In recent years, the rules for Hong Kong artistes to film in the mainland have been relaxed and together with the substantial fees, many popular stars have headed up north to make some money and TVB's monopoly on the leading actors is no more as many stars leave the nest after working out their contracts and sign for external managers. Last year, the company lost Gallen Lo and Flora Chan and although some will still return to TVB to do the odd show out of 'respect', they have still lost out on the control.
TVB knows that it cannot match the salaries offered by other companies, so in order to keep some top stars on their books, they are making the biggest compromises on their contracts. Take Jessica Hsuan for instance, her contract is due for renewal shortly and in order to show their sincerity, TVB have offered her anything she wants. Jessica has used her health as the reason to request a 'One series per year' contract. On this rare occasion, TVB has agreed and Jessica has signed a further two years with them. In order to keep their talent, TVB has no choice but o encourage more stars to stay in this way.
As Jessica is the only top female lead left with TVB management, she has naturally taken the top female spot and in her new series "My Honourable Wife", she will be working opposite Sunny Chan in yet another 'strong wife' role. Yesterday she was back at TVB City for a meeting with the producer and when asked about her contract renewal, she admitted that the company has given her a great degree of freedom: "The company knows that I am in poor health, so they have accepted my request of one series a year. I am happy with the other terms and I have had a good relationship with the company over the past twelve years. I start work in August."
As for the suggestion that Jessica could have had whatever she wanted, TVB production resource deputy director Lok Yik Ling responded: "I am not in a position to comment, but the most important thing is that the artiste is happy. The company truly wants to help its artistes progress in their careers."
Seven female leads fight for the top spot
Jessica Hsuan:
An experienced female lead signed with TVB management. Broke the ratings records with "Square Pegs" last year.
Flora Chan:
After her contract with TVB ended last November, has headed out to develop her career and signed with a new manger. Recently with her new series "To Get Unstuck in Time", she has not appeared at any of the promotional events and there have been rumours that she has upset the TVB executives.
Maggie Cheung:
Signed with TVB on a 'per series' contract and has always had a good relationship with the company, but has recently turned her sights elsewhere.
Ada Choi:
Always aware of her origins, she often returns to film for TVB, but is just a 'per series' contracted artiste.
Kenix Kwok:
Signed with TVB on 'per series' she has changed to another management company.
Charmaine Sheh:
Heavily promoted by TVB and on a TVB management contract, but is still a little way behind Jessica in terms of years of service.
Sonija Kwok:
Dragged down earlier by a string of gossip and rumours, she is now putting this behind her as she prepares to surge forward.
http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20040710/20040710005144_0003.html
After Jessica's successful contract renewal with TVB on a 'One series per year' contract, there have been suggestions that she has been overly demanding in her terms, but TVB Production Resources Deputy Director Lok Yik Ling indicated that there is no such incident and that she is a disciplined and worthy artiste. Both parties have co-operated well all along and an agreement was met quickly. Ms Lok emphasises that TVB will do its best to discuss renewal terms with each of its artistes when their contracts are up and she does not agree that this is due to losing many of its leading stars. This is merely another form of contract they can offer. There have been indications from Ekin Cheng and Gallen Lo that they wish to return to film for TVB, but this is still under negotiation.
English Translation: Em @ tvbspace.net
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