Thursday, March 8, 2012

Steven Ma Unworried of Being ostracized by TVB

TVB new series, Daddy Good Deed, will air this month on the 19th right after "Hippocratic Crush" ends. This series is viewed as an "orphan series", the reason being that it is the farewell series for both its producer, Miu Siu Ching, and one of its main leads, Steven Ma. Producer Miu will soon join NowTV, while Steven has already terminated early his contract. The currently airing Daddy Good Deed's previews on TV showed only Ha Yu's character, pawn shop Yi Shuk Gong, greeting his neighbors while male lead, Steven Ma, has almost become an 'invisible person'. The 'conspiracy theorists' think that Steven has been ostracized, that Daddy Good Deed has become a "film inventory futures' 「摄期货」, and that TVB expedited its broadcast so that the series won't be an eyesore languishing in the pit of the warehouse.

Steven has just finished shooting "Legend of the Yuan Empire Founder" and is now taking a break in Hong Kong. As to his farewell TVB series, 'Daddy Good Deed', becoming an 'orphan' work, he is not worried that he would be ostracized by TVB. Steven has confidence that this series will not be aired under the radar, and that the outsiders have over analyzed. He said: "TVB and I still maintain a good relationship. It is soliciting me to sign a per series contract as another form of contractual collaboration. I don't think TVB will not give a cold treatment to my 'temporary separation' series."

Reasonable to Highlight own people
Steven speaks out for TVB in that he was not being coldly treated. (tn: re DGD promo trailers) He says the male lead of DGD is Ha Yu, and that he himself is Ha Yu's son in law, so the promo trailers focusing on Ha Yu is not unreasonable. Moreover, the promo trailers are aired in stages. Last night new promo trailer was already introducing other characters, including his. Steven says that Producer Miu had informed him of the series' promo video shoots but at the time he was in mainland shooting a series, and as he's not omnipresent he could not make it at the time. But now that he is back in Hong Kong he will cooperate with TVB in the series' promotional events. Originally, as part of the DGD promotion, TVB had also pre-arranged a media interview for him but wanting some private time alone he tactfully turned it down. Furthermore, TVB tv magazine had also previously arranged a cover page photo shoots but regrettably Steven could not make it back to Hong Kong then.

CRHK Chance Encounter -Former boss, Stephen Chan, Now Friend
Yesterday Steven went to Commercial Radio studio to have an interview with Eileen Cha. The new CRHK Chief Executive Officer, Stephen Chan, made a special appearance in the studio just to say hi to Steven. Steven laughs and says that it was quite unexpected to see Stephen Chan there. Apparently, Mr. Chan knew of Steven's interview with Eileen Cha so he especially dropped by the studio to see him. Their chat was brief but they had agreed to do lunch soon. Steven says that in the past he and Mr. Chan had a boss-subordinate relation but now they are friends. Steven congratulates Mr. Chan on his new job and that he is happy for him.

Contract Terminated Early due to Dissatisfaction with a certain person.
During Steven's interview with Ms. Cha, it was pointed out that his TVB contract was originally set to end in July, but he requested its termination four months earlier, consequently severing the 18 years or so employer-employee relationship. Steven says he has deep feeling for TVB, and that he will miss many of the people and stuff at TVB. However, regrettably he and TVB have irreconcilable differences of opinions and that he was uncomfortable with how certain situations were handled, hence his early termination of contract. He admits that he has met up with Ricky Wong for food and drinks and socializing, and that NowTV has also contacted him. Furthermore, his work schedule in mainland China is now full, including a plan for a series he will script and act in. Nevertheless, TVB is still his maternal home. He will consider a different form of contractual collaboration with it in the future if he feels comfortable with its script, work conditions and terms. Incidentally, he has always kept in contact with his mentor, Catherine Tsang, and that he will make an appointment to meet with her soon. (tn: Ms. Cha brought up Catherine into their conversation.)

Bernice Liu is willing to attend her tvb series' promotional events
TVB External Affairs Deputy Director, Tsang Sing Ming 曾醒明 announced that Daddy Good Deed will be promoted in the usual conventional promotional method, and that they have also invited Steven Ma to participate. Even though Steven has already left TVB but appearing as a freelancer in the promo event should not pose any problem. As to the series, The Greatness of a Hero《盛世仁杰》that will air later, one of its female leads, Bernice Liu because of her contract with Ricky Wong's CTI company, TVB will respect the spirit of a contract so it is not convenience to issue an invitation for her participation. This reporter contacted Bernice's manager who corrected TVB's misunderstanding. Bernice has only signed with an agent management company not with the tv company. Should TVB want her participation in the series promo events, she will be more than happy to accommodate if her schedule permits.

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