Chapter 866

"Yo-ho, is that the TV drama starring the two newly crowned Golden Horse Best Actresses from last year? Tsk tsk tsk, as expected, it's really hard to find actors who only do films these days. The competition for resources is too fierce, and sky-high paychecks are blinding..."

Han Jia pointed for everyone to look at the promotional booths for *General and I* and *Ten Miles of Spring Wind, Can't Compare to You* in the distance, and for a moment, she had some thoughts of her own.

"Good heavens, Teacher Zhao Yazhi is playing the Mother of Li Mountain?" Watching Shu Chang pointed at the neighboring *The Destiny of White Snake* and exclaimed; it simply gave one the illusion that the original version had come to play a supporting role for the pirated one.

"The current status of the film and television industry is just like this: if you act in a movie, your pay is at most a few tens of millions, and that's only for the top-tier big names in the industry;

but for a TV drama, especially an IP drama, an average second-tier actor can get a paycheck of over ten million, and the pay for popular first-tier stars is even generally close to or over a hundred million..."

Ignoring Watching Shu Chang's fuss, Liu Yifei explained it carefully to Han Jia alone. The latter still knew too little about the production side, and the film and television market was currently in an extremely morbid state.

According to what Lin Nan had told her: the guillotine from above should be about to fall, and at the very least, they were currently sharpening their blades...

"Changchang, how much were you paid for your last TV drama? That one, *Eternal Love*, did you reach a 'small goal'?" Hearing this, Han Jia immediately looked at Watching Shu Chang, her face full of anticipation.

Zhu Yawen, who was looking at the creative promotional poster for *Story of Yanxi Palace* on the side, also pricked up his ears; he was equally curious about Watching Shu Chang's pay. After all, the pay for one first-tier star is different from another, and it's all kept confidential from the outside.

"You really are gossipy; how can you talk nonsense about this kind of thing to outsiders? Besides, even if it is high, the taxes are also very high..."

"Stop it, look at who that is?" Liu Yifei stopped Han Jia's questioning of Watching Shu Chang and looked not far ahead.

"Oh my, isn't that Consort Hua?"

"What Consort Hua, that's old news. She's Fan Shengmei now, and that character is really popular right now." Watching Shu Chang corrected Han Jia with a straight face.

"Heh, from the perspective of you two, she's still Mu Wanqing!" Little Han rolled her eyes and pouted.

None of Liu Yifei's group moved their feet, because Jiang Xin had already walked over with a smile: "Producer Liu, long time no see... Director Han, hello..."

Lin Nan's mood at this moment was not good at all, because after seeing off Hou Hongliang, he had received another notification to attend a major meeting!

"I came to Magic City early, incidentally and on the way, with the mindset of relaxing and playing; why won't anyone let me be?" On the phone, Lin Nan complained to Ren Zhonglun.

"There is no other choice, you must attend; I am only responsible for conveying it to you."

"Then you at least have to tell me what the specific content of the meeting is. I can't just agree to it in a muddle like this; I have my own arrangements too."

Hearing this, Ren Zhonglun hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth: "Alright, then I'll reveal a little bit to you.

The Bureau wants to take advantage of the opportunity of the Magnolia Awards and the Magic City International Film Festival to gather the vast majority of domestic film and television companies, film and television internet platforms, TV stations, and actor stars together—to pave the way for solving the problem of sky-high performance pay in the film and television entertainment industry... This is the content and purpose of the meeting."

"Is this 'courtesy before force'?" Lin Nan blurted out, his mind pondering while in shock.

If it really was about "salary caps," then it was indeed easy to understand. This kind of thing requires gathering everyone together, especially film and television production companies and platforms.

As long as both ends are handled, as for the actors and stars in the middle links? The one thing the country doesn't lack is artists!

"Know it now? Still have objections?"

"None, I will attend on time on the morning of the 25th and won't arrange anything else. But Chairman Ren, the idea from above is indeed very good, but this kind of thing can't be thoroughly solved; we all know that there are policies from above and countermeasures from below, it's a common occurrence and cannot be banned..."

"Take it slow, how could it be cured all at once? Furthermore, this meeting is only the first half of 'courtesy before force.' It's best if the industry takes the initiative itself, because later there should be administrative documents issued to make detailed regulations and requirements for pay... Then coordinate with tax authorities, especially the tax..."

