Fans of Chinese megastar Yang Mi are in a tizzy over the news that another Jaywalk produced drama Granting You A Warm Dawn (lit) 许你暖暖的晨光 will be helmed by their favourite actress once again. To be clear, fans are not unhappy about seeing their idol in a new show per se, they’re just worried that the actress is getting the shorter end of the stick in what has long been Jaywalk’s strategy of pairing new talents with the superstar. And fans have had it, fed up with the studio’s repeated use of the same production team and same cast in all of Yang Mi’s dramas, for using their idol as a litmus test of the market and for exploiting her star power to push their projects in the industry.
Indeed if we take a look her past dramas, it’s clear that the modus has always been to use the actress as an insurance of sorts to ensure exposure for their artists. I mean, in the uber popular Three Lives, Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms, nine actors from the cast were from the studio; in Legend of Fuyao, there were three; and in Yang Mi’s most recent drama Storm Eye, her co-star Vin Zhang Binbinas well as Wayne Liu Ruilin and Dai Si are all from Jaywalk as well. Of the Jaywalk produced dramas, The Great Craftsman had low Douban ratings of 4.7. Negotiator and V Love which had the same director had Douban ratings of 3.4 and 4.9.
In an effort to make the studio listen, fans have staged an organised protest at an event Yang Mi was scheduled to appear in today, chanting slogans and holding up signs calling for the boycott of Jaywalk. As an actor, I’m sure Yang Mi appreciates her fans looking out for her and her personal development (one has to change environments in order to grow and thrive), but as a part owner of Jaywalk, that will also put her at odds with the company’s strategy.
As the metaphoric goose that lays the golden eggs, the actress is THE ultimate influencer and thanks to the Yang Mi touch – brands, movies, dramas, things – you name it, anything touched by the actress’s name immediately becomes mega popular. Of course the studio is eager to cash in on the actress’s popularity and her golden touch, after all it’s what draws in investors. It is a logical strategy to be honest, but one that’s sadly overused and already quite stale. People sometimes ask why fix something that ain’t broke? In this case what ain’t broke is not necessarily cutting it anymore. If Jaywalk wants to ensure the longevity of its operations in the industry, then maybe its time to change course and listen to fans.
Source: 1
Anonymous
Isn't she the owner of the studio? Pretty sure it is a strategy she and the company has come to an agreement on? I mean, YM is getting older and she will not be able to play the innocent teenager young live role much longer. Her and her comoany wanting to give a project to the stars under her agency in which commission are earned is a good thing? What are these fans complaining about? The roles needs to be filled and who better than Yang Mi's own agency especially if maybe they have invested in it? How weird of the fans.
Anonymous
It's not weird, they're actually not fans but antis. They are afraid of YM success and want to prevent her from working. They have to pretend to be fans so they will be allowed to make a voice, of course YM is just going to ignore their silliness. If TMOPB is totally bull shit I would say everybody starred in it, depended on YM alone. But many people received their own praises. Such as Mark (not under her studio), he got such great reviews that it's so demeaning to say he depended on her. Dilireba is so pretty that even if she isn't under YM studio she would still get noticed elsewhere too. Same with Vinn, he's really handsome that he would get famous on his own. Just because the stars are in YM studio does not make them less than other stars. And, how the heck is it an issue if actors are starring in dramas from their studio??? Isn't that how it's suppose to work? They are finger pointing at YM because they hate YM success. What she's doing is so normal like everyone else. And, it's not like her dramas are so dumb that a storyline didn't even exist. Sometimes they aren't interesting dramas but at least, there are lots of actions and substance to it.
hohliu
Some "fans" are better off not having.
Anonymous
^ Don't talk if you know nothing. You sound like an idiot.
Those fans are obsessed and extreme but they are not dumb like you.
Anonymous
I understand the fans' concern but if Yang Mi herself does not see anything wrong with her current situation, the fans' protest are not going to do anything but harm her. Yang Mi strikes me more as a businesswoman than someone genuinely wanting to become a real actress. If her strategy is to use her own name to boost her studio's name and the artists under it, then let her be. Those fans can choose someone else to stan.
