In the virtual studio of Century Film Capital, most of the crew of "Years, Months and Days" are ready, and only the gaffers are still busy setting up the lighting.

The shooting of 3D movies is much more complex than that of 2D movies, and the lighting is even more so, such as the black shadow area in the movie screen, it is difficult to produce a three-dimensional sense on the screen, and it is necessary to change this situation through light, so the requirements for 3D film lighting are higher, and the process of lighting is more time-consuming.

Zhang Ran and Zhang Jingchu sat on the chair and discussed the plot with Li Xuejian in a whisper, each talking about their views on the scene. Wang Luodan sat on the side, swiping Weibo with his mobile phone. Zhang Ran and they were chatting, Wang Luodan suddenly turned his head and said: "Teacher Zhang, many actors are responding to the problem of overtime work of the crew, I hope the guild can manage it, I think it should really be managed!"

Zhang Ran shook his head lightly and said, "The Actors Guild really can't manage this matter, at least not now." ”

Wang Luodan was puzzled and said, "Why, is this matter so difficult?"

Zhang Ran said: "Our actors' guild is different from the actors' union in the United States, which is established by actors, is a trade union, and serves actors, while our actors' guild is run by a film company, is a guild, and is a public welfare. Do you think there will be support from companies to restrict actors from working overtime to move the cake of various film and television companies?"

Wang Luodan suddenly realized, yes, the actors' guild is run by several film and television companies, how can they oppose herself! She suddenly remembered that the high remuneration of actors in the past two years has aroused a lot of doubts in China, and last year two actors' unions were established in China, and many people hoped that these two unions would do something in restricting high salaries, but the people in the two unions did not mention this matter. Later, some people said that the members and leaders of the two trade unions are all big names in the circle and have vested interests, and letting them limit themselves is simply conspiring with the tiger!

Li Xuejian could see that Zhang Ran wanted to take care of it, but he couldn't manage it, so he said, "Can't you take the lead?"

Zhang Ran said helplessly: "When John Woo was filming "Red Cliff", the salary for extras was relatively high, but Zhang Jizhong jumped out and scolded, saying that John Woo had messed up the market order of extras. If I lead the Actors' Guild to restrict the crew's work overtime, then I'm afraid it's not just Zhang Jizhong who will come out to scold me, the whole circle will jump out and scold me, and even the film and television companies within the alliance will not support me! At that time, I will become the public enemy of the entire circle, and the Actors' Guild will probably disperse!"

Li Xuejian is an old Jianghu, and when he heard Zhang Ran say this, he immediately realized the difficulties. If the actor's work cannot be overtimed, the filming cycle of film and television dramas will be lengthened and the cost will be greatly increased, which is what most film and television companies do not want to see. Century Peak and Wanda are in a dark war, if this thing comes out, then many companies will definitely stand on Wanda's side, which is extremely unfavorable to Zhang Ran and Century Peak!

Wang Luodan was very puzzled: "Then why is there no opposition from the film and television company to raise the salary of extras?"

Zhang Ran explained: "The salary given by film and television companies to extras is generally 100 yuan to 150 yuan a day, why do extras only get 4 or 50 yuan in money? The basic process of the crew looking for extras is probably like this, the producer looks for the assistant director, the assistant director looks for the big group head, the big group head looks for the middle group head, the middle group head looks for the small group head, the small group head looks for the extras in their hands, or recruits people in other places. In this process, the big group head and the assistant director will eat money, the middle group head will eat money, and the small group head will also eat money, and after four or five layers of exploitation, the money in the hands of the extras is only 4 or 50 yuan.

After the establishment of the actors' guild, the crew must hand over the money to the guild first, and the guild will issue it to the cards of the extras, so that the assistant director will not be able to eat the money. Suppose we pay 100 yuan to the extras, then the group head draws 10 yuan, the guild draws 10 yuan, and the extras can get 80 yuan. If the crew drove 150, then the extras would be able to get more.

Our measures are moving the intermediate links, the interests of the assistant directors and group leaders, and not the interests of various film and television companies, and the bosses of various film and television companies will naturally not oppose it. ”

Wang Luodan suddenly realized: "So that's the case!" But she was still a little disappointed: "I thought that our actors' guild could provide all kinds of guarantees for actors like the American actors' union!"

Zhang Ran smiled, an organization like the Screen Actors Guild of America can't be built in China at all, and the state doesn't allow such an organization to exist. The most powerful weapon of the Screen Actors Guild of America is the strike, and there is definitely no organization in China that can lead everyone to strike at any time, so Zhang Ran can only engage in the Actors' Guild, not the Actors' Guild!

