“Momo was the one who wrote the script. I reckoned it’d be better for her to introduce the story herself.” Tan Jinqi explained why he brought Tan Mo with him.
Wei Zhiqian nodded. “What did the three companies say? Why did they reject you?”
Tan Jinqi did not ask but thought, ‘Didn’t you ask about it already earlier? How could you not know?’
Wei Zhiqian clarified, “I only asked about the result. I figured it’d be better to hear it from you. How much truth would they tell me if I were to ask them?”
Tan Jinqi responded, “Apart from Journey Films, both Joyous Media and Zhulu Culture thought that the investment amount was way more than their budget. The fact that I’m a newbie director without any existing work to prove my worth only added to their risks. As for Zhulu Culture, they won’t be investing in any new films since they already got their hands full with existing projects.”
Wei Zhiqian bowed his head. “Zhulu Culture was being honest. It has stopped getting any new projects for some time now. Joyous Media has always been conservative with its strategy. It would usually follow the latest trend, so it has not produced any big hits or set any new trends. Although it makes less, it seldom has any box-office flops.
“Journey Films was the most ambitious among the three. Otherwise, it would not have invested in ‘Legend of Wei and Jin’ either. However, it merely had the ambition but lacked the courage to push through until the end. That was why it disinvested from the project.”
Tan Jinqi never expected Wei Zhiqian to understand Journey Films so well.
“These three companies are the only ones that have the capabilities to invest in this project while the others focus more on movies.” Tan Jinqi felt more compatible with Wei Zhiqian after talking about the business. “I just thought that perhaps I could take my chance. Besides, Joyous Media has been conservative with its approach for a long time now. Who knew if they might brace up and be adventurous for once?”
“In the end…” Tan Jinqi shook his head and chuckled, “it’s the same as before. Nothing has changed at all.”‘
“Journey Films’ Chairman Yao is improvident and narrow-minded.” Tan Jinqi felt like they had like-minded camaraderie upon hearing that.
“Has he been known for being such a personality?” Tan Jinqi had never heard about it before.
Otherwise, he would not have considered making Journey Films his priority choice.
Journey Films was a risk-taker and the most ambitious among the three companies.
It had produced several trendsetting works.
“No, not really,” Wei Zhiqian commented. “To keep up his appearance, he will put up a false front. I guess he wanted to reinvest in ‘Legend of Wei and Jin’ after seeing Hanbang Corp and my company’s involvement following his disinvestment. But he must have been rejected by Director Liu. Knowing his character, he won’t offend the director since he still needs to work with the latter. So, the only thing he can do is to blame you and Momo.”
“Did he think that we don’t have any backer or something? What about our family and you?” Tan Mo blinked her eyes in bafflement.
Did Chairman Yao think he could offend them when he could not do the same to Director Liu?
What was Chairman Yao even thinking?
Wei Zhiqian was in seventh heaven upon hearing Tan Mo’s remark.
To her, he was equal to the whole Tan family.
“While Chairman Yao may be an ambitious person, he has inconsistent insights. To be honest, I’m not even sure whether he’s a prudent or short-sighted person.” Chairman Yao was a rarity that even Wei Zhiqian could not figure out his thought pattern. “It’s unbefitting to call him an unimaginative person since he is the man who leads Journey Films. The fact that you looked for Journey Films to invest in your project means that you’ve acknowledged this company. At the very least, it’s considered one of the best companies for domestic motion picture and TV show productions. Simultaneously, it’s also improper to call him a shrewd person.”
At that, Wei Zhiqian shook his head and said, “He did not offend the two of you because he thought you were an easy target. I figure he must have thought that since your family’s business nature isn’t entertainment-based, so even if your family got upset, they could do nothing to him since he belongs to the entertainment industry.”
Tan Mo was rendered speechless as she put on a deadbeat look. “For real? What’s up with his logic?”
She could not tell if he was smart or dumb.
Chairman Yao was an anomaly that both Tan Mo and Wei Zhiqian could not understand.
“You don’t have to understand how an idiosyncratic man thinks.” Wei Zhiqian did not desire to have Tan Mo think about another man.
She had no reason to figure out how a rando thought.
It’d be better for her to get that man out of her head altogether.
“Could you please show me the script?” Wei Zhiqian asked.
Just then, the server placed a sashimi plate on the table and left.
Since Tan Jinqi was driving and Tan Mo was a lightweight drinker, they did not order alcohol for their beverages.
So, they settled with two glasses of iced oolong tea.
After the server left, Tan Jinqi asked nonchalantly, “Why? Are you interested in investing?”
Tan Jinqi slurred a remark out of habit.
To his surprise, Wei Zhiqian nodded and replied, “Looks like you’re unfamiliar with the businesses of Weifeng.”
Tan Jinqi was bewildered. Why should he even bother to learn what kind of businesses Weifeng had under its umbrella?
Wei Zhiqian said, “Kefeng Films is a subsidiary of Weifeng Group.”
“What? Kefeng belongs to Weifeng Group?” Tan Jinqi was flabbergasted.
Their family had known the Wei family for 12 years. The latter’s company, Weifeng Group, controlled a wide array of businesses, including hotels, stadiums, and gyms.
Weifeng owned the famous sports center in B City.
It consisted of a stadium with 60,000 seating capacity, a basketball court with 30,000 tiered seats, diving pools, swimming pools, and ice rinks.
Also, Weifeng Hotel was the current tallest building in B City and the entire Hua Empire.
Plus, it also had gym centers all over the country.
The biggest company in the nation by market cap among all sportswear brands belonged to Weifeng too.
On top of that, Weifeng had the broadcasting rights to multiple domestic and international sports.
Television stations had to go through Weifeng for any broadcast deals.
At Wei Zhiqian’s mention, Tan Jinqi’s memories were stirred up.
Kefeng Films was the exclusive broadcaster for some of the most-watched sports games.
He was not a fan of these leagues. During his university years, he only played basketball as an exercise for physical fitness.
Thus, he did not pay attention to sports-related news.
Seeing that he knew next to nothing about sports stuff, it came as a surprise to him when Wei Zhiqian mentioned Kefeng Films.
Wei Zhiqian nodded and expressed his confusion about Chairman Yao.
While it was true that the Tan family’s business had nothing to do with the entertainment industry, Weifeng Group’s Kefeng Films did.
In this day and age, online video-on-demand platforms got to call the shots.
There weren’t many television shows on satellite channels since they had strict regulations.
Many good-quality shows could not meet the satellite channels verification requirements.
Hence, they could only release the shows on online video platforms.
Some of the biggest subscription screaming services also participated in the film production.
Motion picture and media companies were the only investors of film projects. More often than not, these online video platforms were also one of the most prominent backers.
Since the shows were released and broadcasted through their platforms, motion picture companies and actors alike had to build a good rapport with them.
Sometimes, the subscription streaming services would even help shoot actors to stardom.
