Chapter 369: Changes in the Tang People
On November 2, the TV series "Xuan-Yuan Sword" was completed at Xiangshan Film and Television City.
On November 5, Tangren Film and Television Company held an important meeting.
On a morning in late autumn, Hu Ge entered the conference room and unexpectedly found Liu Shishi already sitting there. She was wearing a slim grey windbreaker and was staring at her cell phone with her head lowered, her brows furrowed and revealing a bit of worry.
"Master, you're here so early?"
The first sister looked up when she heard the voice, with a look of worry on her face: "You're here, Lao Hu."
Hu Ge sat down next to Sister Yi and asked with concern, "What's wrong? You look so worried?"
Liu Shishi made a bitter face and sighed: "Two employees who resigned from the Gucci Pengcheng flagship store revealed that the store abused employees with harsh regulations.
You have to apply for water and report to the toilet, and pregnant women have to stand for more than ten hours. . . They say that the Gucci flagship store in Pengcheng is a sweatshop. This matter has become a hot topic and has a very bad impact. "
Hu Ge was speechless for a moment and didn't know how to comfort Yi Jie. After all, she was the spokesperson for the Gucci brand. Although this matter had no direct connection with her, she would inevitably be affected.
"An international brand like Gucci must have a mature and complete crisis public relations mechanism. I believe Gucci will handle this matter properly."
"I hope so." Liu Shishi forced a smile. She always felt that things would not be so simple, but it was not her turn to worry about it, so she changed the subject and stopped worrying for the time being.
"The filming of 'Xuan-Yuan Sword' has finished, are you ready to take on a new drama, Lao Hu?"
"No! I won't be taking any roles recently. I need to focus on preparing for the studio. It takes time to build a team."
Hu Ge was in high spirits. Cai Yinong fulfilled his promise and supported him in setting up his own film and television culture studio. This was a step forward in his career and made him very motivated.
"That will indeed take some time." Liu Shishi nodded in understanding. In the Internet age, the entertainment industry's first-line star teams need all kinds of professional talents, and they need to be carefully selected.
"What about you? What are your plans next?" Hu Ge looked envious. Liu Shishi received so many scripts that she could easily choose from most of the film and television resources in the entertainment industry. She was the one with the most resources in the entertainment industry.
"I promised Sister Chen Hong that I would play a cameo role in Brother Chen Kai's new movie. After that, I will promote "Charlotte's Troubles" for Director Ma. I guess the new movie will have to wait until after the New Year."
As he was speaking, Cai Yinong, in high spirits, rushed into the meeting room with a thick stack of materials in his hands: "Shishi, Hu Ge, you are here really early."
"Ms. K!" "Good morning."
As soon as Cai Yinong sat down in the main seat, he couldn't wait to announce: "Shishi, there is great news! I got two top endorsements at once!"
Liu Shishi's beautiful eyes were bright and she looked at Sister K expectantly.
Cai Yinong pulled out a document from the thick materials: "The first one is the endorsement of Omega watches. It was directly given to the highest title of global spokesperson. The annual endorsement fee is 8 million US dollars!"
Liu Shishi was slightly startled, then took the contract and flipped through it: "I remember that Zhang Ziyi has always been the global spokesperson for Omega watches, right?"
Cai Yinong explained: "Yes. However, she has been affected by the fraudulent donation and ink-throwing incidents in the past two years, and has been in the negative news.
The brand was very dissatisfied with her and decided not to renew the contract in 2012. Omega took the initiative to contact us, seeing your popularity in China, and invited you to be the global spokesperson for the brand.
Liu Shishi was not too excited when she received a high-end luxury endorsement. She knew clearly that this endorsement was probably chosen by President Nick Hayek for the sake of her husband's face.
The same is true for Omega and Gucci. Although her current status is not low, she is indeed not enough to become the global spokesperson for a high-end luxury brand on her own.
Seeing Liu Shishi's calm expression, Hu Ge and Cai Yinong couldn't help but sigh that Yijie is now so noble that she can remain calm in the face of an endorsement contract worth tens of millions. This temperament is indeed extraordinary.
"What is the other endorsement?" Sister Yi asked softly.
"It's definitely beyond your expectation!" Cai Yinong smiled mysteriously and kept the two people in suspense. After whetting their appetites, he surprisingly revealed the answer: "It's the endorsement of Porsche!"
Liu Shishi opened her cherry-like lips slightly, and was so shocked that she couldn't speak for a moment. She never expected that it was a car endorsement contract.
You should know that in the field of commercial endorsements, car endorsements are often regarded as the "most valuable" type of endorsements due to their unique industry attributes and market logic.
