Peninsula: Superpowered Daily Life

Chapter 60 The Interviewer

Zhou Wenzhe drove to the Tianyi Capital office building, where Li Shanggen, the director of "Extreme Escape," was already there and waiting for him in the conference room.

Pushing open the conference room door, Zhou Wenzhe met the new director.

Despite being called a new director, Li Shanggen is actually quite old, nearing 40. He wears round black-rimmed glasses, is a bit overweight, and looks like a rather honest and simple person.

"Director Li, hello."

"Hello, Chairman Zhou."

Before coming here, Li Shanggen thought Zhou Wenzhe was a middle-aged man around his age, but he was surprised to find that Zhou was so young and handsome that he could definitely debut as an actor.

After they sat down, the two began to discuss the movie "Exit".

The total budget for this film is between 130 and 150 billion Korean won. In fact, the investment for this film had already been agreed upon, but after the actors were confirmed, a film company suddenly withdrew its investment, and now there is a funding gap of 60 to 70 billion Korean won.

Just then, Tianyi Capital showed interest in taking over this share, and Li Shanggen grasped at it like a lifeline, quickly going to discuss the details.

"Director Li, I heard that the male and female leads for this movie have been cast? Who are they?"

"The male lead is Jo Jung-suk, and the female lead is Girls' Generation's Yoona. They have already been learning rock climbing skills beforehand."

"Hmm, have the other actors been confirmed as well?" Zhou Wenzhe nodded. No wonder Lin Yoona has been working out lately; it turns out she's preparing for this movie.

"It's basically all settled. Does Chairman Zhou have any actors he likes?" Li Shanggen asked tentatively. He was well aware of the rules in the industry. Big capital like Zhou Wenzhe would definitely have its own conditions for investing, and placing actors in the crew was just the most basic requirement.

However, he spent a long time finalizing the male and female leads, and even secured Cho Jung-seok's schedule a year ago, determined not to change them. But if it really didn't work out, there was nothing he could do, since you can't do anything without money.

"No, I won't interfere with the casting process. As long as Director Li thinks it's suitable, that's fine."

"Then I'm very grateful for Chairman Zhou's support." Li Shanggen was genuinely surprised to hear Zhou Wenzhe say this; such a good investor is not easy to come by.

"Director Li, I'm not doing charity work. Investing so much money also means taking a huge risk, so I want to be the producer."

"No problem." Li Shanggen had no objection to this. Zhou Wenzhe's request was reasonable. With a shareholding ratio of over 50%, who else could serve as producer if he didn't?

"Okay, it's settled then. The funds will be transferred to the production crew's dedicated account within a week."

"Thank you, Chairman Zhou."

The two shook hands.

Once all the funding for "Extreme Escape" is in place, the production team will be assembled and a shooting schedule will be developed.

After Li Shanggen left, he immediately called his staff and several lead actors.

Im Yoon-ah, who was learning rock climbing skills at a climbing gym, also received the news.

Having been an actress for 12 years, this is her first time playing the female lead in a movie, so she prepared very hard for the role.

When she heard that the production team was still short of more than half of its funding, she was worried about whether the film could be made smoothly. Now, she can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Tianyi Capital?

There seems to be somewhere I've heard that before.

Hey, isn't this the company's newest shareholder?

Im Yoona suddenly realized that Tianyi Capital was one of SM Entertainment's recent new shareholders, and one of the top five shareholders in the company.

She also heard that Tianyi Capital had invested in several South Korean entertainment companies and even become the largest shareholder of YG Entertainment.

How did such a large amount of capital suddenly appear?

. . .

The day after his conversation with Lee Sang-geun, Zhou Wenzhe met with Lee Byung-hun, the director of "Extreme Job".

This person is also around 40 years old, but he has been in the industry for a full ten years. He started as a screenwriter, and his first work was the 2008 hit comedy film "Scandal Makers", starring Cha Tae-hyun and Park Bo-young.

Over the years, he has been involved in comedy films, but in recent years, the box office of comedy films in the Korean film market has been very sluggish, so it has not been very successful for him to raise funds for "Extreme Job".

Fortunately, this film required relatively little investment, so some smaller film companies were thinking of giving it a try and taking a gamble.

The total investment is 95 billion won, and more than half of that amount has already been confirmed.

The two had a pleasant conversation, and Zhou Wenzhe actually had a higher opinion of the film. Comedy films are difficult to make because every audience member has a different sense of humor, and there are far fewer comedy masters in the world than directors and actors of other genres.

However, if it's well-made, the box office will definitely be good, at the very least it won't lose money.

Tianyi Capital filled the remaining 43% share, and Zhou Wenzhe also took on the role of producer.

The two movies, "Extreme Escape" and "Extreme Job," started filming around the same time and are expected to wrap up around the same time, both likely to be released next year.

With this task, filming at least three films or TV series within the one-year deadline would complete two-thirds of the mission, leaving one more to go.

Zhou Wenzhe doesn't plan to invest in movies anymore after this one is rejected; instead, he plans to invest in TV series, and he'll invest in two at once.

This is called diversification.

Among the many scripts he received, Zhou Wenzhe chose "Hotel Del Luna" and "Major League Baseball".

Hotel Del Luna is a somewhat fantastical story that tells of Jang Man-wol, who is punished for committing too many killings in her past life and is bound to a hotel where the dead rest in peace, where she spends her days passing the time in boredom and trivialities.

Finally, as time passed and years went by, and the cycle of cause and effect continued, from Full Moon Inn to Hotel Del Luna, from innkeeper to president, Jang Man-wol finally found her redemption.

Zhou Wenzhe chose this script because he also possessed some of the superpowers of Zhang Manyue in the drama, so he wanted to see how this ability would be adapted into a television series.

The reason for choosing Major League Baseball is even simpler: it's one of his favorite sports. He was even selected for the high school team, and because of his incredible hitting and pitching abilities, he was scouted by Major League Baseball (MLB).

Unfortunately, he can only play these sports for fun and doesn't have the extra time to play professionally.

Moreover, if he goes to play professionally, is there any other team that can beat him?

Unlike football and basketball, which require teamwork, baseball only needs one outstanding player to completely change a team.

The casting for these two TV series has not yet begun, and Zhou Wenzhe, as the main investor, naturally became one of the interviewers.

During the negotiations for these film and television investments, Zhou Wenzhe was also invited to have a meal with Choi Sulli and Goo Hara.

The meal was held at Choi Sulli's house, and it was just the three of them, to thank him for his help.

Because of this meal, Zhou Wenzhe got to know the two girls better and also learned why Goo Hara had this traffic accident.

. . . . . .