Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Catherine Tsang Discussing contract with Steven Ma

Catherine Tsang Personally Discusses Per Series Contract with Steven Ma
曾勵珍幫馬浚偉出頭傾約
source: news on cc 3/28/2013 and oriental daily

Steven Ma is still the  'favorite general' of Catherine Tsang, TVB Director of drama productions. It has been confirmed that he will return to maternal home although the official contract has not been signed yet.  But Steven admitted that Catherine has personally discussed the contract with him, and that Producer Leung Choi Yuen has already even arranged for him to try out his costumes.

Apparently, during his one absence from TVB, Catherine had constantly urged him to return to tvb to shoot a series but because he was shooting some mainland series, he had to declined two production schedules.  However, Producer Leung Choi Yuen has confirmed to get Steven to shoot a 30 episode tvb series, 《守業者》 in May. He also revealed that in the beginning it was a modern series.  Steven and Bobby Au Yeung would play two brothers.  But because of Bobby's earlier acute pneumonia, and because he still hasn't finished shooting his series, 《情逆三世緣》 and because he wants to rest so he has rejected the series.  So now he has the series rewritten, and has it time period changed to a pre-modern drama.  He has recruited Evergreen Mak to replace Bobby.  The female lead is Tavia Yeung.  There will be some on location film in Foshan and Qing Yuan.

So, is Steven's contract all finalised?
Dak ge la! (Should be fine!)  預晒佢 (count him in) He has to try out the costumes.  We have already arranged for him to have his measurement taken,  and try out some makeovers.

Earlier on, Steven Ma parted on bad terms with TVB Artist Management Department and had requested to be released from his contract. Yesterday, this reporter called up Steven on the phone, when asked about it he said: "Huh! Wait until my contract has been finalized la!"

(Catherine Tsang personally discussed the contract with you?")
" Yes! Since I left the company last year, she had wanted me to return to the shoot a series. Tsang Jie is my sifu. She even handles the contract matter for me."

(Earlier on, it can be said that he parted on bad terms with TVB Artist Management. This time did he communicate with Virginia Lok?)

Don't say parted on bad terms, we are all adults. I don't know who is in charge of the contract negotiation now in the company

If later happen to encounter Ms. Lok, will it be awkward?
No problem la!I'm only an actor. In the past, I was under management contract but now I'm not, so don't care about other stuff.



TN: Why can't Steven be on a more hip series drama -- like lawyer, or doctor or police, not always this kind of supposedly warm family dramas, and a pre-modern drama at that. Just the title of the series already sounds so unexciting. And what about that coincidental bad luck that Bobby Au Yeung should meet with a freak health incident that made him withdraw from the series?

tn: I think reporters take pleasure in taking unflatteringly picture to accompany their articles.
Haiz, read a just off the press article, guess it is confirmed 90% that Steven will shoot the series. Between the 'gam yan' gratitude debt to Catherine Tsang and Uncle Leung, Steven will find it hard (looking ungrateful) to decline the offer to shoot the series. He's done for. Well, good luck to him cos' it looks like he truly needs it.

Like how earlier, Bobby Au Yeung was supposed to be in the cast but because of his near death accident, he has rejected the series. Talk about freak coincidental timing. And so the previous script is all changed to this present pre-modern script, and now lucky Evergreen Mak takes over Bobby's role. Uncle Choi said that though Steven has not signed the contract, he has already counted him in. Uncle Choi truly loves Steven. I like Uncle Choi cos' I think he truly loves Steven like his own son and I hope together with Steven and Evergreen they can shoot a blockbuster series.

But I don't quite like Catherine nor trust her to have Steven's best interest, more like she is just using Steven's sense of gratitude to her.

