The Greatest Showman - Chapter 208

[207 The situation is getting worse]

This is simply absurd!

From “Pacific War” to “Buried Alive” to “Love Crazy”, the pay is actually lower than the other one, it seems like an outdated actor whose career has reached a dead end. The salary of 100,000 yuan for “Buried Alive” is already low enough. Third-tier actors are about this price. Even many TV drama actors are paid more than this figure. Isn’t this to send beggars away? It sounds like the price that the little fresh meat in the model circle gets.

What’s more, Renly is now Emmy! Emmys! Emmy Award, one of the four major art awards in the United States! Twenty thousand dollars? What the hell is this?

As for dividends? That’s just bragging!

From just a few words, it can be judged that “Crazy in Love” did not find a production company at all, but just attracted investment, just like “buried alive”, what does this mean? It means that directors and producers have no say at all, how much dividends they can share, how profit ratios and distribution companies and major theater chains are to be distributed, and even whether they can find suitable buyers, all of which are to be determined. The future must be decided by the other side. The box office dividend ratio of “Buried Alive” is decided by Focus Pictures.

Taking a step back, even if both the production company and the distribution company agreed to share the box office dividends, how much would Renly receive?

The wave of Hollywood actors participating in box-office dividends started after the new century. Although such a situation has occurred before, it has not been the mainstream. The mainstream of cooperation between production companies and actors is still remuneration, which really makes people aware of it. The importance of the box office dividend is 2006’s “Pirates of the Caribbean 2”.

Before that, the 20 million club represented the highest level in the industry; but “Pirates of the Caribbean 2” brought Johnny Depp a basic salary of $33 million plus North American box office dividends, which was a shock After the entire industry, the subsequent “Pirates of the Caribbean 3” was only more or less, which surprised Disney.

Later, when filming “Pirates of the Caribbean 4”, Disney signed Johnny to continue the role with a record $55 million salary. In fact, this figure is Disney’s own internal estimate. It calculates the result of superimposing the basic remuneration and box office dividends, and pays Johnny’s remuneration in one go. In this way, the movie box office achieves more than expected success, then the income It will all go into Disney’s pocket.

After that, although the 20 million club still exists, it exists in name only. Actors will not be too concerned about the level of basic remuneration, but are more willing to participate in film creation in the form of dividends. This is also a good thing for film companies, because they can save their budgets and allow actors to share some of the box office risks, earn money together, and share losses. Therefore, major film companies are also happy to see it.

In other words, the willingness of film companies to share box office dividends is to share risks, not profits. Naturally, only top actors with box office appeal can participate in the dividend list, and other actors simply stand aside.

Although Renly just won the Emmy Award as the best actor, but in the star-studded Hollywood, it is not ranked at all, and the accumulation of only two works is not enough to make Renly a second-tier actor. At most, it can only be regarded as a second-tier actor. Three lines. Even if Renly can participate in the dividend, one percent is the limit, and the film company will not give up easily.

The biggest possibility is that even the 1%, the film company is not willing to pay. It’s impossible to snatch chicken from a weasel.

Of course, Andy will not forget that there is another situation if “Crazy Love” is taken over by an independent production company and an independent distribution company.

Then, this type of low-cost independent films often invite first- or second-tier actors to perform in the form of box-office dividends because of insufficient budgets. For the actors, they can hopefully test the waters during awards season; for the crew, they can save money, which is a win-win situation.

The most famous case is “Pulp Fiction” in 1994, when john-travolta’s career was in the trough of the trough, a complete mess, but after the peak, he even No matter the front line, it is not a star that any independent film can invite.

Quentin Tarantino was very keen on old movies and had a soft spot for John, so he invited him to appear in “Pulp Fiction”, but he was shy. At that time, John’s salary of about 3 million was only a second-tier standard in the industry. Nor can Quentin pay. So, Quentin negotiated a basic salary of $170,000, and then invited John to play in the form of box office dividends.

John thought, anyway, the career can’t get any worse, why not do it?

Thus, the film history classic “Pulp Fiction” was born. Receiving more than 10 million yuan is second, and the point is that John’s career has revived for a second spring, and he even got an Oscar nomination for best actor.

The problem is that there is only one “Pulp Fiction”, and the film’s North American box office hit 107 million. So what about “crazy in love”? Not to mention 100 million, it is not easy for an independent film to break through 30 million at the North American box office. “Buried Alive” is true, and so is “Love Crazy”.

