1978: Female educated youth, don’t want an illiterate husband

"Teacher Cheng, teachers, I'm so sorry for being so negligent this time. I'm sorry to have startled you."

Fu Qi said apologetically, "The situation in Hong Kong is complicated. The Golden Horse Awards have always regarded Great Wall as a thorn in their side. This time, your 'Tai Chi' came too brightly, so it is expected that they would resort to desperate measures."

"Mr. Fu, you're too kind!" Cheng Xuemin waved his hand and followed Fu Qi into the South China Cinema Circuit. He said to Fu Qi, "We're not very familiar with the market environment in Hong Kong, so we'll need to rely on Mr. Fu and Great Wall Film Company's strong support."

Huang Jianzhong chimed in, "Yes, Mr. Fu! This time in Hong Kong, we'll have to rely on your local connections and experience for distribution matters."

"Director Huang, you're too kind. It's what we should do." Fu Qi nodded quickly, expressing his welcome, and said, "It's an honor for Great Wall to have 'Tai Chi' screened in Hong Kong."

"We have made preliminary arrangements. For the first round of screenings, we plan to select the 30 most influential cinemas in Hong Kong for large-scale screenings."

At the same time, in terms of publicity, we will also utilize our newspapers, magazines, and radio stations to conduct a comprehensive promotional campaign.

Cheng Xuemin nodded and asked, "Mr. Fu, do you have any specific ideas about the distribution strategy?"

Fu Qi pondered for a moment, then said honestly, "Teacher Cheng, to be frank, although the Hong Kong market is not large, the competition is extremely fierce."

"Hollywood blockbusters have long dominated the market, and our local films are mostly entertainment and commercial films. As a martial arts film, and one from the mainland, it will be quite difficult for 'Tai Chi' to make a breakthrough in the market."

He thought for a moment and continued, "My idea is that we should first highlight the international reputation of 'Tai Chi,' the Bolin International Film Festival, and the box office of 20 million US dollars. These are our most powerful publicity weapons."

We want Hong Kong audiences to know that this film has received international recognition.

Secondly, the focus should be on Chinese Kung Fu and its cultural characteristics. Mr. Li Lianjie's martial arts prowess and Mr. Cheng's innovative action choreography are both highlights that will attract audiences.

"Furthermore!" Fu Qi lowered his voice and said, "I also want to hold a grand premiere, inviting all the well-known figures, movie stars, and media in Hong Kong to participate and create an impact!"

After listening, Cheng Xuemin nodded and said, "Mr. Fu's idea is very good. International reputation is the key to success, while cultural characteristics are the core competitiveness."

"By the way, Mr. Fu, could you please help invite a few local Hong Kong martial arts masters to come over and exchange skills, make friends through martial arts, and promote the sport on the spot?"

"Invite martial artists over for a friendly sparring match, create a sensation at the premiere by exchanging skills?!" Fu Qi asked in surprise as soon as he heard Cheng Xuemin's words.

“Yes, Mr. Fu, that’s my idea!” Cheng Xuemin nodded again. This was a publicity strategy that he suddenly came up with on the plane to Hong Kong.

"Excellent, excellent, excellent idea!" Fu Qi exclaimed, clapping his hands repeatedly. "Tai Chi is essentially a martial arts film. Live sparring between martial artists, making friends through martial arts, can indeed create a sensational effect!"

"Teacher Cheng, your idea is brilliant! Don't worry, I will definitely make it happen and invite all the martial arts masters in Hong Kong to come here!"

Fu Qi was indeed very excited. Why didn't he think of using martial arts to make friends and promote martial arts films through on-site sparring?

“Then I’ll have to trouble you, Mr. Fu! I hope the premiere can be scheduled for tomorrow or the day after!” Cheng Xuemin said again.

With the year-end approaching, they quickly finished their promotional efforts and headed back!

"Tomorrow or the day after, right? Okay, I'll arrange it as soon as possible!"

Fu Qi nodded repeatedly. Just then, someone whispered something to him.

Actually, Cheng Xuemin, who was standing next to him, had very sharp hearing and immediately noticed that it was Ta Kung Pao!

