Yang Rongfa had been out looking for investors everywhere since their last talk, but unfortunately, many were ready to gild the lily, few to send coal in snowy weather.
Everyone either thought their project was too risky to invest in, or they were willing to invest but offered conditions even worse than Wu Mu’s.
After making the rounds, he realized they had no other choice. If they wanted to keep the project going, they had to turn to Wu Mu.
Seeking Wu Mu meant replacing Zhou Yu, which would entail a large risk without anyone to back them up, but at least it would get the project off the ground and give them some hope.
It just meant that after some delay, he inevitably had to pay a little extra for their dawdling.
"You’re asking to add two million to your acting fee, and increase each song composition and performance fee by two hundred thousand?" Yang Rongfa looked at Wu Mu, at a loss for words.
How could he raise his price again? He’d increased his rates twice already since they started contacting him, and they hadn’t even finished preparing for production.
How much time had that taken, and was this really reasonable?
Wu Mu felt it was quite reasonable. He wasn’t taking advantage of a bad situation; these were normal demands. "My popularity has increased since the ’Idol Daily’ show; I’ve gained over eight hundred thousand followers on Weibo. An extra two million in acting fees is a fair price, isn’t it?"
His rise in popularity and increased commercial value were tangible. He felt quite generous asking for such a modest increase.
Though the amount might be small compared to the Performance Card, it was money he was entitled to, and there was no reason not to take it since they hadn’t signed a contract yet.
Yang Rongfa was left speechless. Considering Wu Mu’s online popularity and recent surge in popularity, two million did seem quite fair after all.
It was just that the frequency of Wu Mu’s fame spikes and rate hikes seemed a bit too much, didn’t it?
In just half a year, the man was practically raising his price after each show he did, a momentum that was frankly terrifying.
If only Wu Mu could maintain this momentum for their drama series project.
With a sigh, Yang Rongfa thought to himself.
But that was just wishful thinking. Reason told him that such a thing was unlikely.
After all, a drama series project is quite different from singing or variety shows. The most critical factors for a drama are the story, script, and the director’s filming skills. No matter how outstanding an individual’s performance is, it’s no use if the story or script is lacking.
Not to mention, he didn’t dare to expect Wu Mu to impress anyone with his acting skills.
He felt it was more realistic to consider what to do if Wu Mu’s acting ended up being so poor that it was ridiculed and mocked, resulting in trending on hot searches, or perhaps think in advance how to handle the negative attention for some fame.
Yang Rongfa’s thoughts spun in circles. Naturally, he couldn’t refuse Wu Mu’s demand for a price increase. It didn’t matter how much more was asked; as long as it was within his capacity to bear, he had no choice but to grimace and agree.
After all, they had no other investors to turn to.
After agreeing to Wu Mu’s new terms, the two sides began discussing the specifics of the investment plan.
Soon, they established a rough framework. Wu Mu would invest fifty million, which, together with his acting and performance fees, amounted to over seventy million, equating to a forty-five percent share of the investment in Yang Rongfa’s new project.
Wu Mu became the largest investor in their project, with an even larger share than Li Hu previously had due to his acting fees being factored in.
Having agreed on the outlines, it was time to discuss the finer details.
But there was a problem on Wu Mu’s side. He didn’t have a company backing him. Before, when taking jobs on his own, the lack of a company had not been a big issue. At most, he just needed to get a professional to check the contract for any pitfalls.
However, now, if he wished to get involved in film production, not having a company wouldn’t be ideal.
Not to mention anything else, he was at least the main investor, so he had to find a producer to join the team to keep an eye on his investment. Otherwise, if Yang Rongfa swindled him, and cooked the books to embezzle his money, what then?
There were also the everyday interactions, future promotions, deciding which platforms to sell the series to and for how much, all of which required his team to keep an eye on, or else it would be like playing a joke with his own money.
Clearly, Wu Mu alone couldn’t handle all these responsibilities. Even with eight hands, he wouldn’t be able to manage, and since he wasn’t a professional in some areas, he was prone to making mistakes.
"Looks like I need to prioritize setting up my own studio."
Wu Mu thought to himself.
Originally, he had figured his current workload was manageable on his own, and there was no need to set up any company or studio just yet.
But after investing in Yang Rongfa’s project, he needed someone to help keep an eye on things and handle the details.
He didn’t need many people; just enough to set up a basic framework, as his main income was still from the Performance Card. He just needed the studio staff to help with coordination and to avoid being cheated.
First and foremost, he had to find a studio manager or a head agent.
Wu Mu thought about suitable candidates in his mind.
After some consideration, he realized he couldn’t think of a single suitable person.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t think of anyone eligible. After all, his predecessor had been in the industry for many years and knew a number of people.
But the main issue was that those people his predecessor knew were all somewhat connected to Liu Lan.
Take his former agent Duan Ming, for instance, who would actually be a pretty good fit. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ novel★fire.net
Though Duan Ming had not been particularly likable from his perspective, from Liu Lan’s perspective as a boss, Duan Ming was the perfect subordinate: With professional capabilities, ethical, and decent character, he was truly a fine candidate for the role.