To be able to become an S-level contracted actor of a veteran entertainment giant like Wei's Pictures, one's status in the entertainment industry is naturally very important. All of them are first-tier, and those who hold the titles of Best Actress and Best Actor are even more top-tier.
The time, money and connections spent on training such an actor are definitely no less than those of the aborted "Star Trek".
Wei's Pictures was originally hit hard by "Starship Troopers". If the popularity of "Sword 4" has helped the group's reputation and popularity to recover, then the collective job-hopping of S-signed actors is equivalent to cutting off the source of funds.
Moreover, all these stars spoke with the same opinion. Given their status in the entertainment industry, they only needed to say that they had different ideas from Wei and were willing to pay the penalty for breach of contract, which was enough to stop a lot of gossip.
If only one star changes jobs, others may think that this star is trying to climb up the social ladder, but if all the main stars change jobs at the same time, the public will wonder if there is something wrong with your company.
This collective job-hopping incident had been planned for a long time. Even though the Wei family was the victim, the high ground of public opinion had already been firmly occupied, and the Wei family could only swallow this loss in silence.
The atmosphere in Wei's meeting room was gloomy.
Originally, this meeting was used to discuss the resource allocation plan for the next quarter, or to put it simply, it was to reward people based on their merits. With the popularity of "Sword 4", Venus TV will receive more resources in the next quarter. The sequel "Sword 5" has also been approved, and then there is Wei Lan's contract.
Because of the success of "Sword 4", Wei Mingjie secured a special A-level director contract for Wei Lan, and her phone was connected to the meeting to discuss the details of the contract.
At this moment, the secretary hurriedly passed the message over.
It was like a bomb that stunned the entire board of directors. There was silence for a full three minutes before the meeting room resumed its voice.
Even Lu Kaiming, who had always wanted to compete with Wei Mingjie for the right to speak in the group, looked unhappy at this moment. He was not happy at all when Wei Mingjie was in trouble. The job-hopping would affect the entire Wei Group. They would prosper together and suffer together. The stock price plummeted, and his own wealth was shrinking every minute.
"Why wasn't there any sign of this happening?!"
The head of the actor agency contract department kept his head down, not daring to raise it. It was not his responsibility for the actors to job-hop, but he was largely responsible for not noticing any signs beforehand.
"Chen Yuanhang." A director put down his phone. He had already seen the Weibo post posted by Chen Yuanhang.
"They were originally cast for the lead roles in Star Wars, but now he's making a Star Wars sequel and poached all the actors. Their penalty is quite a bit, Chengguang is really generous."
Although there was a penalty for breach of contract, none of the directors present looked happy.
The value of a superstar cannot be compensated by simple liquidated damages, especially in the entertainment industry. The audience recognizes the star, not a company. Generally, superstars and economic companies maintain a good relationship. After all, it is the company that made them famous. As long as there is no problem with the distribution of benefits, it is rare for superstars to change jobs.
Wei's contract is considered generous. Even if the average penalty for the five S-signed actors who jumped ship is as high as 100 million yuan each, compared with other superstars in the entertainment industry, their penalty is not high. Such a betrayal is undoubtedly a huge blow to Wei, both in terms of reputation and economic losses.
"Just like Chen Yuanhang, they are all a bunch of ungrateful people." Wei Mingjie said with a gloomy expression and gritted teeth.
It would have been fine if Wei Mingjie didn't say anything, but as soon as he spoke, Lu Kaiming directly pointed the finger at him.
"Director Wei, you should think carefully about the way you treat artists and directors." Lu Kaiming said fiercely: "The special treatment and preferential treatment given to these people by the company are all dominated by you, especially Chen Yuanhang, who has too much power in the company. No other contracted director of any company has such a high degree of freedom. He spent Wei's data flow and finally went to Chengguang to shoot Star Wars!"
Wei Mingjie was so angry that his face turned red: "What do you mean? When "Under the Wind God" won the award, everyone voted and agreed to the large investment you proposed. Now I am the only one responsible?"
Lu Kaiming was blocked for a moment, avoiding Wei Mingjie's gaze. He happened to see the phone on the table that was still connected. He remembered something and said, "Let's forget about what happened before, but we have to think carefully about your behavior in the future. We can't let today's incident happen again. I voted against the director contract you negotiated before. We have to sign a new director. The highest level is the B-level director contract. What do you think?"
He said and looked towards the other board members.
When most of the shareholders heard his words, they showed expressions of approval. After this incident, Wei Mingjie would undoubtedly not be able to get votes to ask for special terms for Wei Lan.
"Director Wei, what Director Lu said makes sense. Don't be in a hurry."
"Yes, let's see how the new director performs in his next work. If it's good, we'll make adjustments. I promise I won't say a word then."
Even Wei Mingjie's faction was trying to persuade him.
Wei Mingjie looked at the phone with an unpleasant expression. Wei Lan on the other end didn't say anything. He clenched his fist and said, "Wei Lan's next work..."
