Chapter Ninety-Eight: Rejected by Chen Qi

After the contract was signed, Zhou Xiao hurried off with the detailed script and the agreement in hand. In his own words, he needed to go make preparations.

The exact filming locations, the right crew, the necessary equipment, and a hundred other things besides.

There was simply too much for him to arrange.

Before Zhou Xiao left, Chen Qi had even asked whether he had his own team. The answer was that he once had one.

After being forced out of work for a year, his team had long since fallen apart.

Perhaps because their conversation had left Chen Qi with the impression that Zhou Xiao was quite reliable, he also asked him to recommend a few actors who were inexpensive yet capable.

He was far too unfamiliar with the entertainment world of this place, and he had neither the time nor the energy to go looking for actors himself. Since Zhou Xiao had already successfully produced two films, he ought to know a few promising talents.

Zhou Xiao did not immediately give him any names. He said he would need to think about it before he could be certain.

As for the director’s fee...

It was, as Chen Qi had expected, very cheap.

Zhou Xiao named a price of one million himself, and while doing so he even said that if Chen Qi felt it was too high, they could still negotiate.

It was obvious he valued this opportunity greatly.

Though Chen Qi did not understand all the rules and customs of the entertainment world, he could tell that this price was indeed cheap for a director as experienced as Zhou Xiao, so he did not bring himself to haggle any further.

After seeing Zhou Xiao into the elevator, Chen Qi returned to Future Pictures in high spirits.

To settle on a director so smoothly had been far beyond his expectations.

Now that the director was confirmed, they could prepare a little more and then begin filming.

He was very satisfied with Zhou Xiao, both in terms of ability and temperament.

What surprised Chen Qi a little was that the moment he stepped through the door, Xu Buyan came back as well.

“How did it go? Have you contacted them?” Xu Buyan asked as he poured himself some water.

“What?” Chen Qi did not quite catch on.

“The director. The partners. Have you gotten in touch with them?”

“Oh, the director’s already settled. We just signed the contract.” Chen Qi pointed to the document on the desk.

“Pfft—” Xu Buyan sprayed out the water he had just taken a sip of, staring at him in shock, his face full of disbelief.

The contract was already signed?

He only went out to file some paperwork, and you’ve already signed the director’s contract?

Wasn’t that a little too efficient?

“Who is it?” He opened the contract on the desk with great curiosity.

Then he saw the name Qin Chao.

“...” Seeing that Chen Qi had really gone and found him, Xu Buyan could not help bursting into laughter.

He was utterly convinced.

You really do what you say, with not a drop of pretense in it at all.

“And the partners? Have you contacted them too?” he asked, looking at Chen Qi with amusement.

“I’ll contact them now.” Chen Qi took out his phone and dialed the number on the list.

Xu Buyan leaned over and glanced at it.

Mm. The first two companies on the list were the very ones he had placed at the bottom before.

“Hello, Mr. Liu. I’m Chen Qi, the one who made No Way, No How.” After the call connected, Chen Qi began by introducing himself.

Just as he had imagined, once the other side heard his introduction, they immediately showed interest.

“...Yes, that’s right. I’m preparing a film and was wondering whether you might be interested. Yes, a film. A script I wrote. No, no, no, No Way, No How is already finished. There won’t be another season.”

But what followed unfolded very differently from what he had expected.

After hearing that he wanted to make a film, the tone on the other end clearly cooled. Faintly, it even sounded as though there was some disappointment?

They were not interested in his film. Instead, they kept hoping he would continue filming No Way, No How, and said that if he did, they would definitely invest.

“Oh... all right, all right, good, good. Then let’s stay in touch.”

Hanging up, Chen Qi was a little stunned.

Rejected?

He had actually been rejected?

They had not even intended to look at his script, not even asked how much investment he wanted.

“Hiss...” Chen Qi drew in a shallow breath, and his expression immediately turned grave.

He suddenly realized that finding partners was not nearly as simple as he had thought.

He had even believed that a phone call would be enough to arrange an in-person discussion!

“What, no interest?” From Chen Qi’s expression, Xu Buyan had already guessed the result.

“They weren’t interested.” Chen Qi let out a wry laugh. “He said they’ve invested in too many films lately and don’t have any slots left or something.”

“Heh...” Xu Buyan immediately laughed. That way of politely refusing was rather distinctive.

“It’s fine. I’ll try the next one.” Chen Qi quickly adjusted his mood and dialed the number of the second company.

“Hello, Mr. Zheng. I’m Chen Qi...”

It was the same opening all over again.

But like the previous company, once they heard he wanted to raise investment for a film, the other party refused outright.

