Reborn with Consumption System

Chapter 884 - 364: Overwhelming Affection

After spending an afternoon relaxing and establishing a new strong authority, Han Lie returned to his career.In mid-March, things are going to get busy, so in the brief free time he had, Han Lie hurried to wrap up the most important tasks individually.

The first matter: film and television layout (arranging the harem).

Liu Minghao suggested he register a film and television entertainment company, a wholly owned subsidiary under Sky Capital, located in the Zhangjiang Cultural Industry Park in Magic Capital—right across from the villa.

The company’s name was pretty cliché, called Century New Idea Film and Entertainment Company.

Century New Idea acquires copyrights with one hand and invests in movies, TV dramas, and film companies with the other. In Han Lie’s career plans, it doesn’t weigh heavily, but its off-the-table value is quite something.

Quite what?

Anyone in the know wouldn’t ask. If you ask, you’re a beginner!

On the evening of the 1st, facilitated by Su Xiao and accompanied by Peng Hu, Han Lie had a small gathering with Liu Chunning, the General Manager of Tencent’s Online Video Department under the Penguin Network Media Business Group, Xu Liang, the Deputy Manager responsible for the pan-entertainment direction in Tencent’s Investment and M&A Department, and other company partners.

Overall, the conversation went quite well.

Both General Manager Liu and Manager Xu were adept at negotiating. Despite their high positions and backing by a giant like Tencent, they did not underestimate Han Lie in the slightest.

Not mentioning Han Lie’s private equity, just looking at the 37 billion ABS project he’s already helmed makes him a significant persona in the financial circle.

Xu Liang himself can manage investment funds totaling less than 500 million. Projects exceeding the limit have to be reported and await approval, with endless review meetings. What grounds does he have to look down on Han Lie?

And with Brother Lie’s knowledge and dual intelligence, if they couldn’t have a good conversation with his willing cooperation, that would be odd.

Ultimately, they tentatively agreed on the resolution to jointly fund and immediately establish Lemon Film and Television.

The remaining small details like funding shares and stock proportions could be ironed out in a few more days.

In the previous life, when Lemon was just established, it was a small film company with a registered capital of 3 million, and people like General Manager Su hadn’t fully shifted their focus to production and distribution.

It wasn’t until around 2015 when everything aligned with Tencent in all aspects that the real Lemon was born.

Which makes sense—only when resources are in place can they fully transition.

Before that, Su Xiao and others were mostly accumulating Strength, continuing to work for the Broadcasting Group.

But it’s different now. Due to Han Lie’s intervention, Lemon can now take over the production work of "One Smile Is Very Alluring." Su Xiao, Chen Fei, Zhou Yuan, and others seem invigorated, moving most of their focus over.

Just as Tencent is also seeking to expand its influence in pan-entertainment, investing in Youku Tudou with one hand and establishing a film business unit with the other, they are quite eager.

The basis for cooperation is much better than last year.

Han Lie isn’t sure when the era of entertainment internet platforms began; he didn’t research it in his past life.

However, based on today’s discussion, it seems to be around 2014 or 2015.

The era of grand spending in the entertainment industry is about to arrive.

Likewise, the era of high traffic is just on the horizon, now just waiting for the four South Korean idols to return, sparking the first wave of frenzy.

The top tier farmers are about to step onto the historical stage one by one; the most frenzied and magical decade of Hua Entertainment is imminent.

It’s not that Teacher Han envies their ability to harvest martial arts, he just feels a bit frustrated with the underperformers—how could you do so poorly despite such favorable conditions in an era that didn’t demand much acting skills?

Never mind, just watch carefully and see how I handle things.

The top female lead position, Papa has reserved it for you!

...

The next few days involved some wrangling, and Lemon was quickly established.

Tencent was the largest shareholder, obtaining 27% of the shares. General Manager Su was the largest individual shareholder with a 24% share, and the shares of Xu, Zhou, Chen, and other important partner teams were drastically reduced to a total of less than 30%.

Century New Idea got a clean cut of 20% by investing 10 million, a slight loss but not much.

Lemon’s total registered capital was 30 million with a valuation of 50 million. The premium that Han Lie paid was quite reasonable, much like how Peng Hu and General Manager Su could only capture up to 290% of the maximum return on "Supernova One."

No, really comparing it, it’s obvious that Teacher Han is more black-hearted... ahem!

Han Lie casually signed a shareholder agreement, handing over voting rights to Su Xiao.

Then he started the proceedings for "One Smile Is Very Alluring."

On Sunday, Han Lie arranged for General Manager Wu of Huace to have a lavish drinking session, successfully securing the copyright.

General Manager Wu didn’t invest in Han Lie’s fund, but still showed considerable respect.

While drinking, he was extremely polite, putting himself at a very low position.

In essence, it’s a personal investment using company resources. Seeing potential in Han Lie’s development, he wanted to establish goodwill, so the cooperation was exceptionally smooth.

The entire film rights for "One Smile Is Very Alluring" cost Han Lie a total of 40 million, the maximum concession that Old Wu could make.

He also managed to settle the investment issue for the TV version of "You Are My Sunshine."

The total investment for "You Are My Sunshine" was 60 million, of which Han Lie had to cover 35%, only to be able to take a female lead role, with no project management rights.

Which is quite stringent.

Ponying up 21 million for others to spend, without knowing where it will be spent, blind as a bat.

Does "You Are My Sunshine" really require 60 million?

Clearly not.

General Manager Su had done the math for Han Lie. In the current era, the average production cost for modern dramas is around 30 million. "One Smile Is Very Alluring" has quite a few special effects, making it more expensive. "You Are My Sunshine" is just an urban drama; 40 million is more than enough, with potential early returns from product placements reclaiming a substantial portion of the investment.