Chapter 32 - Official Photos
Cao Mao was a little uneasy, afraid that his price was too high and would scare away the big spender.
But Mr. Fang didn't complain about the price; he just smiled and asked, "How many people are in your team now?"
"There are thirteen people in total, all of us from the Federal Institute of Technology's props club. But four of our team members are currently doing internships, so they can only come to make props on weekends."
Fang Zhuo nodded, pulled out the prepared contract template from his personal terminal, adjusted the amount, and sent the revised contract to the other party:
"The contract states that the labor cost is ten million, and I hope that the construction period can be controlled within forty-eight hours."
"My assistant will give you a separate credit card account later. You can just deduct the material fee directly from the card. You don't need to mention these small expenses to me separately in the future."
Cao Mao's eyes were a little dazed, and he felt a bit dizzy. He really felt like he was floating in mid-air.
How much? Ten million in labor costs?
He had never seen so much money in his life; could he really just spend it like that?
And how could anyone call a material cost of over a million a small expense? How rich do you have to be to associate these two terms together?
Out of caution, Cao Mao still put the contract in the [Cosmic Props Master] account operation group before signing:
[Brothers, get up quickly and take a look at the contract and prop list. The client wants to compress the four-day project into less than forty-eight hours.]
[Did I miscount the zeros? Is there an extra digit in the labor cost?]
[@CaoCaoCaoCao, this is made up, right? You're just lying to your friends by saying you'll get a guaranteed high drop rate in every gacha pull.]
[Internship suspended, I'll take over]
[@CaoCaoCaoCao, don't even mention 48 hours, I'd take 24 hours! I'll just build a model that's practically a firework!]
[Starting today, I will be joining Giant Entertainment's online marketing team on a voluntary basis. This is incredibly authoritative; Mr. Fang's photos are getting more and more handsome!]
[If Mr. Fang's dog gets lost, I definitely won't help look for it; I'll just take its place, woof woof woof!]
Normally, when he posted a screenshot of a gacha pull in a game, it never attracted so many people. Cao Mao felt ashamed of his brothers' greed for money.
People in the group kept sending "Old Servant is here" emojis, and a few guys said they wanted to take advantage of the situation to get a formal position at Giant Entertainment.
The interns were even more obsequious, with some so quick they even posted their leave requests directly.
It seems the construction period is not a problem.
Cao Mao quickly signed the contract, and the next second, ten million yuan was deposited directly into his personal computer.
He stared in disbelief: "Mr. Fang, isn't it normal to pay a deposit first and then settle the balance after the work is done?"
Fang Zhuo was setting the spaceship's slow descent route when he heard this. He turned around, leaned against the control panel, shrugged, and laughed, "There's no need for that. Trust your skills."
"The 48-hour period will start from 9:30 tomorrow. The studio is located on Star 399, and large props can be started directly there."
"In addition, Juyu can provide about eight to ten mobile staff to assist you during this period. If you have any other needs, just let my assistant know."
Cao Mao was almost stunned by the unexpected windfall; his language system completely crashed, and he kept mechanically repeating "thank you, boss."
On his way back to the dormitory, he would occasionally turn on his personal computer to check on it, fearing that the money might suddenly disappear.
Who understands the value of ten million for an average college student?
He felt his personal computer burning hot even with such a huge sum of money on him.
After resolving the props issue, Fang Zhuo rushed back to the company and called Liu Xiaolan and Deng Jiaqiang to discuss the costumes for the short drama.
Unlike traditional period dramas like "Grandma Taizu," the costume design for the card arena setting is significantly more challenging, which is one of the difficulties in adapting similar settings for film and television.
The difference between purely modern clothing and the card arena style is too great, and the game-like battle suits would easily appear rough and cheap in the show.
The original script contained over a thousand words describing the costumes of the male and female leads, which was considered a significant detail in a short drama.
As a professional, Liu Xiaolan took notes while reading the original text and explained it to the two of them:
"It is clearly stated here that the card family to which the male protagonist belongs originated from the border region between two continents of the ancient Blue Star, and the clothing does not show much skin and the clothes are on the longer side."
"As an outfit that can be compatible with card arenas, its design should ideally be as light and simple as the original text."
