Ning Hao took out an agreement template from his backpack and handed it to Liu Ye. "Take a look at this contract. We hope to sign a five-year contract with you. Within these five years, all the movies you'll act in must be invested in or participated in by Mu Ye Impression. You'll also be obliged to participate in other commercial performances arranged by us, as well as commercial endorsements arranged by us. Before we participate in the production and shooting of TV series, we will not restrict you from acting in TV series invested in by other companies. However, the premise is that the script and relevant information of the TV series must be reviewed by us. If we make it clear that we don't want you to act in it, you must abide by it."
Liu Ye nodded gently and said, "That is to say, Mu Ye Impression will only sign me in movies and commercial activities. In principle, I still have the right to decide on TV series and stage plays."
"That's right." Ning Hao smiled and said, "And we won't restrict your development in music. If a record company is willing to sign you and release an album for you, we won't interfere."
Liu Ye originally thought that Mu Ye Impression would sign a full contract with an artist. Whether it was movies, commercials, or even music albums, as long as the artist made money, the company would be fully responsible for it. There were many such companies in the industry, and artists who signed full contracts generally didn't have much freedom to speak of. They would desperately be arranged to perform in all kinds of activities and become the company's cash cow.
However, looking at the contract with Makino Technology, it was much more lenient than he had expected. This made Liu Ye feel a lot more relaxed. He had been worried that if Mu Ye Impression took this opportunity to make harsh demands on him because he wanted to act in Flying Tigers, he would have to grit his teeth and accept it. But now, it seemed that he could completely accept the contract with Makino Technology. Xie Xie had a question in her heart.
Xie Xie had a question in her heart that she wanted to ask, but she did not say it out loud. The contract was in Liu Ye's hands, and Liu Ye did not open it to look at it. She was also too embarrassed to take it and read it carefully. However, she was worried that Ning Hao had given her a purely contractual agreement. Although a 50/50 split was considered quite generous for an actor, the company could not afford to pay any costs or ask for a contract for a few years without giving any promises. That would be too unsafe.
Many artists who had just debuted were like this. They would be signed by a big company for a few years in one go, and it was a pure profit sharing agreement. In this way, if the company didn't take care of the artist's growth, they wouldn't be able to guarantee their income. Although many artists could make millions or tens of millions a year, most of them were the kind of artists who had just debuted and could barely fill their stomachs in Beijing.
Moreover, in this kind of situation, the artist's right to speak was extremely low. If the company wasn't satisfied with the artist, they could directly freeze the artist. This meant that the company had all of the artist's contracts in their hands, but they wouldn't let the artist take any jobs. Not to mention acting in a movie or TV series, even if the barber shop in front of your house invited you to cut the ribbon and sing a song, I wouldn't let you go. This would completely cut off your path to stardom and income. If you dared to force it, I would sue you and use all the resources in the industry to blacklist you.
In fact, Liu Ye was more or less worried in his heart. To him, dreams were very important, but income was also very important. He was willing to sign the next five years of his contract with Makino Image, but there had to be a certain amount of income.
Xie Xie vaguely communicated with Liu Ye with his eyes, and Liu Ye's eyes also revealed the same worry. However, Liu Ye's heart was more concerned about this movie and this cooperation. He felt that the other party was so sincere, if he was still worried about the problem of money at this time, it would really be a little unreasonable. So, he steeled his heart and blurted out, "Brother Hao, I'll sign this contract!"
Xie Xie saw that Liu Ye suddenly made a decision, and a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes, but he quickly felt relieved. Before he made the decision, he was also worried about the gains and losses of Liu Ye, but the moment he made the decision, he suddenly felt a sense of relief.
