Chapter 653 Casting
The news brought by Hua Ruzhen was just a side story.
Lu Yanhe's work focus remains on the company's two productions.
The audition process for the TV series "2 Broke Girls" lasted about a week.
A total of five rounds of auditions were held during this period.
Lu Yanhe participated in three of the rounds.
Ultimately, the cast for "2 Broke Girls" was finalized.
Deng Xiaoyuan was among them.
Deng Xiaoyuan was the one who got the role on the spot.
When she heard Hu Siwei say, "Congratulations, you got this role," she burst into tears of joy.
Lu Yanhe liked the "realness" in her performance, the kind of composure that came from a hard-won, almost melancholic demeanor, rather than relying on her own natural talent.
Of course, Lu Yanhe also had his own motives. He had worked with Deng Xiaoyuan on "Chinese Paladin" and had personally witnessed her performance on set, knowing that she was a reliable actress.
The other main character, the restaurant owner, was also successfully taken down by Bai Yunfei, the short man whom Hu Siwei had discovered.
All the main characters received the same performance contract.
Both female leads were offered contracts of 30,000 yuan per episode, and were to sign six seasons of the contract at once. Of course, at Lu Yanhe's request, Linghe did not require them to sign six seasons of the contract at the 30,000 yuan per episode fee. Starting from the second season, the fees would be renegotiationd to give them room to increase their fees.
The other main actors received a fee of 10,000 yuan per episode.
For them, even such a fee is a "high salary" that they would not normally receive.
The disparity in actors' salaries is even greater than the difference between the top and bottom of the pyramid.
After finalizing the cast, Linghe immediately announced the project.
This is the first time it has been made public.
Produced and supervised by Hu Siwei, with script ideas provided by Lu Yanhe, this is Linghe's fourth sitcom after "Friends", "My Own Swordsman" and "Roommates".
With the previous two installments being such great successes, "2 Broke Girls" naturally attracted a lot of attention.
However, everyone was stunned when they discovered that the main actors in "2 Broke Girls" were all unknown.
Lu Yanhe often uses many unknown actors and newcomers as the main actors in his projects, and everyone is used to it. But before that, every project definitely had big stars.
Just like in "Love Letter" he and Chen Bige, in "Squid Game" Jiang Yuqian and Liu Zefan, and in "Lost in Thailand" Jia Long.
Surprisingly, "2 Broke Girls" doesn't have a single A-list star.
Some people are pessimistic, saying, "It's probably because the budget for '2 Broke Girls' was used to pay Lu Yanhe's salary for the script idea."
Linghe was happy to let everyone talk about it, to generate buzz for the show "2 Broke Girls," and to get the attention it received first.
Not long after, Linghe suddenly released another message related to "2 Broke Girls":
Recruiting audience members for rehearsals. Before the official filming of "2 Broke Girls" begins, a trial performance will be held in a small theater in the form of a play, and an audience will be recruited to watch and provide feedback.
It's yet another new way to play.
The reason for this was that the script was put together by everyone. Although Lu Yanhe had read it, Hu Siwei still wanted to see the audience's reaction in advance through this method.
We need to assess the feasibility of the script and story, whether the characters are believable, and also allow the actors to rehearse in advance and grasp the characters' states.
This requires an advance payment.
The actors need to set aside three months in advance to rehearse, revise the script, audition, and discuss. Based on the feedback, they can then go through one or even two more rounds of rehearsals.
Of course, Linghe couldn't let everyone work for free, so he provided each person with a monthly allowance of 10,000 yuan.
These actors are not yet famous, and they also face considerable pressure in their lives. It's unfair to say that "2 Broke Girls" is a pie in the sky that can change their fate, and that's why they kept "dedicating" and "sacrificing" in the early stages.
The main actors in "2 Broke Girls" are all very willing to do this. Their current mindset is like suddenly winning the lottery; everything in their lives has become about how to actually cash in on this winnings.
Television Review magazine published a commentary on this phenomenon, praising it.
For many years, the film and television industry has been driven by short-sighted profit-seeking. However, Lu Yanhe and his Linghe Film and Television have slowed down the pace of each production team, conducting auditions, rehearsals, and script readings. Even during the filming of "Friends" last year, they had a week of rehearsals, two days of filming, and two days of rest to ensure that everyone was in the best possible condition for filming.
Sometimes, a TV series can cost hundreds of millions of yuan, with the best creators and the best production team, all in the hope of producing the best show, but it doesn't get enough time to make the most thorough preparations.
