Zhang Shulan: "Free."
Li Gui's eyes narrowed to slits: "Free? What's the price?"
He only now remembered that Zhang Xincheng had mentioned wanting to take over the Sihai Group at the beginning, and he guessed it was related to this.
Zhang Shulan: "After the new song is released tomorrow night, in terms of movie marketing, Starlight should spend money to go head-to-head with Four Seas and boost the hype."
"What kind of buzz? I need to know why Starlight is going after Four Seas, right?" Li Gui was really tempted because this song was too valuable.
It's a perfect match for the action-packed atmosphere of war movies.
If the movie itself is of good quality, a single song can make it a hit.
Sometimes that's how it is; audiences don't know anything about the movie and are completely drawn to the music.
Zhang Shulan: "Tomorrow night at 8 pm, 'Sold Out' will be available online in the US market. Our company, Wanxia, will spend money to arrange a group of technicians to edit many of the best scenes from your movie and pair them with the song 'Sold Out'. After that, Starlight will spend money to buy trending searches, and anything related to traffic will be pushed to the top of the search results."
Li Gui made a thoughtful expression. He had a sharp eye and was already imagining all the exciting moments of "All-People League of Legends" and what the effect would be if it were paired with background music that matched 100% perfectly.
It will spread throughout the world at that time.
Who hasn't dreamed of being a hero since childhood?
Sold out, on the other hand, can carry your heroic dreams, allowing you to imagine yourself saving the world without any worries.
They might actually be able to close that $100 million box office gap.
"However... once Sihai Group sees the hype building, they will also spend money to suppress us." It will be quite difficult to take first place at the box office in that case.
Li Gui was already tempted; now she just wanted to know the full plan for Wanxia.
"Then please step into the trap."
Zhang Shulan finally got to the heart of the matter: "The movie that Sihai Film and Television Culture is releasing this time is of the same type as your 'All-People Heroes League.' Once we see that it's gaining popularity, we will immediately track down the distributor of 'Sold Out' and buy the song's copyright."
At this point in the conversation, Li Gui became focused, but he didn't interrupt and waited for Director Zhang to finish speaking.
Zhang Shulan: "When this song is released, we will block the real names of the distributor and creator of 'Sunset Glow'. We will change them back later so that when Sihai Group investigates, they will think it is a creator who has not signed with any company. We will verbally promise them exclusive copyright, and when they start to spend money to promote it, we will sue them for infringement."
Li Gui's pupils widened: "You're going to take down the Sihai Group? No... you verbally promised them exclusive copyrights? How can I be sure you didn't sign a contract with them privately?"
Mr. Li is a businessman, and businessmen are very sensitive to anything of value. He may seem to be trying to outmaneuver Sihai Group, but Wanxia might actually be trying to have it both ways.
Zhang Shulan clapped her hands, and Zhang Xincheng had already taken out the contract he had prepared in advance.
"This is an exclusive copyright agreement for Sold Out, and Starlight only needs to pay Sunset a $1 exclusive usage fee per year."
The contract must specify the price. If it says "free," then it's a gift, which obviously doesn't meet the standards of a commercial contract.
But if you add a price, then it becomes a commercial contract.
It's just that the price varies.
What may seem like a mere $1 actually includes many hidden costs.
After all, Starlight will need to spend money to buy trending topics and traffic.
However, from a long-term perspective, it's well worth it.
Li Gui became increasingly vigilant; Wanxia had even prepared the contract in advance, which clearly indicated that it was premeditated.
He started looking down.
I looked at it carefully for more than ten minutes, but I couldn't find any flaws.
Zhang Shulan and her group were also very patient.
"I'm sorry, I'm not a professional in this area. Could I ask a legal consultant from Starlight to take a look?" Li Gui was worried that there might be a problem with the contract.
Playing word games in contracts is difficult for non-professionals to detect.
"Okay, but you must ensure that this plan is not leaked. There is a clause in the contract that states that if any losses are incurred, Starlight will bear all the responsibility."
Zhang Shulan offered a reminder.
Li Gui nodded: "That's natural."
With such amazing music, how could Starlight Entertainment possibly allow this project to go wrong?
They'd love to spend more money to push the sunset project forward.
About half an hour later, Starlight's legal counsel arrived.
As requested by General Manager Li, he carefully reviewed the contract and confirmed that there were no problems, and that Wanxia had not played any word games.
“However… the contract term is one year,” the legal counsel replied.
"Director Zhang," Li Gui said with a look of ecstasy, "if this cooperation is successful, I hope that the next contract we, Xingguang, will sign with Wanxia will be... permanent."
He also knew Wanxia's concerns, fearing that Xingguang might renege on their promises after the contract was signed. This was understandable and human nature.
"no problem."
Exclusive usage rights are not the same as buying out the copyright. Zhang Shulan had consulted Zhaoyang's opinion and originally planned to win over Starlight Films on this project. Giving permanent exclusive usage rights would also be a sign of Wanxia's sincerity.
The money spent on this fight with Sihai Group could have bought the exclusive rights to use the content.
Then.
Li Gui signed his name on the contract.
"Director Zhang, it's a pleasure to work with you."
"It's a pleasure to work with you, Mr. Li."
The two sides shook hands happily, bringing the meeting to a successful close.
"Director Zhang...can I know who wrote this song 'Sold Out'?" Li Gui finally asked the only question on her mind.
He must be very famous in the American music scene to be able to write such a great English song; he might even know him.
“Li Zhaoyang, this is the man behind me.” Zhang Shulan pulled Zhaoyang out by the arm.
"President Li," Li Zhaoyang greeted him perfunctorily.
“Li Zhaoyang…that sounds familiar…what? Li Zhaoyang?” Li Gui realized, “Isn’t that the name that was recently banned by the official music authorities in China…”
Clearly, he, as the person in charge, is quite knowledgeable about domestic affairs.
"I didn't expect that you in the film and television industry would also pay attention to things in the music industry."
Zhang Shulan was somewhat surprised: "Won't this affect our plans?"
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