It went unexpectedly smoothly.
Sheng Quan thought that Director Wan Bao would be very easy to talk to at this time, but she didn't expect him to be so easy to talk to. He kept smiling at her attentively, and his face was almost smiling like a chrysanthemum.
She didn't pay much attention to the entertainment industry in her previous life. What's more, "Starlight" is fictional, and many settings are different from her previous life. She was afraid that she, an outsider, would be cheated. She spent several days making up for it in the hotel during this period. Now she can barely have a superficial understanding of the entertainment industry in this world.
This is also Sheng Quan's usual style of doing things. Although she has a super rich system and is a book traveler, it is absolutely impossible for her to rush forward without clearly understanding the current situation in the world.
She first read the original novel of "The Road of Life", and then confirmed that the potential sponsor Yan Hui met the requirements of the role she wanted to give him in terms of temperament and appearance, and finally contacted director Wan Bao.
When Wan Bao heard that Sheng Quan knew all the characters in "The Road of Life" and that he knew them very well, he suddenly realized something: "Are you a fan of the book?"
He said, how could a wealthy individual investor suddenly appear? If a fan of the book wanted to invest in the drama after reading the book, then that would make sense.
He understands rich lady book fans.
Although it was the first time he had seen such a young, beautiful and rich woman, it didn’t matter. What mattered was that she had money.
Sheng Quan was also happy to see Wan Bao's misunderstanding: "I guess so. I especially like the role of Qin Heng. I heard that your crew hasn't decided on the actor for Qin Heng yet?"
Wan Bao immediately got a sense of reality, knowing that the main part was about to begin: "Yes, it was confirmed before, but something happened with his schedule, so the role is vacant now."
It is very common for investors to designate actors to join the crew. The specific level of the role depends on how much money the investor offers and whether the director is famous enough and has a strong personality.
Wan Bao, who is now so poor that he only has equipment left, is very self-aware. He used to be very reluctant to bring money into the group, but after being hit hard by reality, he has changed from "I would rather not have the money" to "As long as it doesn't affect the main plot, it's okay even if you send a dog to play the cat."
The role of Qin Heng happens to be very popular if played well, but it does not affect the viewing experience of the TV series. If played well, it will help add points, but if played poorly, it does not matter, and the overall impact is not significant.
Why did Wan Bao know so much about this? Because the actor who was previously scheduled to play Qin Heng was designated by the investor. As a result, the investor withdrew his investment and the actor left with him, so the position became vacant.
Sheng Quan asking Qin Heng was much better than asking the main character as he had imagined. After all, he had already "sold" it once, so there was no psychological pressure to "sell" it a second time.
Wan Bao immediately asked consciously, "Does Miss Sheng have any recommendations?"
He didn't ask if the other party was sure about the investment. If he really designated the actors, would he still worry that Miss Sheng wouldn't pay? "Yes, there is one."
Sheng Quan couldn't help but sigh, it turned out that people who have been in the entertainment industry for a long time are all shrewd people. She didn't need to say anything, people brought up the topic themselves.
She is not pretentious. In the entertainment industry, money is king.
Sheng Quan put down the Project Demonstration Materials in his hand and said straight to the point: "I will invest 10 million. Someone will discuss the specific equity division with you. The necessary condition is that the actor Qin Heng is appointed by me. If Director Wan has no objection to this, then we can continue."
Wanbao was completely stiff.
His mind was full of the words "ten million, ten million, ten million, ten million."
Ten million!!!!
Here we have to mention the general investment amount in the entertainment industry of this world. Unlike the overall inflation in the entertainment industry in Sheng Quan's previous life, in the setting of "Starlight", the situation in the entertainment industry is quite polarized, and prices are directly linked to fame.
This includes the director's fame, the actor's fame, the singer's fame, the composer's fame and so on.
The cheap ones are very cheap, and the expensive ones are very expensive.
Ten million is really a lot of money at this moment and under these circumstances.
For an ordinary director like Wan Bao and an ordinary crew, it would be a great honor for him to attract an investment of 5 million. And because the actors are basically not famous and cheap, 4 million is enough for the filming of the entire drama.
Of course, he is definitely not satisfied with four million. After all, the quality of this drama is very high. As we all know, there are many ways to improve the quality of TV series, but the most indispensable thing is to spend money.
Beautiful composition, repeated NGs, scene production, purchasing props, custom-made clothes, actors, stage management, shooting, post-production, editing, dubbing, and collecting materials, none of these costs money.
It is no exaggeration to say that the dream of every director in the entertainment industry is to spend as much money as they want after filming begins.
