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Chapter 954: Chapter 837 Huang Qi Was Startled (Subscribe for more!)
This is no joke.
Tang Qing is investing in movies.
And he needs a partner?
As if his own film company was just for show. Moreover, with someone like Huang Qi who clearly wanted to make a quick buck, Tang Qing would never consider a partnership.
Upon hearing Tang Qing’s direct refusal.
Huang Qi felt embarrassed.
How much "Civilization: Soul of the Stars" had earned was no secret to the outside world. With its incredible special effects and nearly perfect reputation, the box office earnings soared into the top ten in world cinema history.
Now it sits comfortably in second place,
just below "Titanic"’s two billion plus dollars. The industry believes no movie will break this record in the next ten years, since "Titanic"’s audience is simply too vast.
It’s all about love.
The best at consuming tears.
This is the limitation of the genre.
Comet Films made tens of billions of RMB from just one movie, which changed many people’s worldviews.
The consequence was that
a massive amount of speculative capital flooded into the movie market.
Bearing ’mature experience,’ their targets were all set on science fiction movies, hoping to rake in profits from the global market. Too bad, the company that did special effects for Comet Films threw a bucket of cold water on their plans.
Because of insufficient staff,
they couldn’t undertake additional special effects tasks in the short term.
That was the uniform response from the special effects company.
They certainly wouldn’t let the matter go. Aside from continuing with public relations efforts, they also sought other special effects companies. However, the ones they could find domestically were basically all low-budget effects.
Many Hollywood-level special effects are not impossible to create in China, but the investment is too significant. The same effect would cost only about half as much abroad, and it would take much longer. Under these circumstances,
the choice of capital was undoubtedly to
give up.
Because the market’s heat is evident, and by the time you finish, the buzz will have already cooled down.
Hence,
after figuring out that Tang Qing was the owner of Comet Films, Huang Qi got crafty, hoping to hitch a ride on Tang Qing’s connections and make some easy money, leading to today’s situation.
It’s just that,
the rejection came too swiftly.
"Tang President? Why?" Huang Qi asked persistently.
Tang Qing laughed and patiently explained, "First of all, I have my own film company, and I only invest in my company’s movies. I’m not interested in others at all.
Second, I’m well aware of your actual intention. You’re hoping to use Comet Group’s distribution channels and that company’s special effects technology, but for me, there’s not a single benefit.
Our main business at Comet Films is to make science fiction movies, and now you come to me, saying you want to do the same. Isn’t it obvious that this would create competition? Tell me, why would I agree?"
Tang Qing directly pointed out the crux.
Your interests.
I’m not interested in them, and you’re coming here to compete with me, how could I possibly agree? Huang Qi hastily explained, "That’s not an issue. As long as you invest, you can share the profits. This isn’t competition; it’s partnership."
"The premise of a partnership is that I want to invest, but I don’t want to. Doesn’t that make this competition?" Tang Qing laughed.
Huang Qi, looking distressed, asked, "Then, President Tang, can’t you lend a hand?"
Tang Qing sighed.
He said earnestly,
"Director Huang, I don’t think you understand the risks involved. What makes you so sure you’ll definitely make money? Let me explain, there are dozens, if not hundreds of people with the same idea as you.
Many spare no expense to hire companies from the United States for special effects. As a result, many sci-fi works will be released soon. Your competition is going to be quite significant.
Actually, you could do special effects as well. I can make the introductions, but can you afford the cost of those effects? If we go by the standards of ’Civilization: Soul of the Stars,’ the baseline for special effects costs is one hundred million dollars, and it could be even higher. Do you have that kind of money?"
In the end,
Tang Qing got to the key point.
"That expensive?" Huang Qi was startled.
One hundred million dollars for special effects almost scared him to death. They could raise maybe one or two billion RMB at most for investment, and now Tang Qing was telling him that the special effects alone would cost one hundred million dollars.
If it gets out of control,
it would be ten billion RMB.
Damn.
That’s not making special effects.
That’s downright robbery.
