King of Hollywood

Chapter 131: The First

The door opened and Adrian didn't turn back until Ivanka's voice rang: "Time is running out, Ed. Are you going down now? Or wait a little longer? ”

“Wait a little longer,” Adrian walked in front of her, staring at her slightly tired face, "you don't have to go, rest in the room for a night, jet lag is not that easy to fall, anyway, we don't talk about some work matters, and they all talk in Chinese, you don't understand. ”

“Charlie wouldn't understand either.” Ivanka flipped her eyes.

Adrian shook his head laughingly, although Charlize was in a

c Well done - the original idea of "Who's Going to Marry a Millionaire" was postponed due to 9/11, then she had a new idea, and Adrian was going to take the time to talk to her and if it's good, give it to n

c Broadcast, they are currently lacking a reality show. But Ivanka always sees her as her opponent, both at work and in bed, so she has to contend with everything.

“Well, if you're bored, take a walk outside in one of the biggest squares in the world.” He grinned and pinched her in the face.

Adrian's place of residence is the Capital Hotel, an old hotel situated in the heart of the city, next to the Forbidden City, and a five-minute walk to the square, with a grand layout that is centenary - if you count the 1900 taverns, you can barely take that title. It is precisely for this reason that Adriatic has decided to stay at the Capital Hotel in addition to the choice of the Grand Chinese Hotel. Anyway, it has hosted a number of important personalities, as well as the three male sopranos who held a concert in Forbidden City last year.

“Where's Nicole?” Without waiting for Ivanka to speak, Adrian asked.

“Rest in the room. Why, go check on her?” Ivanka was not very cheerful, and no one else saw these women around Adrian except Charlize, who made her a little angry, and then added the lovely Lily to her relationship with Kate and Sarah, which was pretty good.

However, as Adrian's assistant secretary, she had to deal with them and arrange for Adrian to adjust to their itinerary, so she could no longer be seen or shown, but had to face her face. The difference between her and Charlize can be seen here, although Charlize often doesn't like some women as well, and although she's often a slightly arrogant, cold appearance a thousand miles away, she still has the respect she deserves between words, instead of like Ivanka, clearly stating on her face: I don't like you, I deal with you just for work.

Of course, Ivanka was born in a rich house, and her father was also a man who liked to get herbivorous, and she didn't like it very much, so she made rules with her father not to date girls younger than her age. So, it's pretty good that she can do this now, and she can't ask for more.

“No,” Adrian laughed, "let her rest. Tomorrow she has an interview in addition to the premiere of Red Mill. ”

“I don't understand, Ed.” Ivanka sighed at this moment, "If you are going to look at the Chinese market, you can come here with a big banner, there is no need to use the pretext of attending the premiere of Red Mill in China. If you only wanted to attend the premiere of Red Mill, why didn't you tell the press you were here? ”

“It's troublesome to explain, you know, that China and the United States are two completely different countries,” Adrian laughed, "and maybe one day I'll come over with a big banner, but definitely not now, and it should be Claude, not me, who's in charge of the group, and I'm good at catching the big direction, but he's in charge of negotiating something. ”

“Simply put, you want to be lazy.” Ivanka skipped her mouth.

“You can put it this way," Adrian yang his hands, “we've always developed this way - even as a director, I'm still the chairman of AC Media's board of directors anyway, the Chinese need to promote themselves internationally, so once they show up publicly, there will be a lot of trouble, I didn't bring a professional team. ”

“After half a day, you still haven't mentioned the purpose of being here, and I don't even know what to prepare for.” Ivanka sighed.

“Don't worry, Eni, we'll be back in three days at most, all you need is some random strain, and...” He smiled, looking at the big bed in his eyes, squeezing her chin together and kissing her.

Ivanka hummed just what she was about to say, the doorbell rang, and then came in a middle-aged man in his early forties, dressed in a very formal suit, wearing frameless glasses, looking very Sven, just slightly concave cheeks and protruding cheekbones, some with a hint of pointy-mouthed monkey mumps.

“Hello, Mr. Corwell, it is an honor to have you here, I am Wang Zhongjun.” He smiled enthusiastically, stretching out his hand a few steps forward, speaking in fluent English, as though he had fought in the United States and had mixed up with a Masters Degree in Mass Media from the State University of New York.

“Hello, Mr. Wang, nice to meet you. I hope this low-profile visit hasn't bothered you.” Adrian said in fluent Chinese.

This made them pick eyebrows. From the airport to the hotel, Adrian has been communicating with people in Chinese. He can't possibly not have heard about it, but now it seems that he obviously didn't expect his Chinese fluency to be that level, even in the mountains?

