The Best Director

Clap clap clap clap! When Greg Holmes, the founder and CEO of the graphics engine company, signed his name on the contract, a round of applause suddenly broke out in the bright meeting room. Representatives from the senior management of both companies stood up with happy smiles on their faces, shaking hands and congratulating each other, “Pleasure doing business with you!” “Flame Films and the graphics engine will have a bright future!”

Dressed in a black suit jacket, Wang Yang led the way towards Greg Holmes, shook his hand energetically, and said with a smile, “I believe that soon, the graphics engine will become a top-tier special effects production company. But Greg, this depends on you.” Greg gave a confident chuckle and nodded, “Give me one month, and I’ll bring a brand-new look to the graphics engine.” Wang Yang nodded with a smile, “Hmm, of course!”

As they gently parted with a brief hug, the crowd burst into warm applause again. Amidst clapping and laughter, Flame Films finally completed the acquisition, obtaining 85% of the graphic engine’s shares for a price of 6 million dollars, with 25% of the shares intended to be gifted to the talents soon to join the company; 50 million dollars was also injected for operational development funds including purchasing and developing technology, expanding staff, extending business, and more.

Juno’s North American box office finally settled at 212 million, and the overseas box office was also 163 million. This brought Flame Films a post-tax revenue of 138 million dollars from a global total box office of 375 million dollars; along with the revenue from the hot-selling original soundtrack CDs, newly stocked DVDs making thirty million, and an additional fifty million from follow-up merchandising and other businesses related to films like High School Musical 2. Without spending a dime, Flame Films’ cash could reach 388 million dollars.

But 50 million dollars had already been invested in the construction of a photostudio in Vancouver; “Sweetheart” had a production cost of 20 million; the upcoming High School Musical 3’s promotional costs amounted to 20 million; and 17 million had already been spent on District 9- After completing the acquisition and capital injection into the graphics engine, Flame Films’ account still had 225.5 million dollars.

Next year, Flame Films has several movies scheduled for large-scale release, and it is expected that High School Musical 3 will bring in at least 100 million in profit. This money should suffice to manage quite well. Currently, about 60 to 80 million of the 225.5 million will probably be allocated for the production costs of District 9, although a significant portion of this money will end up in the pockets of the newly-formed special effects team at the graphics engine.

The key individuals confirmed to join the company include Sean Walsh, Peter Wools, etc., all of whom will become partners in the company, and also hold important positions. For instance, Sean Walsh will be the visual effects supervisor; he will also be the computer production supervisor for District 9 and the leader of the entire special effects team, including the recruitment of modelers, CG animators, etc., to assemble a team capable of achieving the perfect effects for District 9.

Peter Wools will serve as the visual effects director, with a focus on establishing a new “I&B” department in collaboration with Blue Sky Studios, recruiting programmers, and other talents for research and development projects including 3D engines, software systems, CG compositing technology, among others. There is also a core project that, in the development blueprint, will soon become the company’s “ace in the hole,” with the goal of establishing the graphics engine as the go-to place for the best effects in the near future.

This project is “biological production,” involving the creation of imaginative creatures like the aliens in District 9, as well as animals and insects like wolves, tigers, lions, birds, fish, butterflies, which are major technologies Blue Sky Studios has been researching. Although Blue Sky is known for its “cute” animation style and the graphics engine for its “lifelike” realism, the technologies for things like biological skeletonization, textures, and mapping techniques for fur, clothing, and other elements are largely interchangeable.

The upcoming establishment of I&B has both Chris Wedge and Peter Wools very excited as well as full of confidence and expectations. Both men said half seriously and half jokingly, “This will be the beginning of an image revolution!”

Expanding the company, recruiting talent to form new teams, developing new technologies… these are the tasks for people like Greg Holmes, Sean Walsh, Peter Wools, and others.

