Chinese entertainment: Top stars have no holidays

cafes.

Jiang Bai and Xu Xu sat opposite each other.

"You studied finance?"

"You're 21 this year?"

"Is it from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics?"

"Highly educated!"

Xu Xu spoke in a kind tone, as if he had struck gold.

While a 211 finance and economics university might only be considered average in the financial industry, it's definitely a highly educated institution in the entertainment industry.

Even among artists who didn't have formal training, her academic background is considered top-notch.

Xu Xu was even more satisfied and was already thinking about how he could release some press releases to boast about signing Jiang Bai.

The two had a detailed discussion.

Xu Xu was mainly introducing the specifics of "Drama Cute Studio" to Jiang Bai.

However, Jiang Bai actually understands "Drama Love" better than Xu Xu does now, since he has tried countless times to understand what he missed when he regrets it.

Jukeai Studio is a studio under Juku Media, a subsidiary of Cehua Film & Television.

Primarily focused on the youth romance genre, while also engaging in drama production and artist management.

To say it was very successful, it really wasn't.

But it wouldn't be accurate to say it was unsuccessful.

Simply launching Hu Yitian into a limited-time top star is already an incredibly successful achievement.

However, Hu Yitian was both his blessing and his curse.

After its establishment, the studio set a development goal of signing a complete newcomer and operating with the "low-budget hit + star-making" model.

Hu Yitian was their first "project," and also their only successful one.

During the period when Hu Yitian was signed, he starred in all the male lead dramas of Ju Ke'ai Studio, forming a strong bond between "Ju Ke'ai = Hu Yitian, Hu Yitian = Ju Ke'ai".

The benefits are naturally the allocation of resources. After signing with the drama "Cute", the newcomer will debut as the male lead, and can also continuously gain exposure in the projects of the parent company, Cehua, by leveraging the parent company's publicity channels.

It's fair to say that signing with this studio is actually more beneficial for newcomers than signing with Cehua, the parent company, or its subsidiary Juku.

Because Cehua and Juku each have many signed artists, it's very difficult for newcomers to get good resources when they sign with these big companies.

Although Jukeai is an independent studio, they really promote people. They give male leads right away, even in low-budget campus web dramas!

After signing with the drama agency, Hu Yitian has only played supporting roles twice. One was his debut role in "Rush to the Dead Summer" as the male lead's high school classmate, which was considered a warm-up for him to become the male lead.

Another time was when he played a supporting role in "Go Go Squid!", but this was to pave the way for the sequel "My Era, Your Era" and also to secure him the lead role!

Apart from that, he has never played any other supporting male roles!

With such a strong allocation of resources and the backing of a large company, it's an absolutely fantastic start.

No newcomer looking to enter the industry could get a better opportunity than this.

Hu Yitian ruined his own career, even though the drama became a huge hit and he became a top campus celebrity.

However, shortly after gaining fame, he was embroiled in a scandal involving a late-night rendezvous, and his chat logs with an ordinary person complaining about his collaborators in the entertainment industry were exposed online.

Hu Yitian's career was abruptly cut short. He debuted at his peak, enjoyed popularity for over a year, and then his career declined steadily.

Even so, Ju Ke'ai did not give up on Hu Yitian and continued to feed him male lead dramas.

"The Legendary Twins" aired on CCTV-8.

"Detective of the Republic of China" uses a dual male lead format to piggyback on the BL (Boys' Love) adaptation trend.

"My Era, Your Era" is the sequel to the national drama king.

"A Storm Rises by the Railing" attempts to transition into the serious drama market.

"Time Travel Romance" shifts to a different genre: fantasy.

No matter how hard he tried, with 2-3 leading roles every year, from sweet romance to period dramas to Republican era dramas to period dramas, and with stable exposure and efforts to explore new markets for Hu Yitian's career transition, he still couldn't get back to the top.

Finally, not giving up, they arranged another film for him, "Unrequited Love," in an attempt to return him to the comfort zone of school, but it still flopped silently.

Later, in 2023, Hu Yitian's contract expired and he chose to leave. The drama company simply cut off the artist management business and returned to the model of focusing on drama production.

For Jiang Bai, an outsider without formal training, signing with the Cute Drama Studio is arguably the best opportunity to enter the industry.

"Our contract offers the best benefits in the industry."

"The initial contract is only for six years, binding newcomers to a training period, with the company giving them priority in training and allocating resources accordingly."

「前期2-3年培养期分成是7:3，公司7，艺人3。」

"However, after you become famous, there is an additional clause that the revenue sharing will be changed to 50/50."

After introducing the company, Xu Xu began to discuss the most important matter: the signing of the contract.

Jiang Bai, who had been listening quietly, finally spoke up: "Is this a full-fledged contract?"

"Huh?" Xu Xu looked at Jiang Bai in surprise, not expecting him to know this. He smiled and explained, "Newcomers naturally have full contracts. Any agency that signs a newcomer has to sign a full contract."

"Otherwise, why would the company be willing to invest resources in training new talent?"

A full contract means that all aspects of film, television, business, and variety shows are contracted to the management company. Some management companies, if they have the ability to produce records, will also add a music contract.

After 2022, when talent agencies signed full contracts with newcomers, these contracts included short video contracts as well.

This means that the company can share in all the revenue generated by the artist.

Only established celebrities have the right and appeal to sign separate contracts with different companies.

A common practice is to sign film and television contracts with video platforms, commercial contracts with companies that have strong business resources and can negotiate major endorsements, and then sign other benefits with talent agencies.

However, this agreement has nothing to do with Jiang Bai for the time being.

He was just asking casually; he was more concerned about something else.

