Xiao Ran completely agrees with this, but this does not mean that he will let it go: "Okay, according to you, the star is the main driving force for the audience to enter." So when the star's salary is as high as one-third, or even one-half, the production funds of the film will definitely shrink, and the quality of the film will be greatly reduced. If it's you, will you be fooled after winning a trick? ”

"This ...... No! From the audience's point of view, Wei Dongling was stunned for a moment and calmly gave an answer: "However, it is impossible for the star's salary to reach this ratio." ”

Xiao Ran smiled, he knew that Wei Dongling would answer him like this. Zhang Yimou didn't dare to throw all the money on the actors when making martial arts films, and he still paid special attention to technical factors. Wang Jiawei is the same, although this person likes to use celebrities very much, but in terms of technology, he spends a lot of money and doesn't care.

"That's right, the salary of a star will never reach this proportion!" Xiao Ran smiled confidently and nodded: "Moreover, more than that, I even plan to make a rule that I will not allow celebrities' salaries to exceed one-quarter of the extra expenses such as publicity fees, insurance premiums and legal fees." ”

A quarter, which is already a high percentage for production costs. Although there is a saying in Hollywood: If the leading actor gets a salary of 20 million, the total investment should not be less than 100 million. However, the so-called 100 million is generally included in publicity and other expenses.

"The point is that the behind-the-scenes staff get too little money, and the best cinematographers only get 80,000 yuan per film." Xiao Ran smiled, and the following is the point: "Tell me, if you have to make up for it by quantity, then what strength do you have to talk about quality?" Don't forget, our company's foothold is quality, and the slogan is a phantom image, a classic! ”

Wei Dongling was speechless, he suddenly understood the meaning of Xiao Ran saying so many words, and also agreed with Xiao Ran's meaning. Xiao Ran looked at Wei Dongling's expression and smiled with satisfaction, he liked this persuasive sense of achievement: "If a director of photography, we give him a salary of 200,000 yuan, only shoot one film a year, and give him enough space to show his ability, do you say he will do it?" ”

Wei Dongling was speechless, there are definitely not a few Hong Kong photographers, even famous photographers may not be able to shoot many films in a year. It is precisely because of their high value that 99% of film companies do not attach importance to photography, preferring to hire cheap but non-distinctive photographers. 200,000 dramas, presumably anyone is willing to do it, you must know that many stars may not be able to take so much.

"So, on that basis, I think it's important for us to improve the treatment of the people who work behind the scenes." Xiao Ran hesitated, gritted his teeth and said: "Even if it is to increase the budget of the film for this reason, it is worth it!" ”

"I agree, however, I think the script review must be strict!" Wei Dongling has nothing to say, everything has been spread out by Xiao Ran, if he can't understand the benefits of this, he is not worthy of sitting in this position at all.

After talking about this matter, Wei Dongling suddenly remembered something, and found a book for Xiao Ran after looking for a long time: "This is the script sent by Er Dongsheng personally, and he hopes that we can invest in this film!" ”

Er Dongsheng is a very great filmmaker, he was quite popular in his early years, he has been a director since last year, and his debut film is "The True Story of the Crazy Guy", which has a very good reputation. This person has won two Academy Awards for Best Director, and he is a very good director.

However, Xiao Ran was very puzzled, Er Dongsheng was with Debao, and he knew this very well. There's no reason why I didn't get money to make a film with Debao, but ran to the Phantom. After reading the script and finding that it was "People's Hero", he couldn't help but be stunned.

"People's Hero" is Er Dongsheng's second directorial work, focusing on real society, this film has a good reputation, but the box office is not good, and it failed to win anything in the Golden Statue and Golden Horse. Xiao Ran certainly wants to shoot this film, but the company is currently in the development stage, and it can't afford to lose money at all.