Zhang Ran saw Wang Luodan's face full of disappointment, and comforted with a smile: "The meal must be eaten one bite at a time, and the road must be taken step by step, don't fantasize about becoming a fat man in one bite, and don't fantasize about directly copying the American set, the national conditions are different." The important thing is that we now have a guild, and with a guild, there are many things that we can fight for slowly. Our guild is not as strong as the Screen Actors Guild of America, but there is still a lot that can be done to protect actors. For example, with the Actors' Guild, it will be able to solve a stubborn problem that has plagued the film and television industry for many years, arrears of the final payment. The guild can ask the crew to hand over the salary to the guild for management, and after the actors join the group, the guild will pay a sum of money to the actors, and then pay a sum after the scene is completed, and wait until the play is finished to pay the last one!

The phenomenon of arrears or non-payment of the final payment in the entertainment industry is very common, and has even become an unspoken rule that has been in use for many years, and directors, screenwriters, actors, and even marketing companies have almost encountered the problem of arrears of wages, and many people in the industry even sighed that they have never seen the final payment in their lives!

Li Xuejian slapped his thigh when he heard this: "Ouch, this method is good! So that everyone doesn't have to worry about arrears of the final payment, and you can create with peace of mind!" But in addition to being excited, he was still a little worried: "If the crew doesn't agree to hand over the salary to the guild for management, how can it be solved?"

Zhang Ran is very confident in this: "I am willing to hand over the set to the guild, then this drama is a guild movie authorized by the guild." What are the benefits of becoming a guild movie? Take Hengdian as an example, there are a lot of crews filming in Hengdian, and you need to queue up to film at Hengdian's venue. When arranging the venue later, it must be the crew recognized by the guild first. In the future, China will definitely establish a completion guarantee system like the United States, and insurance companies will not provide a guarantee for the completion of non-guild films in the United States. Similarly, the actors' union also stipulates that we will not accept non-union films. We will do the same in the future, if you are not a guild movie, then it will be more difficult for you to attract investment and get a loan from the bank!"

In the media reports in the past two years, there has been news from time to time that domestic films have introduced a guarantee for the completion of the film, and Li Xuejian has also heard of it. However, he didn't know much about this thing, and asked: "Then when will the completion guarantee be really launched in China?"

Zhang Ran shook his head and said helplessly: "The guarantee of the completion of the film is the core link of the film industry, and it can even be said to be the guardian of the film industry." If we have a guarantee system for the completion of films, it means that the industrialization process of China's film has been preliminarily completed. In the past two years, some domestic companies have tested the water to complete the guarantee, but basically failed, because many of our links are missing.

U.S. insurance companies that provide end-of-film guarantees will work with local industry-binding unions and associations. With union protection, the risk to the insurance company will be much less. For example, if the producer overspends and overspends during the production process, the insurance company will lose money according to the regulations. In the case of ineffective communication and supervision, the insurance company can remove the director or producer, and at this time, the union can come out to support the insurance company and transfer the new director and producer from the union to complete the later scenes. There are no such trade unions or industry associations in China, so when you need a director, where do you transfer people? Therefore, we can only start from scratch, first build up each guild, make up for the missing links, and wait for all the links to be established, so that the guarantee for the completion of the film can be truly promoted in China, and only then can Chinese films be truly industrialized!"

Li Xuejian has never been in contact with the guarantee for the completion of the film, only knows that this is a kind of insurance to ensure that the film can be successfully completed, and now he heard Zhang Ran say that this kind of insurance is the core link of the film industry, he was very surprised, and asked: "Isn't the guarantee for the completion of the film insurance, how can it be so powerful to ensure that the film can be completed, it is the core link of the film industry?"

Seeing that Li Xuejian was interested, Zhang Ran explained: "There are two functions of the completion guarantee, the first is to guarantee that the film can be completed according to the script's scheduled cycle and budget, and sent to the distributor. If the film can't be completed on time, the insurance company will have to pay the investor.

There are a large number of unfinished films in our domestic film and television industry, and many scenes have suffered a break in the capital chain during the filming, and the movie has died, and millions or tens of millions of funds have been wasted! For example, a straw hat with a few hundred yuan is invoiced for tens of thousands, and the money is eaten.

Once the insurance company intervenes in the film project, the company's professionals will conduct a pre-review from the script, main creator, budget details, work schedule and other aspects, and will also supervise and supervise the funds and progress on the spot during the shooting, and issue a warning once there is a danger of overspending and overdue. If the problem is particularly severe, the insurance company will freeze the bank account or even take over the entire project. In China, we often hear that actors play big names and cause delays in the filming of film and television works, but in Hollywood, this is relatively rare. If the movie can't be completed on time because you played a big name, and the insurance company loses money, then the insurance company will directly ban you, and your career as an actor may be over!"

Li Xuejian was a little surprised and asked, "The insurance company is blocked, is the insurance company's ban effective?"