Wang Yang’s job was to start assembling the cast for “District 9,” as well as preparing the necessary equipment, locations, props, and so on. One difference between sci-fi films and reality-themed films is that many props, like firearms and other weaponry, need to be designed and custom-made, including the sets; once the crew had all the pre-production work ready, and Sean Walsh’s team had the special effects team organized, they could officially start filming, which was scheduled for early September.

After signing the contract, everyone chatted and laughed happily for a while before ending the meeting. After sending off Greg Holmes and others, Wang Yang returned to the chairman’s office, immediately took off his suit, and changed into summer T-shirt and shorts. Standing by the floor-to-ceiling windows and looking at the street scene outside, he could feel waves of heat—if it hadn’t been for the air conditioning, he would have been roasted alive!

To the beach!” Wang Yang sighed with a smile and left the office to head to the nearby beach, where Jessica, Joshua, Zachary, and Eileen, among a few friends, were waiting for him. Just as he stepped out of the company’s main entrance, he encountered Nolan walking towards him. Wang Yang raised his right hand and greeted with a smile, “Hey, Chris! What brings you here?”

Yang,” Nolan greeted back and continued walking over, smiling slightly, “I’m here to fetch some documents, it’s about ‘Memento.\'”

Wang Yang nodded with a smile, “Oh!” He wasn’t sure what it was about since the company had too many affairs, and that wasn’t within his jurisdiction; he only knew the rough progress of “Mr. Hughes.”

Back in April, the biopic had already started official shooting in the studio, adopting an interior then exterior sequence, and currently, only the interior part was nearing completion; and starring as Howard Hughes was “comedy king” Jim Carrey, which really surprised the media at that time. A hilarious, exaggerated body language… Howard Hughes? Hard to imagine! But both Nolan and Jim Carrey said that it was a significant transition for the big screen.

Chris, urn…” Wang Yang suddenly felt something was off, he looked Nolan up and down, noticing he was dressed in a white shirt and black trousers, including a black suit jacket, and beads of sweat were forming on his forehead under the neatly parted hair, while he held a water bottle in his hand. He couldn’t help but quip with a puzzled smile, “Buddy, if you’re hot, why not take off the jacket?” Just looking at him made him feel stuffy and hot.

Nolan shook his head lightly and smiled, “It’s okay, no worries, I’m used to dressing this way.” He paused and then joked, “Won’t get heatstroke.”

Haha! Then I’m relieved,” Wang Yang chuckled, clapping him on the shoulder, pointing towards the beach, “I’m planning to go play at the seaside, my girlfriend and a few friends, paparazzi; swimming, beach volleyball. Want to join us?” Nolan declined promptly, “No, thanks.” Wang Yang nodded and smiled, “OK, I figured as much. Then hurry inside, the air conditioning is cool!

He patted Nolan’s shoulder again, “Chris, see you later.” Saying that, he headed off towards the beach.

The news that Flame Films had acquired Image Engine to build its own special effects company was reported by media following the film industry the next day, which is somewhat of a novelty since almost no independent film company has a special effects department. The reason is simple: they can barely maintain themselves, let alone nurture a special effects company.

But for Flame Films, it didn’t seem so surprising. Which independent film company has an animation production subsidiary? Back when Flame Films had assets of only $200 million, they dared to “bite off more than they could chew,” and now acquiring a small player like Image Engine was just too common.

However, a few days later, something surprising did happen. According to some tabloid media reports, Wang Yang had “irresponsibly” invested in setting up a new game development company “Tinder-Entertainment,” and had recruited some members from the renowned RPG game developer Black Isle Studios. No one knew what Wang Yang planned to do, but the source of the news was his blog, which excitedly read, “This is awesome! The company now has a host of talented, passionate employees who are gifted in gaming, WOOD!

After receiving an invitation from Wang Yang, Chris Taylor and others considered for half a month and finally agreed. However, they requested ample creative freedom and stable financial support for developing the game. Wang Yang, of course, agreed; every form of creation needs freedom, regardless of whether they asked for it or not, he wouldn’t meddle, professional matters should be left to the professionals, after all, he was just a player.