"There are two clothing designers in the Star Federation whose styles are similar to those in the original text. One is Gong Zhou, the creative director of Charent's sub-brand, and the other is LT, the up-and-coming brand owner who has been doing a lot of marketing on the Star Network recently."
"The latter is more cost-effective and has more available slots."
"Of course, another option is to buy ready-made clothes designed by Gong Zhou directly, and I can modify a few outfits according to the descriptions in the book."
"Most TV drama costume and prop teams do this now, and some platforms even buy replicas and modify them."
Before Fang Zhuo could reply, Deng Jiaqiang waved his hand and leaned back casually:
"No need for that, we're not short of money."
Liu Xiaolan pondered for a moment: "Most famous fashion designers wouldn't take on this kind of film and television project, and Gong Zhou is currently preparing for T Fashion Week, so I'm worried he'll be quite busy."
Her statement wasn't entirely absolute—among the renowned fashion designers in the Star Federation, Gong Zhou was known for his difficult temperament.
He gained fame at a young age and was recruited by the chief creative director of C brand early on. He consistently launches more than ten original designs every quarter. Two years ago, C brand even opened a sub-brand ready-to-wear line specifically for him.
Gong Zhou also suffers from the common problem of all artists: he is arrogant and sparing with his words, and even interview videos are rarely released.
She personally quite admires Miyasu's design style and has watched his few documentaries several times.
Based on her understanding of the other party's personality, the probability of Gongzhou agreeing to cooperate was quite low. Even if he reluctantly agreed out of consideration for the main brand, he would still delay the design work again and again.
Fang Zhuo directly called the customer service representative who had previously contacted Charent.
After Tong Qinglu walked the red carpet last time, the company generated several million yuan in revenue for the entire Charent series. Moreover, the entire group broadcast competition used their brand's ready-to-wear clothing. The advertising value brought by the huge exposure alone was quite considerable. The customer service voice on the phone was even more friendly and warm than last time.
After hearing Fang Zhuo's request, the other party said they would quickly consult their superiors. Five minutes later, they rushed back, panting, to reply:
"Mr. Fang, is the film and television collaboration about your company's latest short drama?"
“Our sub-brand has a high degree of autonomy in planning its brand strategy. You may need to meet with Mr. Gong and his team. The main brand will also send a business liaison to accompany you.”
Liu Xiaolan's eyes widened.
According to this reply, does that mean Miyasu agreed to take time off from Fashion Week to meet with her?
Wait a minute, this doesn't seem quite like the arrogant, genius designer she remembered.
Forty minutes later, the sheer scale of the lineup Charent sent took her even further by surprise.
Not only did Gongzhou bring his entire design team, but they also sent a whole group of workshop tailors and a dozen or so employees with different functions.
As Liu Xiaolan watched the employees of Brand C continuously carrying various fabrics and clothing making tools into the main hall, her initial shock gradually turned into admiration.
Gong Zhou wasn't as aloof as she remembered; he even had a smile on his face as he spoke eloquently about his understanding of the design, referring to the original text of the clothing description, which was several thousand words long.
Who is this person? She seemed to not recognize him.
Gongzhou is usually very quiet, so why is he being so attentive today?
After listening to Gong Zhou talk about his artistic concepts for a long time, Fang Zhuo finally took advantage of the brief moment when the other man was catching his breath to interject:
"We will include at least twenty seconds of content about the clothing in the behind-the-scenes video, and if you request, your brand name will also be included when the short drama is officially announced."
"We need a total of eight outfits. What's your budget for those outfits?"
After hearing this design requirement, Gongzhou hesitated for a moment.
His sub-brand was established relatively recently and is not the most prominent among C brand's several distinctive ready-to-wear lines.
His agreement to discuss film and television cooperation with Juyu was also intended to serve as an advertising and promotional tool; it would be even better if it could immediately boost his brand's sales.
It seems there must be someone in the fashion industry working for the other company. The clothing style in this script is indeed quite compatible with their brand. He is very much looking forward to the results of this collaboration.
Taking all this into account, he was willing to make a slight concession on the design fee.
