"What? Fog Studios actually dares to ask the legal department to demand liquidated damages? And it also sues us and the media for defamation?"
Near noon on September 19, Ikuo Sufang, who had just flown back from Hawaii last night and had not yet fully recovered his energy, walked into the office.
However, he still smelled faintly of alcohol. As soon as he sat down in his seat, before he could ask his secretary to get him a cup of coffee, he received the bad news from the secretary first.
He couldn't help but be a little surprised, "Why do they suddenly have such courage? Is that woman Matsumoto Keiko crazy! Do you really not want to turn on the phone?"
Unexpectedly, the secretary did not answer the question.
"Well, during the three days you went to Hawaii, didn't you read any Japanese newspapers? Didn't you hear any news from the industry?"
"No. Where can I find Japanese newspapers in Hawaii?"
Zhou Fangyuxiong became more and more confused, "I've only been away for three days, so nothing big happened by chance, right? Why do you ask? What's going on? Is there anything else I don't know about?"
"President, these are several newspapers from the past two days. Please read the headlines of the entertainment section..."
When the secretary laid out several newspapers in front of Ikuo Shu, he didn't need to think too hard because the titles alone were eye-catching enough.
"Super cast lineup! Special performance by all members! List announced!"
"Super cast performs Ginza Desire! The crew of "Black Leather Notepad" restarts!"
"Seicho Matsumoto personally designated a special cast list! Fans of the original book are celebrating!"
"Winning support from the film industry! Fog Studio's first Japanese drama will challenge the pay limit!"
"The extremely strong ambition of Fog Studios! Is the unconventional special lineup a need for publicity or a sign of respect for the original work?"...
You know, a major feature of Japanese dramas is that they pay more attention to the ranking of actors.
Therefore, when Japanese media reports and promotes TV dramas, they usually indicate the (single) starring role or (multiple) W starring roles. The cast list that appears at the end of the Japanese drama may also indicate special appearances after some actors.
As for special performances, they refer to the special participation of famous actors.
It can also be said that actors with a higher level than the main protagonist are hired to perform as supporting roles, and the performance fees are usually higher than the general market.
Like "Black Leather Notepad" now, there are about ten people in the special performance list, almost occupying most of the roles, which is simply unprecedented.
With Ikuo Suho's knowledge and experience in the entertainment industry, he could almost understand the latest trends of Fog Studios as long as he read these reports at a glance
And his immediate reaction was to couldn't help but exclaim again.
"How is this possible? How can Fog Studios use so many big-name stars? The 'Big Five' are going against us and supporting them!"
"Maybe. President, Keiko Matsumoto has a close relationship with Shochiku Pictures. Not only does she serve as the 'No. 1 Shochiku Actress', but she also cooperates closely in production and release. Have you forgotten that, with "
"Li Xianglan" movie, they both made a lot of money together. And Toho, maybe because we took away Yasuko Sawaguchi, they will also be dissatisfied."
"But even that doesn't make sense? What about Nikkatsu and Toei? We haven't offended either of them? Why do they have to go against us? The film market is shrinking now. From their standpoint, shouldn't they
Do you view other movie studios as a thorn in your side? They should be at each other's throats."
"This... this may be because in recent years, the prosperity of TV programs has led to the rapid rise of our artists. In recent years, film studios have also begun to establish entertainment agencies, following our example and contacting TV stations. Probably not
I hope we can no longer monopolize TV programs. Anyway, from the perspective of Nikkatsu and Toei, whether they are film studios of the same type or entertainment agencies like us, they are enemies, and no one will suffer if they attack them. Help
What's wrong with Yiwu Studios also allowing the other party to owe a personal favor? What's more, they are also the beneficiary in this matter. At least it can allow its big stars to easily earn a lot of money, and it can also increase their exposure.
, it’s not surprising to do this. If the president reads the reports carefully, he will know that Kiri Productions is very generous. This time it offered 1.5 million yen per episode to Nikkatsu’s Setsuko Ogawa alone.
The remuneration is almost the same as the remuneration for our first-line actors in TV series. Presumably for those bigger stars, the remuneration should be more attractive. Otherwise, they would not be able to ignore the small number of scenes and not mind playing the villain."
The secretary thought for a while and seriously put forward his inference.
However, the more he tried his best to analyze it, the more Ikuo Zhou couldn't believe it.
