1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 484 Celebration Banquet

Clearwater Bay TV City, Television Broadcasts Limited.

Wang Tianlin sat on a bench outside the boardroom, wearing a faded khaki suit with the buttons undone halfway, revealing his round belly bulging out of his shirt.

Even though he was over sixty, Wang Tianlin still looked like a student waiting to enter the examination hall. He wore reading glasses around his neck and had been playing with a cigarette in his hand for half an hour, but had not lit it yet.

At 10 o'clock sharp, Fang Yihua pushed open the office door, poked her head out, and greeted him with a smile: "Brother Tianlin, Mr. Zhao invites you in."

Wang Tianlin grinned, his chubby face contorted into a smile. He tucked the cigarette into his pocket, buttoned up the bottom of his suit jacket, and, trying to pull in his stomach and straighten his chest, walked into Zhao Yifu's office.

In the office, Zhao Yifu sat upright behind his desk, with a copy of the Industrial and Commercial Daily and a bowl of bird's nest in front of him.

"Tianlin, come and sit down." Zhao Yifu smiled and waved to Wang Tianlin as he walked in.

Wang Tianlin addressed him as Mr. Zhao, then moved to the desk. Fang Yihua smiled and helped him move the chair, allowing his obese figure to squeeze in. He plopped down, making the chair creak.

“You need to lose weight, Tianlin.” Zhao Yifu frowned and said, “You’ll have health problems sooner or later if you keep going like this. Go to the hospital for a check-up tomorrow, and put the bill in the company accounts.”

Wang Tianlin smiled apologetically and thanked him, rubbing his belly with his hand as he said, "I've lost weight, I've lost weight. I've been eating less late-night snacks lately."

Zhao Yifu hummed in agreement and casually said, "The short drama the company made before didn't do very well, so we still plan to focus on Metropolitan Film Company."

Mona Fong, who was in charge of the short drama "Invincible", froze with a smile and hurriedly said, "Fortunately, the cost is not high. With the revenue sharing from the Kuaibo DVD, the short drama will at most break even."

Wang Tianlin's voice was as slow as his movements. He chuckled and said, "I've analyzed this short play that the prodigy Yuan came up with, but I just can't figure it out. This kind of trendy format is probably only something that young people can pull off."

"So, let's go back to our old ways." Zhao Yifu took off his glasses and said with a smile, "The film industry is booming lately. Miss Fang's Metropolitan Film Company is planning to make a few films. What are your thoughts?"

Wang Tianlin nodded knowingly and said slowly, "Recently, Tim Shing Tsai has been hoping that I can remake some of the company's past dramas, such as 'The Story of Laughter and Tears,' 'The Dream of the Red Chamber,' and 'The Peacock's Command.' These past works have their own audience, and making sequels would have a larger audience than original works. If you want me to go to the Metropolitan area to help out, I'm afraid I'll have to put my work at the TV station on hold for the time being."

Upon hearing this, Mona Fong immediately interrupted with a smile: "The TV drama production must not be stopped. Metropolitan is just one of the company's businesses. We shouldn't let a small thing cause us to lose sight of the bigger picture."

Wang Tianlin hesitated for a moment, then spoke again: "It's not impossible to take care of both sides at the same time..."

Before he could finish speaking, Zhao Yifu waved his hand to interrupt him.

"Tianlin, you're getting on in years, there's no need to work so hard. Just focus on your work at the TV station."

Zhao Yifu looked at Wang Tianlin and asked in a calm tone, "What has A Xiang been busy with lately?"

Wang Jin, whose real name is Wang Rixiang.

Fang Yihua spoke up at the right moment, laughing, "Oh, right! Brother Tianlin, the Metropolitan Metropolitan is short-handed right now, and the older generation of directors in the company are all getting old. Let Ah Xiang come back and give it a try. He's been helping Jiu Yi and Jiahe lately, he wouldn't forget his old man, would he?"

Wang Tianlin's expression remained unchanged as he smiled and nodded, "Understood, understood."

