1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 31 I Only Perform Once

On the third day after Zhai Yuan’s video hall closed, two large new halls appeared in the housing estate.

Two new video rooms have popped up, each covering an area of more than 50 square meters.

The seats imitate Zhai Yuan's original steel bed model, divided into two layers. The projection equipment is a large floor-standing TV made in Japan by Hitachi, and the 30-inch TV cabinet is directly attached to the wall.

The ticket price is still two yuan for daytime shows and three yuan for nighttime shows. Except for the venue equipment, other business methods are completely copied.

"Ah Cheng, how's the business of your two video parlors?"

A woman's voice came from the phone.

Deng Zecheng was standing downstairs of the housing estate, smoking a cigar and holding his boss's phone, looking like a real boss.

"Don't worry, sister. There's absolutely no problem. We've been having ten shows a day since we opened, and every show is packed. We'll be able to recoup our costs very quickly."

According to the Hong Kong government's policy address last year, Sau Mau Ping is the largest public housing estate in Kwun Tong District. Of the 57 people in Kwun Tong, Sau Mau Ping accounts for 12, and the Sau Mau Ping Estate is crowded with more than 4 people.

Even if the two video halls only do business with the residents of the housing estate, they will still be able to make a lot of money.

"Once I make enough money, the next step will be to expand our business and open video parlors in estates like Tsui Ping, Lam Tin, Shun Lee, Yau Tong, and Ngau Tau Kok. Then you and your brother-in-law can retire and enjoy your retirement."

Deng Zecheng looked into the future while talking on the phone, and seemed to have seen the scene of his video hall business flourishing everywhere.

My sister's voice rang out again on the other end of the line: "As long as you can make some money, it's good. It's too much trouble to spend all day hanging around in that Directors Association. Your brother-in-law put a lot of effort into helping you this time. Fortunately, the person on the other end was just an ignorant student. Although he hired a rogue lawyer, he only recovered the loss of his equipment. Otherwise, this matter would not have been so easily resolved."

"Don't worry, sis. There will be no problem this time. Once I expand my video parlor business, even those people from the Directors Guild will line up to shine my shoes. It all depends on my mood."

Deng Zecheng burst into laughter, completely ignoring the mention of "student" by his sister, and continued, "Okay, let's do this for now. I'll bring two bottles of Wharf Mouse to visit my brother-in-law tonight. You don't have to cook. I'll bring some ginseng, abalone, shark's fin, and bird's nest from Guanji Restaurant."

After hanging up the phone, Deng Zecheng took a deep breath while biting his cigar, his face full of smiles.

He felt that running the video hall business was the best choice he had made in the past thirty years.

Deng Zecheng used to be a member of the Directors Guild due to his family connections, but he directed two bad films that were not even eligible for release. He was often ridiculed by his peers because of this. Now that he has a video hall, he no longer needs to rely on the theaters.

"Fuck you! When my video parlor business is booming, I'll be the biggest distributor in Hong Kong. Who dares to say I make bad movies? What about the Cheng family troupe or the Hong family troupe? From now on, there will only be the Deng family troupe in Hong Kong!"

Deng Zecheng envisioned the future and decided to take action now. He regrouped and made a new movie, which he would test-screen in a video hall.

He picked up the phone again and dialed a number. As he walked out of the housing estate, he said to the person on the other end:

"Hello, it's me. Please help me get some equipment. I've decided to shoot a Category IV film. I'll be back at the office right now, looking for two screenwriters to come over for a meeting..."

The estate is bustling with people.

Deng Zecheng didn't notice that while he was speaking, two young men in the corner next to him were silently watching him.

Zhai Yuan watched Deng Zecheng walk out of the housing estate with a dark face, threw away the cigarette butt in his hand, and stomped it out.

The other party's smug voice still echoed clearly in my ears.

What he said were all my words!

Opening a video hall, producing movies, and seizing the distribution market were the three steps that Zhai Yuan set for himself in the long term.

But now that Deng Zecheng has interfered, the difficulty has suddenly increased countless times.

