Chapter 165 I don’t get paid for filming
With the broadcast of "Legend of Sword and Fairy", Xu Kong indeed has plans for the next drama.
But so far, the main problem has been some hesitation in the script.
I haven’t decided what I will shoot for the next drama.
This time Penguin Video suddenly came over, and Xu Kong didn't mind cooperating with him again.
After all, his two previous dramas, including "Want to Meet You" and "Legend of Sword and Fairy", were indeed broadcast exclusively on Penguin Video.
But after Zeng Xi finished speaking, Xu Kong directly refused.
Although he wrote, directed and acted in it, the play itself was invested by Penguin Video.
It is also the so-called platform-made drama.
Currently, TV stations like Kiwi, Penguin Video, Tudou, and even some TV stations have some so-called self-made dramas or self-made variety shows.
Although the process is the same as that of traditional film and television companies, there are also differences.
That is, although platforms like Penguin will invest in self-produced dramas, they will not train their own actors or directors.
Almost all of them are paid to hire people.
"Director Xu, if it's about remuneration, we can continue to talk."
Zeng Xi was also a little surprised, mainly because he didn't expect Xu Kong to refuse so firmly.
Not even the slightest hesitation.
Although Xu Kong wrote, directed and acted alone, he also offered a high salary of 40 million yuan.
Such a price, even if it is placed on many current movie kings and actresses in the entertainment industry, or some big-name directors, is definitely not so easy to obtain.
Of course, he can understand.
After all, Xu Kong's fairy sword is so popular right now.
The last drama was so successful that it is completely understandable that the price will be raised directly.
The base price in his mind is indeed more than 40 million.
In Zeng Xi's plan, Xu Kong was irreplaceable for this project.
So if Xu Kong really wants to raise the price, his inner expectation is a budget of 60 million yuan in salary.
Grit your teeth, 80 million is not out of the question.
It’s not that I have enough confidence that Xu Kong’s next film will become a hit again.
Mainly to promote Penguin Video’s new project.
Xu Kong's current fame and traffic are the most important thing to them.
But after Zeng Xi finished speaking, Xu Kong was still unmoved.
He shook his head lightly but said nothing.
But Yan Rui, who was following him from the side, knew it well.
Forty million is definitely a high salary that other actors or directors cannot refuse.
But for Xu Kong personally, it is definitely not that attractive.
After all, this kid has filmed two dramas, but he didn't get the so-called salary, but directly participated in the share.
For example, in this time's "Legend of Sword and Fairy", Xu Kong's share was as high as 200 million.
If it weren't for Fengge's senior management trusting him, it would have been impossible to agree to the 50% share ratio after deducting the cost.
Because after all, Feng Ge made the investment himself, although Xu Kong took on the responsibility of screenwriting, directing, and male lead.
But in fact, no matter how much the final copyright fee is, he will definitely make a profit in terms of real money.
The one who takes the risk is still Feng Ge, who spent 200 million.
However, it is impossible to quantify the time cost, energy, original script, and soundtrack that Xu Kong himself spent.
Of course, from a consequentialist perspective, it doesn’t seem to make much sense to say this now.
After all, the filming and production of Fairy Sword took less than a year, directly bringing project income of over 200 million to Feng Ge.
Within the company, a 100% return rate is definitely a project with considerable returns, even among the best.
"No, Manager Zeng, Vice President Zeng."
"Maybe you still don't know me well."
Xu Kong spoke, but when he said this, he still didn't have much emotion.
Zeng Xi looked at Xu Kong with a confused look.
Although he and Xu Kong have been in contact a few times, they really don't know each other very well.
When they first met, Xu Kong's only impression was that he was a top player in domestic entertainment.
In fact, for them, although the commercial value is there, it is not much.
But after "Want to See You" became a hit, Zeng Xi began to admire Xu Kong's choice of split-account drama and his full confidence.
As for the current broadcast of "Legend of Sword and Fairy", Xu Kong can definitely be regarded as the most promising new director in this industry in addition to his status as an actor and artist.
"I don't get paid for filming. What I mean is that I write, direct and act in this form of drama."
Xu Kong said slightly apologetically.
These words made Zeng Xi obviously stunned.
No pay?