After three minutes,

Wang Tianlin, heavily pregnant, staggered out of the office.

With a smile on her face, Fang Yihua took the initiative to help him to the elevator.

While waiting for the elevator, Fang Yihua handed a bowl of bird's nest soup to Wang Tianlin and said with a smile, "I made too much sweet soup this morning. Mr. Zhao can't finish it all by himself. Brother Tianlin, take a portion home."

Wang Tianlin reached out and took it: "Thank you, Miss Fang."

"Don't mention it." Fang Yihua waved her hand with a smile, then whispered, "Also, Mr. Zhao just mentioned that you, Tianlin, should go to the hospital for a checkup. If you need to submit any receipts later, remember to give me the documents... It's best if the rest of the company knows about this, so they don't gossip behind your back. You understand what I mean~"

Wang Tianlin's smile remained unchanged: "Understood, understood."

The elevator dinged as it approached, and Wang Tianlin strolled in, only to emerge a short while later.

Actors and crew members along the way stopped to greet him and called him Uncle Tianlin.

Wang Tianlin carried the bird's nest in his hand, a friendly smile always on his face.

Only after leaving the Television Broadcasts Limited compound and reaching the concrete corner by the parking lot did Wang Tianlin silently stop, unbutton his suit jacket, take out the cigarette he had been playing with all morning, light it, and let out a deep sigh.

Enveloped in smoke, the smug grin on Wang Tianlin's face gradually faded. He glanced at the bird's nest in his hand, then tossed it into the nearby trash can, muttering a curse under his breath:
"pick!"

…………

"They only have two months to shoot a movie, with no subject matter, no script, no location, and they just tell me the male lead is Stephen Chow and the female lead is Carol Cheng. Do they think I'm a god?!"

In the break room of Jiu Yi Entertainment, Zhai Yuan heard Wang Jin's desperate wails even before he entered.

"My dad is really surprised that I'm not dead. He actually agreed to this kind of request. I'm just waiting for the old man to bury the young man!"

In the break room, several directors sat together, all wearing gloating smiles.

Zhai Yuan pushed open the door and entered, and everyone stood up to greet him.

Wu Yusen smiled and said, "Mr. Zhai, it's been a long time. You have some free time to come to the company today?"

Zhai Yuan casually replied, "Just letting you know, Sister Nan has arranged a celebration banquet for 'The Smiling, Proud Wanderer' tonight. It's been a long time since we had a get-together, so if anyone's interested, come and have a few drinks."

"There's food! Okay!"

"We're all thanks to Ah Xu this time! Brother Jin, you'd better hurry up and make a blockbuster film for Miss Fang, then it'll be your turn to treat us next time."

"Wow! If you want Miss Fang to treat us, Brother Jin's movie has to gross at least 100 million first!"

The laughter and teasing made Wang Jin's face grow increasingly grim.

Zhai Yuan then looked at him with a smile and said, "What's the situation? Were you pulled in by TVB to put out a fire?"

Wang Jin sighed, "Mr. Zhai, I deeply regret not staying in Japan. Even helping Chao Shao make pink movies would have been better than the current situation."

Then she recounted her tragic experience again.

After Mona Fong's short film failed, she returned to restart Metropolitan Film Company and asked Wong Kam to shoot an inaugural film.

Stephen Chow was cast as the male lead as usual, while Carol Cheng was the female lead, who was at the height of her popularity.

Zhai Yuan roughly recalled that, according to legend, because Carol Cheng once ridiculed Stephen Chow for always being just a passerby, the two had never worked together.

What's going on this time? In order to save on his salary, Fang Yihua accidentally tied two actors who were already under contract together.

What could these two possibly make? Perhaps "The King of Comedy: An Actor Prepares"? And then have Carol Cheng deliver the line, "An extra can never become a protagonist"?
"Damn it!" Zhai Yuan suddenly realized. Why bother with all that? He's the boss now; there's no need to waste brain cells on this kind of thing!
"Keep it up, Jin, you can do it!" Zhai Yuan patted Wang Jin on the shoulder, offering sincere encouragement. Then, ignoring Wang Jin's dejected look, he chatted with the other directors about their recent situations.

