Huayu started as a substitute director

Chapter 101 Money is for women to see

There were no obstacles in the subsequent negotiations. The price was clearly marked: $600 to $650 for production, and CAA would take a 10% commission of the production budget.

That is 60 to 65 US dollars, which, converted into domestic RMB, is equivalent to 420 million given to CAA.

If the production budget exceeds this number, there will be a commission!

This commission is not small. It is a low-budget movie to begin with, and Hollywood has hundreds of low-budget movies looking for filming teams every year.

CAA has served many, so it is very profitable!

In addition, the salaries of behind-the-scenes staff and actors are also clearly marked, but the money must be given to CAA, and CAA then pays the salaries of those staff and actors.

In other words, the agency has to eat from both ends.

The labor here is very expensive. An extra costs two thousand dollars, and if he has only one line of dialogue, the price immediately soars to twenty thousand dollars.

This is also the reason why it is called a low-cost film with a production cost of more than 6 million dollars. If it were in China, a production cost of more than 40 million would already be considered a big production!

It is understandable that the agency takes advantage of both ends. They put together the crew, recruit the personnel, rent the equipment, and finally introduce the film to the distributor.

It means that the full set of services is included, and you can not only shoot the film smoothly, but also sell it.

As for whether it sells well or not, that’s your business!
Who knows what you are shooting? They just provide you with a channel.

As for the other side, CAA introduces jobs to staff and roles to actors, and of course it also charges an agency fee.

So this is a business that benefits both parties. You can't say anything because there is nothing wrong with it.

With the help of the film budget, the other party quickly came up with a shooting plan. A table was made up of all the behind-the-scenes personnel including photographers, artists, props, and the necessary equipment.

Of course it was in English, which Fang Hong couldn’t understand, but Yu Xian translated it into Chinese.

It seemed like the other party did this often, as if they already had such a filming team and could be used at any time.

This is the manifestation of having powerful resources.

If Fang Hong also had such powerful resources, he wouldn't have to train his own team and could just use them directly.

However, the domestic and foreign environments are different, and they have mature systems.

The team and equipment are ready, just pay the money, and now we just need to confirm the shooting style and the necessary props design.

This requires Fang Hong and Yu to convey it to the behind-the-scenes staff first, otherwise they won't know what you are going to shoot.

For example, if an artist doesn’t know what you want to shoot, he won’t be able to design props or arrange the scene, so he has to convey his ideas and style to the other party.

Since they were going to shoot "Annabelle", which is a horror thriller, not a regular feature film.

Therefore, the prop design must have a horror visual effect, and the picture must also have horror elements.

Fortunately, Fang Hong had prepared the drawings before coming, so they just needed to design and create the scenes according to the drawings.

The shooting location has not been decided yet, and we are only designing the props at this stage.

After being busy for a few days, Fang Hong and Yu Xian found a hotel to stay in the Chinese community in Hollywood.

They feel more at ease living here, and have a sense of familiarity with their fellow humans. However, the two of them do not communicate with others. Even if others greet them, they try to remain silent.

I was always on guard, after all, I was in an unfamiliar place and who knew if those people would cheat me.

There are too many cases of fellow villagers cheating each other.

Their only goal is to finish the movie and focus on doing just that.

After that, the male and female protagonists were selected. The female protagonist was also named Annabell and the male protagonist was named Ward. The other actors were not important.

The male and female protagonists are the same actors selected for the previous life's "Annabelle". Fang Hong did it on purpose. He just didn't want to go through the trouble of auditioning and just confirmed them directly.

It's only two or three years earlier, and the actors are still the same!

Moreover, for a movie of this budget and level in Past and Present Life, the actors who can take this role are basically small-time Karamis, and there is no qualification required.

But to be honest, the heroine is quite beautiful, with a tall figure, fair skin, blonde hair and blue eyes. She looks fashionable and elegant, very charming!

It is said that this lady is known as "The Rose of England".

This Rose was born in 84, when she was young and beautiful. However, European and American women have a short shelf life and will look old in a few years.

Anyway, Yu Xian took a liking to the guy at first sight, developed a liking for him, and went up to him to talk about the "script".

Fang Hong didn't know what they were talking about, but it seemed that this English Rose had no feelings for Yu Xian.

It's understandable. As yellow people, they don't have any domineering attitude. White women are generally indifferent to them and even have some discrimination.

It's just like how we feel when we look at black people.

If it wasn't for the filming of a movie, the English roses would ignore this person, and those white people would ignore them, that's it.

Moreover, although Yu Xian has relaxed a lot at this stage, he still can't hide his loser temperament.

This dealt Yu Xian another blow.

"Don't be discouraged, work hard to make money, and use it to make her open her legs." Fang Hong encouraged him.

"I also know how to make money. Damn, I just can't get angry." Yu Xian was a little angry. He was looked down upon everywhere when he came here.

Communicating the script and shooting requirements with those people, being impatient everywhere, is simply bullying.

"In the United States, you have to be strong and make money before people will look up to you. In a capitalist society, you should spend money. Don't talk about feelings. There is no other way."

Fang Hong began to instill ideas.

There was no way. This was similar to the situation Chen Zhixi encountered when he first started his business.

Seeing Yu was silent, he continued, "After this movie comes out, I'll give you one million dollars. Go and get that girl. If you can't get her, I'll give you another million dollars until you get her. When she opens her phone to you, you dump her."

