The Best Director

“I’ve got to go, I have a class to attend!” Natalie said on the other end, about to hang up. Wang Yang replied with a hum, looking at the several-storied buildings along the street outside the car window, “I’ll be attending class soon too; but for now, I need to head to the company for work, bye.”

Natalie hadn’t ended the call yet, and added faintly, “As for ‘Sweetheart’, never mind it; after all, you’re not the director.” Speaking of which, she suddenly exclaimed in surprise, “Oh! Buddy, it’s later than I thought it would be, we talked for an hour? Damn, where did all that talk come from!” Wang Yang smiled, steering into the parking lot, as he said, “I don’t know, you tell me.” There were several occasions when he tried to end the call, but she would say “I have another question about your script”, and they would talk for a long time. He chuckled, “Thanks for your thoughts, I think they’ll be useful.”

Flame Film Company’s headquarters was no longer in its original spot. Last year, just before the end of the year, it moved to the coastal town of Santa Monica.

In this building, there were over two hundred employees of Flame Film and its subsidiary, Flames-Man. Of course, many positions were not office-based, especially in departments like distribution, international distribution, and public relations. Including these staff members who traveled frequently, Flame Film, which initially had little more than fifty people, now boasted close to 300 employees. If one also counted the over two hundred people at the independent subsidiary Blue Sky Studios, the group’s workforce exceeded 500.

“Good morning, Mr. Wang.” The crowd waiting for the elevator warmly greeted Wang Yang as he approached in his windbreaker and jeans. Although he was not a frequent presence at the company, as a member of Flame Film, who wouldn’t recognize their boss as the “youngest billionaire” Magic Yang? Even the company’s janitors could recite the story of his rise, how he turned ten thousand US dollars into a fortune of several hundred million.

“Hi, everyone!” Wang Yang nodded at them with a smile and joined them in the now open elevator. He didn’t recognize these people’s names or positions, but that didn’t stop them from making conversation. A dark-haired Caucasian woman in a women’s suit, holding a briefcase, asked with a laugh, “Mr. Wang, I’m Ada, when can we see your next movie?” Wang Yang looked at her and replied with a smile, “It might be a while, Ada, but I have a film production in the works; you can check out the Los Angeles Times.”

Then a black man half-seriously, half-jokingly said, “Mr. Wang, I love this job, but you know the economy isn’t great right now and my child is about to be born, when can I expect a raise?” The people in the elevator immediately laughed knowing that this young boss was an easy-going and affable person, so several others also chimed in with “I’m getting married soon,” “My mortgage is too much to handle…”

Wang Yang smiled and threw up his hands, saying to them, “Oh, that question, maybe you guys should ask Mark? I don’t handle that side of the company.” Suddenly, something came to his mind, and he asked, puzzled, “Guys, didn’t I remember the company giving raises last Christmas?”

Chatting and laughing with the staff, quickly the elevator opened and closed again. Wang Yang then arrived at the company’s executive office floor. Stepping out of the elevator, he saw Mark Slant instructing a female secretary in the distance. He waved and called out, “Hey, Mark!”

“Prepare these papers and get them to the meeting room…” Upon hearing the voice, Mark Slant glanced over, smiled, and said, “Hey, my boss! You’re here early today, which surprises me; you’re always ‘on time’ for meetings.” Wang Yang walked over with a smile, saying, “If not for the traffic, I could have been even earlier, I like this place in Santa Monica.”

After spending a while on this floor, Wang Yang wandered around the company, including the film storage room, equipment warehouse, and other places. When it was ten o’clock in the morning, the meeting officially started.

In the bright conference room, people occupied both sides of the long meeting table, and Wang Yang, as the chairman, sat in the main seat, with Mark Slant and other senior executives sitting on both sides.

