Who are you calling "little fresh meat"? I'm the king.

Chapter 499 Heartache (33)

After returning to Beijing, Shen Yan met with Ji Xiang and they discussed their thoughts...

He pointed out that "idol dramas are really easy to export!"

Chen Xu nodded in agreement: "It's true. Yan Ge is popular in Southeast Asia, mainly because of Professor Do in 'My Love from the Star'... A lot of people call him Professor Do!"

"So, you mean you're going to focus on idol dramas?"

“Yes, I’m not 30 yet, which is the perfect age to star in idol dramas…” Shen Yan nodded: “I’ll star in ‘Love O2O’!”

Ji Xiang scratched his head: "I still think we should focus on the movie!"

"How to say?"

"...Globally, idol dramas are equivalent to soap operas, occupying the lowest end of the social hierarchy... Can we expect idol dramas to go global?"

"...I meant that before I turn thirty, I could film a few idol dramas..." Shen Yan was speechless: "I didn't say I wanted to focus my career on idol dramas!"

"up to you!"

Ji Xiang waved his hand, not taking the matter very seriously: "So you're going to Xiangshan afterwards?"

"Hmm... I'll definitely go tomorrow..."

"Aren't you going to take a few days off?"

"Stop taking a break? I can rest in Xiangshan too!"

"Oh, right," Ji Xiang remembered something and lowered his voice to say, "A high-ranking official visited the set of 'The Martian' last month..."

"A high-ranking leader? How high?"

"Go ahead and guess as high as you want!"

Ji Xiang picked up a cup of tea with a smug look on his face, ready to take a sip...

Shen Yan thought about it seriously for a moment, then asked in a low voice, "Could it be a great man?"

"Pfft..." He spat out a mouthful of tea: "Damn it, I told you to guess, not to talk nonsense!"

Shen Yan was a little embarrassed: "No, when 'Let the Bullets Fly' was being filmed, the great man visited the set... so I thought..."

"I'm not that high-profile; I'm in charge of cultural work..."

Shen Yan was a little dissatisfied: "...Then why did you make me guess the biggest possibility!"

"Isn't this brand big enough?"

Shen Yan said matter-of-factly, "The Martian is already a key project of the Film Bureau, and the Space Administration has also given it support. It's normal for the Ministry of Culture to pay attention to it!"

"Are you under pressure right now?"

"You probably wouldn't believe me if I said I wasn't under pressure, but I think it's alright... We've done a good job with the preliminary research and preparations, and we've done almost all the necessary work..."

“No,” Ji Xiang reminded him, “Shen Teng doesn’t have much of an appeal, and he’s just a sketch comedy actor.”

"Wait until 'Goodbye Mr. Loser' is released and makes a billion yuan at the box office before you say that."

Ji Xiang: "...You have so much confidence in 'Goodbye Mr. Loser'?"

Shen Yan looked at him suspiciously: "Big brother, you laughed so hard you cried in the theater the other day..."

"...Of course I know 'Goodbye Mr. Loser' is fine, but there are three movies scheduled for release during this year's National Day holiday: 'Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon,' 'The White Fox,' and 'Out of Inferno.'"

"Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon", the second installment in Tsui Hark's Detective Dee series;

"The White Fox," touted as a "recreation of 'Painted Skin'" and based on "Xiao Cui from 'Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio'"... except the director and screenwriter is Niu Chaoyang...

Niu Chaoyang, a notorious director of terrible films, has made movies such as "Someone Under the Bed," "The Big Player," "The Cat-Faced Old Lady," and "Horror Cinema" that have terrified audiences...

However, if you do a little research, you'll know that this director Niu Chaoyang is not only a director of bad movies, but also a famous musician!
He wrote "Two Butterflies"!

What? "Two Butterflies" is too cheesy?
He also wrote "Outside the Window" and composed the music... Yes, the one with the lyrics "Goodbye, my beloved dream girl, I'm going to find my future in the distance"...

