In order to find Zheng Shuang, Zhang Fan exhausted all methods. During his twenty days in the United States, he went to Colorado, Florida, California and New York. He imagined finding Zheng Shuang more than once. Like all creditors, he would ask her: when will the money be repaid?

Text | Fang Xing

Editor | Xinye

Operation | killer whale

Find Zheng Shuang

In the past year, except for some fans who are still looking forward to Zheng Shuang's comeback, there must be Zhang Fan among those who are always concerned about the trend of this former top star.

He wouldn't miss a single piece of news about her. From Zheng Shuang's ex-husband Zhang Heng accused her of abusing her children at the beginning of the year, to her losing a lawsuit, carrying tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of yuan in compensation, and becoming a "laolai" because she failed to execute the judgment overdue and was restricted from high consumption, he read every item repeatedly.

He is not a paparazzi or an illegitimate meal, but he wants to know where Zheng Shuang is more than they do. From home to the United States, he used all his resources to look for traces of Zheng Shuang. Someone posted Zheng Shuang's address in Denver on the Internet, and he immediately went to look for it, but by the time he got there, the house had been "all empty." He even searched all the moving companies nearby to find out the final destination of his luggage.

In the end, he "spent a little money" and got a vague address. At the closest, "the person who took the picture was only a few meters away from her."

Zhang Fan pursued Zheng Shuang and asked her to pay back the money. Until 2019, when he invested 30 million yuan in "the Top Secret" starring Zheng Shuang, Zhang Fan would not have thought that he would embark on such a long way to collect debts in the future.

Zheng Shuang was successively exposed in 2021 about surrogacy, tax evasion and other problems, making the broadcast of "the Top Secret" a long way off. Investors have previously agreed with Zheng Shuang that actors need to ensure that they abide by laws and regulations during the performance of the contract and before the completion of the first round of distribution and broadcasting of the TV series. Once the broadcast of the show is affected for personal reasons, the investor has the right to terminate the contract, demand a refund of the fee and pay 20% of the contract amount of liquidated damages.

▲ State Administration of Taxation notification of Zheng Shuang's case. Picture / official website of the State Administration of Taxation

After nearly two years, Zhang Fan did wait for the civil judgment of the Jiangxi Provincial higher people's Court at the end of 2022, requiring Zheng Shuang Kuxiong Studio and Zheng Shuang 100% holding Jiujiang Herd effect Studio to refund the "top secret" Fang Shanghui film and television service fee totaling 120 million yuan.

This is a shocking figure. The entire show has a filming cycle of 61 working days, and Zheng Shuang's daily salary is close to 2 million in terms of days. At the same time, the parties agreed that if the working hours need to be extended due to the reasons of the film side, it is necessary to pay Zheng Shuang 2.2 million yuan (including tax) in one working day.

Zheng Shuang's accident in 2021, also known as the star's first year of collapse. In the same year, idol singer Wang Leehom was accused of marital infidelity, and pianist Li Yundi was involved in negative news on suspicion of prostitution. Brands have also gradually developed a muscle memory--deleting collaborative materials at the first time and declaring termination of cooperation with them.

There are still a small number of people who have come to the stage of litigation. After the news of actor Deng Lun's suspected tax evasion came to light, Yunmi Technology, which he endorsed, filed a dispute over the service contract against him. After Deng Lun signed as Yunmi spokesperson, Yunmi Technology's financial results for the third quarter of 2021 showed that sales and marketing expenses reached 183 million yuan, an increase of more than 20% over the same period last year, some of which may include Deng Lun's endorsement fees. At present, this case has also entered the stage of enforcement.

Hundreds of millions of service fees and tens of millions of endorsement fees were only the "normal" level of traffic stars at that time. It was not until 2021 that Zhang Heng revealed that Zheng Shuang earned 160 million yuan and a daily salary of more than 2.08 million yuan in 2019 through a Yin-Yang contract in the "Beautiful woman Ghost" (renamed "only ask this Life Love Cangming") project. At one point, a new unit of measurement was born-"cool" equals 160 million and "cool day" equals 2.08 million.