However, his annual salary is nearly ten million, and designing eight sets of costumes is almost his entire quarterly workload. In order to keep up with the production cycle of short dramas, the design time is also compressed to a very short period of time, so he cannot set his collaborative design fee too low.
Let's pray that this rookie CEO has the financial strength to back it up, and hopefully he won't have made a wasted trip.
“Mr. Fang, I will lead the design of these eight sets of clothing, while the other six designers in our team will be responsible for refining the details. The total design fee is seven million.”
"The cost of fabric and workshop labor is calculated at 900,000 per set, totaling 14.2 million."
After he finished speaking, not only he, but everyone in the room turned their attention to Fang Zhuo.
Gongzhou's gaze fell on the script on the quantum computer, still captivated by the design style in the text, and he added:
"If you could add a separate line about costume design in the promotional materials for the drama, we could also reduce the collaboration fee a bit, to a total of thirteen million. What do you think?"
This price is much cheaper than Fang Zhuo had expected.
He stood up first and shook hands with the other party: "Of course, we can list your brand's clothing design separately, and even put it before the screenwriter's acknowledgments."
Anyway, the script for the short drama was given by the system, and their screenwriter was a name they made up at random. They had been using the personal accounts of operations staff as screenwriters all along.
But these words took on a completely different meaning when they reached Miyasu's ears.
A tremendous shock welled up in Gongzhou's heart.
What incredible trust! To elevate costume design to a level even higher than screenwriting in film and television dramas—it's an immense honor to have such a client.
...Not only was Mr. Fang extremely generous with the money, but he also so readily gave his name to such an important position.
Such a generous client is truly a rare find.
Gongzhou was at a loss for words and could only prove through his actions that the client's money was well spent.
So when Liu Xiaolan was choosing matching headdresses for the protagonist, she could see Gong Zhou setting up a workbench and busily getting to work in the side hall.
She clearly remembered that in the documentary interview, Miyasu had a severe procrastination problem; he was the kind of person who would spend months experiencing nature when he lacked inspiration.
When did you become so dedicated?
Could it be that she missed a few episodes of a documentary?
Several tailors quickly produced the first version of the garment based on the design draft. Gong Zhou, chin in hand, circled around Jian Yujing a few times, occasionally telling the designers under his command which details needed to be adjusted.
The lights in the secondary hall stayed on until 11 p.m., and even several anchors couldn't help but yawn. Gong Zhou, however, still looked energetic and kept revising the design.
Since the lead designer wouldn't leave, the others were also embarrassed to leave work. Finally, at exactly midnight, when Fang Zhuo left the company, he passed by the secondary hall and forcibly turned off the lights for them.
The next morning at nine o'clock, when Liu Xiaolan arrived at work with coffee and dark circles under her eyes, she was surprised to find that Gong Zhou was still sitting at the same workstation as yesterday, engrossed in drawing without looking up.
She was shocked and secretly pulled aside one of the designers working for the other party, whispering, "Is your director always this hardworking?"
The designer, whose eye bags were even bigger than hers, shook her head as if she'd seen a ghost, also covering her mouth with her hand and muttering a complaint:
"He's still dragging his feet on confirming the outfits the models walked in at Fashion Week. It feels like he's been possessed by something evil these past few days."
Liu Xiaolan nodded emphatically.
The junior designer then changed the subject: "Is your boss always like this?"
Liu Xiaolan gave a soft "hmm" in confusion: "What?"
The designer made an exaggerated gesture: "Why doesn't he ever negotiate the price when discussing collaborations? I thought he would try to cut a little."
Liu Xiaolan patted the other person on the shoulder: "Your price is still too low. Our boss probably thinks he got a great deal."
Seeing the surprise in the other person's eyes, she left with a satisfied, smug look on her face.
With such efficient operation, the eight designed costumes were successfully delivered to the 399 Star photography studio the following afternoon.
Liu Xiaolan had already sent over three large boxes of jewelry that she had selected overnight, and Cao Mao sent several messages saying that the companion cards, weapons, and props for the main characters had just been completed.
At 6 p.m., Fang Zhuo personally led a group of anchors to Star 399 to shoot the first set of promotional photos.
As the security equipment at the entrance scanned his iris, the studio doors slowly opened—
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