To shoot or not to shoot? Xiao Ran hesitated. But after just hesitating for a moment, he immediately made a decision, shoot, why not shoot. If you can exchange a person like Er Dongsheng for a loss of several million, it is definitely a cost-effective deal than anything else.

immediately called to agree on the place and time of the meeting, and Xiao Ran immediately rushed there, just instructing Wei Dongling to recruit the two screenwriters he had just discovered as soon as possible. rushed to the bar, Er Dongsheng had already come, and when he saw Xiao Ran, he greeted him with a little respect: "Boss Xiao, I'm here!" ”

Xiao Ran sat down, ordered a cup of coffee, and then sorted out his thoughts and said, "I read your script, it's well written!" ”

This old-fashioned tone will definitely be disdained if someone else says it, but Xiao Ran is no one else, he is recognized as the number one screenwriter in Hong Kong. Er Dongsheng obviously agreed with this, so he didn't have any complaints, but just seriously wanted to listen to Xiao Ran's opinion.

I have to admit that Er Dongsheng is a person who is very thoughtful and knows how to listen to opinions. Xiao Ran secretly praised it, so he said in embarrassment: "However, you know that the chance of this film being a blockbuster is very small, and I even think that this film may not be able to return to its original value." ”

Er Dongsheng smiled bitterly: "Debao said so, so, I think about it, the only person who can appreciate this script is you, the hand of God!" ”

In history, this film was indeed auctioned by Debao. But not now, Xiao Ran is not the slightest strange, history has already changed, and this small change is not to be feared at all. After a moment of silence, Xiao Ran's fingers tapped lightly on the tabletop, emitting a rhythm as if it had magical power, leading the minds of others to gradually follow the rhythm.

"This book is really good, it touches something deeper!" Xiao Ran found that his acting skills were getting better and better, and he didn't know if every businessman was like this: "I don't doubt your ability, but I don't think this film is easy to shoot, if I can win an award, I am willing to shoot." But there is no hope for this film to be filmed, and there is no hope for the box office, so I am embarrassed......"

Er Dongsheng was very frustrated, and his friend persuaded him to show the book to the Phantom's boss, and if he didn't get affirmation, it was best to give up. But now it seems that although appreciation is appreciation, the film still has to be abandoned. Although he was happy for Xiao Ran's comment, this fact could not be erased after all.

Xiao Ran couldn't stop snickering when he saw this, he thought it was time to reveal the hole cards. Suddenly, Xiao Ran nodded and said, "I have watched "The True Story of the Crazy Guy", it was filmed very well, I think you have enough potential." I think you just lack some opportunities, and I decided to shoot this film. ”

Just beat Er Dongsheng from heaven to hell, and then single-handedly pulled him up from hell. Er Dongsheng's mood changed a few times at this moment, and his face suddenly showed joy: "Really? That's great! Thank you Boss Xiao! ”

"I've always said the same!" Xiao Ran smiled slightly, he was not interested in correcting Er Dongsheng's title anymore, everyone called him like this, and they were used to it: "However, this film will definitely lose money, and other cities may not be able to sell it." Therefore, I won't give too much budget, and in terms of actors, I don't think you need to invite any stars, just treat it as your personal experimental work, I hope you can find your own way in this film! ”

Looking at Xiao Ran, who had a sincere face, Er Dongsheng was moved. In fact, no one was optimistic about him as a director at first, but because he was a red star before, he was able to get funds. Although "The True Story of the Crazy Guy" was a success, Keer Dongsheng was not satisfied, but he didn't expect a stranger who had just met to bluntly appreciate him, and even invested in him at a loss.

In fact, Xiao Ran didn't think about signing Er Dongsheng, but he knew better that Er Dongsheng was not a prolific director, and it often took several years to make a film. Moreover, Er Dongsheng has always had a very strange habit, usually not scripts written by him himself, maybe it is a screenwriter he trusts, he would rather not make a film.

The next day, in a restaurant, Xiao Ran was very happy now, he finally got his driver's license today, and he thought that he would finally not need to do such a shameful thing as rubbing cars in the future. That's right, the owner of a dignified film company doesn't even have a car, which is simply a long-standing joke in the film industry.

Strictly speaking, Xiao Ran is not because he wants to carry forward the arduous and simple revolutionary style, but because he does not know how to drive at all. Before this, he was so busy shouting every day: "I am hundreds of thousands of dollars a second, how can I have time to ......" at least more than 30 times, the recent events have been basically solved, and the company management does not need him to intervene, so he took the time to learn to drive.