All in all, this is the most ridiculous situation, and Andy just feels a tightness in his chest.

An actor’s remuneration is not just that simple. First of all, the remuneration is the guarantee of the actor’s recurring investment. The investment of the entire image project can not be completed by hundreds of thousands of dollars. What’s more, Renly’s “Buried Alive” This year’s awards season is still There is some hope that the expenditure on PR activities is not a small expense, and if these investments are not made, then there is no possibility of the future.

Secondly, the remuneration is a direct reflection of the actor’s status in the industry. Those top actors occasionally reduce their remuneration to act in friendship or appear in independent films, which is called “pursuit”, but the new actors have not achieved any results, and the remuneration is getting worse and worse. It’s called self-destruction.

The last is Andy’s own dividend, which is also the most trivial part, because for a top broker like Andy, 10% of the rookie is not profitable at all. Not only that, he has to pay back.

Looking at Renly, who was so calm, Andy really wanted to cry without tears. He found that in just one month of accepting Renly’s managerial job, he had more ups and downs than the past year combined, and he took a deep breath and a deep breath, “Can you tell me why you are in this movie? Works? Give me a reason.”

“Reason?” Renly didn’t seem to understand what Andy meant. He was an actor and Andy was an agent, and they had different perspectives on things.

Andy supported the armrest of the chair with his hands folded, his body slightly forward, “For example, do you think the challenge of this work is even more difficult than ‘Buried Alive’, and it may hit the Golden Globe Awards next year, or even the Oscars?”

Renly He laughed lightly, “Ha.” Sure enough, the focus of the agent and the actor were completely different.

Not all movies need to be linked to awards and box office, such as the biggest injustice in the 21st century, “Mulholland Drive”. This work can be said to be controversial at the time. People who like it are regarded as saints, and people who hate it are abandoned. Later, this work only received a nomination for Best Director at the Oscars. All in vain, it is only to comfort David Lynch (david-lynh), which has aroused strong dissatisfaction among countless fans.

Now this work has become the heart of countless film critics and veteran fans. Among those 21st century movie lists, “Mulholland Drive” can almost occupy a place in the top five, which shows its status in film history. Nevertheless, the heroine Naomi Watts (nai-atts) turned out to be a turning point in her career with this work.

And so on, as well as “Fight Club,” “Death Illusion,” “Requiem for a Dream,” and the list goes on. These works may not have achieved good results at the box office, nor won any recognition in major awards seasons, but it does not affect their important position in film history, and they have all become actors or directors. , laying an important foundation for future careers.

Actors care about the work itself, while agents care about the effects of the work. This is the essential difference.

However, Renly understood Andy’s concerns, so he nodded and gave a positive answer, “This is the direction of our efforts.”

Andy let out a sigh of relief, “I need to take a look at the script after I get it.” This time, Andy didn’t use a questioning tone, but expressed his opinion directly. Renly didn’t mind either, and nodded directly, indicating that there was no problem.

The cooperation between an agent and an actor is an equal relationship. Even a newcomer who is just beginning to sign the performance contract is the actor himself. If the actor does not agree, the agent cannot force the newcomer to sign. Of course, newcomers don’t have enough vision, ability, and experience. Generally speaking, they do what the agent says. Even some top artists who have been famous for a long time will follow the professional advice of the agent.

There are people like Renly and Andy. It’s just that both parties need to keep exploring to achieve a win-win cooperation. Otherwise, in the end, the actor’s own agent is missing one actor, and they can find countless actors; the actor can also change the agent at any time, but miss the golden period of career development. , there is not necessarily a second chance. Not everyone can get a second chance like Robert Downey Jr. and John Travolta.

“So, what the hell are you doing here to find me?” Renly looked at the alarm clock on the wall and asked.

Andy just realized that, because the impact of “Crazy in Love” was so sudden and fierce that he actually forgot his destination. At this time, Renly reminded him, and his brain changed. Turn the corner, “I’m here to find you, also about your next project, I found two suitable projects, if you are interested, I can arrange for you to participate in a one-on-one private interview to see how the feedback is , and then have further discussions.”

Obviously, Andy has not been idle for the past two days in Telluride. (To be continued.)

[End of this Chapter]