The "top secret" is not the only victim of Zheng Shuang's thunderstorm. The lawsuit brought by Zheng Shuang and the producer of "Emerald Lovers" starring South Korean actor Lee Jong-suk also entered the stage of enforcement. Zheng Shuang was sentenced to return 30.5 million yuan in service fees and compensate the TV series producer for 60 million in economic losses, totaling 90.5 million yuan.

As a "top secret" individual investor, Zhang Fan feels that he is in a different situation from the film and television investment company. "in the words of the company, sooner or later, there is an account receivable, but I am a pure personal creditor, and I am the one who is most worried." There is only one core question: can you get the money back? There is no definite answer. Zhang Fan can only rely on simple methods, either to find people or to keep an eye on money.

In order to find Zheng Shuang, Zhang Fan exhausted all methods. During his twenty days in the United States, he went to Colorado, Florida, California and New York. He imagined finding Zheng Shuang more than once. Like all creditors, he would ask her: when will the money be repaid?

The imaginary confrontation did not happen. Because even if you see Zheng Shuang, Zhang Fan can't talk to her. The lawyer reminded him that domestic debt has not yet been recognized in the United States, and the other party can call the police at any time to "charge stalking or malicious debt collection."

Unable to face-to-face with Zheng Shuang, he sent a message to the middleman in an attempt to create some human pressure on the other side. But the other party told him that Zheng Shuang's original words were, "Don't talk to me about this."

If you can't find anyone, you can find the money. In March 2021, the custody lawsuit between Zheng Shuang and her ex-husband Zhang Heng opened in Denver Court in the United States. The outside world is concerned about Zheng Shuang's allegations of "cruelty to animals and emotional instability," which Zhang Fan has no time to think about. through various channels, he saw the detailed statement of domestic and foreign assets provided by Zheng Shuang to the Denver court. "among them, a single item is more than 31.8 million US dollars (equivalent to about 230 million yuan)."

But it is useless to know that the other party is able to repay it, and his progress bar remains at the origin.

Zheng Shuang is not the first star standing at a height to fall sharply.

In 2002, national actress Liu Xiaoqing spent 422 days in Qincheng prison for tax evasion. it wasn't long before Liu Xiaoqing announced her comeback. Like Liu Xiaoqing, she played Fan Bingbing of Wu Zetian, before she "disappeared" for tax evasion. it topped the Forbes celebrity list with an income of 300 million yuan. Fan Bingbing is more like the absolute winner of resources and traffic than an actor. According to media statistics, at its peak, she was a shareholder of seven companies, a legal representative of five companies, and an executive of three companies. After the fall, all film and television projects shut down and listed companies fell into debt quagmire. With the influx of hot money, more and more individual investors are entering Vanity Fair, hoping to make a lot of money after a few rolls in the capital market. Zhang Fan is one of them.

"A deposit with a yield of more than 50%"

The story of Zhang Fan has the beginning of cooking oil on fire before there is no way to go.

"Top Secret" was his first and only investment in a film and television series, and he bet 30 million yuan. Such boldness has nothing to do with the state of the project and the atmosphere of the industry at that time.

The play was completed at the end of 2018, and when Zhang Fan first got involved in the project, it was already in the post-production stage. It cannot be said that he was not cautious. Before transferring money, he investigated the background of the film, chatted with the creator team one by one, and even watched five or six episodes of rough cut sample films. "(quality) is certainly not as good as" plotting "and" the Wind ". But as a flow star starring in a spy drama, I believe the audience can accept it.

Most importantly, several head video websites have signed copyright purchase contracts with distribution companies. This is almost a certainty in the industry. Zhang Fan had calculated an account. As long as the broadcast platform was paid, after deducting the expenses of issuance, agency and taxes, the return rate of this investment could still exceed 50%.

Not everyone is involved in such a sure-win deal, and it depends on the introduction of acquaintances. Zhang Fan took over his share from a friend's company, and the person who helped him set up the line was also a good friend for many years. Everyone in the project is full of confidence in the future of the show, saying that friends "would not have transferred their share to him if it were not for the urgent need for cash flow to start a new show."

