"To put it simply, Mr. Luo still gets a share of every penny that Tao Cen earns, and he gets a lot. Tao Cen is just working for Mr. Luo in a different way."
Xia Chaoqun knocked on the table:
"To put it in a broader sense, Mr. Luo's shares are enough for him to interfere with Tao Cen's decisions and the direction of the company. When there is a competition between you and Tao Cen for resources, he has an absolute advantage to suppress Tao Cen and secure your position as China's number one female star!"
Tao Cen's company was just a small business, but the most important one was Century Galaxy, which was Luo Yin's foundation. He made a big move that day, and Tao Cen thought she had walked out of the game and became an outsider, but she didn't know that she was still in the game, just in a different direction and still controlled by the chess player.
In the eyes of businessmen, feelings are acceptable but they must come after interests.
Luo Yin is like ginger, getting more shrewd with age. He has calculated every move of Tao Cen, but he doesn't know whether Tao Cen has reacted now.
When she was in Century Galaxy, Luo Yin was reluctant to say much due to their years of friendship. She had a special position in the company, and the team favoring her had already affected some of the company's decisions.
Now that I'm away, many things are easier to do.
Mo Anqi was stunned and couldn't recover for a long time. Now she finally understood why Xia Chaoqun knew about Tao Cen's movements first.
The sky is high and the sea is vast. Tao Cen thought she had grown wings and flown away, but in fact, she was still under Luo Yin's control after going around in circles.
Mo Anqi shuddered. It was not until this moment that she truly realized the horror of capital. The tricks of these business tycoons and the methods of the big guys were far beyond Tao Cen's ability to shake.
"Mr. Luo knows that celebrities live in a colorful life. Applause and flowers can easily make people lose themselves and forget how important they are in the beginning."
Especially for female stars like Tao Cen who have no shortage of fame, works, traffic and exposure, it is only a matter of time before they leave after their contracts expire.
But the company spent so much money and resources to train an unknown girl to become one of the top talents in China today. The efforts made in the process are incalculable. How could Luo Yin be willing to let her go without maximizing her value
Mo Anqi had never thought about these problems before, but now that Xia Chaoqun had pointed them out, she felt numb all over.
She recalled the completely different choices made by Jiang Se and Tao Cen. She had relied on her close relationship with Chang Yuhu to sign a contract with Century Galaxy, and would rather reduce the share of the profits and restrict the contract to a short time limit.
During the few years since I entered the industry, I have been cautious in choosing resources and would rather have less than too much, which has helped me build a good reputation.
She was also extremely lucky to seize the opportunity to become the key female lead in "God's Redemption", which helped her to raise her status again and again, until she finally had the confidence and qualifications to negotiate terms with Luo Yin.
In her competitive relationship with Tao Cen, she was steady and cautious. Even when the two were competing most fiercely, the company suppressed her and asked her to play a supporting role in Tao Cen's movie "Criminal Suspect", she swallowed her anger and agreed. When the contract expired, she did not choose to leave the company and start a new business. Instead, she finally won the Century Galaxy contract and stayed in the company.
On the contrary, Tao Cen left happily that day and formed his own group. He seemed to have breathed a sigh of relief and felt relieved, but he fell into another embarrassing situation and was still unable to escape Luo Yin's control.
"I didn't like Tao Cen before."
Mo Anqi murmured to herself, she didn't like Tao Cen. After Mo Anqi came back from Japan, her first job in China was to follow Jiang Se and become her assistant. She had been following Jiang Se for as many years as Jiang Se officially debuted.
The two had a close relationship, nominally a master-employee relationship, but in reality they were as close as sisters. What Tao Cen had done to Jiang Se in the past had left Mo Anqi with a very bad impression of this person.
"But why do I feel sorry for her now?"
Xia Chaoqun pulled the corners of his lips together, revealing a smile that made Mo Anqi shudder:
"Where's the pity?"
"Mr. Luo..." As soon as Mo Anqi spoke, Xia Chaoqun said:
"Mr. Luo was able to start from scratch and build up such a fortune. It takes more than just a kind heart."
She said calmly:
"There are many artists in Century Galaxy, and most of those who can enter this industry have good looks."
There is never a shortage of young and beautiful girls in this industry, but why was Tao Cen able to stand out from such a group of people at that time
In addition to her own good conditions, full of ambition and the help of Xia Chaoqun, the company itself has a lot of resources willing to pave the way for such an outstanding girl.
