Chapter 949: The battle of the agents!
Translator: Legge Editor: Legge
On the same night.
He gave Zhang Yuanqi a call. The Heavenly Queen was acknowledged to have the best social ties in the entertainment industry. Zhang Ye did not have many friends and she was the only person he knew to have the means. If he wanted to find an agent as soon as possible, then it would definitely be the most convenient to contact Zhang Yuanqi.
Du du.
The call connected.
"Hello, Sister Zhang, it's me!"
"Mhm."
"What are you doing? Where are you?"
"Home."
"By yourself?"
"Yes."
"I've got something to tell you. There's something I need your help with."
"I'm listening."
"I'm looking to hire an agent as fast as possible!"
"Any requirements?"
"I don't have too many requirements and either gender is fine, but it'd be best if it's a woman as it will be easier for me to communicate with her. She should be capable of handling work, but it doesn't matter whether she is very capable or not. Even if she's a rookie, it's fine. You know that my social ties are not that good, so I don't have many demands for my potential agent's popularity with others as long as she suits my needs. It'd be great if she has the same values as me so that I can save the trouble of communicating. And, uh, it'd be best if her appearance is not too shabby either, since she'll be representing me, after all, and has to pull in the points in the looks department for me. I don't have many demands regarding her figure either, but she must not look too bad. She should at least have a decent figure since she'll need to appear in public sometimes on my behalf…"
He rattled off a long string of demands.
In the end, Zhang Yuanqi summarized his requests in a few words. "So a busty, beautiful woman, and nothing else matters?"
Zhang Ye was slightly embarrassed. "…Right!"
Zhang Yuanqi said: "Wait for my message then."
After hanging up, Zhang Ye confidently left the task to Old Zhang.
The agent held a very special position in the entertainment industry. It could be said that they were the celebrity's most intimate colleague and the most loyal representative. They could help the celebrity handle all sorts of matters, such as endorsements, advertisements, press interviews, and job arrangements. There was no need to emphasize how important an agent was. Every celebrity's agent was either selected in the strictest way, or they were the celebrity's most trusted relatives, like their mother, elder sister, or second aunt to begin with. Otherwise, they would have to be exceptionally capable like Zhang Yuanqi's manager, Fang Weihong. She was a renowned, elite agent in the industry who had become famous long before she became Zhang Yuanqi's manager.
Actually, Zhang Ye could opt for the latter choice, but he found it unsuitable for his situation.
Look for his relatives?
His mother or one of his aunts?
His paternal elder cousin or his maternal younger cousins?
None of them would fit!
His family members were just ordinary people who had not seen much of the world and were inexperienced in the things they might have to handle on his behalf. With Zhang Ye's notorious reputation in the industry and him getting into trouble so often, he did not want to let his relatives handle his affairs for him.
As for those highly reputed elite agents, he did not wish to hire them, and neither could he hire them. Many of the agents were directly contracted to the celebrities and would draw a percent commission from the celebrity's earnings. For a person like Zhang Ye who had never accepted any commercial appearances and was not likely to accept them in the future, which elite agent would want to work for him? Ignoring the fact that the agent would not be earning much, just the trouble brought about by Zhang Ye's temper would be enough to keep them busy. A low salary, a pile of work, and they might even get cursed at by other people. Only an idiot would take a job like that!
Hence, his favorite was still a rookie, who could at least help him handle some miscellaneous tasks. As for the other, more important matters? Zhang Ye could handle them by himself.
...
The next day.
Early in the morning.
Zhang Yuanqi's manager, Fang Weihong, sent him an email with a list of the candidates!
Although Old Zhang's temperament in private wasn't too good, her efficiency in getting things done was still very high. Zhang Ye did not have to worry that she would forget about the favor that he had requested from her.
More than ten résumés arrived in his inbox!
Li Han: Female, 27 years old with 4 years' experience in the industry.
Han Fang: Female, 29 years old with 6 years' experience in the industry. Former agent of Huo Dongfang.
Zhao Minli: Female, 25 years old. Rookie with 1 year of experience in the industry. Very capable and had just left her previous position at a communication and media agency.
Zhang Ye scanned through the résumés one by one and was very satisfied with every one of them. Actually, he did not really understand them as this was his first time doing something like this. He did not feel that anyone was worse than anyone else, which gave him with an even greater dilemma. Later, he even got his parents to help him look at the résumés together. As a professional agent, she'd also need to handle some parts of a celebrity's private life. Therefore, Zhang Ye valued his parents' opinions very much as they would come across each other often in the future.
