Chapter 255 - Testing The (Raincoat That Likes Bad Weather]’s Ability!
Chapter 255 Testing The (Raincoat That Likes Bad Weather]’s Ability!
With that in mind, Su Yang gave Wang Dong a call to ask about that film company and project. Wang Dong remembered the information very clearly.
He said that the film company was now an empty shell except for this project. However, it still had various certifications and licenses such as the Business Performance License, the Information Network Audiovisual Program Dissemination License, a Radio and Television Program Production and Operation License, a Television Drama Shooting License (Grade A), and more. However, these documents have yet to be used by this company.
However, this company didn’t use these documents from its inception. This company had intended to invest its efforts in Netbig projects. In the past two years, several video platforms had fully been supporting net dramas and since the required investment capital was small, the risk was also smaller. This increased the return rate proportionally.
This time, the drama, Fighting Buddha was the same. The total investment was about 5 million when external sources claimed it cost 6 million. It also already had an iQiyi S-Grade rating and had a variety of recommendations and box office returns. Because of this, the pressure to get a faster return on their capital is relatively small.
However, that project wasn’t completely problem free.
The first problem was due to the change in ownership. Because of this, the initial investment had been withdrawn and the project did not have much funding left, putting it in a state of limbo.
The producer of the project had been asking the company for money to continue filming, but since Su Yang didn’t show up, Wang Dong could only stall.
The second problem was that the legal department found an investment agreement with a third party when reviewing the contract. The agreement stated that the other party would invest 1.5 million yuan and enjoy 25% equity in the film. However, the other party did not invest in the film, nor did they sign a termination agreement. This caused a dispute over the distribution of profits.
After listening to Wang Dong’s report, Su Yang knew what he was talking about. That agreement was signed by Tang Dafa and now that he had gone crazy, nobody would come and fulfil the contract.
Su Yang immediately asked Wang Dong to pass on all the information about the movie and the producer to him.
After that, Su Yang gave this information to Little Deeny for evaluation.
She had recently been engaged in artificial intelligence, staying in her room every day to the point where she had become quite a shut-in. Su Yang was really afraid that she’d die a sudden death there one day, or come out one day to find her bald.
This came at the right timing. He would give her a copy of the information to distract her.
The next day, Su Yang woke up and an evaluation report was placed on the dining table. He picked it up and carefully read it. Little Deeny’s gave a really good review of this project. According to her calculations, the chances of this movie losing half of its value was barely 1% but the chances of getting a return on investment was more than 80%, along with a 70% probability of making a profit. The only variable left was whether they’d make a large or small killing.
The reason for Little Deeny’s analysis was also very simple. This project was obviously one done to promote a certain sentiment. From the selection of the writer to the main actor for the entire drama, every choice made was to pander to the generation from the 80s and 90s.
The lead actor Chen Min, in particular, who was a popular movie star across the Taiwan Strait, acted in Journey to the West, Dragon’s Eighth Department, Feng Shen Yun and other popular drama series. He was the lead actor in all of them!
Although he was no longer popular, he remained a fond memory in the minds of those from the 80s and 90s.
With his current reprise of a new rendition for Monkey King, the fond memories of his acting alone was enough to generate a large number of viewers.
Because of this, most of the investment for this drama was spent on him, and 3 million from the 5 million production cost was spent on him alone.
Netbig’s filming cycle was usually only 7 to 10 days, so this price was considered to be very high.
The character of Pigsy, who was also a comedian that was popular with those from the 80s and 90s, could also sell the drama based on sentiment.
In addition to all that, this drama was S-rated on iQiyi with various recommendations listed in the details of the contract. The cost per person was only 6 yuan so the pressure to get a return on investment wasn’t that much. Besides, the producers and directors have also been in the entertainment industry for many years and were very senior.
Since Tang Dafa, Wang Dong, and Little Deeny felt optimistic about it, Su Yang did not hesitate and decided to invest in this NetBig drama because of the large advantages he had on his side as well.
With that in mind, Su Yang contacted the producer after going to the company.
As soon as that producer heard that it was the new boss who contacted him, he was so excited that he was about to cry. He had signed the contract, and everything was agreed upon. However, just as he was about to start shooting, the bosses suddenly changed and the money didn’t reach him. He was about to die from anxiety!
After hearing that Su Yang was concerned about the project, he rushed directly to the company. The front desk lady showed Su Yang the way to meet the producer.
The producer, surnamed Zhao, graduated as a major in Chinese opera. He had the standard science background, with great qualifications. However, before shooting NetBig dramas, he was working as a drama producer, so this movie was an opportunity for him, and also a turning point for him.
After Su Yang talked with him, he found that he had a clear understanding of the entire film’s shooting, distribution, director, and actors, and the direction of the entire film was also very clear.
To be on the safe side, Su Yang even used the [Memory Labyrinth Hourglass) to check his memory and confirmed that he really wanted to make this film and had great expectations for it.
Su Yang was highly convinced.
Sitting on the boss’s chair, Su Yang looked at the middle-aged man in front of him and said, “Producer Zhao, we’ve talked about the project before. I don’t think it’s a big problem so I’ve decided to continue the project.”
Producer Zhao was so happy when he heard this and was about to jump up in excitement.
Seeing him so happy, Su Yang clasps his hands together. “However, in terms of funding, can we reduce it a bit more.”
Producer Zhao lost his earlier excitement as he said with a bitter face, “Mr. Su, it’s already only 5 million. The actors alone cost almost 4 million. There are also other staff costs, venue fees, and the need to do post-production. We really can’t reduce the cost any further.”
