Chapter Ten First Take

  George is indeed worthy of being the general manager of Datang, and his efficiency in handling matters is still very high. In just three short days, he has already found all the actors, and as for the hardware facilities used for filming, Datang has them all, so George doesn't need to worry about it. The last thing is location selection, which is also relatively easy to solve, since the script "Low Taste" does not require a particularly high-end movie, so this problem is also easily solved.

  When all the relevant issues were resolved, Song Tang's side had basically all the funds in place. In 1992, the total budget for Da Tang was approximately $100 million, which is roughly one-sixth of the total available liquid assets of the Song family enterprise. Although Song Tang's father, Song Yaohui, agreed to let Song Tang take charge of Da Tang Film Company, he did not intend to inject a large amount of funds into it. As a business genius, Song Yaohui understood that simply injecting a lot of money into a film company would not solve major problems.

  This is also the reason why, although Song established his own independent film company, Datang Film and Television Company, abbreviated as Datang Film Industry, has been following a conservative development strategy since its establishment. As a result, the development of Datang in the past two years has not been very ideal.

  Since Song Tang took over Datang Film, he would not allow Datang Film to fail. However, running a company is not as simple as saying "I want to succeed" and succeeding. In today's society, money may not be omnipotent, but without it, nothing can be done. Faced with the script about to start filming, Song Tang had no choice but to seek help from his father.

  But now, Song Tang has just taken over Datang Film and Television, and greatly increased the budget for Datang Film and Television. This is unreasonable in the eyes of the more conservative Song Yao Hui. Although Song Yao Hui loves his son very much, compared to the large amount of funds invested, the normally strict Song Yao Hui would not easily agree.

  However, it is clear that this problem did not stump Song Tang. Before finding Song Yao Hui, Song Tang had already made mental preparations, so when Song Tang faced Song Yao Hui, he was obviously well-prepared. In just half an hour's time, Song Tang convinced his father to increase the financial budget for the Great Tang. Following the principle of seeking truth from facts, although Song Tang won a large sum of money from Song Yao Hui, in Song Tang's annual plan, this money would not be wasted.

  In the morning, after having breakfast, Song Tang drove slowly to Datang Film Industry. In the car, Song Tang couldn't help but think of last night's negotiation with his father for funding. Although Song Tang had already persuaded his father to increase investment in Datang Film Industry, the reason why Song Yao Hui was able to invest such a large sum of money at once was more because he loved his son dearly. Even though he didn't say it out loud, that was indeed the case. Thinking about this, Song Tang's mouth involuntarily revealed a faint smile: This is what family love tastes like.

  No time for more sentiment, Song Tang had already arrived at his office. Due to his brilliant speech three days ago, the company was no longer as slack as it used to be. Song Tang could see it from every employee's face that they were now confident in their future and also confident in their new boss.

  "Boss, everything is ready, when are you going to hold the opening ceremony?" Song Tang had just arrived at his office, and George Johnson, the general manager of Datang, followed him in.

  "Heh heh, opening ceremony? What's the point of having an opening ceremony when everything is already prepared? Let's just start filming directly." Song Tang slowly walked to his own position and replied calmly.

  "What? Boss, no opening ceremony, this, this..." George was taken aback by Song Tang's response.

  "Think about it, George. With our company's reputation, how many journalists will do publicity for us? Or should we spend money to hire journalists to publicize for us? You know, every penny counts now. I don't have spare cash to invite these entertainment journalists. Besides, I estimate that before long, these journalists will surround us and publicize for us for free." Song Tang explained with a smile.

  Although George had some doubts about Song Tang's words, he still couldn't help but agree with his boss's decision, after all, Song Tang was in control of the company's funds.

  After that, Song Tang spent several days setting up the scene and negotiating with all the star actors who came to discuss their pay. It was almost as expensive as Tarantino's shoot, although this script had been released a few years earlier, but the cost of using John Travolta, Bruce Willis, Uma Thurman, Samuel L. Jackson and other actors was not small, with a budget of $80 million spent, about $50 million used for actor fees, which made Song Tang sigh that money was like flowing water, but it also made Song Tang more determined to make money urgently.

  On January 15, 1992, when everything was ready, Song Tang simply held a commissioning ceremony. Of course, the participants in this commissioning ceremony were only all staff members and performers of the play "Vulgarity". As for guests and reporters, sorry, there was not a single one.

  The script is relatively simple, the film begins in a small restaurant where two thieves "Little Pumpkin" and "Little Rabbit" suddenly come up with the idea of robbing the restaurant. After exchanging a few words, they quickly pull out their guns and start the robbery. The film then shifts to Vincent and Jules, two hitmen who kill someone, retrieve a briefcase, accidentally shoot and kill a colleague in the car, clean up the messy scene, go to the restaurant for dinner and coincidentally encounter the robbery by the two thieves from the beginning of the film. Vincent is ordered to accompany his boss's wife on an outing, and later Vincent is killed by a boxer while carrying out his task. This series of events is not presented in chronological order in the film, but the confrontation between the two hitmen and the thieves in the restaurant serves as the bookend for the beginning and end of the film, forming a complete circular structure.

  The two people who play the roles of "Little Pumpkin" and "Little Rabbit" are Amanda Pramo and Tim Ross, and the script begins with a dialogue between the two. Song Tang's big director dream also takes off from here.

  After turning on the machine, Song Tang only knew how ridiculous he was before. If the movie script was so good to shoot, there wouldn't be so few successful directors. But due to Song Tang's serious and rigorous work attitude, even if this is his first script, Song Tang does not allow himself to have any shortcomings in shooting. However, this made Amanda Pramo and Tim Roth suffer in the first scene. Fortunately, the two didn't have many lines in the following scenes, and after several consecutive failures, Song Tang slowly found his rhythm.

  "Cut! Great job, Amanda Pramo and Tim Ross. You two performed perfectly, that's exactly what I wanted!"

  "Oh, God, finally finished, just in time for lunch." After hearing Song Tang say that they passed, Amanda Pramo and Tim Ross both let out a sigh of relief, it was really exhausting. Although the scene wasn't long, but after repeating it over a dozen times, it was still very tiring.

  Upon hearing the complaints of the two, Song Tang glanced at his watch and saw that it was already past 2 pm. He smiled apologetically towards everyone: "Hehe, sorry about this. It's our first time filming, and we didn't get a good grasp on the timing. Let me treat you all to lunch as an apology."

  When Song Tang heard this, the atmosphere suddenly turned from gloomy to sunny. It wasn't until then that Song Tang finally understood, realizing that these people had been plotting against him all along! In the end, Song Tang helplessly rubbed his nose and smiled...