The Greatest Showman

Chapter 16:

In the entertainment industry, movie actors lead in terms of average income level, followed by movie directors, movie producers, movie writers; next are TV actors, TV directors, TV producers; then music industry related workers, including singers, producers, etc., then TV writers, photographers, lighting technicians, etc.

On the whole, film is the tip of the pyramid, followed by TV, music, models and presenters. This is not only reflected in the income, the status of practitioners in the industry is also ranked in this way. This is the fundamental reason why singers, models and TV actors are eager to enter the film industry - it is the ultimate field of fame and fortune.

In the TV industry, big-name actors can earn as much as $150,000 to $300,000 per episode, experienced mid-career actors between $70,000 and $100,000, and average new actors start at $10,000 and end at $20,000. However, the TV industry is unique in that the actors' salaries rise gradually with the number of seasons, and it's not uncommon for the stars of long-lived popular series to get paid millions per episode.

In the case of Renly, $20,000 per episode can be considered to be the top salary, as far as Roy knows, in the entire "The Pacific" cast, Renly's salary is the third highest, after the other two stars James-Badge-Dale and Jon-Seda - both of whom are well-known in Hollywood.

Just after telling him the results, Roy was quite surprised. At this time to see Renly's calm and relaxed, rather than him being fussed, which made Roy smile.

When you think about it, among the three core protagonists, "The Pacific" crew chose two experienced actors, only Renly is a person who is a newbie. This alone is enough to make people stare. It seems that Renly is definitely not as simple as he seems.

As the official agent of the Actors Union of America, he has seen countless new actors and actresses, sometimes meeting with thirty new people a day and taking care of their work. He does not have enough time to know everyone and can only try his best to do his job. But now, he has a hint of interest in the young man in front of him.

However, interest is just interest. In the huge machine of the film industry, there is no shortage of geniuses and special cases. But there are only a few who can break out into the world of acting. With a blink of an eye, Roy had regained his composure and returned to business once again.

"In addition to the pay, you need to sign a confidentiality agreement, refusing to say to anybody anything related to the episodes of the drama, before the official start of the show." Roy's speech was not fast, but the amount of information was huge, "There are also some basic terms and conditions that you can read in detail after you go back, and after the drama starts, if the TV station has promotional activities, you need to cooperate unconditionally, at least during the episode's broadcast."

As a newcomer, Renly has almost no bargaining power, and all terms and conditions are available for reference. At this point, HBO showed the atmosphere of the number one wireless station, all the information in the contract is clear at a glance.

"Call me if you have any questions before the official signing, my working hours are nine to six, the rest of the time unless you're dying, don't call my number." After Roy thundered through everything, as was customary, his work came to an end for now.

Gathering his things, he still needs to make a trip to Warner Brothers today, where another set of series is about to hold auditions, and he is the official agent dispatched - in any series and movie audition site, there must be a union agent, yesterday "The Pacific" was no different.

However, looking at the Renly who is flipping through the contract in front of him, Roy's action can't help but pause for a moment, between thinking, he decided to attach some golden words, "HBO such a large company has a fixed process, after you sign the contract, the initial payment will be sent to your account, and then after the episode shooting is over comes the second, and after the show airs the final payment will be fully paid. My advice to you is to make good use of your first payment and not to squander it."

Renly's eyes lifted from the contract and looked at Roy with a hint of inquiry, "What do you mean?"

Roy shrugged and rightfully said, "Young actors always do that, the first bucket of money, the euphoria, the squandering of it, the enjoyment of youth." Then he raised his hands in a double-quote gesture, "YOLO," an acronym for "You-Only-Live-Once," which originally encouraged people to not be afraid to take risks, because there is only one life to live but after being over-interpreted, it became ironic, and gradually people began to use such slogans to cover for their irresponsibility and recklessness.

Roy rolled his eyes with an expression that couldn't have been more graphic and vivid, so Renly couldn't help but smile, "Don't laugh. I'm serious." Roy's tone still hasn't changed much, still the same as before, crisp, thunderous, so no one can understand if he is serious or not, "Many newcomers after getting an advance payment, either impulsively buy a luxury car to show off all over the place; or they all give it to the drug dealers and enjoy themselves. The most common phenomenon though is for them to use it for a party and invite a bunch of friends to enjoy it. But I tell you, this is the most stupid behavior".

This was Roy's friendly reminder, "To continue on the path of an actor, or, to get a place in Hollywood, you need to be smart."

This time, Renly felt Roy's friendliness and seriousness. Generally speaking, such advice is only given by professional agents to their artists, official public agents like Roy, they just need to make sure that those new actors don't get exploited in terms of the law, that's enough.

The reason why Renly knows this was because of the existence of Chris.

In the new actor stage, self-investment is very important, even if you do not have to work out the muscles like Chris, but maintaining the body line is also the basic work; clothing lines to create the image is a bottomless pit, you must persist over the years, especially when the street photography becomes the wind of the social network era, this is more and more important; when an actor reaches a certain level, even the car, jogging shoes and other details will become part of the personal image investment, and so on.

Hollywood is a glamorous place of fame and fortune, but behind the income is a stream of expenses, a set of evening dresses that cost tens of thousands of dollars is just the tip of the iceberg.

Chris is now under the supervision of his agent who strictly manages his income. Unexpectedly, Roy actually offered personal advice as well.

Renly gazed at Roy and said sincerely, "Thank you."

Roy could feel the sincerity in Renly's words, and it seemed that he had really listened to his words, which is rare among new actors. If you think about it, the fact that Renly is about to star in Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks' "The Pacific" and has received the highest pay for a new actor, perhaps this young man has a real chance of becoming another top star.

But this gut feeling was just a flash, and then Roy laughed to himself, the new actors that emerge in Hollywood every day are more than a thousand, how come there are so few top stars, he really thought too much today.

Nodding his head, Roy responded, "Other than that, do you have any questions?"

"There is." Renly nodded, "The schedule of the crew's filming work." That's what's most important, isn't it?

"Right." Roy then remembered, "Monday, you come to pick up the script; Friday, all the actors of the cast will have a prior meeting; after that, you will be explained in detail on the specifics. I'll tell you the time and place of Friday's meeting when you come over on Monday."

"Okay." Renly nodded crisply, and then stood up, "Then that is all, I will leave you to work."

Roy also did not bother, quickly packed up his briefcase and left the office with Renly. And Renly went to the lobby, looking for Chris's presence.

He was sitting behind a desk, surrounded by four people, three women and one man, and Chris was talking about something, while the others were smiling, and the atmosphere was lively.

As Renly pondered whether he should interrupt their happy atmosphere, Chris saw Renly first and raised his right hand high, "Hey, man." Renly also waved a gesture and walked over, "How are things going?" Chris couldn't wait to ask.

Renly politely nodded to the four people next to him, "It's finished, everything went well. "I'm going to go to the library to check out some information, how about you?"

Chris originally wanted to ask about the specifics, such as what role Renly actually played, or what the cast was really like, or how much Renly was earning, but Renly didn't give him the chance. "The library?" Chris's interest suddenly dropped and he stretched out with a big lazy bend, "I'm going to the gym later, so forget it. Meet me at home tonight?"

Renly made an "OK" gesture, nodded again to the four people and said a quick, "Good day". And then turned around and took a step, and behind him soon came the laughter of a group of people again, that sound gradually became fainter and fainter along with the footsteps, and finally disappeared completely.

The total fee of $140,000 for his role in "The Pacific" is only a drop in the bucket in Hollywood, but it is Renly's first income as an actor, which means that from today onwards, Renly's career as an actor has finally launched!