In the face of such a high rate of return on investment, Zhang Fan judged the project "without any risk". In the next sentence, almost everyone who failed an investment said, "I thought this was a deposit." But obviously, Vanity Fair is not a bank.

It's not that there has been no danger signal. Zhang Fan's investment comes just a few months after Zhao Lixin, one of the stars of the Top Secret, publicly apologized and cancelled Weibo for speech problems. In order to be safe, the later team immediately used Plan B to put on the candidate actors, "after the AI changed head, finally got the release license."

At that time, Zhang Fan also used the mentality of "asking for gossip in the industry" to understand Zheng Shuang. It was also the first time he realized that there was something "unusual" about this person. As one of the leading actors, Zheng Shuang is also the focus of complaints of the shooting team. Occasionally, Zheng Shuang disappears from the set for no reason. No one knows where she has gone or when she will be back. "but when the phone is turned on, so many people are here, and it is money every day."

Zheng Shuang even admitted this when he visited the variety show "Please refrigerator" in 2020. When a group of guests talked about the hardships of filming, Zheng Shuang looked puzzled. When asked by the host he Jiong about the hardship she had experienced in filming, her answer was "no" because "if you are not happy, you will stop filming". Another guest, Wei Daxun, talked about filming for 34 hours at most. Zheng Shuang tilted his head and asked Wei Daxun, "Why can't you just walk away like me?"

Zhang Fan is also curious why Zheng Shuang can always "walk away chic", while the whole production team has almost no way to check and balance-except for endless persuasion on Wechat. She disappeared for as little as two or three days and more than a week. When she returned to the scene, no one would blame her. "it's good to be able to coax her back with her as a baby."

Over the past decade, capital has poured into the film and television industry and, to some extent, reconstructed the rules of the industry.

At first, everyone in the coffee shop was talking about the miracle of "returning four sons"-as long as one of the most popular faces was invited, the project could be pulled up from scratch. Traffic quickly translates into clicks, endorsement product sales and the movie box office, and it is difficult to judge how acting and singing skills are, and there are also means to modify them, such as "green screen matting" and "electric sound". But the traffic and data are real money.

At that time, no one doubted the efficiency of the realization of traffic. Wu Yifan has also contributed such famous scenes. In the interview of the movie "Journey to the West", the reporter asked Tsui Hark and Stephen Chow why Wu Yifan was used. Before the two directors spoke, Wu Yifan immediately replied, "it must be because I am a good actor." Both directors laughed almost at the same time. In the end, the film successfully exceeded 1.5 billion yuan at the box office, making it the No. 1 box office for the Spring Festival that year.

▲ pictures / stills of the movie "Journey to the West"

The old era is quietly disintegrating, and the flow stars who have become scarce commodities are gradually reaching the pinnacle of power.

In 2017, Wang Leiqing, director of the SMG Film and TV Drama Center, revealed at the annual meeting of SMG production and broadcasting that "in 2016 alone, the salaries of first-and second-tier actors increased by nearly 250%. For a TV series that costs 300 million yuan, stars take 200 million yuan."

Unlike the money given by the video platform to the producer for a long time, the 120 million service fee given to Zheng Shuang by the producer was transferred to her company's account early, showing the strength of the top traffic.

Even if the flow star is out of control, it can become a weight for rising pay. Zheng Shuang, whether in variety or live broadcast collapse, can quickly transform into a hot search. She has also published a famous statement that "hot search helps me raise my pay", she is somewhat proud,"public opinion will push me forward, pay will rise."

Not only the co-operative team can't manage the artists, but even the attorney can't even fully understand the stars. In July 2021, before Wu Yifan's incident, the studio still issued a lawyer's statement, believing that all the allegations were false and violated Wu Yifan's right of reputation. It came quickly in the face, and in the same month, Chaoyang police informed Wu that he had been detained in accordance with the law on suspicion of rape.

As a senior lawyer, Wang Jing is also working for a number of artists. She understands the difficulty of building trust with artists. "the client is a star, and he is so busy making money that he can understand that he doesn't have time to meet in person." Most lawyers can only see parents who pat their children's character on the chest, "but no one can really know another person," especially when fame and wealth are surging in.

