Facing the 'poaching' threat, Production and Resource Director Virgina Lok said directly: "This time, TVB directed me to give pay raises to artists and discuss with the artists as soon as possible." Yesterday morning, she and Production Department Head Catherine Tsang were back at TVB city. Catherine was walking hurriedly into TVB city, but stopped for a short interview. Asked if she will speed up in discussing scripts and contracts with artists? Are there any artists in particular that she is discussing with? She just said: "We have been discussing all along."
Virgina responded to Mona Fong mentioning Steven Ma by name that he should stay with TVB, she said: "Mona Fong wants everyone to stay! (What tactics do you have for artists to renew their contracts?) Each month, we discuss with artists. We are now speeding up on the discussions and plan to increase salaries. We do not care who it is, who stays or who leaves. (Who will have the pay raises? Who in particular will be persuaded to stay?) Actually we all know, those under TVB management still have long contracts, we try convince everyone to stay."
Admits Kevin Cheng is paid 160,000 per episode
It was said Kevin Cheng is paid 160,000 yuan per episode when shooting in Mainland. Is this 16 times TVB's pay? She said: "Kevin is already at that pay! I can tell you all that he is not the highest paid, and 160,000 yuan per episode is not too high, only OK! However, Kevin and TVB still has many years in the contract."
Is she worried that many artists will leave? Miss Lok said: "Mark Lee said before, everyone in this industry is an expert at war. To us, it is a good thing that there is a war. Perhaps some people think its like a sightseeing boat after a while, but we are a battleship, so everyone is very energetic. Now that there are people trying to steal, that means we are valuable! In fact, before the crisis, we already started giving pay raises and now we are just adding more, but it is different for everyone. Some artists earned big money in Mainland, but doesn't want to drift from TVB, like Charmaine Sheh, who changed to a per-series contract. Joe Ma did one TVB series in the last year, but worked nonstop in Mainland. The reports said that artists are fleeing, that is completely not true."
1/5 of behind-the-scenes crew resigns
TVB Deputy Director of Foreign Affairs, Tsang Sing Ming, expressed that the HR department gave him updated news. Yesterday 4 more resignation letters were received, totaling 16. Most came from the TV program department, which consists of 280 employees and this takes up only a small part, not too great of an impact. After TVB's persuasion, many already changed their minds and agreed to stay for a pay raise close to the market value.
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