Actually, the company’s board of directors wasn’t extensive. Flame Film was still a highly independent private film company, free of debt, without seeking venture capital or other financing from Wall Street, and it had not yet listed on NASDAQ. Both the business -savvy Mark Slant and Wang Yang, who barely knew half a bucket about business, agreed that the timing for the company to go public hadn’t arrived yet.

The purpose of listing was to raise funds, to gather more cash for developing the company; but Flame Film was not short on cash, easily managing its step- by-step development, everything progressing smoothly and rapidly. Speed isn’t always better; recklessly spending money on expansion could very easily spiral out of control one day.

However, Wang Yang was no longer the sole owner of Flame Film. Of the company’s shares, 95% belonged to him; the remaining 5% was distributed among the senior executives like Mark Slant.

The core reason for Flame Film’s current size was the launch of super-hit films like “High School Musical” and “The Pursuit of Happyness.” While a good portion of the credit could be attributed to him, the operational work behind the scenes, actual distribution and marketing, merchandise sales, channel expansion, and so forth were not his achievements; he was even unclear about the specifics.

Like in 1999 with “High School Musical,” the merchandise developed post-release was not extensive, not for lack of interest but because of missing channels and connections, not to mention international markets. For a few items like toys and clothes, the merchandising rights were cultivated for relationship building and didn’t earn much. By “High School Musical 2,” the franchise had expanded to novels, comics, and had made a mark in paid and free television collaborations and specific public venues.

The company was always progressing, relying on the efforts of these top-level talents. Otherwise, with him being a laissez-faire boss who only visited once or twice a month, even with many successful films, the company couldn’t possibly have developed into a top-notch independent film company with superb distribution capability and an extensive distribution network within two years.

Wang Yang, although not very business-sawy—having only grudgingly read some business and marketing books under the insistence of a blonde girl and “worked hard” for Stanford, ultimately choosing the University of Southern California without ever applying to Stanford—knew that to retain talent and encourage their passion for work, besides shouting “Work hard for the company’s future!”, tangible benefits were necessary.

Partnership was a good system to bind these talents to the company, making them truly feel like it was their “home.” It was their company too; the better the company did, the better they would do.

5% might not seem like much, but in fact, it’s quite substantial, because this isn’t 5% of some subsidiary, but of the parent company Flame Film, which means they’ll have a share in FM Company, Blue Sky Studios, and all future subsidiaries of Flame Film. Under the newly signed long-term contracts of the top-level executives, as the company’s performance improves each year, the reward system will grant them more shares incrementally, with the total cap not exceeding 10%; before going public, they could also purchase a certain number of shares from Wang Yang at less than half the issue price, terms in the contract that are undoubtedly highly motivating.

Of course, this ratio won’t stay the same forever, as future financing and share dilution will lead to changes, but for now, this is the way it is, and such distribution has already left all the key figures in the company very satisfied.

As it turns out, many times a person doesn’t know his own capabilities, or how great they are, until given an opportunity, and once it presents itself, combined with hard work and effort, his abilities can explode in ways that surprise even himself.

Take Mark Slant, for example. If he hadn’t become the CEO of Flame Film, maybe he’d still be an agent—perhaps discovering some major star to become a top agent, or possibly continuing as a mediocre one just getting by. But since getting that contract, his life has taken a different path. Now, he’s one of the “big shots” at Flame Film, becoming a rising star in the business world.

And then there were individuals like Simon Willis and Sandy Parks, who were once frustrated and mediocre at A-Pix Company. After joining Flame Film, under the right strategic direction, they too have done exceptionally well in their respective roles, contributing much to the company.

Of course, as the company continues to grow, more talent is needed, which is why Wang Yang set his sights on Lionsgate because it’s one of the most successful independent film companies in the future, its development and operation methods worthy of emulation, and its operating executors more than worth inviting over with great effort.

Last year, when FM Company was established, Wang Yang did call Jon Feltheimer, earnestly inviting Jon to join Flame Film; in that case, he would have received about 2% of the parent company’s share equity and taken over the entire operations of FM Company.

