Actor: Thank you.

beep, beep...

I heard a knock on the door.

The fat assistant director, who had just finished taking a shower and was still wearing a bathrobe, clapped his hands and stood up from the sofa excitedly.

Even the hotel's disposable slippers were worn crookedly. She tried to put them on with her toes several times but couldn't get them on. So she simply took off the shoe on her other foot, walked barefoot on the carpet, and walked briskly to the door.

How many actors are there in "Curse of the Golden Flower"?
Excluding the leading actors, the crew mobilized a total of 2 people!
There were 3000 set designers for the scene of the Double Ninth Festival in the later stage, where the ground was covered with chrysanthemums.

The maximum number of gold-armored and silver-armored soldiers on the field was about 3000.

Most of these people are men.

The performers are mostly students, professional extras, and a number of active armed police officers found by Zhang Yimou through his connections.

Especially the final scene where the silver-armored soldiers attacked the city, which required thousands of people to advance in unison.

Therefore, most of the soldiers are dressed as armed police.

After all, the armed police are also soldiers.

The level of organization of soldiers is far beyond the reach of ordinary extras.

In addition to these actors, there is another very important component of the crew.

Palace maid!

Most of these actors are played by women between the ages of 18 and 30.

As for the cast, apart from extras and ordinary students, the palace maids who followed closely behind the protagonist or had a few lines were all selected from major film and television academies.

Zhang Tianai is also from the Film and Television Academy, and the Beijing Film Academy.

The only difference is that she attended a two-year advanced course at her own expense.

This advanced training course is divided into weekend classes and full-day classes.

Zhang Tianai works full-day classes.

In fact, this is a kind of adult education class.

Just imagine, when Zhang Yuan came to the crew on the first day, he felt dizzy when he saw those hundreds of pairs of white "big buns".

These 400-odd scantily clad women are constantly in front of the men in the crew, and who knows what kind of jealousy they must have received from those old perverts.

Many female extras have climbed onto the beds of various crew members in order to get a position slightly forward, closer to the camera, or even just to be swept by the camera.

The group leader can even sleep with the female extras with the little resources he has.

Now the entire "Curse of the Golden Flower", from photography to directing and execution, is enjoying this "carnival".

On the contrary, Zhang Yimou is old and too busy with work.

This person, who is most likely to take advantage of the situation, doesn't have time for these things.

Among these more than 400 white bodies, Zhang Tianai's appearance is definitely the best.

She was directly pulled by the casting director to a more prominent position among the palace maids just because of her good figure and appearance.

At that time, she was not as beautiful as she would be in later generations.

This Northeastern girl who was born in Heilongjiang has a good foundation. After all, black soil is the land that produces beautiful women.

Now her cheeks and chin are not so "sharp" and her eyes are not so charming.

Judging from her appearance alone, she looks a bit like Zeng Li, but not as tall as Da Lizi.

But she has clear eyebrows, three-dimensional facial features, and a good figure and temperament, otherwise she would not have been chosen to be Gong Li's replacement.

The assistant director held the power and approached her when he was reselecting a replacement.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if I could both meet Lao Mouzi's requirements and get some "benefits" for myself?

"Here I come..."

The assistant director opened the door while rubbing his hands.

Just as I was imagining what posture I would use to enjoy it, a familiar figure appeared in front of me.

"Zhang Yuan, what are you...doing here in the middle of the night?"

The assistant director was stunned for a moment before he saw clearly that the person in front of him was one of the leading actors of the crew.

"Hello." Zhang Yuan raised his hand and greeted.

"I came to thank you."

A minute later, Zhang Yuan led Zhang Tianai to sit in the assistant director's room.

Five minutes ago, he was standing at the elevator entrance with the other party.

"My plan for you is."

"After the filming of this drama, sign a contract with my agency and become my artist."

"I will arrange some roles for you later, but they won't be the protagonist."

"To accumulate experience for you."

"In this crew, I will help you get the light substitute job you want."

"You don't have to serve the assistant director."

"how?"

After listening to this, Zhang Tianai stood there in a daze with his big eyes blinking.

Her original ambition was to become a fashion designer, so she went to study abroad on the island.

As a result, her design skills were average, but she was often asked to be a print model.

Only then did he return to China and go to Beijing Film Academy for further studies at his own expense.