“It's amazing, Mr. Corwell, I don't know how good your Chinese is.” Nor does Wang Zhongjun disguise his surprise.

“I know a lot about Chinese culture, so I learned something.” Adrian laughed carelessly.

“Great, it's easier to communicate.” Wang Zhongjun immediately asked to step aside and make a gesture, then looked at Ivanka.

“You can do whatever you want, Eni.” Adrian would have ordered in English.

“Yes, sir.” After opening the door, Ivanka regained her faceless appearance, which is all the more so at this moment.

Then Adrian, accompanied by Wang Zhongjun and his secretary, as well as the head of AC Media's office in the capital, went downstairs to the dining room. At the same time, some of the celebrities in the mainland film industry, such as Wang Zhongjun, who founded Huayi brothers with Wang Zhonglei, or Bonner's president of the film industry in Winter, were waiting for Zhang Weiping, the chairman of the new picture.

The reason why Adrian came here in a very low-key way and with a premiere sign for Red Mill in China is not to meddle in the media market on the mainland while China joins the WTO. No country would allow foreign capital to enter the industry, even the United States had laws prohibiting non-Americans from owning television stations, and Murdoch had to enter American nationality in order to acquire fox, let alone China?

Also Murdoch, who bought TV Chinese from Lee Zelig in '93, wanted to march to the mainland with joy, but eventually had to attract funds from Liu Changle and others after accepting a series of demands from the mainland, and was quickly crowded out to a third shareholder when he formed Phoenix TV. Although he still owns most of the stake in Starry Media, his influence is limited to the Pearl Triangle. Indeed, it is conceivable that it is basically impossible to get into the mainland. Even if Murdoch marries a Chinese wife, he will not be able to stop him from leaving the scene in the dark after a few years. Adrian does not want to do his own boring useless work.

So, he came to the capital just to take a closer look at the film market on this side of the continent, and although there was a certain understanding in previous life, it was looking from the bottom up, today's identity is different, the perspective of the problem is different, and it also needs to be looked from the top down. It's just that 10 or 5 years ago, he didn't come to the mainland so much trouble now, but not now, as he said to Ivanka earlier, although he's now a loud international director, he's also the chairman of the AC Media Board. Adrian's leading director may be more famous in the eyes of ordinary people, but at the national level, they only know that he is in charge of one of the world's largest media groups.

Although the two countries warmed up rapidly after 9/11, it was not long before his official visit to China, so he had to find a reason to look down on the mainland. Exactly. When Red Mill was introduced to the mainland, Zhongying contacted Nicole through the relationship, hoping she could come to China for the premiere ceremony, and also contacted Adrian. Nicole had intended to refuse, and like most Westerners, she lacked interest because she lacked knowledge of China. But Adrian repeatedly advised and persuaded, and briefly explained the prospects for the Chinese market. Although this did not convince her completely, Nicole promised, and Adrian was mostly right.

As for the invitation sent to him, he refused, and the Chinese film was not so resolute. After all, it always felt a little inappropriate to have the AC media director come to Huawei as a director to promote the film, so Adrian was not worried that his euphemism and low profile secret coming would make them unhappy.

Of course, the Chinese government wouldn't be unaware of his entry and exit, let alone his own private plane, and had notified several private media companies that had joined the stock before he came, so Wang Zhongjun introduced a houseman with a vague introduction to a middle-aged man named Chen. He thought it was either someone from a department or someone from a bureau, more likely someone from a department, so that he matched his identity, didn't he?

Adrian didn't care, sat down and chilled with them, fluent Chinese plus a few idioms from time to time surprised the group. So, it's important to understand a foreign language. Think about it. Do they prefer to work with someone who knows the continent in general, or with someone who knows China well enough?

The continental film market at the beginning of the 21st century was still a virgin, and even though Hollywood films had landed since '94 or' 95, the vast market had not yet been fully developed. Adrian clearly remembers an example of a 30 million or so invested sci-fi movie that got a 21 million dollar box office in the first week of show in North America and a 23 million box office after show on the mainland! Although this has nothing to do with the period and the support of mainland media groups, it also shows the enormity of the Chinese market, and because of this, the Asian rebels in Hollywood have changed from Chinese to Koreans, who can't afford a profitable market?

So, while this example is a decade from now, it does not prevent Adrian from doing it early. In fact, several major Hollywood movie companies have been watching this cake early on, otherwise Paramount would not have been the first to enter the mainland, but it is unfortunate to see Adrian in the future do more than they do, and from '96 to now, he has joined the private companies Huayi Brothers, Bonner Film and New Pictures by various means. Unfortunately, Zhongying and Huaxia are state-owned enterprises - Huaxia is not established yet - and if you look at that long list of shareholder names, you know it's impossible to accept foreign investment, otherwise he can talk about quotas for imported films.

