Jessica Hsuan Did Not Renew TVB Contract
Jessica Hsuan (宣萱) and Lawrence Ng (吳啟華) appeared at the opening ceremony of their new mainland China series in Shanghai yesterday. Jessica lamented the heavy workload at TVB, “In the past, I filmed 22 hours per day at TVB. In contrast, the work schedule in mainland is much more relaxed!”
Since her contract with TVB expired in September 2011, Jessica indicated that she did not renew her contract. And refers to September this year after the expiry of her family have been not renewed. Nominated in the Best Actress category for her performance in Curse of the Royal Harem <萬凰之王>, Jessica indicated that she felt Myolie Wu (胡杏兒) was very promising. In addition, Jessica denied that she did not get along well with Myolie.
Source: Orientaldaily.on.cc
Jayne: I am not surprised that Jessica decided not to renew her contract with TVB, as she had expressed disappointment with TVB’s method of operations and politics before. In addition, many of her 90s contemporaries had already moved on and perhaps Jessica felt it was the right time to explore additional opportunities in mainland as well. I hope she considers filming one series per year with TVB though.
No wonder her 1st lead role in “Curse of the Royal Harem” has been downgraded to be the 2nd lead role.
“And refers to September this year after the expiry of her family have been not renewed.”
Huh? What does this mean?
i know! i was like wtf?
Same here… What does that mean??? What is the original Chinese sentence??
really, artist film 22 hours per day? serious????!!!!!!!! how does the makeup even stay on for 22 hours and imagine how bad they stink after filming for 22 hours!!!!!
Some even film for 48 hours without sleeping, Charmaine had a record of 4 days filming continuously, and there was once LF had to film 2 movies and 1 series at the same time (1 in the morning, 1 in the afternoon, 1 through the night), he could only sleep when moving to from this set to the other.
There is something called perfume, or a quick 15 minute break.
But wouldn’t their eyes look tired? Makeup can’t always cover the tiredness and redness in their eyes.
Yea, I heard that some artists did not sleep for several days. Actually, I heard some artists in China not sleeping for like a week as well.. I wonder who true that was since I thought that filming in China was not as bad. Not showering for only 22 hours is not that bad…
But it is disappointing that TVB still works its artists so hard after so many years. I thought they would change things. Back in the days, I always hear about TVB overworking and underpaying and now it is still the same… I am shocked that Jessica stayed with them for so long… It is good to move on but I guess they do owe TVB for their success,therefore, it is good to maintain a good relationship with TVB.
I understand why everyone wants to earn Renminbi but these TVB artists needs to remember that they are this popular/well known it’s because TVB put a lot of time, effort, money etc to promote them. I know they work hard too but they should show some loyalty to their employer and not cut all ties.
Anyway, whilst Myolie’s acting is over exaggerated, Jessica’s performance is a bit lame. I can’t get over the fact that she is over 40 and acting as a 20 something. It’s so odd. The 萬凰之王 is not a good series to add to any resume. Good luck to Jessica in China.
no.. snoopy, u r wrong!!!! myolie wu really did very well in CRH!!! After u watched episode 15, how u feel???
She keeps saying that TVB work regimen sucks for the past 5-6 years. Good for her to take a rest.
Gud for her. Surely myolie will win diz year eventhough jessica’s far better in acting. Its just the luck doesn’t belongs to her. Surely people won’t forget her, maggie, ada choi, kenix and flora. Tavia’s going to be one of the good actress but others (kate, fala, linda, myolie) I’m not sure. Linda improved so much this year. Myolie’s good in GJ but sucks in COTRH. Fala’s and kate…oooo they’re nothing… ;P
Jessica’s acting is a bit boring in COTRH. Sometimes she’s cute with Sunny but most of the time she’s not belonging to the ancient palace scene.
totally agree with you..linda improved so much! and i think fala too. myolie…i never liked her acting. she’s boring..she’s not even that good compare to tavia lol. tavia should win more awards for sure!! kate? dont even need to talk about her. she sucks at everything..EVERYTHING lol she didnt improve at all lmao
She has chosen the right career path – for more money and more relaxation, China Mainland is an ideal land.
Awards by TVB is rigged!They prob give it to the actors next in line they wanna heavily promote so then you will see more of them the following year. Its all political internally. Mostly Who cares who wins!! I’ve stopped following TVB series years ago!
I hope she doesn’t rule out the possibility to come back to film one series per year. I will miss her.
Definitely expected as she has expressed her disappointment in TVB many times in the past few years. Honestly though, her acting in TVB series has gone downhill since the 90’s..
Myolie should definitely not win as her acting in CRH is pretty bad.
no… myolie wu do very well in CRH.. after u watch episode 15 then how u feel????
Hahaa I still feel her actings bad. Too bad for myolie. I do hope ill like her acting but at the end of every episode… Nothing can impress me. Jessica did very well
Myolie looks the same in almost all series. Her expression is something she needs to improve on. So boring, especially her lips and eyes – they are always same same same … eeewwww
@RIBB,
I notice most of the female artists have the same expression in different series too like for eg. Linda shows the same crying expression in that teacher’s series (sorry forgot the series’ name) and L’esgargot. TY always show the same emotion in differen tsereis too, so is kate, who is often pouting her lips almost in eveyr series..