As a result, just a few months after entering the school, he was selected by Zhang Yimou's crew to be an extra.

It’s only been a few weeks since I started training and performing, and now there’s another person who wants to sign me…

She even wondered if she had some incredible luck.

But what made her even more confused was that the other party clearly said that he wanted to sign her, but not to sleep with her.

It’s not impossible... Zhang Yuan thought.

But work is still important.

Talent is like wealth, it needs to be accumulated.

Even though Zhang Tianai is still a little unknown now, it is obvious that she has potential.

I can always make money for myself in the future, so the worst that can happen is that I can just support her for a few more years.

He hurried to Beijing Film Academy on purpose, just to get to know some young actors.

Seeing that the other party was still hesitating, Zhang Yuan spoke.

"Do you have a place to stay in the imperial capital?"

"No...are you asking me to stay at your house?"

Zhang Yuan: …

Why do you always want to get into my bed?

The assistant Zhao Xinxin at the side put on a serious expression as if saying "Master, there is a demon".

"If you sign a contract with my company, I can provide you with free accommodation in the imperial capital."

“A new high-rise building.”

Anyway, I have bought a lot of houses and they are waiting for appreciation in value, so it’s not impossible to use them as employee dormitories.

"What you said... is true?" Zhang Tianai still found it unbelievable.

Especially after Zhang Yuan introduced the company's employees, he felt like a crow falling into a flock of phoenixes.

"Of course, you can refuse." Zhang Yuan made way for her to go to the assistant director's room.

"I can think about it, but the time is too short."

"Of course." Zhang Yuan took out his phone and turned on the countdown: "I'll give you one minute."

Zhang Tianai:......

You are not Wang Baoqiang. You are just a small extra now. You have no college degree and no famous works.

It would be abnormal if Zhang Yuan was too polite and acted like he couldn't live without her.

Finally, with less than ten seconds left, he nodded his head heavily.

"Okay, it's a deal." He stretched out his hand, and the other party slowly followed suit, shaking hands to finalize the deal.

That's why this scene happened now.

"Thank you Director Liu for taking care of my artist and arranging a light stand-in for Gong Li for her."

"Your artist?" The assistant director looked confused.

Haven’t you heard of it?

"Yes, I think she is pretty, so I want to sign her and find some roles for her."

"But no matter what, being able to stand in for Teacher Gong Li is a rare opportunity and experience."

"Thank you for your help. I will take her to see Gong Li in person tomorrow."

The assistant director opened his mouth, speechless for a moment.

It’s all in vain!

There are many assistant directors in the crew, in addition to some young masters who help Zhang Yimou with the filming.

Those who are responsible for miscellaneous tasks, maintaining order, selecting actors, and coordinating with other departments are also assistant directors.

This person is responsible for coordinating with other departments and does not have much power.

So after Zhang Yuan spoke, he quickly responded with a smile.

"It's as it should be, everywhere."

Lao Mouzi was quite polite to him and had just gone to the second floor for a meeting... After thinking it over for a moment, he decided that it would be better not to offend him.

I guess he fell in love with this woman.

Then just give it to him.

It’s a pity that I didn’t even get to taste such a beautiful girl.

This person secretly thought that he had bad luck.

Jay Chou has a bathing scene, and eight palace maids will be arranged to perform around him.

In order to get a chance to see Jay Chou taking a bath, and also to perform in the show, several female extras have volunteered.

The filming of this play was full of gunpowder.

After leaving the assistant director's room, Zhang Yuan asked Zhang Tianai to go back to the extras' residence to rest.

Zhang Tianai knew that he was quite popular.

But I didn't expect that Zhang Yuan could settle the assistant director's question with just a few words.

And I also gained confidence in the conditions offered by the other party.

The next day, Zhang Yuan brought her to Teacher Gong Li as promised and said hello.

Excited this woman...

[Received thanks from Zhang Tianai, clothing taste +1! ]

Zhang Yuan glanced at the attributes she gave and felt that it should be donated to the mother and daughter of the Liu family.

"You have good taste. She's quite pretty." After Zhang Tianai left, Teacher Gong Li teased.

"Yeah, it looks good."

"Haha." Gong Li didn't say much. She had seen this kind of thing too many times, so it was not surprising.

Besides, she herself is also involved in the situation.