"That's not right. How can Fog Studios have so much money? If they pay according to this standard, wouldn't it cost hundreds of millions more yen for the film?"
"I don't know about this, but some newspapers estimate that the remuneration they paid may indeed exceed 400 million yen. And according to rumors, Fog Studio has also stated that it wants to appropriately adjust the original actor's contract and replace Miura Yumo.
, Utsui Takeru and Ishida Ryoko’s salaries have also been moderately increased.”
When the secretary said this, his tone was a bit strange, but he also showed some admiration inadvertently.
But Zhou Fangyuxiong became even more confused because of this.
How could someone be so stupid and willing to increase the salary of an actor who has already signed a contract?
He had never heard of such a thing. He was not sure what the theory was. He hesitated and said, "Is there any news about Fog Studios? Is there any big company that will stand up to promote them and speak for them?"
?”
He now extremely suspected that Keiko Matsumoto might have hooked up with some wealthy businessman.
Otherwise, why do you care so little about production costs and dare to ignore the pressure from the combustion department?
"This doesn't seem to be the case. However, the follow-up impact of this news is very bad. Now many people who originally waited and watched seem to be optimistic that the drama "Black Leather Notepad" will bring super high ratings. TBS TV station and "Daily News"
Not only are you advocating every day, many other entertainment agencies have also begun to recruit people into Wu Studio. The banning and sanctions you have adopted, President, seem to have no real effect..."
Hearing this, Shu Fang Ikuo couldn't help but frowned. Things turned out like this, which was completely beyond his expectation. He didn't expect that Fog Studios would make such a move.
He was so willing to invest so much that he even risked losing hundreds of millions of yen to use money to break the trap he had set up.
If this is the case, it seems to be very troublesome and difficult to handle.
It seems that I underestimated the other party a little too much. That woman is not as weak as I thought...
The secretary completely understood his reaction, but could not wait patiently. After all, the situation was beyond their control in such a short period of time.
They must take measures as soon as possible now and cannot wait for the situation to develop further, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous.
The secretary waited for a while and continued to ask for instructions, "President, we have to do something! If we don't talk about continuing to attack our opponents now, we are in a lot of trouble. Those media and artists will be held accountable. Now their newspapers and affairs
Everyone is under a lot of pressure. How do you think we should handle this?"
Ikuo Zhou Fang came to his senses and scratched his hair with his hands. Since he couldn't think of an effective countermeasure at the moment, he was somewhat upset by the secretary's questioning.
Instead, he asked in a cold voice, "Didn't these two guys Higuchi and Kawashi do anything during my absence? One of them is the vice president and the other is the propaganda director. They should handle it when I am away. How can we let things go?"
Has it become like this?"
The secretary quickly explained, "President Higuchi and Director Kasai are involved, but it is indeed difficult to do. After all, their duties are limited to our entertainment agency itself, and they have little say in the offices under its jurisdiction.
It worked. As for the newspapers, they also represented the Burning Department and tried their best to get those reporters to issue targeted statements, hoping to counterattack. But it seemed to have little effect. After all, the people who speak for Fog Studios now are all well-established in the industry.
As long as they speak, the people will believe it. No one on our side believes it after a long time of effort, which is almost a waste of words. So we have been looking for your whereabouts these days, but it’s a pity that you left the hotel you booked
It's been returned. I really can't contact you here."
Zhou Fangyuxiong fell silent for a moment, and now he almost regretted it to death.
I really shouldn't have accepted Kitaro Watanabe's invitation to go to Hawaii to see the opening of the Ala Moana Hotel he acquired, and promised to help him with the matter of hiring artists to build publicity.
Although it was indeed a great time to play, it was because of that guy that I was intoxicated in the fun and debauchery. I did not understand these changes in Japan in time, which was a big mistake.
Otherwise, how could we be so passive now?
"Sorry, President, we didn't handle these matters for you."
The secretary knew the character of Shu Fang Ikuo best. He did not dare to let the president bear the responsibility for any negligence. In order to make him happy, he quickly took the responsibility on himself.
After a pause, he added, "However, under the current situation, whether our firm in the combustion department has to pay the price of the artist's breach of contract, or the media who help us face the legal accountability of Fog Studios, we are under great pressure.
