1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 644 Prying the corner

Chen Rongmei wasn't setting a trap for Jiang Xian; he was simply telling the truth.

Why are Golden Harvest, Golden Princess, and D&B Cinemas hailed as the three driving forces of Hong Kong cinema's golden age?

Because they practically monopolized the entire Hong Kong film industry, and the most important step in achieving that monopoly was self-production.

The Shaw Brothers played a significant role in this.

In the early 80s, Run Run Shaw, once a leading figure in the Hong Kong film industry, gradually began to consider retiring.

This is because in the 70s, as the "independence consciousness" of film industries in other countries rose one after another, Hong Kong, which was known as the film export base of Southeast Asia and even Asia, faced unprecedented challenges, and Shaw Brothers, as an important part of Hong Kong cinema, naturally bore the brunt.

First, let's talk about the provincial level. The provincial level has implemented a very strict censorship system for television programs. Any content that is sensitive, such as "promoting superstition" or "describes the process of a crime in excessive detail," is in danger of being banned.

Those who know about Shaw Brothers films understand that back then, Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest films would often prepare two different versions of the film: one for release in Hong Kong, and the other, after modifying the plot, would be handed over to provincial distributors for distribution.

Then there was Indonesia, which suddenly decided to support local films and boycott imported films. They implemented a quota system, tightening the quota for imported films year by year. This move was very effective. In 1972, there were still more than 700 imported films, but by 1978, only 100 remained.

To encourage local film production and restrict imported films, Singapore directly raised import taxes on movies.

At that time, the average price for a Chinese-language film sold to Singapore was about 30 yuan, of which 10 yuan had to be paid to Singapore as taxes.

To prevent buyers and sellers from evading taxes by lowering film prices on documents, Singapore stipulates that once profits exceed a certain amount, 40% of the profits must be taxed.

In addition, Singapore also has a strict film censorship system. For example, in 1977, about forty imported films were banned in Singapore.

Similar to Singapore, Malaysia has also introduced a series of quotas and tariffs to protect its domestic film industry and restrict film imports.

Furthermore, they directly legislated, strictly requiring cinemas to alternate between showing foreign and local films.

In addition, Malaysia has established cinemas and theater chains specifically for screening local films, retaining the right of nationalization and giving the government the authority to establish special departments to uniformly manage the import, transportation and distribution of foreign films, while films deemed to have propaganda content can also be banned.

Also in 1976, more than a dozen Hong Kong and Taiwan films were banned, and the number of film copies was also restricted in order to reduce the circulation of imported films.

Thailand is also on high alert because they have found that Thailand produces about 70 to 80 films a year, while importing more than 200 Chinese-language films. Therefore, they have directly introduced a new law, stipulating that the tax payable on each meter of imported film will be increased from 2.2 baht to 30 baht.

That's incredibly ruthless; it's expanded by nearly 15 times!
Furthermore, they have to deduct 35% of their box office revenue for taxes, while local films only need to deduct 25% of their box office revenue for taxes.

Previously, the import of Hong Kong films into Thailand was usually a direct transaction between Hong Kong film distributors and Thai theater distributors, with the buyer paying a 20% deposit upfront and the remaining balance paid after the film's release. However, the new tax system has directly impacted this cooperative relationship.

Therefore, faced with this predicament both internally and externally, coupled with the rise of the television industry, Run Run Shaw suddenly lost interest in the business.

In 1983, Shaw Renmei suffered a stroke and passed away in 1985, leaving Run Run Shaw to fight alone.

In this situation, Shaw Brothers simply transferred 70% of its shares in cinemas in Malaysia.

With the departure of Shaw Brothers' production manager Wong Ka-hei to join Yang Chun's "Silver Phoenix Film Company," Shaw Brothers faced further difficulties and simply leased its four flagship cinemas—Jade, Mandarin, Golden, and Bo Sheng—to the newly established "D&B Cinemas" by businessman Dickson Poon for a period of three years.

同年又宣布1986年的制片量由原来的30至40部减至6至8部部。

After that, they continued to reduce their burdens, and the remaining 10 Shaw Brothers theaters continued to be transferred to the "D&B Cinemas" chain.

Last year, the once-glorious "Shaw Brothers Cinemas" officially withdrew from the historical stage as a whole.

With Shaw Brothers' withdrawal and the successive "recruitment" of independent production teams by large companies and theater chains, the importance of theater chains has increased, and this order based on theater chains and then producing and selling their own films has been gradually consolidated.

The companies that operate cinema chains have become not only investors in film production but also the exhibitors of films.

D&B leased Shaw Brothers' theater chain and was the first to form its own camp.

Others were also quick to seize opportunities; Golden Harvest, Golden Princess, and the left-wing Shuangnan Cinema Circuit all formed their own camps.