The unspoken rules are not one-way, and not just between men and women.

The next month was uneventful and Zhang Yuan's work went smoothly.

After Fa Ge fought back last time, he knew that this guy was not easy to deal with, and Zhang Yimou and Gong Li both stood on his side.

This person then began to handle his affairs impartially and no further conflicts occurred.

But Zhang Yuan was also careful and on guard at all times to avoid causing any trouble.

It was a rare calm day, and he immersed himself in his work.

After the filming that day, the assistant handed him the ringing cell phone.

"Hey!"

There was a loud yell from the other end of the phone, and Zhang Yuan was so scared that he quickly moved the phone away.

"Come on, don't get so excited," he complained.

Ning Hao on the other end of the phone continued to speak: "How can I not be excited!"

"The final box office statistics for "Crazy Stone" are out!"

The film was ultimately released for a total of 51 days.

The box office revenue in the final week was less than one million, so the film was removed from the shelves.

In those days, if a movie did well at the box office, it could even be shown for two or three months.

Unlike in later times, it would be a blessing if a movie could be scheduled for a whole month.

"Guess how many!" Big Head was extremely proud.

"5000 million?" Zhang Yuan's initial expectation was 4000 million, but the box office had already exceeded 4000 million in the first two weeks, so it must be more than that.

For general movies, the period with the highest box office revenue is the first two to three weeks.

"It's 5600 million!"

Oh, more than I guessed.

Under the "attack" of "Superman Returns", this film lasted for a week.

Although it was only a short week, in the eyes of the audience, the scene seemed as if the Chinese national football team had held out for half the game against the Brazilian team without allowing the opponent to score a goal.

Later, when China Film saw that the time was almost up and there was pressure from Warner Bros., it drastically reduced its screening schedule.

Zhang Yuan immediately did some mental calculations.

According to the ratio of 41/59, the producer can get 41%, which is about 2300 million.

Of the 350 million investment shares, he and Hua Ge each contributed 150 million, and China Film contributed 50.

In addition, China Film Corporation has to take 5% of the total box office as a national film special fund.

However, if the relationship is in place, most of it can actually be refunded.

And a few years later, the country also introduced a subsidy policy through this fund.

If the movie box office exceeds 1000 million, you can get a fund subsidy of million.

The result of this policy is that small companies are drained to subsidize large companies.

"According to this calculation, the amount that I will get should be around 1000 million..."

"And they still have to deduct taxes."

There are also subsidy policies for taxes, which are related to the policies of the company's location and various detailed regulations of the country. It is easier for the rich and powerful to obtain them.

Zhang Yuan made an estimate.

In terms of the profit amount alone, it is just okay.

But movie box office is not a math problem of addition and subtraction, so you can’t look at it that way.

After the film makes a profit, the most important data is actually the return on investment.

In this regard, "Crazy Stone" is just as its name suggests, crazy!

The investment-to-box office ratio reached 1:16.

The producer’s investment return ratio also exceeded 1:6!

China Film invested 50 yuan, but could get more than 300 million yuan in box office revenue alone.

Even Zhang Yimou and Feng Xiaogang cannot achieve this level of return on investment.

Of course, they will have a lot of sponsorship and additional income, and the actual income is not low.

A movie can recoup its investment if its investment-to-box office ratio is 1:3.

If we can achieve 1:5, it will be considered a great success.

If we can achieve 1:7, it’s worth making a big fuss and celebrating with champagne.

and so……

"Zhang Yuan, we have to hold a celebration party!" Ning Hao suggested.

"Sure, but I'm on the set filming and can't leave. How about you guys celebrate?"

"Why are we celebrating if you're not here?" Ning Hao immediately refuted.

He is the biggest contributor to this film and he has to stand in the center whenever taking photos.

Ning Hao would feel bad if he didn't come.

"Well...I'll wait for you!"

"We'll celebrate after you finish filming."

"Okay, then you pick the place and I'll pay."

"Hehehe, okay."

Zhang Yuan put down his phone, took a few deep breaths, and then calmed down.

For this film, it doesn’t really matter how much money it makes.

Just like "Baby Girl Good Mom" ​​and the animation company.

The significance of this film is to show potential!
Zhang Yuan remembered that in his previous life, this movie happened to be ranked tenth among the domestic films of this year.