The meaning is also very obvious, directly share the profits of the project.
"You mean"
Zeng Xi was still a little unsure.
"Fifty percent, half of the project income."
Xu Kong directly set out his own price.
Hearing this, Zeng Xi was surprised.
Moreover, Xu Kong said that he does not get paid for his dramas, which means the previous "Want to See You" and the recently completed "Legend of Sword and Fairy".
He looked at Yan Rui next to him in disbelief.
As for Yan Rui, although it is definitely not easy to disclose these things to the outside world, since Xu Kong has said it, he also believes that Zeng Xi is not the kind of person with a loudspeaker.
So he could only nod affirmatively to the other party.
It was really hard for Zeng Xi to make up his mind for a while.
I'm mentally calculating whether the price is a good deal.
Although the 50% revenue share is indeed very high, it also means that the investment budget for the entire drama will be greatly reduced.
After all, Xu Kong's salary accounted for a considerable part of his original plan.
It is equivalent to if Xu Kong does not want to be paid, but chooses to get a share, which can be regarded as helping Penguin Video bear a considerable part of the risk.
But at the same time, it can be seen that Xu Kong's character has not changed, just like when he firmly chose the "Want to See You" and the signature-sharing model.
He has considerable confidence in his work.
Even if it's not like the ridiculously popular "Legend of Sword and Fairy" now, even if it's just the data of the original "Want to See You", Xu Kong can still easily get hundreds of millions of shares.
But if the show fails, Penguin Video will lose its investment, and Xu Kong’s hard work will be in vain.
It's better to take the so-called salary honestly.
"Director Xu's conditions are acceptable to us!"
Before, with Zeng Xi's authority, it was impossible to make decisions without authorization.
But now, he does have the qualifications to agree to the conditions proposed by Xu Kong.
"But there are still some things that I need to tell Director Xu in advance."
"The investment in this drama will not be too high."
"Maybe only about 150 million."
"And there are also great restrictions on the subject matter."
"What we need this time is a drama with a suspense theme." Zeng Xi then began to introduce it carefully.
In fact, it is Penguin’s so-called three billion project this time.
Starting a few years ago, suspense dramas that were originally a niche genre suddenly became the so-called traffic password.
During this period, there were many dramas that became dark horse hit dramas due to their high quality and high reputation.
The origin of everything can be attributed to a self-made drama project of Tudou Video, which is quite famous even now "Mystery Theater".
Tudou Video, the “mystery theater”, aired several self-made suspense mystery dramas with a small investment, and unexpectedly became one of the biggest hits of the year.
The relevant data is quite good, and the rate of return is even more frightening.
At the same time, the ratings of the drama are not low, and it can be said that it ignores both reputation and business.
Naturally, many film and television companies followed suit.
A large number of suspense dramas have emerged, and Penguin itself has bought many copyrights.
Most of them have been suppressed, but a few have become popular, which proves the potential of the domestic suspense drama market.
The year before last, Kiwifruit also quickly chose to follow suit.
We also worked on a Mystery Theater project, which was also a self-made play, and the investment was more expensive than the previous Tudou Video.
So far this year, a total of about six or seven dramas have been broadcast.
One movie was a hit at the beginning of last year, three movies were popular and well-received, and the remaining three movies were considered losses.
Overall, the income of the entire Mystery Theater is definitely profitable.
But more importantly, it has captured the current domestic suspense drama market share.
I won’t be so passive anymore.
As for Penguin Video, they only chose to join this year.
That is the so-called three billion investment project.
This is of course not the budget for one show, but the budget for their entire latest "suspense theater", all the homemade shows in the entire project.
"No big deal."
After Xu Kong listened to Zeng Xi's explanation, he agreed without much hesitation.
Zeng Xi originally thought that Xu Kong would make a request or something.
At least ask two related questions, after all, he introduced me for a long time.
Who knew that Xu Kong didn't care too much at all and just agreed.
Zeng Xi quickly adapted to it. After all, the previous "Want to See You" contained many elements of suspense and reasoning. Xu Kong was not completely inexperienced in this type of drama.
But he didn't know that as long as Zeng Xi agreed to the conditions for sharing, it wouldn't be too difficult for him.
The most important thing is the cooperation with Penguin Video. Yan Rui communicated with him in private before coming.
