"You're thinking of making a movie? Now?"

After Wei Liangxiao left, Hou Yichuan looked at Chu Tian and asked.

After all, Wei Liangxiao was just a director, while Chu Tian and Hou Yichuan were part of the management team.

Even if the three of them had a good personal relationship, Hou Yichuan still knew what matters should be discussed with whom.

Especially regarding company decisions, Wei Liangxiao shouldn't know, and he didn't want to know.

As a director, his job was simply to make good films.

"Yes, I'm considering it."

Chu Tian nodded, still pondering the idea.

"Is it because of Baise Entertainment?"

From their earlier conversation, Hou Yichuan had already pieced together some of it.

"That's part of the reason, but not all of it."

Chu Tian didn't hide this.

"First of all, I have some grievances with Baise Entertainment. You'll come to understand this in time, or you could just look up my and Xu Qingqiu's history to know."

Tapping the edge of the cup on the coffee table, Chu Tian said with a smile, "But that's not the main point. The main point is, our company is growing too slowly."

"Slow? This is slow?!"

Hou Yichuan couldn't help but widen his eyes in disbelief.

Unlimited Entertainment had reached its current level through his hard work. Frankly speaking, while the company was ostensibly Chu Tian's, Hou Yichuan was the one who had put in the most effort.

Now, Hou Yichuan couldn't be more satisfied with the company's growth.

What small company, with just one hundred thousand in registered capital, could boast a financial chain exceeding one hundred million in less than a year?

That's slow? Then what counts as fast? Achieving a small goal every day?

"Don't worry, I'm not criticizing you. Relatively speaking, the company is indeed growing very fast, even surpassing 99% of our peers. And this is all thanks to your efforts."

Hou Yichuan had been bracing for criticism, so Chu Tian's praise was unexpected and left him feeling a little uncomfortable.

"No, no, don't flatter me. You are the real hero here. The creative ideas for these shows and the majority of the financial input both came from you. At most, I'm just a worker, and I'm well aware of that," Hou Yichuan insisted.

Hou Yichuan was right, but that didn't prevent Chu Tian from detecting a tinge of displeasure in his words.

After all, he viewed the company as his own child. Who would be pleased to hear their child criticized?

"President Hou, I misspoke. It's not that the company is developing slowly; it's just that I am too impatient." Chu Tian sighed and rephrased his explanation, "Here's the thing: the income from 'King of Mask Singer' is still flowing in steadily, and the first payment from the drama 'iPartment' has been received, which can fully support subsequent filming."

"'Where Are We Going, Dad?' is a collaborative project, and we already had sponsorships from the very beginning. Together with the subsequent ads, the initial investment has long been recouped. Now it's all pure profit."

"The investment for 'Divas Hit the Road' is indeed substantial, mostly on the artists' appearance fees and production costs, adding up to a total investment of over twenty million."

"Which means, all in all, our current cash expenses boil down to 'Divas Hit the Road,' and that's just twenty million."

Is twenty million a lot? It certainly wasn't insignificant, but for the company at its current stage, it truly wasn't much.

The villa Chu Tian had previously bought was registered under the company's name, and even its installment plan only amounted to just over twenty million.

Adding the twenty million for 'Divas Hit the Road' and company payroll, the total didn't exceed sixty million.

But how much had the company earned during this period?

"King of Mask Singer" had a total investment of over sixty million, with Unlimited Entertainment and Lemon TV splitting it evenly, each contributing thirty million.

However, the title sponsorship fee alone was 120 million. With the earnings from TV broadcasts and video platforms during this period, the total revenue had already exceeded 260 million.

The gross profit margin was roughly one-third, about eighty million. After deducting input costs, both parties had already earned a gross profit of over ten million each, pocketing several million in net profit.

"Where Are We Going, Dad?" had already turned a profit before it even started, currently bringing in roughly ten million so far, with virtually no need for further investment.

"Divas Hit the Road" cost over twenty million, funded solely by Unlimited Entertainment, without other partners.

At first glance, it seemed like they were breaking even, neither losing nor gaining.

But don't forget, the biggest source of income for Unlimited Entertainment was still Chu Tian's song royalties.

During this period, with the continuous popularity of the songs, there were commercial uses, cover versions, revenue sharing from downloads and pay-per-view on online platforms, short video platform usage revenue sharing, and so forth.

Nearly twenty songs combined had already made a net profit of over two hundred million. Even after splitting with Xu Qingqiu's studio, they still had over one hundred million in hand.

Otherwise, where would Sister Hua get the money to generously expand the studio?

"'So, our company's account still has over one hundred million in funds that haven't been spent.' Having said this, Chu Tian paused and sighed.

Earning money is good, but having money and not being able to spend it isn't a good thing.

Ordinary people may set saving money as their goal, which is understandable; after all, having savings increases one's ability to withstand risks.

But capital doesn't operate that way. The purpose of capital is to use money to make more money.

Funds must be put into operation to continuously grow and flourish; otherwise, they are just numbers in an account.

The key issue wasn't that they didn't want to spend the money; it was that they had nowhere to spend it.

As for investing, they were a new company. Without collaborations with other companies, no one would include them.

They could invest on their own—that wasn't a problem—but the key issue was, they didn't have the personnel.

The few directors they'd managed to recruit presented a challenge. The young ones lacked control and still needed to learn from the experienced, while those with experience and qualifications looked down on their small company.

Cao Zheng, to be honest, had experience but lacked capability, so he could only work on TV dramas to improve himself for now. Rushing wouldn't help.

Wei Liangxiao was indeed very capable and talented. However, he currently had 'King of Mask Singer' to wrap up and 'Divas Hit the Road' about to start. Even with new opportunities, he was spread too thin.

Then there was no one left. No new projects because there was no one to execute them.

That's why Chu Tian was considering a collaboration with Wei Chuan on a movie—at the very least, to spend some money and ideally make a little more in the process.

"'We have money, we have IPs, but the only thing we're missing is people. You should have seen this too.'"

Hou Yichuan nodded in understanding. He had indeed thought about this, but top talent is scarce everywhere, and it wasn't something he could obtain just by wanting it.

"Didn't you notice at the gathering before? Wei's father, Director Wei Chuan, has been idle at home recently."

"It seems from what Wei Liangxiao said that he hasn't found any projects of interest yet. Isn't it a waste for such a renowned director to be sitting idle?"

"If we don't seize the opportunity to bring him in, what if he takes on a new project? When will we ever have such a good opportunity again?"

A movie takes at least three to four months, or even half a year, and a director like Wei Chuan, with his reputation and status, is in high demand.

He wasn't unwanted; many were eyeing him, and it would be false to say Chu Tian was without intentions.

At this moment, Hou Yichuan also understood his meaning.

It seemed Chu Tian had set his sights not only on the film sector but also on the talented Wei Chuan.

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