Hong Kong Island: From a small stall to a global supplier

Chapter 181: Heavy Attack on Uncle Shao Liu
Wang Yaotang picked up the teacup in front of him and took a sip, then looked at Fang Yihua and then at Uncle Shao Liu with a smile.

Fang Yihua is not very pretty, but she is able to bind Uncle Shao Liu tightly, relying on her business acumen.

Many people despise Fang Yihua for being stingy. The TVB set has never changed, and the same rooster bowl has been used for 40 years. However, it is precisely this frugal style and the crazy exploitation of the artists under her that have greatly reduced the cost of filming, allowing TVB to operate stably, have money to expand, and firmly stand on the throne of the largest Chinese TV station in Southeast Asia.

"I didn't expect that Mr. Fang would have such an idea." Wang Yaotang put down his teacup and said with a smile: "Then I wonder if Mr. Fang has found a suitable video tape production factory?"

"Ayao, do you mean to establish a production line?" Fang Yihua frowned slightly.

"Yes, Panasonic has produced five industrial videotape duplicators, each with 5 cards, which can produce 80 videotapes and 8000 magnetic tapes per day. If everything goes well, we can expand at any time." Wang Yaotang said calmly, "Panasonic has just opened up the videotape market, and the market is still relatively small. According to Panasonic's sales department, this is the first videotape production plant in Southeast Asia."

"We have just started production and are worried about how to fill the business volume. I wonder if we can have the honor to cooperate with TVB and Shaw Brothers. You can rest assured about the quality. From a business perspective, if there are quality problems, you can return them. The production cost is definitely lower than your company's production in Japan."

Fang Yihua pursed her lips and continued with a smile: "Oh, I wonder how much this videotape duplicator costs?"

"Why, Mr. Fang, do you have any investment ideas in this area?" Wang Yaotang had no expression on his face. He smiled and fumbled in his pocket and took out a business card. "Here is their contact number."

As he spoke, he did not hand over the business card, but flipped it up and down in his hand.

"What does A Yao think of the videotape market?" Uncle Shao put down his teacup and asked with a smile.

"The prospects are bright. As major electrical appliance manufacturers join in, the selling price of home VCRs will drop significantly and gradually become on par with televisions themselves. By then, the videotape market will be no smaller than the film market itself." Wang Yaotang said with certainty.

"Oh!" Uncle Shao leaned forward slightly, "Are you so optimistic?"

"I'm optimistic about the production and manufacturing of videotapes." Wang Yaotang changed the subject.

"How to say?"

"Before videotapes were invented, it was difficult for American and European films to enter the Asian market. The culture was different, the language was not accessible, the distribution costs were high, and the trial and error costs were high. Hong Kong dominated the Asian film and television market." Wang Yaotang coughed lightly and his face became serious. "But with the popularization of VCRs and the further development of videotape production technology, with videotape rental and sales as the channel, as long as the subtitles were added, it was easy to enter the Asian market."

This one sentence made Uncle Shaw's face suddenly gloomy. Shaw Brothers has been going from bad to worse in recent years. The operating costs of the cinemas are high, and there are so many artists and behind-the-scenes teams who need to eat. The movies that have started production cannot sell at the box office, and the cinema attendance is low. Uncle Shaw has been worried about this matter. It is foreseeable that this situation will get worse in the future.

Now that Wang Yaotang said this, his mood became even worse.

"What's the reason?"

"There are three reasons." Wang Yaotang held up three fingers. "First, there is no need to worry about the distribution channel. The distribution of videotapes does not require the support of theaters, and there is no need to worry about being obstructed by local forces."

Uncle Shao's heart skipped a beat. Local protectionism is common in all walks of life. Of course, they have a lot to do with the unpopularity of European and American films among audiences in Asia.

"Secondly, the distribution cost is low. You can test the market by selling 1000 boxes of a movie. If it doesn't work, you can take it back. If it does, you can increase market investment. The cost is almost negligible, but the profit is huge. In fact, even if you lose money, it doesn't matter. It can cultivate local acceptance of European and American films."

Uncle Shao took a deep breath. The Shaw family’s cinema chains are spread all over Southeast Asia, and they have made a great contribution to the distribution costs.

"The last is piracy. Videotapes are easy to make, and will be even cheaper in the future. You can invest a few hundred thousand dollars to produce pirated videos. Customers want to watch movies, and who cares whether the movie is genuine? Isn't it better if the pirated version is sold at a lower price?"

"In summary, the Chinese-language film market will be hit hard by Hollywood and European films and TV series in the future, and this impact will grow rapidly as videotapes become more popular."

If the first two reasons allowed Shaw Brothers to unite with Asian filmmakers including Golden Harvest to obstruct the film, the word "piracy" completely broke down Shaw's psychological defenses.

They have more or less some relationship with the community, but this relationship is nothing in the face of huge interests!
All the big and small societies in different places will not stop producing pirated copies just to give face to Uncle Run Run Shaw or Golden Harvest.

Uncle Shao already had an image in his mind. As soon as a Hollywood movie came out on videotape, before the Hollywood company could even promote it in Asia, the local community would have already bought the videotape and started making pirated copies. Within a few days, the pirated copies would be available on the market.

If you can pirate European and American movies, you can also pirate Chinese movies...

