Chapter 978 Uninvited Guest
The salary Wan Qingqing asked for is, within the Hollywood system, relatively average considering her current qualifications and position.
In fact, as the absolute initiator of this project, she could have received a higher salary.
But she probably didn't ask for a higher salary to avoid suspicion of impropriety.
After deciding on Julieta and Jason Porter, Wan Qingqing began to think about where to use the funds since there was still so much money available.
Should we invite two more well-known actors to play supporting roles with more screen time, or use the money to make the film's art direction more sophisticated?
After much deliberation, Wan Qingqing concluded that the film's selling point for the audience was to focus the budget on portraying an "upper class."
Although such a large production budget is a drop in the ocean when it comes to depicting "high society".
However, if it's just used to showcase a specific segment of "high society," that's also possible.
We don't pursue the kind of luxurious details found in "The Great Gatsby," nor do we seek the kind of extravagant grand scenes found in "Babylon."
The audience for this movie is definitely predominantly female.
“I want to put more effort into the female lead’s styling.” Wan Qingqing mentioned her ideas when communicating with Lu Yanhe about the production of this film. “It has to be beautiful, the styling has to be varied, and it has to be something that many female viewers can relate to, whether it’s her beauty, her revenge, or her feelings for a young and handsome boy, including the fact that she was deceived and then took revenge. The selling point of this film is the female viewers’ empathy for the female lead.”
Lu Yanhe listened and strongly agreed with Wan Qingqing's idea.
“This is OK, this is very good,” he said. “Your selling points are very precise, and your market positioning is very clear. Let’s do it this way. It’s a film with a production budget of only $20 million, which isn’t a big production even in Hollywood. What are your expectations for this film?”
"The global box office is $100 million," Wan Qingqing stated frankly. "Of course, this includes the Chinese market."
"This film may not do very well at the box office in China. Neither the subject matter nor the format is particularly popular in the current domestic market," said Lu Yanhe. "In the domestic market, for a film to be a box office success, especially a foreign film, it either needs to be a big IP with a huge existing fan base, generate a huge social discussion, or have particularly good word-of-mouth that interests some viewers and makes them want to go to the cinema to see if it's good or not. This film probably doesn't fit that bill. Even if you promote it by claiming that I am the producer, it will probably only gross a few tens of millions of yuan at the box office."
Lu Yanhe's implication was that your goal is a global box office of $100 million, which is not small, but you will probably have to rely on overseas box office revenue to achieve it.
Wan Qingqing said, "I've calculated that if this film can break $40 million at the North American box office, it still has a chance to break $100 million at the global box office. Films starring Julieta generally perform quite well at the Spanish box office, whether they are blockbusters or serious films, the worst ones have made three or four million dollars. Jason Porter is also a British actor who is highly regarded by the media in the UK and has made his way in Hollywood. His projects often receive preferential publicity resources in the UK. So, with the boost from the UK and Spanish markets, plus the topicality of this subject matter itself, as long as the film is well-made, its story and commercial appeal determine that the results will not be bad. It just depends on where the ceiling is."
Lu Yanhe: "It's good that you have this confidence."
Wan Qingqing: "President Lu, do you think I'm overconfident?"
Lu Yanhe: "That's not it. I don't think so. As long as you have a precise positioning, that's fine. The biggest taboo for commercial films is trying to have the style of an art film. Trying to have both ends but not touching either. What I'm worried about is that you want to use this story to explore some so-called human nature or philosophical things. These kinds of movies, especially Hollywood movies, all like to do this. You know, this story can actually be made into an art film or an award-winning film, especially the female lead's role, which is a very suitable role for winning awards."
Wan Qingqing: "Actually, I have considered it. Julieta is a very good actress. If she performs well in this movie, she may really be favored by critics."
“It can be a result, but not a goal,” Lu Yanhe said. “We have never managed the awards season ourselves. Without the resources of this line, you can’t use the operation of the awards season to make money for this film.”
