Who is the best at digging pits?

"Sir, who are you? Today's meeting involves trade secrets. If you don't have proper identification, please leave as soon as possible." President Smith was relatively polite, but his attitude was very clear.

Lin Yuan hadn't had a chance to be introduced when he entered with the two directors.

So President Smith naturally didn't recognize Lin Yuan and assumed he was related staff.

"Him? He's an actor in these two directors' films, a yellow-skinned monkey chasing a Hollywood dream. I don't think actors are qualified to attend today's meeting."

Director Sommers' words were harsh. He spoke as if using discriminatory terms like "yellow-skinned monkey" for Asians wouldn't cause trouble.

If Lin Yuan had been Black, Director Sommers wouldn't have dared to be so blunt.

It was because Asians didn't have the same fighting spirit as Black people.

Rights had to be fought for.

"An actor? Then it's indeed inappropriate to attend today's meeting. Please leave as soon as possible." President Smith made a gesture of seeing him out.

"Excuse me, I believe I am fully qualified to participate in today's meeting. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Lin Yuan.

I am here today as a representative of the investors." Lin Yuan replied with a smile, neither humble nor arrogant.

"Representative of the investors?" President Smith asked.

"Yes, I am here to attend this meeting on behalf of Mr. Eisen."

"You're Mr. Eisen's representative? Then of course, you are fully qualified to participate in this meeting." President Smith began to look at the handsome Chinese teenager before him with a more serious gaze.

He had heard before that Mr. Eisen, who had refused to invest in film projects for many years, had actually made an exception for a Chinese teenager and increased his investment in Jurassic Park 3, a film many people didn't have high hopes for.

Now that the protagonist of the event was right in front of President Smith, he could naturally set aside his prejudice and re-evaluate Lin Yuan.

After all, a legendary figure like Mr. Eisen wouldn't casually endorse just anyone.

Director Sommers also hadn't expected Lin Yuan to attend as a representative of the investors. Seeing that President Smith had changed his attitude, he didn't press the issue further.

He let out a cold snort and began the main topic of the day: "My promotional expenses are too low, they must be increased by 10%."

"You're still unhappy with 60%? Why don't you ask for 100%?" Director Cohen retorted directly.

"With 70% for promotional expenses, you'll face immense pressure at the box office. Higher budgets aren't always better. I'm only daring to ask for 50%." Director Johnston also offered a kind piece of advice.

"That's because your movies are trash, why did you give so much screen time to a yellow-skinned monkey? Now you're worried about the audience not buying tickets? I'm not worried about the ratio, I'm not afraid even if it's higher," Director Sommers mocked.

Lin Yuan understood that the ratio they were discussing was the proportion of the film's promotional costs to its production cost.

Generally, for big Hollywood productions, 50% to 100% of the production cost would be spent on promoting the film.

Director Sommers felt that 60% was too little and wanted to secure 70%.

For The Mummy Returns, with a production cost close to $100 million, this meant an additional $10 million in promotional expenses.

Even good wine needs a good advertisement. A good movie needs substantial investment to achieve good box office results.

Therefore, as long as the film's quality was guaranteed, a higher promotional budget was definitely better.

However, at this stage, Universal Pictures' total budget for promotion was fixed.

If he took more, the budgets for The Fast and the Furious and Jurassic Park 3 would be reduced.

Thus, the other two directors were naturally unwilling, and the two sides began to argue. This was the focal point of the debate for the day.

Lin Yuan did not directly participate in this argument; he was carefully flipping through the documents in his hands.

His gaze focused on the cinema release schedule for the year. When he saw a certain film scheduled to be released in mid-May, his eyes suddenly sharpened.

Was this the butterfly effect caused by his rebirth?

He looked at it carefully two more times, and suddenly couldn't help but smile. The fatal trap had been set; all that was needed was to lure Director Sommers into it.

"Director Sommers, do you truly believe The Mummy Returns is of high quality and will bring huge returns to the company?" Lin Yuan asked.

Seeing him speak, the two directors tacitly fell silent. They trusted Lin Yuan, who had repeatedly created miracles.

"Of course! The Mummy Returns will be Universal Pictures' most profitable film this year!" Director Sommers said confidently. "If it weren't for trash movies like yours holding us back, I could even aim for the annual box office champion."

The last sentence was Director Sommers boasting. Although he had great confidence in his film, achieving box office champion status required favorable timing, location, and people; he couldn't guarantee it.

But what did boasting matter? No one would actually give him the chance to challenge for it.

"What if we don't hold you back?" Lin Yuan asked with a smile.

"Why talk about useless things? Are you going to squeeze the budget for me?" Director Sommers only wanted an extra $10 million in promotional expenses and hadn't considered that he could get more.

"Don't you have confidence in your own film? Do you dare to prove what you said?" Lin Yuan cornered him, leaving him no room to retreat.

"What is there to be afraid of! If you dare to give me the funds, I'll prove it to you!" Facing Lin Yuan, Director Sommers would not back down, and he didn't believe Lin Yuan would actually do it.

"It's a deal!"

"How much are you willing to give up?"

"We'll increase the proportion for your The Mummy Returns to 100%, giving you the fullest ammunition," Lin Yuan replied.

"Are you serious?" Director Sommers could hardly believe it.

Increasing it to 100% meant the top-tier promotional resources, an increase of $40 million from the original amount!

The Mummy Returns already had top-tier production costs, and with top-tier promotional expenses, it might indeed have a chance to compete for the box office champion.

With that thought, Director Sommers' greed was thoroughly ignited.

For him, this was a chance to leap into the dragon's gate and achieve a qualitative transformation into a top director; he absolutely would not give it up.

This kind of gamble was not something he expected to have for now, but his opponent, in the heat of the moment, had handed this opportunity to him.

Director Sommers wanted to laugh. With the resources in hand, even if it didn't ultimately become the box office champion, it could at least help him achieve a global box office gross of 600 million USD.

Then his directorial credentials would undergo a metamorphosis.

"Absolutely! We have a deal!" Lin Yuan replied decisively.

Both of them burst into laughter, each thinking the other was a complete fool.

"But don't you two have any objections?"

President Smith thought Lin Yuan had lost his mind, actually giving away the most crucial resources to his enemy in just a few sentences. He turned and asked the two directors.

"I trust Lin Yuan. Do as he says." Director Cohen remembered what Lin Yuan had told him downstairs, instructing him to support him unconditionally today.

"I agree too!" Director Johnston also replied.

"You're all truly insane! I don't agree. I can't let you recklessly use the company's projects." President Smith had become the most rational person in the room at this moment.

"Mr. President, I know what you're worried about. Please listen to my explanation first." Lin Yuan, who had already prepared a contingency plan, spoke up.