Perhaps this company’s performance over the past two years had been truly poor, because Mr. Zheng even took on the tone of an elder giving earnest advice: the film market was not as simple as Chen Qi imagined, and he should not rush headlong into it.

What was more, when he heard that the script was written by Chen Qi himself, Mr. Zheng could not help but laugh.

He said the one thing they lacked least was scripts.

In the end, Chen Qi hung up a little awkwardly, his expression turning rather peculiar.

“Rejected again?” Xu Buyan looked at him.

Chen Qi nodded without speaking.

Xu Buyan smiled and shook his head, not particularly surprised.

He was not like Chen Qi, who knew nothing at all about the entertainment world.

Years ago, when he was at Blueprint, he had heard plenty of rumors about people who could not secure investment, and among them were even some well-known actors and directors.

If even famous actors and directors found it hard to raise money, then there was nothing strange about a newcomer like Chen Qi failing to do so.

“It’s fine, I’ll try again.” Chen Qi was fairly open about it.

After all, not everyone could make money as easily as he did. The companies he was contacting now were already performing poorly to begin with; for them, even ten or twenty million would probably count as a major investment.

Under such circumstances, it was only natural that they would be even more cautious when investing in films.

Thinking it over, he felt that Mr. Zheng’s words were not without reason.

The film market did seem not nearly as simple as he had imagined. It appeared to be full of hidden depths.

He dialed the third company, and after explaining his purpose, he was unsurprisingly rejected yet again.

Like the first company, this one was quite interested in No Way, No How.

After hanging up, Chen Qi felt he ought to change his approach.

He pulled out the list Xu Buyan had compiled earlier and directly dialed the first company on it.

If the companies with poor performance were cautious, then he might as well try the winners basking in glory and success.

Yet what he had not expected was that they were just as uninterested.

Unlike the gentle refusals from the earlier companies, the confident ones turned him down very directly.

After two more calls ended in rejection, Chen Qi gave up.

“Forget it, forget it. Let’s just start filming first.” The good mood he had felt after signing with Zhou Xiao had been completely ruined.

Since they were not interested, so be it. He would make it himself.

They could not produce too much money, but between the two or three million he and Xu Buyan could pool together, they should still be able to scrape something up.

And even if he truly ran out of money, he could always think of another way to find it.

They should just start filming first. Once the film was finished, they could take the completed work to a distribution company and seek cooperation there. By then, it would surely be much easier.

“Heh...” Watching Chen Qi’s disappointed look, Xu Buyan stood nearby and quietly enjoyed himself.

“Want me to give it a try?” he asked.

“Go ahead. I’ve lost interest anyway.” Chen Qi tossed him the list he had compiled earlier.

He really had lost interest.

After being rejected so many times, he had come to understand. With their status as newcomers, even if they did find a film company interested in the project, the other side would probably make very harsh demands.

It would not be easy to negotiate to a point where both sides were satisfied. Since that was so, it would be better to shoot the film first.

As long as the movie was made, he had plenty of ways to find a company willing to handle distribution and promotion for them. For instance, he could even arrange some kind of betting deal on the side and not show them the film at all.

Beside him, Xu Buyan also dialed the numbers on the list.

Whether he knew the other side personally or not, he actually chatted quite companionably with them.

But even so, the end result was still rejection.

Xu Buyan did not seem affected at all and went on to call the next number.

It was rejected as well.

Just as he was about to dial a third, Chen Qi hurriedly stopped him. “Forget it. Don’t waste any more time. We’ll just shoot it ourselves first.”

Seeing him say that, Xu Buyan put away his phone without any fuss.

“Mr. Xu, how much can you put in?” Chen Qi asked.

“About ten million should be available. Any more than that would probably be difficult.” Xu Buyan seemed very familiar with his own finances and answered without much thought.

“Ten million...” Chen Qi pondered for a moment, then said, “How about you put in five million, and I’ll cover the rest. Then we’ll see exactly how much is spent and split according to proportion.”

Although Chen Qi was confident in his script, and although he had just declared with great certainty that he trusted Zhou Xiao’s ability, making films still carried considerable risk. Moreover, this was not a project he controlled entirely, and since he still knew little about the film market, he could not help feeling a little uneasy.

He really did not dare to let Xu Buyan throw in his whole fortune. Losing his own money entirely was one thing; he could always earn more. But if he ended up causing Xu Buyan to lose everything by accident, that would be rather awkward.

“What, are you afraid of losing money?” Xu Buyan seemed to catch onto something.

“Heh...” Chen Qi could not help laughing. “It’s my first time, so being cautious is better.”

“No, you—”

“That’s settled then!”

Xu Buyan still seemed about to say more, but Chen Qi did not give him the chance.

“...” Xu Buyan looked at him, half amused and half helpless, and after a moment’s thought, let it go.