Though I do agree that the dramas under Jaywalk are pretty bad.
Anonymous
Yang Mi isn't good enough because she is a business woman PLUS she produced good dramas at the same time. Haters logics.
"choose someone else to stan" LMAO your idol does this too and I bet she sucks at it more because her dramas sucks and at least Yang Mi use her big name but her dramas are watchable. I know, YEAH, all jaywalk artists are so bad! Artists from other agency are so good, because the businessmen is not Yang Mi!
It's hard for your idol to compete with Yang Mi we know that, so just keep trying to drag her down with that maybe you will really win. Some anti fan trying to sound like good people here. No, idiots like you don't understand a thing just shut up.
Anonymous
Looks like we found one of the stupid fans against YM here! They so dumb that they think being obsessed and extreme isn't dumb, how funny and sad.
Anonymous
Who the fuck is my idol? LOL.
You are the idiot who keeps commenting nonsense without knowing the C-fans situation and claiming they are "antis". A joke.
Typical of dumb ifans who think they know everything.
Anonymous
You are the sad one for commenting a paragraph of rubbish when you know nothing, probably can't read Chinese or don't understand the fandom situation. Keep on living in your blissful world then, retard.
Anonymous
ANON 1b…what are you trying to say? All entertainment agencies do this…even Hong Kong TVB does this.. having their mega stars "babysit" er…"mentor" their newbies..since Yangmi owns the agency, if her agency own stars become famous, Yangmi will get more money in the form of commission. It is smart of Yangmi as she has a dource of income even if she choose not to act anymore in a few years..if she choose so later…weird of the fans to protest…
Anonymous
Basically these fans want Yang Mi to work with good production teams such as Daylight Entertainment, but she won't get the chance if she has to mentor newbies all the time. There are rumors that YM has gotten multiple good offers after the success of Eternal Love, but those projects were ultimately rejected because the producers won't let Jaywalk shove another artist alongside Yang Mi.
Of course its smart for her if what she is aiming for is money. But its not smart for her career as an actress. If Jay walk's dramas are good, then there's no problem. But the douban ratings show otherwise. The Great Craftsman is also Hunan TV's lowest rated drama of the year.
Anonymous
But she can leave if she wants to? Nobody's forcing her to stay. She's a big actress and has lots of money.
Anonymous
@3b…. Yang Mi owns her agency Jaywalk. She probably is looking at the long run in which if her own stars and starlets become famous, then Yang Mi will no longer need to do Dramas. She can be free to do other things. Having a successful agency is probably more lucrative for her now. She is a Mother, and she is nearing 30 or is already 30. How much longer do you think she can continue to act as an innocent young maiden in most of these C-dramas? She can always sell her share of Jaywalk if she was that unhappy of her agency's strategy. It is her business after all, pretty sure she wants her business to be successful. She hasn't sold her share, and she seems happy that those younger stars that she employ is getting more famous which in turn will help her make money.
Anonymous
damn she got even skinnier
Anonymous
3.d Exactly! Love how you explained it. It's great that she thinks ahead.
Daylight Ent isn't always good either, they have their flops like all other productions too. Just that their brand is very popular. Jaywalk is still the small competitor but it can grow big too. When they get big, they can pretend like all the bad dramas they produced are really good too. Even if they produced something good (10 Miles) it's not as if they can even claim those credits anyway because they always star their own people in it…what the…?
If all Jaywalk actors are so bad then why are people so excited about The Pillow Book with Dilireba and Vengo Gao? Doesn't matter how actresses brand themselves, or how productions are branding themselves, truth is there hasn't been any good projects airing for a very long time. The only problem real fans should have is, what is the new drama Granting You A Warm Dawn about anyway? If the script is actually good, it's suspicious why so call fans would be against it. If the script is bad, well that's not even what they care about at all in the first place, it seems.