Not to mention others, just this guy in front of you has long been eyeing this market, and has painstakingly managed his Shaw Brothers films for 55 years, spending most of his life working on them - Pills!
As he was thinking about it, Uncle Shao Liu’s eyes went dark and his body began to sway in the chair he was sitting on.

Fang Yihua had been observing Uncle Shao Liu since Wang Yaotang started to explain. She immediately realized something was wrong and quickly stood up and rushed over, shouting anxiously, "Yifu, Yifu, what's wrong with you? Don't get excited. Calm down. Calm down."

Fang Yihua was indeed concerned about Uncle Shao's health. After all, without Uncle Shao, she would be the first one to be kicked out by TVB...after all, she was too stingy.

"You, get out!" It was obvious that Uncle Shao's behavior was caused by Wang Yaotang's words, and Fang Yihua vented all her anger on him.

Wang Yaotang stood up, looking shocked. What the hell, old man, are you trying to scam me?
Of course, this thought was only a flash, and he didn't expect things to turn out like this. Isn't this old man in very good health? He has lived for more than a hundred years, just like the gambling king. How could he be like this after just a few words? "Sorry." Wang Yaotang said awkwardly, and turned away.

As soon as I opened the door, I heard a very weak "wait, wait a minute". Turning around, I saw Uncle Shao's hand reaching out to me, as if he wanted to grab something.

Wang Yaotang stopped and didn't know who to listen to, so he just stood at the door.

After a long time, Uncle Shao finally recovered his breath, but he was obviously not in a good mood. "Come here and sit down. Yihua was a little anxious just now. Ayao, please don't mind."

"How could that be? Sixth Aunt is just worried and confused. I completely understand." Wang Yaotang walked back and sat down again. "Sixth Uncle, are you feeling well?"

"Alas, I'm old." Uncle Shaw sighed, took the tea handed over by Fang Yihua and drank it slowly, then looked at Wang Yaotang again and said, "I can sell you the video tape copyright of Shaw's movies and the copyright of TVB's dramas, but I also have conditions."

"You say." Wang Yaotang's eyes lit up.

"I want you to use the power of the society and cooperate with the Hong Kong Film, Television and Entertainment Authority to crack down on piracy!" Uncle Shao said in a deep voice.

"This..." Wang Yaotang frowned, "Uncle Six, I'm not trying to shirk responsibility. This is the general trend that cannot be resisted. Besides, cutting off someone's financial resources is like killing their parents. I have a lot of businesses, and I don't care about the small profits from piracy, but for many small societies or gangs, this may be an astronomical figure, enough for them to kill and burn for it."

"Impossible?" Uncle Shao still didn't give up.

"It's absolutely impossible. Not only me, but even the Xinji Xiang family, Shenghe, and Tiao Lin combined can't do it!"

"How can you be so sure!"

"Uncle Six, do you think the future of Shaw Brothers films is worrying?" Wang Yaotang glanced at Fang Yihua. Now she was silent again, without any sign of her anger.

After thinking about it for a while, Wang Yaotang realized that although Fang Yihua depended on Uncle Shao Liu, it did not mean that their interests were completely consistent.

Fang Yihua may hope that Shaw Brothers will be destroyed, and that Uncle Shaw will devote all his energy to TVB. As TVB grows stronger, she will have more power as the general manager, and Shaw Brothers will no longer be under her control.

"Well, Uncle Six, let me do the math for you." Wang Yaotang said softly, "In Southeast Asia as a whole, including Taiwan and Hong Kong, the total Chinese population is about 4000 million. It is these 4000 million people who support the basic market of the Chinese-language film market. Is it okay for me to say this?"

"No problem." Uncle Shao nodded.

"With 300 square feet, a TV, a VCR, and 20 chairs, you can build a video room that can accommodate 20 people watching movies at the same time, so that families who cannot afford a VCR or videotapes can watch the movies they want at any time."

"This type of video hall is low-cost and has a coverage area that is far beyond the reach of a movie theater."

"Based on the price of 40 yuan per videotape, and 4000 million people consuming one tape per year, the market is 16 billion Hong Kong dollars."

"Of the 16 billion, what market share can legitimate products get? 6%, 5%, or even lower?"

"With such a huge market space, whoever blocks it will die!"

"This is just the Chinese community in Southeast Asia. There is a much larger non-Chinese market. It's just a matter of dubbing or subtitles."

"We haven't even taken into account the Japanese market, which has even greater spending power? There are 1.2 million people there!"

"Do you think this is the end? No, no, no, no." Ignoring Run Run Shaw's grim expression, Wang Yaotang waved his hand and said, "The north has a population of 10 billion!"

"Uncle Six, you are not like the average Hong Konger who thinks the north has no potential, right?" Wang Yaotang laughed, "The market there will explode little by little, and the market will definitely be dominated by pirated products."

"Within five years, videotapes will have a market worth tens of billions of dollars, and most of this market will be controlled by Hong Kong's social groups."

"Tell me, who can stop it?"

The more Uncle Shao listened, the uglier his expression became. All kinds of thoughts kept churning through his mind, but he couldn't think of a way to refute Wang Yaotang's words.

Finally, he asked unwillingly, "What do you think will happen to the Hong Kong film market in the end?"

(End of this chapter)