Although Golden Harvest did not produce as many films as Shaw Brothers in the 1960s and 70s, it was very active in distribution, releasing an average of more than 10 films a year, with the remaining slots becoming an important window for the release of independently produced films.

In film production, Golden Harvest mainly acts as an investor or lender, rarely directly involved in creation and production management, with the producers bearing the risks.

The most classic example is the collaboration between Golden Harvest and Bruce Lee. They implemented a base salary system with profit sharing, which meant that actors received a basic salary and then received a share of the profits. This led to the creation of numerous satellite companies, such as Bruce Lee's "Concord," Michael Hui's "Hui's," Sammo Hung's "Bo Ho," and Jackie Chan's "Wei Ho."

The parent company of Golden Princess is Kowloon Development, which is extremely powerful and controls nearly 30% of the shares of Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited, one of the four major families in Hong Kong. There are economic ties between the Lei family of Lei Juekun and the Kwok family.

In his early days, Raymond Lui owned theaters such as Ritz-Carlton, Lok Sing, and Wah Sing. Based on this, he leased or contracted more than ten theaters and quickly established the Golden Princess Theater Circuit, which specializes in showing Chinese-language films.

However, unlike Golden Harvest, Golden Princess initially focused solely on cinema operations and did not engage in film production. Film distribution was mainly handled by companies such as Si Yuan, Hsieh Li, Brothers, and Li Ren.

To attract film distributors to screen the films, Lei's simply abolished the previous practice that distributors had to guarantee the minimum box office for films that did not reach that level, demonstrating their sincerity.

However, film distributors still didn't really favor Golden Princess. It was only because Golden Harvest was so powerful that films produced by independent production companies couldn't be shown in Golden Harvest theaters, so they turned to Golden Princess theaters.

Therefore, Golden Princess's weakness lies in its unstable film supply, which has led to it being ridiculed in the industry as a "glass ceiling".

Later, when Golden Princess realized that this approach was not working, it quickly expanded its film production business, first by investing in and acquiring a controlling stake in Cinema City, and later by establishing its own production company.

In short, the three major cinema chains are fully capable of producing and distributing their own films, so small independent film production companies in Hong Kong simply cannot survive.

I have a huge collection of movies at home, why should I schedule your movie for prime time?
So Chen Rongmei is absolutely right.

Without foreign hot money flowing into you, you won't find an investor in all of Hong Kong to let you make a small-cast film.

Because the entire Hong Kong is the territory of the three major cinema chains.

“It’s not that there weren’t films produced by small independent film production companies before. These films were all small-cast films and had little box office appeal outside of Hong Kong because the companies were too small. In Hong Kong, they also couldn’t get good slots from the three major cinema chains,” Chen Rongmei said slowly.

"But doesn't Hong Kong still have a fourth cinema chain?"

Jiang Xian smiled slightly, no longer trying to hide anything. "Foreign investment isn't a problem. Hong Kong is like a treasure trove right now; you, Mr. Chen, know better than I do how much hot money from overseas wants to flow in." "Hmm."

Chen Rongmei silently picked up her teacup and took a sip.

If he hadn't witnessed firsthand the abundance of overseas funding hidden within the film market and the guaranteed supply of films, he wouldn't have spun off from Golden Princess to create a new cinema chain.

"Mr. Chen, let me ask you a question," Jiang Xian said.

"You speak."

Chen Rongmei put down her teacup.

"Why doesn't Xinbao follow the example of the three major cinema chains and win over a group of satellite companies?" Jiang Xian said calmly.

Chen Rongmei and Jiang Xian exchanged a glance, feeling a little uneasy.

The so-called satellite companies are Hui's Film Company (owned by Michael Hui), Bo Ho Film Company (owned by Sammo Hung), Wai Ho Film Company (owned by Jackie Chan), and Cinema City Film Company. They are like satellites orbiting the three major cinema chains, serving as the supply of film content for the three major cinema chains.

However, since its establishment, Xinbao has never had any so-called satellite company.

“I believe Mr. Chen has also realized that the satellite company’s system has obvious drawbacks.”

Jiang Xian began to speak on his own, “Mr. Chen, just imagine, if foreign capital can smoothly flow into the Hong Kong film market in the future, and circulation is booming, how many variables will be added to the cooperation between production companies and cinemas?”
Hong Kong has long suffered from the three major cinema chains. Now that there is a new one, how many small and medium-sized satellite production companies have the confidence to leave? In the future, if there is another old or established cinema chain, production companies will have even more options.

So instead of spending a lot of effort supporting individual satellite companies, in my opinion, it would be better to directly connect foreign capital with independent production companies.

"."

Chen Rongmei's gaze towards Jiang Xian changed.

His first reaction was, "Did this guy really just come from the mainland?"

How can you know so much?!
He quickly considered Jiang Xian's words and realized that it was indeed as Jiang Xian had said.