Of course, we must also recognize that, so far, only a very small number of production teams have been able to do this. Only Lu Yanhe's productions can get those difficult agents and demanding actors to willingly cooperate with him and Linghe Film and Television's arrangements and do things that they would never be able to do in other production teams.
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“We had just started a film and originally wanted the actors to come to the set a week in advance to read the script and rehearse. However, the first thing they asked for was an extra three million yuan, not including the extra week's food, clothing, accommodation and transportation for them and their team.”
A producer from Songkai Films talked about something he had just encountered during his live stream.
"The way Lu Yanhe and his team did it, who wouldn't want to do it that way? Who wouldn't want the show to be better? I think you're really criticizing the wrong people when you're criticizing us producers. Is it that we don't want to give them a better creative environment?"
"How many actors like Lu Yanhe are there in the entertainment industry? He joins the crew early for almost every project, and several projects have even gone over schedule, but he has never asked the crew for a penny more in salary. He is very considerate of the crew. Just for that, how many actors can do that?"
"Why do you think he didn't use any stars in '2 Broke Girls'? I'm telling you, in the industry, everyone agrees that actors in Lu Yanhe's circle are easier to work with, especially the young actors who have worked with him. He leads by example and has an infectious influence."
"When he goes to any film crew, apart from his own food and lodging, he never asks the crew to pay for the food, clothing, accommodation, and transportation of anyone on his team. Just this one thing, so far, he is the only one in the entire entertainment industry who does this. Why does he have such industry influence?"
"Of course, we can't say that other actors who let the production team pay for their own things are wrong. It's too complicated. It's unrealistic to expect actors to come to the set without assistants. Even someone as down-to-earth as Lu Yanhe has to bring one. There's no way around it; it's the nature of their profession. I'm talking about some actors who are really disgusting. They want to bring all their relatives along and take advantage of the production team."
"Actually, I really hope that Lu Yanhe and his company will produce more dramas and promote more actors who are good at working with them, so that those actors who are not worthy of their positions can be eliminated."
"Really, I'm not exaggerating. Look at Wang Dashan who acted in 'Lost in Thailand,' Wang Jing who acted in 'Late Spring,' and Zhan Yun and Wen Minglan from 'Friends.' They are all recognized as good actors to work with. They all started out in the industry under Lu Yanhe. They learned how to be an actor from Lu Yanhe."
"A while ago, a friend of mine had a project that involved Yin Xincheng. But just before filming was about to start, an investor ran away and withdrew their funding, and suddenly the project was in danger of being canceled. Yin Xincheng had already received half of his salary, and according to the contract, even if the project was canceled, he didn't have to return the money. But he proactively contacted my friend and asked if the salary would be enough to cover the shortfall and continue filming. If not, he would return half of his salary. Can you believe it?"
"Why only half? Seriously, do you guys even understand? Don't even mention that he can only get half back; the other half was taken by his agency, and he can't control his agency. Even if he took it all and only got half back, that's still pretty awesome, okay? It was really Yin Xincheng's timely help that revived the show. It's like he didn't get a penny of salary; he's just waiting to see how much the show makes. If it doesn't make money or even loses money, he'll have filmed it for nothing."
“Do you know what Yin Xincheng said? He said that if he accepted the money at this point without any qualms and did nothing, he would be too ashamed to face his friends from 'Friends' if word got out.”
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In the Friends cast's group chat, Bai Jin took a screenshot of this live stream clip and sent it to the group, tagging Yin Xincheng:
Is this true?
Yin Xincheng: It's true.
Bai Jin: How can you be so moral?!
Yin Xincheng: I felt sorry for that guy. He put all the resources of his company into making that movie. It took almost a year to prepare. Everyone in the company was relying on this movie to support their families. When he came to me to ask for my schedule, it took a lot of effort to get through my agent to meet me. After we talked, I felt that his project was worthwhile, and I also felt that he had really had a tough time. The industry has been sluggish these past few years. He had a movie before, but the actor got into trouble, and it was stuck in his hands, losing a lot of money. If I agreed to act in it, the platform would agree to give him a pre-purchase payment. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to make the movie in the first place.
Lu Yanhe gave him three thumbs up in the group chat.
Bai Jin: Are you really afraid you'll be too ashamed to face us?
Yin Xincheng: Otherwise, you've all done so much, you've already overwhelmed me.
Bai Jin: What did we do?
Yin Xincheng: You should know, didn't you go to impoverished mountainous areas with CCTV's "Heart Project" team last month to do a relief activity?
Bai Jin: That's a charity event, how could it involve you?
Yin Xincheng: This is your fifth charity event this year, right? You guys are all so kind. If I don't show my good character, I feel like I'm not worthy of this little circle.