It was near lunchtime when Lin Nan hung up Ren Zhonglun's phone, and he also declined the latter's invitation to go eat;

He had to go meet up with Lady Liu and the others; after all, his original intention for coming to Magic City early was to accompany his wife to play, followed by the Disney matter, and only then other trivial things!

Outside, the last large group of actors and artists in the film and television industry also began to arrive in Magic City in batches starting from the morning.

Because the closing ceremony of the Magnolia TV Festival is tomorrow, and the media's spotlights and lenses will also surge starting tomorrow morning, until the film festival closing ceremony 12 days later.

For massive exposure, the vast majority of artists in the circle cannot be indifferent; after all, that's what stars are fighting for! So, today is naturally their last arrival time.

"I hadn't paid much attention to the business exhibition area of the Magnolia TV Festival before, but after walking around today, I realized that the output of TV dramas in the past two years is simply terrifyingly high, with a growth rate far exceeding that of the film industry."

"Senior Brother Lin, you don't know, the people from Potato are the gods of wealth over there. Every TV drama producer who sees the people from Potato's procurement department has wrinkles all over their faces—um, from smiling!"

"There are only so many film and television internet platforms, and Potato is the one with the largest market share, so naturally, they are the gods of wealth in the TV drama market." Lin Nan took the Häagen-Dazs handed to him by Liu Yifei and smiled calmly.

"Up to now, it seems you are the only one not involved in film distribution and cinema operations?" Zhu Yawen carried a can of iced beer, took a sip, and looked at Lin Nan.

"Hmm, let's forget about distribution... hmm?" Lin Nan's words stopped abruptly halfway through, and he frowned slightly as he scrutinized Zhu Yawen.

"What are you doing? You know, I don't do that!" Zhu Yawen joked unreservedly, even pretending to be effeminate as he raised an orchid finger and pointed at Lin Nan.

Liu Yifei, Watching Shu Chang, and Han Jia couldn't help but laugh, almost spitting out their drinks.

"Zhu Yawen, don't be like that Eunuch Zhu, it's disgusting."

"Even though you've played effeminate roles several times, you have to learn to get out of character! Hehe..."

"Does your Shen Jiani know that the person in your bed has turned into a sister?"

"You three, don't go too far! I'm just joking. And you, if you have something to say, say it quickly. Looking at me with that expression, I feel uncomfortable all over." Zhu Yawen urged Lin Nan impatiently.

"I was thinking, what would you look like if you went to film a Song Dynasty drama based on your physical appearance?" Lin Nan took a bite of ice cream and said unhurriedly.

In an instant, the restaurant private room became deathly silent; one could hear a pin drop.

Because everyone present knew Lin Nan very well, especially his wife Liu Yifei, she was very certain that if there weren't some relevant resources, Lin Nan couldn't have said these words!

"Godfather, don't worry about this; let alone a Song Dynasty background drama, even if it's Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing all over again, I have no problem!" Zhu Yawen suddenly patted his chest, swearing with a straight face.

"Have some shame, I'm not your aunt."

"Little Zhu, you really are a bit shameless!" Liu Yifei took over Watching Shu Chang's words, also with an expression of disgust.

"Hey, I'm different from them; you can call me Master Aunt, because I call your godfather Senior Brother, hehe..."

Han Jia raised her eyebrows at Zhu Yawen; her carefree style vaguely had a posture of one mountain being higher than another!

"Hurry up, we've had a relationship for so many years, don't beat around the bush." Facing the contempt of Liu Yifei and the others, Zhu Yawen chose to be thick-skinned as usual, while smiling and looking at Lin Nan.

"You really are shameless." Lin Nan was so angry he laughed.

"You flatter me, haha..."

"Daylight Entertainment has a costume drama negotiating cooperation with the company. If nothing goes wrong, it will be officially approved in the next two days... Except for the female lead who has already been decided internally, all other roles will be cast publicly..."

Adhering to the principle of keeping the benefits within the family, Lin Nan directly talked about the costume IP drama *The Story of Minglan*.

The wind direction, indeed, had changed a little!

On the morning of the 16th, when a large number of official media were interviewing crews and actors at the Magnolia Festival, they all asked more or less about whether the impact of "sky-high pay" on the industry was good or bad.