Of course, there are not many of these shares, and Adrian does not want to draw too much attention, although this is a private enterprise, as long as it has a certain say.

“China's film market is vast and now has great potential, as illustrated by the screening of the Titanic a few years ago. So when it is fully discovered, only the vastness of the family, especially China's economy is still developing, and more and more people will enter the cinema to watch movies.” On the wine table, Adrian put a pen on the CEOs of these bright future private film and television companies.

This meal was specially prepared by Wang Zhongjun and others. It was a complete Chinese style round table feast, but in order to take care of Adrian, he was asked whether he wanted the usual alcoholic beverages. Although the previous life had been filled to death, he had not hesitated to choose white wine, which was the absolute best that could be produced on such occasions.

As soon as the bottle opens, the aroma is overflowing, no doubt top of the line, Maotai. Although the Panamanian Gold Prize is still suspect, in previous life he did hear an old man say that when he went to work in Guizhou in the late '50s, he used his relationship to get a vial at the Maotai distillery, and when he returned to the hotel, other guests came to ask him what kind of wine it was, why it smelled so good, etc.

Perhaps this is suspected of exaggeration, but Maotai is also quite elegant, in addition to being rich, luxurious and tasty, with a variety of well-known dishes serving, perhaps slightly different from specialty restaurants - such as roasted ducks - but not so bad. Adrian was impressed by the fact that the Chinese did eat very well and that a boiled cabbage seemed simple, but tasted very refreshing, tender and delicious.

Although he did not say a word about praising food, that undisguised gratification of the divine color was already the best praise, so that Adrian appeared approachable and made Wang Zhongjun, Wang Zhonglei and others feel closer. Sometimes it doesn't take much language to pull themselves into a relationship with each other in a small move, which affects their listening to themselves.

Speaking of several companies, he preferred the Huayi brothers most, not only because of the future, but also because of the analysis of the current situation. In similar circumstances, the Huayi brothers have the greatest potential at present.

Not to mention the date of its establishment, not to mention the time of its development, but simply to say that the film industry in the mainland is still at a very juvenile stage, not even a complete circle - although it will soon be established - Hong Kong and Taiwan, though confused, have a very complete process from production to distribution, so the film industry in the mainland is still at the director-centric stage. With the support of a great director, the company can have a great influence in the movie market, and the Huayi brothers just happen to have one director in their hands, yes, Feng Xiaogang.

“Big Wrist is an interesting movie. Yes, I can read it in all its tones and classics. Both Ge Yu and Inda did a great job. Donald didn't have much of a bright spot.” At the end of the meal, Adrian said to Feng Xiaogang as he drank tea in the living room of the special meeting.

As a partner of the Huayi brothers, Feng Xiaogang was naturally eligible to attend this dinner and meeting. For the first time, he learned that some of the shares of the Huayi brothers belonged to the large media group AC Media - in fact, the Wang brothers did not know for a long time, and Adrian used a number of means to hold indirect holdings in order to avoid the butterfly effect.

“Thank you, if you don't mind, I'll have bragging capital in the future.” Feng Xiaogang is very respectful. After all, the person before him is not only the chairman of the board of directors of the international media group, but also a world-renowned director. He is also very approachable and understands Chinese culture. It is like talking to a pure Chinese person. In all respects, he should do this.

“In that case, has Mr. Corwell considered helping distribute the film in North America?” Among the group, Wang Zhonglei suddenly asked so directly.

Adrian glanced at him and smiled slightly: "Consider it. ”

As it turns out, Feng Xiaogang was a little excited to surprise several people. If Big Wrist could be released in North America, he would also be an international director. What other movies have been shown in the United States in the last few years besides Red sorghum and Bucky the Hopper? And the box office is average, and if he can get a decent box office with the AC media release, the impact can be expected.

“Although the film completely shows the image of a small Chinese citizen and may not fit the taste of a North American audience, a lot of irony is in place, so what you need first is an excellent translation, so long as you can accurately translate the rhymes, such as those two classic lines that end up, and you believe it will resonate.” Adrian smiled softly.

“Mr. Corwell, are you planning on introducing Chinese films to the United States?” A person who could not sit still finally jumped out after a series of stimuli. Zhang Weiping's partner, the new chairman of the board of directors, received a call and specifically drove back from Jiuzhai Gou Film Studio Zhang Yiping.