Entertainment Era: My Good Sister Is All Over the World

Chapter 113 Best Partners (Please Subscribe)

It was supposed to be a chat, but there was also a sense of competition between them.

These filmmakers are all arrogant, and when it comes to their views on art, probably few of them would express an opinion.

But when it comes to film creativity, no one in Hong Kong is willing to concede to anyone else.

Tsui Hark said he was interested in Huang Wenbin's ideas, but that was just a pretext; he was actually interested in Huang Wenbin as a person.

At the same time, he also wanted to find out more about Huang Wenbin and see if this kid was just an "idol" promoted by the North or if he had real talent.

After they sat down, they chatted casually for a while, and then began to probe each other.

Tsui Hark went to the United States to study in 1969, initially not to study film, but to study medicine.

A year later, he secretly dropped out of school and began traveling across the United States. He then enrolled at a branch campus of the University of Texas to study film. During his university years, he also co-starred in short films with friends. After graduating, he went to New York and participated in the production of several films.

He returned to Hong Kong in 1977 and first joined TVB, where he worked as a director and producer.

The following year, he transferred to CTV and filmed his debut work, "The Golden Swordsman." Although the ratings were only average, the filming concept was very advanced and the techniques were very mature, which quickly attracted the attention of many people in the industry.

For example, Wu Yusen, and Wu Siyuan.

Nansun Shi also came to believe that Tsui Hark was a man of great talent because of this TV series. She told others, "I have a good eye for people. Tsui Hark is no ordinary man."

Just last year, Tsui Hark received investment from producer Ng See-yuen and made his directorial debut, The Butterfly Murders.

This film can be described as a suspense thriller disguised as a martial arts film, which has brought a great impact to traditional martial arts films, but as a result, it did not do well at the box office.

Despite this, countless investors still approached Tsui Hark to finance his next film, because his talent was truly remarkable, and everyone in the industry had a feeling that this young man would make a name for himself sooner or later.

Tsui Hark's film career was going to falter for another year or two until 1981's "The Wise Man" finally brought him a remarkable turnaround.

Since then, Tsui Hark's films have been both critically acclaimed and commercially successful, with a focus on both remakes and innovation.

His films are imaginative and unrestrained, yet they are not devoid of humanistic concern and are usually imbued with a strong sense of national and familial sentiment. He is indeed a rare and versatile director.

The downside is that sometimes his imagination runs wild, disrupting the overall coherence of the story and causing some things to get sidetracked. Also, when he was a producer later on, he had too much control. While he was very loyal and helped many old friends make a comeback, he also had a falling out with some other friends.

However, none of this has anything to do with Huang Wenbin.

He just wanted to befriend Tsui Hark and see if he could get him to make movies for him.

Tsui Hark and Wong Man-bun started by discussing the origins of cinema, then moved on to film trends in Europe and America during different periods, and the representative directors of each genre—and then talked about some of the more groundbreaking films.

The people around them just watched the two chat idly, with only Hong Jingbao occasionally chiming in with a word or two.

Jackie Chan only regretted not having studied for a couple more years, because he couldn't understand what they were saying at all, and they always seemed to think they were very impressive.

After the two finished their casual conversation, they finally got down to business.

"I have a friend here who owns a film company."

"I wrote a script for them and was planning to hire someone to direct it. Now I feel that Director Xu, you are just right."

Huang Wenbin said this, and then sent someone to call Xu Xiaoming over.

This movie is, of course, "The Ring".

Huang Wenbin originally planned to invite Gui Zhihong or Mou Dun to direct, but now that he has met Tsui Hark, he might as well try inviting him.

"What type?" Tsui Hark didn't give a direct answer, but just asked with a smile.

Huang Wenbin replied, "Horror movies."

"I've already made several of these, and I feel like they're getting boring." Tsui Hark shook his head when he heard it was a horror film. The three films he'd made since last year were all considered horror thrillers.

Huang Wenbin said calmly, "This one will definitely give you a different feeling."

"How different are they?" Tsui Hark asked casually.

Huang Wenbin didn't answer, but turned around and saw Xu Xiaoming and the others walking over. So he introduced them to Tsui Hark: "This is my friend Xu Xiaoming, and there are also actors Liu Songren and Chung Chuh-hung."