"what?!"

I was confused at first. This was too pornographic and violent!
This is simply a subversion of the three views. Knock someone down just to dump him. There is such a thing. "But I want to tell you, money is for women to see, not to spend. You have to remember this." Fang Hong's tone seemed to have a force.

He was afraid that Yu Xian would spend a lot of money on European and American gold diggers, even though the money would be of no use to him in the future.

But it still makes me unhappy when I think about it!

"No, I'm very curious, where did you get all this money from? Are you so sure that you can make money?" Yu Xian said.

"Our movie will definitely make money. If it doesn't, I'll eat my own food to show you." Fang Hong boasted.

"That's too much. I'm afraid my vision will be shocked." Yu Xian felt better. He was quite excited by what Fang Hong said and he started to joke.

But he also believed in Fang Hong because he had never failed and had always been winning.

Does he still remember Fang Hong’s outrageous move when “Love Is Not Blind” was released? Would he do the same thing in the United States?

"Damn, can you be serious? I'm just comforting you." Fang Hong was speechless.

"It's my fault, it's my fault, but is what you said true?" Yu Xian was talking about giving him money to let the English Rose open her voice.

"When have I ever lied to you?"

Fang Hong put his arm around his shoulders and said, "You think I brought you here for a little fun? I brought you here to make some money from the foreigners. If we don't make a few hundred million from them, would it be worthy of us coming all the way here?"

That makes sense. It would be better to shoot low-budget films in China, but two of them were successful in a row.

Yu Xian moved closer: "Tell me the truth, do you have any tricks up your sleeve?"

"What's the back-up plan?" Fang Hong was surprised.

“That’s right, operate it just like you did in ‘Love Is Not Blind’ before.” Yu Xian said.

Fang Hong thought about it and understood what he meant: "I can still do it in China because I am familiar with the domestic social environment. How can I do it overseas?"

"Then how can you guarantee that the movie will make money?" Yu Xian said.

It’s not easy for Chinese people to make money by making movies in this place!

"We are not making serious movies. Horror movies are for the curious. You should not focus on the US market. Audiences in Mexico and South America also like to watch this kind of movies.

This means that this type of film has a fixed audience around the world, and as long as it is well made, it can get high box office. "

Fang Hong analyzed it for him.

Yu Xian had no idea at first because he didn't understand the market, but after hearing what Fang Hong said, he thought about it carefully.

This is indeed the case. Previous films such as "The Blair Witch Project", "Saw", and "Paranormal Activity" have all achieved considerable success.

The investment costs of these horror movies are not high.

The two had some communication in order to help Yu Xianxian adjust his mindset, work hard, and get to know the environment here.

Rich women will come naturally. Make money first, then pick up girls.

Just as the crew was being assembled and the filming location was being selected, Fang Hong found time to register a local film company.

The name is still: Yutu Pictures (English)
The factory logo is still the one of Chang'e holding a rabbit.

This company is treated as a branch of the domestic Yutu Company and is wholly owned.

However, to start a company in this place, one must create 5 to 10 jobs. Yu Xian does not count because he is not a native American citizen.

If we bring him into the company, at most it will be easier to get a visa, but we can only find three finance officers and two sweepers to make up the number.

In fact, one finance officer would be fine, since there is Meng Jun in China looking after him, but there is no way to support people.

The filming team does not need to recruit people. If you want to make a movie, just provide the script and I will be the director and producer. Then you can find the agency and guild here.

Basically this company is just an empty shell!

Registering a film company in the United States is secure because no matter how small the company is or how unknown the director is, you will have a certain bargaining power.

If you think it's unfair, you can be guaranteed to get a 25% share!
This is the lowest price, which is equivalent to setting the bottom line, protecting the interests of the producers and allowing them to negotiate with the distributors on this basis.

Otherwise, the film production industry here would not be so developed.

But if it is an overseas film, there will be no such guarantee.

So this is why Fang Hong wants to make local films in the United States and register a company, which can save a lot of trouble.

Of course, it doesn’t mean that you can’t negotiate the price of overseas films. You can negotiate the price, but you must have enough strength, that is, the right to speak.

For example, if a US blockbuster enters China and wants to be released on a good schedule or get a bigger share, does it have a say? No.

By registering a film and television company, "Annabelle" will be equivalent to having the Yutu label, and it will be a local production.

After registering the company, Fang Hong and Yu Xian found a law firm and paid them to check the copyright status.

They can also check online, because the copyright information in the United States is public, and they can check whether there is any infringement or whether it has been approved.

But for a fee, the law firm can find more detailed copyright information!
It is to see whether the copyrights of the scripts and pictures they registered online last year are effective here, and whether there are any conflicts with other copyrights.

For example, "The Purge" series, "The Conjuring" series, and some animation copyrights.

Fang Hong is most worried about the "The Conjuring" series and wants to see if there is any conflict in the copyright of this film.

Because the script of this drama has been available for a long time, but he was successful in registering last year, which means that the title of this drama is not yet available.

This query is quite detailed and requires content review, which will take some time. Fang Hong and Yu Xian first filmed the movie and determined the filming location.

There is no need to worry about copyright for "Annabelle", as it is an original script adapted from a story.

It is equivalent to the extension of "The Conjuring" series!

(End of this chapter)