FM Company is more of a new brand, sharing distribution and production resources with FF Company. After establishing it, Flame Film transferred all business related to outsourced films to it, with FM responsible for distributing purchased films and those independent and commercial films that participate as investors. Costs for individual film production are provisionally set between $20 million and $200 million, with distribution fees for widespread releases not exceeding $10 million, while the FF brand only deals with in-house productions, no longer handling purchases of films.

However, Jon, also a partner at Lionsgate with a several-year-long contract, declined Wang Yang’s offer without much consideration. But this doesn’t mean Flame Film lacked new talent joining—Michael Burns, the current president of FM Company; Peter Wilkes, the investment director at FM Company…

Wang Yang looked at the financial statements laid out on the conference table, which clearly showed the company’s income and expenses for the year 2000, and listened to Mark Slant laughing on the side saying, “In 2000, our company released four major films, all of which made a killing, with stunning performances! Let’s first give our chairman some applause.” Simon Willis, Michael Burns, and others laughed and applauded, filling the meeting room with thunderous acclaim.

Thank you, everyone!” Wang Yang also smiled and clapped his hands, saying, “This is the result of our collective efforts! I ask everyone to maintain this enthusiasm this year and in the future. Thank you!”

Life’s encounters are truly marvelous. Three years ago, he couldn’t have imagined he’d be sitting in a meeting room, speaking such words to a group of men and women in their thirties and forties. But now, he did it effortlessly, without any nervousness, fumbling, or excitement. He felt somewhat old, not quite like a 21-year-old. Just this month, he had gotten his “liquor license” and had fantasized many times about his first act after getting it—going to a bar to pick up hot girls and getting wasted. But now he had done none of that, which was unbelievable.

Memento,” and

He smiled and glanced down at the documents. In 2000, Flame Film released “The Pursuit of Happyness,” “High School Musical 2,” ” “Juno,” though in this report, “Juno,” released only at Christmas, had not been included.

First, the income situation. In box office revenue, “The Pursuit of Happyness made $203 million in North America, $385 million worldwide, with a net income of over $140 million; “High School Musical 2” made $101 million in North America, $221 million worldwide, with a net income of $83.5 million; “Memento” brought in $5531 million in North America, $84.11 million globally, with a net income of $31 million. Altogether, these amounts to a net profit of $254.5 million US dollars.

In 2000, the total North American box office was $7.6 billion, with Flame Film’s four movies making $450 million at the box office, accounting for close to 6% of the market share—the most of any independent film company, with Lionsgate holding only 1%.

In original soundtracks (CDs) and DVDs, “The Pursuit of Happyness” had already sold 800,000 CDs and 4 million DVDs worldwide, netting $50 million in earnings; “High School Musical 2” continued its soundtrack success with 4 million CDs sold, and its newly released DVD sold 5 million copies, bringing in $80 million in revenue; “Memento” sold 120,000 CDs and the DVD had yet to be released, contributing nearly $1 million in revenue.

These two main sources of merchandise added another $131 million in revenue. At the same time, the three films generated an additional $60 million in rental and other miscellaneous income, with “High School Musical” contributing an extra $10 million, and re-releases from the company’s film library gaining $10 million in licensing fees. This summed up to an additional $201 million, combining with the box office earnings to roughly $465.5 million.

$465.5 million! That was the company’s post-tax income for the year 2000, not including “Juno,” after nearly depleting its cash reserves mid-year.

But that didn’t reflect the company’s account balance, because there were expenses: “Juno’s” promotional and exhibition fees of $35 million, the almost ready-to-shoot “Mr. Hughes” with a production cost of $65 million, “High School Musical 3” with a production cost of $35 million, and then dividends to shareholders, employee salaries and bonuses, and investments in core business functions, had all taken about $70 million US dollars; and another $50 million allocation to FM Company.

