Entertainment: I am the peak

Chapter 362 The Most Generous Director's Remuneration in Chinese Film Industry

The production team of "Mojin: The Lost Legend" released information within the industry that they were casting, and within two days they received more than a hundred resumes, videos, photos and other actor information.

They said they'd choose Fatty Wang first, but the actors eagerly awaiting their turn didn't care about that.

But why would a major character like Fatty Wang be cast in a public audition?

Of the eight main characters in "Mojin: The Lost Legend," apart from the already confirmed Big Gold Tooth, the three tomb raiders, Ding Sitian, the cult leader Ying Caihong, and her two male and female followers who have appeared frequently will not be cast publicly.

Casting is a very intense process of negotiation within the production team. The director has his favorite actors, the producer wants to put his own people in, the executive producer also hopes to take one or two roles, not to mention that the production company also has its own candidates.

At this point, the director must play a role. As the core of the production team, he must reconcile the interests and conflicts of all parties.

Coincidentally, Li Qiutang was a very authoritative director. He was on set, and no matter how much the various parties fought, as long as he didn't give his approval, no one could get in.

He and producer Chan Kwok-fu had a dispute over casting. Chan Kwok-fu still hoped that one of his people would be in the Tomb Raider trio, either Hu Bayi or Shirley Yang, but Li Qiutang was only willing to give him a role like Yangzi.

In fact, the two had conflicts and compromises regarding the later-stage team. Douglas, the special effects supervisor from the United States, was hired through connections in Taiwan, so Li Qiutang had to use his own team from Mojing Tianhe as the execution layer.

In addition to the two domestic companies, Mojing Tianhe and Tiangong Yicai, the production team also hired two other companies from the United States and South Korea to help with the project.

Neither of them would joke about the quality of the film; the team they selected is top-notch.

Chen Guofu is willing to give up the role of Yangzi, but he still wants to recommend Zhao Youting to play Hu Bayi or Shu Qi to play Shirley Yang.

But Li Qiutang was incredibly shrewd. He pulled the author Bachang to his side. At the meeting, Bachang admitted, "I referenced Zhong Yuemin from 'Blood Romance' to create Hu Bayi's character and personality."

Li Qiutang continued, "Hu Bayi was a sent-down youth and a soldier. He went to the battlefield and killed people. He's smart and brave, just like Zhong Yuemin. Try contacting Liu Ye."

It's one thing if Hu Bayi can't get it, but unexpectedly Li Qiutang wouldn't even give Shirley Yang to Chen Guofu: "Shirley can be seen as the Chinese version of Lara Croft. Many people can play this role. It's best to find someone with action film experience, so that training won't be too difficult."

"Where's the Fatty Wang I wanted?!"

"There aren't many fat guys in the industry. I met a guy named Qiao Shan the day before yesterday. He was fine in appearance, but his Northeastern accent was something he just couldn't get rid of."

"What's wrong with Northeastern dialect? What did it do to you?" Li Qiutang asked with a laugh.

"Northeastern dialect is great, Northeastern dialect is unbeatable!"

"Hahahaha!" Everyone laughed.

But Li Qiutang still said, "Accent in the dialogue is a very important issue; a Northeastern accent really isn't suitable for this scene. What does Mr. Chen Guofu think?"

Chen Guofu knew this was a direct challenge, but he had no choice but to say, "You still have to speak Mandarin."

Li Qiutang is currently busy drawing storyboards and researching 3D shooting technology. "Mojin: The Lost Legend" will be his first 3D work.

Since the preparations for "Mojin: The Lost Legend" were progressing smoothly under Li Qiutang's leadership, Li Qiutang even left Yanjing to visit the Liangxi National Digital Film Industrial Park to study 3D shooting technology.

So, shouldn't Li Qiutang's treatment be determined by now?

Qiu Tian tried her best to secure a high share for Li Qiutang, but was rejected by the other three production companies, especially the main production company, Wan Da.

However, in this round of negotiations, Wan Da relented, but the conditions were very harsh. If Li Qiutang wanted to get more than 10% of the revenue, he had to accept the box office betting agreement with the four production companies of "Mojin: The Lost Legend".

