Don't Call Me Master, Call Me Director

"Team Leader Hata, is something wrong?"

"I'm truly sorry. I did my best to negotiate with the company for you, but..."

Even though the other party didn't finish their sentence, Shinji already understood what they meant.

"It's alright, Team Leader Hata," Shinji said in a tone that suggested he didn't care at all. "We'll have a chance to collaborate again in the future."

Shinji wasn't surprised by Toho's attitude at all. Rather, he was already taken aback that they had even responded to him instead of just ignoring him completely.

Shinji patiently exchanged a few pleasantries with the other party before hanging up the phone.

"Shinji," Kariya said, teasing him with a smile after spending the day "bullying" his nephew. "Do you need your uncle to contact Toei?"

Second Master helplessly blew his bangs up off his forehead. He didn't want to talk to this schadenfreude-filled guy right now.

Meanwhile, after Udagawa Nao returned to the company, she relayed Shinji's request to Bandai's executives.

Bandai executives, who had initially been indifferent to the completely unknown movie Fate, immediately changed their expressions upon hearing about Shinji's relationship with Western countries.

After multiple investigations and confirmations, Bandai finally verified that the Matou Family and the Flora Family were indeed old acquaintances. This finally made Bandai's executives take FSN seriously.

Upon receiving instructions from their superiors, Udagawa Nao immediately borrowed a copy of FSN from Shinji and played the movie in the company's conference center in front of all the executives.

It is said that after the movie finished, Bandai executives engaged in a heated argument, with the excited voices of several directors audible even in the hallway.

Unfortunately, due to it being an internal meeting, no one knew exactly what kind of conflict occurred among Bandai's executives.

All Shinji managed to find out was that after the argument, Bandai's current president, Makoto Yamashina, and future president, Kazunori Ueno, gave Udagawa Nao the same order.

"Continue negotiations."

It must be said that Second Master's luck was quite good; the FSN project was a tailor-made project for Bandai at this stage.

First, FSN would be distributed in Europe and America, which was an irresistible temptation for Bandai, who desperately wanted to break into the European and American markets.

Secondly, the past decade or so could be considered a renaissance for tokusatsu, with the three major tokusatsu series producing one masterpiece after another and achieving considerable ratings. This gave Bandai the ambition to advance from the small screen to the big screen.

Then there were internal reasons within Bandai. Kazunori Ueno would take over as president of Bandai in two years, and at this time, he urgently needed one or two new projects he could be proud of to prove his abilities.

Of course, the excellent quality of the FSN movie itself was also the foundation for Bandai's decision to cooperate with Shinji. Bandai's executives believed that even without any other additional conditions, distributing a tokusatsu movie of this caliber would at least not result in a loss.

Since distributing FSN wouldn't result in a loss, and there would be many benefits if the movie was successful, why not give it a try?

Thus, for a period of time afterward, Shinji and Udagawa Nao began a tug-of-war negotiation.

However, because the two sides had completely different perceptions of FSN, the difficulty of this negotiation was imaginable. Sometimes, they would even deadlock over a 1% difference.

Fortunately, both Shinji and Udagawa Nao knew that for the deal to be completed, they had to make some compromises.

After nearly 15 rounds of negotiation over a week, TYPE-MOON Film Company, represented by Shinji, finally reached a distribution agreement with Bandai.

"Pleasure doing business with you! Director Matou."

"Pleasure doing business with you! Miss Udagawa."

In Tsuburaya Productions' conference room, Shinji and Udagawa Nao exchanged contracts with smiles, marking the formal agreement between the two parties.

Bandai finally became the Japanese distributor for FSN, responsible for its distribution and promotion in the Japanese region.

As the producer, TYPE-MOON Film Company, after deducting costs from cinemas, distributors, and various other channels, would receive 70% of the Japanese box office revenue and 50% of the subsequent film and television copyright income from Japanese videotapes, DVDs, and television broadcasts.

At the same time, Bandai would exclusively represent FSN movie-related merchandise for a period of 5 years.

The 5-year merchandise licensing period might not seem long, but if it weren't for wanting Bandai to distribute FSN wholeheartedly, Shinji would have preferred to sign for 3 years.

