A great director who grew up happily

Chapter 302: Ways to Make Money

In the office building where Xingyao Huanian Company is located, employees who came to work saw the maintenance workers in work clothes busy at work and started talking about it.

"Does our company need to be renovated?"

"Maybe. It looks like they're installing new workstations and laying network cables."

"You haven't noticed. The three rooms on the east side, which were previously empty, seem to contain some equipment. There's a sign on the door saying 'No Trespassing'."

Chen Jinnian's company mainly serves his personal films, so the team size has always been relatively small. The sudden drastic adjustments now naturally aroused everyone's curiosity.

After a while, Liu Tingting came out of the office.

"Sister Tingting, is it Mr. Chen or Mr. Chen who came today? Do you have any inside information?"

"Yeah, let's talk about it."

Hearing everyone's questions, Liu Tingting sat back at her workstation. "The company has set up a new department, which has nothing to do with us at the moment. Hurry and continue with the work at hand. Complain if you should, delete if you should. If the boss finds you slacking off, don't blame me for not warning you."

After receiving the warning, everyone scattered back to their respective workstations, staring at their computer screens and began to get busy, only occasionally glancing to the east, curious about what department had been established that required such a large office area and equipment.

In the office, Chen Ming, who was sitting in the boss chair, was actually very curious. However, he was not curious about what department to set up, but about that large supercomputer full of technology. He was curious about where his son got it from and how much it cost.

But Chen Jinnian ignored him, so he had to keep these questions in his heart.

"Have you sent Didi to school?"

"Well, I just sent it. She didn't have any scenes to shoot recently, so I didn't let her take a leave." Chen Jinnian calculated the cost on a piece of paper and answered without raising his head.

"It's a bit troublesome for you to run between Shuxiang Yayuan and school every day. Why don't you do as your mother said and rent a new house."

"No need, Yidi doesn't want to live outside. It's not safe."

Chen Jinnian answered casually, but his mind was all on the paper. He had just done a simple calculation and found that the company did not have enough money to set up an independent special effects production department.

According to the false propaganda of external self-media, he should be worth over 100 million now. In fact, this is not the case. He is really short of money.

It cost 10 million to shoot "Hello Teacher", and more than 10 million has to be reserved for shooting web dramas and micro-movies, so the money available on the books is stretched.

Although the film's share of profits is about 80 million, it will not be credited until next year. As for why the money has been withheld for such a long time, I can only say that everyone who understands understands.

The longer the payment is delayed, the less money the cinema chain will actually pay. If the 80 million yuan can be delayed for a year, Chen Jinnian will lose 4 to 5 million yuan in interest alone.

This is also the reason why he doesn't like movie theaters very much. The model is too bureaucratic, and the actual box office and additional service fees are not transparent. Sooner or later, their living space will be squeezed out by streaming platforms.

But when you live under someone's roof, you have to bow your head. If you can't count on the profit share you deserve, you can only think of other ways. The special effects production department is a money-burning industry, and people, money and materials are all indispensable. Even if he has the supercomputer provided by the system, other computer equipment will still cost money.

A computer device suitable for special effects production starts at 50,000 yuan.

"Dad, do you think I can get a loan of 10 million in the name of the company if I mortgage the equipment to the bank?"

"Loan? It's not impossible, the key is that your equipment is difficult to value, and it may not be possible to loan so much money." Chen Ming said hesitantly. If it is something with a market price, banks will dare to lend according to a fixed depreciation ratio.

But the key is the company's equipment. There is no transaction record or market price. It is certainly valuable, but we don't know how much it is worth.

"Well, if it really doesn't work out, I'll just take some commercial endorsements and announcements. Now, being a black and red is still red, and it's still worth some money." Chen Jinnian threw the pen in his hand. He was actually very reluctant to take on these things, but if he didn't work now, after the special effects department was fully staffed, the company would not even be able to pay the employees' salaries.

"There's still some money at home. If it doesn't work, your mom and I will invest some more."

"Forget it. My family has invested a lot of money. From last summer vacation till now, we have invested more than 13 million. This money is enough for me to spend for the rest of my life, but it was all gone in one year. No wonder they say starting a business is a waste of money. I am not kidding."

"Hahaha, you earned 100 million with more than 10 million. I would wake up laughing in my dreams. What else are you dissatisfied with?" Chen Ming said happily. In his opinion, it was mainly because his son was too anxious. If the establishment of the special effects department was postponed to tomorrow, there would be no current predicament.

Chen Jinnian pushed the door open and walked out of the office, finding Liu Tingting at her workstation.

"Sister Tingting, please help me sort out some business invitations. They're low-paying and close to home. Show them to me."

"Oh, wait a minute, we have already picked it." Liu Tingting stood up hurriedly and went to look through the documents. Since Chen Jinnian had been lying down and not working for a long time, their artist department had basically nothing to do, and they had no idea how many times they had sorted out the notices sent to them.

After taking the information sorted out by the other party, Chen Jinnian sat at the workstation next to him and looked at it. There were many invitations, but not many of them were of high quality. They were mainly concentrated in clothing endorsements. Obviously, they were all attracted by his appearance, but there were many requirements, such as not wearing clothes of competitors, wearing branded clothing in public places, etc.

After reading it, he felt that the other party was not paying him to be the spokesperson, but more like they were here to collect his penalty for breach of contract.

He shook his head and put this part aside, then picked out two in the end.

One is an image contract with Baixiang, with an endorsement fee of four million and an authorization period of two years. It only requires taking a set of photos and a video. It is the most basic brand endorsement.

For endorsements one level lower than this, the only thing left is the signed authorization for a single product. Basically, the celebrity only signs and takes the money, and promises in the contract not to sue the brand for using their likeness. The celebrity is not responsible for anything else.

The other one was an invitation to a variety show "Longing for Life". He and Wang Yidi were invited to participate in the recording. The total notice fee was 600,000 yuan, and the shooting location was nearby Miyun.

"Sister Tingting, what season is this variety show in now?"

"Um, oh, 'Yearning' is a newly launched variety show. From what I've heard, it's just a slow variety show concept. There's no content yet, and the filming schedule isn't set. If it weren't for my favorite teacher He in it, I would have thrown it aside."

"That's it, then. I've also accepted the White Elephant one. Go and coordinate it and schedule the shoot for next month."

Chen Jinnian made the decision and said that neither invitation would take up too much time and there was no risk, as long as he could avoid someone's "anger".

Unripe beans are really poisonous. He is scared just thinking about it now. Teacher Huang may really not be able to cook. He is far worse than Fang Yuan.