"Xiaoming, so you and screenwriter Huang are friends." Hong Jingbao couldn't help but smile when he saw Xu Xiaoming. "Why didn't you say so earlier? Your friend is my friend."

Xu Xiaoming is only four years younger than Hong Jingbao. They both started working at a young age and have known each other for a long time.

"Sanmao, Big Nose, Baldy, and Hero—hello everyone!"

Xu Xiaoming greeted everyone present naturally, without missing a single one, and called them by their nicknames and aliases, demonstrating the breadth of his network.

"Wenbin is a good younger brother I met in mainland China. He is very good at writing screenplays."

Xu Xiaoming said with a smile, "Moreover, his directing skills are also very sharp. The movie I co-starred in with him, 'The Cotton Robe,' will be released in a few months. You can come and support us then."

"Great!" Hong Jingbao readily agreed. "You say he's one of the rarest things on earth, I definitely have to go and see for myself."

The others also exchanged a few polite words.

Huang Wenbin then turned to Xu Xiaoming and said, "Brother Ming, what do you think about having Tsui Hark direct 'The Ring'?"

"That would be wonderful!" Xu Xiaoming immediately clapped his hands and exclaimed, then turned to Xu Ke and said, "Master Xu, would you be interested?"

""

With so many people in front of him, Tsui Hark couldn't very well refuse, so he could only say, "Let's take a look at your script when we have time."

.

"That's easy," Xu Xiaoming said with a smile. "I'll have you send a copy of the script to your house tomorrow."

The bald man felt a little uncomfortable hearing this and said to Wong Man-bun, "Little brother, you wouldn't happen to have your eye on Tsui Hark and be trying to poach him, would you? Let me tell you, the great master is already one of us at Cinema City."

"That's not important," Huang Wenbin said with a smile. "Filmmaking is a mutually beneficial business. Everyone's doing it for art and to make money."

"Well said!" The bald man wholeheartedly agreed with the latter part of the idea. "Why do I make movies? It's to make big money. If you have any big-money projects, feel free to come to me anytime. I don't have any prejudices; whoever can help me make money is a good person."

These words don't sound like a big deal in Hong Kong.

However, the main creators of "Let the Bullets Fly" frowned upon hearing this.

The mainstream ideology in mainland China still regards film as an art form that serves the masses.

Only after the unified purchase and sales system was phased out did many film studios need to find their own way to survive, and they began to take box office revenue seriously, thus entering an era of prioritizing box office revenue.

At this point, the bald man suddenly leaned close to Huang Wenbin and whispered, "Handsome, do you have any good ideas for making a guaranteed money film? Tell me about them. It doesn't have to be anything special, just something that makes money like 'Let the Bullets Fly'."

Although it was said in private, the real intention was to embarrass Huang Wenbin in public.

Huang Wenbin asked with a smile, "Yes, we do, but how much money are you planning to give me?"

"You guys are supposed to be into art, so why are you talking about money?" The bald guy was actually thinking of getting Huang Wenbin for free.

Huang Wenbin said calmly, "If you want to talk about art, then I'll talk to you about art. If you want to make money, then of course I'll talk to you about money."

"Then forget it." The bald man's eyes darted around, and he said with a smile, "We have our own workspace, where we can come up with a dozen money-making ideas anytime. We don't need yours."

Huang Wenbin just smiled and didn't say anything.

The celebration banquet ended quickly.

According to the plan, everyone should return to the hotel in principle.

However, in reality, it wouldn't be that inhumane.

However, if they want to go out, they must team up in pairs and supervise each other to prevent anyone from escaping.

Huang Wenbin was an exception, because he had Xu Xiaoming and Li Hanxiang as his guarantors, so he could travel alone.

So, he went out for a late-night snack at Xu Xiaoming's invitation.

Huang Wenbin and Xu Xiaoming had just arrived at the Youguqi Restaurant when the bald guy unexpectedly showed up.

"Didn't you say you didn't need my ideas?" Huang Wenbin looked at him with some surprise.

The bald man, showing no shame whatsoever, laughed loudly, "If I don't say that, a lot of people will be watching me. By the way, do you actually have any ideas that can make money like 'Let the Bullets Fly'?"

"Yes, and it would be perfect for you."

Looking at his bald head, Huang Wenbin naturally thought of the movie "Aces Go Places".