Chapter 689
Yang Ying Arrives Uninvited
"President Jiang, Yang Ying is here, she's right behind us. Huang Xiaoming is here too. He was here just now, but he didn't let me talk to you. He took a phone call and left." Zhou Hao muttered quietly.
These two are here?
Jiang Yang's heart skipped a beat. He had been completely absorbed in directing the scene and hadn't noticed the two extra people.
When Zhou Hao reminded him, he glanced at the corner of the set and saw Yang Ying standing there, glancing at him from time to time.
What are they doing here?
Jiang Yang pondered to himself.
At yesterday's press conference, Huang Xiaoming said he was optimistic about "New Life" and admired his talent, saying a lot of nice things, but the arrogance in his eyes was unmistakable, clearly showing that he looked down on him.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have hurriedly turned around and left with Yang Ying right after the press conference ended, without even having the patience to chat for a few more minutes. His attitude towards him was exactly the same as Hou Hongliang's—polite on the surface but contemptuous on the inside.
“I saw Huang Xiaoming just answer a phone call. It sounded like Guo Tingting was calling…” Zhou Hao leaned closer and lowered his voice.
Guo Tingting.
Jiang Yang recognized the name; she was a well-known agent in the industry.
Solid industry experience and a deep network of contacts.
She worked at Huayi Brothers in her early years, witnessing and participating in the establishment of Huayi's artist management system during its heyday. She also returned to the Central Academy of Drama to recruit and mentor newcomers. Yang Ming, the founder of Taiyang Chuanhe, was once mentored by her and interned in her team.
He is a veteran in the brokerage industry and has a large network of key contacts within the industry.
Last year, after Huang Xiaoming had a falling out with his former agent Huang Bin, he specifically recruited her to be his exclusive agent.
Not only was he responsible for connecting Huang Xiaoming with his personal performing arts resources, but he also took care of artist cooperation matters for Mingjia Capital, becoming Huang Xiaoming's most capable right-hand man on his journey to transform into a capital investor.
Relying on Huang Xiaoming's fame and capital strength, Guo Tingting can directly access high-end resources in the industry and has a certain say in artist management and capital cooperation. Her status is highly tied to Huang Xiaoming.
Zhou Hao continued, "It seems that something happened to Huang Xiaoming. When you were directing the film, I went over to listen to what was going on, but I didn't hear it very clearly. I just vaguely heard something about 'Nao Tai Tao'."
Upon hearing the words "Nao Tai Tao," Jiang Yang understood what was going on. He took out his phone and opened the trending topics, and sure enough, he saw that the hashtag #HuangXiaomingNaoTaiTao# had climbed to the bottom of the trending list.
Clicking through reveals nothing but parody videos from netizens.
It was a clip from eight years ago when Huang Xiaoming sang the Olympic promotional song and mispronounced "not at all" as "Nao Tai Tao" that was edited into various parody versions and spread wildly.
This public opinion not only fermented on Weibo, but also led many content creators on Bilibili to create parody videos.
What's even more interesting is that these videos also went viral on a short video app called Ame, which was recently launched by ByteDance.
It's still in its early stages; there are no celebrities joining, and very few bloggers on the platform. Most of the content consists of ordinary people sharing their daily lives.
The fact that they deliberately pushed out Huang Xiaoming's "Nao Tai Tao" clip this time is clearly an attempt to attract attention by using celebrity scandals.
Zhou Hao leaned over and saw Jiang Yang scrolling through Douyin. He couldn't help but curl his lip and curse, "This Ame, I downloaded it before. It's a new thing. I guess it's another gossip app. Whenever a celebrity has a scandal, someone will upload the video to it. I don't think this app will ever grow big."
Jiang Yang remained silent, but he knew perfectly well that it was perfectly normal for Zhou Hao to have such thoughts.
It's 2016, and Weibo is undoubtedly the main battleground for gossip in the entertainment industry.
In its early years, Weibo rose to prominence by attracting celebrities and building a large fan base. It is positioned as a comprehensive social platform with an audience that spans all age groups, from middle-aged artists to young fans. Everyone is used to reading gossip and following trending topics on Weibo. Celebrity announcements, clarifications, and the fermentation of public opinion are almost all inseparable from Weibo.
Bilibili, on the other hand, started with ACG content and later gradually expanded into areas such as parody videos and film editing. Its audience is mostly young students and young professionals, focusing on fun and entertaining content. It was also an important platform for the spread of the "Nao Tai Tao" parody video.
It will only get worse in the future.
As for Ame, which later became Douyin, it's understandable that Zhou Hao wasn't optimistic about it. After all, it had just been launched and hadn't found a clear positioning yet, plus Kuaishou already existed.
