Caught in Affairs with Superstar

"You people doing artist management, it’s tough. In those fans’ eyes, anyway, if an artist becomes popular, it’s all because of their own hard work and talent. If the artist has any problem at all, it’s always the company’s fault." Yao Yuanfeng smiled. "These days, as long as you’re running a company, you’re automatically not a good person. We’re all exploiters."

He Yong let out a sigh.

"Forget what people outside say, they don’t understand. What really chills me is this bunch in my own company." He Yong glanced at Yao Yuanfeng. "President Yao, you must get it. Honestly, with a movie like Life, no one’s a prophet. If it weren’t for your sharp eye, believing in Wen Bing’s talent, who would invest in someone who’s never shot a film before, to make that kind of movie? Everyone’s hardest time is at the start. But now people only know Wen Bing, they have no idea how many people are ’talent buried by fate.’ Good horses are common, but good judges are rare. The sad thing is, no one knows how hard it is to find a good judge of talent."

The two of them ate and chatted, venting some of the grievances they usually kept bottled up.

"But, He Yong, even though Zhou Yun is still nominally under Chengqian, basically everyone knows she doesn’t really count as one of your contracted artists anymore. You don’t have any other plans on your side?" Yao Yuanfeng said. "If you ask me, Xu Siyao is just so-so; she’s never going to become a real force. Other than her, Wang Jing and Yuk Chu are all Zhou Yun’s people. Once their contracts are up, do you think it’s more likely they’ll keep holding hands with Zhou Yun, or renew with you? Looks lively on the surface, but in terms of actresses who are truly solidly tied to you, you only have Xu Siyao."

"I’m worried about it too. I want to train newcomers, but you know how hard it is to train them, and how far they can actually grow—that’s something you can’t predict. Poaching people isn’t realistic either. With Zhou Yun and her group in the company, it’s basically impossible for me to poach a currently popular first-tier; competition’s too fierce." He Yong said, "Right now my focus is all on the guys—Zhang Mo, Zhou Jianfeng and the others."

Yao Yuanfeng said, "If you ask me, you still need to get your film and TV production arm firmly into your own hands. Only when you have that production pipeline can you keep creating stars."

"If it were that easy, I wouldn’t be calling you out for dinner, big bro." He Yong said. "Your business is huge. If you just spill a little bit of grain, that’s enough to feed this whole pot of newcomers I’ve got."

Hearing that, Yao Yuanfeng smiled and tapped He Yong with his finger.

"So that’s what you were angling for." Yao Yuanfeng said. "President He, I really can’t call my business ’huge.’ The key is, the shows I mount are basically all big productions. If you send newcomers over, I really don’t have anywhere to slot them in."

He Yong said, "Hey, big bro, don’t get me wrong. I’m not being ungrateful and asking you to give them important roles. Even just bit parts with a few lines—if you can let our newcomers play those, I’ll already be satisfied. Nothing else, just let them go to big crews more, learn more, absorb some experience. It’ll help them as actors. Don’t you think so?"

Yao Yuanfeng looked at him in surprise.

He really hadn’t expected that this was what He Yong was aiming for.

He Yong said, "The film and TV market has changed a lot now; everything’s dramas with young people as leads. Me, I don’t want much, I just want my young newcomers to act a bit better, so they’ll be more competitive in the future. Like you said, only when there are more and more good actors will those at the very top stop looking so precious, right?"

Yao Yuanfeng said, "We can talk about this. But they’re all just bit parts; the pay is going to be low. If we go by normal rates, we’re talking a few thousand yuan to send them off."

"That’s all fine. I’m not expecting them to make me money right now. What matters is they learn more, build up some experience, so they won’t panic when they go to auditions later." He Yong said, "Look at Zhang Mo. He used to do stage plays, then switched to film and TV. No matter what crew he goes to, he’s never intimidated. Everyone’s evaluation of him is all thumbs-up. Zhou Jianfeng’s a bit weaker. Even though he’s a bit more popular than Zhang Mo right now and has more fans, if you’re talking industry recognition, Zhang Mo is still higher."

"Of course. After all, unless you’re as popular as Zhou Yun or Song Chi, to be blunt, the boost you can give a project is just so-so—it’s not that big." Yao Yuanfeng said. "Look how picky platforms are now. If your leads aren’t in that Zhou Yun, Ning Yao tier, then your cast has to have two legit first-tier actors to get S-level treatment. Otherwise, don’t even think about it."

He Yong nodded.

Yao Yuanfeng said, "How about this: let Zhou Jianfeng come shoot a movie for me. Let’s settle it like that, okay?"

He Yong smiled.

"What kind of movie? Lead role?"

Yao Yuanfeng said, "Would I be so unkind as to have Zhou Jianfeng play a supporting role? Of course it’s the lead. It’s a youth romance film; it needs a young actor like Zhou Jianfeng."

"Who’s the female lead?" He Yong asked.

"Yu Sitian," Yao Yuanfeng said. "Relax, I’m not using him to hold up some rookie."

"All right, no problem." He Yong nodded. "Then I’ll leave it to you, big bro. When you’re casting in the future, take care of our company’s actors a bit more."

"Of course. We’ve already had drinks—how could I not do something? That’d never happen." Yao Yuanfeng said.

The two of them raised their glasses and clinked.

There was a smile on both their faces.

Putting his glass down, He Yong sighed with feeling. "Being the ’family head’ for this bunch of youngsters is really not easy. You have to watch over the big ones and the small ones. You want the big ones to take the small ones along, and you still have to sweet-talk and coax them. Might as well rack my own brains instead."

Yao Yuanfeng said, "That’s work."