Although Liu Ye very firmly agreed to sign the contract, Ning Hao could still see the worry in both of their hearts. He first shook Liu Ye's hand and said, "Welcome to Makino Image." Then, he pointed to the unopened contract in Liu Ye's hand and smiled. "Actually, before I came here, our Li Zong deliberately told me to set a guaranteed minimum income for you in this contract. The guaranteed minimum income is 3 million in the first year, 5 million in the second year, 7.5 million in the third year, 10 million in the fourth year, and 15 million in the fifth year. In other words, as long as you sign this contract, in the next five years, we will pay you a guaranteed minimum income of 40.5 million. If your income for the next five years is less than this amount, then we will pay you according to this amount. If it is more than this amount, then we will pay you according to your actual income."
"40 million in five years?!" Liu Ye was dumbfounded. In 2003, the average salary of an A-list actor in the country was in the millions. Even the A-list actors in Hong Kong earned around 10 million RMB. But Li Mu was so generous to give him a guaranteed income of 40 million RMB for five years. This was an unimaginable amount of wealth! If he wanted to earn 40 million RMB, then he had to earn at least 80 million RMB! Even if he could make ten movies in five years, the salary for each movie would be as high as 8 million RMB. It was very frightening!
In fact, Li Mu was also very clear about the value of actors in this day and age. He also knew that according to normal historical development, it would take at least another decade for the value of actors in the mainland to skyrocket. This was because the value of an actor and the size of the market complemented each other. In an era where the box office of a movie could easily exceed 100 million RMB, it was logical for an actor to be worth 10 million RMB or even tens of millions RMB. Otherwise, the movie itself could not even earn 18 million RMB, so why would a star be paid tens of millions RMB?
But then again, Li Mu had already started to develop the domestic box office market. The Mu Ying ticketing system was a great tool to increase the box office, and "Flying Tigers" would be the beginning of Hua Xia's box office taking off. If "Flying Tigers" could reach more than 1 billion RMB when it was released next year, then Hua Xia's film industry would start to recover at least five years in advance and enter a period of rapid growth. At that time, Liu Ye's value would probably also skyrocket. When that time came, he could create a few other movies and reality shows to push his value even higher. He would definitely be able to earn back the minimum of 40 million RMB.
At this moment, Liu Ye had already dispelled all his worries and said to Ning Hao excitedly, "Brother Hao, thank you and Li Zong for appreciating me. I'm willing to sign with Mu Ye, but the amount of the guaranteed contract is too high. I really don't have the confidence to help the company earn that much money in the next five years. So for the sake of the company, can you give me a discount? Even a 30% discount is fine!"
Liu Ye spoke with great sincerity. He felt that the other party was willing to give him a minimum of 40 million RMB, which was enough to support his decision to sign the contract. However, he couldn't accept all of the other party's sincerity, because he knew how much he was worth. Although he didn't have to bear any responsibility for 40 million RMB, he really didn't have the confidence to earn that much. He didn't want to need the company's subsidy to make up for his lack of ability when he wasn't capable enough.
At this time, Ning Hao smiled and said, "The amount is not decided by me, it's decided by Li Zong. He's usually a man of his word, and I couldn't persuade him otherwise. So I think you shouldn't think too much about it. Sign the contract first, then calm down and act in every movie you make in the future. In five years, you'll definitely be able to earn that much money."
Liu Ye still wanted to insist, but Ning Hao hurriedly said, "Take a look at the details of the contract. If there are no problems, we can sign the contract directly."
Liu Ye nodded. Thinking of his own agent, he hesitated again and again and very cautiously asked, "Brother Hao, I still have a small request. I don't know if you can agree to it."
Ning Hao smiled and said, "Just say it. If I can do it, I will definitely agree. If I can't, I will just say it."
Liu Ye said, "I want my current agent to also sign with Makino Technology. He is very capable and has a lot of resources. I believe he will definitely create value for the company."
Ning Hao asked, "Then does he also have a contract?"
Liu Ye shook his head and said, "He doesn't have an artist contract. It's just a labor contract. He can resign at any time. Changing companies means changing jobs for him."
Speaking up to this point, Liu Ye added, "Brother Hao, I have a presumptuous request. I hope you can agree to it!"
