Chapter 29

Yevi's words caused another round of applause in Reynolds Hall, drawing curious glances from the other students. They saw the people shouting, "They're wrong!" "Absolutely!"

Lily, who asked the question, smiled, trying to keep herself from getting too excited. Yevi's oratory skills were undoubtedly strong, but the current challenge couldn't be solved by speeches alone; there needed to be more substance!

After the crowd quieted down, Yevi continued, "First, I want to tell everyone a basic fact about film production financing: the best money is other people's money."

He smiled, "I've already emptied your pockets, and mine too, so we need to reach into other pockets."

"Are you still talking about crowdfunding?" Lily couldn't help but mutter, feeling a bit disappointed. Is that all there is?

The others frowned and scratched their heads. The mocking laughter of John Williams and others still echoed in their ears, "That fool will definitely try crowdfunding again; it's a Ponzi scheme!" They didn't want to be further defamed by those villains. Crowdfunding isn't bad, but everyone really had no money left. Who could they crowdfund from? Shooting a film on celluloid would cost at least a few million, right? It's tough!

"I didn't say that, it's not crowdfunding."

Yevi shrugged, which made everyone breathe a sigh of relief but also filled them with curiosity and anticipation. Then he asked, "A question: who is the richest person in the world?"

Everyone immediately thought about it. Chen Nuo's voice was very soft, "Bill Gates?" Babu had a different opinion, "I think it's the Freemasons; they control the world." His words caused Lev and others to laugh in a not-so-serious manner, "Batman?" "Obviously Tony Stark!" "The McDonald's mascot!" ...

"Guys, I'm serious!" Babu said anxiously.

"I'm serious too, it's Forrest Gump, hahaha!" Lev was quite pleased with himself.

"Stop fooling around, does anyone have a different answer?" Yevi looked around at the silent crowd, "Lily?" Lily shook her head, not guessing, so he revealed the answer, "Banks!"

"Oh!" A sense of enlightenment spread through the room. Everyone understood; it was about borrowing money from the bank!

A new question arose: why would the bank lend you money? What would you use as collateral? It couldn't be the school, right? Their doubts only increased.

"Wouldn't borrowing from the bank be too risky?" Lily raised her eyebrows, even if they really got the loan, what would they use to pay back the debt if the film lost money?

Yevi smiled confidently, "A mortgage loan is indeed risky, but what if it's not a mortgage loan? Just a completion bond from an insurance company, guaranteeing that the film will be completed according to all the terms of the contract. If not, the insurance company will compensate the bank for the loss. This way, the bank's risk is very small."

What... what? Everyone felt even more confused. Why would an insurance company offer such a policy?

Most of them couldn't be called "ordinary children"; their parents were high-level professionals, businessmen, or celebrities. So they already understood quite a bit. If you asked 7th to 9th graders from public schools, they would only say it was cool and understand nothing.

But even children like Lily, who had grown up in the world of film and entertainment, had appeared on TV, and attended the Oscars, still couldn't fully grasp it.

So the room was silent, no one spoke much, all waiting for Yevi to clarify.

Yevi took a few steps, thinking about what he had learned in his dreams and his plans, and slowly began, "The current methods of independent film financing are mainly these: financing similar to major studios, film funds, co-productions, maximizing the use of tax incentives in various regions, product placement, deferred payments, crowdfunding, self-investment, and the method I plan to use... overseas rights pre-sales."

The crowd's eyes gradually brightened. Overseas rights pre-sales?

"In the 1970s, an Italian theater manager... yes, Dino De Laurentiis, first used this method. He used the promissory notes paid by foreign distributors as collateral to borrow all the production funds.

What we need to do is, first, take the script and production plan of 'Little Miss Sunshine' and negotiate with foreign buyers, selling the film's theatrical, DVD, and TV rights in those regions, maybe just one type of right, maybe all of them.

By pre-selling these overseas rights, we get the production funds, a small part as a prepayment, the rest as the numbers on the contract, which will be paid after the film is completed and delivered. For example, selling the UK theatrical rights to a UK distributor for 500,000, with 100,000 as a prepayment, and then France, Germany, Italy... the whole world."

Yevi scanned the crowd's faces, which were a mix of understanding and confusion, and finally focused on Lily, "When we use this method to get the budget on paper, we then go to the completion bond insurance company to get insured. With the insurance, we take all the contracts to the bank to borrow money, and then...