Now, after his operation, it should be ranked around sixth.

But this movie has the lowest investment among all the movies on the list!

With this dark horse, from now on, he will be able to become a well-known figure among film investors.

Some are happy and some are sad.

Feng Xiaogang, who also attended the premiere, squinted his eyes and sucked his teeth when he saw the result.

These days, there are only a few domestic films that gross over 100 million yuan a year.

A box office of 50 million is already a very good result.

Director Feng thought to himself when he watched the film that it would be good if the film could make a profit.

But now...

In the past two years, China's major directors have collectively fallen into a misunderstanding.

The actors, production, and pictures are more important than the script.

That's why he made such a miscalculation.

"Could it be that I will have an additional opponent in the future?"

Having said that, he began to ponder again.

Who is his opponent, Ning Hao, or Zhang Yuan who is manipulating behind the scenes?
Huayi's brothers were even more speechless.

One movie made more than 5000 million.

And it’s the first movie this guy invested in!
The first movie invested by Huayi to have a box office of over 04 million was "Kung Fu" in .

The box office of previous films such as "Big Shot" and "Heroes of Heaven and Earth" are not as good as "Crazy Stone".

What’s even more terrifying is that according to the agreement, Zhang Yuan needs to achieve a total revenue of 5000 million in the second year.

But this movie has already been made 1/4!
On the other side of China Film, Lao Han and Lao Yang, just as Zhang Yuan expected, couldn't stop laughing when looking at the box office report.

"Haha, interesting."

"50 is a small amount of money, but I can buy some hope." Han Sanpin patted the back of his head.

A profit of more than 300 million is just a drop in the bucket for China Film Group.

But it means a lot.

"We have to take care of Ning Hao's films in the future." Old Han made an absolute statement.

"I think not only Ning Hao, but also what Zhang Yuan is tinkering with needs to be paid special attention to." Yang Buting said slowly.

"Yes, and this kid."

"Without him running around, Ning Hao alone wouldn't be able to make such a big fuss."

"Give them more support. I hope these young people can open up a bigger market for Chinese films."

"Hmph!" After saying that, Han Sanpin snorted coldly.

"Superman Returns is about to be taken off the shelves, and it has made less than 6000 million. I estimate that the final box office will be just over 6000 million at most."

Since 94, China Film Group has introduced 10 foreign films every year.

After joining the WTO, 50 more imported blockbusters will be added within three years.

Among them, 20 films adopt the profit-sharing model.

"Superman Returns" is a split-revenue film.

And for the split-revenue films, what is the share ratio for overseas producers?
13%...

Purely fleecing imperialism.

It was not until the signing of the China-US Film Agreement in 2012 that the ratio for Hollywood films was adjusted to 25%.

However, the revenue from imported films is pure revenue.

The so-called 25% is the net profit of the producer. All publicity, taxation, and funds are borne by the domestic distributor.

For example, if the box office of "Avengers 4" in mainland China was 42 billion, then Disney would have received 10.5 billion in after-tax income.

But now it is only 13%, imperialism will definitely not be happy.

This is why Warner Bros. formed a joint venture with China Film.

They want to use a joint venture to issue the film so they can make more money.

By the way, it can also invest in domestic films and bring China Film Group together to share the risks.

"Superman Returns" was a huge movie and cost a lot of money to promote and market.

Old Han is now settling the accounts.

Why are you still fleecing imperialism?

I almost got robbed!
After deducting expenses and scheduling costs, the final revenue is estimated to be less than 500 million.

If it is an imported batch film, that is, a buyout film, China Film can get 51% excluding the theaters.

The problem is that this is not a wholesale film, and I am also responsible for its promotion and distribution.

You also have to make arrangements everywhere to get you a time slot, squeezing out the schedule of other Chinese films.

Domestic theaters and practitioners are all gossiping.

"I saw people on the Internet saying that this stone is a good ally for Superman, and I think what they said makes sense."

"If it weren't for this movie, the box office of Crazy Stone would have been even higher!"

“Maybe it will surpass this movie.” Han Sanpin thought to himself, instead of running around, I might as well support the newcomers in our country.

"Don't do that next time. Let's speak based on our strength."

"Yes, let's speak with strength!"

The two senior executives of China Film reached a consensus on this... (End of this chapter)