Management in Dispute; Steven Ma caught in the middle

Sources:
Next Weekly Edition:1101
Mingpao陳志雲力撐﹕等馬仔簽約
Stephen Chan Shows Support; Waiting for Ma Zai to Sign Contract
Translated by: Tamaya @ http://asianfanatics.net
pls credit mag scans to steven-org.org

Management Fry Big Wok, Steven Ma caught in the middle.
(Management in Dispute; Steven Ma caught in the middle)
It has long ben widely rumored that the two top TVB executives, Virginia Lok and Catherine Tsang, are at odds with each other underneath their cordial appearance. Lately their discord is out in the open for all to see, even to the point of being factious; explicitly taking a stance of it’s you or me to the bitter end. As to the cause of this contention, allegedly Ms. Lok had vocally criticized that Ms. Tsang’s prized general, Steven Ma’s image ‘can’t enter homes’ (interpretation: Steven has no audience appeal or draw) hence, had repeatedly obstructed his contract renewal with TVB. This point of contention caused the two top female executives to publicly open fire at each other, stirring the big wok during a meeting. Stephen Chan, as the outsider, was ultimately forced to resolve their dispute.

Sacrificing a Prized General.
In recent years, there has been a shortage of siu sang and fan da in TVB. Furthermore, many of its artistes upon termination of their contracts, would jump ship onto greener pastures elsewhere, thereby greatly reducing the already increasingly meager human resources in the artistes management sector, TVB’s most profitable department. As to the group of artistes who possess rating power and whose contract renewals are pending or upcoming such as: Bowie Lam, Roger Kwok, Steven Ma, Maggie Cheung, Sheren Tang, Wong Hei and Ada Choi; it can be said that TVB will definitely want to retain them. But after a lapse of half year, only Bowie Lam and Roger Kwok have renewed their contracts. This situation had greatly alarmed board member, Mona Fong. As the Director of Artiste Resources, Ms. Lok was responsible for stock replenishment, consequently, her right-hand woman, Manager of Artistes Development, Ms. Chan (陳佩華) had to be sacrificed for the flap when she took the blame by resigning last month.

To prevent further outflow of talents, allegedly earlier on, a meeting was held with various TVB departments to discuss the contract renewal crisis. In the meeting, the Director of Series Production, Ms. Catherine Tsang, laid out the contract predicament of her favorite general, Steven Ma, whose contract would expire in early July. However, the discussion degenerated into an acrimonious verbal war between the two top executives.

An Insider’s Account
“Ms. Lok claimed that Steven Ma’s image ‘can’t enter the homes’, subsequently, both parties couldn’t come to an agreement on his contract terms. And then someone quipped: “Is it only your home that he can’t enter?” At the time, the tension was already explosive; Zhan Jie then pointed out that Steven’s series have yet to be broadcast including Stars of Love, A Watchdog’s Life and Pu Songling. If he leaves, will these 3 series still be aired? Furthermore, Steven has just accepted a new series, ‘Temptations’. Zhan Jie felt that not renewing the contract will not insure the company of its interest.”

Stephen Chan’s Involvement
Steven first entered the entertainment industry as a singer, however, his singing career was less than ideal, then. It was not until he gained Catherine Tsang’s appreciation and participated in TVB series such as Files of Justice, Duke of Mt. Deer, Healing Hands, and Perish in the name of love that his popularity soared. In 2005, through Ms. Tsang, Steven signed the management contract with TVB. Thereafter, he performed in many high rating series including Land of Wealth and Safeguards. In the 2006 TVB anniversary ceremony, he received the award for 'The Most Favorite Male Character', thereby successfully becoming TVB front line actor. For this, Ms. Tsang’s efforts cannot be underestimated.

The dispute between the higher executives has yet to be resolved, so whether Steven, whose contract has already expired, will stay or not is still up in the air. TVB General Manager, Stephen Chan, was forced to resolve this dispute. He took it upon himself to personally negotiate the contract renewal with Steven. Earlier on, Steven went to TVB city to discuss his contract renewal. He said: “Came to discuss the contract. My thanks to Zhan Jie and Mr. Chan for their high regards of me. The negotiation was amiable. But as to the terms in the contract, it is not convenient to disclose.”

Stephen Chan said: “I’ve discussed the contract with Ma Zai. Ma Zai is not a new artiste. He has no problems whatsoever in 'entering audiences' homes'. We have already resolved the terms. At the moment, only waiting for him to return the signed contract to the company.” He said there was no discord over this matter as was reported. Stephen said that Ma Zai’s series have always brought in steady and good ratings. And that he approves of Steven.

Each With Her Own Mountain Peak.
In TVB, Ms. Lok and Ms. Tsang lead two separate factions; their relationship resembles that of fire and water. Because of their high positions and great power, all tvb siu sang and fan dan, whenever they are on stage to receive their awards, will sure to thank both Ms. Lok and Zhan Jie simultaneously. Their status is on par with each other, therefore, neither one of them can be offended.