Do you think the bank will lend us the money? Yes, the bank will. For nearly thirty years, independent producers have been borrowing money this way; it's a pillar of independent production!

Because as long as the film is delivered on time, the money on paper will turn into real money, and we can pay back the debt, and the bank will earn interest and service fees. If the film is unfortunately not completed, the insurance company will take over the project and deal with the bank, and we might go bankrupt, but we won't go to jail. But we won't, we will complete the film!

Moreover, we need to comprehensively use all suitable financing methods, like tax incentives, product placement... in the end, we will find that we haven't spent a single cent from our own pockets."

After saying this, Yevi smiled again, confidently, brightly, and ambitiously.

The crowd remained silent, all a bit stunned. Who said Yevi had no knowledge or talent? Who? What a joke, a person with no talent couldn't say such things! Profound, professional, and impressive!

Overseas rights pre-sales, they only learned about this today!

Some understood, some still didn't, but it felt... feasible!

"Oh my God, there's a genius here! Yevi, you're a damn genius!" Lev's excited scream broke the silence. He was so excited that his face turned red, like Tom Hanks in 'Cast Away' seeing a ship, shouting, "Awesome, how much can we get? 3 million? 6 million!?"

"Great!!" Babu also burst into joy, "When that day comes, we'll have a big celebration!"

One by one, the students laughed, as if they could already see the sour faces of John Williams and others. How about that! Baby, this isn't crowdfunding!

Wow, Lily couldn't help but admire, that good feeling surged again. This guy really had a detailed plan, he wasn't just talking big, he wasn't just playing games...

"What's wrong?" Yevi laughed, looking at the crowd's reaction, "This makes you crazy? I'm really worried if you can handle what comes next!"

At this moment, Colewin, who had been silently filming with a DV, spoke like a ghost, "But why would those foreign distributors buy the rights to 'Little Miss Sunshine'?"

Uh oh! The atmosphere suddenly stagnated, and the crowd's enthusiasm cooled down. Yes, this is the first and most critical step, convincing those distributors to pay.

Think about it, no one knows how good 'Little Miss Sunshine' will be, and their age and status don't give any outsiders confidence. This is too difficult.

"For God's sake, Colewin..." Lev gritted his teeth, can't you let us be happy for a while? If you don't speak, no one will think you don't exist!

"Yes, convincing those distributors is not easy. The key is, we need to present a production plan that can impress them."

Yevi had already considered this. He was the one who knew best how difficult this was.

Yes, pre-selling rights is a pillar of independent film financing, but the process is actually complex and long. It can take one to two years to get the money from the bank, sometimes even longer. The difficulty and time required are no less than the crowdfunding model of 'Blood Simple'.

Not to mention, this is a project abandoned by Focus Features, and the future cast list will read "Producer Yevi, Director Yevi." Imagine the faces of those foreign distributors when they see this. No one is a fool, they are all shrewd businessmen. They won't buy it, no matter how well-prepared he is, no matter how appealing his vision is. Just like that, no distributor will buy it.

Unless...

"In the production plan, there is a contract with a big name joining the film! Then, it won't be us begging the distributors to buy, but the distributors begging us to sell!"

Yevi's words were like a bell, reviving everyone's spirits. The fog in front of them cleared, and they saw the light!

"Like a big director, or a big star?" Lily couldn't help but ask.

"Right!" Yevi smiled and nodded, "Half right, for two reasons: one, the director will be me; two, foreign audiences generally don't care about big directors, they only recognize big stars, preferably comedy or action stars, which are the favorites of foreign distributors."

What!? The crowd was really shocked again, their hearts couldn't take it. This was the first time they heard Yevi say he would be the director of the film!

Even if they were not familiar with film production, they knew the difference between a producer and a director. Producers come in many types, some just provide the money, others handle production affairs; but there is only one type of director, the director is the director, the storyteller, the god of the set, the soul of the film...

Except for a few like Lev, everyone thought Yevi would only be the company boss, maybe just a producer, and would hire professional producers and directors for the shooting. They never thought he would do it himself... would they have to act in it?

Lily's eyes widened in surprise, "You... the director?"

"Yes! What did you think I meant by making a film?" Yevi smiled confidently, "I can't wait to direct this story."

Lev gave a thumbs up, he was the first to know about Yevi's decision and was proud of it, "Only a feature film can show Yevi's talent." Babu nodded, "Yes."