But the company paid all this not to strengthen her wings and feed her ambition, but to get more rewards from her.
"Everyone in the circle has their own set of rules." Tao Cen can also choose to stay in the company honestly, complete the contract, retire at the peak of his career, and leave this place. Naturally, he will no longer be bound by the company and will no longer be at the mercy of capital.
But her ambition and self-esteem would not allow her to do so. She still insisted on breaking into the bureau, and inevitably she would be caught by others.
"I'm not telling you this to let you have wild thoughts." Xia Chaoqun frowned, "You've been with Sese for many years, and you've always been paid as an assistant. Don't you want to raise your salary?"
An annual salary of several hundred thousand is not a small amount, but Mo Anqi's salary was already at a high point when she first entered the industry.
She has been with Xia Chaoqun for many years and has learned a lot and gained a lot of experience. Xia Chaoqun intends to promote her and help her to make further progress.
Now that Jiang Se's status has changed, there will be more people who need to take care of things around her in the future. If Mo Anqi just contents herself with being an ordinary assistant, she will be ordinary all her life and it will be difficult for her to stand out. She will always be surpassed by those who come after her.
After Xia Chaoqun said this, Mo Anqi, who was applying the facial mask, was stunned for a moment. She didn't say anything, and a thoughtful look appeared on her face.
She was too lazy to pay attention to Mo Anqi anymore, and then continued:
"Tao Cen is at a disadvantage at this time."
In fact, she should have felt something was wrong a long time ago. The timing of her announcement of the establishment of the company was clever. She originally wanted to take a gamble, grab a piece of traffic, suppress "God's Redemption", which had just won the "100 Years of Filmmakers" Best Film Award, affect its box office, and lead the direction of public opinion.
However, the attempt to steal the chicken failed in the end. The news of the establishment of the new company was eventually dispersed by waves of public opinion. By the time many people realized that Tao Cen had left Century Galaxy and established a new company, the matter had become a thing of the past and it was difficult to make any waves.
Whether Tao Cencheng admits it or not, she and Jiang Se have already decided the winner in attracting traffic.
Now a stubborn old man like Huo Zhiming is taking "Criminal Suspect" to France to attend the film festival, and he has reported two female protagonists. This is very embarrassing for Tao Cen, and it is easy for the media and movie fans to think of the words in "Criminal Suspect" that she personally admitted that year, in which she was the female protagonist and Jiang Se cooperated in the performance.
If the media gets hold of her, it might become a major laughing stock since her debut. After all, Jiang Se's fans are no pushovers.
It has not been easy for Tao Cen to maintain her current image over the years, which requires a lot of restraint. Tao Cen knows that if she is ridiculed by the public, it will be a blow to her image, and it is very likely to influence many people to follow suit and blacken her, which will then discourage some luxury brands that might have contacted her and evaluated her for many years.
Xia Chaoqun was halfway through his words when Mo Anqi tentatively continued:
"So she had to find a way to divert public attention."
Her answer was quite standard and not particularly outstanding, but fortunately Xia Chaoqun did not criticize her and just nodded:
"She has agreed to take on Ning Zhanping's new film "Rebirth from the Ashes" and will make it her first important work after leaving Century Galaxy."
Jiang Se couldn't help but feel curious when he heard this:
"This is not the first time that Tao Cen has collaborated with Director Ning. As the first film to be launched after the company was founded, what is so special about "Rebirth from the Ashes"?"
Xia Chaoqun responded with a "hmm", obviously confirming Jiang Se's guess:
"There are nude scenes of Tao Cen in this movie."
This is the first time since her debut that she has sacrificed for art, which will definitely cause a strong response from fans.
Jiang Se stopped asking.
After a few days of rest, the fresh roses ordered by Melovin's team from the Netherlands were delivered, and Jiang Se began the second round of filming. It was not until late February, after the filming was completed, that Huo Zhiming's team finally rushed to France with "Criminal Suspect".
Not only domestic audiences have paid a lot of attention to this movie, but many netizens abroad have also been paying attention to it.
"Criminal Suspect" is another new work by Jiang Se after "God's Redemption". At that time, "God's Redemption" broke many records with a global box office of 3.3 billion.
