Unboxing, Director!

Chapter 152 The Eight Parts of Tianlong
With the costumes and makeup finalized, "Goddess Dragon" quickly entered the final stage of attracting sponsors.

Within a day, the investment share, initial advertising placements, and TV station pre-purchases were basically finalized.

Although it was said to be a one-day event, the project team had actually done thorough preparation beforehand.

Even so, it would be virtually impossible for other companies to finalize a decision within a single day.

Because in addition to the efficient operation of the project team, the cooperation of partners is also very important.

Basically, more than 90% of the problems encountered during the preparation of a project will be caused by the partners.

There were all sorts of disputes and people backing out, going back and forth until they were exhausted.

Fortunately, such things are rarely encountered in Dawn Films these days.

The reason is simple: Dawn Films' projects are currently in the top tier of the Chinese entertainment industry.

So many people are waving their money, eager to cooperate.

Haggling and dragging things out?
Sorry, go back now, next!
Therefore, after the initial investment share allocation and advertising integration cooperation were completed.

For Dawn Films, "Snowflake Goddess Dragon" has basically achieved a 75% return on investment.

In other words, this drama only has Qiao Zhenyu to carry it. If there were another F3, it would probably break even immediately.

Most importantly, the money can be settled within 14 working days.

Don't underestimate this.

Anyone who has worked in engineering knows that getting paid is the key to making money.

The same applies to making TV dramas.

Company A produced a TV series and ultimately earned 20 million yuan, which will take three years to fully recoup.

If Company B were to handle the same project, they could recover all the payments due within six months.

So, which company, A or B, has more potential?
The answer is obvious.

Today, Dawn Corporation is the latter.

Lu Jiang leveraged the commercial appeal he gained from two blockbuster works.

This has already allowed Dawn to transcend its niche within the Chinese entertainment industry.

Even the TV stations that currently occupy the highest ecological niche have to give face.

Of course, this state is only temporary.

If the next project performs poorly a few times, this advantage will naturally dissipate quickly in accordance with market rules.

The good news is that this is exactly what Lu Jiang is least worried about.

Once 75% of the investment is recouped, "Goddess Dragon" will no longer be under pressure to make a profit.

Because once the show airs, the pre-roll ads alone will be enough to make the project fully profitable.

In addition, there are revenues from television stations purchasing programs.

This is the big one.

The payment cycle for this is relatively longer than that for advertising, but it is still much faster than that of other companies.

Furthermore, since the project will already be profitable by then, the overall pressure will naturally be much less.

After securing sponsorship for "Goddess Dragon," Lu Jiang moved on to the next meeting.

This time, the meeting with Zhang Dahuzi took place at his own company.

A few days ago, after Qiao Zhenyu brought Zhu Wushi's performance clips to discuss the matter, Zhang Dahuzi's current attitude is that it is basically confirmed that Qiao Zhenyu will play Murong Fu.

I'm here today to finalize some details and discuss the casting of Lu Jiang as Duan Yu.

Ten minutes before the agreed time, the bearded man arrived at Dawn Films.

Upon meeting, they immediately engaged in a round of mutual flattery.

Zhang Dahuzi directly praised Lu Jiang's ability to promote people.

Lu Jiang readily accepted this offer.

That's a fact, there's no need to be modest.

The people who came out of the company's "Meteor Garden" are now guaranteed to guarantee viewership and advertising revenue in the market.

Any project that has one of them on board will never lack advertising sponsorships and investment. That's why, since "Meteor Garden," many big projects have chosen these members of Dawn as their first choice.

The original timeline was actually quite similar, especially for projects with Hong Kong and Taiwan capital involvement, where the first choice for many main characters was someone from F4.

For example, in Alec Su's "Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre", the initial choice for Zhang Wuji was Jerry Yan/Vic Chou.

The production company, Huaxia Vision, originally planned to continue the idol route, but Jerry Yan's schedule conflicted, and Vic Chou had to give up because he was filming "Magic Kitchen" and they couldn't agree on the salary.