Moreover, the amount of the bet is huge, 10 billion!
The budget for "Mojin: The Lost Legend" was 2.5 million yuan. According to the rule of 3 times the return on investment, the film needs to reach 7.5 million yuan in box office revenue to make a profit. Even if we relax the requirements, it still needs 7 million yuan.

Wan Da didn't doubt Li Qiutang's abilities, but box office results are unpredictable; no director in the world would dare to guarantee that their next film would be more successful than their previous one.

Therefore, if Li Qiutang wanted a high share of the box office, he had to participate in the 10 billion yuan bet set up for him by Wan Da. Wan Da's proposal was that the 300 million yuan deposit that Li Qiutang had already received would be his fixed salary. If the box office of "Mojin: The Lost Legend" was less than 10 billion yuan, Li Qiutang would not receive a penny more—hiring Li Qiutang to make a movie for 300 million yuan was no different from working for free—but if it exceeded 10 billion yuan, Li Qiutang could receive what would be the most lucrative box office share for a mainland director.

Of the portion between 10 billion and 13 billion, Li Qiutang received 7.2%.

Of the portion between 13 billion and 15 billion, Li Qiutang received 9.5%.

Of the portion between 15 billion and 18 billion, Li Qiutang received 12.3%.

Of the portion between 18 billion and 20 billion, Li Qiutang received 14.2%.

For the portion exceeding 20 billion, Li Qiutang will receive 15%, the highest percentage for Chinese-language directors.

Meanwhile, once the box office of "Mojin: The Lost Legend" exceeds 20 billion yuan, it will trigger an additional cash reward of up to 1700 million yuan set up by Wanda for Li Qiutang. Furthermore, after the box office of "Mojin: The Lost Legend" exceeds 20 billion yuan, the production company will also bear the tax on all rewards received by Li Qiutang.

This revenue-sharing plan was approved by Huayi Brothers and Guangxian. The goal is to break even with 7 million yuan, with a 10 billion yuan bet. The higher the box office, the more we earn, and the higher your share will be.

If you dare, then accept.

Li Qiutang smiled when she saw the tiered revenue-sharing agreement in Liangxi.

Huayi and Guangxian have already gone public, and Wanda Cinemas is also going through the final listing process, which should be completed within one or two years.

They offered this box office performance betting agreement, betting that the box office would rise and drive up the stock price.

The reward given to Li Qiutang will only be worth a penny.

Of course, if "Mojin: The Lost Legend" flops at the box office, they will also be doomed; that's their risk.

It's because Autumn isn't a publicly listed company.

However, Li Qiutang herself rejected the agreement!
He was very confident in himself and believed that the film "Mojin: The Lost Legend" under his direction would be excellent.

His reason for refusing was that he did not want to leave the producers a profit margin of 7 million to 10 billion yuan.

Li Qiutang's demand was that he accept a revenue-sharing agreement starting at 10 billion, but the four production companies had to raise the total cost of "Mojin: The Lost Legend" to 3.2 million, of which the 7000 million for marketing and distribution could remain unchanged, while the production cost would be increased to 2.5 million.

Li Qiutang's request is completely reasonable: if you want 10 billion in box office revenue, then give me more budget.

They want to make 1.8 billion at the box office with 10 million, and they even promised me 20 billion. I'm not that easy to fool. If they want me to live off that promise, they have to increase the costs.

However, the film company viewed this demand as unreasonable and coercive.

1.8 million and 2.5 million make no difference to Wanta, but the 7000 million cannot be given because Wanta has reason to suspect that Li Qiutang's team will try to put the 7000 million into their own pockets.

At that point, the risk of this 10 billion yuan bet will fall entirely on the production company.

Li Qiutang has a good reputation in the industry, but when faced with real money, Wan Da will not believe in the intangible reputation of the underworld.

Furthermore, the production hasn't even started filming yet, and the 1.8 million yuan we gave you hasn't even been spent. You want to add another 7000 million yuan? How can you calculate like that! Give me a plan on where this 7000 million yuan is going to be spent.

Therefore, Wan Da rejected Li Qiutang's request to increase the budget.

But the director's team wouldn't compromise so easily, and the two sides reached a stalemate.

(End of this chapter)