In the conference room, several auditions have been held in succession.
Deng Chao sat face to face with each of the actors, with a curtain in between, repeating the scene in the script where they had a heart-to-heart talk after confirming each other's identity after twenty years.
"call!"
Another game ended, and Deng Chao let out a long sigh of relief.
He changed five fathers in one morning, but it was very awkward for him.
"Brother Chao, please take a rest first, we'll wait for the next one."
Li Qian also looked helpless. The actors he had carefully selected for auditions in the past few days were absolutely qualified in every appearance and acting skill.
However, after auditioning for a scene, Li Qian felt embarrassed, let alone the actor.
Among actors of his age, Liu Ye performed best.
If we look at the scenes between him and Deng Chao separately, there is no problem. They are both qualified fathers and sons.
But once they are in the same frame, no matter how good they are, they will inevitably feel inconsistent.
Once the footage of the two of them in the same frame seems inconsistent after editing, the plots of 20 years ago and 20 years later will be easily separated.
This sense of dissonance is a bit like Chen Daoming in "Infernal Affairs 3".
In terms of performance and appearance, Chen Daoming's performance was absolutely fine, but I felt awkward and not on the same page as the others.
Sure enough, we can't be too idealistic, we still have to find actors who obviously look older than Deng Chao.
In the original version that I remember, the two protagonists looked like father and son in age, without adding the thirty-year age difference in between.
After a while, the next actor to audition, Hu Jun, arrived on time.
"Hello, Brother Jun."
Li Qian smiled and greeted Hu Jun, then looked at the other person walking next to him.
Wang Jinghua, the famous mainland broker, also came with her.
"Mr. Wang."
"Hello, Director Li."
Wang Jinghua smiled and said, "I have long wanted to meet Director Li. He is indeed as young and promising as the rumors say."
"Mr. Wang, you're welcome."
The two sides didn't have much interaction, and they got down to business without saying a word.
Part of the script was received two days ago, so there was no need to prepare and we started directly.
Hu Jun and Deng Chao were sitting opposite each other, separated by a curtain, so neither could see the other.
To create the feeling of having a face-to-face conversation, Li Qian also planned to shoot at the same time, instead of one person acting and the other person's lines.
Two machines and two scenes may waste a little more film and time, but this kind of communication will be more natural. After all, it is not just a chat or two.
Auditions begin.
"Do you have a girlfriend?"
Parents are always most concerned about their children's lifelong events.
"Let's face it, we have some conflicts now, but I will try my best."
Deng Chao was not as impatient as ordinary people when being urged to get married. After all, this was a father he had not seen for twenty years.
It's like a father coming home from a faraway place, and the child tells his father about his life during this period.
Hu Jun also had a satisfied smile on his face, just looking ahead, as if he was relieved to see a healthy and grown-up child about to start a family and start a career.
There were no exciting words, it was just so plain and full of warmth.
We agreed to stay in front of the radio station on time tomorrow, unwilling to hang up, waiting for the other party to hang up first.
After being quiet for a while, Wu Jun hesitated before saying, "Son, daddy loves you."
"I love you too, Dad."
"I miss you so much."
Deng Chao's eyes were filled with tears. This was the first time since they confirmed each other's identity and chatted all night long that they called each other "dad" and "son."
"Click."
When the performance ended, Li Qian shouted stop.
"It's very good. Although there are still some problems in the performance, the emotion is in place."
"Brother Jun's child isn't young anymore, right?"
"She'll be six next month."
Speaking of his children, Hu Jun, who looks like a tough guy, also has a face full of tenderness.
Having the experience of having a father makes me feel more comfortable acting.
Hu Jun fully meets his requirements, whether he is a firefighter or a father, and the father-son drama between him and Deng Chao is not inconsistent.
Although he is already 39 years old, it would be too inconsistent for an actor to be a few years younger.
There are two more actors in the back, but if the salary is suitable and can be negotiated, then it will just be a formality.
Negotiating the contract was a matter for the agent, so Li Qian invited Wang Jinghua to a small conference room next door.
Everything else is easy to negotiate, but the difference in salary is too big.
"Mr. Wang, it is impossible for Mr. Hu to get a salary of 1 million for any movie."
When you open your mouth and ask for 1 million, you really don’t think it’s money.
Li Qian shook his head, "This is a low-budget film, and I can only give 300,000 yuan. Originally, the two leading actors were only prepared to pay 500,000 yuan, which is already over budget."
"300000?"
Hearing this number, Wang Jinghua couldn't help but feel a little angry.
1 million was indeed too high. This gave Li Qian room for counter-offering. Unexpectedly, he was directly cut off twice.
"Director Li, last year Hu Jun's salary for "Curiosity Killed the Cat" was one million. There is no reason why it should go down instead of going up this year."
Wang Jinghua smiled and said that although she wanted to make friends with Li Qian, a potential director, it did not mean that she would give up her own interests and those of the actors.
""curiosity kills the cat"?"
Li Qian smiled, "I've seen that movie, starring Hu Jun and Liu Jialing. In addition to the film shooting, the cost was not small. The final box office seemed to be only 5 million."
"In addition, the salary for "Red Cliff" that Hu Jun accepted was only 800,000 yuan. It was still two movies, and the total was 400,000 yuan per movie. Moreover, the shooting time of the costume blockbuster was long and more tiring. This movie of mine was much easier."
Wang Jinghua now took a new look at Li Qian. I heard that he had only opened a photography studio before and shot an online film for two months. Now he has just started to get involved in movies and he knows so much about the industry.
""Red Cliff" is not an ordinary blockbuster. Hu Jun took a salary cut to star in it, and Zhao Wei also received a salary of 800,000, but her salary for other movies started at least 2 million."
The implication is that if you take on "Red Cliff" you can get a salary cut, but what about other movies?
This is also true and a very realistic thing, and Li Qian is not angry at all. Besides, the agent is the buffer between the actor and the producer, and that is what he does.
For a big production like "Red Cliff", with Wu Yusen's name on it, not to mention 800,000 yuan, there are a lot of actors who volunteered to chip in for free.
"400000."
"Mr. Wang should also know that my last online movie, "Jaws," had a box office of more than 20 million in more than a month after it was released. Starring in a movie with a box office of 20 million is much more cost-effective than hundreds of thousands of dollars."
Seeing that Li Qian had no reaction, Wang Jinghua smiled and said, "Movies are different from the Internet. If you have a membership, you can watch them for free."
"Excluding members, nearly 500,000 people paid to watch "Jaws". Last year, the number of domestic movie viewers reached 500,000." Li Qian said calmly.
Sensing the change in Li Qian's tone, Wang Jinghua didn't want to go too far. After all, major companies valued Li Qian's potential and wanted to make friends with capable directors, even agents like her.
Young people are inherently impulsive. If they go too far and anger Li Qian, the gain will outweigh the loss.
So Wang Jinghua also agreed, but there was a condition, and she wanted a few more supporting roles.
For her, it is normal to insert a few actors into movies starring her own actors. Some movies are even packaged directly, starring all her own actors.
Li Qian thought it was a bit funny. This guy was really awesome, and he did the CAA bundling thing.
But CAA is CAA, and she doesn't look at who her actors are.
"In this case, forget it. I'll trouble Mr. Wang to make a trip."
Shaking his head, Li Qian stood up and left the small conference room.