Superstar's Development Diary-Chapter 759 - 760: Three Percent

Director Qian knew he wasn’t any heavyweight director, and "Special Action" would be his directorial debut. Although he had gained some fame as an actor before, he was never as in demand as the young idols of today, so Luo You had no obligation to give him any face.

So why was he calling now...

Director Qian’s heart suddenly skipped a beat, and at the same time, Luo You’s voice came through:

"Hello, Director Qian. Here’s the thing, Jinxia read your script and she’s particularly interested in the drama you’re going to shoot.

Let’s put aside our professional roles for today and not talk as an agent and a director. Just as friends, I want to ask you, are you satisfied with the actress you’ve selected for your female lead?"

What does it mean to put aside one’s role to talk—all of it is just a ploy~

In fact, both of them knew it was just small talk, but sometimes you need small talk to break the ice.

First, you make a connection, and once that’s established, you can move on to more serious matters.

If you’re just a stranger who comes up and asks if they can change the female lead, it’s too direct, and most directors would think you’re there to cause trouble!

A little bit of small talk, back and forth, then the director, after some careful thought, could sense your sincerity, so gradually, you can steer the conversation where you want it to go.

Director Qian was unsure of Luo You’s intentions. When Luo You brought up the female lead, he subconsciously thought she must have some grudge against He Jinxia and wanted to warn him off her.

He cautiously replied, "She’s fine. Her acting is passable, and she’s a decent person."

Luo You fell silent for a moment, then stopped beating around the bush and cleared his throat, "I was wondering if you’d be interested in changing your female lead."

Director Qian quickly shook his head: "No, no!"

The current female lead was affordable, and he had brought her in through his own connections. She was supporting his work by doing him a favor since they were friends, and provided a friendly price.

Luo You probed, "Why, does she perfectly match the vision you have in mind?"

Director Qian spoke with conviction, "Yes, she is exactly the female lead I envisioned!"

——Starting off on the wrong foot!

Luo You patted his forehead, his mind buzzing with several other strategies, but they all dissipated with Director Qian’s words.

If the indirect approach didn’t work, then it was time to be direct. Luo You said, "Director Qian, this is how it is: when you sent over the script, Jinxia looked at it and really loved the story. She doesn’t want to make a cameo; she wants to be the female lead! 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

She’s deeply drawn to the character of the female lead, so she had me see if there was any chance of changing the lead actress."

He gently tapped on the desk and continued, "Jinxia knows your budget is tight, so she’s willing to lower her fee, even willing to do it for no fee at all."

Director Qian’s heart skipped a beat, and he shook with excitement, exclaiming, "Wait, what did you say? No fee at all for the performance!"

Luo You quickly moved his phone further away, waiting for Director Qian to calm down a bit before saying, "Yes, Jinxia is willing to perform for no fee. She just needs her acting fee to be converted into an investment in the movie. She doesn’t want a fee; she just wants a share in the proceeds."

The joy in Director Qian’s heart was immediately doused with cold water. He knew it wouldn’t be as simple as he’d hoped.

Director Qian hesitated a bit then said, "Agent Luo, since you’ve been frank with me, I won’t hide the truth from you either. This film has an investment of eighty million, not quite a hundred million. It can’t be considered a blockbuster, it’s just a bit better than a low-budget production, but it doesn’t even reach the margins of a medium-budget production.

"But for this film, I need a lot of advanced weapons, and renting these weapons costs millions. Most of my budget has already gone into this,"

"I really can’t offer much for the actors. The budget for the actors doesn’t even make up ten percent of my total investment."

Luo You’s ears perked up, and he wrote down a number on a piece of paper—eight million.

Director Qian continued, "There are over a hundred actors in the crew, and I also need to hire foreign actors for filming, which is another big expense.

"I would be very happy to have He Jinxia as the lead actress. She’s very popular and has a huge following. With her involvement, my movie could attract a lot of viewers and maybe it wouldn’t lose money, but..."

Luo You listened to Director Qian ramble on about lack of funds, then they began to negotiate.

He patiently explained He Jinxia’s popularity and status. In the end, he even brought up that if the pay was too low, and if the industry found out He Jinxia was breaking the rules, she could be boycotted by other stars.

Both sides pulled out all the stops—one trying to lower the pay, the other striving to push it higher.

After all, what He Jinxia wanted wasn’t a specific salary but a stake in the film, so there was still a lot of room for negotiation. If the film didn’t make its money back, He Jinxia would incur losses too, but if it did and made over a hundred million, that would be a different story.

After much discussion back and forth, they finally settled on converting her remuneration into a three percent stake in the film. In a big-budget production, three percent is quite normal, and many top stars get three percent.

But top stars don’t just get three percent; they also receive an additional salary, and the ceiling price for well-known lead actors is thirty million, occasionally reaching forty million.

Director Qian agreed to the three percent, also based on Agent Luo stating that once settled, He Jinxia would fully cooperate with the promotion efforts.

Based on his eighty million investment, using three percent, or 2.4 million, to hire a popular second-tier leading lady was a bargain. The income generated from star power alone, not to mention audience revenue, was much more than a million—it exceeded ten million.

Agent Luo spoke eloquently, leaving Director Qian in a daze.

Now, when He Jinxia takes on a role in a movie, her standard quote is five million, the top price for second-tier actors.

For TV dramas, the starting salary per episode is half a million, and a package deal for an entire series amounts to over ten million, more than ten times the price compared to a year ago! (These data are fictitious, please do not take them seriously)

On the other hand, this was just a nominal quote, not the actual money to be paid to He Jinxia. She would share the ups and downs with Director Qian.

As Director Qian hesitated, Agent Luo made a bold declaration, "If you don’t make your money back, Jinxia doesn’t need to take a cent from you!"

It was this kind of boldness that sent a surge of excitement through Director Qian’s veins, and they settled on the three percent!

An honest person, what he says, he means. He doesn’t dodge commitments. The next day, Agent Luo brought He Jinxia to sign the contract, which went very smoothly.

Director Qian grew more and more pleased with He Jinxia. If it weren’t for the filming location not yet being secured, he would have wanted to take her to start shooting immediately.

When he told his wife last night not only did they sign He Jinxia, but they also got her as the female lead, his wife praised him for his discernment.

It was only then that Director Qian found out He Jinxia had even won awards abroad for her acting. He felt as if he had discovered a treasure.

This was Qian Li’s first time switching to directing. As an actor who had merely stepped into the second tier, he wasn’t very familiar with many aspects of the industry.

He wasn’t into gossip, nor did he pay much attention to the news. Now, at an age of maturity, he was more focused on his family than those baseless rumors online.