It mainly involves Wu Yusen and Liu Zhenwei.

When Wang Jin went to Japan to form Tokyo Hot, John Woo took over the filming of "Jurassic Park". Now, the scenes of Wan Tzu-liang, Chung Chu-hung and others have been completed, and they are preparing to shoot a new film.

"I recently watched an American movie called 'The Deer Hunter,' which gave me a lot of inspiration, so I'm planning to make a war movie. There are very few movies like this in Hong Kong now, so I think there's a huge market for it. The story is about three brothers who accidentally kill a triad boss and flee to Vietnam..."

Wu Yusen confidently introduced the plot of his new film to Zhai Yuan.

Zhai Yuan only listened to two sentences before he knew what the new film he wanted to make was.

Bloodshed in the Street.

With a theme similar to "The Deer Hunter" and incorporating the love triangle from his mentor Chang Cheh's "The Assassin," it is considered one of John Woo's representative works.

Zhai Yuan thought for a moment and asked, "What's the budget?"

Wu Yusen immediately replied, "Fifteen million is enough."

Zhai Yuan nodded upon hearing this, but inwardly rolled his eyes.

Fifteen million? Bullshit!
The movie "Bullet in the Head" is so famous that its behind-the-scenes story has been thoroughly dissected. In a parallel universe, John Woo kept increasing the budget while filming the movie, eventually soaring to more than 30 million Hong Kong dollars, but it ultimately lost a lot of money at the box office...

If this had happened a year ago, Zhai Yuan would most likely have advised him against filming this movie.

War-themed films are indeed rare in Hong Kong, but that doesn't mean there's a market for them; in reality, nobody's interested.

Even with a DVD distribution channel, it would still be painful for Zhai Yuan, who was in dire need of money, to spend over 30 million yuan on a film that would take so long to recoup its costs.

But things are different now. 91 Entertainment has reached a cooperation agreement with several film companies in Taiwan.

Need money? Yes!

Zhai Yuan said with a smile, "The company will take one-third of this money, which is 500 million. After that, you go to Sister Nan and ask her to introduce you to film producers from Taiwan. It's not that I don't trust you, but we have partners now, so we can share the costs together."

John Woo looked enlightened and didn't find it difficult to ask Taiwanese film companies for investment.

With the success of his three films, "A Better Tomorrow," "Project Gutenberg," and "The Silence of the Lambs," he could easily amass tens of millions in wealth.

Liu Zhenwei then asked, "John Lone's 'Iron Man' has another storyboard version made, which was sent to Secretary Li yesterday. I wonder if Mr. Zhai has seen it?"

"Hmm." Zhai Yuan nodded and smiled, "This version of the script looks quite good. Did you change the writer?"

Liu Zhenwei exaggeratedly exclaimed, "As expected of Mr. Zhai, you even guessed this? You weren't satisfied with the first two versions, so I invited a few newcomers from the Film Association to help. The one who contributed the most is Chen Musheng. If this movie starts filming, I plan to use him as the executive director."

Upon hearing the name Chen Musheng, Zhai Yuan paused for a moment, then smiled and nodded: "That's right, let's give a newcomer a chance to shine, let's use him."

"Iron Man" is the new film that 91 Entertainment plans to release in the next year or two, following "Jurassic Park".

It was copied from "Iron Man".

The previous work was a sequel to Michelle Fei Hua's "The Invisible Woman", and it also connected with Lam Ching-ying's "Mr. Vampire 3". The character of John Lone was used to link the local superhero universe of Chinese films.

According to Zhai Yuan's idea of ​​being a hands-off manager, producing one big-budget special effects film like this for 91 Entertainment every year, and occasionally a low-to-medium budget masterpiece like "Swordsman", would be enough to maintain their brand. The rest would be left to the directors of the Film Association to do as they please.

