Chapter 243 Back-end Income
Chapter 243 Back-end Income
In today's Chinese entertainment industry, there are actually not many actors who can get box office dividends.
Jackie Chan can be counted as one, and so can Li Lianjie, as well as Chow Yun-fat, Tony Leung, Andy Lau, and Stephen Chow. These people are basically associated with blockbusters, and they are famous enough, so naturally they can get box office dividends from the movies.
However, those actors below these top-tier actors do not have the ability to attract box office revenue, but can only receive film remuneration.
Of course, this is in China.
In Hollywood, ordinary second- and third-tier stars below the top-tier superstars have another more important source of income besides their film pay, and that is "residual income."
The so-called "residual income" is a benefit that Ronald Reagan, then president of the Hollywood Actors Guild, fought for union members decades ago.
Then, as Hollywood grew stronger in the world film market, the Directors Guild, the Writers Guild and the Actors Guild also fought for various distributions of various "back-end incomes" and ultimately won.
"Back-end revenue" includes copyright revenue generated when films and TV series are subsequently screened on TV stations, streaming platforms, etc., as well as peripheral revenue from these works.
Generally speaking, because of the mature channel profit-sharing system and perfect peripheral development capabilities, the subsequent income brought by the copyright of Hollywood movies has reached 5 to 10 times the box office revenue.
Hollywood's box office revenue is only over 100 billion U.S. dollars a year, but the film copyright revenue was close to 2007 billion U.S. dollars in .
This is a huge treasure trove, and the $100 billion in revenue is pure income with little follow-up cost.
According to Hollywood rules, that is, the regulations of industry unions such as actors, directors, and screenwriters, a portion of this huge amount of money will be classified as "back-end income" and fall into the pockets of actors, directors, and screenwriters.
As for how much this money is exactly?
Most actors, directors and screenwriters also specify this in detail in the contract when they sign the contract.
But even if the amount of money is small, its long-tail effect accumulates to a huge fortune.
Regarding this, the most famous person in China should be Zou Zhaolong, who once played the villain Chang Wei in Stephen Chow's movie.
According to him, when he was filming the movie "The Matrix", because he played a role in it, even if he only had three minutes of footage, he could still earn millions of dollars in dividends every year from the film.
Even according to what he said in an interview, even if he passed away, his descendants would still be able to continue to receive dividends from "The Matrix", which is truly "a film passed down through three generations."
Of course, there is a misunderstanding here. The reason why Zou Zhaolong can get so much "back-end income" is not just because of the three-minute clip he starred in.
The most important thing is that he is also a behind-the-scenes staff member of "The Matrix". He was specially invited by Yuan Heping to serve as a martial arts instructor and be responsible for the actors' action training.
He was also very smart to negotiate a deal with the producers of "The Matrix", allowing them to film and analyze his martial arts moves for use in subsequent film productions, thereby gaining higher "back-end income".
However, relatively speaking, the income of Hollywood actors in "retirement dramas" is still far greater than that in China.
For example, the most famous TV series "Friends" was first broadcast in 1994 and stopped in 2004, with a total of 10 seasons.
Even after the TV series was discontinued, Warner still earned hundreds of millions of dollars from the copyright of the show every year.
Aniston and the other five main actors can earn tens of millions of dollars in share every year through 5% of the back-end revenue.
Please note that these 20 million dollars are pure easy money. Even if the crew is disbanded and the leading actors have long gone their separate ways, they can still earn thousands of dollars every year from the copyright of this drama.
Not to mention starring in the film, an American netizen once revealed that he only made a cameo appearance in the film for a few minutes when he was in his teens, but he still receives thousands of dollars in dividends every year.
If the Chinese actors who make TV dramas knew about this special situation, they would probably be so angry that their livers would hurt.
Especially for sitcoms such as "Wulin Wai Zhuan", "Stories of the Kitchen Team" and "Home with Kids" which are called "electronic pickles" by the audience, if they follow the Hollywood model, the "back-end income" of the leading actors is really enough for them to live comfortably in their old age. Even the two brothers of the Wang family at the table were surprised when they heard about this model.
In their opinion, this model is not suitable for promotion in China. After all, the "back-end income" to be shared is their money.
Moreover, this "back-end income" is different from the box office share.
The star’s share of the box office revenue only includes the box office revenue. The subsequent copyright revenue and various peripheral developments mainly belong to the producer.
But this "back-end income" is aimed at exactly this area.
"Brother Wang, I'm afraid this model is inappropriate."
Wang Zhonglei was the first to lose his temper and took the initiative to refute:
"After all, the Chinese film and television industry is different from Hollywood. The box office revenue share between our producers and theater chains is much lower than that of Hollywood.
Add to that the special funds for films and the risks of film investment itself, and film and television companies don't make much money in terms of returns.
Now if we add this "back-end income" to the mix, wouldn't it be even more difficult?
If this continues, which film and television companies will be willing to invest? How can the film and television industry develop?"
Upon hearing this, Wang Hao immediately gave an explanation.
“Since the goal is to promote ‘back-end revenue’, it will naturally benefit film and television companies as well.
By using "back-end income" as an inducement, the initial pay of movie actors can be lowered.
At the same time, the actors' back-end income is related to the quality of the film itself. The better the film, the more back-end income they will receive.
Conversely, the worse the movie, the less backend income the actors will receive.
This also urged the actors to be more attentive and work harder during the performance, and try their best to make the film a masterpiece, which is like killing three birds with one stone.”
What Wang Hao said made sense, and Wang Zhonglei didn't know how to refute it for a moment.
However, compared to his more reckless brother, Wang Zhongjun was more calm and quickly pointed out another problem.
“I’m afraid it’s not that easy to implement this model here.
After all, the profits of mainland blockbuster movies are more dependent on box office. There are very few other levels of distribution, and there are not many peripheral developments of the movies, and there is not even a system.
Even if there is a stipulation in the contract that there is 'back-end income', there is not much in a year. Why should those actors give up the more secure and immediately available high salary and choose the more risky 'back-end income'? "
"Well, that's why I dare to use this mode.
My, Wang Hao's, movies can be sold overseas, and Galaxy Pictures has also reached a cooperation with Hollywood's Sony Pictures on the [Galaxy Cinematic Universe].
Regarding this project, I, Wang Hao, dare to guarantee with my own career as a director that the back-end income of the film will definitely not be less than the actors' pay.
Moreover, in the whole of China, perhaps only I, Wang Hao, dare to make such a promise.
Tell me, if those actors don’t choose to star in my movie at a low price, who else will they choose?”
(End of this chapter)