Don't Call Me Master, Call Me Director

"Director Matou, are you looking for a revenue-sharing partnership?"

As Shinji was still considering his next words, Udagawa Nao took over.

"Shin..."

This time, Shinji was quick. He stomped hard on Kariya's foot before he could speak, forcing him to swallow his words.

After silencing his uncle (physically), Shinji smiled and nodded slightly.

"Naturally, it's a revenue-sharing model."

"That's impossible." Udagawa Nao shook her head without hesitation. "Buying out the copyright is the prerequisite for our cooperation."

She said it decisively, clearly leaving no room for compromise.

"400 million, that's Bandai's offer."

Udagawa Nao held up four fingers and announced directly.

This offer wasn't exactly generous, but it wasn't outrageously low either. After all, the box office for tokusatsu films typically ranged from 1 to 2 billion yen.

Of course, Udagawa Nao had left room for negotiation. If Shinji insisted, she wouldn't mind increasing the price.

However, Shinji looked confused. He tilted his head and asked, "Miss Udagawa, if I understand correctly, you intend to buy out all the FSN copyrights at once?"

"Of course, this is a prerequisite for all independent films distributed by Bandai. Is there a problem?"

Udagawa Nao leaned forward, adopting an aggressive posture.

Shinji didn't even flinch. Compared to Kirei Kotomine holding a Mercurial artifact to his throat, this was a minor situation.

"Ahem. There's a situation, Ms. Udagawa, that you might not be fully aware of."

Shinji coughed lightly and pretended to be innocent. "First, I need to state that the film rights for FSN are not entirely in my hands. The overseas rights are held by another company."

"Overseas?"

Udagawa Nao asked back, confused.

Shinji naturally spread his hands. "Yes, today we are only discussing the distribution rights in Japan. The distribution rights in Europe and America are handled by our company's employees there."

"Does tokusatsu have a market in Europe and America too?"

Udagawa Nao seemed taken aback by Shinji's words.

Tokusatsu is a niche within a niche in Europe and America, not even qualifying for theatrical release and only entering the video market.

"How could that be?! Miss Udagawa, this isn't a tokusatsu film, it's a special effects film!"

Shinji shook his head repeatedly, explaining in a highly exaggerated tone.

Honestly, the definitions and boundaries between tokusatsu and special effects were quite blurry, especially with the advancement of computer CG technology in the future, where the gap between tokusatsu works and special effects seemed to be limited to just the suits.

The main reason Shinji wanted to specifically emphasize and separate the concepts was to broaden the scope and target audience, making it easier for him to deceive them.

Everyone knew that something packaged as high-class would sell better and be more expensive than something commonplace.

"FSN utilizes the most advanced filmmaking technology, with much of the technical support coming from my partners in Europe and America. They have invested a significant amount of money into this film, which is why the copyright belongs to their company."

Shinji's statement was half-true and half-false. The Mage families of the Clock Tower had indeed invested a lot of money, but apart from establishing a shell film company, most of the funds were used to acquire Holy Relics.

"Miss Udagawa," Master Shinji continued his deception, "special effects films are a brand-new category of cinema, primarily targeting young people aged 13-25, who happen to be the main audience for films."

"This is a film category that has never existed before. Your words have no basis whatsoever," Udagawa Nao said coldly, not entirely believing Shinji.

Shinji smiled harmlessly. "Then, after we sign the contract, Bandai can arrange special preview screenings, and the audience will provide the most accurate feedback."

"Let's talk about it after we officially sign. If it's only the Japanese domestic rights, we will absolutely not agree to a revenue-sharing agreement. Given that Director Matou tells a good story, I'm willing to increase the purchase price to 500 million yen."

Udagawa Nao brought the rambling conversation back on track.

"That's impossible." Shinji frowned deeply. "My collaborators will not agree."

Udagawa Nao looked at Shinji with amusement, shaking her head inwardly. This young director's ideas were too naive.

"Director Matou."

Ms. Udagawa decided to shatter Shinji's naive fantasy.

"The revenue-sharing plan you proposed will not be accepted by any distribution company in Japan. We will only agree to a buyout, including all rights within Japan."

Udagawa Nao didn't give Shinji time to negotiate, quickly adding, "Bandai will be pushing this into the theatrical market. Not only will we need pre-release promotion, but also copies for each cinema. These are all costs incurred by Bandai!"

"Director Matou, what guarantee can you provide that our company will definitely recoup its investment? Do you have any past successful cases?"

Udagawa Nao stared at Shinji and said word by word, "If TYPE-MOON Film Company bears all the promotional and distribution expenses, then we can agree to sign a revenue-sharing agreement."

Are you stupid or am I crazy?

Shinji suppressed the urge to roll his eyes.

Asking him, a production company, to bear the promotional and distribution expenses?

Then, when it came to the final profit settlement, TYPE-MOON would likely get nothing.

The promotional and distribution costs for any large-scale film release were enormous and complex. It was too easy for a distribution company to manipulate them.

However, what Udagawa Nao said wasn't entirely unreasonable. The lack of past successful experience was Shinji's biggest weakness. If the other party held onto it, Shinji wouldn't have many good options, as it was a fact.

[As expected, a woman who can be president isn't a pushover. If that's the case, I'll have to try a different approach.]

Fortunately, the other party in the negotiation was Bandai, which gave Shinji a strong card to play.

"Miss Udagawa, while I can't sell you the full movie rights, I can make you the global merchandise agent for FSN."

"Global?"

"Yes, global."

A cunning smile flickered across Shinji's lips.

