Chapter 37 037 Xie Yu's Agent
Chapter Thirty-Seven
To be precise, Xie Yu lost far more than just GVM this time. However, luxury brand collaborations have always been a symbol of a celebrity's status. Which A-list celebrity doesn't have at least one luxury brand endorsement?
Luxury brands also showcase their style by selecting celebrities.
After Xie Yu became a sensation for playing the second male lead, he received a collaboration with GVM and became an ambassador. Although being an ambassador for a luxury brand isn't valuable, what's valuable is the endorsement itself, even a rising star like Xie Yu would find it difficult to secure an endorsement from a luxury brand.
The ambassadorial status has already given Xie Yu a head start over her competitors.
...
The news of the endorsement deal falling through hasn't spread online yet, but people are already hyping it up on gossip forums.
Xie Yu was furious, but had nowhere to vent his anger.
Who could have predicted that "The Immortal" would flop so badly at the box office? He thought it would be a box office hit and even popped champagne halfway through the movie.
That long Weibo post has now become evidence for his haters to mock him.
These past few days, Xie Yu has been keeping a close eye on the box office rankings, only to see that the data for "Thousand Mountains" is steadily increasing, not only surpassing "The Immortal" but even reaching the second position in the May Day holiday box office.
Although it can't compare to "Drug Gun," in terms of investment costs, "Thousand Mountains" might be more profitable than "Drug Gun."
More importantly... Gu Yilou became a sensation.
No matter which platform he opened, he could see Gu Yilou's face and hear netizens discussing Lin Yuan.
When Lin Yuan is mentioned, Xie Yu will inevitably be mentioned as well.
How difficult was it for him to get to where he is today? He built his career up by playing one role after another.
What about Lin Yuan? He only acted in one movie, and luckily got chosen by a big director, who actually managed to step on his head.
How unfair!
Viewers of "A Thousand Mountains" were glad he didn't play Gu Yilou, while viewers of "The Immortal" cursed him for playing Li Yunsheng.
Xie Yu suddenly threw his wine glass, startling the agent who entered the room.
"Don't say anything, I don't want to hear it."
Xie Yu knew that the agent must have come to deliver bad news.
He was supposed to shoot an advertisement this week, scheduled for tomorrow. Logically, the brand should have sent someone to contact him by now, but Xie Yu hasn't received any notification yet, so something must have changed.
"The cooperation with GVM... has been changed to Lin Yuan."
Another wine glass slammed down, splashing wine all over the floor and even staining the sofa red.
The agent dared not say anything more. At this time, Xie Yu should have been left alone, but if Xie Yu was not informed of GVM's change of partners as soon as possible, he would only be more embarrassed when the media asked about it later.
"He must be feeling pretty smug right now," Xie Yu scoffed.
His phone screen happened to be on an anonymous forum.
The box office failure of "The Immortal" provided a lot of laughs for these netizens, with one post after another popping up on the homepage. And now, as the homepage refreshes, yet another new post appears—
[GVM Ambassador, Lin Yuan.]
The second post was: "Now you can say it, right? It was Lin Yuan who should have debuted with Wink back then."
Just before Lin Yuan performed in that musical, when the last spot for Wink was mentioned, netizens were still mocking Lin Yuan.
Now everything has changed.
Some people in the post even said that Lin Yuan's real ranking was probably not eighth, but even higher.
That's fine, but some people actually think that Lin Yuan has now surpassed the members of Wink, and from this perspective, Wink is not good enough for Lin Yuan.
Xie Yu was furious.
He would never allow Lin Yuan to be stronger than him.
But right now, it seems he can no longer stop Lin Yuan from moving forward.
"Is there any good way?" Xie Yu regained her composure and looked at her agent.
"We'll just have to wait," the agent said. "Don't worry, the company hasn't given up on you yet."
Although DA Entertainment has signed many up-and-coming stars, unlike Xie Yu, these people have no presence at all so far.
In comparison, Xie Yu at least has some fame, and although the returns are somewhat less, no other signed artist in the entire DA Entertainment has more fans than Xie Yu.
DA Entertainment naturally hopes that Xie Yu will become very popular, as popularity means higher income and more profits.
Entertainment companies don't do business at a loss.
As an actress, Xie Yu earns her salary based on her roles. With fewer and fewer acting opportunities available, DA Entertainment has no choice but to focus more on her business ventures.
Fortunately, Xie Yu has many fans who are willing to pursue commercial deals.
DA Entertainment has absolutely no shame in exploiting its fans—if Xie Yu loses popularity and is unable to join productions for an extended period, his only advantage will be making money through commercial endorsements.
"How about trying a variety show?" the agent said. "The company has recommended an acting-related variety show for you, which can be a good opportunity to prove yourself."
"I don't want to go," Xie Yu said.
The reason doesn't need to be stated; his agent understands it all. Going on this kind of variety show would only prove that he's washed up.
Real actors showcase their acting skills on set, why bother with so-called variety shows?
Only obscure celebrities who can't even get into the group would go.
Agent: "I know you don't want to, but this is also an opportunity."
On the TV drama front, Xie Yu lost out on Xingyao Video's S-level big-budget production.
On the film front, Xie Yu's film "The Immortal" flopped again.
If the interval between the two events were long, DA Entertainment could have managed to salvage Xie Yu's reputation. However, the interval between the two events was very short, resulting in a double failure, or even a major failure.