Some companies specifically produce films for awards season. Their goal isn't to win awards, but rather to generate significant revenue through these projects during the awards season. Firstly, there's the box office performance during awards season; secondly, the continued success of overseas rights sales is fueled by the awards season's success. To some extent, awards season has been exploited by certain companies to generate direct economic value.
It may not win any awards or receive any substantial nominations, but it generates a lot of buzz during awards season, which in turn attracts attention and significantly increases its copyright value.
Linghe certainly doesn't have that ability right now.
In terms of the North American awards season, Lu Yanhe's influence among the academy members is one thing, and Midoriya's public relations network and resources are another, but none of them have anything to do with Linghe himself.
Lu Yanhe wouldn't readily use his influence to endorse certain films, especially those produced by his own company.
In fact, so far, he has only seriously promoted "The Wind Rises" once, but the most important nomination for Best Foreign Language Film was lost, and he failed.
No one can say with certainty that they can secure an award or nomination for a particular person or film.
Every year is a matter of timing and circumstances; it depends on the specific situation.
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There are no characters with obvious Asian features in the script of "The Uninvited Guest".
However, Wan Qingqing ultimately gave the role of the second female lead to a Chinese actress.
She was looking for Liu Zi.
Liu Zi is a big star in China. With her roles in several works such as "My Own Swordsman" and "Dragon Inn", coupled with her superb acting skills, she has become a representative of middle-aged actresses who have become popular.
However, Wan Qingqing was able to cast Liu Zi because Liu Zi's film salary wasn't high. For a talented actress like her, a film role would definitely not exceed ten million RMB, which translates to no more than 1.5 million USD. Furthermore, Liu Zi's role as the second female lead, the female lead's best friend, didn't have many scenes, and with concentrated filming, it could actually be completed in about two weeks. This made her salary more negotiable.
Liu Zi and her team have never been stingy with their pay.
That's about right. As long as she doesn't suffer any losses, that's about enough.
The reason for casting a Chinese actor in one of the roles was Wan Qingqing's own idea.
Linghe is a Chinese film company, and even though its North American branch is located in the United States, it is backed by Chinese capital.
Aside from films like "Get Out," which focus on racial and skin color issues, all films produced by Linghe should feature a significant Chinese or Chinese-American character. Wan Qingqing felt that she had been working with Lu Yanhe for a long time and strongly agreed with his philosophy in this regard.
What kind of company are you? You need to have your own unique characteristics. These include both implicit and explicit characteristics. For Linghe, Lu Yanhe has always hoped to include more Chinese actors in Hollywood projects, allowing them to portray positive, multifaceted, and rich Chinese or Chinese-American characters, thus deepening public understanding through film. Wan Qingqing, as a Chinese herself, naturally shares this hope.
Many prejudices and discriminations stem from the smear campaigns against Chinese people and people of Chinese descent within the broader environment. Now that we have a window to the world where we can have a voice and find the right opportunity to set the record straight, or rather, to show others what a normal, unsmeared Chinese person looks like, is extremely important for any Chinese person.
Lu Yanhe appreciated Wan Qingqing's decision.
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October 25th.
The day when everyone read the script together for the first time before the new season of Friends started filming.
Bai Jin is still filming "The Island of Horrors," and she won't finish filming until next month, returning before "Friends" officially starts filming.
She participated in this script reading online.
Besides her, Li Zhibai, who will be making a guest appearance this season, also participated online.
His film "100 Yuan Coffee Shop" is currently being filmed and will not wrap up until next month.
In this season, Lu Yanhe also wrote a lot of scenes for the character Li Zhibai.
His previous guest appearance on Friends was very well received.
Li Zhibai happened to be free at the time, so he offered to make a cameo appearance.
Upon meeting, Zhan Yun jokingly asked Yin Xincheng, "Do you have any new relationship updates to tell us?"
When Zhan Yun asked the question, everyone else looked up and stared at Yin Xincheng with gossipy eyes, curious about his answer.