After the thunderstorms

In the vision of Zhang Fan, he could have got his own share of the pie in this flow feast. After all, who doesn't yearn for wealth? If it is readily available, and you can firmly grasp it.

At one point, as if he had actually bought a large certificate of deposit, he forgot the investment and was "just waiting for the money back". Until January 2021, a phone call broke the dream.

The friend who transferred shares tentatively asked him if he had seen the hot search of Zheng Shuang's pregnant son, and Zhang Fan's heart was cold in an instant. His intuition told him that he couldn't wait for the money back. As a matter of fact, the money of all the broadcast platforms has not yet been collected, and the investors are suddenly thrown into the air. "things happen too quickly."

Like most people in this industry, Zhang Fan wants to solve the problem in private, at least not to the point of litigation. There is only one way to stop the loss as much as possible-to make the TV series with an investment of up to 300 million go smoothly.

He hopes Zheng Shuang can bear the cost of changing the angle or changing the face of the AI. Either way, it will cost at least tens of millions. Wang Mingsong, a senior producer, also believes that "this number is generally needed."

Entering the negotiation stage, the solution given by Zheng Shuang's family is to compensate 30 million in cash and a second-hand Rolls-Royce car, first to complete the transfer of ownership of the vehicle, and 30 million in cash to be transferred after the Spring Festival of that year. At this point, Zhang Fan relieved himself that "as long as the other party can bear the cost of changing heads or changing angles, this will be a thing of the past, without entanglement."

Soon, the car in the agreement was resold for 7 million. But until the end of the New year, investors did not receive follow-up compensation. Then ask Zheng Shuang's family, the other party's original words are "do not contact, (Zheng Shuang) has gone to the United States to file a lawsuit!" Since then, Shang Hui Film and Television, the main investor in "Top Secret", has launched a two-year debt recovery lawsuit.

Zheng Shuang in the center of the whirlpool lost the spotlight and dimmed. And the recoil force of a big mine detonated is much more than that. For a long time, the stars in the center of the stage have connected countless practitioners behind the scenes with the audience in front of the stage. what the traffic model really rewards is not strength or hard work, but productivity-whoever can bring more attention and benefits to producers and advertisers can stay in the system.

And the flow catchers "collapsed houses" after the smoke everywhere, from investors to later editors, have to face a new ruins.

Zhao Xinyun, who has worked in the film and television industry for many years, once pinched a sweat for the "wild wind." Towards the end of the broadcast, Han Pujun, a special actor who plays drug dealer Zhong Ashi, was revealed to be a singer who was banned for taking drugs. The crew quickly issued a statement explaining that the resume was sent in the name of Han Pujun and will delete the other party's share of the play.

Almost every practitioner can count several projects that have been reshaped because of the "collapsed house". Monster Hunt, which was released in 2015, is one of them. Producer Jiang Zhiqiang has also considered starring Ke Zhendong in a "change of head". He has found a special effects makeup team for the Hollywood movie "rejuvenation". The other party's offer is as high as "the proportion of the film is still expensive."

In the end, the film chose to replace Ke Zhendong, with an additional production cost of more than 70 million yuan. Fortunately, the film finally won the championship with $2.44 billion at the box office.

The star of ▲ 's Monster Hunt is replaced by Jing Beran by Ke Zhendong. Photo / stills from the movie Monster Hunt

But it seems that there is only one lucky person in the count, and more projects have been dragged down by years of waiting. Even for a listed company, it sometimes only takes a backlog drama to fall from the peak to the bottom.

The most impressive case of lawyer Wang Jing is Tang de Film and Television, the investor in the Legend of Ba Qing. The production cost of the whole TV series is more than 580 million yuan, which is known as "the largest investment in the history of Asian TV series production", but the broadcast plan has been shelved again and again because male and female actors Gao Yunxiang and Fan Bingbing have been involved in negative news.

Producer Fang Tangde Film and Television said publicly that changing roles would require an increase of 30 million in shooting costs. Since then, Tangde film and television has suffered a great loss of vitality, and so far it has not recovered its declining trend, with a market capitalization of less than 1/4 of its peak. "even if it enters the stage of litigation, it is difficult to clarify the main responsibility of (the film backlog)." Because there are too many problems.