"But..." Lily really didn't want to dampen the mood, but this wasn't a game, and a game isn't real just because you want it to be!

Film director? Isn't he still a long way from that profession? She didn't like seeing his exaggerated side, frowning, "Yevi, I think the director can be reconsidered, no need to decide so quickly, after all... that's a director."

Although they trusted Yevi, many had to agree with Lily. They didn't even understand what a professional film director does, it's not like shooting a short film for middle schoolers, right? Yevi is great, but it's not clear how much he knows...

"OK, let's talk about this later." Yevi nodded, understanding their doubts. It would be strange if they didn't have doubts, but only he knew he could handle it.

Words alone won't convince anyone; he needed to show his talent, but not now.

Of course, as the only general partner of the company, he had supreme production rights. Even if everyone opposed, he could still implement his ideas.

Seeing Yevi seemingly giving up, Lev and others were anxious, but only because of his signal, "Don't argue for now," they held back.

The others didn't press the issue either, because there was another surprising point, which they were even more interested in: inviting a big star to join!

Talking about this, Lev got excited again, "Yevi, who do you plan to invite? Meryl Streep? She was amazing in 'Sophie's Choice'..."

"Can we invite Jack Black? I like him!" Babu quickly said his choice. Chen Nuo also said, "I like Marlon Brando." Colewin joined in, "Dustin Hoffman."

Others chimed in, "Lindsay Lohan! Lindsay Lohan!" "No, no, I like Jennifer Aniston, can we?" ...

Seeing their enthusiasm getting out of control, mentioning their idols and various stars, Yevi felt a bit helpless. Is there anyone here like Yuri? How can we make those big stars fight to join? The fact is: in the current situation, inviting even a well-known actor is difficult, let alone a star.

Lily also laughed, shaking her head. She was the most familiar with the big names in the industry and couldn't be as optimistic as everyone else, "Let's think about well-known actors first?"

"No, it has to be a big star, the bigger the better."

Yevi insisted, not out of arrogance, but necessity: "We need a big name to support a quick and high-priced overseas pre-sale. Well-known actors have too little influence, they can't do it. Only a superstar can, like a member of the $20 million salary club..."

"How? This is impossible..." Lily was a bit annoyed, he was getting more and more exaggerated, first being a director, then inviting a $20 million star, can he be more down-to-earth?

Tris, Connie, and other girls all had strange looks. It sounded cool, but in reality, it was a daydream.

The crowd looked at each other, should they be excited or rational...

"A friend once told me, 'Even if no one believes in you, you must stick to your ideas and keep going.' I'm giving this advice to everyone. This is our motto, nothing is impossible!"

Yevi raised his eyebrows, looking around the crowd, and said loudly, "Just a few days ago, someone said how could we possibly raise $500,000, how could we possibly buy the script, then how could we really have a production plan, how could we possibly get a star, how could we possibly shoot it well, how could we possibly get it released...

Guys, these 'how could we' will follow us for a long time, until we succeed, asked by others, asked by our own reason! But many things, reason can't do, but persistence can! Remember, every step we take now, whether successful or not, is creating new film history, so don't tell me it's impossible!

Just like don't tell the Wright brothers 'humans can't fly,' guys, those who said it were the ones who were shocked in the end! Don't give up the chance to create a miracle just because others can't do it, never!"

The crowd was re-energized, "That's right!" "Yes, that's how it should be!" "Yevi, go for it, we support you!"

Lily's face turned red, feeling both annoyed and moved, depressed and excited... This guy is really annoying, making it seem like she doesn't support him, she just doesn't want to be blind... very conflicting feelings, he always makes her unable to be her usual self...

But after hearing his words, she didn't want to be a dreamless庸人 (mediocre person) anymore, and said stiffly, "Your friend is right, let's give it a try."

"Okay." Yevi nodded, still serious, "That friend also said, 'Yevi, you're really handsome, like a prince.'" Lily immediately gave him a playful glare, if it weren't for the crowd, she would have pinched him, that thick-skinned guy!

"If it works, will we have to pay $20 million?" Babu's soft voice suddenly came up.

"No, zero salary, profit sharing from total revenue, that's the only feasible way to invite a superstar to an independent film." Yevi answered.

"Have you decided who you want to invite?" Lev asked excitedly, which was also the most anticipated question by everyone.

"I haven't decided yet, but this is my production plan. Next, I will work hard to make it happen!"

For a moment, Reynolds Hall was filled with cheers and applause again!

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