King of Hollywood

\u003e .Chapter 131

The door opened, and Adrian didn't look back until Ivanka's voice sounded: "It's almost time, Ed, are you going down now? Or wait a little longer?"

"Just wait a little longer," Adrian walked up to her, staring at her slightly tired face, "you don't have to go, just rest in the room for a night, jet lag is not so easy, anyway, we I can’t talk about some work matters, and they all talk in Chinese, so you can’t understand.”

"Charlie may not be able to understand it." Ivanka rolled her eyes.

Adrian shook his head with a grin, even though Charlize was doing well—after the production of "Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire" was postponed due to 911, she had a new idea, Adrian An Zheng intends to take the time to talk to her, and if it is good, it will be handed over to the broadcast. They are currently short of reality shows. But Ivanka always regards her as an opponent, no matter at work or in bed, so no matter what she has to fight for.

"Okay, if you feel bored, you might as well go for a walk in the square outside, which is one of the largest squares in the world." He smiled and pinched her cheek.

Adrian’s place of stay is the Capital Hotel. This time-honored hotel is located in the city center and adjacent to the Forbidden City. You can walk to the square in five minutes. The tavern can barely be called this title. It is precisely because of this that Adri decided to stay in the Capital Hotel in addition to the choice of the China World Hotel. Anyway, it has received many important people here. The three tenors who held a concert in the Forbidden City last year also lived here.

"By the way, where is Nicole?" Before Ivanka could speak, Adrian asked again.

"Rest in the room, why, go and see her?" Ivanka said angrily, for these women around Adrian, except for Charlize, who could convince her a little, and then get along with Kate and Sarah In addition to the likable Lily, the relationship with them is not bad, and the others don't like it very much.

However, because she is Adrian's secretary assistant, she has to deal with them, and also arranges adjustments and their schedules for Adrian, so she can't show that she doesn't want to see her anymore, so she has to keep a straight face all day long. From here, we can see the difference between her and Charlize, although Charlize also dislikes some women a lot of the time, even though she often has a slightly arrogant and cold appearance that seems to be thousands of miles away from others, but in words There is still due respect between them, instead of writing clearly on the face like Ivanka: I don't like you, I only deal with you for work.

Of course, Ivanka was born in a wealthy family, and her father was also a man who likes to mess with women. She didn't like this very much, so she made a rule with her father not to date girls younger than herself. Therefore, it is already very good for her to be able to do what she is now, and she can't ask for more.

"No need," Adrian smiled, "Let her rest well, she has an interview to attend besides the premiere of "Moulin Rouge" tomorrow."

"I don't understand, Ed." Ivanka sighed at this moment, "If you want to investigate the Chinese market, you can come here with great fanfare. There is no need to use attending the premiere of "Moulin Rouge" in China as an excuse. If You just want to attend the premiere of "Moulin Rouge", so why are you so low-key that you don't tell the media that you are here?"

"It's very troublesome to explain, you have to know that China and the United States are two completely different countries," Adrian smiled, "Maybe one day I will come here with great fanfare, but definitely not now, and as the head of the group It should be Claude instead of me who came here as a person, I am good at grasping the general direction, but he is responsible for the specific negotiations."

"Simply put, you want to be lazy." Ivanka pouted.

"You can say that if you want," Adrian raised his hands, "We have always developed like this—even if we come here as a director, I am still the chairman of the board of directors of the media anyway. Needing to promote myself internationally, so there would be a lot of trouble if I came out in public, and I didn't bring a professional team with me."

"After talking for a long time, you still haven't mentioned the purpose of coming here. I don't even know what to do to prepare." Ivanka sighed.

"Don't worry, Yi Ni, we'll stay for three days at most and then go back. All you need is to be adaptable, and..." He smiled and looked at the big bed in front of him, then squeezed her chin and leaned over to kiss her.

Ivanka snorted softly and was about to say something when the doorbell rang, and then a middle-aged man in his early forties came in, wearing a very formal suit and rimless glasses, looking very refined, but The cheeks are slightly concave and the cheekbones are prominent, and there is a little taste of monkey cheeks.

"Hello, Mr. Kewell, it is a great honor to welcome you. I am Wang Zhongjun." With a warm smile, he stepped forward a few steps and stretched out his hand, speaking in fluent English. The State University of New York got a guy with a master's degree in mass communication.

"Hi, Mr. Wang, nice to meet you, I hope this low-key visit did not cause you any trouble." Adrian said in fluent Chinese.

This made the other party raise his eyebrows. From the airport to the hotel, Adrian has been communicating with people in Chinese. It is impossible for him not to have heard of this, but now it seems that he obviously did not expect his Chinese to be fluent. At this point, even Dashan is only at this level, right?

"It's really surprising, Mr. Kewell, I didn't know your Chinese is so good." Wang Zhongjun didn't hide his surprise.