Anonymous
Daylight has been doing very well these past two years. All their dramas (All Is Well, The Story of Minglan, Like a Flowing River) have won awards or are nominated in major award ceremonies. Even their flops (Nirvana in Fire 2) are well-acclaimed. Its not surprising people want their faves to work with this company, because 1) its easier to get a nomination at prestigious award ceremonies and 2) television stations snatch up Daylight's dramas fast because of their reputation
Actually 10 Miles is not produced by Jaywalk. It was produced by Huace Media and Jaywalk merely invested in it. And The Pillow Book is mainly produced by Tencent Penguin Pictures with Jaywalk investing in it. Those dramas with Jaywalk as the sole or main producer like Negotiator and In Youth are of low quality. YM fans are upset because Granting You A Warm Dawn has the same production team as Negotiator. Many industry insiders have hinted that the drama will be a 毒饼. Thats why YM fans are desperate for her to drop this project.
Anonymous
Well, her performances have been mediocre. It seems she’s invested in promoting these newbies anymore. It all comes down to profit at the end of the day, so she probably doesn’t mind mentoring them.
Eka
I understand fan's concern, But Yang Mi is also an owner of the agency too. So she knows what strategy they will use, And she doesn't complain so she might be fine what Jaywalk Studio doing on her career its impossible she doesn't know anything while she owns the agency too right? Maybe as a fan we should respect support and trust her. I know she knows what she's doing. Yang Mi know what she's doing.
hohliu
So many Anonymous comment behind their screen. Ranting and raving for some. Goodness, dont hide behind a screen with no name.
Anonymous
The ignorance in some of the comments here while acting like a know-it-all.. I can't. It's clear you guys just spew some nonsense without knowing what actually happened in Yang Mi cfans circle.
First of all, Yangmi is NOT and was never a Jaywalk's owner nor CEO. Where did you guys even get the information?? She has a share in Jaywalk but it is less than 5% as reported by media. But her face is always used to attract investors for Jaywalk production since she's the most known name from Jaywalk. So in what world did she get commission if the younger stars get popular? Majority of Jaywalk artists are not even that popular. The most relevant in China are only Yang Mi and Dilireba. If we extend it a bit more, ZBB and Vengo Gao probably relevant to some extents. And Jaywalk artists almost never go out and do other dramas aside from those produced by Jaywalk which restrict their choices in scripts.
Secondly, that's not her antis okay. That's her real fans who have been accompanying her for 8-10 years. The issue not only started from the brand events. Yang mi cfans had been trying to trend several keywords since yesterday to call out Jaywalk as soon as they heard rumors that Yang Mi will star in another Jaywalk drama which apparently have low quality scripts and production. But Jaywalk shot down their trending searches so fast which made fans even angrier.
Fans are NOT only angry about the package deals, but they also were angry about Jaywalk trying to make Yang Mi star in yet another Jaywalk dramas time and time again when she can do way much better projects. She's probably offered a lot other better scripts but not able to do so since Jaywalk will try to shove package deal in her offered projects and the producer don't want it. They just want Yangmi. If Yang Mi keep rejecting the good scripts because of Jaywalk and their package deals, fans are afraid that she will not be offered good scripts anymore.
Anonymous
-cont-
Yang Mi is already in 30s, and cfans are hoping she can do good dramas to grow her career as an actress for long time. She can do some more idol dramas and lower quality dramas for now but for how long? She won't be able to do it when she's nearing to 40. Idol dramas won't take older actresses as their female lead. And the producer with higher quality scripts won't seek her too if she kept getting typecasted with some low tier kind of dramas. The good quality scripts will probably be reserved for actresses with better acting rep. Yang Mi fans are hoping for her to take the more serious dramas which allow her to showcase her acting skill and range. That's the way she can continue to act for long time. Eventhough she's not in any way considered a bad actress, she's never really known for good acting either.
Popularity won't ensure your career longevity. It works to boost young stars' career but when you're getting older, only your reputation can get you far. Unless you guys want Yang Mi to retired from acting by the age of 35 or 40? Do you expect Yang Mi to star in some lower tier projects when she's older, like Jerry Yan? Jerry Yan once used to be very popular but all his fame isn't that matter anymore and see where he is now as he's older. He's not doing great with his acting career since he doesn't have good rep works other than MG.
