Hong Kong Entertainment 1979: A Beating Up the Manager at the Start

Chapter 169 Orioles and Swallows

The next day, Li Jiangbo drove Lin Qingxia to Time Film Studio. After settling Lin Qingxia in, he immediately had Li Zhi call around to find more people.

An hour later, the conference room was filled with a host of beautiful female celebrities.

Among them are: Rosamund Kwan, Cherie Chung, Zhu Lin, Anita Mui, Lin Ching-ha, Sibelle Hu, Teresa Carpio, and Yip Sin-man.

Li Jiangbo sat in the main seat, drinking tea, waiting for Wang Jing, Lan Naicai, and the others to arrive.

A moment later, Li Zhi led Wang Jing and Lan Naicai into the conference room.

As soon as Wang Jing entered the conference room, his eyes lit up.

He chuckled and looked around at the beautiful women sitting nearby, jokingly asking, "Director Li, are you starting a beauty pageant?"

Li Jiangbo rolled his eyes at him, annoyed. "Sit down!"

After the two men were seated, Li Jiangbo coughed twice and said, "I called everyone here today to discuss the new play."

Upon hearing this, Wang Jing slapped his thigh. "Director Li! You're finally going to start filming! The other day, Shao Daheng was just asking when you'd begin work!"

The others remained silent, but their eyes were filled with hope. After all, Li Jiangbo had made a name for himself every year since 79.

It wasn't the highest-grossing film of the year.

Even though he didn't film any movies this year, his film "Taken" was still the highest-grossing film of 81.

Li Jiangbo ignored Wang Jing and gestured to Li Zhi to distribute the script.

After receiving the scripts, everyone began to look through them, and Li Jiangbo said, "Both of these dramas are action films, 'Royal Sister'..."

It tells the story of Japanese special police officers escorting a prisoner back to Hong Kong for trial at Tokyo airport, together with Hong Kong policewomen and escorts. During the journey, they encounter a hijacking.

"The film *The Inspector Wears Skirts* tells the story of how the Hong Kong police, recognizing the outstanding performance of two female inspectors, decide to form their first all-female special police unit, the 'Inspector Wears Skirts.' The team, led by the two inspectors, rigorously trains new recruits and works alongside the Special Duties Unit (SDU) to protect a jewelry exhibition."

Rosamund Kwan glanced at the script and complained, "Brother Bo! Action scenes are really tough."

Upon hearing this, Li Jiangbo's face immediately turned ugly.

Seeing that Li Jiangbo's expression was not good, Zhu Lin quickly tugged at Guan Zhilin's sleeve, reminding her to stop talking.

Rosamund Kwan realized she had said the wrong thing, stuck out her tongue, lowered her head, and no longer dared to look at Li Jiangbo.

After reading the script, Zhu Lin said, "The main character in 'Royal Sister' has a lot of screen time, carrying the whole show by herself. I feel a lot of pressure, and I can't handle it."

Chung Chor-hung carefully examined the script, sometimes frowning, sometimes deep in thought.

Lin Ching-hsia also looked up, "I actually think 'The Inspector Wears Skirts' is pretty good. It's an ensemble piece, so everyone has room to shine, and there aren't too many action scenes."

Hu Huizhong nodded in agreement, "I'm similar to Sister Qingxia. We mostly film art films in Taiwan. Filming action scenes is quite a novelty."

Anita Mui remained silent. She was primarily a singer; acting was just a side job. But she was diligent in both singing and martial arts training, so Li Jiangbo wasn't worried about her.

Li Jiangbo turned his gaze to Ye Qianwen, who seemed to sense it and immediately said, "Boss, you decide what to film! I don't care."

Wang Jing closed his notebook. "Director Li is trying to promote actresses! But it doesn't seem to be popular for actresses to play leading roles in Hong Kong these days."

Lan Naicai asked with some concern, "Mr. Li, we need to hire stuntmen for these two films! If we ask the Sammo Hung Stunt Team, I'm worried they won't be available."

