084 No Special Effects Added

I am Catman!

Boss Li struck several poses in front of the mirror, then switched on his voice changer, and his voice immediately took on a strange new timbre.

He could meow and yowl at will.

Now he was in "yowl mode," and he addressed the mirror: "Magic mirror, magic mirror, who is the richest person in this world?"

"It's you, Catman, meow~ You're the richest in the world, meow~"

At the adjacent makeup station, Gan Xingnu squatted down, raised her fluffy "cat paw," and with a squeaky voice nearly made Boss Li lose his composure.

"When will your 'monthly visitor' be gone?"

"It'll be all clear tomorrow, meow~"

"Yoshi~~"

In this new production of "Black Cat Hero Cop," the setting remains that of a solitary hero, but there are plenty of new supporting characters—villains and allies alike—all styled after dashing felines.

But there's a crime syndicate, its main villain always a silhouette of a mouse, and their rallying cry is, "Long live One-Eared!"

Recently, in the course of overseas copyright negotiations, a rights dealer from the Kingdom of Prussia, who was already interested in the German-language version of "Masked Gourd Hero," expressed curiosity about the prospects for "Black Cat Hero Cop."

When he heard the phrase "Long live One-Eared," he got so excited he immediately shouted, "Heil, One-Eared!"

Catchy and delightful.

But, being quite broke, he was still holed up in a small hotel in Jianye, wracking his brains on how to win over Mr. Li Jie—the man with "creative power," the actor behind "Power of Red," and the creator of the "Gourd Hero" series.

Meanwhile, as "Sanjiang Media" realized just how wild and unpredictable the "creative power" avenue was, Cao Jingming immediately proposed within the group that they should strengthen cooperation with "creative power," delve deep into the province's outstanding children's cultural works, and vigorously support dynamic startups and emerging companies...

In short, the copyright deals for Upper and Lower Egypt are just appetizers. I've already pocketed quite a bit from those, but since I, Cao Jingming, have always had a good relationship with Boss Li of "creative power," there is no one better suited in all of Sanjiang Media to handle negotiations for the major language rights.

If our superiors have any issues with me, Cao Jingming, they can get rid of me anytime—I have nothing to say.

Of course, the upper management at Sanjiang Media had no objections, since Director Cao was highly capable, and they assured him that when it came to major language rights, he could set any price.

Naturally, the recent whirlwind trips by executives to open a company in the Kingdom of Bavaria weren't really related; it was just that their families wanted to travel around Europe and see what the rural castles of Bavaria looked like.

In the left hand, a career; in the right, a life.

Folks, brokering copyrights really is a fast way to make money.

But the initiative lay with "creative power." The high-ups at Sanjiang Media, who had an understanding with Cao Jingming, simply wanted him to persuade Boss Li to sign a long-term strategic partnership as soon as possible.

But Director Cao was in a tricky spot, because "Yongle Media," "Longyou Group," "Huating Media," and others had all sent representatives to make contact.

Outside Li Jie's filming location, there was just one van, but over forty identical vans were parked nearby—some there for overseas copyright negotiations, others for domestic regional rights.

Domestically, the focus was on merchandising.

The current batch of "Masked Bro" limited edition keychains could fetch millions, let alone the later "Masked Gourd Hero" line, which was an even bigger sensation.

Everyone was working both fronts: provincial and local digital TV stations competing for the secondary broadcast rights; local media companies vying for image and print product licenses; local distributors targeting the toy merchandise.

Take Sanjiang Province as an example: the deluxe, sixteen-mo "Gourd Hero" artbook, printed on coated paper, was just a collection of images with some text, a few dozen pages—how much could it sell for?

Forty-nine per copy. The Jianye Art Academy's publishing house, "Jianye Arts and Culture Publishing Co.," handled printing and distribution, with an initial run of fifty thousand.

Originally, no one expected much profit; Li had even prepared to buy up unsold stock himself and give them away as event gifts for children. But, unexpectedly, dozens of district and county TV stations, eager to make money, sold out the entire run in three days and immediately ordered another three hundred thousand.

Li had never seen anything like this. He thought he was playing at a high level, but now he realized he was just getting started.

So he split the over ten million yuan proceeds with the campus company and the local district and county TV stations.

Gladly accepted.

This explained the scene outside the set, with over forty vans and a nearby abandoned warehouse now used to store all the gifts and specialties.

Hams, pickles, fine wine, fruit…oh, especially the fruit—so sweet.

Boss Li planned to bring some fruit to visit Manager Yang in a few days, but he didn't know where Yang lived yet, so he worried some of the fruit might spoil before he found out.

"You have nowhere left to run!"

On set, "Black Cat Hero Cop" performed a one-handed backbend, his entire body encased in a sleek suit adorned with dazzling metallic decorations.

An African visitor, there to check on the production’s progress, was instantly excited—this look, these colors, they were perfect for the tastes of African audiences!

Wakanda is doomed!

But when he saw Li Jie throw the "cat claw shuriken," not only the African visitors but even the local crew were wide-eyed with disbelief.

"What the—? It's not CGI?!"

"No wonder the production costs are so low… It's not even special effects?!"

The custom "cat claw shuriken" had LED light units inside; with a squeeze, they would flash as they flew, dazzling in low light.

Especially when Li Jie threw six in one go—the trailing lines formed a streak of light, and Director Chen Bosheng, who had an eye for a good shot, could only marvel at the number of prodigies in the world.

"President…no special effects at all?!"

"Manager Park just joined, he's not yet familiar with the company. When our boss does his own shoots, he doesn't use stunts, CGI, or stand-ins."

Stage manager Wu Shuguang explained to Park Renyong, the head of online operations, who could only sigh: No wonder this country is called the Upper Kingdom—so many hidden masters.

When the explosion scene was nailed in one take, Park Renyong realized that the pyrotechnician for "creative power" was President Li Jie himself.

Could this really be possible?

He did a quick analysis—the company without President Li Jie was nothing, just a ramshackle troupe. But with him, it was a truly professional, efficient film production team!

When Boss Li wrapped up filming and began to rest, a crowd of visitors came to offer their regards, assuring him they were prepared with everything he might need, and that his satisfaction was guaranteed.

But Boss Li said he would be traveling soon, so he planned to rest first. Then, taking his "Innate Rice Worm Physique" and the actress playing "Little White Cat," Gan Xingnu, he left at once.

Such was his carefree style.

Before setting out to deliver fruit to Manager Yang—and possibly break his other leg—Boss Li, at the invitation of Ms. Gan Xingnu, possessor of the "Innate Rice Worm Physique," prepared to engage in an enthusiastic and sincere exchange of their respective collections.

All the way, Gan Xingnu was excited: Hooray, I'm about to be ravished, meow.