"Does the contract stipulate that the company has priority in allocating resources?" Jiang Bai asked, his brows furrowed.

"Uh..." Xu Xu nodded matter-of-factly, "Of course."

The so-called priority allocation right of resources simply means that the company has the right to decide whether you should film or not, and what you should film.

Generally, only companies with their own drama production capabilities would have this requirement.

This allows the company to require its contracted artists to act in films produced by the company, or even only in films produced by the company itself.

The advantage is that if the artist becomes popular, the company can sign the artist to act in their own productions at a price lower than the market price, and then take a share of the actor's salary through the agency contract.

They both hired a top-tier actor to film the movie.

Using your own artists can save at least half the price compared to using outside artists, since the company can take 50% of the fees, which is essentially a transfer of money from one hand to the other.

Although artists can still receive a 50% cut for external projects, internal projects are produced with the company's own funding. By using their own artists to reduce production costs, the company generates greater profits.

Like the operation model of the Cute Studio, it is to sign a full-contract newcomer → produce a male lead for a self-made drama → the drama becomes a hit → the artist becomes a top star → give back to the studio for subsequent dramas → monetize through commercials/variety shows → and steadily output self-produced works.

If managed well, the Drama Cute Studio could even leverage Jiang Bai's popularity to promote other newcomers in his subsequent dramas, thus creating a continuous stream of talent through mentorship between veterans and newcomers.

Furthermore, the company can control artists by prioritizing resource allocation. If there is a conflict between the artist and the company, the company can freeze the artist at any time, leaving you without any work for the entire contract period.

Yes, just like Jaywalk Studio in its early to mid-stages.

However, the production company, Jukeai Studio, wasn't that heartless as to prepare a 15-year slave contract for the newcomer.

Or rather, most reputable companies in the industry typically offer newcomers a first contract of 5-7 years, with contracts exceeding 10 years being rare.

However, for Jiang Bai, having the company hold the priority allocation right for these resources is very disadvantageous.

"Brother Xu, I don't want to leave all the decision about which roles I take to the company."

Jiang Bai said somewhat reluctantly, "If the company tells me what to film, I have to film it. That's too much of a lack of autonomy."

"Most importantly, if I don't have the right to choose which roles to take on outside projects, wouldn't the company be able to easily sideline me?"

"It's really unsettling to leave the fate of one's career entirely to the company."

For most newcomers, whether or not they have the right to choose which roles to take is actually irrelevant.

They even wished they could sign with a company that had the ability to produce its own dramas, so they could get roles in those productions by virtue of their own connections.

Just like Hu Yitian, even if his career is half-collapsed, as long as the company doesn't give up on him, he can still film 2-3 leading roles every year, with a stable income and exposure.

But Jiang Bai is different; he has a vision for the future and knows which dramas will be hits and which will flop.

Apart from "A Love So Beautiful", none of the dramas produced by the Cute Studio are very good. The best one, "Detective of the Republic", is only moderately popular and can hardly be considered a hit drama.

If he had a choice, he would certainly prefer to take on more outside roles. With the company's help, he still has a chance to secure good resources.

Although Xu Xu listened to Jiang Bai's request with a smile, he said nonchalantly, "Your worry is unnecessary."

"The contract will contain detailed terms. After signing you, the company will arrange at least two leading roles in film and television dramas for you every year. One of them will definitely be the male lead, and the other will guarantee that your role will be no less than the second male lead."

"In this way, at least until the contract expires, you don't have to worry about the company abandoning you."

It turned out to be the case.

Jiang Bai nodded thoughtfully.

No wonder Hu Yitian was still able to star in at least 2-3 films and television dramas every year after the scandal broke.

After his contract expired in 2023, his resources plummeted, and he only filmed three movies in four years.

It turns out that the contract stipulated that he should be fed resources.

The artists signed to this show's cute studio really get great treatment!

But Jiang Bai still wanted the right to choose his own roles.

After a moment of silence, he compromised and said, "How about this, the company doesn't need to arrange two lead roles in a film every year. I just need the company to guarantee the resources of one film per year."

"In return, the company also needs to give me the right to take on outside projects independently."

"This..." Xu Xu hesitated.

Although he wanted to sign Jiang Bai, he was definitely aiming to make him famous, or even to make him a top star.

But this doesn't mean Jiang Bai will definitely become famous.

Even the largest film and television companies in the Chinese entertainment industry, or even platforms like Tencent and Taobao, cannot guarantee that they can make anyone famous just by wanting to promote them.

Small fame comes from being praised, great fame comes from fate!

If Jiang Bai can't make her popular no matter what, then reducing the number of lead roles in the contract each year can save the company a lot of money, especially in the last 3-4 years of the contract.

Jukeai is a newly established studio, so it needs to pay more attention to cost control.

If we agree to Jiang Bai's request, even if Jiang Bai becomes a huge star in the future, the company won't lose anything. Taking on outside projects will still make money for the company!

As for giving him the right to choose roles outside of acting, the only consequence would be that Jiang Bai would no longer be able to be sidelined.

But which reputable company signs artists just to sideline them?

Moreover, as long as the company's internal drama scripts are good enough, Jiang Bai has no reason to insist on filming external dramas instead of the company's own productions.

After thinking it over, Xu Xu, feeling it wasn't entirely impossible, stood up and said, "I can't make a decision on this request."

"I need to call Mr. Dai, the person in charge of the studio."

"Hold on."

Watching Xu Xu walk out of the coffee shop to make a call, Jiang Bai calmly picked up his coffee and took a sip.

Negotiation is nothing more than constantly testing the other party's bottom line.

He believes that this request does not cross the line of the drama's cuteness at all, and is even mutually beneficial.

He's not in a hurry.