Chapter 895 Different Play Contracts
“Beijing TV sent me a TV series script and asked me to act in it.”
Jiang Yuqian and Li Zhibai were lying on the bed; to be precise, Jiang Yuqian's head was resting on Li Zhibai's arm.
Both of them had rosy complexions, even in a room without lights, with only faint natural light filtering in from behind the curtains.
This is Jiang Yuqian's home. There are no angles around that could be used to take photos, so they can safely cover the windows with just a screen.
Li Zhibai contentedly twirled a strand of Jiang Yuqian's hair around his finger and asked, "Did you get it?"
"No." Jiang Yuqian shook her head. "Actually, I should have accepted it. I owed this producer a favor before, but my schedule didn't allow it, and I haven't taken on any dramas in a long time."
Li Zhibai: "Based on my personal experience, it's better to stay away from Beijing TV. As long as they don't replace these station leaders, they're not a good thing."
Jiang Yuqian smiled.
"When you stood up to Beijing and Taiwan back then, didn't you ever think you'd be blacklisted by them?"
“No,” Li Zhibai said. “I still find it hard to imagine who has the ability to blacklist me.”
Jiang Yuqian: "That's how it is now, but back then, you were just a popular idol, weren't you? Although your family had a strong background and resources, their main battleground wasn't in the entertainment industry."
Li Zhibai: "I really didn't think that much about it. I didn't think anyone could blacklist me. To be honest, I don't break the law or commit any crimes, so why should I be blacklisted?"
"It can only be said that Beijing and Taiwan have declined. Ten years ago, they still had a lot of power. If any celebrity offended them, it wasn't just them; they would join forces with others to blacklist that celebrity. Such things were not uncommon." Jiang Yuqian sighed softly. "Now times have changed."
Li Zhibai asked curiously, "Didn't you become famous shortly after your debut? How come it seems like you've also experienced a lot of coercion and pressure?"
"It wasn't exactly coercion or coercion, but I did take on quite a few roles that I didn't really want. That's how it was when I first started out. If someone used you in a role, you owed them a favor. If they offered you a role later, you had to repay them. Often, a role wasn't just about one project, and actors were in a relatively weak position." Jiang Yuqian said helplessly, "It's not the same as when you guys became famous. When I started out, there was still a bit of a江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry) feel to it. Now it's more about business. Back then, there were even factions. If you were on one side, you couldn't act in another side's projects, otherwise it was considered betrayal. Can you believe it?"
"Tsk." Li Zhi shook his head succinctly, "Luckily I was born late."
Jiang Yuqian's hand touched Li Zhibai's waist.
With a gentle twist.
"What do you mean? You think I'm too old?" Jiang Yuqian asked.
Li Zhi let out a strange cry.
"I swear to God, I never meant that!"
-
Meanwhile, in Zhang Yuezhen's office.
"Yaoyao, would you like to act in this TV series?"
Ning Yao was startled when she suddenly heard Zhang Yuezhen's voice.
She looked over with an innocent and bewildered expression and asked, "Sister, I don't know. Do you think I should act?"
Zhang Yuezhen said, "In my opinion, it falls into the category of optional roles. It can be used to fill in the schedule, since filming only takes twenty days. Moreover, although the investment is small and the salary is low, only 100,000, you can work with He Daren in this drama. After all, he is a TV King. If you work with him, it will raise your status in the industry."
Hearing this, Ning Yao understood.
Although Zhang Yuezhen started by saying "it's optional," she actually believes that she should have taken the role.
What are those concerns?
Is the actor's salary for this film only 100,000 yuan?
Are you worried that she feels the pay is too low?
This salary is indeed a bit low.
She's not a newcomer anymore; she's already started playing leading roles.
Normally, a single film or television production can easily earn seven figures.
Ning Yao nodded and said, "If it's to fill in the gaps in my schedule, then I'll take it. I'm just sitting around doing nothing anyway."
Zhang Yue smiled with satisfaction.
"Okay, then I'll take it on for you. This show only has 12 episodes, and it's a sitcom script based on 'Friends.' Although it's somewhat experimental, it might just become a hit."
Ning Yao nodded.
In the past two years, Zhang Yuezhen has had many collaborations with Beijing and Taiwan.
Many of the company's actors star in dramas produced by Beijing TV and Taiwan.
Without exception, the salaries paid for dramas produced by Beijing and Taiwan are always discounted from the market price; they can't get the full price.
This isn't the first time.
However, this is Ning Yao's first time playing the female lead in a Beijing-Taiwanese drama.
She thought to herself, "This isn't a complete loss, is it?"
Zhang Yuezhen suddenly changed the subject and asked, "Yaoyao, what do you think of Li Hailu?"
"Huh?" Ning Yao's heart skipped a beat. "I'm not very familiar with him, sis. Are you asking about his acting skills? Or his character?"
“His character,” Zhang Yuezhen said. “Of the male actors the company has signed, after observing them for so long, the two with the best potential are He Ting and Li Hailu. He Ting is more proactive and will seize any opportunity. He is ambitious. As for Li Hailu, I don’t quite understand him. I don’t know what he’s thinking. He seems calm and indifferent to many things, but if he really didn’t care, he wouldn’t be like that.”
Ning Yao pondered for a moment and said, "He probably just doesn't know how to express what he wants."
Zhang Yuezhen raised an eyebrow and asked, "And what about you? Are you the type of person who expresses what you want?"
Ning Yao hesitated.
“Sometimes I can, sometimes I can’t,” Ning Yao said. After she finished speaking, she glanced at Zhang Yuezhen cautiously. “I’m afraid that if I take the initiative to speak, I will upset her, make her angry, or leave her with the impression that I’m greedy.”
