When Zhou Cheng and the others were discussing investment matters with Taihe Entertainment, a building near Zhongguancun was also in a meeting.

This is a meeting held by the boss Li Ming to discuss the project plan of this film sent by Zhou Cheng.

In addition to the CEO Li Ming and the financial director Li Li, the participants also included Zhong Yufang, manager of the company's film and television department, Cheng Hao, manager of the distribution department, and Lu Wei, special consultant.

"Manager Zhong, what do you know about the project plan of "Donkey Gets Water"? Can this project be invested? Li Ming looked at Zhong Yufang.

This project wanted to invest when he got the plan, but was stopped by Zhong Yufang and asked to review it according to the process. It has been three days now, and today he needs to know whether the project department can cast this movie and whether it has an accurate answer.

Although Li Ming is the CEO of the company, he also understands that if a company wants to become bigger and stronger, it must be standardized.

Zhong Yufang is the manager of the film and television department specially hired by Li Ming from Phoenix Satellite TV with a high salary, and Li Ming does not fancy her appearance, but her meticulous work ability.

Zhong Yufang looked at Lu Wei, and then reported to Li Ming: "I gave the script to Mr. Lu for a look, and Mr. Lu was very interested in this story. ”

Lu Wei nodded, and then Zhong Yufang's words said: "This script is very good. It is a good absurd comedy in recent years, with the timeline of the Republic of China as the background, but it satirizes the current situation of education in today's society. I heard that the author is a graduate of Nortel's Department of Literature and has great potential, and the company can consider recruiting him for a few years to exercise, and he will definitely be able to pick up the company's creative department. ”

"Thank you, Mr. Lu, for the reminder." Li Ming thanked Lu Wei, and at the same time interrupted his words, continuing the topic just now: "Being able to get Mr. Lu's approval shows that this script is not bad." Is this project possible to invest? ”

Lu Wei nodded: "Yes, if you can find the right director and actors, you will definitely be able to make an excellent film." ”

"Mr. Lu, this project is not led by our company, we can only participate in the investment." Zhong Lifang took over the topic: "The script is good, but the film is not necessarily good. So it's still a bit risky to invest. ”

"What are the risks? Tell me about it? ”

Zhong Yufang took out a document from the document and handed it to Li Ming: "Zhou Cheng, the producer of this film, belongs to the students who have just graduated for one year, and he wrote this script. This man had never been involved in the production of any films during his school years, and we doubted his ability as a producer. ”

"You have inquired about this, it seems that Manager Zhong has put a lot of effort into this project." Li Ming didn't explain immediately, he saw that Zhong Yufang still had something to say, and after complimenting her, he motioned for her to continue.

Zhong Yufang took out another piece of information: "Director Chen Li is also a director with only one short film work, and his directing ability has not been certified, so there is a certain risk. ”

"If you think so, what should you do?" Li Li, the chief financial officer, asked, for them, the pursuit is to maximize profits.

Zhong Yufang continued: "If this script can be purchased, our company will produce it, and the benefits will be greater, and Director Zhang Guorui, who signed a contract with our company, is still looking for a project." ”

"Don't think about this, we can't buy this script." Li Ming shook his head, Zhong Yufang is okay with everything else, but he has been working in Xiangjiang for a long time and is used to solving everything with money: "Zhou Cheng, the leader of this project, don't look at him young, in fact, he has a very deep background, which is not something we can easily handle." ”

"You say he's also from the compound? Which one? "Li Li is Li Ming's sister, and she is more familiar with the children of these high-ranking cadres in Yanjing than Li Ming.

"It's not a compound, it belongs to the new forces, the real power figures." Li Ming specially emphasized it to his sister, and at the same time it was also a reminder to Zhong Yufang and them.

At this time, Cheng Hao, who was sitting on the side of the distribution department, also spoke: "Manager Zhong, I know Director Chen Li better. He is a graduate of our Nortel 05 director department, and has been hired by Yanjing Renyi as a contracted director of Renyi. At the beginning, he worked with several crews during his school years and had experience directing several films. It's just that I haven't picked the girder alone. ”

Li Ming nodded and agreed; "I remembered Cheng Hao's mention, I once heard Ning Hao recommend it to me, and his graduation work also won an award."