"I know a lot about Chinese culture, so I also learned some." Adrian smiled nonchalantly.

"Great, it's more convenient to communicate like this." Wang Zhongjun stepped aside and made a please gesture, and then looked at Ivanka.

"You can do whatever you want, Yi Ni." Adrian advised in English knowingly.

"Yes, sir. Shu." After opening the door, Ivanka returned to her expressionless expression, and at this moment she was even more business-like.

Then, accompanied by Wang Zhongjun, his secretary, and the person in charge of the media office in the capital, Adrian took the elevator downstairs to the private room of the restaurant. At the same time, some celebrities in the mainland movie circle, such as Wang Zhongjun His younger brother Wang Zhonglei, who founded Huayi Brothers, or Yu Dong, the president of Bona Pictures, and Zhang Weiping, the chairman of New Picture, are already waiting here.

The reason why Adrian came here in a very low-key way and under the sign of participating in the premiere of "Moulin Rouge" in China was not because he wanted to take advantage of China's accession to intervene in the mainland's media market. No country would allow foreign capital to enter this industry. Even the United States has a law that stipulates that non-Americans are not allowed to own TV stations. Murdoch had to become an American citizen in order to acquire x, let alone China?

The same is Murdoch, who bought Satellite TV Chinese Channel from Li Zekai in 1993 and wanted to march to the mainland with great joy, but in the end he had to accept a series of requests from the mainland to attract funds from Liu Changle and others, and then formed Phoenix Satellite TV was quickly squeezed out to the position of the third shareholder. Although he still owns most of the shares in Star Media, his influence is limited to the Pearl River Delta. Indeed, it is basically impossible to go deep into the mainland. Even if Murdoch marries a Chinese wife, he cannot stop it. He left sadly after a few years, and Adrian didn't want to do useless work to make himself boring.

Therefore, he came to the capital just to observe the movie market in the mainland at close range. Although he had some understanding in his previous life, he looked at it from the bottom up. The identities of today and today are different, and the angle of view is also different. It also needs to be looked at from the top down. It’s just that if it was ten or five years ago, it would not be as troublesome for him to come to the mainland as it is now, but it’s no longer possible now. As he said to Ivanka before, although he is now a famous international director, he is also a Chairman of the Media Board. In the eyes of ordinary people, Adrian may be more well-known as a great director, but at the national level, they only know that he is the head of one of the world's largest media groups.

Although China and the United States have rapidly warmed up after 9/11, it is not yet time for him to visit China with much fanfare, so he has to find a reason to visit the mainland in a low-key manner. Just right. When "Moulin Rouge" was introduced to the mainland, China Film Group contacted Nicole through relationships, hoping that she could come to China to attend the premiere, and at the same time contacted Adrian. Nicole originally planned to refuse. Like most Westerners, she lacks understanding of China, so she lacks interest. But Adrian repeatedly suggested and persuaded, and briefly explained the prospects of the Chinese market. Although this did not completely convince her, Nicole still agreed, and most of Adrian's suggestions were correct.

As for the invitation sent to him himself, he rejected it, and China Film was not so firm. After all, it always felt a little inappropriate for the head of the media to come to Huawei to promote the film as a director, so Adrian did not They are worried that they will be dissatisfied if they come over in a low-key and secret way after declining.

Of course, the Chinese government will not be unaware of his departure and entry, not to mention that he is using his own private jet, and he has notified several private media companies in which he has invested before coming. Chen's middle-aged man's introduction was very vague. He was probably from a certain department or a certain bureau, and more likely a certain department. This would match his identity, wouldn't it?

Adrian didn't care, and immediately greeted them after sitting down. His fluent Chinese and a few idioms popped up from time to time surprised the group of people. So knowing a foreign language is very important, think about it, would they rather work with someone who has a general understanding of the mainland, or someone who has enough knowledge of China?

At the beginning of the 21st century, the mainland film market was still a virgin land. Although Hollywood films began to land in 1994 and 1995, this vast market has not yet been fully developed. Adrian clearly remembers an example. A sci-fi movie with an investment of about 30 million yuan earned a box office of 21 million U.S. dollars in the first week of its release in North America, but it got a box office of 23 million U.S. dollars after it was released in mainland China! Although this is not unrelated to the schedule and the support of local media groups in mainland China, it is enough to show that the Chinese market is huge, and because of this, the Asian villains in Hollywood have changed from Chinese to Korean. Can't afford to make money in the market?

Therefore, although this example is ten years later, it does not prevent Adrian from starting early. In fact, several major Hollywood film companies have been eyeing this cake early, otherwise Paramount would not be the first to enter the mainland. It is a pity that Adrian can be more accurate than them in the future. From 1996 to now, he has Through various means, he became a shareholder of several private companies such as Huayi Brothers, Bona Pictures and New Picture. It's a pity that China Film and Huaxia are state-owned enterprises-Huaxia has not yet been established-looking at the long list of shareholders' names, it is impossible to accept foreign investment, otherwise he would have a say in the quota of imported movies.