Kuaishou emerged as early as 2011, five years earlier than Douyin, but it has never really taken off. The core reason is that its target audience is more focused on the lower-tier market, targeting users in second- and third-tier cities and towns. Its content mainly consists of down-to-earth daily life and funny clips, and it has little connection with the entertainment industry. Therefore, in the view of industry insiders like Zhou Hao, Douyin will most likely be like Kuaishou, failing to gain traction and becoming a mainstream platform for gossip dissemination.
"Stop chatting, you direct the scene, come sit over here." Jiang Yang put away his phone, got up and moved to the side, gesturing for Zhou Hao to sit in front of the monitor.
Zhou Hao was flattered and quickly sat down, his hands unsure of what to do. He stared intently at the monitor, secretly trying to mimic Jiang Yang's directing style as he watched, not daring to show off his skills in front of Jiang Yang.
At first, like many others in the industry, he thought that Jiang Yang was just using the title of director to make money and had no real talent. So he secretly planned to use the film "New Life" to develop his own directorial style and make a name for himself.
But just now, watching Jiang Yang direct the film, I realized that Jiang Yang's professional level is more than one level higher than mine. His directing is precise, his control is excellent, and his understanding of camera language far surpasses mine.
This means that Jiang Yang could kick him out of the director's position at any time. The only reason he kept him was because Jiang Yang was too busy to take care of him and was just giving him a chance.
Jiang Yang can give this opportunity, and he can also take it away at any time.
Therefore, he dares not think about his own style at all now, and only hopes to keep this project, to make it satisfactory to Jiang Yang, so that he will not be easily replaced.
Moreover, he could see that Jiangyang's momentum was growing very rapidly.
Yesterday, Huang Xiaoming and Yang Ying only got to attend the press conference because of Huang Lei's connections. Today, they took the initiative to come to him, which is enough to show that they have already taken notice of Jiang Yang's strength. It is very likely that Jiang Yang will get in touch with Huang Xiaoming and his wife.
Everyone knows that Huang Xiaoming is now fully transitioning to the capital market. Just this April, he officially entered the investment circle as the chairman of Mingjia Capital. He also has deep connections with many film and television production companies such as Huace Film & TV and Tangde Film & TV, and has even participated in the investment of many film projects. He holds a lot of resources and industry influence.
If he could get in touch with Jiang Yang, and leverage Jiang Yang's connection with Huang Xiaoming, he could stay informed about the latest industry developments and secure more high-quality project resources. This would be far better than him fighting alone in Hengdian.
More importantly, Jiang Yang has a good reputation in the industry. It is well known that he is generous to his subordinates. Working for Jiang Yang will not only allow you to learn real skills, but you will also earn a good salary. Naturally, he would cherish this opportunity.
Jiang Yang turned around and looked in Yang Ying's direction.
Yang Ying stood by the rest area not far away, dressed in an outfit that suited the tastes of young people.
She wore a simple white cropped knit top that accentuated her slender waist, paired with high-waisted straight-leg jeans that made her legs look even longer. She completed the look with white sneakers, giving her a fresh and lively vibe, a departure from her usual glamorous gowns for events.
She made a point of inquiring about the aesthetic preferences of young people like Jiang Yang and dressed up carefully.
She wasn't particularly tall, but her excellent proportions made her appear exceptionally upright. Throughout, she maintained perfect posture, her hands naturally folded in front of her lower abdomen, her neck slightly straight. Every gesture exuded a deliberately maintained elegance and composure. Even when simply standing still, she paid close attention to her demeanor. Her makeup was exquisite yet understated, and her eyes held a perfectly measured gentle smile. Every movement was graceful and appropriate, as if she were afraid of leaving a bad impression on Jiang Yang.
"Sister Baby," Jiang Yang stood up and greeted her, "Sorry, I didn't notice you were here."
"It's nearby, so I just stopped by to take a look."
Yang Ying laughed and said, "I also showed up uninvited for your press conference yesterday."
"Where's Brother Xiaoming?" Jiang Yang asked.
“He’s over there, he has something to take care of right now,” Yang Ying emphasized. “It’s nothing.”
Little things?
Jiang Yang understood that this was no small matter for Huang Xiaoming; rather, it was a tough battle concerning his reputation and resources.
Behind this lies a power struggle between agents and artists after their contracts are terminated.
This kind of drama has been played out countless times in the entertainment industry.
When Huang Xiaoming first debuted, he had no fame or resources. It was Huang Bin who spotted him at first glance and personally guided him to film sets, negotiate endorsements, and build connections. The closer the two worked back then, the uglier it is now that they have fallen out.
In their early years of collaboration, they were like true brothers, running errands together, negotiating profit sharing together, and struggling together from the bottom up. Huang Bin deserves most of the credit for Huang Xiaoming's journey from a small-time actor to his current position as a capital investor.