"Otherwise, what did you think? Our film company might make a lot of profit, but that’s built on huge costs. I’m all in myself, with confidence, but you, with marketing and distribution costs, ten billion RMB—are you daring enough to take that kind of risk? If you are, I can pull some strings for you."
Looking at Huang Qi’s pained expression.
Tang Qing couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly.
Ten billion RMB.
That was just to scare Huang Qi.
The price was for making "Civilization: Soul of the Stars," a rarity among science fiction movies. Most of them are small-scale productions that can be made with just a few people and some special effects.
"In that case, what about making one of those low-budget science fiction movies?" Huang Qi definitely didn’t have ten billion RMB to burn but was quick-witted enough to realize he could make a low-budget film.
"And how do you think that kind of movie can recoup its cost?" Tang Qing asked with a smile.
"I want to try. I’ll invest in the kind of science fiction movie that needs fewer special effects scenes. I don’t dare dream of big scenes, so we’ll go for plot-driven stories," Huang Qi said with determination.
Tang Qing reminded him, "Then... for that kind of movie, why come to me? Find a domestic special effects company, put in some thought, spend a little money, and you can do it. Their starting price is ten million US dollars."
This wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision.
He had actually set this threshold to avoid being swarmed by flies and mosquitoes, but it wasn’t made public yet, because in the short term, all the output of the special effects company was booked by Comet Group.
They would announce it when the market returned to rationality and the special effects company started ’taking clients.’
"A starting price of ten million?" Huang Qi stood up, shocked.
"Yes," Tang Qing nodded.
"...I think I’d better look for another special effects company," Huang Qi said with a wry smile, knowing that a ten million US dollar starting fee would be lethal; he couldn’t afford to let such a large sum of money go to waste.
He had hoped to get a bargain and hype it up.
But now it seemed.
He wouldn’t even get a scrape.
Fine.
Alright then.
At least after Tang Qing said this much, he became much calmer.
He was no longer obsessed with the idea of a small investment and high returns, making quick money, and hitching a free ride. Huang Qi had started to sober up, considering the huge risks and the ratio of cost to profit.
Mei Wenlin had remained silent the entire time.
He was here just to bolster Huang Qi’s courage, to have someone by his side. As for this matter, he hadn’t been optimistic about it from the start. Although Tang Qing was a university student, he was also a businessman. As expected, Tang Qing had refused.
And rightfully so.
To grow his business to such an extent.
Tang Qing would not be someone swayed by emotions, a greenhorn who hesitated in rejecting people, but at the same time, through a few words, he could make Huang Qi feel not so bad about the refusal.
He handled it very shrewdly.
He rejected people.
But they were quite grateful.
Impressive.
Dou Jiao let out a sigh of relief.
She also didn’t want to see such ’meaningless’ cooperation happen.
Even if Tang Qing had agreed, she would have spoken up. Although Huang Qi was a friend, business is business. She was on Tang Qing’s payroll, so naturally, she had to speak up for Tang Qing and think of his interests.
"Alright, Old Huang, don’t be too greedy. Stick to your real estate honestly. Venturing into unfamiliar business is inherently very risky. Take it easy," Pan Yue consoled Huang Qi.
After hearing Pan Yue’s words.
Huang Qi’s gaze turned to Tang Qing.
Crossing into another field is difficult.
But then why was Tang Qing doing so well, and even earned a fortune through it? Where was he lacking compared to Tang Qing? On a personal capability level, Huang Qi didn’t think he was inferior to Tang Qing.
As for family background, he could find connections too. It seemed the only thing he couldn’t match Tang Qing in was---money?
Huang Qi was momentarily at a loss for words.
In comparison with Tang Qing, wasn’t money the only thing he lacked?
Even without Comet Film, Tang Qing could still come up with a large sum of money. Leaving aside whether it would be lost or not, before Tang Qing made his fortune, he was already a very wealthy guy. Realizing this, Huang Qi felt somewhat dejected.
Compared to Tang Qing.
He truly was a poor man.
A poor man looking for a rich man to collaborate with, it really did seem a bit foolish.
And so.
Huang Qi convinced himself with ’intelligence.’