Of course, these shares are not many, and Adrian doesn't want to attract too much attention. Although these are all private enterprises, anyway, as long as they have a certain right to speak.

"The Chinese film market is very vast, and it already has great potential. The release of "Titanic" a few years ago showed everything. So when it is fully discovered, it will only be huge, especially when the Chinese economy is still growing. With continuous development, more and more people will go to theaters to watch movies." At the wine table, Adrian foreshadowed the presidents of these private film and television companies with a bright future.

This meal was specially prepared by Wang Zhongjun and others. It was a complete Chinese-style round table banquet, but in order to take care of Adrian, he specifically asked him if he would like to order the usual alcoholic drinks. Although he was force-fed to death in his previous life, he still chose liquor without hesitation. It is definitely the best wine that can be produced on this occasion.

Sure enough, as soon as the bottle was opened, the aroma of the wine overflowed immediately. There is no doubt that it is the top Moutai. Although the Panama Gold Award is still suspected, he did hear from an old man in his previous life that when he went to Guizhou for business in the late 1950s, he used his relationship to get a small bottle from the Moutai distillery. As soon as he returned to the hotel and opened it, other guests came over one after another. Ask what kind of wine it is, why it smells so good and so on.

Maybe this is suspected of exaggeration, but Moutai is indeed top-grade. In addition, the dishes are rich, luxurious and delicious. Various well-known dishes are served like water, which may be slightly different from specialized restaurants-such as Roast duck - but not too bad. I have to admit that the Chinese are really good at eating. A dish of boiled cabbage may seem simple, but it tastes extremely refreshing, smooth, tender, delicious, and Adrian was amazed.

Although he didn't say a single word about complimenting the food, his undisguised expression of satisfaction was already the best compliment. In this way, Adrian seemed approachable and made Wang Zhongjun, Wang Zhonglei and others feel closer. Sometimes, without too much language, a small action can draw in the relationship between yourself and the other party, thus affecting their listening to what they say.

Speaking of which, among several companies, he is the most optimistic about Huayi Brothers. This is not only because of the future, but also the result of analyzing the current situation. With similar backgrounds, Huayi Brothers currently has the greatest potential.

Not to mention the date of establishment, not to mention the time of development, just to say that the current film industry in mainland China is still at a very immature stage, and there is not even a complete cycle-although it will be established soon-Hong Kong and Taiwan Although it is chaotic, the process from production to distribution is very complete, so the film industry in mainland China is still in the director-centered stage. As long as there is an outstanding director who sells money, the company can have a lot of influence in the film market, and Huayi Brothers happens to have such a director in their hands, that's right, Feng Xiaogang.

""Big Wrist" is a very interesting movie. Yes, I can understand all kinds of jokes and allusions in it. Both Ge You and Yingda performed very well, but Donald has no bright spots." After finishing the meal, In the special meeting room, Adrian was talking to Feng Xiaogang while drinking tea.

As a partner of Huayi Brothers, Feng Xiaogang is naturally qualified to attend this dinner and meeting. It was the first time he learned that part of the shares of Huayi Brothers belonged to the media, a large media group-in fact, when the Wang Brothers knew It's not long. In order to avoid the butterfly effect, Adrian used some means to indirectly hold shares.

"Thank you, if you don't mind, then I will have the capital to brag in the future." Feng Xiaogang is very respectful, after all, the person in front of him is not only the chairman of the board of directors of an international media group, but also a world-renowned director, and he is very approachable and understanding Chinese culture, talking and talking is like talking to a pure Chinese, and he should act like this in every way.

"Since that's the case, has Mr. Kewell considered helping to distribute this movie in North America?" Among the group of people, Wang Zhonglei suddenly asked directly.

Adrian glanced at him, then smiled slightly: "It can be considered."

As soon as this remark came out, several people immediately showed surprise expressions, and Feng Xiaogang seemed a little excited. If "Big Wrist" can really be released in North America, then he can be regarded as an international director. In the past few years, besides "Red Sorghum" and "Farewell My Concubine", what other movies have been released in the United States? And the box office is very mediocre. If he can get a lot of box office by relying on media distribution, one can imagine the influence he will get from it.

"Although this movie fully presents the image of ordinary Chinese citizens, which may not meet the tastes of North American audiences, but many satirical places are in place, so the first thing we need is an excellent translation, as long as the charm can be accurately translated, such as The two classic lines at the end are believed to resonate with people." Adrian said with a light smile.

"Mr. Kewell, are you going to introduce Chinese films to the United States in a planned way?" A person who couldn't sit still jumped out after repeated provocations. The partner of Zhang Weiping, the chairman of New Picture, received a call Later, Zhang Yimou came back from the Jiuzhaigou studio.