"To be frank, giving global agency rights to us at Bandai is meaningless," Udagawa Nao said, pursing her lips unhappily. "Although Bandai is the largest toy manufacturer in Asia, we don't have many sales channels in Europe and America. Director Matou, are you toying with me?"

"What if I can act as a bridge between you and your European and American agents?"

This time, it was Shinji who leaned forward, applying pressure to the other party.

"I told you, I have quite strong partners in Europe and America who are fully capable of selling your products. For example, in North America, Type-Moon is expected to partner with the Jidai Group."

Udagawa Nao's attitude clearly wavered. She looked at Shinji and Kariya beside him with disbelief.

The Jidai Group was a powerful media conglomerate in North America, several orders of magnitude larger than Bandai.

"You can partner with the Jidai Group?"

"It hasn't been finalized, but it's highly likely," Shinji said sincerely. "The Matou Family and the Flora Family, major shareholders of the Jidai Group, have been close friends for generations."

At this point, Shinji sighed inwardly.

The Jidai Group in this world was quite different from the Jidai Group in Shinji's previous life. It was a media conglomerate established by Mage Families who had gone to the New World.

In the beginning, those Mage Families merely wished to conceal Magecraft and mystery by controlling the media. However, as time went on, the Jidai Group grew larger and larger, eventually becoming one of the top enterprises in North America.

Interestingly, because Hollywood's influence had waned, the Jidai Group did not acquire Warner Bros., and its name was not changed to Time Warner.

But this did not mean the Jidai Group was not interested in the film industry.

Furthermore, the Matou Family and the Flora Family were indeed on good terms. Shinji had received a lot of help from that family when he went to North America.

Therefore, what Shinji said was not entirely a lie.

However, Shinji omitted a crucial piece of information—something happened between him and the daughter of the Flora family when he was in North America. This was one of the reasons Shinji returned to the Clock Tower in his final year abroad, and it was also why Shinji avoided talking about the Jidai Group.

As a result, it was impossible for Shinji to find the Jidai Group as a partner in North America; this was purely a case of borrowing prestige.

Since very few people knew about that incident, Shinji wasn't afraid of Bandai investigating.

Udagawa Nao looked at the young director with a hint of helplessness, feeling as if a fox's tail was wagging behind him.

[Why did I think this kid was easy to fool at first glance?]

Udagawa Nao's lips twitched fiercely.

Throughout the entire negotiation, Matou Kariya, whom she thought would be the main obstacle, remained silent. Instead, Matou Shinji, whom she had expected to be easy to deal with, was the one quibbling.

Admittedly, the conditions Shinji offered were tempting and directly addressed Bandai's weakness.

Bandai was eager to expand beyond East Asia and enter the European and American markets, but for various reasons, they had never succeeded. The lack of reliable and capable partners was a significant reason.

The European and American partners Shinji proposed were incredibly important to Bandai, like a godsend. Didn't she see the people beside her practically drooling?

But no matter how tempting Shinji's bait was, Udagawa Nao couldn't make a decision because Shinji's conditions far exceeded her authority.

Seeing the negotiation stall, Shinji nudged his uncle again.

"Hiss... What?"

The innocent Kariya looked at the equally innocent Shinji with wide eyes.

[Why me again?!]

Kariya cried out in his heart, bewildered.

Chapter 19: Reaching an Agreement

Despite his inner grievances, Matou Kariya understood the instructions in Shinji's eyes.

"Miss Udagawa."

Forced to stand up and mediate, Matou Kariya said, "Shinji is just offering some of his ideas. We can discuss it slowly. If you can't make a decision right away, Miss Udagawa, you can go back and think about it."

"I understand."

Udagawa Nao nodded slightly.

Matters involving the company's overall strategy were indeed beyond her authority.

"I will report the situation to my superiors. As for what happens next..."

"Then I shall await your good news."

Shinji stood up with a smile and shook her hand.

"However, I must also remind you that Bandai is not the only potential Japanese distributor we have in mind."

Facing Shinji's hint, Udagawa Nao sneered, "Didn't Toho already refuse you?"

"But there's still Toei~"

Shinji chuckled. With his thick skin, there was no way he'd show any embarrassment here.

Udagawa Nao shook her head helplessly. She closed her notebook, stood up, and left with her team.

Shinji politely saw the Bandai team out, showing no intention of asking them to stay.

When Shinji returned to the conference room, Kariya eagerly approached him.

"Shinji, your appetite is really huge. Have you considered what would happen if the Japanese box office doesn't meet expectations? Even with a share, you might not earn back 500 million yen?"

According to industry rules, the producer's share of the box office typically ranges from 60% to 85%. However, given Shinji's situation, he definitely wouldn't get the best distribution agreement; getting 70% would be a godsend.

This looked good on the surface, but many additional fees would be factored into the box office share, such as promotional costs, print costs, taxes... all of which would be siphoned off from the share.

Otherwise, why would film distributors be at the top of the industry's food chain, no matter the country or region?

Considering the current environment of the Japanese film industry, for Shinji to get a share of over 500 million yen, FSN's Japanese box office would need to be at least 1.8 billion yen. For most tokusatsu films, this box office figure is an unattainable dream.

Facing Kariya's questioning, Shinji merely shrugged his shoulders.

"Because I believe Fate is worth far more than that."

"But what you need now is a distribution company!" Kariya solemnly reminded him, "As a newcomer, you're asking for too much."

"If Bandai doesn't work out, we'll find other partners."

Shinji pulled his phone out of his pocket and shook it.

Are you my Master?

Just then, Shinji's phone rang.

As if he hadn't noticed Kariya's strange look, Shinji answered the call directly.

A polite, familiar male voice came from the other end of the line.

"Director Matou, this is Hata Kengo."