This director lacks vision.

Chapter 254 Tong Xinwei Min, Encountering Ancestor

On the morning of October 13th, Jiang Yifeng arrived at the company to handle work-related matters.

Mu Di walked into the office and reported, "President Jiang, Zhang Ziyi said she wants to withdraw from the recording of Sisters Who Make Waves."

It's estimated that the scandal involving Ip Man has affected The Grandmaster, and Zhang Ziyi has been blamed by Hong Kong entertainment industry figures and the The Grandmaster production team, so she's afraid to appear on television programs anymore.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yifeng countered, "So what do you plan to do?"

Mu Di had anticipated this, saying, "We have a reserve list and can bring in substitutes at any time."

"Zhang Ziyi can withdraw from the recording, but she just needs to pay compensation according to the contract."

The key aspect of the recording contract for "Sisters Who Make Waves" is the confidentiality agreement.

The breach of confidentiality agreement resulted in a substantial amount of compensation.

However, the penalty for guests who withdraw from the recording is not high, which is only 200% of the guest's appearance fee.

Although Zhang Ziyi's reputation is tarnished, she still maintains a very high-class image as a movie star.

Her appearance fee on Sisters Who Make Waves was among the highest of the 30 sisters, at 600 million yuan.

Second only to Gao Yuanyuan and Zhou Xun's 800 million, it's the same price as Fan Bingbing's.

This isn't a dual contract; it's real money, and the compensation is quite high.

It's worth noting that Zhou Xun's salary for starring in Painted Skin 2 was only 400 million yuan, which is already the highest salary among Chinese actresses.

They've taken so much money, so being scolded a couple of times is nothing to them.

Zhou Xun was criticized in the second episode and lost a lot of face.

Although she was very angry, she didn't say anything. Making money is nothing to be ashamed of.

Zhang Ziyi's decision to withdraw from the recording is clearly because the Hong Kong entertainment circle has pinned the blame for Ip Man's scandal on her.

She wanted to use her withdrawal from the show as a way to take sides and mend her relationship with the Hong Kong entertainment circle.

Jiang Yifeng was indifferent to this situation, as was the production team.

Zhang Ziyi can leave after returning her 600 million yuan appearance fee and paying another 600 million yuan in compensation.

Jiang Yifeng said, "Okay, we'll do it according to the contract, not a penny less."

Mu Di gave a wry smile and said, "Zhang Ziyi has no objection to the compensation, but she said that it will take time to raise the money, and she may need to give us some time to ask for an extension."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yifeng joked, "I saw on Forbes' 2010 list of China's Celebrities that Zhang Ziyi's annual income was 6900 million, ranking 11th on the list."

Why do they have to scrape together even 600 million?

Movie stars like Zhang Ziyi always use marketing at key moments to elevate their image.

That's how it works when you're on a celebrity ranking list.

Her presence on the Forbes Celebrity List is quite evident, with an annual income of 6900 million, higher than Liu Xiang's.

Other celebrities on the list include Fan Bingbing with 3000 million and Zhou Xun with 2000 million.

Last year, Gao Yuanyuan became a sensation and signed many endorsement deals with Fengxing Media, earning a total of 3000 million yuan.

This is just net revenue, without deducting the studio's various costs and taxes.

Celebrities do earn a lot of money, but not as much as people make it out to be. Otherwise, these celebrities wouldn't be thinking about marrying into wealthy families or taking other unconventional paths.

The so-called sky-high salaries for film and television productions and variety shows only lasted for a few years, and there is a lot of "exaggeration" involved.

Mu Di heard the sarcasm in Jiang Yifeng's words and sighed, "I don't know what Zhang Ziyi is thinking. It's just a movie. Who knows what the result will be after it's released?"

Why not continue on Sisters Who Make Waves, let more people know her, and increase her fame?

Besides, isn't 1200 million a good deal? She works tirelessly all year, and that's probably all she'll ever earn.

Jiang Yifeng shook his head and said, "That's because you don't understand the allure of the Hong Kong entertainment circle."

Actors of Zhang Ziyi's generation believe that the Hong Kong entertainment circle is extremely important; her status and awards are inseparable from the strong support she received there.

Once a person's thought patterns are formed, they are very difficult to change.

In 2011, the actual influence of the Hong Kong entertainment circle had been declining, but there were still a lot of artists who fawned over it.

Huayi Brothers is still collaborating with the Hong Kong entertainment circle. The directors of Project H are mostly from Hong Kong and Taiwan. Huang Xiaoming happily recognized Chen Lan as his godmother and even accepted a slut as his partner.