Then Fu Qi's expression changed slightly, and he said to Cheng Xuemin:

"Mr. Cheng, I just received a call from Ta Kung Pao. They want to do an exclusive interview with you tomorrow. Would that be convenient for you?"

Cheng Xuemin looked at Huang Jianzhong, who nodded, and then said, "Okay, this is also a good opportunity for publicity."

Ta Kung Pao is an old-established newspaper of the left and is considered to be on the side of Great Wall Film Company, so it's natural for them to step forward and offer their support.

And just as Cheng Xuemin said, it was a perfect opportunity for publicity.

In the evening, the Chinese restaurant at the Great Wall Hotel was brightly lit and filled with a lively atmosphere.

Fu Qi specially booked a large hall and set out a sumptuous seafood feast.

During the meal, Fu Qi frequently raised his glass to toast Cheng Xuemin and the members of the "Tai Chi" crew, expressing his welcome and gratitude.

Cheng Xuemin also reciprocated Fu Qi's remarks and thanked Great Wall Films again for their efforts in distributing "Tai Chi" in Hong Kong.

After a few rounds of drinks and several dishes, Fu Qi started to talk. He sighed and said, "Teacher Cheng, Director Huang, and all the teachers, talking about movies really brings back so many memories."

"Our Great Wall Film Company is a long-established brand in the Hong Kong film industry, and we have always insisted on making works with sentiment and connotation."

"Thanks to you, Teacher Cheng, our film 'The Haunted Cop Shop,' released during the New Year's Day holiday, finally lived up to expectations and grossed over seven million yuan at the box office!"

"Oh? Seven million? Congratulations, Mr. Fu!" Cheng Xuemin returned a glass of wine and asked with a smile, "Then the people behind are frightening. Mr. Fu, when do you plan to release the film?"

This is also what Cheng Xuemin has always wanted to ask!

It seems that Tai Chi's promotional tour in Hong Kong is conflicting with the release schedule of Great Wall Pictures' "The Dead and the Deadly".

Fu Qi had previously mentioned that after the unprecedented success of "The Dead and the Deadly," Great Wall Film Company had been accelerating the production of the "The Dead and the Deadly" series, which was originally planned for release during this year's Spring Festival.

If it's going to be released during the Spring Festival, then this is the time to start the marketing and promotion!

So far, Cheng Xuemin has not seen any publicity or promotion for "The Dead and the Dead" from Great Wall Entertainment.

Did they have a conflict with Tai Chi and pull the film from the schedule?

"Teacher Cheng, I knew you'd ask that!" Fu Qi took a swig of his drink and said, "Teacher Cheng, don't feel guilty. Don't think that scaring people is just to make way for Tai Chi!"

"There was a problem with our Great Wall project, which caused some delays in the post-production work, making it too late for this year's Spring Festival release!"

Because I had previously discussed with Cheng Xuemin that Great Wall would take advantage of the New Year's Day blockbuster of "Humans Are Scary" and then follow up with the release of "Humans Are Scary" during the Spring Festival.

But plans never keep up with changes, and the frightening post-production work was delayed.

It now seems unlikely that it will make it into the Spring Festival release window!
I thought that Great Wall Pictures wouldn't have any new films released during this year's Spring Festival.

I really didn't expect that Cheng Xuemin from Yanjing could bring Tai Chi over and fill this gap in the schedule.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Cheng Xuemin asked, quite surprised.

Logically speaking, the two scripts he wrote for Great Wall, "The Ghost and the Man" and "The Man and the Man," were both small-budget films with low investment. Given that Hong Kong can produce a commercial film every month, that should have been more than enough time.

"It's 'Shaolin Temple'." Fu Qi's tone was somewhat helpless as he continued, "Teacher Cheng, you should know it too!"

"Our Great Wall also took on a mission from Yanjing and invested in the movie 'Shaolin Temple,' which was filmed on the mainland."

"The filming crew came back a while ago, and we had a look at some rough cuts... Sigh, what can I say?!"

"What's wrong?" Huang Jianzhong asked with concern.

The news that Hong Kong's Great Wall Film Studio was producing "Shaolin Temple" was a hot topic throughout the entire Yan Film Studio at the time!
Moreover, the reason why Cheng Xuemin made "Tai Chi" was actually directly related to the fact that Hong Kong was going to make "Shaolin Temple".

