With the return of Xiangjiang in 1997, the number of film projects jointly filmed by Xiangjiang and the mainland film industry has gradually increased.

In the past, this kind of project was led by the production team of Xiangjiang, and the mainland staff only did some auxiliary work.

For example, help find locations, assist in making props and building locations, organize extras, etc.

The main departments of the crew are all responsible for the personnel from Xiangjiang.

They feel that mainland film practitioners have backward concepts, are unprofessional, inefficient and difficult to cooperate.

Nowadays, the film market in Xiangjiang is in a downturn, and it is difficult to support so many film practitioners by relying on the market in Xiangjiang alone.

You can see from the box office data of the movie.

Before 1997, there were many movies in Hong Kong that had a box office of over 50 million Hong Kong dollars. By 1998, the highest box office of Hong Kong movies in Hong Kong was only 41 million Hong Kong dollars, with a significant downward trend.

Once a movie is sold at the box office, it will be named a rescue work by the Xiangjiang media.

This market has reached a point where it needs to be saved, which shows how depressing it is.

They want to go to Hollywood, but the threshold for Hollywood is too high, and they can't go as soon as they want.

The main people who can go to Hollywood are those who are proficient in making action movies. Hong Kong's martial arts industry has a certain market in Hollywood.

Therefore, many people turned their attention to the mainland, and co-production became a new way out.

The film market in the mainland has just emerged, and even Hollywood has gradually paid attention to it, which has naturally attracted the attention of Hong Kong filmmakers. They think this is a great opportunity to make money.

Xiangjiang filmmakers work in the mainland, and their salary is calculated according to Xiangjiang's standards, which is several times higher than that of mainland staff.

Jiang Zhiqiang and Lin Zixuan made it clear that he had already suppressed his salary very low.

Moreover, the funds for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" are tight, and the staff's salary will not be paid until the film is finished and the money is obtained.

Lin Zixuan understood that this was a normal phenomenon. He could only increase the salary of mainland staff as much as possible. Don’t have too much gap with the production team in Xiangjiang, otherwise he would not be able to bear it himself.

The salary gap between the two places cannot be matched in a short period of time.

In comparison, the salaries of the people Li An brought from Hollywood are even more outrageous. According to Hollywood standards, they are several times higher than those of Hong Kong filmmakers.

In addition to salary, there is also the problem of actors.

Jiang Zhiqiang explained his difficulties. Many famous actors in Xiangjiang are willing to reduce their pay to play Li An's new film.

It is one thing that people don’t like Li An’s martial arts films, but it is another thing that they do not act.

Most of the actors come from Li An’s name as a Hollywood director. They don’t value whether the film will be successful, but the benefits brought by cooperation with Li An.

Li An’s films must take the international route and participate in major international film festivals. This is a good opportunity to show off.

When entering Hollywood and negotiating conditions with Hollywood Film Company, working with Li An was a good bargaining chip.

However, even if those big stars reduce their pay, they will not be less than $500,000.

The big stars in Hong Kong are basically paid millions of dollars, so they can't say that I can just get 100,000 dollars.

"We have talked about this. The main roles are mainly mainland actors, and more funds are invested in the production of the film. Mainland actors not only have low pay, but also have a bad influence." Lin Zixuan reiterated.

Director Chen has won many awards in the country and is an absolutely powerful actor.

Yu Feihong is the Venetian actress queen and his wife who plays the leading role in "Life and Death Choice", and is once again well known to domestic audiences.

Although this character involves ** issues, he can correct his mistakes in the end, and he will surrender himself voluntarily, gaining some understanding from the audience.

Xu Jinglei has become a first-line star in the country and has attracted attention in the European film industry for her "Going Home".

Xia Yu is the best actor in Venice and the best actor in the Golden Horse Awards. Although he has not made movies in the past two years, the title of Best Actor is still very valuable.

Zhang Guoli is the best actor at Cairo International Film Festival. He has won numerous awards in the country and is a powerful actor.

It is also difficult to get a movie circle with this all-star lineup in Xiangjiang. The weight of the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Venetian Golden Lion Awards is different.

Besides, the pay of mainland actors is generally not high.

Lin Zixuan offered Chen Daoming a maximum of 180,000 US dollars in salary, equivalent to 1.5 million yuan.

Yu Feihong costs 150,000 US dollars, Xu Jinglei and Xia Yu cost 80,000 US dollars, and Zhang Guoli has few supporting roles, with only 50,000 US dollars.

This is already a very high salary in the mainland, and they all add up to only about 500,000 US dollars.

"I'm not easy to push some relationships. I've been friends for many years, so I can't do anything about it." Jiang Zhiqiang said in a difficult situation. "I promised them to arrange auditions. Li Yan will decide which actor to use in the end. What do you think?"

"Okay, there is no problem with the audition. I hope to keep the total pay of the actors within one million US dollars." Lin Zixuan agreed.

Jiang Zhiqiang said so, but he was inconvenient to refuse.

Not only Jiang Zhiqiang has this kind of trouble, but Lin Zixuan also has similar problems. Since the news of filming "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" came out, the mainland entertainment industry has also been undercurrent.

Many actors are very interested in starring in the movies of Li An.

Lin Zixuan received a lot of calls and requests from Guan Shu. They knew that Lin Zixuan had his own plans and would definitely use the actors of his company, but this opportunity was rare.

They just want an audition opportunity, and maybe they are attracted to the director. This is something that is indefinite.

Some people will also go to Ge You and Feng Xiaogang to plead with each other, or even directly recommend actors to Li An.

This person is Zhang Yimou. Ordinary people may not be able to talk to Li An, but where is Zhang Yimou's fame? It is quite normal to visit Li An in a hotel.

The actor he recommended is Zhang Ziyi, who is the heroine of his new film.

This incident made Lin Zixuan not very happy.

After all, Good Dream Company is the investor of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". If you recommend actors to follow the right channels, would it be really good to put aside Good Dream Company and talk directly to Li An?

Everyone in the Beijing entertainment industry knows who Lin Zixuan is going to choose. Those who Guan Shu only want a role, not necessarily the protagonist.

Zhang Yimou may feel that it’s nothing to recommend an actor he likes when chatting with Li An, but Lin Zixuan feels that he is ignored.

He learned about this afterwards, and Li An asked about Zhang Ziyi's situation.

This actor has studied dance and is currently studying at the Beijing Theatre Academy. According to Zhang Yimou, he has great potential.

As the heroine of Zhang Yimou's new film, Zhang Ziyi's new Mo girl, has no reputation at present.

The movie has not been finished yet, and only made early promotions. Before that, she filmed a TV series with a pay of 4,000 yuan per episode, and the movie of Zhang Yimou was 150,000 yuan.

This is the price of second-tier mainland actors, and it is also Zhang Ziyi's position in the Beijing entertainment industry. (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!