The Entertainment Industry in Turmoil: Young Actresses All Want to Rise to the Top

Inkmark Capital Office.

A knock on the door interrupted Shen Mo's thoughts.

"Enter."

Yang Tianzhen pushed open the door and walked in, followed by a man and a woman.

"President Shen."

"Let me introduce you to the agent and bodyguards I mentioned before, who will be assigned to you."

The popularity brought by "Wang Xiaojian" has boosted Shen Mo's popularity, forcing this behind-the-scenes capital manipulator into the spotlight.

Therefore, agents and bodyguards are urgently needed.

"Zhao Xiaoyu, executive agent, graduated from the Department of Management at Beijing Film Academy."

"She previously managed two top-tier artists at Huayi Brothers, and her professional skills are first-rate. From now on, she will be mainly responsible for your daily schedule and business dealings."

The woman wearing glasses stepped forward and bowed slightly.

"Hello, Mr. Shen."

"This is Wang Zheng, your bodyguard and driver. He's a retired special forces soldier, and his skills and sense of responsibility are beyond question."

The crew-cut man nodded silently, then straightened up.

Shen Mo's gaze slowly swept over the two of them, which was considered his approval of the arrangement.

Yang Tianzhen continued, smiling as she added.

"Love is Not Blind is a huge hit, you're incredibly popular right now."

She walked to the desk, turned the iPad in her hand toward Shen Mo, and the screen was filled with emails and invitations.

"My email and company phone have been flooded with calls lately."

"Endorsements, commercial performances, magazine shoots, interviews... and a lot of scripts."

She scrolled through the screen, her tone a mix of excitement and inquiry.

"Food, beverages, clothing, electronics... even men's skincare products, are all priced quite high."

"As for scripts, there aren't many categories."

"Most of them are lighthearted urban romantic comedies, and the characters are mostly 'cheeky and cute' or 'warm-hearted,' with many fans hoping to capitalize on the popularity of 'Wang Xiaojian.'"

Shen Mo leaned back in his chair, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.

"These endorsements are of poor quality."

"Let's cancel them all."

Yang Tianzhen's smile faltered slightly, somewhat surprised.

"Mr. Shen, if you don't accept the endorsement, your exposure will..."

"I don't need to rely on these ordinary endorsements to maintain my image," Shen Mo interrupted her.

"The excessive exposure and commercialization of these ordinary products can reap benefits in the short term."

"However, in the long run, it will only damage my credibility."

"Moreover, as the head of Mohen Capital, I haven't reached the point where I need to prove my value by endorsing products."

Yang Tianzhen took a deep breath; she understood Shen Mo's ambition and his position.

However, the company currently only has this one famous artist, and it's a pity that they can't control him.

"I understand." She nodded decisively, no longer dwelling on it.

"What about the script?"

Shen Mo's gaze returned to the iPad screen, quickly browsing the title and synopsis of the show, his brows slowly furrowing.

"Most of them are defective products that are just jumping on the bandwagon to gain attention; there's no need to pay attention to them."

"In the future, when selecting scripts, I will try to find those with solid scripts and well-developed characters..."

"Better to have nothing than something bad."

"Either it's a book with artistic aspirations."

"Either it's a project related to Inkmark's strategic layout."

"Don't waste your energy on the rest."

This requirement effectively shuts out 90% of the offers available in the market.

However, Yang Tianzhen nodded in acceptance.

Just then, the office door was gently pushed open a crack, and Li Yitong peeked in, her crescent-shaped eyes narrowed.

"Are you done chatting, Sister Tianzhen? I smell coffee. Are there new beans?"

Her arrival instantly shattered the serious atmosphere of the office.

"If there's nothing else, you can go and do your work. I'll talk to those two separately."

Yang Tianzhen understood, smiled and nodded to Li Yitong, then turned and left.

Shen Mo's gaze fell on Zhao Xiaoyu, and his tone became much calmer.

"Sister Xiaoyu, about my personal activities."

"Endorsements and commercial performances should generally not be considered."