I guess the reason why we say that is because these fadans are too overused by tvb and appeared in a series too often.
I think tavia shld win this year. Her acting is more natural. Kate seems to be acting herself in most series. Myolie is trying to hard and exaggerates. Fala is heavily promoted and got many chances but still new to me. She passed most improved award and went straight to supporting actress.
Basically some of you don’t like Jessica’s acting and think that it’s normal, okay, it’s your personal opinion. Honestly, with all her “normal” acting, she is in the showbiz for nearly 20 years and many actresses nowadays if they don’t have TVB’s lancer behind the scenes and many talented actresses have gone, they cannot be a leading actress. That’s for sure.
jessica was a great actress but “curse” so far has been disappointing.
she’s one of my fave, love her in all the 90’s early 2000’s series. i believe the blame cannot be placed solely on her. some of the tvb scripts are just awful!
I agree. HK tv series today have little to no substance. I grew up watching the classic 80’s/early 90’s series, and they were awesome (Greed of Man, Looking Back in Anger, Come Rain, Come Shine, etc…). Hope TVB can come up with fresh storylines.
Maybe I’m a bias towards ancient series, I kinda like how COTRH progress so far. And bascially, I like everything of it, from customes to makeup (although many complain about the garish makeup) and I really like how Myolie and Jessica character progressing so far..I’d like to watch how Jessica turning evil and pay back those who bullied her b4..
So I really dont think jess did any bad job in this series =)
Can’t put all the blame on the scriptwriters either. For those who can read Chinese, maybe interested to read what 贾伟南 said in his interview. FYI, he is the co-writer of “Beyond The Realm Of Conscience” and more recently 《ATF反恐》. Excerpts are reposted in his weibo. http://www.weibo.com/u/2257029984
The catalyst for his leaving TVB is over BTROC. (From recent news, guess he’s back working with TVB again, most likely under a different type of contract.)
贾伟南:It is incomprehensible to me that a series I so dislike can become so popular ,and stranger still because of it, many producers approached me to write them a similar script… To me, the script is not very good, especially the character of Lau Sam Ho being not unrealistic.
What I find even more incomprehensible is that no more than 5 people knew of my resignation at that time….but outsiders instantly knew about it and approached me. (tn:the same way Steven’s contract termination request got leaked out?)
..Many producers are not willing to give new scriptwriters the chance to write hence no chance for them to grow, which maybe why there is now a lack of continuity in the pool of competent scriptwriters in tvb. In the past, we needed to ‘sell’ our work to script editors, now the scriptwriter and script editor work together, however, basically whatever the latter say,goes. The work for scriptwriters may have gotten easier, but this situation is not beneficial to them, moreover, their sense of accomplishment and satisfaction is not as strong as ours in the past.
賈偉南:When I write a story I like to do stuff I like… like the storyline of Steven Ma and Tavia Yeung (tn:LOW)..Like how I especially put in a lot of thoughts into that segment whereby separated by a wall,they bandied poem to each other.
賈偉南: If it were another producer (tn: not Leung Choi Yuen)this segment would have been cut out way back.
賈偉南：I recall Uncle Choi once said this to me long time ago:”This younger generation (of scriptwriters),I don’t connect with them much,but I’m willing to give you guys a free rein.” If only the majority of the current producers can have this kind of a senior’s generosity and open-mindedness, that would be so great.
What’s the difference between working for Catherine Tsang and Tommy Leung? Tsang’s series more realistic,focus on production quality. Tommy more gimmicky, focuse more on innovation.
Tommy’s scriptwriters have more say in their work. Tsang’s producers like to control everything including script with a heavy hand. Some producers are becoming so ridiculously controlling that it is quite impossible to work with them anymore. One of the reason why I resigned.
Do you know our department situation. From the elevator are 2 diverging hallways. One to Tommy’s side, the other to Tsang jie’s. The territories are distinctly separated. Each side seldom steps into the other department unless it is work related. I’ll don’t understand we all work in the same company, why this way? This feeling is very comfortable. (tn: like how Steven Ma says he seldom visits Tommy production side of the floor. Couldn’t understand either why such demarcation of department and people)
corrections: This feeling is very uncomfortable
Lau Sam Ho being very unrealistic.
One of the reasons why I resigned.
claimine,
That’s a good read from the weibo. Thank you for providing the link. I caught my sight on something that you don’t post here though, I’m surprised at the initial casting for Beyond(especially for ahem one male character ahem. How could I miss this information? 😮 )
That doesn’t sound like a good teamwork between the TL and CT departments. These might explain the “accidental” double sales presentation for Empress Lu, resulted in the higher ups to step in and shoved both departments aside..if we believe what the rumors said (Which burnt my heart out because I missed the chance to watch a certain Xiongnu empire emperor! Agh 🙁 )
Beyond The Realm of Conscience wasn’t my cup of tea. I did watch the series via FFW :P. Thanks to the creation of FFW button. Hehs.