Directors without money can only reduce the quality, while those like Wan Bao who have no money but are unwilling to reduce the quality can only hold on. He even negotiated the copyright of the novel because the novel is quite unpopular and niche, and although the quality is high, the performance is not very good.
And now! Sheng Quan told him that she invested 10 million!!!
The investor who withdrew his investment only invested four million!
"Ms. Sheng, I am willing. Of course I am willing. You can decide the actor for Qin Heng. I am willing to sign a Level 6 contract with you. As long as you invest, I can say anything..."
Wan Bao was so excited that he was incoherent. It was the first time he had encountered such a large investment since graduation, especially a timely help. If he was not afraid of scaring Sheng Quan, he would have wanted to jump up and kowtow to her.
Sheng Quan had read the novel and had been looking up information for a few days, so he knew what the highest-level contract that Wan Bao mentioned was. The entertainment industry in this world divides various investment contracts into seven levels.
There are many detailed categories going up level by level. The higher the specifications, the greater the benefits and rights the investors will get.
Generally, investors will only sign level four. Starting from level four, the higher you go, the more benefits the investor gets, and the lower you go, the more benefits the producer gets. Wanbao started with level six, which shows its sincerity.
However, although Sheng Quan wanted to make money, she did not want to deprive Wan Bao of too many rights. Her investment seemed to be a lot in the current market, but to be fair, she could only sign a level five contract at most, and level five already gave her an advantage. Wan Bao was obviously afraid that she would run away, so she tried to tie her down with benefits.
Sheng Quan likes dealing with honest people like this the most, but she won't take advantage of others' misfortune to bully them: "Forget about level 6, or level 5. The crew has already started filming, right? I wonder if it's convenient for me to arrange an audition in the next few days?"
Wan Bao was first surprised that Sheng Quan did not accept the Level 6 contract, and he was even more surprised when he heard about the audition later.
He hesitated for a moment and asked quietly, "Is the audition open to the general public?"
Some investors like to do this. Even though the role has been decided, they still hold an audition to show that the role was won by the designated actor by defeating his opponent.
Wan Bao didn't say it, but he actually didn't like this approach. After all, since they had been chosen from the beginning, why invite other actors? They came here with high expectations and prepared seriously, but in the end they had no hope of being selected from the beginning. Isn't that just walking them off?
Fortunately, this generous new investor did not have the hobby of walking people around, so she said naturally: "No, it's only for him."
"Although I think he fits the role, I still have to audition him to know if he's really suitable, Director Wan, don't you think so?"
Sheng Quan didn't notice Wan Bao's rich inner drama. Although she had made a lot of preparations and could be considered to have a sure win, she was still in a good mood after the negotiation went smoothly.
Next, she only needs to find the hotel to take the lead, and she will immediately get a mature and professional negotiation team.
This time, he didn't have to worry about money, because he invested in "The Road of Life" to "sponsor" Yan Hui and help him get the role, so all related expenses could be paid from the system account. Sheng Quan made a few phone calls, signed a few checks, and got a sincere contract the next day.
After so many days, she felt the joy of spending money for the first time. When she read novels about super rich people before, she thought that 10 million was not a lot. As a result, she had a system and realized that this amount of money was really a huge sum of money, and the feeling of spending a huge amount of money... It's so cool! As the one who got the huge sum of money, Wan Bao was naturally more anxious than her to settle down. When everything was over, this fat director with a beard on his face, who was in his early thirties but looked like he was in his forties, was about to take off.
He held the contract that he had signed at a lightning speed in his hands, and was completely immersed in the joy of "Ah~ I'm so happy that I'm about to faint."
When no one believed in him and he was at his wit's end, Sheng Quan descended from the sky like a fairy, believed in his talent, recognized his ability, and gave him such a huge sum of money. Wan Bao's heart was filled with emotion and he almost wanted to swear to the sky that he would definitely shoot this TV series well, and work hard to make it shine in a perfect manner, so as to return rich profits to Sheng Quan, the investor.
"I will definitely take good pictures. Thank you. Thank you very much..."
Sheng Quan sent Director Wan, who had not slept all night and had dark eyes but was full of excitement and was ready to show his loyalty to her every once in a while, to the car. After watching him leave, she immediately asked the driver to take her to buy a mobile phone.
She used system funds, probably because they were afraid that her lifespan would be used up before she could get the rebate. The first mission came with a novice gift package, and the system gave her a full 12 million. Excluding the 10 million and miscellaneous expenses, the remaining one million was also very impressive.
It would have been fine if he had no money, but now that there was money in the card, Sheng Quan would of course spend it.
When Sheng Quan bought a mobile phone, the system was a little skeptical. After all, according to regulations, before she got a refund, the money could only be used for events related to the sponsored person.
