“Jason, if you’re making a movie, it’s best to set up a film company here. That way, your investment will avoid a lot of risks.”
Amanda, though a lawyer, majored in economics and minored in criminal law. The advice she offered Zheng Bai Cheng was undoubtedly important.
Zheng Bai Cheng immediately responded, “Amanda, you’re absolutely right. But, isn’t California’s tax rate very high? Do you know which state has a lower tax rate?”
“I think it’s Delaware. Their tax rate is very low. Of course, Seattle’s is relatively low too.”
Why was Zheng Bai Cheng so concerned about taxes? North American taxes were extremely high, and he wasn’t a local company like the others who could make a film appear to be a loss. Since he wasn’t a local, he didn’t have as many ways to work around it, so he could only find a place with a low tax rate.
“Amanda, I’ll leave this to you. Name the company Jason Entertainment Company.” Zheng Bai Cheng waved his hand, delegating the task to Amanda.
“Boss, Delaware is in the northeastern part of America, and we’re in the southwest. One’s on the East Coast, the other’s on the West Coast. They’re very far apart. Then…”
“More money, I’ll cover the expenses.”
“OK! You understand me so well, Boss.”
“You should bring Hans with you, have him be your bodyguard. That way, you’ll have a safe trip.” Zheng Bai Cheng added, this might increase the cost, but it was okay. He could still afford it. At the moment, the US dollar was strong. One ounce of gold was 35 dollars.
Amanda, with her materials prepared, brought Hans with her, and they set off in a flurry. Zheng Bai Cheng, meanwhile, began researching the movie he wanted to make.
He had collected a large amount of North American movies, discovering that musicals held a significant market share. While current North American films were commercial, they still held a high level of artistry. That was his guess, but his movie was primarily for making money, everything else was secondary.
A week later, Amanda returned, and she said to Zheng Bai Cheng, “North America’s tax season is in April every year. It’s best to hire someone there to manage the company…”
She spoke for a long time, and Lin Xiao Hua, now Zheng Bai Cheng’s secretary, noted down these matters.
“The tax burden is much heavier than in Hong Kong. But it’s okay, your expenses and living costs will be calculated into it.” Zheng Bai Cheng grumbled his thoughts.
Amanda simply replied, “You’re really a capitalist.”
“Thank you!” Zheng Bai Cheng took her words as a compliment and said, “Tomorrow, we’ll register the copyright for my script at the copyright office.”
“Wow, you’re a real vampire~”
Hollywood had a Writers Guild. You could register copyright there, but it had a time limit and it wasn’t necessarily useful. Going to court sometimes posed a risk.
…
As the saying goes, every journey begins with a single step, but once you take that step, there are more challenges ahead. However, money can make things easier. They rented a location on the Warner Bros. studio lot where they would film.
As for actors, normally you’d go to the Actors Guild to find people, but Zheng Bai Cheng’s Jason Entertainment was a TM abnormal movie. The actors were recruited from the South California Film School. You could say, they had a plethora of applicants.
The Paramount Decree of 1948 put a limit on Hollywood’s thriving film industry, causing it to decline. This made it much easier for Zheng Bai Cheng to recruit people.
This movie only had two scenes, one for editing and one for the filming location.
“WTF, this is a movie?” Amanda exclaimed. She hadn’t read the script and thought that Zheng Bai Cheng, an outsider from the mainland, wouldn’t know how to write a script. She looked down on Zheng Bai Cheng in her heart. This was normal, British arrogance was infamous. Of course, if you’re powerful enough, respect will come naturally.
When filming began, Amanda saw the script and was stunned. This TM was a script? This TM was a movie? She couldn’t help but curse.
“Do you and Hans want to play a role?”
Hans said it didn’t matter, he smiled sheepishly. That look expressed his inner joy.
“No salary, you capitalist?”
“It’s just for fun.”
Lin Xiao Hua also smiled. She felt it was lively here. She had become the logistics staff and prepared a lot of food.
Over the next two weeks, the movie wrapped quickly. The filming process was uneventful. These people were all newcomers, and the movie didn’t require experienced people.
Only the final scene took three days. It required authenticity, and they hired a professional actor to play the zombie.
“That’s it?”
“YES, GAMEOVER!”
Zheng Bai Cheng was very happy. All that remained was editing. The editing for this movie could only be done by someone else. He didn’t know how to edit. The director he hired was also a second-rate director, a young director from the film school. He served as the producer.
This team of twenty-odd people, the things they created, in Amanda’s eyes, were unreliable.
“If your movie hits the big screen, I’ll forgo my monthly salary.”
Zheng Bai Cheng also said, “I also don’t think it’ll sell. Everyone’s a newcomer, even the music. It’s really a bad movie.”
Post-production was also simple. The movie itself didn’t have any technical content, and he wasn’t sure if it would be successful. But it didn’t matter.
“Cheng Ge, it’s okay if the movie doesn’t succeed…” In private, Lin Xiao Hua comforted Zheng Bai Cheng, telling him not to be discouraged.
Feeling comforted by his fiancée, Zheng Bai Cheng laughed, then took Lin Xiao Hua’s hand and said, “I know, this is just a try.”
He looked at the calendar and realized he’d been here for three months. Time flew by. Last night, when he called Xiao Fen, he learned that things weren’t peaceful in Hong Kong. There was a labor dispute at the plastic flower factory, and things were very tense over there.
He told Xiao Fen to move the goods from her store to Hong Kong Island and close the store. Hong Kong Island was naturally safer than Kowloon.
He also told Zahuojiaang to stay away from Kowloon.
“Poor kid, we’re fine here. At worst, we’ll stop taking orders. We’ll sell out what we have and close up. Once this blows over, we’ll reopen.”