What’s more, Porsche is a luxury car brand, which can be called the “top of the pyramid” in the endorsement industry.
Cai Yinong beamed with joy: "Your photo with the Porsche prototype car on the red carpet of Bazaar Star Charity Night was very impressive, and the number of reposts and downloads on Weibo exceeded one million, which contributed greatly to the brand's publicity effect.
Therefore, Porsche decided to change its previous strategy of only hiring car models as spokespersons and invite you to be the first spokesperson for Porsche in Greater China."
"How much does Porsche pay Shishi for her endorsement?" Hu Ge couldn't help but ask curiously. Everyone in the industry knows that due to factors such as the commodity attributes and the depth of brand strategy, the endorsement fee of automobiles is much higher than that of fast-moving consumer goods.
"Because Shishi is only the spokesperson for Greater China, Porsche offered her 15 million per year."
Hu Ge made some calculations in his mind and was amazed at the money-making ability of the first sister. Just these two endorsements alone brought in more than 70 million yuan a year. Even after deducting taxes and the share of the agency, she could still make a net profit of more than 40 million yuan.
Add in the film pay, other endorsement advertising and commercial activity income, it is easy for him to earn over 100 million yuan a year, which is almost equal to the profit of a small or medium-sized listed company. It is truly amazing.
Liu Shishi nodded slightly, thinking that the CEO of Porsche and her husband had little in common, and this endorsement should be for her commercial value.
Although her status is not as high as some big stars, she is still among the most popular in the entire entertainment industry, and the endorsement effect is definitely much better than that of ordinary car models.
“It’s a Porsche contract.”
The first sister took the contract and read it carefully. When she saw a certain additional clause, she couldn't help but smile: "The contract says that the latest car models will be given to me and Mr. Song every year. This little calculation is really clever. It's obvious that they want to take advantage of my husband's popularity."
Hu Ge agreed with a smile: "Of course, if Mr. Song is willing to drive a Porsche, it will probably encourage many wealthy people to follow suit and buy one. Especially his female fans, I think they can contribute a lot to sales."
Upon hearing this, Liu Shishi immediately turned around and glared at Lao Hu: "Porsche wants to get something for free, you wish!"
Hu Ge couldn't help laughing. Yijie was really protective of her idol. She even got jealous of Boss Song's fans who liked her for her looks.
"If there is no problem with the contract, I will accept these two endorsements."
Cai Yinong nodded: "The legal department has reviewed it, and it's all standard endorsement terms. Since you agree to take it, I will notify the brand to prepare for the signing ceremony. You also need to take time out to arrange your schedule and shoot the New Year's advertisement for them."
In the conference room, three people were chatting about the skyrocketing pay and endorsement fees in the entertainment industry in the past two years.
At this time, Gulinazha jumped into the conference room full of energy. Although she has not released any works yet, she has gained many fans with her extremely exquisite face.
The little girl greeted the three people politely and sat down obediently next to Hu Ge.
"Naza!"
"I'm at Sister K."
Cai Yinong looked at the successor of Tangren's top actress, who he had high hopes for, and said meaningfully, "I heard that there are many boys chasing you in Beijing Film Academy. Young people should focus on their careers.
Most of your fans are male fans, so don’t fall in love too early, or it will be detrimental to your career development.”
Gulinaza quickly stated: "Don't worry, Sister K, I have no plans to fall in love now."
After Cai Yinong made a few suggestions, he said no more and waited quietly for other people to arrive.
Soon, Yuan Hong, Jiang Jinfu and other contracted artists arrived one after another. Production Director Li Guoli followed closely behind, bringing three directors Liang Shengquan, Wu Jinyuan and Lin Yufen to the conference room.
Then several core creative team members including Tangren’s chief stylist Chen Gufang, gold medal costume designer Song Xiaotao, and art director He Jiansheng also arrived and took their seats.
"Now that everyone is here, let's start the meeting." Cai Yinong sat in the main seat and looked around at the elite soldiers and generals in front of him. He was full of confidence and full of faith in the future of Tangren Films.
Everyone cast their eyes on Cai Yinong, expecting her to gather everyone together and announce some good news.
"I called everyone here for a meeting today for two main reasons," Cai Yinong said straight to the point. "First, starting next year, Hu Ge will set up his own studio, and the company will allocate some staff to form a dedicated team for him."
The fact that the top star Hu Ge was going to set up a studio was not surprising to everyone present. There had been rumors circulating within Tangren for a long time. With Hu Ge's current status, he was fully qualified to set up a studio.