Shinji knew very well that once FSN achieved great success, the value of the IP would increase year by year, so signing for 5 years was indeed a bit of a loss.

Fortunately, the agreement only stipulated one FSN movie; other Fate series movies would not be bound by this agreement.

With the signing of the contract, Udagawa Nao no longer had any intention of staying at Tsuburaya. The difficult negotiations during this period had left her with a very bad impression of this place.

However, before leaving, Udagawa Nao still reminded Shinji, "Director Matou, please provide us with the master tape of the Japanese version of the movie as soon as possible."

Shinji naturally wouldn't go back on his word. He readily agreed, "Don't worry, I'll hand it over to your company along with the edited trailer."

The FSN Japanese release schedule jointly set by Bandai and Shinji was very tight, so Shinji had to hurry.

According to the schedule, over the next two weeks, Bandai would hold several preview screenings for specific fans. Based on the feedback from these previews, they would invest appropriate promotional funds to build momentum for the film.

And in early April, a relatively slow season, FSN would be released in Japanese cinemas through advance screenings in 50 theaters.

If the advance screenings performed well, Bandai would proceed with a large-scale release across Japan in mid-April.

"Then, everything is entrusted to your company."

Finally, Shinji and Udagawa Nao shook hands and bid farewell.

"I am looking forward to Director Matou's next work, but if possible, I'd prefer to enjoy it as a pure audience member."

Udagawa Nao replied with a somewhat tired smile, "Negotiating with you, Director Matou, is truly exhausting."

Shinji's lips curved upwards, and he politely replied, "How could that be? I'm very easy to talk to."

"Provided that we follow your demands, right?"

Udagawa Nao said exasperatedly. She had experienced the young director's sharp tongue over the past week.

"My requests have always been reasonable." Shinji shrugged his shoulders and said with a grin.

Finally, Udagawa Nao reminded him with a hint of hesitation, "Director Matou, regarding the Times Group..."

"Mhm, I'm already in communication with the Flora family. Once the box office results for FSN in Japan come out in the first few weeks, I'll have further discussions with the Times Group."

Master Shinji was talking nonsense with his eyes wide open.

For some personal reasons, Shinji hadn't communicated with the Flora family at all, nor did he plan to cooperate with the Times Group.

Although Shinji wouldn't give up on the North American market, his partner would most likely be another media group.

As for the Times Group and the Flora family, Shinji planned to have his own Second Uncle casually communicate with them to brush them off.

With that in mind, Shinji directly called out to his uncle, Kariya, "Uncle, could you see Miss Udagawa out?"

"Oh, okay."

Kariya obediently led Udagawa Nao out of the conference room.

After days of negotiations, Kariya had developed a conditioned reflex to Shinji's instructions. However, Kariya was still a bit curious why Shinji himself wasn't escorting her and insisted he do it instead.

Shinji certainly wouldn't say he was creating opportunities for Kariya to interact with a wealthy woman; such things were best left to fate.

Setting up his uncle was just a small diversion in life. The Second Master had more important matters now—preparing for FSN's release in Japan.

Honestly, Shinji was a bit dissatisfied with Bandai's conservative distribution model of holding preview screenings for fans before a wide release.

Even with a wide release in mid-April, FSN would only have two weeks before May to rake in box office revenue.

Because by May, the three major European film festivals would be starting one after another. Shinji hoped to find suitable European and American distributors at the film festivals, and the Japanese box office performance would be the best proof of FSN's value.

As mentioned before, there were only 400 movie theaters in all of Japan. No matter how good your movie was or how popular it became, there were only so many seats available to sell tickets, and the weekly box office ceiling was fixed there.

You couldn't expect movie theaters to sell standing room or even tickets to hang from the ceiling for extra revenue, right?

It wasn't like they were performing crosstalk.

Fortunately, although Bandai's distribution strategy was conservative, their work efficiency was quite high.

Less than a week after Shinji sent out the master copy, Bandai sent back an invitation, specifically inviting him and the FSN film crew to attend a preview screening in Fuyuki City.

Chapter 20: It's Amazing Britain Wasn't Eaten to Death

Tohsaka Residence.