"Hey, Director Wei." Zhou Wei, another shareholder who was at odds with Wei Mingjie, interrupted him and said, "The sequel to 'Sword 5' is already a mature IP. We are going to do a big scene this time. New directors don't have the ability to handle large investments. I think we should let Director Peng Haobo do it. After all, he is our A-signed director and has worked diligently at Wei's for so many years. His qualifications and loyalty to the company are beyond reproach."
Even though he knew that Wei Lan didn't want to film "Sword 5", Wei Mingjie was still furious when he heard this. The other party was obviously taking advantage of this opportunity to take advantage of him!
Wei Lan single-handedly revitalized the "Sword" series that was about to be cancelled and turned it into a phenomenal TV series. This IP became popular, but she was not allowed to shoot the next one. What's the reason?
Wei Mingjie laughed angrily: "Zhou Dong has a broad vision, but has he never thought that if you cross the river and destroy the bridge, other directors who want to join Wei's will be disappointed? Who will be willing to join Wei's in the future?"
Seeing this, Lu Kaiming assisted Zhou Wei: "Everything should be done according to the rules. Without rules, there will be no order... Mr. Wei, you have to consider one thing. Now all the S-signed actors have left. Chen Yuanhang is the only S-level director. Now the director department is supported by two A-signed directors. It is true that the company needs new blood, but now it needs people who can take the lead. If you don't find someone from the A-signed directors, are you going to put your hope on a new director who has only filmed one TV series?"
After experiencing this incident, Wei's needs to cultivate a new business card. Whether it is directors or actors, they need talents with sufficient status. Otherwise, other companies will say that they have such-and-such superstars or such-and-such famous directors, while you can only produce a few first-line talents. In the eyes of the outside world, your status will be surpassed by other giants.
As a listed group, if its reputation is damaged, the loss will be real money.
At this time, when the other shareholders heard Lu Kaiming's analysis, they felt it was very reasonable and nodded repeatedly.
The entertainment industry is a place that pays great attention to seniority. Unless you have absolute strength, it is difficult to break through this shackles.
In the eyes of these shareholders, the sequel to "Sword" has now become the hottest IP, and they have already mastered the code to wealth. As long as they apply the format of "Sword 4" that incorporates funny content and replace it with a more experienced director, it will not be worse than the new director, right?
Peng Haobo was the director of Zhou Wei's faction. Seeing this, he naturally struck while the iron was hot and said, "I suggest that this matter be put to a vote."
Needless to say, Wei Mingjie lost completely in the vote.
"So, are you guys just going to get rid of me?" Wei Mingjie looked at everyone coldly.
"That's not right, Mr. Wei." Zhou Wei smiled and offered some resources: "Just like Mr. Lu said, give a contract to a B-level director. Director Wei Lan has a lot of experience in filming TV series. In this way, except for "Sword 5", any drama you like can be filmed for you."
He said the last sentence to Wei Lan on the other end of the phone.
“Can I make a movie?”
A young female voice came from the other end of the phone. It sounded a little mechanical, probably the effect of a voice changer, but it wasn't too obvious over the phone.
After these words were spoken, the entire conference room became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
A moment later——
"Pfft!" Someone chuckled, breaking the silence.
It is absolutely a joke in the industry that a director who has only filmed one TV series dares to say that he wants to get involved in movies.
"Such a bold decision, I'm sorry I can't agree to the company's funding, unless you find investment yourself." Zhou Wei shook his head.
Lu Kaiming immediately supported: "Me too."
Wei Mingjie was silent for a while, then said: "Let's not talk about investment, but we will shoot it in the company and distribute it by Wei's. The distribution price will be bought out and calculated according to the internal cost."
After a movie is made, it needs to be distributed, which involves the distribution share. Usually, for foreign-invested movies, if Wei is chosen as the distributor, the calculation is based on the final box office ratio, which is often called the distribution share.
However, if the film is produced by Wei, they are all from the same pot, so there is naturally no such thing as distribution sharing. Instead, the final net profit is calculated based on the distribution cost.
According to Wei Mingjie, it is equivalent to letting Wei Lan's film be produced and distributed by Wei's, but the investment funds will not come from Wei's. Wei's is only responsible for providing the filming location and distribution, and the final profit or loss of the film has nothing to do with Wei's public accounts.
By making concessions to this extent, whether the movie is a success or a failure will not harm their interests. The shareholders present certainly have no objection to this request. After all, Wei Lan has produced a hit drama, and no matter how excessive it is, it is impossible to completely abandon her, otherwise other directors will be disheartened.
Zhou Wei asked: "Then... the contract?"
Wei Mingjie only said: "It's still the A-signing condition I mentioned before, otherwise I won't sign it."
As the person with the largest shareholding in the Wei Group, he was unwilling to let his daughter suffer such an injustice, and would rather not sign if the conditions were poor.
At this time, Wei Lan, who had been silent all the time, suddenly spoke up: "Are you interested in signing a bet agreement with me?"
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