The difficulty has nothing to do with Deng Zecheng stealing his business. No matter how big or luxurious his video hall is, Zhai Yuan can always respond.

But this idiot hasn't even established himself yet, yet he dares to act so high-profile. I'm afraid it won't be long before more and more people notice the development prospects of video halls, and this piece of cake will be divided up in the blink of an eye.

"They don't even understand the principle of making a fortune in silence. When they see a little profit, they can't help but show off to others. Idiot teammates are terrible, and Idiot opponents are even more terrible!"

Zhai Yuan was so angry that he wanted to rush up and punch Deng Zecheng in the face, but he suppressed his anger and cursed angrily. Standing next to him was Chen Jiale. Although he didn't know what Zhai Yuan was thinking, he guessed from his gloomy face that things were a bit tricky.

"Ayuan, what should we do now?" asked Chen Jiale.

"How do you think Hong Kong movies will end in the future?" Zhai Yuan did not answer, but asked a question in return.

Chen Jiale was stunned. "How can I know what will happen in the future? And what does this have to do with the video parlor business?"

You don't know, but I know.

Zhai Yuan thought to himself.

Street art galleries have been replaced by video halls, which will soon be replaced by optical discs, and then optical discs will be replaced by eMule, Kuaiche and BitComet.

The difference is that now people watch Spielberg on videotapes, but in the future, when the Internet comes out, people will still watch Spielberg.

The development of technology will lead to continuous iteration of tools, but content is always king.

The demise of Hong Kong films was due to their inability to produce new content and the resulting defeat at the hands of imported blockbusters.

"It's still not dying fast enough."

Zhai Yuan narrowed his eyes and muttered to himself.

Now that Deng Zecheng is stealing his business, and there will definitely be new capital coming in in the future, it is no longer possible for him to continue to grow in a sneaky way.

So Zhai Yuan decided to just turn the table over and introduce foreign pornographic films in advance to give the local Category III film market a little shock.

Have you heard of "I Spit on Your Grave"?

Do you know "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre"?

Have you seen "Flowers and Snakes"?

As for movies like "Suspiria", "The Gentlemen and the Bitch", "Sex and the Bitch", etc., mentioning them would be considered bullying you.

Zhai Yuan has been busy these past two days, reading a large amount of relevant newspaper news in Hong Kong over the past decade.

According to the information he found, Hong Kong first introduced foreign Category III films in the 1970s. Most of them were soft pornographic films from Japan. They had novel themes and actors with oriental faces, and they achieved good box office results in the local market.

For example, "Madame Emmanuelle de Tokyo", which was released in Hong Kong in 1976, earned more than yuan at the box office, ranking th among foreign films that year.

However, as the 1980s began, although this system of importing films continued, the target of import changed from foreign countries to the neighboring province's treasure island.

The reason for this is that as the Hong Kong film market began to develop, local cinemas were unable to absorb the increasing number of films, so they increasingly needed to rely on foreign box office, especially Taiwan, which was a large box office. Therefore, the film companies in the two places had close exchanges.

Another reason is that many directors' works copied foreign plots. Don't you think it's embarrassing to introduce the original films?

Therefore, the imported films gradually leaned towards Formosa Film Company.

However, according to Zhai Yuan's standards, those rubbish erotic films in Taiwan can only be considered "second-class B-level films" at best, not even "B-level films".

From the year before last to this year, Hong Kong only introduced two Category III films from Japan in the past two years, namely "Policewoman vs. Sex Maniac" and "The Meat Forest, the Prodigal Son, the Quick Knife". As for European and American Category III films, there were not a single one.

This behavior is essentially an exchange of interests between capitals, sacrificing the audience's user experience.

"How can the film market remain so stagnant?"

Zhai Yuan was heartbroken.

Since those big guys don't dare to break the existing balance, let me do it.

Dear audience friends in Hong Kong, please pay attention, I will only perform once!
PS: The imported film information in this chapter is based on the content on page 1984 of Ming Pao in 24. I should have included the movie poster with pictures and text, but I didn't dare... If you are interested, please download it yourself~
(End of this chapter)