Su Yang hesitated and asked, “How much will it cost for the post-production?”
Producer Zhao pulled out a small book and said, “Our special effects doesn’t cost much, but we need to find a small studio to get the job done. It’ll cost about 400,000.”
Su Yang clapped his hands and said, “Our company can settle the special effects for you. 4.6 million, and you shoot the complete drama. What do you say? No problem, right?” Producer Zhao replied, “No problem!”
After that, he said carefully, “Mr. Su, please don’t give us some cheap looking special effects.”
Su Yang smiled. “Don’t worry. It’ll definitely look better than that.”
Producer Zhao was speechless After finalizing the discussion, Su Yang went off to greet the legal and finance departments. Then, he walked through the process with them so the several companies under his belt would now be under the responsibility of these two departments, making it more convenient.
As for the money, Su Yang deposited all 10.58 million into the bank and transferred 4.6 million to the film and television company’s account, leaving only 8,000 for himself!
As he transferred the preliminary fees from the film company’s account to the crew’s accounts, Su Yang felt a nervousness in his heart.
‘When you talk about it, it feels like five million is just a number. However, when you scratch away at it, you really do feel it in your heart. Am I going to lose all of it?! I’ll be damned if I’m going to lose all of it!’
Su Yang could only console himself. No matter what, he had completed at least half of the silver mission.
Besides, if he really lost the money, he could sell the Ferrari and his company would still be able to operate as usual. Thinking of the Ferrari, Su Yang remembered that he didn’t even have a driver’s license.
Since he just spent 5 million, Su Yang wasn’t bothered to save money. He went to the neighborhood’s driving school to apply for a license, planning to take advantage of the holidays to get his license.
In order to save time, and also complete the silver mission, Su Yang signed up for a one-on-one instructor, with guaranteed practice schedules.
After signing up for driving lessons, Su Yang went out to look at houses, intending to see if there was a suitable house. Sixth Liu’s house was put up for rent.
“Huh? What a coincidence.’
Su Yang gave Sixth Liu a phone call, planning to meet him to talk about the house.
As a result, Sixth Liu seemed to be avoiding Su Yang, as if he was some kind of scum. He didn’t even bother negotiating about the price and offered to lower the price by a third compared to what was available on the market.
When Su Yang asked to sign a contract, Sixth Liu said he had no time, and that it was unnecessary since they were acquaintances. He didn’t want to go to that much trouble.
Under Su Yang’s repeated insistence, Sixth Liu finally decided that he would mail the key over, and wait for Su Yang to find a contract to sign before mailing it to him when he was available.
‘Hmm…’
Security Wang said that Sixth Liu was roughed up a lot. Even for this kind of thing, he opted for same-day delivery. Wasn’t he afraid that Su Yang would steal his stuff and run away.
As a result, Su Yang realized that he had thought about it too much when he arrived at Sixth Liu’s house.
Sixth Liu’s home was empty except for the lock of the door that had to be repaired. All the furniture was broken and strewn all over the place. There wasn’t even an intact bed! Not only was there no furniture, but you even had to clean it up yourself! It was no wonder the house was offered for such cheap price.
Fortunately Su Yang had the little monster beans.
He brought out the little monster beans from the virtual space, had them clean the house, and bring all the trash back to the virtual space.
Little Deeny said that the virtual space had an efficient recycling mechanism for garbage, and that was how the garbage in the villa was disposed of daily.
Because of this, Su Yang didn’t have to face the garbage collectors….
After cleaning up the house, Su Yang moved into the villa. He didn’t even use the key for that half-day period.
Sixth Liu’s key was still on its way, but Su Yang had already opened the door and moved in.
Lying on the brand-new floor of his new home, Su Yang wondered how he’d spend the remaining five million since he had already invested nearly five million in the movie.
‘Buying a house?’ Shanghai’s houses had a purchase limit, so he was sure he wouldn’t be able to buy one. Keep investing in projects? ‘If you don’t do your research ahead of time, investing like that was like throwing money away.’
So what should he do?
Su Yang felt a bit of a headache at the moment.
It was difficult to make money, and even more difficult to spend money without wasting it!
After thinking about it for a while, finally Su Yang decided to let it go, there was still a month left anyway, and he’d think about it when he could no longer think of any alternatives.
That was the only good thing about Su Yang. He had a good attitude.
Soon, the same-day delivery courier delivered the key to the door. Su Yang took the key to match some of the keys he had before going to the milk tea shop to give Pool the keys.
Pool was very happy working at the milk tea shop but Sanque was still thinking about that healthcare company that he wanted to set up. Su Yang had already instructed Wang Dong to find a location, so there was no point in worrying about it.
After leaving his key and informing them of the new address, Su Yang thought about it and felt that he no longer had anything to do today. Since he had time, why not go to Longteng Jiayuan to take a look?
However, before going there, Su Yang felt that he should give the [Raincoat That Likes Bad Weather) a test to see what this function was like. It might be useful if he wanted to go deeper into the dragon’s lair.
With that in mind, Su Yang returned home and took out the (Raincoat That Likes Bad Weather), intending to try out the item’s ability.
It wasn’t possible to test this ability by himself so he called Janet out from the virtual space again, and asked him to test it with him.
Putting the raincoat on Janet, Su Yang asked, “Any prompts from the raincoat?”
Janet shook her head.
‘It really doesn’t seem to work in the room.’
Then, Su Yang and Janet went downstairs with a bucket of water each, and began to test the raincoat’s abilities.
As they arrived near the community’s flower bed, they encountered some strolling ladies. After attracting some strange gazes, Janet whispered to Su Yang, “Master, there’s a prompt.”