Huang Bin secured all the Dove and Chow Tai Fook endorsements, as well as mainstream film and television resources, through his connections within the industry.
But the entertainment industry is the most realistic place; there are no brothers forever, only interests.
Once an artist gains independence and wants to control their own resources and transform their career, they inevitably part ways with the agent who made them famous, which inevitably leads to a struggle for core interests. This is the case with Huang Xiaoming and Huang Bin.
Huang Xiaoming established Mingjia Capital, intending to manage his own capital and resources, and no longer be controlled by Huang Bin.
Huang Bin, on the other hand, was unwilling to let his years of hard work go to waste, and he didn't want people in the industry to think that he was incompetent without Huang Xiaoming. This power struggle was destined to end badly from the moment the two broke up.
To put it bluntly, he wants to gradually reclaim the endorsement deals he personally secured for Huang Xiaoming and Yang Ying back then.
All resources are being allocated to the newly signed Zhao Liying.
Everyone in the industry knows that after Huang Bin signed Zhao Liying, he was determined to make her a star.
After all, Zhao Liying has good looks, acting skills, and is extremely versatile.
What Huang Bin needs to do is to prove to the capital in the industry with his actions that his ability to make Huang Xiaoming and Yang Ying famous was never because these two people were particularly outstanding, but because he himself has the ability to promote people and has the connections to access resources. If he were to change an artist, he could still push them to the top.
This practice of praising the new and belittling the old is an open secret in the entertainment industry.
Wang Jinhua single-handedly transformed Fan Bingbing from Jin Suo into "Fan Ye" (Master Fan), helping her break free from the constraints of Qiong Yao's films and secure numerous high-end endorsements and film and television resources.
However, Fan Bingbing later established his own studio and terminated his contract with Wang Jinhua. Wang Jinhua then turned around and promoted Li Bingbing.
Not only did they transfer the resources that originally belonged to Fan Bingbing to Li Bingbing, but they also secretly suppressed Fan Bingbing's reputation and forcefully promoted Li Bingbing to become an international film queen, proving with their strength that they were the ones who controlled the resources.
There was also the conflict between Zhao Lusi and Galaxy Cool Entertainment in her previous life. The company originally allocated all its resources to Zhao Lusi, but when Zhao Lusi wanted to terminate her contract and go solo, the company immediately withdrew all its resources and even exposed her negative news, turning around to promote other newcomers under the company.
Essentially, they are all just dramas about the struggle for interests after the agent and the artist terminate their contract.
What Huang Bin is doing now is exactly the same as what Wang Jinhua and Galaxy Cool Entertainment did back then.
He first wanted to ruin Huang Xiaoming's reputation, causing the brands he was working with to lose confidence in Huang Xiaoming and terminate their contracts. This way, he could legitimately replace these endorsement opportunities with his newly signed actress, Zhao Liying.
After all, Zhao Liying had already gained some fame with several period dramas, had a clean reputation, and was well-liked by the public, making it the perfect time for her to take on high-end endorsements.
What Huang Bin wants to do is use Huang Xiaoming's downfall to pave the way for Zhao Liying, showcasing his star-making ability to capital in the industry, just like he promoted Huang Xiaoming back then, to create another top star.
Moreover, Jiang Yang was also aware that Huang Bin's methods went far beyond these.
Back when Huang Bin was managing Yang Ying, he also helped her secure many high-end endorsements from brands like Dior and Chow Tai Fook. These endorsements were essentially secured by Huang Bin through his connections, especially with 4A advertising agencies, rather than by Yang Ying's own abilities.
Now that Huang Xiaoming and Yang Ying have both terminated their contracts with him, he naturally won't let Yang Ying off the hook. He'll first smear Huang Xiaoming to cut off Yang Ying's backing, and then slowly take back Yang Ying's endorsement resources, turning her from a top-tier endorser into an artist with downgraded resources. That's Huang Bin's plan.
It serves two purposes: retaliating against artists who terminate their contracts and simultaneously promoting newcomers.
How could Yang Ying not understand these things?
Having been in the entertainment industry for so many years, she has seen many such scenes of a tree falling and the monkeys scattering.
They also knew Huang Bin's personality.
Ruthless and vindictive.
Huang Xiaoming was made famous by Huang Bin, and now he can be suppressed by him like this, let alone her.
Next up is her.
Perhaps it's due to negative publicity, perhaps it's due to the revocation of her endorsements, or perhaps it's due to isolation by industry capital. At this moment, she doesn't even have the confidence to resist.
After all, all her core resources came from Huang Bin. Without Huang Bin's connections, she simply couldn't hold onto her endorsements and status.
The main problem is that they have a lot of buzz but no real work to show for it.
Jiang Yang looked towards Huang Xiaoming's direction. (End of Chapter)