China Entertainment: Starting from 07 Kuainan

Chapter 58 "Star You" investment exceeds budget
After walking out of Yuan Tao's office, Lu Yuan didn't stay at Huayi for long, and drove straight to Wangjing.

The script adaptation of "Star You" was completed, and at the same time, the filming budget for Liu Yan was also completed simultaneously.

Whether it is the former or the latter, Lu Yuan needs to make the decision himself.

About half an hour later, Lu Yuan arrived at the company. After the two parties met, without any unnecessary greetings, they immediately got into the conference room and began to discuss the script and budget.

"Mr. Lu!"

"Mr. Lu!"

Stepping into the conference room, several young people in their 20s stood up one after another and took the initiative to say hello to the boss.

"Hello everyone, sit down."

Lu Yuan smiled gently and motioned for everyone to sit down.

A company cannot operate without people. Liu Yan has recruited these people into the company one after another.

Among them, there are both screenwriters and newbies in operations.

After everyone was in place, He Ran stood in front of the projector screen. The first topic of today's meeting was the "Star You" script discussion session.

"The male and female protagonists of "Star You" are..."

He Ran came on stage without any unnecessary nonsense. After briefly summarizing the characters of the male and female protagonists, he immediately entered the plot of the episodes.

This lecture lasts for two or three hours.

While Lu Yuan listened, he asked questions from time to time and exchanged questions in the script with He Ran.

Generally speaking, He Ran's adapted script is more in line with the direction of the Korean version of "Star You", although there are some discrepancies in the lines.

But they are all within the scope of reasonable adaptation.

"The above is the synopsis of the plot."

After He Ran finished speaking, under the leadership of Lu Yuan, there was a burst of applause in the conference room.

When the applause died down, Lu Yuan coughed twice.

"Let me say a few words."

"First of all, I would like to thank Mr. He and the screenwriting team for their hard work. You have worked hard during this time."

"After the meeting, everyone will go to the finance department. Each person will receive an overtime subsidy of 5000 yuan. Although the money is not much, it is the company's consideration. Don't forget to receive it."

5000 yuan is not much at all for a famous screenwriter like He Ran, but for those new novice screenwriters, it is not a small amount of money.

After all, they are paid dead wages.

When they learned about the bonus, the young employees in the conference room burst into laughter.

If you want to paint a big pie, you have to give money.

How can you want a horse to run and not eat grass at the same time?
"However, in terms of lines, I personally feel that we can continue to polish and polish them. While ensuring that they are life-like, they must also have a sense of beauty."

"After all, we are filming an idol drama."

"This is a problem for Teacher He and everyone else."

"No problem, please rest assured, Mr. Lu, we will definitely complete the task."

Although the script was not directly approved, He Ran was not upset. A script would undergo countless revisions from its inception to its final product.

Lu Yuan didn't ask him to make major changes, which was already a good result.

After the script discussion was over, the next topic was the investment budget. Lu Yuan opened another folder and saw a more conspicuous number.

Estimated total investment amount: 3500 million.

Looking down, Lu Yuan immediately saw where Qian Chao was.

Special effects cost: estimated to be around 1500 million.

The reason why it is so expensive is mainly because some of the special effects in "Star You" cannot be produced in China.

Famous scenes such as time suspension and teleportation require the use of a special shooting technology, similar to the bullet time in The Matrix.

Currently only Hollywood can do it.

It’s not that it can’t be done in China, but the effect is not very good. "Star You" is the pioneering work of Star Media, and Lu Yuan certainly has to pursue excellence.

Therefore, the special effects cost of this drama directly accounts for one-third of the filming cost.

In addition to special effects, the bulk of the remaining expenses are mainly actors' remuneration and director's remuneration.

Lu Yuan's filming salary is 29 yuan per episode. For 290 episodes, the cost is [-] million yuan. His salary is also the most expensive among the entire crew.

Strictly speaking, this price is relatively fair. Although he has not filmed any movies and TV series before, his popularity is there.

The heroine Zeng Li's salary is about 87 yuan per episode, totaling [-] yuan.

The director's directing fee is estimated to be 87 per episode, totaling [-].

The director of this drama, Lu Yuan, plans to use a mainland director, although there are more directors in Hong Kong and Taiwan who are good at shooting idol dramas.

But when working with directors from Hong Kong and Taiwan, they usually bring a large group of people into the set.

Crew members such as camera operators, scene recorders, executive directors, etc. will all be stuffed in.

Lu Yuan doesn't want to waste his energy on these chores, so he plans to cooperate with a mainland director. The candidate has been finalized and the two parties are in contact.

If nothing else happens, Song Yang will take over the guide tube.

Song Yang is a director who is relatively good at making idol dramas in the Mainland. He has successively served as the deputy director of dramas such as "A Talented Man and a Female Appearance", "A Female Talented and a Male Appearance", and "The Transfer of Love".

Although his qualifications are a little junior, his directing ability is no problem.

What's more, this drama is controlled by Lu Yuan. With the finished product to compare, it will definitely not be shot wrong.

In front of the projection screen, Liu Yan felt a little nervous when reporting the budget.

Thirty-five million, the budget directly exceeded the budget by more than 500 million.

However, this is just an urban idol drama.

If outsiders learn about this amount, they will either think that the cost is falsely reported, or that someone is taking kickbacks.

But Liu Yan can guarantee it.

Every part of the money in the budget is spent wisely, and even if there is an error, it will not exceed 50.

However, what surprised Liu Yan was that when he reported the budget, his boss had no objection or even interrupted him.

After a while, Liu Yan's report ended, and he looked at Lu Yuan anxiously, waiting for the boss's final decision.

“The budget is pretty good.”

Lu Yuan gently put down the folder and nodded in approval.

"Next month, I will inject 1000 million into the company account. Mr. Liu, you can contact the special effects production company first."

“Try to keep the cost down while ensuring quality.”

Liu Yan replied sternly: "Boss, I'll try my best, but don't have too many expectations. Even if 1500 million is low, it won't be that low."

"Well, I don't worry about you doing business."

Lu Yuan finalized the budget plan: "Just follow the plan. If you have any questions, remember to communicate with me in time."

"Boss, I really have a problem."

Liu Yan answered the difficult questions honestly.

"I encountered some problems with the application for a production license. It's been half a month since the report was filed, but there's no news at all."

According to the "TV Series Management Regulations" promulgated by China Radio and Television, a film and television company that wants to produce TV programs must obtain a production license.

Licenses are divided into Class A and Class B.

The Class A license is issued by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television and is valid for two years. As long as it is within the validity period, the license holder can independently produce and distribute film and television dramas, and the filming is not limited by time and quantity.

That is, a Class A license can be used for multiple purposes.

The Class B license can be issued by the provincial radio and television authorities, with a limited period of 180 days, and only one license per drama.

(End of this chapter)