Even though they produce special effects blockbusters under their own name, they still keep all the profits to themselves and don't allow outsiders to contribute money.

However, for films like John Woo's "Bullet in the Head," Taiwanese film distributors can be brought in to share the costs.

As the film association grew larger, the funding for training new directors became increasingly outrageous, which was then filled by the hot money from Taiwanese film companies, a win-win situation.

That's why Zhai Yuan was involved in both "Iron Man" and "Jurassic Park" from start to finish. Since he wasn't directing, he let his subordinates create a meticulous storyboard so that they could just follow it perfectly when filming.

Otherwise, with only a script and no storyboards, and investments often exceeding 100 million, Zhai Yuan really wouldn't trust the competence of these Hong Kong directors.

Next, I talked with Huang Baiming and others about several low- to medium-budget films. New City is still holding on to the "Happy Ghost" IP and is preparing a film called "Happy Ghost Saves Happy Ghost".

Zhai Yuan didn't stop the other party from making money, but suggested, "You can use Girls' Generation. Their DVDs sell well in Japan and South Korea. I'm planning to arrange for them to hold a concert there, and I can also help you with the promotion. Also, I'll give you a new story in a few days, 'High School Musical 2,' which will be filmed before next summer."

Huang Baiming nodded repeatedly upon hearing this, feeling a mixture of joy and worry.

The good news is that "High School Musical" finally has a sequel, but the bad news is that if the Girls' Generation boss ladies join the cast of "Happy Ghost Saves Happy Ghost", wouldn't that mean that all the borderline scenes in the film would have to be cut?
In addition, I must remind everyone in advance not to provoke the boss ladies.

Huang Baiming thought to himself, this is an important matter!
During the filming of "Happy Ghost 2," there was this clueless new production assistant who thought himself handsome and dared to flirt with Pak On-nei. Even Mr. Zhai probably didn't know about it. Several big shots from the New York Times, arranged by Chen Lan to protect the boss's wives, stepped in, and that production assistant has since vanished without a trace...

…………

"Sister Lan, what has Brother Qiang been busy with lately?"

That evening, the celebration banquet for "Swordsman" was held at the Peninsula Hotel. The red carpet stretched all the way to the hotel entrance, and the media crowded in the corner to take photos of Brigitte Lin and Jet Li. Then, a continuous stream of celebrities appeared, and the camera lights almost turned the surroundings into daylight.

Taking advantage of this celebration banquet, Zhai Yuan simply invited all the well-known employees of the company to come and get together.

This includes colleagues from Taiwan, led by Chu Yen-ping, as well as newcomers from various short drama production teams.

The scale of the event was undeniably enormous.

Avoiding the media's cameras, Zhai Yuan and Chen Lan entered the hotel lobby side by side and inquired about Xu Jiaqiang's recent situation.

Chen Lan smiled and shook her head, then sighed and said, "Alas! What else can we do? Since the casino opened, he's been spending more time in Macau than in Hong Kong."

Zhai Yuan smiled upon hearing this and casually said, "I'm heading to Pengcheng in a couple of days to discuss a few business deals with the leaders there. If we reach an agreement, I plan to give Xinji a way to make money."

Chen Lan's expression shifted, and she turned to look at Zhai Yuan.

Zhai Yuan winked at Chen Lan and smiled, "Let's talk after we've reached an agreement."

On the other side, in the hall, the star of the evening, Brigitte Lin, dressed in a gorgeous gown, was chatting quietly with Shih Nan-sheng, Hsu Ke, and a few others. Her face was radiant, showing no trace of her previous dejected appearance.

"Have Brother Qiang come back when he has some free time. I'll let you know."

Zhai Yuan said something to Chen Lan, then ignored her and walked straight to Lin Qingxia, opening his arms and shouting, "Wow! Congratulations on your sunbathing, Sister Qingxia!"

(End of this chapter)