His father pointed at one of them. "This person seems alright."
"Come on." His mother disagreed and pointed to another person. "This one is better; she looks rather big-hearted. One look at her and you can tell that she's a very capable person."
Zhang Ye said, "That so?"
His mother urged, "Check with her!"
"Uh, alright." Zhang Ye agreed since he did not have any opinion either.
Zhang Ye picked up the phone and called the candidates he had shortlisted.
"Hello, is this Ms. Zhao Minli?"
"Yes, this is she. May I know who's calling?"
"It's Zhang Ye."
"Ah, Teacher Zhang, hello, hello!" The woman on the other end of the line sounded very excited. "Sister Fang mentioned this to me. She asked me about my current job situation, as well as my opinion of you. I never expected that you would actually contact me. Let me introduce myself briefly then. I just left my position at my previous agency, so I have no contractual obligations right now. I can accept being contracted to you as an exclusive agent. You can put that as a term in the contract and I won't have any problems with it."
"I seldom accept commercial appearances. Are you OK with that?"
"Ummm…how seldom is seldom?"
"I basically never accept them."
"Uh, that's not a problem. Can we meet up to discuss this?"
"Sure, let's schedule a time."
After chatting for a while, Zhang Ye felt quite satisfied with her.
He then called the next person.
"Hello, is this Ms. Han?"
"Hur hur, are you Teacher Zhang?"
"You can recognize my voice?"
"I'm very familiar with your voice."
"I'm looking for an agent, and Sister Fang recommended you to me. Before we discuss other things, I'd like to get to know you a bit more, and also find out if you have any requests."
"I don't have many demands, except that upon contracting, I would like to receive a higher percent commission, at 30% of the earnings."
"Is that so?"
"If you have a talent agency, the agency will assign you an agent while they take a percentage for the commission. If I am your personal agent, I'd have to use my own network to get work done. Therefore, I would definitely need to receive a higher percent commission. As for the exact details, we can discuss further."
"Sure."
As he contacted the shortlisted agents, he did not know of the buzz that had started in the talent agency business!
...
At a talent agency.
"Hey, did you hear? Zhang Ye is looking for an agent!"
"I just heard about it too!"
"Now this is a good opportunity!"
"Aiyo, I would like to apply too!"
"Then you'd have to quit first. He's hiring a personal agent!"
"I don't mind quitting. I'm mainly afraid that I'm not qualified enough."
"There's nothing good about being Zhang Ye's agent anyways. Don't you guys know him by now? He has never accepted any commercial appearances, so there's basically no money to be earned!"
"I'd still be willing! He's an A-list celebrity!"
"Yeah, my career highlights would be glossed up and in the future when I say that I was once the agent of an A-list celebrity, who wouldn't scramble to employ me? My résumé would have thickened!"
...
At a private gathering of some agents in the business.
"So Zhang Ye is looking for an agent?"
"Yeah, I heard Sister Fang Weihong helped him spread the word."
"This is a very good opportunity!"
"Yes, among the current A-list celebrities, only Zhang Ye does not have an agent yet. I wonder who will get the job! Hai, too bad my contract is tied to the agency. Otherwise, I would have applied too!"
...
Almost everyone in the business knew about this now!
This industry was neither big nor small. There weren't many secrets in the industry, especially if it concerned an A-list celebrity like Zhang Ye. Every move of his would attract the attention of many others!
At once, quite a number of agents in the industry tried to contact Zhang Ye or Fang Weihong. Their demands were gradually getting lower than the last!
"I don't have any demands!"
"I am willing to take a commission of only 10%!"
"I can take 7%!"
"5% for me!"
"I don't need any commission at all! A working salary will do!"
The number of applicants increased by the second. In the end, they were almost fighting to outdo each other in terms of their demands. Everyone was using all means possible to try to secure this job!
Zhang Ye did not expect that he would be so popular. Initially, he thought that no one would willingly be his agent since he did not accept commercial appearances and often got into a lot of trouble, but it seemed like he had underestimated his current fame. There were even some very prominent, established agents in the industry who found ways to contact him to reveal their intentions of willingly becoming his agent, and also to express some of their requests to him.
Zhang Ye was spoilt for choice!
This is good!
This one is not bad either!
So who should be chosen?