Because the company was privately held, he withdrew $20 million in cash as the majority shareholder and donated another $20 million a few days ago, so a total expenditure of $295 million was recorded; Flame Film now had $170.5 million in cash.

If you add the $50 million for FM Company, $100 million for Blue Sky Studios, and two movies in production, Flame Group’s market capital reached $400 million; if “Juno” was calculated to bring in at least $100 million in worldwide post-tax box office revenue and significant merchandise sales, then Flame Group’s market valuation would have already exceeded $500 million, and the available cash would soon be $300 million US dollars.

Excellent!” Wang Yang put down the financial report, looked around at all the smiling executives at the conference table, and applauded with a laugh, “This is a surprise, excellent!” He turned to look at Mark Slant and nodded, “Mark, let’s start discussing the company’s plans.”

This year, Flame Films (FF) confirmed that “High School Musical 3” would have a massive release in August during the summer slot. Apart from that, there were no other film plans that had been greenlit, and it was obviously too late for “Sweetheart” to be pushed out for the summer slot. Even if possible, releasing it alongside “High School Musical 3” would be entirely detrimental without any benefits. The harsh Christmas slot wasn’t suitable for youth musicals either, so, if all went smoothly, “Sweetheart” was likely to premiere around March or April of 2002.

In 2002, FF also had “Ice Age” scheduled for the summer slot, and “Mr. Hughes,” which had an undecided release date but was certain to premiere. However, all of that was for 2002. This year, only one major film release was planned, and the “Money-Grabbing Chairman’s” new work seemed to be a distant prospect. Therefore, this year, the focus of Flame Group’s efforts would shift to FM Company. Naturally, sufficient funding would be provided, with the goal for FM to quickly establish a good, stable screening model and to continue developing its film and television library.

This year, we’ll distribute one major film and preview 20, expanding our library to 2000 films,” Michael Burns stood in front of the projector, pointing at the image behind him, presenting, “Our goal by 2002 is to increase the number of major film releases to two, and then grow by two each year thereafter…”

We should start getting into the television business. I’ve made contacts, and many TV stations are interested in pre-ordering our TV series. We could start with small-budget sitcoms…”

The overseas market has still not been sufficiently tapped by us. Many countries and regions have not screened our movies, costing us a huge loss in overseas box office revenue…”

Wang Yang sat quietly at the head of the table, twirling a pen in his hand, occasionally giving his opinions. But he wouldn’t give too much affirmation or veto, as he wasn’t the specialist. He had entrusted the company to these talents to make decisions; of course, if he was certain about a better approach, he’d speak up and make suggestions. Also, some more significant investment matters did require his attention.

Boss, I suggest the company build a soundstage,” Mark Slant passed a document to Wang Yang as he adjusted his black-framed glasses, saying, “This is my proposal. There are several reasons for this plan: first, the company has ample cash and the financials are robust; second, whether it’s for “Mr. Hughes” or future company productions, we need soundstages, which will save a lot of costs…”

Wang Yang looked at the proposal in his hand, nodding slightly. Although so far, his films had all been shot on location, there would eventually be a need for a soundstage, not to mention FM Company’s plan to launch more than six original films a year by 2005. Having a soundstage would mean Flame Group’s crews wouldn’t have to rent other companies’ facilities, saving a considerable amount in the long run.

After reading through the proposal for a while, he nodded with conviction and said with a smile, “I agree with this plan. It’s time for us to have our own soundstage.”

Wow!” The conference room burst into thunderous applause, and everyone immediately cheered and clapped happily, signifying that the company had escalated to another level. Apart from market share in the box office, it was gradually becoming a major independent film company in terms of equipment too.

After the applause subsided, a smiling Mark Slant continued, “Boss, look at the back, I suggest we choose Vancouver for the location of the soundstage. There are many tax incentives there, which not only would reduce the cost of constructing the soundstage but also benefit its operation. You know, more and more film crews are heading to Vancouver to save money,” he joked. “Damn America!” The room erupted in laughter.

