Rob and I have been going over this for a while now, discussing and re-discussing all the reasons why we need to leave and talking about what it would take to stay. But we went into the meeting knowing it was going to be a heavy blow to Fang Fang, but we knew it was the right thing to do. However, our plan of going in strong and firm and avoiding specific money talks ended up falling apart in the first fifteen minutes. But we both come out of the meeting positive and sticking to our guns with the decision to leave May 12th.
But then Rob got a call from Fang Fang last night and they had a 3 hour talk about the whole situation where Fang Fang made a few offers to Rob, who said, “I doubt Phill will agree to it and I need to think about it, too, so I’ll get back to you by noon tomorrow after I talk to Phill.”
So at lunch Rob and I talked about it and we both left with a clear decision to just say that we were both sorry but we have to decline the offer and stick to our original plan to go home. So we told Fang Fang and she kept pushing us to name our price so we told her that we would have to think about it and write up a whole new contract and really take some time. I could see Rob getting frustrated because he had finally committed to going home and now we were back to square one in negotiations. Rob confessed to me later that he even got a little light headed because he felt like he was getting pushed into a corner.
So they went on a location scout and Rob and I stayed at the hotel and drafted up new contracts(after going on a walk and letting off some steam). We put in really high rates for ourselves in addition to other compensations we felt would make us ok with missing out and pushing back commitments and responsibilities in the US, hoping these outrageous prices would be refused by Fang Fang and the investor. We then sent off the email, throwing funny quotes back and forth across the hall like, “bomb’s away!” or, “Duck and cover!” or, “hit the deck!” or, “…did… did you hear that? Sounded like an explosion.”
***BREAKING NEWS***
Wow, ok, just got an update a few minutes ago. Fang Fang just left Rob’s room where we had a quick little chat about the new contracts. She started by saying just what we hoped, that she was surprised by the numbers and how high they were. We gave her the reasoning behind the high prices we put into our contract and she understands why… but the thing tripping us out right now is she says that the prices are fair(even that she thought they could have been more!?!?) and she will see if her investor, Mr. Chew, thinks it is worth it! We had hoped that she was going to say, “I’m sorry, it is too high,” then we would say, “We’re sorry, but we can’t push our commitments back for any less,” and then it would be left at that and we’d go home. But she says that getting the film done for the Olympics is very important to the investor and if Mr. Chew feels we must make the Olympics then she thinks he WILL pay what we ask!?!?!?
We still think that he will say no, and we hope he will say no… I give it about 90% chance he’ll say no. But I am having a hard time being able to predict things now because I was not expecting Fang Fang to even entertain the idea of paying so much. We just don’t what to think anymore.
PhillM tip-of-the-day:
Having your equipment on carts not only save time and money but also saves your back!
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