He paused here, "As far as I know, Jackie Chan of Golden Harvest made a film called 'Young Master Dragon,' and Sammo Hung's stunt team also participated."

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Li Jiangbo nodded and said, "It is indeed a problem. Let's ask Yuan Hua to come along this time, and while we're at it, let's also bring Cheng Xiaodong over. It shouldn't be a big problem."

Everyone nodded in agreement, agreeing with Li Jiangbo's assessment.

Li Jiangbo continued, "Alright, let's decide which movie to film first. Everyone, please vote."

As soon as she finished speaking, Rosamund Kwan was the first to raise her hand, "I choose 'The Inspector Wears Skirts'! It's more fun with more people!"

Chung Chor-hung thought for a moment, "I also choose 'The Inspector Wears Skirts.' Last time I filmed 'Taken,' my character was too miserable, so this time I want to play a happy one."

The others also cast their votes for "The Inspector Wears Skirts".

Li Jiangbo nodded. "Okay, let's film this then. Whoever performs well will be chosen as the female lead in 'Royal Sister.' Also, I'll handle the role allocation."

All eyes were on Li Jiangbo.

"Xia and Zhong will play the captains, the rest of you are free to improvise."

After assigning roles, Li Jiangbo closed the script. "Alright, I'm leaving the setup of the Jing Ge crew to you. Everyone will train with Yuan Hua and Cheng Xiaodong for a month, and we'll officially start filming in a month."

After everyone responded, they all got up and left.

After all the women left, only Li Jiangbo, Wang Jing, and Lan Naicai remained in the conference room.

Wang Jing leaned closer and asked, "Director Li, are you really planning to have these pretty girls film action scenes? They're all so delicate and fragile, can they handle it?"

Li Jiangbo glanced at him and said, "You have to eat it even if you can't handle it! Don't you know what the Hong Kong film industry is like now? Kung Fu movies, gunfight movies, comedies, where is there room for women? If I don't give them a push, they'll be stuck as decorative objects for life."

Wang Jing chuckled, "That's true. How about I recommend someone to you?"

"Who?"

"Kara Hui"

Li Jiangbo responded with an "Oh," and then asked, "Shouldn't she be filming 'The Eighteen Martial Arts'? How does she have time?"

Wang Jing nodded. "However, we need to prepare for a month. By then, the film should be almost finished."

Li Jiangbo took out two cigarettes, handed them to the two men, lit one for himself, and took a drag.

"That's perfect. Go and ask Kara Hui to give all of us beauties a little more intensity."

Wang Jing took a drag of his cigarette, exhaled a puff of smoke, and said, "Okay, I'll give it a try."

Li Jiangbo patted the two of them on the shoulder, "Then I'll be going now. Keep a close eye on things with the crew. The actors, the locations, the props—none of them can be taken lightly."

Wang Jing patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, I've got it covered."

Li Jiangbo didn't say anything and strode out of the conference room.

As for why Li Jiangbo chose Wang Jing as his assistant director, the reason is that this guy is the best director in Hong Kong at filming beautiful women.

After all, two of the four most memorable camera shots in later generations were filmed by him. Those are: Shuzhen holding a playing card in her mouth and Zhao Min looking back.

With so many beautiful women, it would be a shame not to capture some stunning shots.

Li Jiangbo walked forward while thinking.

He had just arrived at the office door when he found Rosamund Kwan and Cherie Chung waiting for him.

After leading the two into the conference room, Li Jiangbo gestured for them to sit down and talk.

Rosamund Kwan didn't sit down. She said with a wronged expression, "Brother Bo, I didn't mean to talk back just now. I was just saying it because I was too tired from the action scenes."

Li Jiangbo sighed. "Jiahui, do you know how difficult this opportunity is?"

"These days, how many Hong Kong films feature women as leading ladies? I'm doing this so that you can broaden your acting range."

Li Jiangbo stopped talking and waved his hand, signaling Chung Chu-hung to take Rosamund Kwan out.