Wang Yang flipped through a few pages of the proposal, smiling at its content, and quickly nodded, “OK, with so many benefits, let’s build it there.”

According to the plan, the total cost of the soundstage was one hundred million US Dollars, but the construction would be completed in several phases. The first phase would involve an initial investment of fifty million US Dollars, including some standard indoor sets like offices, hospitals, homes, etc. In the future, the sets needed for Flame Group’s movie productions would also be made there whenever possible. After the filming was done, any reusable sets would be preserved to achieve the goal of recycling resources.

Soon, lunchtime arrived. After Wang Yang had lunch at a restaurant next to the company, he enjoyed the sea breeze by the beach in Santa Monica. The afternoon meeting then continued, where several decisions were discussed. Although it exhausted him, he was in a terrific mood because what he saw was a vigorous and thriving company!

Inside the garage, Wang Yang glanced at Jessica’s car parked nearby, tossed the keys he was holding, and while walking out of the garage, called out, “Jessica, I’m back, are you at home?” A crisp voice faintly echoed from inside the house, “Mhm, I’m blow-drying Danny’s fur; it’s almost done, he just had a bath!”

Wang Yang listened attentively to the hum of the blow dryer. Thinking of the lively Danny during the drying session, he decided it was better not to get involved, despite the process being short. He smiled and headed toward the backyard, shouting, “I’m going to the garden!” Upon reaching the garden, he didn’t slack off, but continued with an unfinished task – attaching a swing to the Chinese parasol tree. It wasn’t Jessica’s idea, but his own; he had always dreamed of having such a wooden swing as a child.

Standing in front of the huge and dense Chinese parasol tree, he looked up at the high branches and muttered, “A man’s job.” Then he took a few steps back, sprinted forward, leaped onto a foothold, and agilely climbed the tree.

Tweet, tweet…” Hearing these noises, Wang Yang, standing on a main branch, furrowed his brows in confusion. Birds? When had a nest appeared on the tree? He climbed a bit higher towards the sound and looked at a distant branch, where a bird’s nest was firmly built, with several yellow-brown nestlings peeking out, chirping away.

Oh, MAN! A nest of sparrows.” Wang Yang observed the ordinary yet spiritually energetic sparrows, taking several deep breaths before suddenly shouting loudly, “Hey, Jessica! Jessica! Come out.” A distant voice echoed back, “Hold on, what’s up?” Wang Yang responded loudly, “A surprise!” He smiled at the new lives and then asked softly, “Hey, is your mom an underage girl?”

With that, he shook his head and laughed, feeling a sudden sense of relief as if he had put down a heavy stone. He knew he had completely let go of the pregnancy incident in “Juno.” No need to worry so much, life will naturally find a way out.

What’s up?” Jessica’s voice was getting closer. Wang Yang smiled and slowly climbed down the tree, turning back to say, “Life! We’ve got some guests in our home, there’s a nest of sparrows in the tree.” He was about to step down to the next foothold when he missed it completely, and his entire body fell backward from two meters high, exclaiming, “Oh my God…”

Jessica, who had come to the garden, saw this happen just in time. Her heart clenched, and she ran over in a reflexive panic, screaming, “Yang!”

With a thud, Wang Yang landed heavily on the lawn. He felt pain all over and didn’t want to move at all, gasping for air and grimacing, “Crazy… Oh, shit! It hurts so much!” Jessica came to his side, her face pale with anxiety, and crouched down hastily, looking at him with a trembling voice, “Oh my God! Yang, are you okay? Stay calm, calm! I need to call 911, yes…”

No no no!” Wang Yang forced a smile for her, took a few deep breaths, and the pain was almost subsiding. He shook his head, smiling, “Not necessary, I’m fine, no strange feelings in the muscles or joints, no worries! Just my butt hurts a bit…” He laughed a few times and lay spread-eagled on the lawn, adding, “This is nothing, when I was a kid I tried jumping off a three-meter-high rooftop. Do you know what happened in the end? Wow, not a single scratch.

