Huayu started as a substitute director

Chapter 65: Making Money Too Slowly (Godfathers, please read on)

It cost almost 300 million to set up the basic framework of the entire company, not counting the employee salaries.

In addition, the filming of the previous movie "Love Is Not Blind" cost nearly 33 million yuan, and 850 million yuan was borrowed from Liu Tianxian, which means he paid about 500 million yuan out of his own pocket.

This is equivalent to spending 650 million yuan, plus the adaptation rights for the novel "So Young", the total amount spent so far is 700 million yuan.

This money must be spent at this stage, so the production department only signed some behind-the-scenes professionals.

Don’t sign too many people, because there are too many people to support.

You have to live your own life first before you can let others live!

The production equipment such as cameras, stabilizers, recording equipment, lighting, etc. have not been ordered. If Fang Hong wants to order them, the more than 20 million yuan will not be enough.

He also wants to invest in the filming of "So Young".

This movie was not shot by him, but was given to Yu Xian to practice. Fang Hong was the producer, and Chen Zhixi was still the producer.

In this way, you can check it for me first!

As for the adaptation of this novel, Bao Jinjin and Jiao Huajing were responsible for the adaptation.

Jiao Huajing was born in 88 and also majored in literature at the Beijing Film Academy. It is said that she later became the wife of Cao Baoping, but this is just a rumor and has not been confirmed.

Cao Baoping is the director who made "Dog Thirteen" and "Burning Sun", and is a professor of literature at the Beijing Film Academy. Jiao Huajing also participated in the writing of these two dramas.

She also participated in "Beijing Meets Seattle", and she is also Xue Xiaolu's graduate student.

Xue Xiaolu is also a professor at Beijing Film Academy, and all of them are relatives of Xue Xiaolu.

Fang Hong invited her, which was equivalent to tying up many famous directors and teachers.

Judging from her later resume, Jiao Huajing can be said to be quite talented, and her ability is even better than Bao Jinjin, but it has not been revealed yet.

It’s not that China doesn’t have talented screenwriters; there are many. It just depends on whether someone is willing to pay for it.

Fang Hong was willing to do so. He not only guaranteed them a minimum salary, but also offered them 2% of the box office profits as compensation.

If based on the performance of their previous film "Those Years", they can share 74 yuan, with each of them getting 2 yuan.

This is top-notch treatment in the entire Chinese screenwriting industry.

He paid so much to Bao Jinjin before because he was given the copyright. He doesn't need to pay so much now, and the copyright of "So Young" was originally bought by Fang Hong.

These two people are Fang Hong’s screenwriter team at this stage. If there are more, there will be no money to support them.

The main reason is that Fang Hong can't remember so many details of the movie, and he can only write a general plot for those who don't have a deep impression. The details still need the help of the screenwriter team to perfect.

For example, who remembers what lines the protagonist said?

Besides, Fang Hong didn't have that much energy to think about it, so he just gave them a script outline and let them enrich the plot themselves.

Just like "Youth", which is nothing but melodramatic stories about abortion and cheating, "Swallow" made 7 million at the box office even though the plot was terrible.

Fang Hong didn't ask for much, just half of her share, and she would be satisfied with a box office of 3.5 million.

The movie "So Young" cost 1000 million yuan to make.

The budget was 60 million in the previous life. Fang Hong didn’t know where they spent the money, and the film was not much better than “Us and Them” and “My Deskmate”.

Maybe Swallow’s card is more powerful!

That means the total amount to be spent now is 1700 million. Fang Hong received 2589 million for "Those Years", which means only 889 million is left to be spent.

Investing in movies is just the budget to be spent, and the funds are still lying in the company's account. If it is spent, there is essentially not so much money, because employee salaries, organizational structure, office equipment, etc. are not taken into account.

But we also need a pool of funds as a backup, in case anything happens, we can prepare for an emergency.

Fortunately, the post-production cost of "Those Years" was included in the production costs, so no extra money needed to be paid.

The dubbing fee for this movie is actually quite expensive, 2000 yuan per minute, and the movie is only about a hundred minutes long!
Also, Dong Dongdong, who composed the film soundtrack and theme song, has not been paid yet. He needs to be paid for this and the next two films. Otherwise, what should we do if the production schedule of the theme song for "Love Is Not Blind" is delayed?
Fang Hong had submitted the theme song lyrics a long time ago, but there is still no news. I don’t know if he didn’t pay or what? It’s much slower than last time.

If this stall is set up, you will have to spend money everywhere!
In other words, Fang Hong had almost no money to spend and became a pauper.

They say they rent a villa, but I don’t know where they make the money!
The reception room is simply furnished with some green plants and a tempered round table surrounded by a few chairs.

Fang Hong is meeting with a young man.

This young man was called Meng Jun, who later became the executive director and chief financial officer of Alibaba Pictures.

He was also born in the 80s. He didn’t even have a presence in Alibaba Entertainment yet, and he hasn’t gained much popularity yet. He is currently working as an auditor at IBM.

It just so happened that Fang Hong was recruiting a financial officer, so he sent an email to try to poach him. But the guy hadn't resigned yet, he just came to take a look.

When the two were chatting, Yu Xian came over and saw that there were outsiders present. He apologized and said, "You guys chat first."

"It doesn't matter, we are all family." Fang Hong waved for him to come over and sit down.

These words made Meng Jun who was standing next to him feel very warmed, and he was not shy about talking about internal affairs with him!

Yu Xian pulled out a chair, sat down and said, "Are you really going to let me shoot your movie So Young?"

He felt a little unsure.

I can’t even imagine how long it has been since I graduated from school that I have chosen a movie on my own!
"What are you afraid of? My team is at your disposal. You need to be familiar with the entire process of filming, from early preparation to post-production." Fang Hong said.

If you are not familiar with it, how can you go to the United States in the future? The shooting process there is more complicated, and there are many professional jobs!
"No, I'm afraid I'll mess it up for you. After all, we're not shooting in Beijing, we're going to other cities, and we're bringing so many people. I..."

Yu Xian felt a lot of pressure. He had to leave Beijing with tens of millions of dollars, and he was very uncertain.

If this fails, not only will the money be wasted, but also all the efforts will be in vain.

"So Young" cannot be filmed in Beijing, it has to be filmed in the south because it will be getting colder and colder in Beijing this season.

Fang Hong chose Chongqing as the filming location. The temperature there is currently over 20 degrees Celsius, and even if it takes two months to shoot, it can still remain over 10 degrees Celsius, which is very suitable for filming.

Many directors also like to shoot there because it has a sense of fireworks and space.

In fact, the most important thing is that it is cheap. Whether it is food or scene rental, it is relatively cheap.

There is also policy support. Let’s put it this way, shooting here requires layers of approval, but it is much simpler there.

There are many universities there, including Southwest University, University of Science and Technology, University of Posts and Telecommunications, etc. There are also a lot of middle schools, so you can quickly determine the filming location.

Anyway, we will just shoot the whole thing there and not change cities because it will be too troublesome.

"It's great that you have this understanding. It proves that you have the intention. Just shoot it well. Even if it fails, I will cover it for you." Fang Hong boosted his confidence.

He knew that Yu Xian had the professional ability, but he just lacked practice. However, Fang Hong couldn't wait any longer because making money in China was too slow.

I only shot two movies and a year has passed. If I want to rise again, I don’t know how long it will take.

This time it's a good opportunity to send him out for some experience!

(End of this chapter)