apart from Zhang Yuan, Yang Mi is basically the only one who has succeeded.
This woman is ruthless to herself.
She became a top star entirely through hard work.
It belongs to the category of large-flowered blood-burning patterns.
If an average person did what she did, they would collapse within six months.
This girl is the only one around Zhang Yuan who has a heavier workload than him.
This is nothing to praise. Humans are born free, and turning themselves into beasts of burden is not the ultimate goal of humanity.
How were the performance-based agreements conducted, including those with Yang Mi and South Beauty?
A capital investment company invests in your company, acquiring a portion of your shares at a price higher than the market value.
This price could be 2 or 3 times the market price, or even more than 10 times.
It stipulates that your performance must not be lower than a certain amount within a few years, and it must be net profit, while also including listing clauses.
In other words, there are two performance targets: earnings and listing timeline.
Completing only one step counts as a failure; both steps must be completed to be considered a success.
If the performance-based agreement is successful, the investors can sell their shares after the IPO and profit from the difference in share price.
If the performance-based agreement fails, the contract typically requires the second party to repurchase the shares originally sold to the capital at double the price. This is standard practice in the industry.
Either go public, or sell it for one dollar and buy it back for two dollars.
Okay, so under normal circumstances, like Yang Mi and South Beauty, at least at the moment you sign the betting agreement, you will receive one yuan as principal to develop your business.
But Huayi is different!
Under his questioning, Zhang Guoli explained the details of the betting agreement in detail.
Hua Yi established Zhejiang Changsheng Film and Television, a company under his name, in Dongyang, a film and television duty-free city. Changsheng is the Buddhist name of Uncle Guoli.
Zhang Yuan felt that calling it Chengkun Film and Television would be more catchy...
Huayi acquired 70% of the company's shares for 2.5 million.
This is just an empty shell; it's a new company with nothing and hasn't filmed anything.
I'll give you 2.5 million!
Actually, it's not the company that's tied to it, it's Zhang Guoli as a person.
Several hundred million—even Zhang Guoli had never earned that much money in his entire life.
Don't be fooled by the fact that there's only a ten-year difference between the 00s and 10s; the difference in actors' salaries was more than tenfold!
Who wouldn't be envious?
Since it's a bet, if you lose, you have to pay.
If the performance requirements are not met, the shares will be bought back at double the amount after 3 years. In other words, not only will the 2.5 million yuan be returned, but an additional 2.5 million yuan will be added.
But this is just the normal situation; Huayi's performance-based agreement has a supplementary agreement!
I'm giving you 2.5 million in cash.
But 1.5 million of that will be used to repurchase Huayi's shares!
After you receive the money, the 1.5 million can only be used to buy shares in Huayi.
Then there's 100 million left.
For the next three years, during the performance-based agreement period, I must pay 30 million in net profit each year.
So even though Huayi paid 2.5 million, from a financial perspective, it only cost 1000 million!
This 1000 million yuan was used to bind Zhang Guoli, buy most of his company's shares, and at the same time, use the money extracted from the stock market to subsidize the company and raise the stock price.
Use the cash-out money to drive up the stock price, and then cash out again after the price goes up.
The two brothers are more ruthless and cunning than ordinary companies. Not only do they take advantage of each other, they also prey on their own people.
Therefore, almost no one succeeds in betting against Huayi.
Because most of the money they promised was actually returned on the spot, and Huayi itself was moving away from film and television production, it couldn't provide these artists with enough resources to generate profits.
This, in turn, forces these people, whether celebrities or veteran artists, to make bad movies in order to earn money, accepting any role they can, further ruining the market.
Although the Qing Dynasty's official history of Ming states that the Ming Dynasty effectively ended during the Wanli Emperor's reign.
But does Jiajing bear no responsibility?
According to the instructor's assessment, the political turning point of the Ming Dynasty was actually the Jiajing reign.
Going further back, doesn't the God of War of Tumu Fort bear any responsibility?
