Huayu: This producer has no bottom line.

Chapter 91 The Distance Is Getting Closer

The next afternoon, in Yanjing, at the Life Story Studio.

It was the same simple tea table, and the two people were still sitting facing each other.

"Director Ren, I've made up my mind," Wang Li said, her eyes much more determined than a few days ago. "I'm willing to bring people over and join Shengping Vision."

"Welcome," Ren Pingsheng nodded and reached out to refill her tea. "As for the compensation, it will be in accordance with industry standards: a base salary plus commission, with tiered increases. You can take a look at the specific percentages once the contract is drafted."

Wang Li shook her head. "Director Ren, I don't need the base salary."

Ren Pingsheng looked at her.

"Let me tell you something from the bottom of my heart," Wang Li looked at him, her tone revealing a hint of fierceness, "If I wanted a stable life, I wouldn't have left Happiness Blue Ocean."

She held up one finger. "I only take a cut. The more the artists earn, the more I get. If the artists don't have work, I'll starve. That way, you can use me with peace of mind, and I'll have something to look forward to."

Ren Pingsheng looked at the unremarkable middle-aged woman, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled up.

Intelligent, decisive, and knows when to express his opinion.

This model is not uncommon in the brokerage industry, but it is usually only top-performing brokers who have the confidence to operate in this way.

"Alright, we'll do as you say. I'll never mistreat my own people," Ren Pingsheng said, picking up his teacup and clinking it against hers in place of wine.

With the business settled, Wang Li smiled, but only for a moment before she pulled a file folder from her bag.

"Mr. Ren, now that we're family, there are a few things I need to discuss with you beforehand to avoid any disputes."

"you say."

"Both Ya Ya and Zhen Ni have signed personal agency brokerage contracts. When I was affiliated with Happiness Blue Ocean before, some project management fees had not yet been settled. I will complete the process in my personal capacity."

Ren Pingsheng nodded, "Of course."

"The key is the contract. If I bring both of them into the film industry, I'll have to sign a new three-party contract."

"It's easy to handle Ya Ya. She's not very famous right now, and she's very satisfied with the collaboration on 'Old Boys.' She also... has a lot of faith in you. Just re-sign a three-year agreement based on her current 70/30 split, and she shouldn't have any objections."

"No need for 73," Ren Pingsheng said decisively. "Give her 10%, change it to 64, but the contract period has to be extended to five years."

Wang Li quickly did some mental calculations: a 60/40 split was quite generous for Tong Liya's current status.

A five-year contract is not short, but for a newcomer who doesn't have much bargaining power, getting this offer is like a windfall.

"This is negotiable," Wang Li nodded, "but there might be some trouble with Zhenni."

Ren Pingsheng didn't speak, but gestured for her to continue.

"Her career has been relatively stable, and recently it has been on the rise again."

She paused for a moment.

"This kid is ambitious. She always felt unlucky and missed out on good projects. Now that she's making a little progress, I'm worried about her..."

Wang Li didn't finish her sentence, but her meaning was clear.

They were afraid she would think she was worth more and either demand an exorbitant share of the profits or refuse to sign with a small online content company.

Ren Pingsheng twirled the teacup in his hand and chuckled softly.

"Sister Wang, I don't consider this a charity."

"If she feels she's condescending, let her continue to act high and mighty outside. I won't give her any opportunity to raise her price, and I certainly won't break the company's standard artist contracts just to sign her."

Wang Li's heart tightened, and she was about to say something in defense of Guo Zhenni when Ren Pingsheng raised his hand to interrupt her.

"You don't need to persuade her or beg her. You just need to sign Ya Ya's contract and then wait."

"Wait for what?" Wang Li was stunned.

"Waiting for 'Old Boys' to be released."

Wang Li paused for a second, then she understood.

If "Old Boys" really becomes a hit as Ren Pingsheng said, Tong Liya will go from being an unknown to being the subject of heated discussion across the internet overnight.

Guo Zhenni will see her fellow student, who, simply by filming a short online movie, obtained something that she had been striving for for three or four years without success.

At that point, will she still dare to raise prices arbitrarily?

People only regret not being at the table when they see others eating meat.