In the male actor circle, Xie Yu is not the kind of actor who is irreplaceable. Even from a superstitious point of view, the production team will not look for him for the time being.
"What about outside of variety shows?" Xie Yu was still not giving up.
The agent shook his head.
There are indeed low-budget film and television productions willing to cast Xie Yu, but Xie Yu himself would definitely not be happy to do so.
There are also some roles that are Xie Yu's old profession—the second or third male lead.
For him, this would mean going back to square one, and Xie Yu would never agree to that.
The agent sighed.
There was one more piece of news he hadn't told Xie Yu.
In addition to GVM extending a collaboration invitation to Lin Yuan, Ye Liuchuan has also landed a leading role in a big-budget production.
After his previous failure with "A Tear in a Cup," Ye Liuchuan secured a variety show opportunity with Xie Yu. This time, Xie Yu has taken it a step further, landing a role in a top-tier drama produced by Xingyao Video.
Although the other party's development was not as rapid as Xie Yu's, it was much more stable.
In Wink, Ye Liuchuan is also a lead actor, but his role isn't as lucky as Xie Yu's.
Even with the best luck in casting, a major flop can't save you from a complete disaster. Xie Yu's situation is just too damaging.
...
After returning from Xie Yu's place, the agent came to DA Entertainment. He needed to discuss Xie Yu's future development plans with the company's senior management.
He also thought about Lin Yuan.
If he had known Lin Yuan was such a good actor, he should have arranged for him to act in movies back then. Now, Lin Yuan sings OSTs for big productions and has even gotten on the good side of a famous director. His future looks very bright.
Having an artist like this under your management is really convenient.
Besides, Lin Yuan doesn't even have an agent right now.
In other words, the other party achieved such results entirely through their own hard work.
If we assign Lin Yuan an agent and provide him with some good resources at this time, wouldn't Lin Yuan be able to take off?
He couldn't help but regret that he had been too decisive back then. He should have at least kept Lin Yuan's contact information, so that there would still be a possibility of cooperation in the future.
Now I'm stuck with Xie Yu.
Although variety shows and commercial deals are resources, actors still need hit dramas to secure commercial deals. Without public recognition, which brand would be willing to cooperate?
From an agent's perspective, Xie Yu's future... is hard to say.
The reason he did well before was essentially because he starred in a hit drama while Wink's popularity hadn't faded, and the hype just happened to overlap.
But now, Wink has lost his popularity, and there are plenty of male actors in the industry waiting to take his place.
Things are different now than in the past; there's no such thing as guaranteed success anymore.
A male actor who used to be considered ugly even when playing a servant is now playing a leading role.
In other words, the competition for young actors is much fiercer than before.
The agent sighed as he reached the elevator on the first floor.
The sudden appearance of the face startled him, and he wondered if the other person was still at DA Entertainment.
He assumed the other person had retired from the entertainment industry and become an ordinary person.
The other party was a former colleague of his, one of the agents at DA Entertainment.
Objectively speaking, as an agent, the other party is quite capable, but not smooth enough. They are not good at flattering artists or sucking up to company executives.
The other party initially brought along a young actor who was about the same age as Xie Yu. The role that made Xie Yu a sensation was actually originally intended for that young actor, and the role was fought for by the other party.
At that time, he had just transferred to DA Entertainment and was in charge of managing Xie Yu. He happened to find out about the script, and after learning about it, he spoke to the higher-ups and got the role for Xie Yu.
The other party tried to make a scene at the higher-ups, but it was no use. Who can blame them when Xie Yu has so many fans?
He helped Xie Yu get the role, but Xie Yu's fans attacked the young actor.
DA Entertainment is a large and powerful company, but its artists don't have a good tradition of helping each other. Anyway, it's just fans harassing them, and no one can prove that Xie Yu intervened.
He hadn't expected that young actor to be so fragile; he fell ill after being attacked and subsequently retired from the entertainment industry.
The other party was later assigned another artist, but they didn't get any good resources. Everyone at DA Entertainment knew that the other party and Xie Yu didn't get along, and they were also vaguely trying to exclude the other party.
The agent hadn't seen the other person at the company for a long time and thought they were gone, but it turned out they were still there.
“Feng Zeng came to collect his things today,” said an employee in the human resources department. “He resigned three months ago.”
An agent's status depends on the artist's status. In DA Entertainment, the most successful agents are now high-level executives with shares and abundant resources. To be precise, the artists are their resources.
The agent glanced at Feng Zeng, only to find that the other party's expression was calm, as if he didn't even see him. The sharp edge he once had when he argued with the company's senior management over the young actor was long gone.
People still need to face reality.
"Which company did he go to?" the agent asked. "Any news?"
The HR staff shook their heads: "We asked, and they're probably in a small company now, not very famous, and they probably haven't been assigned to any artists yet."
“I guessed so,” the agent said. “He’s just too stubborn. I’ve treated him well, haven’t I? There were a few resources that Xie Yu didn’t want back then, it’s not like we couldn’t give them to him, but he just didn’t want them.”
"Small companies aren't that easy to work for. They don't even have a famous artist. In the end, they'll just have to shoot short dramas and do live streams. They might as well stay with DA."
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Author's Note: [doge][doge] Update~
I still owe one chapter, I'll make it up tomorrow, it's too late tonight.
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