It's about time for Yang Mi to make image transition. If she doesn't, it'd be hard for her to get scripts as she's older and she may eventually retire early, which is actually no problem, but fans are hoping to see she act for long time like Liu Tao or Zhang Ziyi for few examples. Even Zhao Liying has been picking up good projects lately. The Story of Minglan is one of the only two dramas that hit 2% on TV this year aside from All Is Well which both are from Daylight and getting critical acclaim for the story. Both dramas also were getting high number of discussion online. Zhao Liying's new drama is from acclaimed director of Empress in the Palace and Legend if Miyue.
If you guys want to argue that she still make money anyway eventhough her projects are low quality. That's not even the point. A lot of top stars out there are rich as well, everyone else made money too, especially those endorsing luxury brands. Sometimes to an actor, there's more than just making money. So, please don't limit your perspective. Yang Mi herself once said that she learnt a lot of new things from doing film Baby and it gave her new experience none her dramas gave and that she hope she can learn more from good projects and grow to become better actress.
Anonymous
Thanks for the clear explanation. I'm so mad that some "fans" are talking out of their ass without knowing anything about C-fandom culture.
Just wanna add to your part about this: "And Jaywalk artists almost never go out and do other dramas aside from those produced by Jaywalk which restrict their choices in scripts."
Most Jaywalk artists (aside from YM and Dilireba) get to do other dramas. Gao Weiguang has a drama with Ma Yili. Zhang Binbin got to act with Ariel Lin and has an upcoming drama with Jing Tian. Zhu Xudan, Huang Mengying and Zhang Yunlong's last two dramas are not produced by Jay Walk as well. Meanwhile ALL of YM's dramas are produced by Jay Walk. This is the reason that anger fans.
Anonymous
Wow…The comments here….Yang Mi is an established and mature actress in the Chinese market. I am pretty sure if she herself is not happy, she will have the power and the financial means to leave Jaywalk and sell her shares in the company. Who knows where her interest lies. If she wanted to challenge herself and take on heavier duty roles, do you really think Jaywalk would block her? She has enough clout to pick and choose what projects she wants to do. Fans should just be happy with her decisions. She may not want to take the other projects. Regardless, it seems like fans lately has gone so out of hand. Trust that your star will be able to make their own decision. Doubt the fans know the inner workings of all the deals that goes thru the entertainment world.
Anonymous
To continue…
Also.. Remember the Chinese market have so many new and younger actresses that is ready to come and replace YangMi as the young maiden in the Chinese Entertainment market. I think Yang mi is smart to help her agency succeed as her shares will be worth more when she decides to sell it.
Jerry Yan started in the Taiwanese market..Hence he will not have leading roles in Mainland China. Most who did not start in Mainland China will get secondary roles. Look at the former established and very well known TVB actors and Actresses…They were used to babysit the new Mainland Chinese actors and actresses for the Mainland produced dramas and films.
I think fans protesting the Star that the are a fan of seems silly and a big waste of time. Pretty sure Yangmi has enough money to hire lawyers to get out of her Jaywalk contract if she was that unhappy.
Anonymous
Some stupid people think if they claim themselves a fan, they get the rights to create a stupid C-fandom culture where they can rightfully be so obsessed and force actresses to do what they want. Stupid narcissts! Go control your own life and stop forcing others. You want to steer people into your directions when you can't even guarantee if your way will be more successful. But yet, you still have the face to dare forcing people to do what you want. What makes you think being so cruel like that is a right thing to do? YM believes in herself and want to do business, so what? If you are not supportive then go do everything yourself and stop forcing others. Because when anything fail, it's all on them and not on you. While you are the one who forced them in the first place but you will get away for free. Keep believing yourself is really smart, I'm laughing to death but that belief will probably help you get smarter.