At that time, Liao Gong in Haizi proposed to shoot a martial arts film about the local customs and culture of our mainland, and even directly assigned the topic, specifying that it should be "Shaolin Temple" or "Tai Chi".

Hopefully, Great Wall Films in Hong Kong can take on this task and bring our domestic martial arts films to the big screen in Hong Kong cinemas.

This led to Great Wall Film Company taking on the "Shaolin Temple" project, a martial arts film with a strong political propaganda component.

Therefore, Huang Jianzhong knew about this matter!
Then let alone Cheng Xuemin!
Why did he make a film called Tai Chi? And why did he make it before "Shaolin Temple" and send it abroad to earn foreign exchange? It's because he knew just how successful "Shaolin Temple" was, produced by Great Wall Film Company.

Of course, that was the second version of Shaolin Temple!

The first version of Shaolin Temple is the one that Fu Qi is now sighing about.

Not surprisingly!

It's definitely not satisfactory!

Fu Qi shook his head and continued with a wry smile, "Director Chen Wen probably wanted to make a martial arts film that was different from others, so he went too far and the result is that it looks incredibly fake!"

"Those so-called martial arts scenes are flashy, but they lack any real substance. They look like acrobatics. The actors' performances are too stiff and unnatural. It feels like we're filming a Peking Opera instead of a movie!"

"A few days ago, we invited several senior film critics to review the film internally, and the results were very low. The action scenes were too fake and too slow!"

"Anyway, it's simply no match for Teacher Cheng's Tai Chi!"

It's possible that Fu Qi had already seen Cheng Xuemin's Tai Chi in advance, so he naturally compared it to Cheng's Tai Chi.

Compared to that, their photos of Shaolin Temple taken at the Great Wall are simply... simply unbearable to look at!

However, the movie "Shaolin Temple" poured all of Great Wall Limited's working capital into it. They had originally hoped that it would be a huge hit and make the company a fortune.

But who would have thought that when the sample photos came back, they would be such a terrible product!
This has slowed down the production of "The Dead and the Deadly" which the company is currently rushing to finish, making it impossible for it to be released during this year's Spring Festival.

"How could this be?" Cheng Xuemin asked, feigning surprise, even though he already knew the answer.

“Yes!” Fu Qi said with a wry smile, then added, “There are currently a lot of disagreements within the company about how to handle ‘Shaolin Temple’.”

The investors, unwilling to admit defeat, wanted to continue investing funds, revising the script, and even rehiring a director in hopes of turning the situation around.

However, those of us who handle the actual business feel that the film's foundation is too weak. No matter how much it's revised, it's unlikely to improve. It's better to abandon it early and cut our losses.

He then looked at Cheng Xuemin with a questioning look in his eyes and said, "Teacher Cheng, you are an expert in this field with unique insights. In your opinion, is there any hope for the movie 'Shaolin Temple'? If you were the decision-maker, what would you do?"

Cheng Xuemin put down his chopsticks and pondered for a moment.

He thought back to his past life, when the movie "Shaolin Temple" was a huge hit in mainland China, drawing massive crowds and making Jet Li an instant star.

However, the success of that film was more a product of its time, a catharsis of long-suppressed emotions.

From the perspective of the film's artistic merit, it's actually not that high.

"Or, what if we at Great Wall invited Mr. Cheng to provide guidance for the production of a new version of Shaolin Temple? What do you think?"

In fact, what Fu Qi hoped for most was that this political propaganda mission would return to where it came from!

Previously, because there was no authoritative martial arts film shooting technology in China, Yanjing hoped that the Great Wall could shoulder this political propaganda task.

But now, in reality, it's the other way around!
It is truly remarkable that "Tai Chi" was produced out of nowhere in mainland China, where there was absolutely no foundation in martial arts film production.
On the other hand, their Hong Kong production team, brimming with confidence, produced "Shaolin Temple," but it didn't even need a premiere and was aborted before it was even born.

Therefore, having realized his failure, Fu Qi decided to return this hot potato to where it came from.