Her reason was quite sufficient: [I need to use my cell phone to contact Director Wan to discuss the audition of the sponsored person. How can I follow up without a cell phone? Right?]
System: ...It seems so.
Then Shengquan bought another computer: [This computer can receive emails from Director Wan. Now everyone uses emails for work, which is very reasonable.]
System: ...It seems to make sense.
Then Sheng Quan went shopping all the way and happily shopped for the whole afternoon. In the end, he bought a bunch of beautiful clothes, shoes, matching bags and jewelry to wear when he "met Yan Huishi".
The system became anxious as it watched: [Host, friendly reminder, you only have one month left to live. ]
[Don't be in a hurry.] Sheng Quan was very steady. Since she could spend a few days to understand the situation and lay the groundwork, she was naturally fully confident: [Thirty days may be difficult in other industries, but it is enough in the entertainment industry. Similarly, in other industries, you can be impatient, but in the entertainment industry, you can't just rush and complete everything quickly.]
Not to mention anything else, the filming and release of a TV series alone takes a long time.
After choosing the bag and clothes, Sheng Quan looked at his long hair in the mirror. Since he stopped staying up late, his hair seemed to have become more lustrous. Of course, it might also be because of the expensive conditioners and hair oils in the hotel.
Now that you have all these, in order not to be impolite, you have to get your hair done. After all, a nice hairstyle is also suitable for discussing cooperation, and the investors wearing branded clothes will boost the morale of the invested crew.
Sheng Quan: [006, isn’t this reasonable?]
System: […reasonable.]
Sheng Quan smiled and praised it: [Our 006 is getting smarter and smarter. ]
This was the first time the system was praised. After all, it was only less than a month old. When Sheng Quan praised it with a smile, it actually felt a little shy. It immediately put the small opinion behind it and even actively made suggestions: [Host, buy this pair of shoes. This pair looks good.]
While Sheng Quan was happily shopping and successfully rebelling against the system, Yan Hui, who was busy at a construction site and exhausted, received a call notifying him of an audition.
He was stunned for two full seconds, and after confirming the crew information and the time and place of the audition with the other party, he hung up the phone seemingly calmly.
The audition took place in Wuzhou, because the crew was filming there and all the crew members were there, so the audition location was naturally there as well.
That night, Yan Hui sat in his room and thought for a long time.
It takes two and a half hours to fly from Wuzhou to Shanghai, and even longer by train. For him now, this is a journey that will affect his current work and reduce his wallet.
Yan Hui didn't think that the long distance for the audition was a problem with the crew. After all, many crews' auditions were like this, and not every crew auditioned in the same place. If actors wanted to get the role, they could only find ways to get there for the audition.
In the past, he would rush over without hesitation, but now...
Yan Hui looked down at the phone in his hand with the address written down on it, and clenched it tightly with his slender fingers, as if he was clenching the acting career that he had insisted on loving all his life since he was a child.
For some reason, he thought of the young girl who handed him paper and pen with a smile that day.
She looked at him with admiration in her eyes. Although it was only a brief moment of contact, Yan Hui could see that she really thought he deserved this audition opportunity.
If Director Wan knew that Yan Hui would hesitate because of the long distance, he would definitely feel extremely wronged. After all, from his point of view, as long as Yan Hui was willing to come for the audition, he would definitely get the role and could live on the set that day if he arrived.
How could he have imagined that the wealthy female boss who invested in the crew had not communicated with Yan Hui at all! In this regard, the system did predict: [Host, what if Yan Hui feels that it is too far away? ]
[He will go.] Sheng Quan happily tried on new clothes in front of the mirror. She didn't look tired at all after a day of shopping and looked radiant.
She looked at herself in the mirror with a smile on her face, without any of the anxiety that a person with only thirty days left to live would have: [If a person wants to succeed in his career, he can't just rely on me throwing money at him. He still has to work hard and make choices.]
[I don't want to extend his life for a day or two. I can certainly hit him now, but how long can he stand? Achievements must be achieved step by step. Of course, the most important thing is that I am a fan of the book. ]
If Yan Hui, who looks gentle on the outside, really had no edges at all, how could he be liked by so many readers?
After choosing the clothes, Sheng Quan picked up her newly bought bag. She used to think that spending hundreds of thousands on a bag was a waste, but after she had the conditions, she realized that a bag worth hundreds of thousands was really nice. [Okay, let's go too.]
System puzzlement: [Where to go? ]
Sheng Quan opened the door: [Of course I auditioned in person. As a big investor, I have to go and see the crew and show off... No, that's not right! I want to learn a little more~]
(End of this chapter)