"Director Li? Li Mingcheng? The director who spent several years knocking around Hollywood?"
"Yes, that’s him. He’s a big-shot director who returned from overseas, involved in international co-productions and large-scale projects. Just his reputation alone sounds grander than ours."
"Damn, really? So there are such pieces of work out there?"
Chu Tian laughed bitterly. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand. After all, this was just how the industry worked: fawning over the successful and trampling on the fallen.
If soone wanted to move to a bigger platform, it was their prerogative; he couldn’t really object.
"Fine. People strive for higher places, fair enough. But what about the breach of contract penalty? How much did they pay? Were the losses to the crew significant?"
"There were definitely losses. Whether it was the makeup test photos or the costus, nearly everything was wasted. Many elents needed to be changed, and so of the footage we’d already shot had to be scrapped and redone. The loss was probably over three million."
Is three million a lot? Actually, it isn’t. A large production crew’s daily living expenses alone can run into several hundred thousand, not to ntion location rentals, equipnt depreciation, and so on. Her departure ant re-renting locations and reshooting, which constituted the bulk of the costs. Costus and the like were just minor expenses in comparison.
"So, how much did she compensate?"
"I heard it was just over five hundred thousand."
"How much?"
They’d lost over three million, and she only compensated five hundred thousand? Chu Tian was about to grab his phone, intending to discuss this with the producers and company personnel. What was this? Were they treating his money like it was worthless? Was the company that much of a pushover, willing to absorb the loss themselves and accept such a pittance for a breach of contract—like tossing a few coins at a beggar to make them go away?!
Then he suddenly rembered Ren Ping was right beside him and quickly turned to call him over.
"What’s wrong, President Chu?"
"Ren Ping, right? Tell , what’s the deal with this Shen Qian? Who authorized settling for just five hundred thousand? How is the company handling the losses? Is your production team going to pay out of your own pockets to fill this hole?"
Chu Tian wasn’t particularly concerned about the three million itself. What bothered him was the precedent. Today it was three million. What about tomorrow? Thirty million? And the day after that? Three hundred million? How much capital did he have for these people to squander?
"It’s not like that, President Chu. This matter..."
Ren Ping wanted to explain but hesitated, unsure where to begin.
At that mont, Wei Chuan, observing from the side, seed to understand. He guessed Chu Tian was probably unaware of certain things, and it also appeared he wasn’t too familiar with the dynamics of the entertainnt industry.
"Chu, you don’t know who Shen Qian is connected to, do you?"
"Connected to who? Didn’t you just say she’s with so Huatai Entertainnt?"
"It’s Huatai dia. You’ve heard of it, haven’t you?"
"Hm? What do you an? Huatai dia?"
As Chu Tian furrowed his brows in thought, Ren Ping, ever observant, quickly leaned in with a smile. "President Chu," he explained, "Huatai dia is the largest talent agency in the country. The company is part of the Huasheng Group. This group also includes Huayi Entertainnt, which is currently the largest film production company in the country, and Huai Records, the largest record company."
Upon hearing this, Chu Tian imdiately grasped the implication of Wei Chuan’s earlier comnt. So, the other party was so brazen because they had powerful backing, huh? Huasheng Group... Huai, Huatai, Huayi... This was one of the giants of the dostic entertainnt industry? And it seed they were a new powerhouse, ford from the rger of the Capital Circle and Beijing Film factions—incredibly strong. No wonder. But why did this still feel so damn frustrating? Just because their company was huge, a minor actor could act so recklessly?
Chu Tian felt a knot of discomfort in his chest, but now wasn’t the right ti to say anything. After all, there were so many people around, and he wasn’t so hotheaded youngster.
"Alright, let’s go over and take a look," Wei Chuan, an old hand in the industry who saw things more clearly, said, giving Chu Tian a light pat on the shoulder. It was an offer of an out, a way to defuse the situation.
Reviews
All reviews (0)