There are also times when no one can tell what the problem is.

Zhao Xinyun revealed that a film adapted from a novel could not be released because one of the actors was accused of taking drugs. The producers have tried various methods: using AI technology to change faces, and the sample film is put on the big screen, which immediately becomes a "disaster"; it is not possible to delete the actor's part, because the character is a clue that runs through, and once the whole story is deleted, it cannot be established; a replacement remake means an increase of at least tens of millions of dollars. Investors finally decided to "recognize" and there was nothing they could do. What is most difficult to accept is that it is impossible for them to even collect debts. "without a notice with a blue background and white words, there is no way to identify responsibility."

Upstream investors took out real money and went to the lower reaches of the film and television industry, where the production team had to pay labor to "rebuild" on the ruins. The needs of post-producers have gradually changed from helping the artist P to getting rid of the artist P.

In an interview with the media, a variety post-producer revealed that in order to make a singer involved in negative news disappear from the stage, his CG special effects team blurred it like giving a photo P map, except that there were 25 frames of shot every second. A 4-minute stage performance is equivalent to the refinement of 6000 pictures.

As the broadcaster of film and television works, but also the risk-sharing, the major video websites will also be scared by endless thunderstorms. In order to reduce the risk, the AI casting system based on big data has been developed. As long as self-made movies and TV dramas enter the casting stage, the system can give hints of possible risks. Various consulting companies will also provide casting reports with a unit price of tens of thousands of yuan, claiming to be able to do a full-body scan for each artist. However, Wang Mingsong feels that the apparent risk is not a risk. "it would be more practical to ask the acquaintances he has worked with."

Now, more and more producers and advertisers are asking for an "artistry clause" when signing contracts with artists. Every possible reason for the collapse of the house is truthfully recorded, not contaminated with pornography, not tax evasion is only basic,"to ensure that fans, family members, employees do not get involved in negative news" has also become a conventional expression. After Zheng Shuang incident, the latest addition is "no surrogacy, no abandonment, no violation of public order and good customs."

Artists need to make sure they stand firmly within these rules, or they will face high liquidated damages. Sometimes, strict art terms are also a test. "if you find that artists are very concerned about a certain clause, it usually means that there is a risk in this respect," Wang Jing said.

Although the agreements of contracts are becoming more and more detailed, they are usually limited to the "deterrent" effect at the legal level and are not easy to implement.

In the film and television industry for nearly 20 years, Wang Jing has rarely seen companies and brands that have really entered the litigation process. As a subject that needs a long-term business image, being involved in litigation means becoming a negative focus. We all hope that it can be solved privately through resource exchange and refund, "if there is no litigation, there will be no litigation."

This kind of forbearance can sometimes be seen in the news.

A few days ago, Jiang Jinfu, who retired on charges of domestic violence, returned to the spotlight because of litigation. The dispute has lasted for seven years. The stories are all similar. In 2017, Holgos, a subsidiary of listed company Dasheng Culture, acquired a 30 per cent investment share from Suzhou Chuan TV and invested 50.4 million yuan in Jiang Jinfu's TV series Milulu courtship. Jiang Jinfu earns more than 69 million per piece, more than 40 per cent of the total cost.

Lei fell down quickly, Jiang Jinfu was involved in domestic violence charges, and the TV series could not be released for a long time. The choice of investors is not to bring a lawsuit, but to find a way to "calm things down".

At one point, they also tried to "change their face", but thought that "the expected return is likely to be zero", but failed to continue to spend money. It was not until the end of 2020 that Suzhou TV signed a settlement agreement with Jiang Jinfu Studio, agreeing that Jiang Jingfu would return 11.18 million yuan to Suzhou TV, and that he would take part in two new film and television projects sponsored by Suzhou TV for free within four years. However, with the tighter supervision of artists in the market, in fact, even if acting for free, TV dramas will be difficult to broadcast in the future, let alone recoup the investment.

In Wang Jing's view, even if the investor sues, there is a high probability that the investor will not be able to recover the loss. "few artists can take out the money to compensate for the whole project."

