"Chen, how was it? I put a lot of effort into today's premiere ceremony."
Shen Fang looked at the bustling premiere scene and saw many big-name stars, including Jennifer Lopez, Tom Cruise, Leonardo DiCaprio, Anne Hathaway, Angelina Jolie, Will Smith, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jude Law, Orlando Bloom, Paul Walker, and many more.
It was a star-studded event, and the appearance fees for these celebrities alone must have been enormous. But Harvey had the ability to invite them all; after all, he's Hollywood's top publicist, and everyone wants to maintain a good relationship with him. Winning an Oscar means gaining massive fame, money, and glory.
Harvey can help them achieve this wish.
"I'm very satisfied. Harvey, you really are a capable person."
“Chen, then about my collaboration with China.”
Shen Fang smiled and said, "No problem. I agree to Harvey's request. As long as you don't go too far, I will give you some support. There is an old Chinese saying, 'Isn't it a pleasure to have friends coming from afar?'"
"I agree to your request to become a guide for Chinese films to go to Hollywood, but I must remind you to leave yourself some room for maneuver, so you can meet again in the future. Don't go too far in anything. Making money is fine, but you can't cheat or swindle."
Harvey paused, then said, "It's heavy."
Shen Fang smiled slightly: "I won't say any more about this. Chinese films are about to enter a period of rapid development, and more and more people will want to gain recognition from major Hollywood awards. As an intermediary, you can earn a lot of public relations fees. If you fleece people too much, they will become dissatisfied. You have to do things for money. Otherwise, if you cheat once, twice, or three times and lose people's trust, it will be difficult to earn this money again."
Harvey's eyes gleamed. He really was thinking of swindling and cheating people. Back then, he had tricked director Chen Kaige with "Farewell My Concubine," director Zhang Yimou with "To Live," and director Feng Xiaogang with "A World Without Thieves."
By some strange twist of fate, Director Chen was tricked into selling the property to him for $2 million, and he immediately made over $40 million in North America.
Even more outrageous is his handling of the situation; he secured the deal for less than a million US dollars and then made over 40 million dollars from it.
Feng Xiaogang fared slightly better; although he sold his film cheaply, American audiences didn't like it, and Harvey didn't make any money.
Now, Shen Fang has become the person in charge of the mainland film and television industry. If Harvey wants to fool domestic directors, he must get his permission.
Shen Fang didn't really care about this. Even without Harvey, there was still Harden and Hammarby. In a few years, when the domestic film market heats up, domestic directors, producers, and investors will all reach out to major international film festivals to win foreign awards, fool domestic audiences, raise their prestige, and make money.
At that time, public relations professionals will naturally be needed, and a well-known public relations professional like Harvey will naturally become the best choice for these people with ulterior motives. Oh, and there is another person in China who is also in this business.
Don't think domestic directors and producers are stupid; the money comes from the consumers. As long as they win an award, or produce a Best Actress or Best Actor winner, they can hype it up and make a fortune. That's how Mary Sue won Best Actress at the Toronto International Film Festival and Best Actress at the Houston International Film Festival. They bought the awards.
However, he can't compare to Harvey; he's a complete fraud.
This man is Wu Zheng, the husband of Yang Lan, a famous CCTV host.
Harvey is capable, but he doesn't want to put in the effort. He just wants to rip off Chinese directors by taking their film copyrights and PR fees. In the end, he's still doing things for money.
Wu Zheng is a complete fraudster. First, he fabricated his academic credentials, claiming to have a master's degree from the University of Washington and to be a Columbia University rising star—that's utter nonsense. He also claimed that three major cable television networks—ABC, NBC, and CBS—offered him huge sums of money to become directors, offering him exorbitant salaries, but he refused them all, citing his patriotism and such.
That's complete nonsense. From 2005 to 2015, a large number of people in China were packaged as Hollywood tycoons, foreign businessmen, or wealthy foreigners to swindle and deceive people in the entertainment industry.
He's just a middleman, swindling people at various film festivals. He knows people who can get him red carpet invitations—invitations he forges himself. Getting on the red carpet is just a matter of paying; $5,000 a invitation, he can sell for $50,000. He also swindles some PR fees and slips small bribes to the judges to get them to meet with the directors. Whether they win awards or not is none of his business; he's just doing the legwork…
Later, with the release of Da Vinci furniture, the rescue center... and even 3D movies like Avatar, he continued to swindle money, most outrageously plagiarizing other people's business plans word for word. He treated investors in the industry like idiots.
To be honest, Harvey's business dealings were all based on mutual consent; one party was after fame, and the other was after money.
He couldn't stop it either.
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