"Regarding the scripts, as I just mentioned, please put in extra effort to select them."

"You can focus your main efforts on her."

He then shifted his tone, pointing to Li Yitong, who was nestled on the opposite sofa, sipping her coffee.

"We'll keep an eye out for good guest or supporting roles for Yitong, hand her the scripts, and let her decide whether to take the part."

"For matters related to resource exchange, you can directly contact Chen Zhixi of the Cultural and Entertainment Investment Department or Yang Tianzhen of Mohen Media."

When she was suddenly called out, Li Yitong looked up and was stunned for a moment.

Then a bright smile bloomed on his face, and he clasped his hands together in Zhao Xiaoyu's direction, with a playful plea.

"I'll be troubling Sister Xiaoyu a lot from now on! Please help me pick out some good notebooks!"

A hint of a smile flashed across Shen Mo's eyes as he made a final confirmation to Zhao Xiaoyu.

"I will notify you separately if there are any other circumstances."

After speaking, he turned his gaze to Wang Zheng, who stood upright to the side.

"Brother Zheng, I'll be spending most of my time in the office. You can arrange a seat in the secretariat next door for me to rest. I'll let you know in advance if I need to go out."

After everyone else had left the office, Li Yitong came over.

He placed his hands on the desk, leaned closer, and stared at Shen Mo with a mysterious expression.

"Something suddenly came to mind."

"There are some problems with 'Lost in Thailand' that need to be addressed in advance."

That was her purpose in coming in. Before, she only thought about how much money "Lost in Thailand" could make, but she overlooked the fact that it was not copyrighted.

Even though Xu Zheng wrote, directed, and starred in "Lost in Thailand," he doesn't own the copyright to "Lost in China."

I vaguely remember that because of this incident, the producers of "Lost in Thailand" were sued and fined five million yuan.

Although this compensation is nothing compared to its nearly 13 billion yuan box office revenue.

However, this will severely damage the appearance of the ink mark.

After understanding the reason, Shen Mo immediately called Chen Zhixi and explained the matter to her.

"They can be allowed to ask for a reasonable price, but they shouldn't be taken advantage of."

"Then 1400 million won't be enough to cover the production cost."

Chen Zhixi hesitated slightly on the other end of the phone because in the current market, copyright ownership is not actually that important.

With a current production cost of 1400 million, and if we add several million for copyright costs, the box office would need to be over 6000 million to make a profit.

As this is her first film as a producer, she doesn't want to take too much risk.

After all, "Lost in China" only grossed 5000 million yuan at the box office, and although "Lost in Thailand" was promising, the screenwriting and directing teams had been changed.

Whether Xu Zheng's self-written and directed version can achieve the same box office success as "Lost in..." is really uncertain.

"How about we film it first, and if it loses money at the box office and we really face a lawsuit, we can drag it out and negotiate a low-price settlement privately; if it makes a profit, we can share a portion with them. Wouldn't that be a safer approach?"

Chen Zhixi's words came from the other end of the phone. Shen Mo and Li Yitong exchanged a glance and silently shook their heads.

This is most likely the approach taken in the previous version of "Lost in Thailand," but this approach is not suitable for the current version of Mohen.

Shen Mo would rather spend some money than take on any lawsuits that could damage Mohen's reputation.

Moreover, since they already knew that "Lost in Thailand" could make money, why take such a risky approach?

"I'll approve another 500 million in copyright fees. You can try your best to negotiate and reduce the price as much as you can."

"Since I invited you to lead our production department, it means I trust your abilities. Go ahead and film it; this cost is nothing."

"As for losses, any investment may result in losses. I am willing to take this risk and do not want to see any tarnish on the reputation of Inkmark."

"However, to mitigate the risk, you should talk to Enlight Media. We originally planned to have them help with the theatrical release as well."

Chen Zhixi nodded. She understood Shen Mo's thoughts. Perhaps this was the difference between capital and other production companies.

But this is good, because it allows me to do things with more confidence and boldness.