Chapter 70

(Continue to vote for me!)

Wu Cheng didn't wait long after arriving at the restaurant he had booked early in the morning; Chen Shufen soon arrived.

Chen Shufen was a woman with a very approachable smile, but her appearance was quite ordinary. However, although her appearance was ordinary, her abilities were not. At the age of ten, she was already in charge of Huaxing Entertainment, and now she is only twenty-one, younger than Zhao Yazhi! This shows how capable she is.

However, one cannot judge a person by their age; otherwise, Gan Luo wouldn't have been able to become a prime minister at twelve.

"Ms. Chen, please take a seat!" Seeing Chen Shufen enter the private room with a waiter, Wu Cheng stood up and gestured, smiling, "Thank you for coming!"

"Mr. Wu, you're too kind. I haven't even congratulated you on your company's film success yet!" Chen Shufen smiled and said, "Mr. Wu, you are truly young and talented!"

Wu Cheng laughed heartily, "Those words, I also want to give to you." After a pause, Wu Cheng continued, "Calling you Ms. Chen or Mr. Wu feels too formal. I'll call you Sister Fen! You can call me Cheng, or Little Cheng, whichever you prefer!"

Chen Shufen smiled, "Then I'll call you Cheng! Thank you for looking up to me. I'll drink tea in place of wine to show my gratitude!"

"No need to be so formal!" Wu Cheng took a sip of tea and said, "I still want to say the same thing: I hope Sister Fen can work with me to create an Eastern entertainment agency. Now, we have many stars under Donglong, including Brother Sanmao and his brothers, Miss Zhao Yazhi, Miss Lin Qingxia, and we can sign Miss Deng Lijun in two years..."

Chen Shufen was somewhat surprised, "Isn't Miss Lin Qingxia signed with Giant Star in Taiwan? How did she become a signed star of Donglong International?"

Wu Cheng smiled, "Miss Lin signed a film contract with Giant Star, but all her other contracts are with Donglong International. Once we establish the agency, all Donglong's artists' contracts will be transferred to this agency. I have great confidence in this agency."

Seeing Chen Shufen deep in thought, Wu Cheng continued, "Perhaps because Sister Fen doesn't know my plan, you still have some hesitation. Here's what I think: I have a film company and have already invested five million to acquire a music company. With these resources, we won't lack for stars to join... As for the market for celebrity endorsements, it will only grow in the future, so I'm not worried about the company's income..."

Chen Shufen listened quietly to Wu Cheng's explanation, hearing some fresh perspectives that even she found new. She could also sense that Wu Cheng was very confident in this area.

After a long pause, Chen Shufen smiled, "I think, with your approach, Cheng, you don't really need to find me to cooperate. You could just find any agent to manage this agency, right?"

Wu Cheng smiled, "Sister Fen, you're not wrong! However, when people do things, they always strive for perfection, don't they? Sister Fen's abilities have been proven. If I have you manage the company, I won't have to worry about it all the time, fearing that something might go wrong. That's why many companies value experience when hiring people."

After some thought, Chen Shufen said, "In principle, I'm willing to accept your invitation. I just don't know what salary Cheng is willing to offer!"

Wu Cheng smiled, "The terms are still the same as I mentioned before. The company will initially invest two million, and I'll give you five percent of the company's shares. Of course, your salary and annual bonus as the general manager will be calculated separately! If the company grows and your performance satisfies me, I can increase your shares. However, if you want to transfer your shares, you can only transfer them to me, and I'll buy them at market price!"

Seeing her listening carefully, Wu Cheng took a sip of tea and continued, "Currently, our Tiancheng Agency's partners include Donglong International and Fenglong Records, as well as Phoenix Fashion. Phoenix Fashion mainly provides clothing for our stars, and the endorsement fees for this are our agency's first business. Of course, for future endorsements of other brands, Sister Fen can decide on your own. Additionally, I hope that when our stars endorse other products in the future, you will investigate the quality of those products before making a decision."

"You can rest assured; I'll handle it well!"

"Then let's wish for a successful cooperation!" Wu Cheng extended his hand.

...

Two days later, the agency named after Wu Cheng himself, Tiancheng Agency, was officially established. The first batch of signed artists was from Donglong International. The previous manager of the artist department, Cen Jianxun, also resigned from his position to manage the Feilong Cinema Circuit.