8 comments:

  1. 90% confirmed?  DAMN IT!  I should have known – the minute I read about Uncle Choi preparing another series (had read some information on his Weibo as well as other sources), Steven’s name automatically popped up in my head (not surprising given Steven’s connection to Uncle Choi)…but I didn’t want to believe it yet because I was holding out hope that Steven wouldn’t sign with TVB after all (especially since LKH and MSC finally announced the details of their new series for NowTV so I thought for sure Steven would go with them instead due to his close connection with them too)…argh…I guess it was too good to be true….

    Good luck to Steven indeed….cuz he will definitely need it now!  

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  2. llwy12: I was hoping he would shoot MSC's series too. In fact, way back last year fans visit, there was some hint that he might collaborate with MSC in March this year. (I recall MSC saying her new series would start in March.)

    Reading the paragraph on Uncle Choi, he is positively ecstatic to have Steven back in his series, and given Steven's sense of gratitude and love for Uncle Choi, don't think he is able to graciously back out of shooting this series without hurting Uncle Choi's feeling or without being blacklisted by Catherine and by extension, tvb.

    Pity about Bobby not co-starring with Steven. Would have love that.

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    1. @tamaya:  Yea…I had saw ‘hints’ of a possible collaboration between MSC/LKH and Steven as well based on their conversations back and forth on Weibo, which is why I was disappointed when he decided to go with TVB instead.  

       

      Sure, I can understand Steven’s affinity with Uncle Choi and his desire to ‘repay’ his debt to Catherine Tsang / TVB, but honestly, there has to be a point where he has to start looking out for his own best interests and consider whether it’s ‘worth it’ to sacrifice so much for TVB.  There are many more options out there now compared to before (especially in the Mainland) and for artists who have reached that ‘first line’ status like Steven has, the opportunities are endless…knowing that, why doesn’t he choose what’s best for him?

       

      This might sound mean, but I’m sure the only person at TVB who appreciates Steven returning to film this series is Leung Choi Yuen….everyone else (including Catherine Tsang) probably doesn’t give a crap (about Steven) and sees this merely as a ‘point’ in TVB’s favor in the battle against HKTV (meaning that TVB was able to convince yet another artist to return and film for them).  In other words…for TVB, it’s just a ‘game’ – nothing more.

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    2. So frustrating to be his fan. Honestly, sorry to say this but I find his overly tolerant and overly forgiving nature make him seem mentally 'weak' and soft, and no wonder with this kind of personaly he often got taken advantage of by the strong minded and manipulative people, yea, like his so called mentor, Zhan jie.

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  3. Once confirmed will become the latest tabloid fodders for the demented HK tabloids and the fanatic netizens.

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  4. Haizx. I hate this news!
    Why they have to put the pressure on him?
    ... I prefer seeing him in a news of next mainland's series.
    He said that he will shoot a mainland series in March, now march gonna be over, and he's still in HK, right? I wonder what had happened?

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  5. Crystin: I also prefer him shooting a new mainland series. At least his co-stars will be fresh face, not same old same old. At least, Uncle series will be filming some scenes on location.

    TVB is very good at applying pressure to or creating predicament for their artists. Like by jumping the gun with confidential info, and by leaking inside info to the media.

    Like how media got hold of confidential/inside info of Steven's request to terminate his contract. How unprofessional to leak such info to the media. And Steven got bashed and ridiculed for it.

    And how Catherine prematurely informed the press of Steven going back to TVB to shoot a series when they hadn't even sit down to discuss the details of contract, much less Steven agreeing to do it. Again Steven got bashed by media and netizens alike that he couldn't make it outside TVB in the mainland so now had to go back to HK. I truly wish Steven would just break off totally with that Truly Very Bad company.

    Who knows what happened to his March series. I bet that was the mainland series with MSC, which was later postphoned to May -- which is why in his last interview Steven said that he still hadn't made up his mind about tvb because of schedule conflict in May.

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  6. Yup. Truly Very Bad company for sure!!!!!
    I really hope that he will not have to shoot this series after all.
    Who said that he couldn't make it outside TVB in the mainland. They are so wrong! Didn't they see how good YYP is? How excellent Steven's performance was? Haiz.

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