Chapter 411

Money can solve 90% of worries and problems, so Jiang Heng said he wasn't short of money, after which Outstanding Rising Film Company and Korean SBS quickly signed a contract, introducing their variety show RunningMan

Frankly, seeing the contract signed and the licensing fees coming in, SBS's senior executives were also overjoyed

Because SBS was heavily in debt at this time, in history it was precisely by selling the copyright of RunningMan that they managed to clear their debts

What they contributed, aside from the so-called copyright, was merely sending two directors/producers to China to assist with filming

Outstanding Rising Film Company, Li Xiaoping and the head of the variety department, began to decide on the guest list for Running Brothers

The first choice, naturally, was people from within the company

However, domestic variety shows at the moment were not yet thriving, and most stars and entertainers still looked down on the label of "variety show celebrity"

The contracted artists of Outstanding Rising Film Company all wanted to make a name for themselves in the film and TV industry, yet no one was willing to be a regular member; being a guest for a few episodes, however, was no problem

Li Xiaoping, seeing this, hurried to report to Jiang Heng

Actually, under normal circumstances, as the vice president of Outstanding Rising Film Company, Li Xiaoping could decide many things with a single word

Many big-budget TV dramas, when finally reported to Jiang Heng, only covered such broad matters as investment, ratings, reception, and profit, without much detail

However, this variety show, renamed Running Brothers, was different because Jiang Heng strongly advocated its introduction, and even the sole female fixed member was designated as Yang Tianbao

Given that the company's male artists were unwilling to be fixed members, they certainly had to ask Jiang Heng

"It's also normal; our company's artists are all set on making it big on the silver screen—they feel doing TV is a waste of talent, let alone taking part in a variety show to make the audience laugh!"

There's also an unspoken reason: participating in too many variety shows harms an actor's foundation, colloquially called "overacting"

The most typical example is Sun Honglei, formerly the top of mainland China's "Four Great Villains" list, whose acting ability earned recognition from the industry and audiences, with many representative works and classic roles

As for awards like the Golden Eagle, Flying Apsaras, and White Magnolia, he also easily scooped them up

Because he had once appeared in My Father and Mother, Zhang Yimou once commented on Sun Honglei, saying he "had not a trace of acting, as if the role were himself"

But after he finished four seasons of Extreme Challenge, when viewers watched his film and TV dramas and saw the smile on his face, they felt his acting was exaggerated, all kinds of overacting

Feng Xiaogang also once expressed regret over Sun Honglei, feeling he had lost the sense of quality in his acting

Another who suffered more deeply from variety shows is Huang Lei, who once played Xu Zhimo in The Human April, becoming the male idol of countless literary girls, and later became known as "Teacher Huang"

After participating in a heap of variety shows, when he returned to film and TV dramas, audiences questioned him in all sorts of ways

The advantage of variety shows is high pay, money earned quickly and easily; the disadvantage is that they harm an actor's foundation

But not all actors are solely after quick money; Wang Baoqiang, for instance, was able to withdraw in time and return to his acting career

Therefore, regarding the company's contracted artists unwilling to be fixed guests, Jiang Heng's first reaction was relief

However, the program still needs to be recorded, and guests still need to be found

Jiang Heng, without hesitation, recited a few names and had Li Xiaoping contact them

The latter was somewhat dazed; Deng Chao and Wang Baoqiang aside, they currently have considerable fame

Li Chen debuted over ten years ago; Wang Zulian is from Xianggang, also counting as Director Jiang's fellow townsman

As for Chen He and Zheng Kai, they are entirely minor actors; the former she still has some impression of, having played Zeng Xiaoxian in Love Apartment

As for the latter, Li Xiaoping has no impression at all

Although I don't know how Jiang Heng decided on these people, based on years of work experience Li Xiaoping knows not to doubt and just follow Director Jiang's instructions: "Okay, I'll have someone contact their agencies right away; there shouldn't be a big problem. It's just, their fame!"

"Don't worry, the first episode will definitely make a big splash!"

Li Xiaoping stared blankly at Jiang Heng, thinking of some possibility, her eyes widened, her expression growing increasingly surprised

"Are you saying…?"

"Well, I and Jing Tian will participate in the recording of the first episode!"

"In that case, the first episode's ratings will definitely go through the roof!"

Li Xiaoping walked back and forth a few steps in delight, then immediately said: "However, boss, your and Jing Tian's fees are too high; the production team can't afford them—could you give a discount?"

Jiang Heng chuckled: "You, not thinking of giving the boss extra money is fine, but you actually want to cut my labor fee!"

Li Xiaoping said: "It's just that the budget is tight!"

Such matters are also considered industry norm

It can be said that for the vast majority of film and TV productions, the budget is tight

Because even if you give more money, the production team will find ways to spend it all

When budget control is lax, they often end up spending a lot of money and filming a pile of crap—such things are simply too common

Jiang Heng said: "Go tell Jing Tian; she probably won't have any objections!"

Li Xiaoping said: "I'll go find her right away!"

Having said that, she rushed out, and on the way she kept thinking that Jiang Heng and Jing Tian participating in the first episode's recording would not only guarantee a strong opening for the show, but could also be used to bargain with those few over their fees!

For many actors, Director Jiang Heng is a rare big shot; if he takes notice of them, not to mention starring in his effects-heavy blockbusters,

even just running a bit of extra or appearing in Outstanding Rising Film Company or Bo Nian's films is a rare opportunity; thus, when Li Xiaoping communicated with the agencies of those few fixed guests, she first brought up that Jiang Heng would participate in the first episode's recording

Then, when discussing fees, none of them hesitated; without even bargaining, they indicated they could sign the contract

Thus, the variety show Running Brothers was being prepared very quickly and efficiently!

Meanwhile, Jiang Heng continued revising the script, pondering the romance between Wukong and Zixia

One day, Iron Fist Technology's CEO Lu Feng came over, first reporting the super-high performance of Zhu Zion and League of Legends

Then, he hemmed and hawed, saying he wanted to develop a 3A game

The reason he lacked confidence is that developing a 3A game takes a long time, often three to five years, requiring funds and patience

Secondly, the user base is small; Chinese mainland gamers can be said to have jumped straight from zero into online gaming, bypassing the single-player stage, resulting in many users lacking the habit of spending on single-player games

Furthermore, 3A game development consumes enormous resources, which ordinary game companies cannot afford

Of course, given Iron Fist Technology's profit level, that cost is nothing

Moreover, 3A games are quite demanding on hardware, with very high system requirements

When let, this also counts as a positive aspect, namely driving technological progress; for example, NVIDIA started out by developing graphics cards for single-player games

(End of chapter)