Folk Song Masterpieces!

Then, he resolutely entered the film industry and made a bunch of terrible movies…

I'm so curious, what has he been through all these years!
By the way, the female lead in "The White Fox" is Gillian Chung. That's right, the whole movie was made with the intention of showing off her sex appeal from the very beginning!
If you're looking for sex appeal from the start, then the entire plot revolves around sex scenes... but due to censorship, they can't go too far... which makes the whole movie feel disjointed... a terrible film!

As for "Out of Inferno," it was a mass-produced film by the Pang brothers...

Shen Yan pondered for a moment: "The only film with any real competition is 'Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon'... How about this, they release on the 28th, and we release on the 26th!"

"...We've already announced that it will be released on the 27th..."

"Then let's continue the promotion as usual!"

Ji Xiang hesitated slightly: "...Targeting Zhao Youting?"

"Of course...keep a close eye on him!"

Chi Hsiang: "...But the people behind him can influence the Golden Horse Awards..."

Shen Yan was speechless: "Big brother, do you really think I need the Golden Horse Award?"

"But... what you're missing right now is a prestigious award!"

"So what? Does it affect my movie's box office success? Don't worry about this nonsense!"

"...I care a lot!"

Shen Yan thought for a moment, then said, "If you really want honor... I'll make 'Burning' next year, then go to Venice and try to win an award!"

"Venice? Why Venice? Can't Cannes be better?"

Shen Yan countered, "This is my first time attending a film festival. Do you think Cannes will let me be nominated for the main competition?"

"...That's true..."

Cannes...it's so annoying, newcomers generally have no chance of making it into the main competition!
Even Xavier Dolan, who is considered Cannes' favorite, has to be shortlisted in the Un Certain Regard section before he can compete in the main competition.

Another approach is to first gain recognition at other film festivals. A typical example is Jia Zhangke, who won the Golden Lion at Venice and then moved on to Cannes. This also applies to Diao Yinan, who won the Golden Bear for "Black Coal, Thin Ice" and then moved on to Cannes.

Shen Yan had never participated in any film festivals before, so Venice and Berlin were the best options!

But... he probably won't make it to Berlin!
Ji Xiang then went on to talk about the profit-sharing.

It's about the revenue sharing for "Making a Name for Yourself"...

……

"Fame and Fortune" is still showing in theaters, but industry insiders have already made predictions: total box office revenue will be around 9.8 million yuan...

There's no chance of breaking one billion!

Based on a box office of 9.8 million, the revenue after revenue sharing would be 3.8 million.

The total production cost was 9 million, all of which was paid for by Xinghuo Studio. Another 1 million was for the crew's operating expenses—that is, the crew's food and accommodation costs…

Spark Studio accounted for 40% of the investment, with the remainder going to the actors and production team.

After the profits are split, and the 15% allocated to the issuance is deducted, that leaves 3.3 million!
This 3.3 million is the box office revenue that can be distributed.

Take Nini as an example, if she gets 5%, that's 1650 million...

If Uncle Ge gets 15%, that's 4950 million!
Shen Yan's 30% is 9900 million...

That's right, everyone made money!

Of course, Ji Xiang wasn't very happy with this profit-sharing arrangement...

At market prices, all of these people together would cost less than 1500 million – and the auction only lasted twenty days.

This time, the paychecks increased tenfold!
Shen Yan didn't take it to heart: "'Fame and Fortune' is an ensemble piece, carried entirely by the actors. Besides, when we made it, we only expected a maximum box office of 3 million..."

"But now, we've already received over 3 million!"

"That's because of good publicity... No, you can't think like that. Our movie is a hit now, but what if it loses money?"

"...Don't give me that nonsense..." Ji Xiang interrupted him, "Anyway, you can't do that again..."

Ji Xiang felt heartbroken that all that hard-earned money had been given away!
(End of this chapter)