Chapter 642: Chapter 633: Refusing to Cooperate
A single sentence hit Teng Hua right in the gut.
Yeah, how much are you planning to pay these actors?
Currently, actor salaries in the country are all over the place, with each surpassing the last, especially the popular idols and young stars. Despite having no acting skills, their paychecks can be in the tens of millions. How much investment is enough for such extravagance?
In contrast, most of the money for Wang Fanâs movie was spent on special effects, while the actorsâ salaries were greatly reduced.
Some were paid as little as tens of thousands, like Da Shu who got only 200,000, and quite a few were persuaded to join, especially Jingzi, who wasnât paid a cent, relying on Wang Fanâs reputation, otherwise, he wouldnât be called a director who relies on favors.
Of course, now that theyâre making money, Wang Fan is preparing to compensate some old friends, but thatâs another story.
If actorsâ salaries take up a significant portion of the investment, the directorâs influence in the crew will decrease, and it will also affect the filmâs quality.
Especially in sci-fi films, if thereâs no money for special effects, can it still be called sci-fi? Can a martial arts film without fight scenes still be called martial arts? Can a police thriller without gunfights still be called a thriller?
When shooting a movie, you canât put the cart before the horse, and say itâs to boost the box office, isnât that a joke?
If the movieâs quality is poor, how much box office can just the actors bring in?
He didnât care about this kind of thing before, but now he has to speak up because youâre asking me to invest. Iâm handing over money, not newspapers, for you to burn at will.
"As for the pay, itâs not settled yet, but weâve negotiated the cast, which is hard to change. Besides, letâs be honest, as long as we make money, why care about those things, am I right?"
Itâs clear that Director Teng hasnât given up and wants to persuade him. Although many people want to invest in sci-fi films due to the âWandering Earthâsâ success, heâs not lacking investments, but he still wants Su Qingâs investment.
Firstly, he knows Su Qing can provide large funds, and secondly, Su Qingâs investment in âWandering Earthâ is a great selling point.
With Su Qingâs relationship with Wang Fan, he might even come to give some guidance, which would be very beneficial.
[The actorsâ salaries for âDemon Capital Fortressâ add up to nearly one-third of the total investment, plus waste across various departments, small leadersâ corruption, filming expenses, leaving very little for special effects.
The lines were messed up, widely criticized.]
Wow, hearing the narrationâs prompts, Su Qing exclaimed inwardly, realizing that this wasnât just a bad film, it was bad in every way. Honestly, it wasnât really the actorsâ fault; it was the director who made the decisions. Sometimes actors had no choice.
When actor salaries take such a huge chunk, how can this movie be any good? Itâs not a city romance that doesnât need special effects; strong acting and script could deliver the effect.
This is a sci-fi film; itâs all about special effects. What are special effects? Simply put, itâs about money. With money, there are special effects.
So Su Qing nodded, "Indeed, thatâs true. Although I donât care about making a profit, I donât want to lose money. From what Director Teng told me, I really canât see how this movie can make money, so Iâll refrain. Of course, I still wish Director Teng can make a good film, to prove me wrong, and I preemptively wish you a big box office success!"
Su Qing spoke very quickly, hardly giving him time to persuade again, he closed the matter definitively.
The straightforward rejection left Tengâs team a bit stunned, they froze for a while before awkwardly smiling.
"Understandable, understandable, itâs a pity we canât work together this time, no problem, if Brother doesnât like this script, Iâll come to you when I have a better one."
"Of course, I also welcome Director Teng to take care of my business!" Su Qing nodded and smiled, speaking quite politely.
Next to him, Tang Nan felt a bit awkward but relaxed when he saw Su Qingâs polite demeanor at the end. At least it gave Director Teng an out.
"Come on, come on, drink up, today itâs my treat, eat well, drink well!" Tang Nan stood up to pour drinks for everyone.
Soon the atmosphere in the private room improved a bit, though a trace of awkwardness lingered.
Half an hour later, Teng Hua and Wang Tao said they had something to do and stood up to leave. Naturally, Tang Nan got up to see them off.
"Brother, is something up with you today?" While Tang Nan was seeing Teng Hua off, only the two of them were left in the room, so Wang Fan couldnât help but smile and ask.
"Whatâs wrong with that? Itâs just that I didnât like that script. Though I donât care about profit, I definitely donât want to lose money! Brother, do you think their movie can make it?"
Su Qing smiled and raised a glass.
The two of them exchanged a glance and then smiled at each other, drinking in one go.
He wasnât refusing to drink, just didnât like drinking with those two, and, of course, the narrationâs prompt biased him initially.
"Honestly, Brother, youâre not in the industry, but your comments hit the nail on the head. The core of sci-fi films is sci-fi, romance can embellish, but never dominate.
Secondly, itâs about funding. Sci-fi films are money-burning, canât skimp on special effects. Actor salaries can be high if you attract enough investment, but donât skimp on special effects.
But the domestic market is only so big, and a box office over 5 billion is already high. Simply put, investments have a cap because if the investment is too large, even with a good box office, it still decreases the returns."
Wang Fan completely agreed with Su Qingâs views. Regarding actors without acting skills? His crew included some newbies too, didnât it work?
But mainly, you canât let actors without acting skills take the lead, bear most of the acting. They canât hold it down.
In âWandering Earthâ, there were quite a few seasoned actors to anchor the film, which naturally worked. But when Teng Hua mentioned his cast, Wang Fan listened and found them lacking, without anyone to hold down the fort.
Clearly, the two directors had different styles. Wang Fan focused on plot refinements, character development, and special effects, while Teng Hua wanted to bank on lead stars, leveraging their popularity to boost box office, and with the current sci-fi craze, there was quite a bit of opportunity.
Because in recent years in the domestic market, such operations were common and lucrative, so itâs not to say Director Tengâs understanding was flawed.
"Ha, you two are already drinking, and especially you, Su Qing, youâre giving your sister no face today!"
At this moment, Tang Nan opened the door and immediately saw the two drinking, instantly getting upset, and she hurried over, tugging Su Qingâs ear and shouting.
"Ow~~~ it hurts, it hurts, my earâs going to fall off, gonna die, gonna die, gonna die!"
Seeing his pathetic look, Tang Nan chuckled, then flicked her hand and spat:
"Tell me, what were you thinking earlier? Didnât you want to start a film investment company? How could you offend people right off the bat?"
Su Qing: "Itâs not that I offended them, itâs that theyâre too lousy."
Both: ...
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