Compared to before, Chen Shufen had more confidence in Donglong International. Although the company has only released two films so far, both have grossed over ten million in local box office, a performance that most film companies can't match.

Although 'Zajia' spent a lot on promotion, the ten million box office is real.

With such a film company as a backing, Chen Shufen had more confidence in establishing the agency. Although she was in charge at Huaxing, it wasn't her own company, and no matter how well she did, TVB wouldn't give her shares.

There's a big difference between working for yourself and working for others.

Wu Cheng, on the other hand, focused on preparing for his next film. 'Drunken Master 2' would be filmed, but not until the second half of the year, to be released during the Spring Festival. Moreover, he didn't plan to direct it himself.

He had already promised Yuan Heping to direct it when filming 'Drunken Master 1', which was one of the conditions for the Yuan family joining Donglong. Although this condition wasn't explicitly stated, Wu Cheng knew what to do. The script was already written, and Wu Cheng wasn't worried about Yuan Heping messing it up.

Since he thought of 'A City of Sadness', Wu Cheng wouldn't let this film pass. Moreover, filming this movie had many benefits. The talent involved in making this film, Wu Cheng felt, should be gathered as much as possible. Additionally, although Taiwan's film industry wasn't great, its music industry was very prosperous. Since they were in the music business, they couldn't miss out on Taiwan's music industry.

At this time, the famous Rock Records and Fei Die Records of the future had yet to appear. Entering the market now, they could at least capture a significant portion of the talent.

With this goal in mind, Wu Cheng felt that 'A City of Sadness' was definitely worth filming.

...

" Sister Fen, help me find a singer named Su Rui... Yes, she's not very famous now, just a small singer. I'm planning to make a movie, and there are many songs in it that would suit her. Sign her up; this singer has great potential. Just wait for her to become a sensation and bring the company incredible success!"

After writing the script for 'A City of Sadness' in one day, Wu Cheng decided to sign the singer Su Rui. In his previous life, this singer had become a sensation thanks to the songs from this movie, pushing her career to new heights and making her music company very happy.

There were also the songwriters, like Luo Dayou! In fact, Wu Cheng only knew this person, and he wasn't sure about the other composers.

However, Wu Cheng believed that if he could find Luo Dayou, he could find several other talented music producers. Once he gathered these talents, he could form a record company in Taiwan. With Luo Dayou's talent, the record company would surely succeed.

Therefore, since Wu Cheng knew about these things, he couldn't let 'A City of Sadness' pass.

While Wu Cheng was on the phone with Chen Shufen, his secretary, Wang Weixin, knocked and entered, saying, "Boss, Manager Shi has arrived!"

Wu Cheng said a few words to Chen Shufen and hung up the phone, then looked up at Shi Nansheng, who had just entered, and said, "Manager Shi, please sit! Weixin, get Manager Shi a cup of coffee."

"Boss, I've contacted the film companies in Taiwan as you asked. It's still Longxiang Films, the same company that helped us with 'Zajia'."

"Is it the company that mainly produced Western films?"

"Yes, that's them!" Shi Nansheng nodded and said, "They noticed us after seeing the success of 'Five Lucky Stars' in Taiwan. 'Zajia' also performed well in Taiwan. So, when they heard we were looking for a partner in Taiwan, they contacted us first and proposed a collaboration."

Wu Cheng nodded, "We can collaborate with them, but they only have the distribution rights in Taiwan. For production, we can collaborate with them. However, the distribution rights in other regions must remain with us; this won't change."

"Boss, rest assured, we've made this clear to them!"

"Then the matters in Taiwan will be handled by them!" Wu Cheng said, passing a sheet of paper, "Have Longxiang Films find the actors and music producers listed here and set up the exterior scenes in Taiwan. Filming can start in August."

Shi Nansheng glanced at the list of actors and was surprised, "Boss, apart from Miss Lin Qingxia, the other actors don't seem very famous! And the investment is as high as three million Hong Kong dollars, which is nearly ten million New Taiwan dollars!"

Wu Cheng smiled, "Some of the sets need to be larger, which will cost more. You'll see when the time comes. Moreover, if we can produce this film for ten million New Taiwan dollars, I believe we can easily recoup the cost in the Taiwan market alone, and the profits from other regions will be pure profit."

Seeing Wu Cheng's confident demeanor, Shi Nansheng was also motivated, his eyes shining brightly... Working with such a boss was truly fulfilling!

...