It's very big. I suggest you take some gentle measures. If you don't appease them properly and give them some practical support, I'm afraid they will be dissatisfied. If this matter is not handled well, it may cause a chain reaction. It will also have a negative impact on society.
Increasing your prestige will have quite a negative impact."
Ikuo Suho finally began to think about the situation seriously. After a moment of silence, he said, "As for liquidated damages, because there is a contract, just pay what you have to pay. It is better than going to court. In this way, you should notify Higuchi immediately and ask him to pay those for us."
This time, I have written down all the offices that contributed to the ban on Fog Studios. I will use the list later to negotiate with Dentsu and TV stations to see if I can give them some opportunities to film GG and appear on variety shows as compensation. As for the media, don’t worry about it.
They, they are our slaves. Tell them directly and let them solve the problem on their own. Anyway, if they do not stand on our side, the artists of the Burning Department will no longer accept interviews from them, reprinting of photos will also be prohibited, and they will cut off any form of
Cooperate. Let them choose!"
When it comes to the aftermath, Ikuo Shuu is very clear about the internal and external affairs. After all, the Entertainment Agency is a subsidiary company of the Combustion Department, and it is also the source of his strength, so he should not be too harsh.
But for the media, they are completely using their own artists as "hostages" to blackmail them.
In particular, fashion magazines and TV magazines published by large publishing houses have a high demand for artists from large companies, which is a major source of income for them.
If they are unhappy, all the weekly magazines owned by these big publishing houses will suffer huge losses.
So that's not all. Then he felt cold air coming from his nose and added a few more words.
"As for those newspapers and magazines that dare to go against our combustion department, and dare to say good things about Fog Studio, I also want to make them look good and give them a warning as soon as possible. Ah, yes, just bring me these newspapers, all of them
Record it for me. I'm going to call their editor-in-chief to see if these guys are going to stop cooperating with us and will they dare to advocate for Fog Studios in the future? I think they probably don't know about Fog Production.
The studio offended us. If they knew it, they would know which side they were on. Damn Fog Studios, now that bitch Matsumoto has completely turned me on, she just agreed to suspend "Crazy Rich Asians",
I can't let her go easily."
However, despite Ikuo Subo's high-spirited words, the secretary's feedback instantly shattered his dream.
"President, isn't this bad? And it's a bit unrealistic. Because these reports are from major newspapers such as the Mainichi Shimbun and the Sankei Shimbun. What's more, they are also related to TV stations, TBS TV and Fuji
The TV stations all have special news reports, so you can’t give them such an ultimatum..."
Zhou Fangyuxiong was stunned for a moment, then became angry and his voice became colder.
"What? The TV station is also involved? And TBS? Damn it, the TV station is all a bunch of guys with treason in their heads, are they trying to protect him? Especially that guy Sasaki, he clearly agreed when he invited me to dinner a few days ago
Exceed my..."
Ikuo Suho picked up the phone and was still cursing, "This bastard! Could it be that I invited her to have fun at a high-end CLUB in Ginza, and also entertained them to play golf, play mahjong in a high-end club, and go to a casino to gamble. Are they all feeding the dogs? I
I want to ask him what's going on? Let's see how he explains it to me!"
But it's a pity that it would be better not to make this call. The other party's feedback almost made Zhou Fang Ikuo angry to death.
Because Director Sasaki said that since TBS and Fog Studios have signed a contract for the TV series "Black Leather Notepad", the contract must be fulfilled no matter what.
Especially now that this drama has caused a sensation in society, anyone with a discerning eye can see that the ratings will be very high from the beginning, and it is very likely to achieve results.
So this is no longer something he can use his position to suppress. If he does this, he won't be able to explain it to the production committee and will easily fall into passivity.
He has no choice but to cooperate now and let Deputy Director Kaga mention this drama to promote it. I hope Ikuo Sufang can understand.
Therefore, during the phone call, Zhou Fangyuxiong was only halfway through what he said before he couldn't continue.
After the call ended, he even sat in his seat, silent and dazed, with a rather gloomy look on his face, which was extremely ugly.
The secretary didn't dare to ask, so he just waited in silence.
Finally, five minutes passed, and Zhou Fangyuxiong, who felt like he was stuck in his throat and on pins and needles, finally reacted, and that was to remove the landline phone on the table.
"Damn it! It's obviously just a small studio run by a weak woman, how could it suddenly become such a hard nut to crack! No, I want to find out the details of that woman!"