Many actresses like Liu Tao are serious but growing old now and reaching their limits, YM doesn't want to end up like that. New actors look up to YM and she doesn't want to let them down. She can just run away to do what's better for her but not others, when she's already so famous already. She don't need to get MORE famous. Besides, people always love to frame her that she wants to be the most popular girl so she stops other actresses from rising and that's why no nobody is getting famous these days. Proves people wrong. She never say anything about those things, but proving it with actions. Like I say, haters can't stand seeing her having good attitude and getting successful. Even her close friends and family do not have the rights to force her, what do fans think they are to oppose her great decisions?
Anonymous
Ignoring other things you said, what do you mean Liu Tao is reaching her limits? She gets multiple lead roles per year in both film and television with established production teams. Lmao if that's meeting your limits …
You sound really ignorant and shallow if you think actresses can only thrive when they are young.
Anonymous
But what anon said about Jerry Yan is true though. Jerry Yan wasn't considered super successful actor and he's never known for anything other than Meteor Garden too. If you take a look at Jerry Yan's filmography, he doesn't have many dramas. And he doesn't have any single award for acting too. He's not really doing well in acting career both in Taiwan and Mainland. I'd say he's probably known for singing more.
Anonymous
Why you being so loud when you're just an international fan who..know her for how long again? You most likely don't even follow Yang Mi closely or read her interview.
Chinese fans know better how Jaywalk and Chinese entertainment works. The rumoured one is gonna be Yang Mi, 13th, THIRTEENTH project from Jaywalk, of course fans are tired of this shit and their package deals when she can do much better projects. The drama also is rumoured from The Negotiator's writer which is bad.
Yang Mi did said in an interview that Jaywalk always manage to sway her in the end. So Jaywalk may not force her, but they pressure her into doing another dramas by them. Yang Mi is nice and selfless so she do them anyway to help other artists career but fans are so fed up of other Jaywalk artists for using and taking advantage of her fame to promote themselves. Yang Mi is not some kind of charity.
Liu Tao is doing so well in China, she's both rich and successful as an actress. She has wide public recognition too. At age 43, she still get to play leading roles. International fans only know what they choose to see, not surprised how ignorant some can be. They don't broaden their view.
You talk as if Yang Mi is not going to grow old and reaching her limit later. That's why fans hope for image transition. Li Yifeng is a other example of very popular idol actor who has been taking the more serious dramas to change his idol image. Yang Mi is 32, if you think Yang Mi's career gonna be thriving until she reaches age of 40+ with low quality dramas like Negotiator etc, you're ignorant.
Anonymous
What're you trying to say?? Who told her to get more famous? She's already so famous, of course she doesn't need to be more famous. But is YM famous for good acting? Her fans probably are hoping for her to take more good projects to improve her reputation as an actress as she's now in 30. Popular actors will always get replaced, currently Yang Zi and Dilireba is the IT girls.. but as you grow old, you can only let your works speak for you. If she takes more good projects, people will remember her works and even if she retired later, at least she'll remain memorable as a reputable and well-respect actress with many good representative works. So far, her most memorable works are Palace, CP3 and TMOPB.
Anonymous
I can understand Yang Mi's Chinese fans' concerns tbh. I realise lack of good scripts for actresses is actually a thing, even for popular actresses.
It's better for them to do good dramas where they can show their versatility, so more good scripts will come their way. After all, actresses don't have the same career longevity as actors who can film until they age over 50.
Anonymous
Seems like she won't be doing the drama so her fans did well! Bravo to them
Hopefully JW will be more careful in the future but we all know all they care is about profit and not the actors
Unknown
Finally some informative and decent comment.
Thank you and I wish I can upvote your comment
Anonymous
Yang Mi's face looks so different here. Do you think she did something to her face?
Anonymous
I love Yang Mi and agree with the fans. They are not antis, ahem. They care about the actress. While yes, many of your explanations are valid, I have to say I am also tired of Jaywalk productions. They SUCK (except for TMOPB and LOFY) and are wasting YM's amazing talents on it.