His mood was so relaxed and happy that he couldn't whistle twice to show how good it was, but the two young men in front of him were nervous. Tielong was nervous, but the other young man with glasses, Sven, was even more nervous.

Tielong is a lighting engineer and doesn't read much, and the reason why he wrote the script this time was because he was stimulated by Xiao Ran's speech at the Academy Awards. He is not a person who does not seek progress, he wants to be the best as a lighting engineer, but the director always does not give him a chance to show himself.

Seeing Xiao Ran's speech on TV, Tielong had some ideas. In fact, he always has a lot of ideas, but he doesn't have a chance to realize them. So, it took him a long time to write one of the ideas, and this idea came to him once when his son was playing with a trap.

Judging from his appearance, Tie Long doesn't look like a screenwriter, and his tall and big macho looks more like a martial arts actor. However, sometimes it really can't be determined by appearance. The script written by Tielong is mainly spent on writing, and he has a lot of work, all of which he finds time to write.

The young man with glasses was so nervous that he was about to suffocate, I believe that if Xiao Ran was not smiling, but had a straight face, I am afraid he would not be able to breathe. His name is Qiuyu, a very strange name, don't look at him very shy, but the surname Ge is more extroverted and passionate.

Qiu Yu is a student of the Baptist Department of Communication, and he has always thought that he is very capable, but the last time he listened to Xiao Ran's lecture, he was immediately impressed by Xiao Ran. If nothing else, the four-character mantra of "novelty and exquisiteness" pointed out by Xiao Ran made him worship to death.

Now that he can meet Xiao Ran, he feels that he is really very lucky. is even more fortunate that his book was taken by Xiao Ran. When he heard the Phantom Company's notice, Autumn Fish felt as if he had bought the [***] lottery.

No matter how happy he was, Xiao Ran had no reason to put these two people aside, he didn't need to come in person for this matter. But he thought about it, and the screenwriting ability of these two people still needs to be improved, so he feels that it is better to talk about things by himself, and give them guidance by the way.

"Two, I've read your book!" Xiao Ran coughed softly and touched his nose, trying to make it a little more comfortable: "I think, you are worthy of my invitation, are you interested in joining the Phantom Company?" ”

"Yes, yes!" Qiu Yu nodded violently, eager to shout yes as surely and resolutely as if he were getting married in church. But Tielong was not so crisp, but hesitated: "Boss Xiao, I don't know how the treatment is?" ”

Xiao Ran smiled slightly, the treatment is naturally to be discussed. After thinking about it, he thinks that these two are not mature screenwriters, and they need a period of time to cultivate, and the remuneration will naturally be lower: "You are new to the industry, and the treatment will not be very good." Before you finish the training, the company does not pay the monthly salary, only the script fee! Of course, the script fee is not low, 50,000 yuan for a book! I think you know that. ”

There are two ways for Phantom Company to sign a screenwriter, the first is to sign it and put it in the screenwriting team, which is basically responsible for revising and improving the script full-time, and the salary of this type is quite high. The second category is those who only get the script fee and don't get the salary. Of course, the first option can also choose to write the script on its own, and you can also have the same script fee and bonus.

"No problem, it's my pleasure!" Qiu Yu immediately nodded vigorously, Xiao Ran was even worried about whether this guy's neck would be broken because of this. Xiao Ran remembered that this autumn fish was the screenwriter who asked him in the middle of the baptist lecture last time, so it's no wonder that Xiao Ran's style is everywhere in that book.

"Can you give me a moment to think about this?" Fifty thousand? Of course, Tie Long was tempted, but as soon as his heart moved, he thought of another more profitable way. Xiao Ran shrugged his shoulders and said that it was no problem.

*****

The title of the novel - Er Dongsheng

The real name - Er Dongsheng

Before Er Dongsheng became a director, he was a very famous and popular star in Hong Kong and acted in many movies. However, he can be regarded as the most successful actor in the background, and has won two Academy Awards for Best Director. He doesn't have many directorial works, but none of them are bad, which has to make people admire his boutique strategy. And in 94, his literary love "New Love" collected more than 30 million yuan in the bleak film market, which is really remarkable. In the first two years, "Can't Forget" also won a good box office with literary love, and then to "Mong Kok Night", which is a respectable director.

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