Chapter 599 The Man Who Proved the Sun Was Square: Regarding the concept of the film industry, China is still in its infancy.
However, China had already developed a relatively mature film industry system in Hong Kong during the 1990s.
During the golden age of Hong Kong cinema, masterpieces like "The Mission" could be filmed in just nineteen days. The filming pace was essentially assembly-line level. Directors of that generation in Hong Kong possessed a strong industrial mindset, producing high-quality work at an astonishing pace.
Of course, this is still far from a true film industry. It's more like a craft industry than an industrialized one.
At that time, film production resources in Hong Kong were basically concentrated in the hands of a few large companies, and equipment and manpower could be shared among the various production teams. There were numerous signed actors; if one couldn't perform, another could immediately fill in. The contracts of the actors and crew were all held by the companies, eliminating issues such as scheduling negotiations and salary bargaining. The fixed filming teams and crew members fostered a tacit understanding within the production team, greatly improving work efficiency.
Essentially, the industrialization of film in Hong Kong has turned the entire film industry into a large film workshop. Then, through the tacit understanding among the workshop members, they win by relying on experience and skill.
This was a product of a specific period. Later, due to rampant DVD piracy, stricter censorship, homogenization of content, and the rise of the mainland market, Hong Kong films gradually declined.
In the realm of Chinese dramas and films, this approach has been revived at different times. Examples include the "Northeast School," led by a master comedian with numerous apprentices, built on a master-apprentice relationship; the "Tingwu System," comprised of a fixed producer and director; the "Bad Bear Project," a collaboration between several up-and-coming directors and actors; and the "Yang Family Team," which originated with a quintessential family-style production model. These factions and teams all achieved remarkable success and were once the face of Chinese film and television.
Unfortunately, with the rise of the internet and the shift from a television-centric to an online platform-centric system for drama broadcasting, capital has intervened in production, and everything is geared towards traffic and buzz, with the crown prince and his daughter at the center. It is becoming increasingly difficult to make this system work.
Controlling it leads to its demise, while letting it go leads to its own demise. Whether controlled or not, it's bound to court disaster. That's the ecosystem of the entertainment industry.
Since death is inevitable anyway, it's better to take a gamble. That was Shang Yechu's attitude.
Shang Yechu's idea was to emulate the successful models of Hong Kong's film and entertainment industry teams, and build another large-scale "Qingping Workshop" based on Qingping Entertainment. In this process, he would establish unified rules and regulations, gradually making them a consensus within the workshop; then, he would gradually expand the workshop, promote the rules, and make them a consensus across the entire industry.
This is a difficult and lengthy process, and an ideal that seems to have no end in sight. But wouldn't life be too meaningless if you could see the end from the beginning?
Ji Juntao pondered for a long time before slowly saying, "The idea is good, but it has too many flaws. First, how can we guarantee that good works will be produced under this system?"
Shang Yechu countered, "Other companies in the domestic entertainment industry don't use this system, so can they guarantee that they will produce good works? Compared to them, I think these teams have a much higher success rate."
Ji Juntao nodded in agreement: "Indeed, there are no 100% guaranteed successes in the world. It's already good if your success rate is slightly higher than others. The second question is, what if the series becomes a huge hit, making the lead actors famous? Their value and salary will rise, their status will increase, and in turn, they will put pressure on the production crew to keep up with filming?"
This is a very practical question. There's a long-running sitcom called "Friends," which became a global phenomenon after its release. During the filming of the third season, the main actors banded together and demanded a pay raise.
Furthermore, even disregarding the issue of actor salaries, the higher the star power of the lead actor, the higher their expectations, which could very well force the production team to revise the script.
Shang Yechu fell silent for a moment, which was uncommon.
How could she explain to Ji Juntao that the salary cap was about to be introduced and implemented?
After the salary cap was introduced, strict limits were placed on the total remuneration of all actors, the proportion of the lead actor's remuneration in the total remuneration, the actor's remuneration per episode, and the total remuneration including tax for participating in the entire work. If the remuneration of an actor in a certain work is too outrageous, the work may be blocked in the censorship process.
Based on this, if an actor becomes arrogant and forces the production company to release their funds, it's tantamount to being associated with issues like dual contracts, tax evasion, and concealing personal income. Such an actor essentially hands over leverage to the company, and their career is ruined before they even have a chance to show off.
Although it did not completely solve the problem, the salary cap did significantly reduce the industry bubble and made artists' blackmail and tantrums more manageable.
The salary cap won't be released until November, and there hasn't been any word about it yet. Shang Yechu couldn't possibly be a prophet again, so he could only turn a blind eye and vaguely say, "In foreign dramas, the lead actors can put pressure on the production team because they're series. The first, second, and third seasons feature the same cast, and the audience has already accepted it; if the cast is changed in the next season, the audience won't accept it. Our domestic dramas are basically one-off deals; series are rare. What does his success in this show have to do with another show?"
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