Hollywood starts with an agent

Chapter 249 Developing New Markets
At night, Wang Zhuxian brought Aaron to the Tycoon Nightclub in Tsim Sha Tsui East to meet with another producer of the "Blood and Tears of Chinese Workers" project;

The magnificent Tycoon Nightclub is a den of money in Hong Kong, with all kinds of guests coming in an endless stream!

In the VIP room, Zhang Jiazhen seemed a little excited when he saw that the person who came in was Aaron Anderson. He was a partner of director John Woo. The New Milestone Film Company founded by the two of them produced many excellent films.

"Across the World", "Hard Boiled" and other films were shot by New Milestone Film Company.

"Mr. Anderson, congratulations! This is another fruitful year for Dawn," said Zhang Jiazhen, who was the driving force behind John Woo's entry into Hollywood. He himself graduated from the New York University Film School and has always kept an eye on Hollywood.
Aaron Anderson's name is well-known!
Then, he glanced at Wang Zhuxian beside him inconspicuously. He didn't expect that he actually knew this important person?

Aaron smiled and said, "Okay, Terrence, let's talk about this "The Blood and Tears History of Chinese Workers"!"

Zhang Jiazhen's English name is Terrence Zhang.

The story mainly tells the bloody history of Chinese workers being "sold as pigs" to the United States after the Opium War in the Qing Dynasty.
Just as there are corpses of Chinese workers under every railroad tie of the Central Pacific Railroad in the United States, Leland Stanford, the founder of Stanford University, was one of the top ten tycoons in the Gilded Age of the United States. He was also the first governor of California and president of the Central Pacific Railroad, a famous "Railroad King."

When Leland Stanford built the Century Avenue and the Trans-Pacific Railway that spanned North America, it was built with the blood and bones of countless Chinese workers!

"The film will be shot in the United States to recreate that period of history. Director King Hu was very serious about the costumes and props, so most of the cost will probably be spent on the sets!"

Listening to what Zhang Jiazhen said, it’s no wonder there are no foreign investors.

However, for Aaron, these are not so important. After all, for Dawn, this investment is very small.

Aaron smiled and said, "Sure, I'll get Crescent Films to invest, and you can start preparing for the project anytime!"

"Thank you so much……"

"Have you agreed to invest so soon?" After returning to her high-rise luxury home in Tsim Sha Tsui, Wang Zhuxian still felt a little surprised.

"Otherwise, since you've already spoken, I have to give you face!"

Aaron picked up the girl and sat on the sofa.

He kissed the other's red lips and said, "Dawn's investment is only 300 million US dollars, so it won't have much impact;"

"Besides, I also want to see what the effect will be after this subject is filmed."

Wang Zhuxian smiled and hugged the man's neck affectionately, "You are so kind. How can I thank you?"

Aaron caressed the girl's body and leaned close to her ear, "Weren't you very unrestrained yesterday?"

"Which man can resist such temptation!"

"Well, go take a shower first," Wang Zhuxian said softly.

Aaron picked up the girl and headed straight for the bathroom amid her exclamations. "Let's go, let's take a double bath together..."

After Aaron agreed to Zhang Jiazhen's investment in "The Blood and Tears of Chinese Workers", he called Los Angeles and asked Crescent Films to cooperate.
Director King Hu also came to Hong Kong to begin formal preparations, and of course asked Wang Zhuxian to play the heroine of the film.

At the same time, the mainland's film market was completely sluggish due to the planned economy's unified purchase and sale model, which made it uncompetitive.

This year, China's Ministry of Radio, Film and Television finally launched a mechanism reform for the film industry. The previous method of China Film Corporation to uniformly distribute domestic feature films was changed to a method whereby the film studios directly negotiate with local distribution units, thereby pushing each film studio into the market!
However, Aaron is not optimistic either, because the entire industry is still state-owned. Local production companies do not know how to distribute films, and they cannot produce commercial works that the public likes. If private distribution companies are not liberalized, and even production companies are not liberalized, it will be difficult. The Chinese film market is so sluggish that changes must be made.

In Hong Kong, at the Shangri-La Hotel, Aaron and Raymond Chow, who came from Repulse Bay, enjoyed afternoon tea together.

"Over there, they're already discussing bringing in foreign films and implementing a box office revenue-sharing model to align with international standards."

"It was proposed by China Film Corporation to improve the depressed domestic film market. They proposed using the internationally accepted box office revenue sharing model to import the latest, top-notch foreign films. The proceeds from film distribution would be used to support the film industry in remote, impoverished, and rural areas, with the majority of people from ethnic minorities living there."

As a Hong Kong film tycoon, Zou Wenhuai knew that the Hong Kong market was very small, and he always had his eyes on the huge market with a population of over one billion across the country.

Aaron smiled and said, "There should be a lot of resistance to introducing foreign films, right?"

Zou Wenhuai nodded. "There's a lot of resistance. Many people are opposed to this. They feel that this will allow American films to dominate the Chinese film market, using Chinese box office revenue to enrich foreign film producers, which is not conducive to stabilizing the morale of the entire Chinese film industry."

"I think this will seriously squeeze the development space of domestic films!"

Aaron spread his hands and said, "Without pressure, there is no motivation. This is the catfish effect. They are just worried that they can't compete and endanger their own stability.

"But if we don't make changes, how can we make progress? If we don't look at the effects of the industry outside, how can we develop our own film career?"

Zou Wenhuai smiled helplessly, "Now Hong Kong's market in Taipei is being challenged by Hollywood. It's hard for Hong Kong to compete with Hollywood blockbusters."

"Losing the Taipei market would be a disaster for Hong Kong films. We must pay close attention to the new market in the north."

In a few years, it will be 97. By then, Hong Kong will return and bilateral relations will be even closer, but the differences between Hong Kong films and Hong Kong films must be found as soon as possible;
However, there has been some development in co-productions between Hong Kong and mainland China, but the results are not ideal.

At night, Aaron stood by the window of the hotel suite, looking at the distant Victoria Harbour seascape, but in his heart he was thinking about the Chinese Wanyan brand VCD player;
In September, Wan Yan produced the world's first VCD player. After that, the first batch of 9 units were quickly bought by various companies.

"By the way, Joey, do you know the Wanyan company in China that makes VCD players?"

Aaron asked Wang Zhuxian who was sitting on the sofa.

"Oh, I think I know. That company is in HF City, Anhui Province, China;"

"My ancestral home is also in Anhui. I even went back there last year to pay respect to my ancestors!"

Although Wang Zhuxian was born in Taipei, her ancestral home is Shucheng, Anhui.

"Really?" Aaron turned his head and looked at the girl.

"it is true."

Aaron nodded. VCDs don't actually have much technical content. With a CD plus a decoding chip, it won't be long before Chinese VCD brands emerge like mushrooms after rain.

After all, China’s current patent laws are extremely imperfect!

(End of this chapter)