If you kill Yu Qian, what are we supposed to do with Teacher Guo?
To put it bluntly, the great drawback of "raising Zhu" (a legendary figure associated with the common people) was actually set by the person who started with just a bowl.
Trees have roots, water has a source, and so does Huayi.
The moment it went public, the film and television company that once focused on creation and star-making was already dead; it just took many years to bury it.
Zhang Yuan desperately warned Uncle Guoli to be careful, as gambling was very dangerous.
But Zhang Guoli seemed completely unfazed, saying that the market was doing very well.
Look at you, you broke the box office record three times in a row last year.
Guo Li, who has played a bald character, said that the Chinese film and television industry is now thriving and full of vitality, and he is confident.
Potter, you actually used my magic against me... Zhang Yuan couldn't refute the example given by Uncle Guoli.
Moreover, if I said more, my uncle would get upset.
The subtext is that I've lived longer than you've lived, and I know what I'm doing. Plus, he sincerely expressed that he wants to make a lot of money, and it's for his son's sake.
The moment Laozi mentioned his son, Zhang Yuan stopped trying to persuade him.
No matter how close I am to someone, it's all fake; no matter how far away they are, it's all real.
He recalled a line from Uncle Benshan's film "The Grandmaster".
People change from time to time.
What kind of river to cross, what kind of shoes to take off; what kind of butt to fit in, what kind of shorts to wear.
It seems that even an old master like Zhang Guoli forgot this principle when faced with a sufficiently great temptation.
Zhang Yuan was truly at his wit's end, and he remained depressed for a long time after hanging up the phone.
It seems that recently, he has been asked to do something with two people: Big Dog Brother and Uncle Guoli. They have even made a bet against each other.
"Zhang, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
When director Jon M. Chu found him, he was still pale.
"Long-haul flights, jet lag," he offered as an excuse.
"Alright, get some rest early tonight." Director Zhu thought to himself, "You look strong, but you can be weak sometimes."
I patted his shoulder to comfort him, but my hand was throbbing from the impact.
You're weak with a physique like that?
It's like filming on a steel plate.
"Ahem, in short, you will need to undergo physical and martial arts training before filming begins, and a fitness coach will accompany you throughout the filming process to create a training plan for you. All of this is in the contract."
"no problem."
"The crew rented a gym nearby... half of it." The director trailed off, then stopped himself, explaining the cost.
"You and your coach can use it for free."
"Let's first check our physical fitness, then our physique, and get to know the coach."
This is standard Hollywood procedure: they do it once during the audition and again before filming begins.
Because you never know what kind of crazy things some actors might do.
When Coppola was filming "Apocalypse Now," he cast Marlon Brando, his old friend from "The Godfather," to play a cult leader deep in the jungles of Vietnam.
They were one of our own, and they readily agreed, but they didn't even audition.
This film is an absolute classic, ranking among the top five anti-war films worldwide.
However, the filming process was extremely bumpy, and Coppola encountered every pitfall imaginable in filmmaking, almost going bankrupt.
As the filming progressed and things started to go a little better, I thought to myself, "Brando is a veteran artist; if he's here, everything will be fine."
When the Godfather arrived, Coppola almost drew his gun.
The man ate himself into a nearly 300-pound fat man.
In the end, they could only rely on Gordon Willis, the photography master known as "Master of One Light," to adjust the lighting and arrange the lens, using light and shadow to construct Brando's profile so that he wouldn't look so fat.
Director Zhu was also worried about this. When he saw him arrive, he noticed that he wasn't in good condition and became somewhat concerned.
He also has quite a few scenes where he's shirtless; we should take him off and see.
I arrived at the gym shortly after, met the coach Mike, and prepared for the test.
"Hi, Zhang."
He had just walked up to the barbell rack when a towering man stood in front of him.
It was a huge rock that I hadn't seen for a while.
"Hey, old friend." They bumped fists.
They'll be filming "Fast & Furious 6" together afterward, so they'll be seeing each other every day.