In order to avoid the loss of top artists, major film and television companies in the entertainment industry now basically invest in setting up studios for their stars.
In a newly established star studio, the film and television company usually holds 30% of the shares, the artist actually controls 55%, and the remaining 15% is generally awarded to the agency team. Both parties sign a "Concerted Action Agreement" to ensure that major decisions require the approval of the film and television company.
Of course there are exceptions. For example, Liu Shishi, the number one actress of Tangren, has a studio that is 100% personally owned, but the agency contract is registered with Tangren Film and Television. The company charges a symbolic 10% commission, and the agency team enjoys a small amount of dividend rights, but cannot interfere with Liu Shishi's decisions.
In short, the dynamic balance between the artist's autonomy and the control of the film and television companies still depends on the commercial value of the star. The stronger the ability to attract money, the greater the voice.
Seeing that everyone had understood, Cai Yinong continued, "Anyone interested in joining Hu Ge's team can sign up. With his consent, his personnel relationship will be transferred to the studio. Although we are still a family, our future development will be closely related to Hu Ge."
In the studios of first-line stars, agents and executive agents are the core management roles. In addition, there are publicity and public relations teams, business and legal affairs, image and content creation, daily support teams and other roles, which are composed of at least more than ten people.
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone's eyes fell on Lin Yufen, because she was the one who chose to join Liu Shishi's studio before, so strictly speaking, she should be Liu Shishi's contracted director.
After a brief pause, Cai Yinong took a deep breath and stared at several core members of the behind-the-scenes team beside Li Guoli.
"You are all veterans of Tangren. You have made great contributions to the company's success. After discussing with Director Li and Shishi, we decided to offer 8.5% of the shares for equity incentives."
Liang Shengquan and Wu Jinyuan looked at each other and were delighted. Previously, there were many other film and television companies that offered high salaries to poach him, but Li Guoli had been trying to persuade them.
In addition, after Tangren had Liu Shishi, the company was indeed thriving and had a bright future, heading straight for the listing. Therefore, he had been patiently waiting for Cai Yinong to express his opinion, and today he finally got the reward.
"Director Liang and Director Wu will each receive 2% of Tangren's shares, and Mr. Chen and the three of you will receive 1.5%. This total of 8.5% of the shares will be transferred free of charge by the major shareholder."
The five veterans who received incentive shares were overjoyed. Tangren Film and Television is currently valued at around 300 million yuan, which means that they received millions of direct benefits, and as Tangren develops, the value of these shares will continue to grow.
However, several people also understood that Cai Yinong did this in order to bind talents, so there must be additional contracts. However, it is the same for all film and television companies in the world. If you want to get paid, you have to work.
Li Guoli looked at his old partners who had followed him for many years with satisfaction. Now he finally gave them an explanation.
After the meeting room quieted down a bit, Cai Yinong continued, "In addition, I will personally give Hu Ge another 1.5% of the shares."
Hu Ge was surprised: "Sister K, you have taken care of me a lot. That car accident..."
Cai Yinong waved his hand: "These are two different things. It is now a common practice in the industry for top artists to receive company incentive equity.
The 2% of shares you hold are what you subscribed to when the company was in crisis, and have nothing to do with the company's incentive policy. Of course, the 1.5% of shares are not taken for free, the company will set profit targets for you. "
Seeing this, Hu Ge said no more, but he was still a little touched.
Cai Yinong looked at the group of artists on his right. In addition to the two pillars of Tangren Media, there are seven other contracted artists: Yuan Hong, Li Chengyuan, Jin Chen, Guli Nazha, Jiang Jinfu, Lin Gengxin, and Guo Xiaoting.
"You don't have to envy Hu Ge. As long as you are qualified and meet certain profit targets, the company will also set up a studio for you and give you equity incentives."
At this point, the equity structure of Tangren Film and Television has changed to:
Cai Yinong: 46%
Liu Shishi: 20%
Li Guoli: 19%
Hu Ge: 3.5%
Veteran team: 8.5%
Internal employee shareholding subscription: 3%
As the founder and largest shareholder of Tangren Film and Television, Cai Yinong has the right to daily operations of the company and a veto over important matters, and still firmly controls Tangren Film and Television.
After announcing the two major events, Cai Yinong was relieved, with a relaxed look on his face. He encouraged everyone: "The film and television industry has been unprecedentedly prosperous in recent years. I hope everyone will work together and strive to lead the company to go public in five years!"
After the Tangren Conference ended, Liu Shishi and Cai Yinong moved to the small conference room next door, preparing to hold a closed-door meeting with their team members to sort out the studio's resources and take stock of their own assets.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