Yan Liang: You're really stubborn. You want to do something righteous, but you insist on blaming us.
Zhan Yun: Exactly.
Yin Xincheng: Stop talking, stop talking.
Zhan Yun: @Lu Yanhe, when will "2 Broke Girls" be filmed? Do you need us to make cameo appearances?
Lu Yanhe: I have this idea, but I haven't decided in what form I would make a cameo appearance in the script.
Zhan Yun: What's so difficult about that? They run a restaurant, right? Let's go to the restaurant together and have a meal, pretending to be characters from Friends.
Bai Jin: That's a good idea!
Lu Yanhe said with a smile: I'll talk to the screenwriting team and see if we can come up with a good idea.
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Lu Yanhe was very grateful that Zhan Yun had brought this up in the group chat.
By now, all the main actors from "Friends" have become popular actors who can stand on their own and achieve great success.
Just like Yin Xincheng, when a show he stars in is available, the platform is willing to pay for pre-orders even before it airs.
It's easy to imagine that it's especially difficult to get them to make a cameo appearance in a new film during times like these.
Not every actor is as free as Lu Yanhe, who can decide for himself what roles to take or what cameo appearances to make.
They definitely won't accept payment for their cameo appearances; if they did, Zhan Yun wouldn't have brought it up herself.
If they don't charge money, the agency will definitely have a problem with it, because the agency won't earn a share of the profits.
This requires them to put in the effort to deal with the brokerage firm themselves.
The clearer Lu Yanhe knew about what was behind it, the harder it was for him to ask them to make a cameo appearance.
Huang Kairen, Chen Bige, and Jiang Yuqian could do it because they knew they could make their own decisions.
However, Yin Xincheng and Zhan Yun couldn't make their own decisions.
Nevertheless, Zhan Yun still spoke up.
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To be fair, Lu Yanhe really needs the creative team from "Friends" to make a cameo appearance in "2 Broke Girls".
The scene of the six Friends reuniting will definitely be a huge hit, attracting millions or even tens of millions of people to watch 2 Broke Girls just for that moment.
Lu Yanhe hadn't even figured out how to bring it up with them when Zhan Yun brought it up herself.
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At this very moment, Bai Jin is also privately messaging Zhan Yun:
Yan He hasn't even contacted us yet, why are you asking him first? What if he doesn't need us to make a cameo appearance?
Zhan Yun: If someone doesn't need it, they can just say so. But he might really need us to go. You've known him for so long, don't you know him? He always doesn't want to cause us any trouble. If he really has to ask, I don't know how much internal struggle he has to go through.
Bai Jin: Ah, you're right. I don't understand at all. He's the one who gave us the opportunity and made us famous, but he always acts like he's afraid of troubling us or taking advantage of us.
Zhan Yun: But it is precisely because he is this kind of person that I trust him.
Bai Jin: I don't know how many seasons Friends will be made. I really hope it can keep going forever.
Zhan Yun: I also hope so. In fact, my agency even hopes that I will withdraw from this drama.
Bai Jin: Huh?
Zhan Yun: Don't worry, I won't agree. If they dare to force me to leave "Friends", I will talk to them about terminating the contract.
Bai Jin: Why do they want you to leave Friends? The show is still so popular.
Zhan Yun: Because filming "Friends" takes up a lot of my time, from December to February, I basically spent two or three months rehearsing and filming. In the same amount of time, I could take on another show, with thirty or forty episodes, and the pay would be two or three times that of "Friends".
Bai Jin: But what show can be more popular than Friends?
Zhan Yun: They think that I'm already famous even though I didn't act in "Friends".
Bai Jin: ...
Zhan Yun: Sigh, that's how small companies are. I'll definitely have to leave this company when my contract expires. It's really frustrating. You can feel it directly from their attitude towards you. They really just treat you as a tool to make money. They don't consider your long-term plans at all, nor do they consider what projects will help my entire career.
Bai Jin: You just want to make quick money, right?
Zhan Yun: They even wanted me to do live-streaming e-commerce, but I firmly refused.
Bai Jin: Should we go to the brand's live stream?
Zhan Yun: I sell products through live streaming myself.
Bai Jin: ...Please, you're not washed up. Aren't they afraid that your image will plummet and all your endorsements will fall through if they make you do this?
Zhan Yun: They thought about it later, so they stopped bringing it up.
Some of the big brands that endorse Zhan Yun would certainly not want to see their spokesperson suddenly become low-class.
Bai Jin: Have you thought about where you'll go after your contract with this company ends?