Zhong Yufang looked at Chen Li's information, which was basically the same as what Cheng Hao and Li Ming said, and she no longer objected to the director. took out the budget sheet of the project and handed it to Li Ming, and began to say: "The budget of this project is also a bit problematic, and some of the projects are too empty. ”

"It's normal to be a little bit weak." Li Ming took the budget list and said indifferently: "Even if our company's project is reported to other cooperative companies, the budget will not be quoted at the actual price, after all, the cake in my hand will definitely increase the price." ”

Li Li also heard the meaning of the words, and asked Zhong Yufang: "Which projects are empty?" How much does it cost? You can talk to them about this, there is room for squeeze. Generally around 10%. ”

Zhong Yufang shook her head and said with a somewhat strange expression: "Director Li, if the shooting cost is a little more, I won't have any opinions." It's just that his quotation is too real, and the project budget in it is about the same as the budget we calculated ourselves, and even some projects are so detailed that I can use them to train my employees. ”

Li Ming looked at the budget in his hand, which was basically the same as what Zhong Yufang said. This includes not only the salary expenses of the staff required for the production of the film, the costs of film, costumes, art, props and other expenses required for filming, but also the transportation costs of personnel and materials, accommodation costs, catering expenses, and venue rental costs during shooting. Even the cost of donkeys to rent during filming, the salaries of extras, and the cost of catering are taken into account in this budget.

In addition, there is also a detailed list of the post-production costs of the film. The film's editing, soundtrack, dubbing, color grading, subtitle checking, and so on are the same.

Later, Li Ming found the actor's salary option in it, and Zhou Cheng only listed a few confirmed actors in it, and other unconfirmed actors also gave an approximate salary range. The total remuneration cost is 1.2 million.

Li Ming counted the total amount of these projects and read them out to a few people: "In this project book, the filming cost in the early stage is 4.7 million, of which the actor's salary is 1.2 million. Among them are also powerful actors such as Jiang Wu and Yuan Quan, whose salaries are only 300,000 yuan each. Therefore, the salary of 1.2 million is not much. The post-production budget is 800,000 yuan, which is also an appropriate amount, plus 500,000 yuan in reserve. The production cost of the entire film is six million, which is not a lot of money. ”

Li Ming looked at Zhong Yufang with some doubts, and then suddenly said: "By the way, Zhou Cheng told me that this project is 10 million, and now the production cost is 6 million, and there should be 4 million expenses, he will not have other ideas." ”

Zhong Yufang turned the page that was already full of numbers, and there was a project budget on the other page: "Mr. Li, you see that there is a separate project in the back, and the post-publicity cost is four million." ”

"Four million?" Li Li was a little surprised: "A film that costs six million to produce, and the publicity and distribution cost is four million?" Is he trying to make money? ”

Li Li's words combined with Zhou Cheng's background revealed by Li Ming just now, and several people present showed meaningful expressions.

"Sister, don't talk nonsense." Li Ming was more sober than the others, took the project budget in front of him and said: "Being able to make such a detailed project plan shows that Zhou Cheng is more familiar with film production." If he really wants to take advantage of the opportunity to make money, he only needs to increase the cost budget in these projects, and no one else can catch him. ”

Li Li nodded: "That's right, if he really adds one or two million to these projects, it's not a big deal, especially the actor's salary budget, each actor increases by two or three hundred thousand, which belongs to the normal salary range." ”

"Zhou Cheng is a very smart person." Li Ming explained to Zhong Yufang: "Since he has listed this budget, there are only two possibilities, one is that he wants to take the opportunity to make money without scruples, and we must be cautious about this project." Another possibility is that his publicity plan really needs so much money, which requires you to have a good chat with him. ”

"Hearing Mr. Li say this, I am very curious about Mr. Zhou, and I will call him later, and strive to meet and chat."

"By the way, how much money does he need? We still have the drama "Red Cliff" to invest in next year, and my budget is a little tight. If it's too much, I need to take a sip out of the advertising agency. ”

Zhong Yufang said to Li Li: "The financing plan he listed is 6 million, and the rights paid are 40% of the domestic copyright income. ”

In the end, Li Ming made a decision: "Manager Zhong, contact Zhou Cheng." We can invest 1.5 million, a quarter. If he really wants to make a movie, we can also build a good relationship with him to facilitate future cooperation. If you want to take the opportunity to make money, this money will not affect us much, and it will pave the way for future films. ”