Chapter 342: The Conflict Between Heaven and Man
Since Zhou Guoyuan wanted to take on Gu Siqing's TV series, he had done his homework beforehand. He had previously studied her novel "Whose Childhood Is Not Troubled?" Although it wasn't a script, the TV series adapted from the novel was similar in content to the novel.
This is why he dared to give the budget to Gu Siqing tomorrow.
He was a serious person, and although the budget he made was not very detailed, it was almost right. He knew that Gu Siqing was in school, so he chose her time to go to Gu's house after school and gave her the budget.
Although Gu Siqing was only a teenage high school student, Zhou Guoyuan didn't underestimate her at all. She had already published two well-selling books at such a young age, and even adapted them into a TV series—something not many children could accomplish. Furthermore, when they met yesterday, their conversation further confirmed that this girl was no ordinary person.
Gu Siqing invited him to the living room, poured him a glass of water, and then began to look at the budget carefully. She didn't know much about the crew's affairs, but she could see that Zhou Guoyuan was serious and didn't fool her.
Take the actors' salaries for example. The actors' salaries are calculated on a monthly basis. The main actors' salaries are 50 yuan a month for adults and 40 yuan a month for children. The other actors' salaries are basically around 30 yuan a month. The budget is for two months.
This salary is a far cry from the salary of young actors in later generations. Some actors in later generations who can only stare and cut out pictures can get tens of millions of yuan for a TV series.
At this time, Zhou Guoyuan also explained to her: "I plan to find experienced actors with high acting skills in the drama troupe to play the leading role, but they may not be able to shoot around the clock, after all, they all have jobs."
Gu Siqing could understand this. Nowadays, TV dramas are all shot by film studios. If an actor accepts a drama, if they are already an actor from the film studio, then it is easy to go to the crew to work. If they are not from the film studio, such as employees of a cultural troupe or drama troupe, then their original unit will issue a letter of introduction to go to the crew to work.
Her drama was filmed privately, so actors who accepted her role were essentially doing private work. Although their workplace didn't explicitly forbid private work, their "private work" couldn't interfere with their normal work.
"However, our drama is a situational drama, so filming is relatively simple and the actors will not affect the filming progress," Zhou Guoyuan explained.
Gu Siqing hummed. This was the current state of the film and television industry, and she couldn't change it. She looked at the total budget: a little over 80,000 yuan, less than 100,000. It was significantly less than Ming Ziqian's previous budget.
"Is this budget enough?" Gu Siqing asked.
"Our drama is a life-like sitcom, so the expenses for costumes, shooting locations, props, etc. are relatively much less." Zhou Guoyuan introduced each expense in detail to Gu Siqing. After listening to it, Gu Siqing admired in her heart that although Zhou Guoyuan was a shrewd and manipulative person, he took his work very seriously and did not take shortcuts.
Working with such a person, she naturally didn't want to treat him unfairly. After reading the budget, Gu Siqing looked at him and said, "Director Zhou, let's talk about your salary."
"Me?" Zhou Guoyuan smiled. "Siqing, you can decide how much I'll be paid."
He called "Siqing" affectionately, as if the two of them had no age difference and were old friends for many years.
"I have two options, you choose one. One is that you don't have a fixed salary, and you get 20% of the net profit of this drama. The other is that I will give you a salary of 500 yuan a month." Gu Siqing said.
A monthly salary of 500 yuan would be considered a fortune. Zhou Guoyuan's monthly salary at the film studio was 35 yuan. If there were movies or TV series to be filmed, he might get some bonuses, but it would definitely not reach 500 yuan.
Is Zhou Guoyuan short of money? Of course he is. How many people in this world don't need money? Five hundred yuan a month, if it takes two months to shoot a TV series, that's a thousand yuan. For him, a thousand yuan is definitely very attractive.
But he thought of Gu Siqing's book. She'd earned hundreds of thousands of yuan by taking royalties instead of royalties. Which was more tempting? He didn't know if the TV series would ultimately make money, or how much. Choosing the latter would undoubtedly be another gamble.
A thousand yuan or a profit of 20% that he had no idea how much it was? Zhou Guoyuan began to struggle with his conscience.
In fact, from the original intention, he chose to shoot this TV series not for the money. His main purpose was to have a play to shoot, and he could learn and summarize more things during the filming process.
I wasn't here for the money, so why not take a gamble now? After thinking for a while, Zhou Guoyuan said, "I'll choose a profit of 20."
"Okay, I'll have someone draft a contract, and we'll sign it when we get back," said Gu Siqing.
A person's choices determine his ultimate fate. It makes sense that Zhou Guoyuan will become famous and successful in the future.
After the two of them agreed, Zhou Guoyuan said goodbye and left. Gu Siqing saw him to the door. As he left, he saw a black Hongqi sedan coming. Gu Siqing recognized it. It was the Xia family's car.
After visiting relatives at the Xia family during the Chinese New Year, Old Mrs. Xia and Feng Hailan often came to visit, and Gu Siqing and the others had gotten used to it.
The car stopped at the door of the Gu family's house. Old Lady Xia and Feng Hailan got out of the car. Gu Siqing walked over to greet them with a smile. When Old Lady Xia saw her, she shook her hand and said, "Has our little four grown taller again?"
Gu Siqing smiled: "It's just a little bit higher."
"When you are growing, you must get enough nutrition. Your aunt and I brought you some nutritional supplements. Remember to eat them regularly." Old Mrs. Xia said again.
Gu Siqing: "I understand."
As they were talking, they entered the house. Wang Yueju and Gu Yimin were cooking in the kitchen. Feng Hailan rolled up her sleeves and joined in. Gu Siqing and Old Lady Xia were sitting in the kitchen, and everyone was talking together.
They talked about Wang Yueju's plan to build a four-piece suit factory. Wang Yueju said that they would start working on this matter after Kong Xiuwan returned from the United States, and that it should be done in time for the commercials to be inserted in Gu Siqing's TV series.
When Old Lady Xia and Feng Hailan heard that Gu Siqing was going to film a TV series, they looked at her in surprise and asked if it was true. Gu Siqing nodded and said yes, then she told them her original intention of filming the TV series.
Mrs. Xia and Feng Hailan had both seen "Whose Childhood Wasn't Troubled" and, after hearing her words, both said it would be a good show. Mrs. Xia also said, "If you have any questions, please tell me and I will do my best to help you."
Old Mrs. Xia knew that there were many links between the filming and broadcasting of a TV series. If one link got stuck there, the TV series might not be broadcast.
Gu Siqing also knew this, so she didn't refuse. She smiled and said to Old Lady Xia, "Thank you in advance. I will definitely come to you if I have any problems."
This was what Old Mrs. Xia wanted to hear the most, and her face was so happy that it looked like a chrysanthemum.
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