Zhan Yun: I haven't decided yet. I prefer to open my own studio, but neither Li Zhibai nor Yan Liang chose to open their own studios. Instead, they renewed their contracts, which makes me a little confused. Is it not so easy to open your own studio?
Bai Jin: The prerequisite for opening your own studio is probably having an agent like Chen Ziyan. Otherwise, no matter how famous you are, you still have to fight on your own, and you may not be able to survive.
Zhan Yun: Yes, sometimes when I see the slander and attacks that Lu Yanhe suffers, I think that if I didn't have a management company—although they do a terrible job, without them, I probably wouldn't have made it through.
Bai Jin: No, that's not it. The main thing is that I run my own studio, and I have to bear all the expenses myself, such as legal affairs, public relations, publicity, marketing, business liaison, etc. The operating costs are quite high, especially if you are working with top people in the industry. With your popularity and reputation, the costs in these areas are not small every year.
Zhan Yun: Why don't we start a talent agency together in the future and stick together for mutual support?
Bai Jin: Right now, we're both on the rise, so let's just forget about it. Let's get together again in ten or twenty years, and there will be fewer conflicts.
Zhan Yun: You're as direct as ever.
Bai Jin: I like it this way.
Zhan Yun: I like you just the way you are.
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If the casting for "2 Broke Girls" proceeded smoothly as if by a set plan, then the casting for the two thieves in "Home Alone" was anything but smooth, as they couldn't find suitable candidates.
The actors that Lu Yanhe and his team thought were suitable were all unable to participate due to scheduling conflicts.
So much so that they had almost seen all the comedians in the industry, but still couldn't find a suitable actor.
Chen Yin insisted that the film must have a well-known actor who could be recognized by theater managers; otherwise, no matter how good the film was or how popular it was, it might not get screened and its theatrical run would end in just a few days.
Lu Yanhe understood why Chen Yin was so insistent.
Home Alone and Pshaw! are positioned differently.
Although "Home Alone" is a low-budget film, it is positioned as a commercial film, so its operational approach should be that of a commercial film.
The core of a commercial film lies in two things: a selling point and star power.
While it's true that the three main characters in "Harry Potter" are all newcomers, the other roles boast a stellar supporting cast, with none of them being forgotten, and all being renowned actors in Europe and America.
Even the two actors from the original "Home Alone," Joe Pesci, had already starred in "Goodfellas," and Daniel Stern had already starred in "Farewell to Yesterday." At the time, they were both established male actors. Especially the latter, director Chris Columbus was initially worried that he couldn't afford to hire them. It was only after the production company loosened its budget that they were able to deliver their classic performances.
If "Home Alone" were only written by Lu Yanhe, it certainly wouldn't have been released quietly like a typical "three-no" film (no screen time, no production company, no production company). However, it also certainly wouldn't have been able to secure enough screenings like "Love Letter," ensuring that viewers wouldn't have to travel far to find a cinema to watch the film.
Having celebrities ensures there's something to promote in the early stages, guaranteeing basic screenings.
There are only so many good comedians in China with a certain box office appeal.
"What if we broaden the scope to non-comedic actors?" Hu Siwei asked. "Images can be adjusted through makeup and other means. It's not only comedians who can do comedy. Many actors who cross over into comedy have also given surprising performances in comedic works."
Of course.
Just like the actors who played the two thieves in the original "Home Alone," they weren't actors who specialized in comedy, but the final result was excellent.
However, finding actors based on this approach would be even more difficult.
Firstly, famous actors dare not easily accept roles that are not in their usual acting style.
Secondly, even if someone is willing to take the role, we don't know what the final result will be.
I still need to audition.
But for a group of already famous actors, even for Lu Yanhe, getting them to audition is not an easy task.
However, filming was about to begin.
I only have time to film wasps during winter break.
If the filming doesn't happen, we'll just have to wait until the next holiday.
Lu Yanhe gritted his teeth and called many people, asking them to recommend actors. He then took the initiative to contact them, arrange meetings, discuss the script and the roles, and invite them to audition.
Because of this commotion, many people in the entertainment industry learned that Lu Yanhe had a movie that was constantly casting actors but had not found a suitable one.
Several talented and accomplished actors volunteered to Lu Yanhe.
Lu Yanhe was conflicted and hesitant.
He didn't even invite others to audition easily because, in terms of the hard requirements, they didn't meet the criteria. They weren't famous enough to impress theater managers, let alone provide the star power that "Home Alone" needed.
He didn't want to waste other people's time.
However, if he were to actually say to someone, "I'm sorry, because you're not famous enough, I can't give you this opportunity,"...
This is ridiculous.
(End of this chapter)
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