Behind the scenes of the entertainment industry

When Zhou Cheng and others were discussing investment matters with Taihe Entertainment, a meeting was also held at a building near Zhongguancun, where Benma Pictures was also meeting.

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

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

"Manager Zhong, how well do you understand the project plan for "The Donkey Gets Water"? Is this project feasible?" Li Ming looked at Zhong Yufang.

He wanted to invest in this project when he got the plan, but was stopped by Zhong Yufang, who asked to review it according to the process. It has been three days, and today he needs to know whether the project department is accurate about whether the film can be invested.

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

Zhong Yufang is the film and television department manager that Li Ming specially hired from Phoenix TV with a high salary. What Li Ming values ​​​​is not her appearance, but her meticulous work ability.

Zhong Yufang took a look at Lu Wei, and then reported to Li Ming: "I showed the script to Teacher Lu, and Teacher Lu was very interested in the story."

Lu Wei nodded and continued what Zhong Yufang said: "This script is very good. It is a good absurd comedy in recent years. It is set in the timeline of the Republic of China, but it satirizes the current educational situation in today's society. The author of this script is very sharp in writing.

, and very bold. I heard that the author is a graduate of the Nortel Literature Department and has great potential. The company can consider recruiting him and training for a few years, and he will definitely be able to recruit the company's creative department."

"Thank you, Teacher Lu, for reminding me." Li Ming thanked Lu Wei, but also interrupted him and continued the topic: "Being recognized by Teacher Lu means that the script is not bad. Is this project suitable for investment?"

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

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

"What are the risks? Tell us about them?"

Zhong Yufang pulled out a document from the file and handed it to Li Ming: "The producer of this film, Zhou Cheng, is a student who has just graduated one year ago. This script was written by him. This person has never participated in any film while in school."

We are more doubtful about his ability as a producer because of the production of this film."

"You have found out all this. It seems that Manager Zhong has put a lot of effort into this project." Li Ming did not explain immediately. Seeing that Zhong Yufang still had something to say, he complimented her and 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. His directing ability has not been certified yet, so there are certain risks."

"In your opinion, what should be done appropriately?" Financial Director Li Li asked. For them, what they pursue is maximizing profits.

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

"Don't worry about this, we can't buy this script." Li Ming shook his head. Zhong Yufang was fine with everything else, but she had been working in Xiangjiang for a long time and was used to solving everything with money: "Zhou Cheng, the leader of this project, don't look at his young age.

, in fact, the background is very deep and cannot be easily grasped by us.”

"You said he is also from the compound? Which family?" Li Li is Li Ming's sister, and she is more familiar with the high-ranking officials in Yanjing than Li Ming.

"It's not a compound, it belongs to the new forces, real people." Li Ming emphasized this to his sister, and also gave Zhong Yufang and the others a warning.

At this time, Cheng Hao, a manager from the distribution department who was sitting next to him, also spoke up: "Manager Zhong, I know Director Chen Li quite well. He is a graduate of our 2005 directing department at Nortel and has been hired by Yanjing People's Art.

A contracted director of Renyi. When he was in school, he worked with several crews and had experience in directing several films. He just never took on the leading role 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 even won an award."

Zhong Yufang looked at Chen Li's information and basically agreed with what Cheng Hao and Li Ming said, and no longer objected to the director. She took out the project's budget sheet and handed it to Li Ming, and began to say: "The budget for this project

There are also some problems, some of the projects are too weak.”

"It's normal to be a little bit vague." Li Ming took the budget sheet and said nonchalantly: "Even if our company's project budget is reported to other cooperative companies, it will not be quoted at the actual price. After all, the cake in my hand is

If you divide it up, the price will definitely increase."

Li Li also understood the meaning of the words and asked Zhong Yufang: "Which projects are in vain? What are the shooting costs? You can discuss this with them properly. There is room for squeeze. It is usually around 10%."

Zhong Yufang shook her head and said with a strange expression: "Director Li, if the shooting cost is quoted a little more, I won't have any objection. It's just that his quotation is too realistic, and the project budget in it is calculated by ourselves.

The budget is about the same, and some projects are even so detailed that I can use them to train my employees.”

When Li Ming looked at the budget in his hand, it was basically the same as what Zhong Yufang said. It included not only the salary expenses of the staff required for film production, but also the cost of film, costumes, art, props and other expenses required for filming. It also included personnel

Transportation costs and supplies, accommodation costs, catering costs, venue rental costs during filming, etc. In this budget, even the cost of renting donkeys for filming, extras salaries, and catering costs are taken into consideration.

In addition, Zhou Cheng also listed the post-production costs of the film in detail. The film's editing, soundtrack, dubbing, color grading, subtitle checking, etc. are also included.

Li Ming then found the actor remuneration option in it. Zhou Cheng only listed a few confirmed actors, and other unconfirmed actors also gave a rough salary range. The total remuneration cost was 1.2 million.

Li Ming calculated the total amount of these projects and read it out to several people: "In this project book, the initial shooting cost is 4.7 million, of which the actors' remuneration is 1.2 million. This also includes Jiang Wu

, capable actors like Yuan Quan, their salary is only 300,000 yuan each. Therefore, the salary of 1.2 million yuan is not much. The post-production budget is 800,000 yuan, which is considered an appropriate amount, plus

The reserve fund is 500,000 yuan. The production cost of the entire film is 6 million, which is not a lot of money."

Li Ming looked at Zhong Yufang with some doubts, and then suddenly realized: "By the way, Zhou Cheng told me that this project is worth 10 million, and the current production cost is 6 million, and there should be another 4 million in expenses. Doesn't he have other ideas?

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Zhong Yufang turned over the page that was already full of numbers. There was a project budget on the other page: "Mr. Li, look at the back of a separate project with a post-publication cost of four million."

"Four million?" Li Li was a little surprised: "A film with a production cost of 6 million, the publicity cost is 4 million? Is he trying to make money by taking this opportunity?"

Li Li's words combined with Li Ming's revelation of Zhou Cheng's background just now made several people present show meaningful expressions.

"Sister, don't talk nonsense." Li Ming was more awake than the others. He took the project budget in front and said: "Being able to make such a detailed project plan shows that Zhou Cheng is familiar with film production. If he really wants to

If you want to take advantage of this opportunity to make money, you only need to increase the budget for these projects, and others will not be able to catch him."

Li Li nodded: "That's right. If he really adds one to two million to these projects, it won't be a big deal, especially for the actor's salary budget. If each actor adds two to three million, it will be a big deal."

It falls within the normal salary range.”

"Zhou Cheng is a very smart man." Li Ming explained to Zhong Yufang: "Since he has listed this budget, there are only two possibilities. One is that he wants to take advantage of the opportunity to make money without any scruples. We must be cautious about this project.

Another possibility is that his publicity plan really requires so much money, so you need to have a good talk with him."

"Hearing what Mr. Li said, I became very curious about Mr. Zhou. I will call him later and try to meet him for a chat."

"By the way, how much money does he need? We still need to invest in the movie "Red Cliff" next year, and my budget is a bit tight. If it is too much, I need to withdraw the money from the advertising company."

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

Finally, Li Ming made the decision: "Manager Zhong, please contact Zhou Cheng. We can invest 1.5 million, a quarter of it. If he really wants to make a movie, we can also establish a good relationship with him to facilitate future cooperation."

.If we want to take this opportunity to make money, this small amount of money will not have much impact on us, as it will pave the way for future films."