After waiting for about two days, the assistant director hurried over.
Dong Haisheng asked, "What did Liuyun Media say?"
The assistant director looked troubled and stammered, "Liuyun Media said that Jiang Ling is currently idle at home and available at any time, but..."
"But what?"
"Liuyun Media's quote for us is twenty million!"
"What, twenty million?"
Upon hearing the salary quote, the smile on Dong Haisheng's face completely vanished. "It's that high?"
The assistant director said, "I was also shocked when I heard that quote!"
Seeing Dong Haisheng frown with displeasure, he had an idea and said, "Liuyun Media's market director said that for A-list stars appearing in film and television dramas, the minimum is ten million, regardless of the length. Platinum artists double that amount. I tried my best, but I could only negotiate it down to fifteen million, and that's already the lowest price."
The artist salaries in the domestic entertainment market are severely distorted and ridiculously high.
Especially for A-list stars with massive popularity, the compensation for each drama is astronomical.
The current market rate for top-tier stars is a minimum of ten million.
As a top-tier star among top-tier stars, and a powerful actor among powerful actors, this quote cannot be considered exorbitant.
After all, that's just how the market is.
Even if the actor themselves is willing to act for a lower price, their agency would never agree.
This is because a portion of the salary quote belongs to the company, and those people naturally wouldn't want their income to decrease.
Moreover, there's an even more important reason: not disrupting the market.
The distorted sky-high salaries are like the distorted housing prices.
Some developers who are close to bankruptcy want to sell houses at a lower price.
However, before they can even sell, they are targeted by their competitors, and the authorities will immediately intervene and prohibit this "malicious act" of disrupting the market.
So, the reason why many seemingly unreasonable prices cannot come down is not that the individuals are unwilling, but because there are too many vested interests.
The intricate details of this cannot be explained in a few words.
You taste it, and you savor it!
If an actor is not signed with an agency and negotiates a price privately with the production team, any quote is acceptable.
However, once signed with an agency, especially one listed on the A-share market, such operations are not allowed.
This is because the artist's salary is part of the company's financial reports and cannot be falsified; it must be clearly disclosed to investors who buy stocks.
If the financial report is published, and artists from other companies see Jiang Ling's quote as so low, they will definitely unite and gang up on her, hating her for disrupting the market.
Liuyun Media not only wants to make money but also needs to protect Jiang Ling, a platinum artist they invested heavily to sign. Naturally, they cannot let her become a target.
Fifteen million is indeed a fair price.
It cannot be lowered further, as that would break the issuance price of her platinum status.
Dong Haisheng's face turned pale and flushed as he listened to this. After a long period of scowling, he finally gritted his teeth fiercely. "Fine, fifteen million it is!"
The assistant director shivered. "Director Dong, fifteen million for a few seconds of screen time is too expensive. How about... how about we look for someone else? I know a female actress who looks quite good..."
Dong Haisheng waved his hand, interrupting him. "No need. She is indispensable for the role of Hailong. I accept this fifteen million!"
Hailong's scenes, though seemingly only a few seconds long, are crucial.