With an initial investment of 15 million, he owned 75% of the shares in Pyra Company, while Chris Taylor and others held the remaining 25% through technical shares. What Pyra Company needed to do now was to find a game publisher to collaborate with and to negotiate with BioWare, a company that had a good relationship with Black Isle Studios, for the rights to use their game engine.

But these things could be said to have nothing to do with Wang Yang; his part as an investor was done. The next steps were left to Pyra Company, and Paul Emery would represent him in monitoring the progress and financial status.

Pleasure doing business with you, Evan!” In the spacious and elegant living room, Wang Yang looked at the dark-haired Caucasian man sitting on the sofa to his left with a smile—29-year-old Blogger founder Evan Williams. Evan put down the signing pen, a flicker of excitement crossing his face, but it was mostly a sense of relief from fatigue. He was finally able to pay off his father’s investment! He took a deep breath and said with a smile, “Yang, it’s been a pleasure, thank you for recognizing the value of Blogger.”

Wang Yang waved his hand and said with a smile, “It’s no big deal! Blogger is a very cool thing. It was bound to become an important player on the internet sometime. Maybe next year, maybe the year after, but it will.” He extended his hand to Evan and said earnestly, “Evan, keep up the good work with Blogger! You guys will prove yourselves.”

Smiling, Evan Williams was filled with joy and gratitude. Ever since he wrote a post on his blog describing the company’s situation—”Everyone left except for me”—he had received a lot of responses, including one from Daniel Bricklin, the “father of electronic spreadsheets” and the CEO of Trellix. Daniel had once halted a deal that could have kept Pyra afloat.

In the letter, Daniel offered words of encouragement, as did everyone else. But there was one person who, apart from offering encouragement, also said, “I like Blogger, and I hope I can become a part of Pyra.”

Thank you!” Evan said, giving Wang Yang’s hand a firm shake and adding, “Thank you, thank you!”

He agreed to the acquisition for several reasons. Firstly, the company needed money, although it wasn’t exactly struggling to survive. The staff had resigned, and the office space was no longer in use. The only expenses he had to cover were “his own salary,” along with the costs of bandwidth, servers, and rent. Despite this, Blogger had practically stagnated apart from its user registrations, but he could keep going.

The reason he signed the contract to transfer 60% of Pyra’s shares for 2 million, apart from the very generous terms, was the magical insight and appreciation Yang had for blogging. Handing over Pyra to him wouldn’t bury the company and Blogger; instead, it would only get better.

It’s nothing,” Wang Yang repeated with a smile, seeing Evan’s “touched expression, and couldn’t help rolling his eyes as he said, “Come on, man, cut it out!” Since Pyra was essentially Evan Williams and his apartment, after expressing interest, Evan had traveled from San Francisco to Los Angeles for face-to-face discussions. Everything went smoothly, and after the lawyers drafted the contract, it was signed in this very living room.

He chose not to go for a 100% acquisition because Blogger needed to continue developing, which was Evan’s job. A second-largest shareholder with 40% of the company would have a very different mindset towards the company compared to an employed worker. Pyra needed a CEO full of enthusiasm and talent!

Tea and desserts are ready!” At that moment, Jessica came out of the dining area with tea and desserts, placing them on the coffee table with a smile before sitting down next to Wang Yang.

Both men thanked her, and Wang Yang took a sip of tea and said with a smile to Evan Williams, “Evan, you know I’m going to make an initial capital injection of 3 million. How should we use it to improve Blogger? Let me first share some of my thoughts, though they may not be professional.” Jessica watched with interest.

Evan laughed and shook his head. Wang Yang pondered for a moment and then said seriously, “I think our top priority now is to redesign Blogger’s website. No offense, but I think it could be prettier and more attractive.” Evan Williams smiled with a “I don’t mind” expression and nodded, “I thought about that too, hiring some professional graphic designers to update the site, but I didn’t have the money.”

