bebeswtz

He always fulfills the assignment AND MORE 😍😍😍

Thanks 😊

The synopsis I read on Netflix for this show sounds a lot like the existing Chinese variety show, “Who’s the Murderer?”. Is this possibly the Korean remake of it?

To the last point, cases of Chinese celebs having their own studio from the very beginning is rare because that means everything is paid by themselves and out-of-pocket. There’s no capital or investment from an outside source for the independent artist, so whatever they earn does go back to themselves, but whatever they need to purchase or rent or buy for themselves on the job (renting a venue for a concert, working with a designer to create concert outfits, producing and releasing music, filming MVs, paying staff [make-up artist, assistant, driver, etc.] all comes straight from their own earnings and there’s no extra breathing room.

Yes, and many artists when they are still relatively new in their career and are signed with a bigger agency but have a “studio” to manage their career, usually the studio is a part of a bigger deal or contract— some examples:

1. Dilreba has her own “studio” even though she is signed under Jaywalk Studio (the agency name), because she exploded in popularity and the agency wanted to make bank— “invest”— in her popularity, so they gave Dilreba her own individual studio. Yet, with her contract still attached to JayWalk Studio, I imagine a portion of her earnings still goes back to the agency.

2. Back when Xiao Zhan was still under contract with his former agency— Wajijiwa Entertainment, the same company that manages singer Mao Bu Yi— only 3 years into his entertainment career, “Xiao Zhan Studio” was established. The reason Xiao Zhan had his own studio established only 3 years into his entertainment career is because the establishment of his studio was a part of a court settlement. Xiao Zhan had sued Wajijiwa Entertainment for hindering his work (basically not giving him any opportunities, purposely stopping him from going to auditions, etc.), but Xiao Zhan lost the lawsuit and had to pay for everything, so as a part of the deal/settlement, Xiao Zhan Studio was established, and for the last 6 years, a portion of Xiao Zhan Studio’s earnings went back to Wajijiwa Entertainment. It’s only VERY recently it’s been confirmed that his contract with Wajijiwa Entertainment came to a close/finally expired, so now, Xiao Zhan Studio is independent.

There are rare cases wherein some C-Ent. artists have been independent in their careers from the very beginning and have only had their own studio and staff work for them without a bigger agency umbrella, but such cases are rare:

- Liu Yu Ning, used to be signed to a bigger agency with his busking band mates, but has been independent (Liu Yu Ning Studio) since transitioning more to acting
- Lay Zhang Yi Xing has been independent (Lay Zhang Studio) ever since transitioning his career to being in China full time. He used to be signed under S.M. Entertainment when he worked in South Korea (EXO)

I feel for her, I really do— even though she’s always rubbed me the wrong way and I’ve only ever watched one of her dramas— but all of this seems “off” to me, too, even when I pull away and look at this objectively:

1. Talent agencies are shady AF, regardless of country, regardless of contract terms, regardless of management.. this isn’t exclusive to China. There is always something fishy in business and always something fishy when money is involved. With ZLS being such a big traffic celeb in China, the chunk of money involved is no doubt a big figure.

2. The part of her saying all of the issues and conflicts, and struggles she’s been having with the agency but then at the end of it all goes “… But don’t worry about me! I can and I’ll just do something else, open a noodle shop….” because she’s got savings…. It may be a sarcastic remark, but my gut still finds it contradicting and “off” somehow 🤔 She’s got savings, but is also implying she can’t/will not fulfill her part of the contract fees, it sounds like?

3. Wasn’t it just not long ago wherein she was quite vocal about not needing to worry about her and the trajectory of her career because she’s got her parents there with her every step of the way? I remember seeing something along the lines of “my parents are with me all the time, even on drama sets”. So my question is where were her parents when she was being abused, even allegedly being physically attacked by one of her drama directors? Where were her parents when she was renewing her contract? Where were her parents when all of this alleged blackmailing was taking place?

I’m not saying I am on any particular side, but I agree with you that there is more than meets the eye of this whole situation and it should have been brought to a lawyer—or whatever else official means— to have this whole thing looked at, and not brought online to Weibo for people to pick apart. Many artists before ZLS have brought their own difficulties through official channels to resolve and have been successful in getting through the situation—not without some hurdles, but it’s been done before without the need for using social media involved.

A designated “studio” for an artist under a bigger agency is basically just having a designated group of staff from that agency who works solely for ZLS (or any other artist in the same setup). The payroll for that group of staff could be split between the agency and the revenue the artist earns, the split of the revenue the artist earns is usually calculated by percentage, e.g. ZLS could be receiving 80% of the earnings from a particular project and the remaining 20% goes to the bigger agency. Since she and her “studio” are technically still under contract with the agency, this is probably how the agency has control over her funds

It’s definitely not his own voice, the drama is definitely dubbed. I agree that a telling factor of whether or not a drama/characters are dubbed is the sound— if there isn’t a dub, it sounds more hollow (best way I can describe it) and there’s an echo