Zhang Yuezhen nodded: "Yaoyao, it's good that you have such a sense of proportion. It will take you further. But Li Hailu doesn't have many resources to begin with. If he continues to think like this, he will really be forgotten."
-
"The box office of 'My Sassy Girl' is estimated to stop at just over 300 million."
Li Yuefeng frowned.
"This box office performance—"
"It's neither good nor bad, we still made money, we didn't lose money," Wu Bai said. "However, Linghe still wants to hold premieres in South Korea, Japan and Malaysia, and wants us to go and participate."
Li Yuefeng nodded.
“We said at the time that this film would still be released globally,” Li Yuefeng asked. “Aren’t there any plans for a premiere in Europe and America?”
"There's no release date or distribution plan set in Europe and America yet," Wu Bai said. "I think, since this movie is already like this, not a huge hit like 'The Classic,' should we still go to these places?"
Li Yuefeng looked at Wu Bai with disbelief.
"Why not go? We agreed on this a long time ago."
“We participate in these activities without receiving any compensation, and it takes up a lot of our schedules for nothing,” Wu Bai said.
Li Yuefeng: "But Linghe has already helped us contact a lot of media outlets. There will be local media doing exclusive interviews, including a program on a Japanese TV station. Xiao Yun and I are going to be on it. If we don't go now, all these arrangements will be disrupted. Moreover, this exposure will also help my international reputation. It's not like I only have this one movie that will be released overseas in the future."
Wu Bai: "If you want to participate, then pretend I didn't say anything. I'm just reminding you that this trip will last for about half a month. After several trips, there will be no pay. It will all be unpaid work. You won't get any of the overseas box office revenue either; it has nothing to do with you."
Li Yuefeng said, "People shouldn't be so short-sighted. Let's not even talk about how my previous film, 'The Corpse,' gave me some fans overseas, especially in Asia. Take 'My Sassy Girl' for example. Is it bad that this movie only grossed 300 million? Lang Xia can brag for a long time about a movie that grosses over 100 million. Why is this 300 million not worth bragging about? Not to mention, look at how much praise this role has earned me."
Indeed, the character of the "punching bag boyfriend" is a departure from Li Yuefeng's usual relatively sunny and aggressive image, and he is no longer the perfect man in "If Love Has a Destiny." He is unusually down-to-earth... In fact, how should I put it? Many female viewers have developed a great liking for him because of this. To use a popular phrase online, they also want to find a boyfriend like Li Yuefeng, to play around with him, and be a little wild.
This role helped Li Yuefeng broaden his acting range.
Li Yuefeng said to Wu Bai, "There's something even more important. I still want to continue cooperating with Linghe. If I suddenly stop cooperating now, how can we cooperate in the future?"
Wu Bai sighed.
"That's true."
Wu Bai asked, "Have you thought about the movie script that Yu Jiang brought you? Will you accept it or not?"
"Forget it, I'm too lazy to take it anymore. I've already acted in two romance movies in a row, and I don't want to define myself as a romance movie actor," Li Yuefeng shook his head and said very decisively.
"Okay, then I'll go and reject her."
-
"Liu Zefan refused, and Li Yuefeng also refused."
Yu Jiang's face was extremely pale.
"We've contacted all the top-tier, currently popular young male actors in China. Mr. Yu, how about we consider pairing a top-tier actress with a newcomer actor?"
“This is a youth romance film, mainly targeting the female market. What’s the point of using a top-tier actress? She can’t create dreams for female audiences,” Yu Jiang said unhappily. “If the male lead can’t shoulder this responsibility, the film is better not to be made at all, because it won’t do well at the box office.”
"So, in this situation—"
Yu Jiang's eyes darted around, and he suddenly thought of someone.
Where is Ma Zhiyuan?
"Ma Zhiyuan? He got Xu Qinyin pregnant before, and all his female fans have already left. If he were to act in a youth romance movie, wouldn't the audience be even less willing to accept it?"
"What if we changed the male protagonist to someone with extreme charm but also extreme personality flaws? At first, the female protagonist is blinded by love and completely deceived by him. Later, she begins to wake up, sees his true colors, and starts to take revenge, ultimately making him suffer the consequences of his actions, resulting in a tragic ending," Yu Jiang said. "Didn't everyone say that youth romance movies have fallen into a formula? Then let's change the direction of this story to a girl's self-awakening and growth, a satisfying revenge story against a scumbag."
The others looked at each other in bewilderment upon hearing this.
It doesn't sound so far-fetched.
"This change seems pretty good."
"If it's changed like this, would Lang Xia be willing to act in this movie?"
Yu Jiang frowned.
“Since he refused before, saying he didn’t want to make these movies again, don’t contact him again.” She said, seemingly indifferently.
Those who know her well know that the more she acts this way, the more she actually cares.
"Ma Zhiyuan's agent is Zhou Ping'an. Should I wait until the script is revised before communicating with him, or should I go now?"
“I’ll call him first,” Yu Jiang said. “If you call him, he won’t listen. But Ma Zhiyuan… if he’s used well, he might be able to create a box office breakthrough. The movie ‘Caught in Scandal’ earned the platform tens of millions before.”
"right."
Yu Jiang asked, "How much should I pay him?"
“This is a theatrical film, so there are inherent risks involved in using his services. Besides us, it’s difficult for him to have such resources now. We should be able to negotiate a lower price, maybe one million? Or five hundred thousand? Anyway, anything over one million is too much. Our film’s budget is only twenty million.”
Yu Jiang nodded.
"Then I'll quote 500,000 first, and see what Zhou Ping'an has to say."
"Should we change the movie title?"
What would be a better change to?
Without even thinking, Yu Jiang said directly, "Stay away from me, you scumbag."
(End of this chapter)
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