Now, there is,” Wang Yang said with a laugh, shrugging his shoulders and continuing, “I think a Blog is like our home, a home on the web where we show ourselves to our friends, to strangers.” He looked around and laughed, “But a home should be beautiful, have its own character, be something you like… We should figure out a way to make everyone feel that the Blog is their home, where they would want to take care of it, like making their Blogs pretty, regularly updating posts; they might also invite friends over to ‘visit’…” Jessica nodded silently.

As he spoke, he suddenly frowned—isn’t this just like? While thinking, he said, “We need to find a way to get everyone to invite, to bring Bloggers into their real social circles so that our users multiply from one to ten, ten to a hundred… Oh, viral marketing!”

That’s a great concept!” Evan Williams exclaimed reflexively, his face contemplative; the more he thought about it, the more sense it seemed to make. “Home, blog… Wow, this is a really good idea!” He looked excitedly at Wang Yang, saying, “I always thought about online publishing, where everyone can publish freely and without charge, but that’s not all there is to it! My god, you should get into IT!”

Wang Yang couldn’t help but smile and with a spread of his hands, he joked, “Maybe if I had gone to Stanford.” After saying that, he suddenly realized something was amiss and glanced at Jessica, only to see her smiling happily, apparently oblivious to the Stanford remark. He immediately laughed and said, “Evan, you know our goal is to become an important part of the internet, and as for making money, we’ll take it slow; I’m not demanding that.”

Evan Williams was still excited, as if he had realized something. He nodded and said with a smile, “Thank you! Now we’ve got to increase our user count; with more users, I think there will always be a way to make money!” Wang Yang thought for a moment, then smiled and said, “I heard that when Jessica and I first registered, it drove up the user count.” Seeing Evan nod, he continued, “I think that’s how it should be, constantly inviting stars and celebrities from all walks of life to open and use blogs, and the people who like them will follow suit…”

For the sake of promoting the site, Wang Yang, having acquired Blogger, naturally needed to make a big deal about it, and he gave some interviews to online media: “I believe that blogging will penetrate our lives in the future; it’s a very cool new way to communicate. It’ll soon become common, used by everyone around the world, students, housewives, presidents, movie stars…

And in the category of movie stars, he had already invited familiar faces like Natalie Portman, Will Smith, and others to open blogs; there were also official blogs from Flame Films, Blue Sky Studios, and others to post sidebar information distinct from their official websites.

What he could do for Pyra Labs was just this, while other things such as re- recruiting employees, figuring out development strategies, inviting more famous social figures, etc., were all tasks for Evan Williams.

This round of publicity had a tremendous effect, with the number of registered users skyrocketing to over 600,000. More people were learning what a blog was, and the site attracted some attention from gossip and entertainment media. Daily Entertainment reported, “There are many in Hollywood who neglect their duties, but to open a game company a few days ago and then buy a website a few days later… We can only say, this is just Wang Yang’s energetic style. Maybe we shouldn’t just think of him as a director, a star; don’t forget, he’s also a young and successful entrepreneur.”

Of course, there was also a fair amount of disdain from traditional paper media for online publishing, thinking that mainstream publishing would forever be on paper: “Time will tell if Magic Yang has bought a treasure or a toy.”

Buddy, seeing your big moves these days, I suddenly really want to be a boss too!” Natalie’s enthusiastic voice came through the phone. Wang Yang, leaning against the balcony railing, looking down at Danny running in the garden below, said, “Sure, why not?” Natalie on the other end pondered, “Hmm… I want to start an independent film company! But not now, I still need to study. Wang Yang laughed, “OK, I can help you distribute.”

Mmm! The company’s name will be… will be…” Natalie thought for a while, then suddenly exclaimed with joy, “Got it, Handsome Charlie Film Company!

Handsome Charlie, nice name!” Wang Yang nodded, then asked somewhat puzzled, “But which Charlie? The one from the United Kingdom?” Natalie giggled, “No, certainly not! Charlie is my dog.”