Jessica’s eyebrows were tightly furrowed, caressing his arm, “Are you sure you’re fine? No, we still need to go to the hospital to have it checked.” Wang Yang still shook his head, “Trust me, huh! If something was wrong, I wouldn’t tough it out, I’m not an idiot.” Seeing that he seemed truly unharmed, Jessica stood up and, still angry, lightly kicked him, saying, “You scared me to death. Was this your ‘surprise’? I told you to use a ladder, why didn’t you listen to me! You’re not Tarzan!”

Unable to help himself, Wang Yang chuckled and punched the grass, “I don’t want to argue, but you’re right, scold me… haha!” Jessica sighed helplessly and rolled her eyes, glancing up at the Chinese parasol tree. Where were those sparrows? She then looked at him, “Do you want me to help you up?”

Wait a minute.” Through the lush leaves of the Chinese parasol tree, Wang Yang looked up at the sky filled with sunset hues and the clouds drifting with the wind, and he softly exclaimed, “Right now, like this, it’s beautiful…”

The director’s artistic cells were kicking in again! Jessica smiled and sat down on the grass next to him, hugging her knees and looking up at the sky, and indeed it was truly beautiful.

Clair opened her mailbox with a pout; she had been feeling extremely annoyed these past few days. Initially, she thought the collective pregnancy would be something cool and interesting, but now it seemed not so fun. She took out the mail from the mailbox and looked at one of the letters in confusion. It was addressed to their school and then forwarded here.

Who sent this, Los Angeles, Wang Yang? Clair blinked and stood dumbfounded for a few seconds before muttering to herself, “Wang Yang? Magical Yang! How can it be!” She quickly tore open the letter, glanced at the handwritten note inside, and looked first at the signature at the end of the letter. It was the same as Magical Yang’s signature she had seen online. She couldn’t help exclaiming, “Oh, my God, this is real…”

Because of the collective pregnancy? She read on with furrowed brows. What had he written? A lecture for me?

The letter read, “Hello, I’m Wang Yang. You may like me, you may not, but I have to say, what you did was heartbreaking… Girl, I’m not here to say whether you’re right or wrong, you’ll make that judgment yourselves one day. You’re going to face many, many difficulties in the future, even more than Juno did. Maybe one day, you’ll curse, ‘Damn Magical Yang, damn Juno, let them die’…

Clair read these words silently, feeling no preaching or lecturing, just sincerity. For some reason, her heart felt warm.

She smiled and continued reading: “I hope through this pregnancy, you can be like Juno, clearly understand yourselves, know yourselves… So whether you raise the baby on your own or seek adoption like Juno, you will handle it well… Anyway, good luck to you all! Good luck to the little babies! Do my words not sound cool? Yes, but do you know what’s actually cool? I don’t know either, I’m waiting for the day when you can tell me. Wang Yang.”

What is cool? Clair was at a loss, thinking about her parents’ shocked and disappointed faces, looking at the letter, she suddenly felt choked up and softly said to herself, “I don’t know what kind of girl I am…” She fell silent for a moment, then suddenly grabbed the letter and ran towards the other end of the town.

Jenny! I got a letter from Magical Yang…” Out of breath, Clair arrived at her best friend Janet’s front lawn, only to find Janet sitting on the grass with a letter in hand as well. Clair asked, gasping, “Did you get one too?”

Janet nodded, wiping away tears, and said, “Clair, we’ve been a bit too headstrong.” Clair exhaled wordlessly and said, “I know, but what can we do now?” Janet waved the letter in her hand, smiling, “I’ve already got an idea, I’ll be like Juno, for this baby, I’ll find a good adoptive family, it’ll be happy and joyful.”

Hmm…” Clair responded quietly, and then with a sudden smile, said, “Me, you, Hettie… we’ll all make it.”