"If she understands, she'll come. If she doesn't, then forget it. There's no shortage of people who want to be famous. If she doesn't sign, plenty of others will."

Wang Li was silent for a few seconds, then slowly nodded.

Neither force nor coax, neither humble nor arrogant.

This young boss was more insightful than most of the people she had ever met.

"Okay, I know what to do."

Ren Pingsheng refilled the teapot and changed the subject.

"Sister Wang, I will register a separate subsidiary for the company called Shengping Culture Brokerage Co., Ltd., which will be dedicated to brokerage business."

(P.S.: I'm terrible at naming things and have OCD, so I'm really at my wit's end. If you want to complain, just do it here.)

Wang Li nodded, "This way it's clear, production and management are separated, and the accounts are easier to calculate."

"You're in charge of the agency and have full authority over its daily operations. You're given the power, but the rules must be established beforehand."

Wang Li sat up straight.

"You are free to go out and secure resources and commercial performances for artists, but before deciding what roles to take or what endorsements to sign, especially activities involving the artist's public image, you must report to me and I will make the final decision."

Wang Li didn't expect to get stuck at this hurdle.

Normally, bosses would love for their agents to get more work and make more money for their artists, so why are they so strict about it here?

"Mr. Ren, good scripts and big-name endorsements are highly sought after. Won't going through layers of approvals cause us to miss out on opportunities?"

"That was before."

Ren Pingsheng stood up, walked to the whiteboard, picked up a marker, and wrote two large characters.

Character design.

Wang Li stared at the two words, not quite understanding what they meant.

"Sister Wang, you're a veteran in the industry. How do you think Hong Kong's entertainment industry used to create stars? Or rather, how did those superstars emerge?"

Wang Li thought for a moment: "Meet a good director, make a good movie, release a good record, and then get media coverage, slowly building a reputation?"

"That's just the surface," Ren Pingsheng shook his head, piercing the veil of secrecy surrounding the entertainment industry.

"In the 1970s, Golden Harvest, in order to promote Nora Miao, hung her huge poster in the Star Ferry Pier corridor, which had the highest foot traffic, for two months. Before the movie was even released, everyone in Hong Kong knew that she was a kung fu girl."

"In the 1980s, when the New World Department Store opened, they directly hung a huge portrait of Maggie Cheung, tens of meters tall, on the exterior of the building in Tsim Sha Tsui. She hadn't even participated in the Miss Hong Kong pageant yet, but the whole of Hong Kong already knew her."

"In the 1990s, in order to promote Yau Shu-chen, Wong Jing bought the front pages of six major Hong Kong newspapers, creating a sex symbol out of thin air."

Ren Pingsheng, seeing the shocked look in Wang Li's eyes, threw the marker on the table.

"You see, what the Hong Kong entertainment industry was doing thirty years ago was essentially creating stars based on popularity. First, they monopolized everyone's attention, forcibly created a label, the so-called persona, and then used their works to deepen the public's impression of this persona. Creating stars based on popularity is nothing new, it's just that the audience didn't know it."

Wang Li swallowed hard; it was the first time she had ever heard someone so bluntly expose the true nature of star-making.

"But we could do that before because information channels were limited. TV stations, newspapers, and magazines were all controlled by capital. Celebrities were high above, and fans looked up to them from below. Distance created beauty. As long as you acted well in one movie and established an image, you could live off your past achievements for a lifetime."

"But things are different now. There are more and more information channels, and the amount of information that the audience receives every day is ten or a hundred times that of before. If an actor is not exposed for two or three months, the audience will forget about him completely."

Wang Li didn't refute it. How many artists aren't popular for a while before being forgotten by the market?

"And it will only get more and more exaggerated. The audience's threshold will get higher and higher. They not only want to see what the artists do, but also what they wear, what they eat, what they say, and what friends they make. Every move will be magnified and interpreted, and all of this will affect the audience's perception of them."

"So," he said, sitting back down at the tea table, "you must draw a red line in your mind that your artists absolutely cannot cross. If you encounter a film contract or endorsement that you're unsure about, or that might cross that line, you must report to me immediately."

"It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that this matter is too important. If we make one wrong move, all our previous efforts will be in vain."