That year belonged to "God's Redemption". After the release of "God's Redemption", the box office in various places showed an extremely good trend, attracting a large number of people to watch the movie.
The grand occasion at that time still remains in the hearts of many netizens even though more than a year has passed.
After "God's Redemption" was withdrawn from theaters, the audience's enthusiasm for watching movies faded, which also led to the poor performance of the movie's box office at the time, with a significant drop.
With the box office legend of "God's Redemption" and the authoritative certification of "Filmmakers of the Century" at that time, many people at that time believed that this movie was a peak in Jiang Se's acting career and it would be difficult to break through.
Now that she has released a new work after more than a year, it is bound to attract the attention and comparison of many movie fans at home and abroad.
"She is too young."
Shu Payen was worried and somewhat concerned about Jiang Se.
In fact, at Jiang Se's age, being too famous is not a good thing in Shu Pei's opinion.
At this time, Jiang Se spent more than eight years to reach the height that Tao Cen had reached in more than ten years. Each of his movies had great breakthroughs. This situation would invisibly increase the audience's expectations of Jiang Se.
When it comes to movies directed by Jiang Se, people will be more picky and demanding about the acting and plot.
Being in the world of fame and fortune means that Jiang Se is at the center of the vortex. In front of her was the masterpiece "God's Redemption" which was difficult to break through in terms of box office and word of mouth, and then her marriage was exposed to the public.
Marrying into the Pei family is an honor, but it also means that audiences at home and abroad will have higher standards and stricter demands on her.
If there were some flaws in her performance in "Suspect", people would have used excuses like she was too young or had a beauty that was a burden to her, but now if there is something wrong, she might be ridiculed and mocked by the public.
This movie was originally advertised as "Tao Cen is the main character and she is the supporting role", which was already very eye-catching. However, old man Huo Zhiming did not play by the rules. When applying, he filled in Jiang Se's name in the column of the female lead, even though she should have been registered as the supporting actress. This has pushed Jiang Se to the forefront, and I'm afraid all the criticism will be directed at her.
She became famous too quickly, and she has always had works, but her mental age may not have kept up. Shu Peien was really afraid that she could not bear the pressure, and such a rare talent would be ruined.
When talking to Cui Zhangcheng on the phone, Shu Payen raised his concerns:
"Huo Zhiming's style is too difficult to grasp."
On the other end of the phone, Cui Zhangcheng asked hesitantly:
"Is Huo Zhiming trying to put all the blame on Jiang Se by doing this?"
His works in recent years have not had a good reputation and the box office has not been good. It has almost reached the point where actors with a little fame and appeal are reluctant to work with him, and investors are unwilling to spend money on him. It can be said that the reputation and prestige he accumulated in his early years have been almost destroyed by Huo Zhiming in recent years.
When Shu Pain heard this, he instinctively shook his head: "Impossible."
As they are all from the same circle, Shu Payen has some understanding of Huo Zhiming's character and personality.
Knowing that the old man has a stubborn temper and is relatively upright, and disdains to do those shady tricks, there are two possibilities for him to fill in Jiang Se's name in the heroine column when registering.
First, although the movie was initially claimed to be based on Tao Cen and supported by Jiang Se, in fact this was just a gimmick. The real movie should have a dual female lead setting.
Secondly, before the filming started, it was indeed as rumored that Tao Cen was the main character and Jiang Se was the supporting character. However, during the filming process, Huo Zhiming gradually increased Jiang Se's role and eventually made her the main character.
In Shu Payen's opinion, the latter is more likely, as Huo Zhiming is well-known in the industry for his instability.
Other directors would not dare to change the script repeatedly during filming, and would not dare to do so in the post-editing process, changing the film into a story that is completely different from the original setting through editing. However, it is entirely possible for Huo Zhiming to do so, and he has a previous record of doing so.
If many years ago, when Huo Zhiming's movies were pretty good and he maintained his own style and made refreshing works, Shu Peien would not be anxious for Jiang Se. He would even be optimistic about the combination of such a stubborn old man and a serious actor like Jiang Se.
But after watching several of Huo Zhiming's films, although his ability to control the camera is still there, the film has lost the soul of the story, and in the end, only an empty shell remains. The actors and actors, the actors and the director, and the camera have been separated, and the story is fragmented. In the end, people are full of embarrassment, which inevitably makes Huo Zhiming's reputation worse. (To be continued)