Zhang Ran said with a smile: "This involves the second role of the insurance company, to start a Hollywood film project, the first thing to do is to pre-sell, and the amount of pre-sale must reach more than 30% of the total investment, and then you have to take the pre-sale contract to find a bank loan; Only after these steps are completed will the studio take out the rest of the money and the project can actually get off the ground. If the insurance company blacklists you, and no insurance company is willing to insure, then the film will not be able to get a loan from the bank and the project will not be able to start. If you get on the blacklist of insurance companies in Hollywood, then your career as an actor is basically over! Nicole Kidman almost ended her Hollywood career because of insurance!"

Wang Luodan was very surprised: "No, Nicole Kidman is a Hollywood superstar!"

Zhang Ran smiled lightly, Hollywood superstars may be brilliant in the eyes of ordinary people, but what is it in the eyes of major film companies, he said unhurriedly: "When filming "Moulin Rouge" in 2000, Nicole Kidman injured her knee, and the insurance company paid 3 million as a result; When director Anthony Minghella launched Cold Mountain, he wanted Nicole Kidman to play the lead actress. But the insurance company is unwilling to provide a guarantee for the completion of the film, and we have been cheated twice, and we want to be cheated for the third time! If the insurance company does not provide a guarantee for the completion of the film, "Cold Mountain" will not be able to get money from the bank, and the project will not be able to start. If the insurance company doesn't protect Nicole Kidman from now on, no movie will dare to use her, and her Hollywood career will be over.

In this case, Harvey approached another insurance company, which came up with a plan. Kidman took 1 million out of his own income, and the film company took 500,000 out and put the money into a third-party account, and if Kidman was injured again, causing the film to not be completed on time, the money would be confiscated as a fine. In order to avoid the recurrence of old injuries, the insurance company required Kidman to wear bandages during filming, undergo daily physical examinations, and cut out any scenes that could damage her knees, even squatting positions. Under the supervision of the insurance company, Kidman successfully completed the play, for which she was nominated for an Oscar!"

After listening to Zhang Ran's words, everyone was very emotional, they didn't expect to be so good in Hollywood insurance companies!

Li Xuejian also sighed: "I didn't expect that American insurance companies are so powerful, not only can they decide the start of film projects, but also ruin an actor's future!"

Zhang Ran chuckled: "Not only that, in addition to the actor's health and injury, the insurance company will also ask about the actor's moral hazard and bad habits, such as drug abuse." Robert Downey Jr. was banned by the insurance company for a period of time for drug use. Robert Downey Jr. went in and out of the rehab center many times from 1996 to 2001 for drug abuse, and he was a time bomb for the insurance company, and the movie used him may delay the filming process and the risk of losing money is very high, so the insurance company is reluctant to cover it. Director Woody Allen's 2000 work "Double-Faced Malinda" originally wanted to invite Robert Downey Jr. to participate, but the insurance company was unwilling to insure, so the director had to give up. Because the insurance company was unwilling to insure, Robert Downey Jr. basically had no scenes to shoot in those years. It wasn't until Mel Gibson vouched for it, and he mortgaged 40% of his salary, that he received the movie "Singing Detective" and gradually returned to the screen!"

Hearing this, Li Xuejian couldn't help but admire: "This is good, bad artists don't want the state to take action, and the film industry will deal with it directly! If we have a guarantee system for the completion of films, it can play a certain role in inhibiting the undesirable phenomena in the circle!"

Zhang Ran said with a smile: "There is chaos in our domestic film and television industry, and many places are because of the lack of effective rules. In the past few years, I have been emphasizing that Chinese films need to be industrialized, in fact, the process of film industrialization is the process of establishing rules!"

Li Xuejian heard Zhang Ran talk about the problem of film industrialization many times, but he never understood it very well, and felt that film was art, and industrialization would make film more ingenious, and it would not be so artistic. Now that he truly understands the meaning of industrialization, he said sincerely: "I really wish I could see this day sooner!"

Zhang Ran also hopes that Chinese films can be industrialized as soon as possible, but there are two major obstacles to the implementation of the completion guarantee system in China, one is that Chinese films still belong to the director-centered system, and the director's voice is too strong and arbitrary, so he cannot ensure that the various shooting processes are carried out in an orderly manner according to the plan; In the face of stupid and rich investors, why should directors and producers spend money to put a tight spell on themselves?

At this moment, assistant director Guo Fan ran over: "Director, the lights are arranged!"

Zhang Ran immediately got up, clapped his hands, and said loudly: "Each group is ready, we are ready to shoot!"

On November 12th, the filming of the planned scene in "Year, Month and Day" was completed, but the art team had not yet completed the setting, and it would take at least a week, and Zhang Ran could only give the crew a five-day holiday.

It was also on this day that the news of Zhang Ran's new film finally appeared in the newspaper. This news was leaked out not from Lin'an, but from Luoyang. The big headline in the media read: "Zhang Ran's new film "Sun, Hello!" will start shooting in Luoyang in the near future!"