"Thank you, Shinji-kun."

Tokiomi Tohsaka opened the invitation Shinji handed him and glanced at its contents.

"The night after tomorrow, right?"

Tohsaka looked up at Shinji to confirm.

"That's right, tomorrow night at 8 PM at the cinema in Shintodo," Shinji nodded and said in a matter-of-fact tone, "It's the preview screening for FSN."

The Tohsaka family had provided considerable help for the FSN movie, so it was only natural for Shinji to invite the Tohsaka family to attend.

"The movie is about to be released? As expected of you, Shinji-kun."

Tokiomi Tohsaka stroked the envelope of the invitation with a dignified air, a glint flashing in his eyes as he murmured softly.

"If the movie is successful, it might be a turning point for the Tohsaka family..."

Shinji, with his sharp ears, heard Tohsaka's whisper and his eyebrows twitched slightly.

When I brought the proposal over before, you didn't have this kind of expression...

If Shinji's memory was correct, Tokiomi Tohsaka had only reluctantly agreed to the plan because of the compensation Shinji offered, and he had been very reluctant.

If not for the fact that the Tohsaka family had fallen to a certain extent, with Tohsaka's pride and traditionalism, he wouldn't have easily agreed to Shinji's project.

However, Tokiomi Tohsaka's attitude today was completely different from before, which surprised Shinji somewhat.

Did someone change Tohsaka's mind?

Shinji couldn't help but have such a thought.

However, Tokiomi Tohsaka's attitude didn't have much impact on Shinji. In any case, the Matou family would undoubtedly be the biggest beneficiary of his project.

If the Tohsaka family really wanted to get in on the action, Shinji wouldn't refuse out of consideration for their families' long-standing relationship.

"Uncle Tokiomi, regarding your reply..."

"Rin and I will attend," Tokiomi Tohsaka replied calmly.

Shinji smiled triumphantly, "Really? Then there's no problem."

"Mhm, that's right."

Shinji's overly flippant attitude made Tokiomi Tohsaka frown slightly.

"Shinji-kun, you..."

"Oh, dear, oh, dear."

Seeing Tokiomi Tohsaka about to lecture a junior, Shinji quickly changed the subject and asked the third person in the room, "Grandpa Risei, what brings you to see Uncle Tokiomi today?"

"Shinji, it's been a while," Risei Kotomine said with a hearty laugh. "You've really done something big this time. You've brought honor to our Fuyuki City."

"Not at all, not at all. Grandfather Risei, you flatter me."

Shinji scratched his head sheepishly.

Compared to Tokiomi, this old man who genuinely treated him like a grandson was even harder for Shinji to handle.

"Did my brat cause you any trouble?"

Risei Kotomine asked loudly, patting Shinji's shoulder with force.

"Of course not. Uncle Kirei has a lot of acting talent. You can just wait and see his brilliant performance tomorrow."

Shinji hesitated, but ultimately decided not to mention Kirei Kotomine "promoting" Mapo Tofu to the film crew.

[So tired... Why does this feel like a teacher reporting a child's school performance to their parent?]

Shinji couldn't find any common ground with the two adults. After giving them the invitation, he exchanged a few pleasantries and left.

"Well then, I'll be looking forward to Uncle Tokiomi and Grandfather Risei's visit tomorrow."

After smiling and bidding farewell to the two elders, Shinji closed the door to the reception room.

Tokiomi Tohsaka, who was sitting on the sofa, let out a subtle sigh and turned to look at the old man still drinking tea.

After a pause, Tokiomi Tohsaka broke the silence.

"What do you think of that junior, Shinji?"

Risei Kotomine smiled casually and said with great satisfaction, "Every time I see that young Shinji, he reminds me of a grandson, especially when he's with Karin."

Speaking of which, Risei Kotomine felt a slight pang of sadness. Shinji had gone abroad to study five years ago, Karin had gone to the Vatican for advanced studies at the church headquarters four years ago, and his son Kirei Kotomine wasn't very close to him.

Old Man Risei had been quite lonely these past few years.

Tokiomi Tohsaka was taken aback by Risei Kotomine's words, then nodded in empathy.