Yin Xincheng: "..."
He looked speechless.
Yan Liang didn't let him off the hook, but pressed on, "You're not going to send us another round of wedding invitations, are you?"
Yin Xincheng: "...That's enough."
Seeing this, Lu Yanhe also smiled.
“This is not our fault, Yin Xincheng. It’s entirely your own fault,” Zhan Yun said. “We will never let this go. We will always be like demons, bringing this up in front of you again and again, teasing you and making fun of you.”
Yin Xincheng: "Please, even though we've broken up, can we still remain friends? Don't be so harsh on me."
Zhan Yun: "We can continue to be friends, but you want me not to be too harsh on you? I can't do that."
Wen Minglan stood firmly by Zhan Yun's side and said bluntly, "Instead of hoping we'll let you off the hook, you'd better thicken your skin yourself. This matter will only end when we lose interest in making fun of you."
Yin Xincheng turned to look at Lu Yanhe in disbelief.
"Yan He, you wouldn't be like this too, would you?"
Lu Yanhe: "You still haven't answered Zhan Yun's question. What is your current relationship status?"
All eyes turned to Yin Xincheng.
"Single, single." Yin Xincheng sighed irritably.
Lu Yanhe: "Since you're single, I won't say anything."
Yin Xincheng: "Sigh, the wise do not fall in love, this saying is indeed true."
"Don't give me that. A true wise person isn't afraid of falling in love. Yan He and Si Qi have a great relationship, don't they?" Zhan Yun said. "It's true that fools like you shouldn't fall in love. You'll either end up hurting others or being hurt yourself."
Yin Xincheng: "..."
Wen Minglan nodded, indicating that she strongly agreed with Zhan Yun's statement.
Lu Yanhe smiled and said, "That's not quite the comparison. However, well, I don't agree that wise people don't fall in love."
Yin Xincheng: "I have been really hurt today."
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After Bai Jin and Li Zhibai appeared online, everyone started reading the script.
Everyone is too familiar with their own roles.
Therefore, Lu Yanhe's scripts are basically considered "bibles" in other production teams, and not a single word can be changed. However, in the Friends production team, everyone would occasionally offer suggestions for modification. Some would make adjustments to the word order based on their character's speaking habits, while others would suddenly come up with a good idea while reading the script, suggesting that it should be added or changed. After everyone discussed it, if they thought it was okay, then it would be changed.
Therefore, besides them, director Bai Jingnian and a copy editor were also present.
They were specifically responsible for recording relevant suggestions for revision, and then making modifications based on Lu Yanhe's script.
This is a very time-consuming process, especially the first meeting, which often sets the tone.
Everyone expressed their opinions.
But this is also a part that is particularly worth recording.
Why did the screenwriters at Linghe grow so quickly?
In the second row of the conference room sat many of Linghe's contracted screenwriters and intern screenwriters, listening to the main creative team discuss the script. They could see firsthand how a script was improved through revisions, which was very inspiring for their own creative process.
In addition, Linghe will also arrange two cameras to film and record on site, and keep records, as a material for them to train screenwriters and for screenwriters to learn from.
Apart from Linghe, practically no other company would do this.
After all, this is a long-term project.
As for film and television, frankly speaking, very few can survive for more than fifteen years.
Who would actually make such a long-term plan?
Anyway, if your own company doesn't have screenwriters, you can find them outside. If it's going to cost money, just buy them.
More often than not, you painstakingly cultivate a screenwriter, only to have them poached by someone else, making your efforts work for someone else's benefit.
There are many such cases.
However, Linghe was positioned as a production-oriented company from the very beginning.
With so many projects every year, every screenwriter can see their own room for development. They have opportunities and resources. Moreover, in terms of production, the company is one of the best in the industry. Even for contracted screenwriters, the company does not restrict them from taking on projects outside.
Therefore, the turnover rate of screenwriters at Linghe is very low.
(End of this chapter)
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