"This is for your daughter." Zhang Yuan took a panda plush toy out of his backpack.
"Hey, thanks." The older brother happily accepted it; foreign kids love this.
[Received a thank you from Dwayne Johnson, drug resistance +1!]
Zhang Yuan glanced at the attributes and thought, "Although you're very generous, I feel like your head has gotten even sharper since I last saw you."
His character is called "Roadblock," which is roughly equivalent to "roadblock," and he is the male protagonist of this film.
Zhang Yuan's character, Bai Youling, is either the second or third male lead.
He was the second male lead in terms of screen time, but because Bruce Willis was cast in this film, he had to automatically downgrade his role.
In fact, compared to the previous film, his status in the crew was higher.
"Hello." Zhang Yuan greeted the blonde girl who had come with the boulder.
"Hello," the white woman replied in broken Chinese.
"You also speak Chinese, and you speak it very well."
Zhang Yuan glanced at the boulder beside him: "Much stronger than him."
“MAN!” The guy spread his hands, “Why are you dragging me into this?”
This girl is Adelina Palicki, and she plays Miss Jane in the film, replacing the redhead from the previous movie, making her the female lead.
It's a pity the Countess from the previous film is gone; it's still the leather-clad lady who's more captivating on screen.
This woman is from Ohio, which is equivalent to the Northwest region of China—an underdeveloped, conservative, and redneck stronghold.
She has the typical image of a cowgirl at first glance, tall and strong, with a height of shoulder to shoulder with Zhang Yuan, and a slightly masculine face.
She's still young, with a feminine charm that's enhanced by a touch of masculinity—just right, sunny and dashing.
She's perfect for playing strong, action-oriented women; she's quite charming.
As they get older, they may appear overly masculine.
How to describe it specifically... I can only say that NBC wants to make a TV series based on Wonder Woman, and they've approached her.
He later acted in spin-offs of major Hollywood franchises such as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Orville.
My older sister started her career by working with John Woo, so she knows some Chinese.
It was a terrible compliment, but Zhang Yuan kept praising it.
A white person's strength is confidence; if you genuinely compliment her, she'll truly believe it!
So my friend was overjoyed and had a very good impression of him.
"Are you sure you want to start with such heavy weights?" His older sister, who also works out, quickly advised him when she saw him begin his training with 150 kilograms.
"He can do it," said the giant rock, who had witnessed his strength, while drinking protein powder.
Seeing him easily complete the set without wearing protective gear, my older sister's already large mouth gaped open.
“The Chinese are all monsters,” Boulder commented.
"Wow!" A moment later, the coach and director asked him to take off his clothes for a physical examination.
It's a proper physical exam to check the condition of the muscles and see if they'll look good on camera.
He took off his T-shirt, which was completely soaked with sweat, revealing his body, which had been trained for a long time.
Upon seeing this, the older sister from the southern state whistled.
Zhang Yuan glanced at her and felt like he was being flirted with...
With his meticulous training and diet control, he naturally has sharp features and smooth lines.
"Very good, but it can be even better." The coach took a moment to react after seeing it.
I never expected my job to be so easy.
All you need to do is control your diet to make your muscles look drier, which will make them look better on camera.
There is a shortcut to this; you just need to use Olympiad techniques.
Not consuming salt for a period of time can lead to hyponatremia, causing an imbalance of electrolytes in the body, making muscles look dry and stringy.
If all else fails, you can take a strong laxative from North America the night before, and it will make you dehydrated.
Therefore, many of the bodybuilding competitors faint as soon as they step off the stage.
Pushing any sport to its limits is not only bad for your health, but can also seriously harm your health and shorten your lifespan.
Most bodybuilders experience liver and kidney failure before their joints do.
Otherwise, the bodybuilding world would be filled with bad news every day.
After finishing all that, he tidied himself up, changed his clothes, and planned to go out during his evening rest time.
I'm on a trip to Hollywood, and I also have several old friends to meet... (End of Chapter)