Among the many producers, over 80% of film and television companies responded with complaints; the responses of the remaining companies, although not so extreme, almost all revealed that they were under great pressure.

As for the actors' reactions, it was exactly the opposite; over 90% of the actor stars were supporting the existing market, calling it: this is the market's choice, and high pay also represents the market's recognition, representing the value that artists can create for the market!

As for the remaining less than 10% of actors? They clearly criticized sky-high pay for disrupting normal industry order, criticizing that most of the artists taking sky-high pay were unworthy of their positions...

However, these less than 10% of actors also had a common point of criticism, which was that they were all "old drama bones," almost all of whom were actors who hadn't enjoyed the treatment of "sky-high pay"!

Therefore, how much of their words were sincerely considering the industry, that was unknown.

And the interest dispute and major discussion about "sky-high pay" thus officially became the sharp issue placed at the industry's focus and the whole network's hot search before the opening of the Magic City International Film Festival; in addition, the authorities were also fueling the flames...

"If you want to watch the awards ceremony tonight, I'll take you directly into the inner venue. There are seats reserved for us there, no need to walk the red carpet."

Seeing Liu Yifei and the others betting on who would win tonight's awards, Lin Nan simply gave them a better suggestion, which was to go directly to the scene to watch the awards ceremony.

"Hmm? Going directly into the inner venue is also good; it can avoid being blocked by reporters asking this and that. Oh right, hasn't Zhang Yi arrived yet?"

"He should arrive before three in the afternoon; after he attends the awards ceremony tonight, he has to return to the crew immediately."

Lin Nan explained. *Operation Red Sea* was tight; for Guo Fan to be able to adjust half a day for Zhang Yi was already not easy.

Not long after, Liu Yifei led Watching Shu Chang and Han Jia to go out; the three of them were going to Tang Yan's house, that large flat that had just been renovated in March, which would also be their wedding house next year.

And Lin Nan went straight to meet up with Wang Changtian; the two were going to visit the crew of *How Long Will I Love U*. That's right, the only filming location for this play was Magic City, no need to transfer to other cities. Afterwards, the two had other things to do...

"Huang Bo's *The Ice Beneath* will be screened on the 23rd, and it's also a film shortlisted for the main competition unit this time. But I just heard a piece of gossip this morning, saying that this film doesn't seem to have a plan for theatrical release?"

Just after sitting in Wang Changtian's car, Lin Nan heard the other party talk about a fresh piece of news; and it could be judged that this was also a rare thing!

What kind of movie doesn't plan to enter theaters? This reminded him of the Golden Rooster Awards, where many award-winning films were completely unknown to the audience, and they hadn't even heard of them.

However, Huang Bo's film was still a bit different, because due to the rigid requirements of international A-list film festivals, shortlisted films must be screened to the public during the film festival...

So at that time, this *The Ice Beneath* could barely be considered to have been "publicly screened," not hidden from the audience like military secrets.

"Then that's a film purely for the sake of winning awards, no, even more special than award-chasing films! Is it a film exclusively for the Magic City International Film Festival?" Lin Nan could only think of this possibility.

"I'm not clear about that, but there's another film screened on the 23rd, *Pure Hearts: Into Chinese Showbiz*. The invitation sent to me even has the joint signature of your Beijing Film Academy's Performance Institute!"

"Then my advice is you'd better not go, to avoid being disgusted by a rotten film."

"Ah? No problem, I'll listen to you, this big director from Beijing Film Academy, haha..." Wang Changtian almost laughed out of breath upon hearing this; Lin Nan was undermining the Beijing Film Academy.

"A call?" Suddenly, Lin Nan's phone vibrated.

He glanced at the caller ID; it was Cao Baoping. He immediately answered the phone: "Teacher Cao, are you also in Magic City?"

"I didn't go there, I'm still at school; I have a film matter to find you about.

I previously planned to make *The Dead End* into a series, the 'Dead End' series; now I've finished the script for the second part, and even the intentions of individual actors have been preliminarily discussed.

Knowing you're quite busy, I called just to ask when you have time to return to school, let's chat about this matter..."

Lin Nan glanced at Wang Changtian, who looked even more concerned than him!

"How about early July? Because after the film festival ends, Yifei and I have to go directly to Hong Kong, Potato is going to list..."

"Of course, I'll wait for you at school."