At the very least, we should try to recruit Cheng Xuemin, a talented military leader, and work together with him from both places!
Let's work together to make this "Shaolin Temple" movie.

"Well... Mr. Fu, as you know, I've taken on the responsibility of managing Haizi again, and there's an annual foreign exchange earnings target!"

"So... I might be a little overwhelmed!"

Cheng Xuemin really wanted to take on the film "Shaolin Temple," after all, he also wanted to create an Eastern martial arts universe that belonged to China, just like the Hollywood Marvel universe.

In that case.

As the leader of the six major sects, Shaolin Temple was certainly something Cheng Xuemin hoped to bring under the control of the Eastern Depot.

No matter what you think in your heart, a gentleman cannot take away what others cherish.

Furthermore, one should not take advantage of someone else's project being suspended to kick them while they are down and seize the opportunity to steal it away.

Therefore, Cheng Xuemin chose to politely decline, deciding to wait until Taiji was released before making any further decisions.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Fu Qi exclaimed with a smile. "Now that Teacher Cheng is leading the Oriental Film Studio and in charge of foreign exchange earnings, he'll definitely be coming to Hong Kong often in the future, right?!"

"Mr. Fu, that's for sure! I'll apply to my superiors later to establish a forward base in Hong Kong first. I'll definitely be fighting alongside you then!"

"Great, great, that's wonderful! From now on, the Great Wall will no longer be fighting alone!"

Fu Qi was overjoyed upon hearing this!

Only those in power know that the Great Wall in Hong Kong is now in a precarious state.

If the mainland could send a general like Cheng Xuemin to Hong Kong to lead the charge, it would truly be a huge boost to them!

"Teacher Cheng didn't agree to take over Shaolin Temple?" When he got home, Fu Qi told his wife Shi Hui about what they had talked about at the dinner table that day, especially the mess that was Shaolin Temple. Shi Hui looked worried as she listened.

"Yes! Teacher Cheng has now taken on the important task of the foreign exchange earnings pilot program in Yanjing, and he has annual foreign exchange earnings targets, so he is indeed a bit overwhelmed!"

"By asking for help today, I'm actually putting them in a difficult position by taking advantage of their kindness!" Fu Qi said, nodding as he smoked a cigarette.

But at this moment, his wife Shi Hui's eyes lit up, and she said, "Aqi, actually, there's no conflict at all!"

"We are in a difficult position right now, trying to push this political task back, while Teacher Cheng has a foreign exchange earning task on his end!"

"So, could we do this?! Let's first report to Yanjing about the obstacles Shaolin Temple is facing, and at the same time, apply to Yanjing to have Teacher Cheng take charge of all the filming and production work for Shaolin Temple!"

"We can still invest money. All we need is Mr. Cheng to provide the script, the technology, and the supervision. We are also willing to make concessions and make it clear that we only need the box office results in Hong Kong!"

"We at Great Wall will not take a single penny of the other copies made in mainland China, or the US dollars sent overseas to earn foreign exchange. All of it will be handed over to Yanjing through Professor Cheng's foreign exchange earning pilot program!"

"Do you think this is okay?"

Shi Hui blurted out her thoughts in one breath, then looked intently at Fu Qi and asked.

"Huh?! Ah Hui, your idea is really good!" Fu Qi's expression changed upon hearing Shi Hui's suggestion, and he exclaimed with delight, "In this way, Teacher Cheng will also have foreign exchange earnings. Our Great Wall will not only have completed the political propaganda mission in Yanjing, but we will also have earned a box office in Hong Kong!"

"Moreover, given the current popularity of Tai Chi in Hong Kong, the box office revenue of Shaolin Temple in Hong Kong will only be much higher than that of our own production, and certainly not less!" Shi Hui added.

“Yes, yes, wonderful, wonderful!” Fu Qi nodded repeatedly and said, “And Ah Hui, there’s something you haven’t mentioned yet. Actually, the films we shoot at Great Wall haven’t sold much US dollars internationally!”

"So, in the future, our Great Wall team can work more closely with Teacher Cheng, with him handling external affairs and us handling internal affairs!"

"He earns US dollars in foreign exchange, while we only want box office revenue in Hong Kong?!"

……

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