Chapter 17. Recording (1)
"My name is Lin Ru. Please take care of me"
Lin Ru bowed as she said towards all the employees who were in the lounge area.
"President Ren, she is our new singer"
"Oh, she is prettier than I thought"
"She will be good for the mini album"
The people's reactions were also heated, especially the female employees who instantly pulled Lin Ru aside and started having conversations with her.
She was dazed at first but she quickly calmed down and chatted happily with everyone.
"Her communication skills seemes to be good"
Shao Fang approached me as he said.
"Yeah, her voice is clear and she is also cute"
"She will do great in entertainment shows"
"Entertainment shows! Isn't it to early to think about them"
"Do you think so but I think we should be prepared. If she got famous, then there would be tons of offers for appearances"
"It still has some time"
"Yeah, Oh, I forgot but Director Zhang told you to come to the meeting room. He said he had something to discuss with you"
"OK, I will go right now"
I said as I left the room to go to the meeting room. Lin Ru had already signed the contract and she was currently busy knowing the employees.
My job was finished now.
* * *
"Xiao Ren, you are here"
Uncle Zhang greeted me as I entered the door.
Although his voice was cheerful, I noticed that his completion was not good. His face was distorted and it looks like he was in a huge worry.
"Uncle Zhang, what happened? You are ok right?"
I asked as I sat across him.
"I am okay but I don't know whether I will be okay for long or not"
"Uncle Zhang, what happened? There's only the two of us here, don't worry and just tell me everything"
At me words, he sighed softly and started to speak.
"I called you here to tell you about the money issues"
"Money?"
"Yeah, Xiao Ren, our company will not be able to go on like this. The cost of producing this mini album is more than we thought"
"Uncle Zhang, don't worry and tell me about the data. How much money is required"
"Here, I have already made a report regarding it"
Uncle Zhang said as he handed me a report. It was not thick there wasn't anything except our financial budget.
We were short on at least 2 to 3 million Yuan if we want to make this mini album.
Seeing the report, I frowned. It wasn't that I didn't expected that we will need more money but it was really more than I thought it would be.
"Uncle Zhang, can't we decrease it by little"
Uncle Zhang frowned hearing me words and replied.
"I wish I can. We are already short on people. Although there would be no problems in recording the songs. The main problems are album production, post production and promotional activities"
He took a breath and then continued.
"We are going for both a physical and a digital album, just producing a physical record will cost money and we also have to record music videos for both of them, it will cost us enormous money to just hire a director...."
"Wait! We have the equipment to shoot the music videos, right"
"Yeah, we do have them as we have produced some music videos before. Although they are old, they can still be used"
"Let me be the director!"
"What!"
Uncle Zhang exclaimed in shock as he heard my words. It was also justifiable for him to be in shock.
The previous Ren didn't have any knowledge of direction. He didn't even go to a film academy.
He was a dropout of literary college. If he suddenly said that he wanted to shoot a music video, anyone would be shocked and think that Ren has gone crazy.
"Xiao Ren, whhhat are you saying? You...direct the music video. I don't know if you know or not but shooting music videos isn't some kid's play. You should....."
"Uncle Zhang, calm down. I know what are you saying but I am not joking or anything. I am serious about directing the music video"
I interrupted Uncle Zhang as I said that. I knew he would be suspicious of me if I suddenly tell him I want to direct a music video.
"Uncle Zhang, actually when I was abroad, I often went to independent film shoots"
"Independent film shoots? Aren't you studying literature there. Xiao Ren, I can understand that you can write music videos but directing a music video, it can't be done by just anybody"
"Uncle Zhang, I know what you are saying but trust me, I will be able to direct a music video. You know that I will not say this if I am not confident, right"
"It's…..true but I, I am still worried that….."
"You just have to hire a film crew. Do you have anyone you know?"
"Yeah, I know one but Xiao Ren, are you still sure that you will be able to direct"
"Don't worry, Uncle Zhang I am confident"
Uncle Zhang just sighed hearing it but didn't go against my word.
Although I hadn't shoot a music video ever, I was still confident in my abilities. I shouldn't have much problems shooting a music video.
"Uncle Zhang, let's continue our talk about the budget, if we reduce the director fee, then we should save some money"
Hearing my words, Uncle Zhang put on a serious face and said.
"We should save some money by not hiring a director but the film crew will take money and we also have to hire some stylist, hairdressers and designers, it will take a lot of money"
"Yeah, what about the album production, we are planning to produce 10,000 copies, right"
"Yeah, it will be the initial number but the songs are top grade, so it will do very well in the music charts. So, we will produce more albums as Lin Ru popularity rises"
"What about the promotional activities. We are planning to launch her on a music program, right. Has the negotiations went well"
"Yeah, we are planning to but we were not be able to get a spot till now. Fang said that he will try to renegotiate after the recording and the music video are done. It will more fruitful then as I don't think any producer will refuse us after hearing those songs"
"It's true"
Like that, our meeting went on for 2 hours. We discussed the details of recording, music videos, the film crew and post production.
At the end, we were able to shorten some money but we were still short on 1.5 million Yuan.