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The saga of Executives' Clash Continues.

TVB Factions’ Clash has Turned White-Hot. An ‘Exodus’ of Artistes. 2009/ 7/ 27 Monday
source: wenweipo can't find the link to this《羊城晚報》news article

Since the 1st three paragraphs of the news are a rehashing of this thread report, I will not translate them.

Through various means & ways, this 《羊城晚報》 reporter learns that despite TVB’s denial of executives’ discord, Ms. Lok is indeed “quite troubled” these days.

Full Translation
~~Responses~~
TVB: Rumor is not credible
Yesterday, 曾醒明, TVB assistant director of public relations, accepted an interview with this reporter. He expressed that the rumor of the discord between Catherine Tsang and Virginia Lok is not credible. “They are all senior executives, and will not quarrel (chao dai wok) in a meeting, as reported by the press. One of them is responsible for the artistes (Lok), while the other is responsible for the series production (Tsang); so as to do good by their respective department, they may have different opinions, if so, they will seek a compromise; definitely no discord.” As to the question of Steven Ma’s contract renewal, he expressed that it’s the domain of the artistes department. At the moment, there is no definite news yet.

In an earlier interview, Stephen Chan also denied the discord between the executives. But he explicitly clarified that he believes “the problem with Steven Ma’s image unable to enter homes does not exist at all.” He said that Steven has performed in many series and their average ratings are quite good; from the company's standpoint, "Really hope he will renew his contract."

Steven Ma: I Have the Contract in my Hand.
Yesterday, this reporter called up Steven Ma. He said he did not know of the executives’ quarrel over him. However, he acknowledged that recently Catherine Tsang and Stephen Chan did discuss the contract renewal with him. “I hope that besides acting in series, there are other avenues for me to pursue and to experience, such as singing. As such, since the end of last year, the company and I have been discussing the terms and conditions of my contract renewal. Around June this year, Mr. Chan (Stephen Chan) talked to me and offered, what I consider, contract terms that are very respectful of my wishes. We have had a cordial talk.” He expressed that he has not made a final decision as to whether he will renew his contract or not, but that he has received the contract from TVB. Steven also stressed that: “Regardless of the outcome, I’m truly grateful to Zhan Jie and Mr. Stephen Chan for their guidance and concern.”

Investigation
Ms. Lok’s Numerous Setbacks

To better grasp the inside story, this reporter interviewed an insider from TVB, a Ms. Y. She divulged that Virginia Lok, whom people addressed as Ms. Lok, has indeed been “more troubled”, recently. Besides her discord with Zhan Jie, the main problem is that ever since she took charge of artistes management, successes have been rare, add that to the economic crisis background, she has come under fire by the higher management. Allegedly her ‘crimes” include: 1) The latest artistes who are “hot” are mostly those who have not signed a management contract with TVB. 2) The prized generals highly promoted by Ms. Lok have not realized the expected tangible benefits to TVB, especially her most favorite, Kevin Cheng, who took home the TVB king prize under much controversies. Despite that, he still does not have audience affinity, and that outside jobs such as stage performances and commercial endorsements are relatively low. Conversely, ‘Chai Gou’, Wayne Lai (not a tvb managed artiste) has been swarmed with commercial activities within the last 2 months, as to have been said earning millions.

Ms. Y also divulged that the fuse of Catherine Tsang and Virginia Lok’s open fire, Steven ma, has always been Ms. Tsang’s prized general. He has been a TVB managed artiste since 2005. However, despite Steven’s continual series productions, and his Safeguards garnering a high rating of 42 points, his side incomes from outside jobs were few and in between. Allegedly, the reason is because Ms. Lok, the person in control of artistes management, disfavors him. And now because she is putting up roadblocks to his contract renewal, Steven, feeling disheartened, has had at one time decided to leave the nest altogether. “But Zhan Jie not only tried hard to persuade him to stay but also managed to persuade TVB Business General Manager, Stephen Chan, to personally discuss the contract terms and conditions with Ma Zai. Reportedly, Stephen has proffered one very favorable term. Steven’s heart is wavering now.” Ms. Y expressed that in this “Steven Ma’s contract renewal” round, Ms. Lok loses once again. Furthermore, Stephen Chan’s interference gives off the vibes that the “wind direction is changing” within tvb internal politics.

Chan faction vs Lok faction
There have long been rumors of factions within TVB, one of them being that both Ms. Tsang and Ms. Lok have their own clique of loyal followers among the artistes. Also, there is this middle-of-the-road group of artistes who will not offend either party.

Catherine Tsang clique
Steven ma, Bobby Au-Yeung, Moses Chan, Ada Choi, Shirley Yeung, Maggie Cheung, Sheren Teng and Tavia Yeung etc.

Virginia Lok clique
Kevin Cheng, Ron Ng, Bosco Wong, Raymond Lam, Myolie Wu, Linda Chung.
edited: 2nd news article translation