In Zhang Dahuzi's version of "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils," Jerry Yan was also the first choice for the male lead, Duan Yu.

Zhang Jizhong wanted to attract young audiences with idol actors, but Jerry Yan's agent demanded a sky-high salary of over 15 RMB per episode. In the end, Duan Yu was cast by Jimmy Lin, who voluntarily reduced his salary by 60%.

In addition, these individuals were the first choice for many major projects in recent years, but ultimately missed out for various reasons.

Of course, capital is definitely a factor involved here.

But in Lu Jiang's view, the main problem is that F4 and their team are not good at management.

After all, F4 was such a powerful group in this era. They dominated the entire new generation in Asia, and were constantly imitated but never surpassed. Their popularity was terrifying!
Despite acting in numerous bad and mediocre films for many years, Gao's popularity remained high.

With such a fantastic start, if they get a few solid works to solidify their position, they'll probably stay in the second tier until after 2020!
Looking back now, it really is a pity.

Fortunately, this fortune now belongs to Lu Jiang.

That said, after a round of mutual flattery, the two sides got down to business.

First, there's the matter of Qiao Zhenyu playing Murong Fu.

Regarding Qiao Zhenyu's suitability, the bearded man said directly: "Initially, we also wanted to find Xiao Qiao, but many people in the team were worried about Xiao Qiao's acting skills. Until we saw his Iron-Blooded Marquis Lu Jiang, I have to say, you really know how to develop an actor's potential!"

"Director Zhang, can we stop praising each other?"

Zhang Dahu laughed heartily, then said, "Then I'll get straight to the point, Xiao Qiao, could you lower your fee a bit?"

After "Full House", Qiao Zhenyu's current market price is around 12 yuan per episode, which puts him in the top tier in Asia and is even higher than Zhang Weijian's.

Lu Jiang's current TV drama salary is 20 yuan per episode, which is the highest in Asia and unique.

Therefore, very few projects have been found for Lu Jiang; the few remaining ones all involve offering equity investment in exchange for his acting fees, such as "Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre".

But "Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils" won't do that; it wasn't simply a project funded by a private enterprise.

There are two main investors. One is CCTV, which holds 40% of the shares through a combination of funding and broadcasting platform.

Secondly, Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation accounts for 25% of the revenue through funding, regional promotion, and providing venue support for the Nanjing Film and Television Base.

There are three secondary investors.

Zhang Jizhong Studio, Hengdian World Studios, and the Dali Prefecture Government of Yunnan Province.

The latter two secured market share by providing filming locations.

Zhang Dahuzi himself used his labor fees to offset 10% of his investment share and enjoys a share of the subsequent IP derivative revenue.

Judging from the composition of the investors, it's clear that this project is at a high level.

So Lu Jiang, an actor who isn't even a lead actor, wants to offset his investment share with his salary?
forget it!
Therefore, if Lu Jiang wants to participate in the film, the only option at present is to lower his salary.

After learning about the situation, Lu Jiang said directly, "Xiao Qiao's salary is negotiable."

This kind of project offers limited benefits to Lu Jiang, but it's very advantageous for Qiao Zhenyu, so reducing his salary isn't a big problem.

As for Lu Jiang himself...

"I'm not going to act anymore, I don't have time. I have to play Zhang Wuji in the first half of the year, and then I'll be filming The Story of a Noble Family. By the time I finish filming those two dramas, you'll be almost done filming!"

Zhang Jizhong's eyes lit up upon hearing this: "Zhang Henshui's 'The Story of a Noble Family'?"

"Correct."

"This is a great project, why is there no news?"

"It was just decided a few days ago."

When will filming wrap up?

"If we count both shows as five months, they won't finish until November at the earliest."

"There's still time! Our plan is to finalize all the core roles by August, confirm all the roles by October, and strive to start filming before November!"

As he spoke, Zhang the Bearded Man looked at Lu Jiang and laughed, "If you step up your pace a little, you'll definitely make it!"

(End of this chapter)