If it weren't for Jiang Yifeng's appearance, Yang Mi and Liu Yifei would also be making it in the Hong Kong entertainment circle.

Yang Mi, a top female celebrity in mainland China, has also accepted Liu Kaiwei, a relatively unknown celebrity.

Zhang Ziyi's decision to lose money in order to mend her relationship with the Hong Kong entertainment circle may seem abnormal, but it was actually inevitable.

But once she makes this decision, the road ahead will become increasingly difficult.

After all, Ip Man's downfall had a significant impact on the life of this legendary master.

Although many people jokingly call this movie "The Legend of Gong Er", Liang Chao's portrayal of Ip Man is unconvincing, making Gong Er seem ridiculous.

Unless Wang Jia hasn't made up her mind, she might reshoot some footage and change the story's background.

Otherwise, given the collapse of Ip Man's career, the movie "The Grandmaster" just feels awkward no matter how you look at it.

Wong Kar-wai's movies must have a sense of pretentiousness. If the characters are flawed, they're just pretentious and the movie won't do well at the box office or in terms of reviews.

Even if Zhang Ziyi wins awards in Hong Kong and Taiwan again for this film, it will not be nearly as glorious as it was in her previous life.

Moreover, the Golden Horse Awards had already been tarnished by Jiang Yifeng, and its reputation and influence were declining.

Continuing to participate in Sisters Who Make Waves and taking the controversial route is the best choice for Zhang Ziyi.

However, she was caught up in the situation and couldn't see the bigger picture, so she chose the wrong path.

After reaching an agreement with Fengxing Media and signing a compensation contract, Zhang Ziyi quickly took action.

On the morning of October 14th, she posted a Weibo post.

"Ip Man was a kung fu master, and it was under his tutelage that Bruce Lee became a kung fu superstar."

Because of my participation in the show "Sisters Who Make Waves," Master Ip Man has been misunderstood by many. I hereby express my apologies and have made the following decision:
I will be withdrawing from the recording of Sisters Who Make Waves Season 2, and @YanDanchen will take my place.

We hope everyone cherishes our kung fu culture and doesn't smear kung fu masters like Ip Man. We also urge everyone to pay attention to the film *The Grandmaster*.

Zhang Ziyi's Weibo post reflects the thoughts of the Hong Kong entertainment circle.

They are still unwilling to give up the Ip Man IP and want to take advantage of the situation to salvage Ip Man's reputation.

After all, besides the Ip Man series starring Donnie Yen, there's also a small cash cow that can be used to make sequels.

For a time, news articles about Ip Man's various amazing deeds were everywhere, and there were also articles praising Wing Chun.

The Southern Media Group joined forces, creating a powerful momentum.

This is how the Hong Kong entertainment industry used to promote itself, and it was very effective.

This time, however, it didn't work. On one hand, the show "Sisters Who Make Waves" was too popular, and netizens had uncovered too much information beforehand, making it too difficult to correct.

On the other hand, Fengxing Media is also making efforts, with its self-media accounts also "popularizing science".

With the advent of the Internet era, the influence of traditional media has been greatly weakened, while the influence of online platforms and self-media has grown significantly.

The Ip Man IP is beyond saving.

Jiang Yifeng was quite satisfied with the situation; he had simply done a good deed on a whim.

For the next two weeks, Jiang Yifeng was quite busy, filming Pacific Rim while recording the Sisters Who Make Waves program.

Filming for Pacific Rim Season 11 wrapped up on November 3rd, and the series entered post-production.

The second season of Sisters Who Make Waves has also entered a stable period, with the show enjoying both high popularity and positive reviews.

Jiang Yifeng felt much more relaxed immediately.

But he didn't take a complete rest. Instead, he began a period of "training"—learning martial arts from several of He Bei's martial arts masters in preparation for the rapid pursuit next year.

Every man has a dream of being a chivalrous knight-errant, and Jiang Yifeng is no exception.

He is very interested in martial arts and combat sports, and he studies them very seriously.

To this end, he even rented a venue near his home and designed various props to facilitate practice.

On the morning of November 5th, Li Yitong arrived at the venue.

She felt she had arrived quite early, so she opened the door and went inside, only to find Tian Qianwei already there, her hair damp with sweat, indicating that she had been practicing for a long time.

Li Yitong said with a smile, "Xiao Tian, ​​you're here so early. You're really hardworking."

Looking at Li Yitong's smile, her eyes crinkling with sweetness that melted one's heart, Tian Qianwei said without any pretense, "Don't smile at me like that, I can't resist, your smile is too sweet! No wonder you have so many fans!"

After Li Yitong joined the 101 girl group, she also had some minor adjustments to her face, including a slight modification to her nose, which made her face look more three-dimensional and her smiling eyes more prominent.

