There were a total of four people at the table. Except for Li Mu, they were all shocked.
The shock brought by Li Mu's words was really indescribable. Li Mu was willing to take out the ticketing system of "Mulberry Film", give 20% of the shares for free, invest, guarantee that the other party would not lose money, and leave all the risks to himself. All of this was just to let the partner come to Hua Xia to shoot a movie!
Not to mention the two guests from the United States who were dumbfounded, even Senior Brother Liu was so surprised that he was speechless.
He knew Li Mu. He knew that Li Mu had an extraordinary sense of mission for the country and the nation, which could be seen from his performance holding the national flag at Harvard and his impassioned speech. However, he did not expect that Li Mu would be willing to sacrifice the most fundamental goal of a businessman: profit, for the sake of Hua Xia's image and influence in the world and for the rapid development of Hua Xia's film and television industry.
It seemed that the only thing that could make Li Mu completely sacrifice his profit was 3321. However, what Li Mu said just now was not only about sacrificing profit, but also about investing more money to do this. From this point, it could be seen that Li Mu attached great importance to the matter of Hollywood coming to Hua Xia to shoot a movie.
Spielberg couldn't help but ask Li Mu, "Mr. Li, do you want Hollywood to be able to pull the whole film industry in Hua Xia? If so, we can cooperate with Makino Image to shoot some movies in the future. This is not a problem at all. "
Li Mu nodded. "Pulling is necessary. There are too many problems in the film and television industry in Hua Xia. It will take at least ten years to adjust and improve internally. However, if they are driven by outstanding people in the same industry, they must work hard to catch up. Otherwise, they will be eliminated by the fast-developing industry and the fast-developing audience."
As he said this, Li Mu added, "Of course, the other aspect I mentioned just now is also very important. Because the ideology is different from that of the West, the Western media has demonized us a lot. I don't understand politics, and I don't want to get involved in politics. However, as a person from Hua Xia, I really hope that the world can remove the colored glasses imposed on them by the media and really see the real face of this country, this nation, and these people, or understand the ancient culture that this country and this nation have bred on this land for thousands of years. And the best solution I can think of is to make a movie."
Spielberg was also particularly touched. Although he was an American, he was also a Jew. He understood Li Mu's sense of national belonging very well. That kind of feeling went beyond the limitations of territory and country, and could not be summarized simply with the word "patriotism."
Spielberg had once made a film related to the Nazi Holocaust of Jews. This film was called "Schindler's List", which told the true story of a German businessman named Schindler, who helped more than 1,000 Jews escape the Nazi Holocaust during World War II. As a Jew, Spielberg was unwilling to shake hands with the German actors during the whole process of shooting this film. Although it seemed rude, this was the result of his deep sense of national belonging.
Whether it was because of a deep sense of national belonging as a Jew, or because of the pursuit of profits as a businessman, Spielberg could not refuse Li Mu's cooperation plan. He nodded gently and said seriously, "Mr. Li, I am willing to accept your cooperation plan. In the next ten years, I will personally or let my team deeply participate in a film related to Hua Xia every year. Even my team and I can lead the film."
Speaking of this, Spielberg paused and asked Li Mu, "Mr. Li, regarding the cooperation of Shadow Shepherd Ticketing System in North America, we also hope to increase our shares in the form of equity participation. Do you think it's feasible?"
Li Mu said, "It's feasible, but the increase will not exceed 10%. That is to say, we will set up a company in North America together. If you don't invest, I will hold 80% of the shares, and you hold 20%. If you want to invest, I will give you 10% of the shares, but the company's valuation will be 200 million US dollars."
With a valuation of 200 million US dollars, 10% of the shares would be 20 million US dollars. For Spielberg and his company, although it was not a huge sum of money, it was still a big expenditure. Although it sounded incredible that the company was valued at 200 million US dollars without anything, just based on the Shadow Shepherd Ticketing System, its influence in the YY ecosystem, and the market space, the 200 million US dollars was worth it.
It was like Teng Xun suddenly announced that one day he would make a new product under the framework of WeChat. Even if he did not invest a cent, just by relying on the WeChat ecosystem, it would be valued at a sky-high price.
Spielberg thought for a moment and said to Li Mu, "Mr. Li, I accept your conditions and am willing to increase my shares by 10%."
"Okay." Li Mu nodded and said, "I don't have any other requirements. What I want is the movie. Let me make a few simple points. First, I have the right to veto the script, casting, and budget of the movie you shoot in Huaxia according to the agreement. If I don't like your story, I can directly pass the movie. If I don't like an actor in the movie, I can directly remove him from the movie. If I have a problem with the budget, I can appropriately increase or reduce it on the original basis."
Spielberg said without hesitation, "This is very reasonable. I have no objections."