Ning Hao said, "Go ahead."
Liu Ye said, "Brother Lan can get 20% of the company's profits from me. I have 46 points with the company, so he can get 12% of my remuneration. If he is willing to come to Makino Technology, I will personally pay for his commission! If you don't agree to this, I won't let him come. "
Ning Hao thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "OK, since you recognize him so much, I believe he is indeed very capable. If you insist on paying for his commission yourself, then I have no objections."
Liu Ye said excitedly, "Then I will call him now!"
…
At this moment, Wang Lan was at home eating with his wife and child. At the dining table, he was still talking to his wife about Liu Ye. Wang Lan felt that Liu Ye had a lot of potential, but he couldn't find a suitable commercial movie for him. This caused him to be a little bit away from becoming really famous. It was like a bottleneck that he couldn't break through. This made Wang Lan feel very frustrated. He always felt that because of his lack of ability, he had an undeniable responsibility.
His wife advised him, "Don't ask too much of yourself. It's already very good that Liu Ye can get to where he is today. Look at actors his age now. How many of them can get to where he is today?"
Wang Lan's eyes burned with passion as she said, "Believe me, he can be even better! He just lacks a good opportunity! "
In fact, Liu Ye had also lacked such a good opportunity in his previous life. He was an A-list actor, but there was still some distance between him and those commercial A-list actors. No one would have thought that in the end, it was a variety show and his two children that allowed him to break through this bottleneck.
After saying that, Wang Lan sighed and his eyes dimmed again. He said, "The company is too short-sighted. All they want is for Liu Ye to take more shows and win more awards. They never thought of creating a real commercial movie for him. They always want to do business without any capital. They are too narrow-minded."
At this moment, Liu Ye happened to call. Wang Lan picked up the phone, turned on the speaker, and said with a smile, "I'm talking to your sister-in-law about you."
Wang Lan's wife also smiled and said, "Ye, when are you free? Come over for dinner."
"Sure, sister-in-law." Liu Ye smiled and agreed. Then he said, "Brother Lan, I called to talk to you about something."
Wang Lan said casually, "Go ahead."
Liu Ye stammered, "It's like this. I'm going to sign with Muye Impression because they want me to play an important role in 'Flying Tigers'."
The first half of Liu Ye's words shocked Wang Lan so much that he almost jumped up. His anger at being betrayed by his brother was about to explode, but when he heard the second half of Liu Ye's words, that anger was immediately extinguished.
"'Flying Tigers'? Is that true?! "Wang Lan asked in disbelief.
Liu Ye said, "It's true."
"Congratulations!" Wang Lan said from the bottom of his heart, "This is a great opportunity for you! You must grasp it well. I will think of a way to help you with the company's contract. "
"Thank you, Brother Lan!" Liu Ye didn't expect Wang Lan to be so kind. He was touched and said, "Brother Lan, don't worry. Muye Impression's CEO Ning has already promised to help me solve all the contract problems. If the company sues me, they will help me settle it."
"That's great!" Although Wang Lan felt particularly disappointed and defeated, he still breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Ye, this is a good opportunity. You must grasp it well!"
"Mm …" Liu Ye was silent for a moment, then said, "Brother Lan, I want you to sign with Muye Impression too. CEO Ning has already agreed, so it's up to you …"
"Me?!" Wang Lan was so shocked that he couldn't speak.
"Yes!" Liu Ye said, "I know you're not doing well in the company either. Why don't we come to Mu Ye Impression together? You can still be my manager, and I'll just focus on acting. You can raise my salary by 15%, and CEO Ning said they'll give me a minimum guarantee of 40 million yuan for five years …"
40 million yuan in five years. For Wang Lan, that was six million yuan in five years. This was about three times higher than his current income!
Wang Lan couldn't believe it and blurted out, "Ye, are you kidding me?! Makino Technology will give you a five-year guarantee of 40 million yuan?! "
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