With professional facial expression training and makeup and styling, her smile is indeed very sweet now.

Compared to her previous life, Li Yitong rose to fame alongside the 101 girl group, achieving fame earlier and brimming with more energy.

This makes her smile even more infectious, earning her the nickname "the energetic beauty of the empire" from her Japanese fans.

Tian Qianwei wiped her sweat and said, "I want to learn from Kobe. Have you ever seen Beijing at 4 a.m.?"

Seeing Tian Qianwei making a joke, Li Yitong also said, "Go for it, Xiao Tian, ​​the future is yours."

After saying this, the two women looked at each other and laughed together.

"Oh dear, I saw two big idiots first thing in the morning."

"Exactly, only they can laugh so happily. They're carefree and simple-minded, which is a good thing."

Just as Tian Qianwei and Li Yitong were laughing, Song Zuer and Yang Caiyu appeared in the venue, and the scene immediately became tense.

This venue was arranged by Jiang Yifeng for martial arts training.

Song Zuer and Tian Qianwei both practiced martial arts diligently for their roles as witches and were constantly competing with each other.

As for Li Yitong and Yang Caiyu, it's because the 101 girl group started trying different styles.

After the success of two consecutive albums, the 101 girl group has accumulated a large number of fans in the Pan-Asian region, and their next album will introduce the concept of ancient Chinese style.

On the one hand, it's appropriate to promote traditional Chinese style songs with Chinese elements; on the other hand, it opens up new development paths for girl groups.

For example, the theme song of the TV series "The Legend of Wu Zetian" starring Fan Bingbing, "Watching from the Wall", was sung by the girl group 101.

Li Yitong graduated from the Beijing Dance Academy and is the dance lead in the dance troupe;
Yang Caiyu can sing and dance, making her an all-rounder in the dance troupe.

Once a traditional Chinese style song is released, these two will need to perform folk dances or even martial arts dances, so they need to strengthen their practice in this area.

They also came to the venue and practiced with Jiang Yifeng.

Actually, the girl group was on vacation according to the schedule.

The 101 girl group returned to Yanjing on November 2nd. They were very busy releasing an album recently.

After they returned, the company gave them a two-week vacation so they could rest well.

Jiang Yifeng's management of the girl group is quite scientific; he doesn't exploit them indiscriminately.

Celebrities who are too tired lack energy and their charm will be greatly reduced.

However, Yang Caiyu was too career-driven. She only took one day off before finding an excuse to practice dancing and went to Jiang Yifeng's venue to practice.

Within the girl group, Li Yitong and Yang Caiyu were the least compatible.

Seeing how hard Yang Caiyu was working, Li Yitong followed her over.

The two women met Tian Qianwei and Song Zuer here.

Yang Caiyu got involved with Liu Yifei and Shu Chang, and naturally became close to Song Zuer.

Li Yitong and Tian Qianwei got along very well and became a couple.

This resulted in a 2v2 situation.

Hearing Song Zuer and Yang Caiyu's mockery, Tian Qianwei said loudly, "We're just having fun, what's it to you?"
Besides, we're not being silly; we're just trying to maintain a childlike innocence and happiness.

I spoke with the boss yesterday, and he gave me and Sister Tong a nickname: Tong Xin Wei Min.

Do you understand? This is Tong Xinwei Min!

Seeing Tian Qianwei's smug look, Song Zuer said to Yang Caiyu, "Why don't we also come up with a group name?"
Let me think... how about calling it the Ancestral Heirloom Jade?

Yang Caiyu complained, "This name is too common and lacks any grandeur."

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Yifeng walked in. He patted Song Zuer's little head and said, "If we want to sound imposing, let's call it meeting our ancestors. Seeing you is like seeing our ancestors, how imposing!"

Jiang Yifeng was just joking, but it hit Song Zuer's aesthetic point.

The little girl isn't very educated, but she likes names that sound fierce.

She clapped her hands and said, "This is a good name, let's call it Meeting the Ancestor!"

"Did you hear that, Xiaotian? From now on, whenever you meet us, it'll be like meeting your ancestors!"

Tian Qianwei's aesthetic sense is similar to Song Zuer's.

Upon hearing Song Zuer's words, Xiao Tian's big eyes revealed a look of envy.

Jiang Yifeng shook his head at the sight.

No one is perfect, and aesthetic sense can be gradually accumulated and cultivated.

Tian Qianwei and Song Zuer are at least able to endure hardship; they have been training very hard during this period of martial arts practice.

The two women competed with each other, persevered, and made great progress.

(End of this chapter)