Chapter 46: The Eerie Blumhouse, I Want to Buy 70% Equity

Chapter 46: The Bizarre Blumhouse, I Want to Buy a 70% Stake

"Ah!" Qin Feng was startled and jumped aside.

"Holy shit! Don't scare me like that!"

He blurted out in his native tongue.

Thump!

The lights clicked on, revealing a middle-aged man standing right in front of him.

The man was not very tall, close to forty years old, with short hair, bright and alert eyes, and a constant smile on his face.

"My friend, I'm sorry. Just playing a little prank on you."

"What the heck..." Qin Feng stepped further away from him. "Who on earth are you? Why are you drawing the curtains and turning off the lights in broad daylight?"

The man gave an awkward laugh. "Misunderstanding, a total misunderstanding! I thought you were one of the actors coming in, so I was testing the waters. Good thing I didn't wear my Leatherface mask just now."

"Huh? You even have a mask? Leatherface?!"

"Oh, that's not important, please ignore those details. Anyway, let me introduce myself. I am the founder of this company, Jason Blum."

"I also have a nickname: the Demon King of Blum. Sounds pretty cool, right?"

Qin Feng patted his chest. "You're Jason Blum? You scared the daylights out of me! Wait, why did I feel a sudden chill just now..."

With a "swish," Jason Blum tossed a small handheld fan into a nearby pile of supplies.

"Did you? No way? Could there really be a chilly breeze in here?"

"How strange..."

As he spoke, he went to pull open the curtains and asked, "My friend, who are you? I've never seen you before."

"My name is Qin Feng. I'm a director."

"Oh! You're a director!" Jason Blum turned back and looked him up and down carefully. "I didn't expect a director to be this handsome nowadays. Judging by your looks, are you from Southeast Asia?"

"China!" Qin Feng glared at him. What kind of eyesight did this guy have? Did he look like someone from Southeast Asia?!

"Ah, ah, China is great."

"Are you the only one in the company?" Qin Feng felt a bit helpless dealing with this founder and looked around.

There was a corridor stretching inward, with quite a few doors on both sides.

"How could that be?" Jason Blum assumed a serious expression. "We are a legitimate film production company, how could I be the only one? They're inside watching pictures!"

Watching pictures? In broad daylight, in the dark, with the curtains drawn.

Surely they weren't watching those restricted adult films, were they?

That's simply outrageous!!

Could it be that... this film company had already ventured into that territory?

No way! I have to intervene!

"What are you guys watching? I want to go take a look too."

"Alright, let's go together! Please!"

***

Jason Blum led the way.

The two of them walked down the corridor and entered a dark room.

Inside, there were a few rows of chairs where eight or nine people were sitting.

On the opposite wall, a large screen was playing a movie.

The atmosphere was pitch black, and Qin Feng felt it somewhat resembled the video parlors of his hometown back when he was a kid.

After watching for two minutes, he realized it was a horror movie. Judging by the set design, it seemed to be a low-budget production. It was shot quite chillingly, and everyone present was watching with nervous tension.

Qin Feng found the environment a bit oppressive, so he tugged at Jason Blum, signaling that they should head out.

The two walked back outside.

Qin Feng asked, "Is there a place where we can talk? I have some business to discuss with you."

"Yes, in here."

They entered a small meeting room. A row of photography equipment stood to one side, and various horror movie posters were pasted all over the walls.

Jason Blum said, "Mr. Qin, right? What is it you want to discuss?"

Qin Feng looked at the posters covering the wall. "Collaboration, investment."

"Investment?"

Jason Blum's eyes lit up, and his voice rose by three octaves.

Finally, an angel investor had arrived!

Wait, wasn't he a director though?

"Mr. Blum, answer me this first: what projects does your company currently have, and what is your profitability like?"

Jason Blum replied, "Well, the company... has been established for several years now. We've made quite a few low-budget movies, but we just haven't quite found our groove yet."

"The company's primary direction is shooting horror films."

"As for profitability, well, we've actually only just started turning a profit this year..."

"Oh." Qin Feng shook his head slightly.

Seeing him shake his head, Jason Blum hurriedly added, "However, we are currently preparing a new film project, and it is bound to succeed..."

"Mr. Blum," Qin Feng interrupted him. "There is nothing wrong with your route of low-budget production, nor is there anything wrong with focusing on horror films."

"However, you must thoroughly polish the scripts and handle pre-production planning properly. Low budget does never mean sloppy or crudely made. You must create new concepts that make the audience's eyes light up."

"Ah, my friend, you are completely right." Jason Blum seemed to recall something. "You mentioned earlier that you're a director—I haven't had the chance to ask, what is your work..."

"My latest project is a low-budget film called *The Man from Earth*, and it's currently playing in theaters."

"Whoa~~!" He yelped and stood up abruptly, startling Qin Feng.

"You couldn't possibly be the assistant director of *Jurassic Park*, could you?!"

"That's right, you know me?"

"Of course I do! I follow you on Twitter! It's just that you didn't use your real name and profile picture, so I didn't make the connection just now."

"Speaking of which, I'm actually a fan of yours!"

"Wow! I never expected someone so young to have produced such an outstanding work."

***

Qin Feng said, "You flatter me. Let's get back to the matter of investment. You are the sole founder, correct?"

"That's right! Yours truly is."

"And has no one else come to discuss investment before this?"

"No one. I was just waiting for you to arrive."

What kind of talk was that!

Qin Feng gave a light cough. "Listen, I intend to buy a stake in your company. Give me an asset and profit breakdown—copies are fine—so I can take a look."

"If everything checks out, I'll buy 70% to 80% of your equity. I'll take the majority stake, and you'll keep the minority."

"Going forward, the company's direction will follow my lead, but as for the specific films being made, I won't interfere at all. You will still call the shots, just like before."

"In the future, when it comes to company dividends and going public, I'll only take my share."

"Mr. Blum, what do you think?"

Jason Blum's expression turned solemn as he rubbed his chin. "To be honest, I'm quite reluctant to part with so many shares."

"Mr. Qin, are you investing in your own name, or on behalf of a company?"

"On behalf of a company. I'll be registering a new corporation specifically for this."

"Then, how much capital can you put on the table?"

Qin Feng smiled. "Rest assured, for where you are right now, the funds are more than enough!"

Jason Blum frowned deeply.

They currently had several unfilmed movies on hand, and even with low budgets, their cash flow was stretched thin.

Sigh! Being broke is truly agonizing!

At this stage, he figured no major studio would bother looking at them or acquiring them.

This Qin Feng must have made a fortune from the box office dividends of his movie.

With that thought, he stood up.

"Mr. Qin, please wait a moment. I'll go find our accountant to calculate the assets; he's still inside watching pictures."

"Alright."

Jason Blum strode out of the room, leaving Qin Feng to flip through an art catalog on the table.

Half an hour later.

Jason Blum walked back in, accompanied by another person, and placed a folder on the table.

"Mr. Qin, we've finished calculating everything."

"If you want to acquire a 75% stake in the company, it will be around 80 million US dollars."