"I think you should understand the benefits of taking on Zhao Rang's new play without me having to explain it in detail."
Xia Chaoqun rubbed her brows with her hand. She actually hadn't had a good rest in the past few days. Tao Cen's scenes in Spain had just been finished, and she returned to Hong Kong yesterday and stayed for less than a day. She arranged a new job for Jiang Se and hurried back to the capital today.
"Because of your incident with Zhu Pan, Zhao Rang's The 99th Love Letter ended up with a poor performance at the box office."
Although Zhao Rang's "The Ninety-Nine Love Letter" had good box office results overall, the investors did not lose money, and even made a slight profit, which was considered a small profit.
However, due to the huge momentum in the early stage of "The 99th Love Letter", the poor box office performance in the later stage would inevitably become a laughing stock among people in the industry, which made Zhao Rang feel frustrated.
Regardless of whether Zhu Pan instigated this matter or not, Jiang Se was involved in it, which was very disadvantageous to her.
When some people in the industry mention Jiang Se, they will easily think of the poor box office performance of Zhao Rang's "The 99th Love Letter" in the later period. The withdrawal of investment by Dong Mingsheng of Huatou is the best example.
Even if Dong Mingsheng's temporary decision to invest in the "Beijing Events" crew was based on other decisions, when he mentioned Jiang Se's excuse, it would still become a topic of hype for reporters.
"Where you fell, there you get up."
In fact, Xia Chaoqun had to work hard to get the leading female role of Century Galaxy in Zhao Rang's new film. Zhao Rang had been preparing for this drama for two years as early as the filming of "The Ninety-Ninth Love Letter". The original leading female role had already been decided, and the crew had even rushed to Xihang to set up the set more than half a month ago. In order to get this role for Jiang Se, Xia Chaoqun used some tricks, and it was also because Zhao Rang himself had a very good impression of Jiang Se.
"Zhao Rang really admires you. He said that you performed well in "The Ninety-Ninth Love Letter" and that you are able to endure hardships."
It was precisely because of the good impression Jiang Se had made in front of Zhao Rang that he did not vent his anger on Jiang Se for the subsequent box office failure of "The Ninety-Nine Love Letter".
Xia Chaoqun wiped her face. The assistant brought her the coffee she ordered. She took two sips and put the cup down.
"Put aside the three previous scripts for now. In the future, 'Devil' may also be taken over by Zhao Rang. Working with him first and getting to know each other's personalities and styles may be more beneficial to you."
Her words revealed the truth. The director of "Devil" should not have been decided earlier, but Xia Chaoqun implied that Zhao Rang would take over the film in the future. This should be the so-called resource exchange in the industry.
Xia Chaoqun has already said this, and Jiang Se has almost finished watching "About I Love You". The script itself is different from traditional love literary films. It finds a different way to dissect love, which is also quite innovative.
What's more, Zhou Wei's role itself is also somewhat challenging. Jiang Se thought that she was not completely sure about "The Devil" at the moment, so she nodded and took on the film.
“When will the filming start?”
“Time is tight.”
Before Xia Chaoqun returned to the imperial capital, he had apparently arranged everything:
"But I have already communicated with Zhao Rang in advance. He will shoot other plots first and leave your plot blank. After you finish shooting "Beijing Events", he will rush to Xihang."
This time, most of the scenes of "About I Love You" were shot in Xihang. The film is scheduled to participate in the China International Film Festival in December this year. It is obvious that Zhao Rang intends to win an award for this film.
The China International Film Festival was founded forty years ago. It is the most authoritative award among domestic film festivals. It is held every three years and is more honorable and valuable than the Hundred Flowers Art Awards.
In "The Rescue" directed by Zhang Jing'an, which was Jiang Se's first film, Liu Ye, who played the male lead, won the Best Actor Award at the China International Film Festival for the film, and became one of the top male stars in the country with an extraordinary status.
To participate in the China International Film Festival, the requirements are not simple. First of all, the director must have had works with a total box office of no less than 500 million yuan and a cumulative number of viewers of more than 10 million to be eligible to apply.
"I've asked Lin Xiwen, your scenes in Peking Events will probably be finished before March. You can apply for a two-month vacation from school and rush to Xihang. In the meantime, you can read the script and prepare more." Xia Chaoqun said this and told his assistant to get the prepared contract:
"As for the film's salary, the company has already negotiated a settlement of 1.5 million."
Jiang Se is not yet a first-line actress and is not very famous. This price is not very high compared to other stars, but compared to the pay for the movies Jiang Se has filmed before, it is beyond Jiang Se's expectations.
Before she could speak, Xia Chaoqun continued:
"But of the 1.5 million, the company gets 60%, and the rest belongs to you." Xia Chaoqun smiled and pointed to the numbers in the contract with a pen:
"Of the remaining 600,000, the salaries of Mo Anqi, Liu Lizhi, Dora and others have been paid by the company on your behalf. There are also some expenses such as rent. Only after these are paid off will you receive your real income."
Jiang Se's heart sank, Xia Chaoqun said again:
"After you finish filming this movie, once the movies you star in are released one after another in the future and your popularity increases, Mo Anqi alone will no longer be enough. You will have to hire additional staff and other expenses."
She reached out and knocked on the table:
"Also, your salary used to be after tax, but now it's before tax, which involves a tax issue."
In other words, in addition to the expenses mentioned by Xia Chaoqun, Jiang Se also needs a lawyer and someone who is good at finance and taxation to manage these incomes for her.
Jiang Se suddenly felt a headache. She held the script and said nothing.
When Xia Chaoqun's assistant Zhang Chi brought the contract over, she signed her name. The joy of earning 1.5 million with her own ability had faded at this time. Xia Chaoqun had someone pack up the contract. Jiang Se couldn't help asking:
"Sister Chaoqun, since the filming of About I Love You was so rushed and Director Zhao had already booked the female lead, how did the company suddenly get this spot?"
The contract had been signed, and once the matter was settled, Xia Chaoqun was more inclined to chat. As soon as Jiang Se asked, Xia Chaoqun said:
"This time, Jiangnan Entertainment is also interested in taking over the role of Zhou Weiyi in About My Love for You." She raised her eyebrows. This was the second time she had snatched Feng Nan's resources. "I found that Zhao Junhan has a good eye. He even found two dramas to be very good. Feng Nan is interested in taking over the role of Zhou Weiyi in About My Love for You."
She smiled:
"You have to act well and let her become your stepping stone. Don't let others step on you." (To be continued)