Rapid manufacturing, rapid replacement

After Zheng Shuang's accident, Zhang Fan was watching anxiously for a long time. What really pushed him to pursue debt collection in the United States was the prosecution of his friends.

In order to win 10% of the investment of the "top secret", Zhang Fan borrowed nearly 9 million yuan from a friend. Two years later, including interest and late fees, the arrears have risen to 14 million. Seeing that he had been slow to repay the money, his friend also took him to court.

Zhang Fan has no way out, not to mention that there are Shang Hui Film and Television, the producer of "the Top Secret," and other investors. According to Zhang Fan, he became the only hope for all creditors. He keeps pace with all parties on the phone and WeChat group every day-which city he has visited and who he has met today. But what is the actual progress of debt collection? "No."

Obviously, he also underestimated the difficulty of cross-border debt collection. Before leaving, he and his lawyer were still trying to find enforceable property and new running water certificates in China, and even considered whether Zheng Shuang's parents could be added to the executee. But when he really came to the United States, all his positive thoughts disappeared, and he repeatedly said that he was very helpless and "there was nothing he could do about it."

On December 7, ▲, Zheng Shuang was forced to execute 90.5 million yuan by the Shanghai Songjiang District people's Court. Picture / Sky Eye check

As of early October last year, investors had not received a penny. Enterprise check information shows that so far, Zheng Shuang is still restricted from high consumption because of the 120 million service charge.

It's easy to imagine the pain of losing 1000 yuan, but what it means to lose 30 million yuan, or even your life savings, Zhang Fan doesn't know. The only thing that is certain is that collecting debts and dealing with the troubles caused by debt collection have become the only focus of his life.

When he lost his money, his friend almost disappeared. the person who lent him the money was a child who "wanted to call and play together every day", but now the atmosphere of the chat has become more and more awkward. When he picked up the phone, Zhang Fan often didn't know what to say. "No one wants to hear my troubles, but I can't say when I can pay back the money." His family is also worried about him, because the assets are frozen, the legal costs of suing Zheng Shuang are paid by his family.

Because the debtors used to be stars with countless fans, they dragged him into the battlefield of public opinion. In early 2023, he began to update his debt collection progress online in real time, confronting Zheng Shuang. Zhang Fan pointed out that Zheng Shuang refused to comply with the legal judgment, but the other party also posted screenshots of the enforcement notice and property report order, believing that he was "still working hard to implement and discuss drawing up a reasonable repayment plan."the sun will not be covered by dark clouds forever. The light will come eventually."

He does not know where his mobile phone number was leaked, but since entering the second trial process, he has often received calls from Zheng Shuang's fans, "except for abuse and accusation." Over time, he didn't even look at his cell phone much, "too annoying."

After the first year of the collapse of the house, the algorithms behind the entertainment machines that were once running at high speed are also being recalibrated.

The wind is gradually changing. In the past, the rich and powerful video platform also began to mention high-quality products frequently. Several major dramas recognized within Tencent, including "long season", "three-body" and "Flower", have lost their pure traffic stars. Gong Yu, CEO of iqiyi, put it more bluntly in his 2023 speech-- making plays in the future, not pandering to platforms, fans and fashions. "We have learned a painful lesson. We chose some roles to cater to fans, and the final play could not be seen. Of course, this kind of pandering to fans is also pandering to traffic.

And the rise and fall of stars, as the American historian Boolstine wrote in the illusion, celebrities are tailor-made for us to please, comfort, charm and compliment us. They can be made quickly and replaced quickly.

However, fans who were once obsessed with idols may be able to find a substitute meal quickly, and those who are tripped by the collapse of their idols need a strong heart to fill the debt loophole and reconcile with themselves.

(at the request of the interviewees, Zhang Fan, Wang Jing, Zhao Xinyun and Wang Mingsong are aliases)

references

1. A study on the influence of star pay on the development of Chinese film industry. Yang Jiuqi

two。 Zheng Shuang's A brief History of Madness. The bad sister is here.

3. Iqiyi founder Gong Yu: the current film and television industry two feelings, five observations. You can see film and television.

4. Screen Vanishing: how to cut the "collapsed house" artists from TV programs? . Southern weekend

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