novelraw Chapter 18 Unexpected Changes
Chapter 18 Unexpected Changes
"Besides 'Battle Through the Heavens,' does Tencent have any other S+ productions recently?" the agent asked rhetorically.
Li Ming fell into deep thought.
The second male lead in a big-budget production like S+ is usually reserved for second-tier or first-tier artists, aside from those with some connections.
For an artist like Li Ming, who falls between the third and second tiers, this resource is extremely important, as it can help him elevate his status.
Now that an audition invitation is in front of him, Li Ming has to consider whether this might be the only opportunity he will ever have.
Even if it means being subjected to unspoken rules, he will hold on tightly.
...
"What?! You said you want all your scenes filmed in July?"
A few days later, one afternoon, Lin Yi was called out of the karaoke room by his assistant, Fu Mingyang. As soon as he answered the phone, he received bad news.
Li Ming requested that his scenes be filmed together.
"Why?" Lin Yi asked.
"I'm very sorry, Teacher Lin. Filming for 'Battle Through the Heavens' will begin in August, and Li Ming has auditioned for the second male lead." Li Ming's agent said on the other end of the phone.
Lin Yi remained silent for a while before saying, "So, you've already made your decision, and you're informing me now?"
"If Li Ming delivers a brilliant performance in 'Battle Through the Heavens,' it will boost the popularity of 'Detective X,'" Li Ming's agent explained.
I disagree.
Lin Yi's voice was calm, yet it conveyed an undeniable authority.
"The script has been given to you. If you've read it, you should understand that it's impossible to film all of Li Ming's scenes by July."
If it were a traditional TV series, adjusting Li Ming's scenes for concentrated filming wouldn't be a problem if we rushed through it.
But Detective X is an episodic series.
The narrative structure and production logic of episodic dramas dictate that each episode and each filming location will have a significant amount of screen time for the main characters.
In this situation, it would be extremely difficult, if not unrealistic, to focus on filming the main characters' scenes first.
"Well...Ms. Lin, I'm very sorry, but we'll have the opportunity to collaborate again next time."
After hanging up the phone, Li Ming immediately asked his agent, "Didn't Lin Yi agree to film multiple projects at once?"
The agent shook his head: "The other party's attitude is very tough, and they are extremely stubborn."
"That's a pity," Li Ming sighed softly. "You can't have your cake and eat it too."
Even with the role of the second male lead in "Battle Through the Heavens," Li Ming didn't want to give up "Detective X."
But if he had to choose between the two, he would choose "Battle Through the Heavens" without hesitation.
The second male lead in an S+ production receives more exposure and higher per-episode pay than the lead actor in an A-level production.
Moreover, the former is expected to have 45 episodes, with a total package fee of 600 million.
The latter only has 12 episodes, with a total salary of 120 million.
The difference in pay alone is five times.
As for the cost of time, it's worthless to someone like him who's not famous.
There is an information gap between Li Ming and Lin Yi here.
In Li Ming's view, "Battle Through the Heavens," adapted from a classic online novel IP, is at least a hit, and even has the potential to become a phenomenal drama series like "He Yu Nian."
"Detective X" is a low-budget production, a niche drama targeting a specific field, and at best it will be a hit.
As for the possibility of "Detective X" in overseas markets, he doesn't see it.
...
After hanging up the phone, Lin Yi let out a long sigh of relief, releasing the pent-up frustration in his heart.
What happened? Did they get killed after coming ashore?
"What's wrong, honey?" Yu Nuannuan handed over a glass of honey water and asked softly.
Gollum~
"It's nothing, just that an actor stood me up."
Lin Yi explained, then looked at Yu Nuannuan apologetically.
"Nuan Nuan, I might not have time to practice singing with you for the next couple of days."
Lin Yi spent a lot of time in Pengcheng recently because he was busy assembling a film crew.
Once the male lead is confirmed, the remaining trivial matters can be delegated, allowing him to have time to return to Guangzhou.
I never expected that this would happen so soon after I got back.
Yu Nuannuan shook her head and took the empty cup: "No rush for the new song, let's talk about it after you're done with this."
"Mm." Lin Yi nodded, raised his hand to hug Yu Nuannuan, but saw a third wheel standing to the side out of the corner of his eye, so he silently put his hand down.
"Let me make a phone call first."
Unlocking his phone screen, Lin Yi found Zhuoyue in his contacts and dialed the number.
The water flows to the lower places, and the people go to the higher places.
If they haven't signed a contract yet, and Li Ming rejects "Detective X" and chooses "Battle Through the Heavens," Lin Yi won't say anything.
But since a contract has been signed, that's a different matter.
The call was connected.
In a few words, Lin Yi explained that Li Ming wanted to breach his contract to film another movie.
"That bastard, he dared to stand us up, XXXX!" Zhuoyue's cursing voice rang out.
"Teacher Lin, please wait a moment, I'll go ask what happened."
after a while.
Penguin Pengcheng Headquarters.
Director Zhuo sat in Director Li's office for more than ten minutes.
...
"Teacher Lin, we have news. Li Ming was specifically chosen by the screenwriter of 'Battle Through the Heavens,' and that woman is protecting him to the death."
Zhuoyue's voice came through the phone, tinged with a hint of frustration.
"I couldn't deal with him before 'Battle Through the Heavens' finished airing."
Despite the serious internal strife within Tencent, the company still tries to maintain a clear alignment of interests on the surface.
Suppressing Li Ming at this time would affect Tencent Video's heavily promoted "Battle Through the Heavens," thus harming the group's interests.
This is where Excellence's limitations as a Penguin lie.
"Okay, I understand." Lin Yi didn't dwell on this issue too much; the most urgent task was to find the actor who would play X.
"I'm planning to go to those schools in Beijing for open auditions. Does Tencent have any connections for that?" Lin Yi asked.
"Yes," Zhuoyue replied. "When? I'll go with you."
"Let's do it tomorrow, sooner rather than later."
After agreeing on a specific time, Lin Yi asked Fu Mingyang to book the plane tickets.
Afterwards, Lin Yi contacted the legal department of the joint studio and had them negotiate the breach of contract penalty with Li Ming's agent. The penalty was 30 yuan, which was 25% of the total remuneration.
After finishing his work, Lin Yi practiced his singing for a while before returning to the apartment with Yu Nuannuan.
...
That evening, Lin Yi received two messages.
One of the legal representatives stated that Li Ming was only willing to return the deposit and not pay the penalty for breach of contract.
The reason given was that he proactively communicated with the production team a few days after signing the contract, before filming had even started, and therefore did not cause any significant losses to the production team.
"This argument is legally sound. If we continue to pursue this matter, the court will most likely only award us tens of thousands of yuan, or even less," the legal counsel said.
"Okay, send a lawyer's letter first, demanding that he pay compensation within the specified period," Lin Yi replied.
An actor's breach of contract is never just a financial matter.
The demand for liquidated damages and this lawyer's letter are more about expressing Lin Yi's attitude.
Another one from Joyo.com, Sun Haoxuan, a top actor they mentioned before, is interested in taking on the lead role in "Detective X" after learning that the lead role was vacant.
He also stated that the salary was not an issue and that he hoped to meet with Lin Yi to discuss the matter in detail.
After a moment's thought, Lin Yi agreed.