Satellite production companies are ultimately unreliable!
On the other side, Fu Qi also looked at Jiang Xian with some surprise.

He was an actor by profession, but he is also a businessman, or rather, his primary identity is that of a businessman. From his perspective, Jiang Xian does indeed have remarkable foresight regarding the Hong Kong film industry.

Given the current film industry landscape, no one would dare say that the satellite film company system of the three major cinema chains is unreliable, because it is precisely this satellite film company system that has enabled the three major cinema chains to achieve their status.

But Jiang Xian dared to say that, and he spoke frankly. The key point is that when you think about it, what he said wasn't just random talk; it really made sense.

This is incredible.

To have such a perspective requires not only business acumen and a far-sighted vision, but also an absolute familiarity with Hong Kong cinema.

Jiang Xian, on the other hand, had clearly done his homework thoroughly and was also intelligent enough to see something that even the three major cinema chains themselves were unaware of: whoever could offer more favorable conditions would be the one that the satellite company would turn to rely on.

"I came to see Mr. Chen today for two reasons: first, to make friends with him, and second, to express my optimism about Xinbao."

Now that things had come to this, Jiang Xian no longer needed to hold back. He raised his glass and handed it to Chen Rongmei, saying, "If you ever send any movies to Xinbao in the future, please don't be stingy, Mr. Chen. Let's make money together in harmony."

“If it’s Mr. Jiang’s movie, I believe Xinbao has no reason to be stingy.” Chen Rongmei also raised his glass. Xinbao had just been established and was suffering from a shortage of film sources. Although Jiang Xian’s film company didn’t even have a shadow in Hong Kong, just because of Jiang Xian’s name, he had no reason not to befriend such a box office harvester.

After the game ended, at Fu Qi's invitation, Jiang Xian and Zhu Lin got into Fu Qi's car and went to Fu Qi's house.

On the way, Fu Qi did not forget to ask Jiang Xian about some details of doing business in Hong Kong. To him, it was quite unbelievable that a writer from the mainland would come to Hong Kong to do business.

Facing this senior, Jiang Xian had no reason to hold back; now was the time to show his true colors.

After all, if you don't look like someone who can be helped, who would be willing to help you?

"Fung Ping-chung is a major shareholder of Golden Princess Cinemas, and Chan Wing-mei is also a shareholder of Golden Princess. With them leaving Golden Princess, I think Golden Princess, which originally had the weakest foundation among the three major cinema chains, is in a rather precarious situation. Not to mention, the seven people under Cinema City, their important film source, have gone their separate ways. Cinema City was able to rise rapidly back then because of the collective creation and brainstorming of the seven people. Now, with only Raymond Wong left at Golden Princess, he will probably be unable to make a difference on his own."

Cinema City is a legend in Hong Kong cinema and also Golden Princess's most important satellite company.

From 1980 to 1990, Cinema City's films were a hit for a full decade. At its peak, it forced the long-time rivals Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest to join forces against it.

Their "Aces Go Places" series held the Hong Kong box office champion title for three consecutive years from 1982 to 1984, achieving a three-peat.

Other representative films include "A Better Tomorrow", "A Chinese Ghost Story", "Happy Ghost", "The Wise Man", and "Papa, Can You Hear Me Sing?"

Leaving aside everything else, let's just talk about "Wrong Carriage". The song "If There's No Wine to Sell" is still a must-sing hit song in karaoke.

The backbone of Cinema City was the "Seven Wonders of Cinema City," a seven-person creative team consisting of Karl Maka, Dean Shek, Raymond Wong, Tsui Hark, Nansun Shi, Eric Tsang, and Teddy Robin.

This group of seven is a super-strong lineup in the Hong Kong film industry, and it is an unprecedented group of seven. They are tall and short, fat and thin, male and female, and some are bearded and bald.
In short, it was these seven oddly shaped people who spent their days and nights working on scripts that made Cinema City so successful.

Unfortunately, due to issues with creative concepts and income distribution, the Seven Freaks went their separate ways.

Eric Tsang left Taiwan to film a movie and joined Sammo Hung's Lucky Stars.

Tsui Hark and his wife Nansun Shi set up their own studio, "Film Studio." With his departure as the creative force behind the company, half of Cinema City's success crumbled. After holding the top spot in Hong Kong's box office for three consecutive years, Cinema City fell from its pedestal in 84, handing the championship to its rival, Golden Harvest.

In short, Cinema City is now fragmented and no longer the vibrant and creative hub it once was.

The most dramatic thing is that Karl Maka, the founder, recently took his brand and joined Sammo Hung's company, making "The Best Lucky Stars" and establishing a new film company.

Therefore, Fu Qi understood immediately upon hearing Jiang Xian's words.

This kid is probably trying to poach talent from Cinema City.
(End of this chapter)