@Masaharu: Same to me haha.
BTROC wasn’t my cup of tea either, mostly because of acting, story but the main culprit, the beehive hair and what nots. I do however appreciate the ending for the poor lonely emperor.
What are we talking about? off topic huh?
It is interesting that Catherine Tsang is known to produce better work than Tommy Leung, but, her stable has the more controlling producers while Tommy’s producers give scriptwriters more freedom.
We always think that the reason TVB’s script is not good now is because TVB’s current system stifles scriptwriters’ creativity. But, Tommy’s camp is the camp giving scriptwriters more freedom but end up producing less good drama.
So, does this mean it is right to reign in the scriptwriters and the producers call all the shots? TVB’s writing still unable to standalone?
贾伟南 reminds me of the way that mangaka (manga authour) and editor from Shounen Jump Magazine work together for this quote: “the scriptwriter and script editor work together, however, basically whatever the latter say,goes” – the script writer and script editor work together. Read the manga named Bakuman if you want to know more. Personally, this old type of working isn’t too bad. The scriptwriter can change the work right after the editor has comment. But the quality of the editor has an affection.
I always think that Tommy’s side has better script than Catherine’s side and being less dramatic. It’s a surprise for me to know that Tommy is more gimmick. However, it seems to be true in the recent years, from 2010 onwards. But I still don’t like series from Catherine’s side as I always have the feel that these series are kinda over dramatic, especially the ones of Lau Ka Hou and Mui Siu Ching. Same on the aim of series’s quality. I’ve the feeling that Tommy focuses on his work’s quality than Catherine. I like the way Tommy’s side put effort in the whole series than each eps only. When I watch Catherine’s side series, I always think that the climax is set in each eps better than the series of Tommy’s side, but overall stories, Tommy’s side have something more to tell.
Totally agree with you, Fox
@ Fox
Which are the series under Tommy and which under Catherine? Which producers under Tommy and which under Catherine?
I know those modern rich family series like Drive of Life and Born Rich are most Tommy’s series and feedback for these 2 series are not good.
@Kidd: http://asianfanatics.net/forum/topic/658978-tvb-producers-tvb-managed-artistes/ some ppl listed here. And if you can go to KATVB, there is a topic there about the producers.
Tommy has his hand on some big family series which is loved, such as Golden Faith.
@Fox: In the past, we needed to ‘sell’ our work to script editors, now the scriptwriter and script editor work together, however, basically whatever the latter say,goes…The scriptwriter can change the work right after the editor has comment. But the quality of the editor has an affection.
Sorry for the misleading sentence above. The ‘work’ 贾伟南 talks about was not about co-writing but that of breaking the story into episodes (分场). My bad.
The editing problem occurs when an original premise and script are revised too much by a heavy-handed script editor. Suggestions are good but not heavy editing.
Couldn’t finish BTROC not even via FFW.
It would explain why TVB’s current series seem to be split into each eps like this. It lacks the necessary link and overall storyline.
I have also noticed that some TVB dramas have different director for different episodes, and the difference from the quality of scenes flow, editing and pacing shows. Different hands make different shapes LOL.
Well experience does not always dictate someone’s acting skills or any skills. Some people are more born with a type of talent than others are. With some people, you can already see that they are great even when they first started out. But there are some that can act or work in the same field for many years without any or much improvement.
I personally like Jessica’s acting and have really enjoyed many of her performances. But a series can be good or bad due to the storyline and many other things and not just the cast.
TVB has been making series for many years so it is normal for them to run out of ideas for a storyline. They also have a lot of competition from other companies nowadays as well.
Yup. I wonder how tvb let maggie and jessica go when both r very talented. Now, only tavia got their talent.. Unfortunately, all of her dramas this year unable to place her as the best actress. But if I can choose, ill choose her. Myolie was too exaggerates in CORH… Fala cannot act but tvb promoted her so much. Kate’s too much in her acting. The way she act still not convincing. Linda improved so much but its too early for her to win best actress awards. Maybe she should try villain roles like she did in the gems of life and the early part in the drive of life.
Linda has never been in Drive of life. Maybe you are referring to another series.
Talent is in the eye of the beholder. I personally feel that Tavia’s acting isn’t any better than Myolie or many other actresses of today. Someone can be really talented but if they aren’t heavily promoted or given more chances for leading roles, then how far can they really go???
taiko, u r wrong… myolie wu really did very well in CRH!! after u watch episode 15, do u feel wrong comment on acting myolie wu is too exaggerates!!!
I don’t think Taiko is wrong but is just stating her opinion. As I have said, talent is in the eye of the beholder.
Maybe she’s disappointed with TVB writers & the scripts they churn out. Lately most of their stories are so bad. Better to go now then to act in such badly written series.
No surprise there.
Glad to see Lawrence acting again since I thought he retired to run a restaurant business. It is great to see him acting again though…