Let him try to negotiate terms as much as possible, and then in the end, no matter how far the discussion is, it will continue.
In other words, most of Xu Kong's attitude just now was actually just an act.
There is no way, this type of negotiation must not be too honest.
Moreover, his contract is still in Fengge, so if the company has requirements, he can only accept it.
But as long as Zeng Xi agrees to the share ratio, the rest is easy to negotiate.
Whether Penguin Video pays for it or Feng Ge pays for it himself is not a big difference to him.
As for why Yan Rui asked him to agree, Xu Kong estimated that it was probably because of Penguin's suspense theater project, and Feng Ge had the intention to join.
He can be regarded as an entry point for negotiations between the two parties.
Things turned out exactly as Xu Kong imagined. After finalizing the cooperation, he said he would write the script in the near future.
Then Yan Rui took the initiative to invite Zeng Xi to have a private chat with the film and television department.
"Your investment in this new drama will probably add some more."
In the artist department office, Zhu Yu spoke after listening to what Xu Kong said.
Obviously, Zhu Yu himself knows more about Feng Ge and Penguin Video than Xu Kong.
“Penguin Video’s plan to develop this suspense theater is nothing more than to seize the suspense drama market, which is almost saturated, as well as the gaps in its own platform in this area, as well as the related reputation.”
"However, their actual film and television production capabilities and abilities in all aspects are still somewhat inferior."
"Feng Ge is indeed the most suitable to join at this time."
"If I guess correctly, the top management of our company wants to cooperate with Penguin to make up for the lack of production capabilities and resources of the other side, and take the opportunity to make a fortune."
"Then why don't we just film it ourselves and sell the copyright to Penguin?"
Xu Kong asked a little strangely.
"It's different."
Zhu Yu shook her head.
"As I said just now, it is not only to seize the suspense drama market, but also to build the reputation of the platform itself."
"What Penguin wants is the title of its own drama."
"Otherwise, there is no need to imitate the Kiwi and Potato videos and set up a special suspense theater."
Xu Kong understood immediately.
After all, Penguin is already the top film and television platform in China. In addition to making money, the reputation of the platform is still very important.
It can even be said that this time the other party's suspense theater project can lose money, but the reputation must be guaranteed.
Choosing to cooperate with an established domestic film and television company like Fengge is undoubtedly a better choice.
As for Feng Ge, the risk of the project is borne by Penguin, and he can still make a profit.
It is foreseeable that for the follow-up self-produced dramas of the Penguin Video project, it is estimated that most of the crew, including post-production, will be in charge of Fengge people.
The cooperation between Penguin and Feng Ge was finally negotiated smoothly.
As for the entire 3 billion project, Xu Kong didn't know how much share Feng Ge got.
During this period, with the completion of Fairy Sword, the main task was actually to write the script for the new drama.
The remaining free time was allocated to Song Youyou, Su Zhi, and Zhu Yu.
"Here, Minmin!"
At the entrance of a kindergarten in Beijing, Zhu Yu waved to her daughter who had just finished school.
"Big brother!"
After getting in the car, Zhu Min greeted Xu Kong happily when he saw him in the driver's seat.
"Sit tight and don't mess around."
Because the location of the camping base is relatively remote, the navigation sometimes doesn't work at all. Zhu Yu sat in the passenger seat and was responsible for giving directions to Xu Kong who was driving to prevent him from going wrong.
Xu Kong had been looking forward to weekend camping for a long time, and it was finally here.
Before Zhu Yu could react, Xu Kong took the initiative to get to the passenger seat and help Zhu Yu fasten her seat belt.
Of course, during this process, Xu Kong's hand lightly brushed against two points very accurately.
Although he has a sunken physique, he is also very sensitive.
Zhu Yu's whole body seemed to be electrocuted, she trembled slightly, and then her body became stiff and straightened.
With a faint blush on her face, she glared at Xu Kong fiercely.
Xu Kong looked at her innocently.
Because Zhu Min was still there, it was hard for her to clarify.
But she was sure that this guy definitely did it on purpose.
We haven't set off yet, but this person is so random. When we get to the camping base where there is no one around, Zhu Yu doesn't dare to think about it.
(End of chapter)