Reborn in the Hong Kong entertainment industry in the 1980s

"Luo Sheng, I assure you, I will give you definite news today." Lu Sheng was practically swearing an oath.

"Alright, for Ji Sheng's sake, I'll wait one more day." Luo Gui said and hung up the phone.

Lu Sheng paced around the office a few times, flipped through the newspaper, and finally tossed this hot potato to Charlie.

So, not long after Hu Xiaoxiao finished reading the newspaper, Charlie called.

"Xiaoxiao, several advertisers from the TV station have sent you gifts. Come and pick them up when you have time." Charlie's attitude was very amiable. He said, "Regarding your contract, Lu Sheng originally wanted to report to Qiu Sheng before making a decision, but Qiu Sheng is on vacation and it's inconvenient for him to answer the phone, so it's been delayed until today."

Mr. Qiu is the general manager of Baogang Television.

From Charlie's words, Hu Xiaoxiao knew that the contract she needed must have been secured. She suppressed a smile and said as calmly as possible, "Okay, I'm free right now, I'll go over there."

"Just come directly to the HR department."

"no problem."

After carefully tidying herself up, Hu Xiaoxiao took a taxi to the TV station.

Charlie was already waiting for Hu Xiaoxiao in the personnel department. He was initially a little dissatisfied, but seeing how good Hu Xiaoxiao's image was, he realized that Baozhu TV had also set its sights on her.

They also think that being beautiful means you can do whatever you want. All the previous Miss Hong Kong winners who were good-looking have used their beauty to do whatever they wanted.

But Charlie's tone was still full of complaint, "Xiaoxiao, you've put me in such a difficult position. You've deceived me so badly, and now you've pulled this stunt on me. You're not being fair."

Hu Xiaoxiao sat down at her desk and said, "Charlie didn't explain the contract to me in detail beforehand, and I didn't know that the TV station had two types of contracts. Now that I do know, I should definitely choose the one that suits me best. Besides, it's not like I'm not going to sign with the TV station. I've been discussing it with the company in a friendly manner. How can you say I lied to you? If I had signed with another company without telling you, that would be lying to you."

Charlie said irritably, "The TV station has signed so many people, but none of them are like you. You haven't even filmed a single drama, yet you dare to make demands. Lu Sheng almost cursed me to death."

“I don’t believe it. Lu Sheng is such a good person, and I bring in so much advertising revenue for the company. Why would he scold you? He should be praising you. If Charlie hadn’t thought highly of me and helped me many times, I wouldn’t have chosen Laibao Hong Kong and Taiwan first. I probably would have signed with an outside entertainment company like Zhao Yanhong.”

Charlie felt a little better after hearing Hu Xiaoxiao's words. He took out the newly printed contract and showed it to Hu Xiaoxiao. "This is the contract you wanted. Take a look, and if you have no objections, sign it."

Hu Xiaoxiao took it and carefully looked through it.

Charlie sat down beside him and tried to persuade him again: "Are you really not sure about this? Although a part-time contract offers freedom, it doesn't guarantee income for newcomers, and the future is even more uncertain."

The reason veteran actors get these contracts is because they have acting skills, guarantee high viewership ratings, and the company pays them more—it's a benefit the company gives to long-term employees. But you're a newcomer, paid at the newcomer level, and you won't earn much at all.

Hu Xiaoxiao turned to a page of the contract and said, "It's okay, I have advertising revenue."

Charlie was speechless. He took out another contract and placed it in front of Hu Xiaoxiao.

"This is Lu Sheng's idea. We can give you a per-unit contract, but there's one condition: the company wants your advertising agency rights for three years. That means that within three years, all the advertisements you accept will have to go through the company, and the company will take a commission. Of course, the company will also proactively help you negotiate some advertisements and provide legal assistance."

In other words, if a dispute arises, the company will step in to resolve it.

Charlie added, "This contract may seem like the company is taking advantage of you, but it's actually beneficial to you. Signing an advertising contract with a business isn't just a matter of signing your name; the legal departments of major companies aren't just sitting around doing nothing."

As a newcomer, you have no idea how much advertising or endorsement fees to negotiate, nor are you aware of your market value. You might even earn less from shooting ads yourself than the company receives after taking its commission. Our company is professional in this area, with dedicated market research and analysis personnel. We'll secure advertising fees for you that will be at least as high as possible.

Furthermore, without a company to back you up and keep an eye on things, you wouldn't even know when you've suffered a major loss. This contract is like paying for peace of mind; with a company to bail you out, the money won't be much less, but the hassle will be significantly reduced.

Hu Xiaoxiao took it again and read it once more.

In her mind, the reason she cultivated good relationships with advertisers was not only because she liked making money, but also for a more important reason: to exchange her commercial value for freedom.

Hu Xiaoxiao carefully put away the two contracts and said, "The contracts are quite lengthy. May I take them back and study them carefully?"

"Yes, but it's best not to disclose the contents of the contract to outsiders. Otherwise, if it has a negative impact on the company, the company's legal department may cause you trouble."

"I'll be a company employee from now on, so of course I won't cause any trouble for the company."

"Can we sign it today? Lu Sheng's task for me is to get you to sign the contract today."

I'll decide before you get off work.

Hu Xiaoxiao took the contract and, without delay, took a taxi directly to the law firm.

Song Tianrui was already waiting at the law firm. He took the two contracts from Hu Xiaoxiao, carefully reviewed them line by line, and analyzed them for her.

"Generally speaking, there shouldn't be any problems. The per-episode contracts are similar to those of other artists. After all, Hong Kong TVB is a big company, and doing anything too outrageous would damage its image. However, there's one detail you might need to pay attention to..."

Song Tianrui pointed to one of the requirements and said, "This requires you to film at least sixty episodes for the company every year. There's a reason behind this."

Hu Xiaoxiao peeked out and asked, "What's going on?"

Song Tianrui said, "As far as I know, the minimum number of episodes stipulated for other artists is usually one or two per year. But here, you see, it says the number of episodes, a minimum of 60 episodes per year. In terms of TV dramas, that's at most two dramas. If it's longer, a single drama can have 60 episodes."

Hu Xiaoxiao nodded, "That's true."

“The problem is that you signed a contract for the entire series, not just a number of episodes. That means he can divide those 60 episodes into 10, 20, or 30 episodes, or even more, for you to film.” Song Tianrui looked at Hu Xiaoxiao and said:

"Do you understand? He might assign you only minor supporting roles with very little screen time. You might only appear in one episode of a show. What does one episode mean? It means you're practically an extra, except you'll have a few more shots than an extra."

Hearing this, Hu Xiaoxiao understood, "The company might be using my fame to promote others."