Li Mu was also relieved. What he was most worried about was that Spielberg and his team would fool him when the time came. Therefore, he had to control the script of every movie by himself. He could only shoot it after he agreed.
In fact, Li Mu had always been very, very dissatisfied with the film and television industry in Hua Xia. No matter how vanity the Hollywood film and television industry was, how depraved and how rotten it was, the professionalism of the whole industry could always be maintained and carried out. A Hollywood actor might be a scumbag, a drug addict, a mistress, or a broken shoe, but as long as he or she walked in front of the camera, he or she was a professional actor, and the performance they presented was also professional.
But in contrast, in the film and television industry in Hua Xia, a large number of actors who came from professional schools had terrible acting skills. The rough production level of the whole industry, the urgent pursuit of money and fame, and the low requirements for art itself, were simply indescribable.
Many times, when Li Mu watched domestic films and TV series, he would be extremely embarrassed to find that even the main character did not know how to act, let alone the extras.
Sometimes, it was not easy for a film and TV series to have a few actors with good acting skills, but the extras were all so lousy that it made one's hair stand on end. They would jump out of the scene at any moment, and the viewing experience was extremely bad.
Sometimes, for the sake of traffic and income, films and TV series would hire a large number of so-called popular little fresh meats, and each frame of the entire TV series would be as beautiful as a magazine blockbuster. They would be strung together and matched with the plot, making people want to vomit.
Sometimes, the props and special effects in a movie were so fake that even a three-year-old child could not bear to look at them.
Moreover, Li Mu hated films and TV series that were recorded in post-production. As long as the lip-shape did not match, it would be unbearably fake. But most of the film and TV series directors and actors in the country, in order to save time and effort, all used post-production dubbing. As a result, there were "Miss Numbers" who counted numbers on the set …
Some old actors did not think of improving. Their acting skills had not made a breakthrough for more than ten years. They had been playing the same roles for more than ten years, but every one of them made people feel awkward.
Looking at the corruption of Hua Xia's film and TV industry, Li Mu, an outsider, could scold it for three days and three nights without repeating a single word. It was not that he worshiped foreigners, but purely from the perspective of an audience, Hua Xia's films and TV series could not be compared to American films and TV series at all. The simplest example was that in American TV series, there were very few extras who did not have good acting skills. Sometimes, the extras' acting skills were amazing. Even if most American TV series were not good to watch, they would not lose their characters because of the actors' poor acting skills. However, in China, the extras were really extras who did not know how to act at all. There were also not many directors who could adhere to their own artistic pursuit and really hire a group of supporting actors who could act to make the entire TV series more fulfilling.
It was precisely because of these original sins that made people feel exasperated with iron not becoming steel that Li Mu was full of pessimism about the development of Hua Xia's film and TV industry.
In his previous life, although Hollywood had greatly penetrated into the Hua Xia film and TV industry in the later stages, and even had a lot of cooperation with Hua Xia's actors, directors, and scriptwriters in the Hua Xia film and TV industry, at that time, the industry had already taken a wrong path, and the audience had also been led astray. As a result, Hollywood's content had to lower its head when it came to China, and they had to use the so-called actors who had no acting skills in China for the sake of the box office. It did not bring any improvement to the domestic film industry at all, and instead, it was led astray by the domestic film market.
Yes, if the Hua Xia film and TV industry in this life still took such a path, then Li Mu would definitely dissolve Makino Image and never touch the film and TV industry again, because he did not want to mix with so many low-class people. Even if it was only in the same industry, he could not afford to lose that person.
Spielberg took the initiative to ask Li Mu, "Mr. Li, if we succeed in signing the contract, what kind of theme do you want us to make in 2003, a film related to Hua Xia?"
Li Mu thought for a moment and said, "A war theme! Whether it is' Saving Private Ryan 'or' Band of Brothers', they are all war-related films and TV series that I like very much. During World War II, Hua Xia fought against the Japanese invaders, paid a huge price for world peace, and made great contributions to the people of the world. However, Hollywood has never made a film about Hua Xia's resistance against the Japanese invaders during World War II. You have made movies about almost all the battles of World War II that Americans participated in. You also made movies about the German Army's massacre of Jews during World War II. If you personally directed a film about Hua Xia during World War II, I think it would be very meaningful. "
Spielberg could understand Li Mu's sense of national belonging. Even though Li Mu had promised to invest and even guarantee the box office, out of professionalism, he still reminded Li Mu, "Mr. Li, a real war film costs a lot of money, and the cost is very high. 'Saving Private Ryan' invested 70 million dollars four years ago, and 'Band of Brothers' also invested 120 million dollars. The cost is very high, and you want to make a film about Hua Xia during World War II. This kind of film will not have a high box office performance in North America and other parts of the world, so the possibility of recovering the cost is not high …"
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