1991: The Era of Hong Kong Dramas

The next day, Huo Sheng woke up feeling somewhat dizzy.

He didn't get back to his dorm until after 1 a.m. last night, or rather, early this morning. He lay down around 2 a.m. and slept until noon.

After a hangover, no matter how long you sleep, you're never feeling great. Of course, he was in excellent health, so the disturbance was minimal; he just felt a heavy feeling in his head.

At times like this, a cup of honey water would be a great relief. Unfortunately, as someone who lives in a dormitory, I don't have such a luxury condiment. After searching for a long time, I could only apply a hot towel to my forehead for a while.

It's not very useful, but it's better than nothing, more like a psychological comfort.

Once he recovered, he changed his clothes and went to work.

He has some money now, and when he has free time, he goes to Causeway Bay and buys some trendy shirts and jeans. He is no longer in the embarrassing situation of only having two sets of clothes to change into.

After a little tidying up, she looked exactly like a young, promising, and capable television professional, having completely blended into the environment.

When he arrived at the manufacturing building, he went straight to his office.

The atmosphere in the cubicle was relaxed, with only the accountant and a few clerks handling some minor tasks related to the wrap-up of the film crew.

Now only editing and dubbing work remains, which is overseen by Wai Ka-fai, Yuen Ying-ming, and a few others.

Others can take turns to rest for more than a month, go on a date, spend time with their wives or girlfriends, or sleep in comfortably, as compensation for the continuous overtime work in the previous months.

Huo Sheng didn't really have much to do; he could stay in the dorm as long as he wanted, only occasionally changing some lines when there were problems with the dubbing.

However, my computer is in the office, and my flip phone isn't very fun. It's better to come back to work than to just sit in the dorm.

With nothing else to do, he found a TVB program schedule and started studying it.

This is also called a program guide, which is used by TV stations to plan their programming for the next cycle.

TVB Jade Channel not only divides its dramas by month, but also has specific rules regarding the broadcast times.

First, the news is broadcast without fail from 19:00 to 19:30 on weekdays;

19:30-20:30 is the so-called prime time slot, where the station's big productions, such as "The Greed of Man" and "No Regrets in This Life", are broadcast. The producers must be top stars like Wai Ka-fai and Tsang Lai-ching.

20:30-21:30 is the "second-tier drama" time slot, where second-tier producers like Wong Sum-wai and Lau Ka-ho compete for a spot.

Then, from 21:30 to 23:20, it's the time for the variety show segment.

Interestingly, TVB doesn't consider weekends to be prime time.

Most of the programs on weekends are reruns, except for a fixed time slot from 22:00 PM to 23:00 PM for "experimental anthology dramas".

This time slot has the fewest viewers, belonging to the very late-night slot, and can be considered a testing ground specifically for new producers to practice their skills.

The anthology dramas broadcast here range from one episode to three to five episodes, giving newcomers a chance to try their hand at acting and allowing viewers to have a change of pace.

For example, this period's schedule includes "Little Big Man," produced by Lawrence Cheng.

It was very casual. Cheng Danrui wasn't even a director before; he was an actor who crossed over to produce. He used his connections to find actresses like Rosamund Kwan and Michelle Reis to act in the unit dramas.

Without the constraints of numerous rules, Huo Sheng had his sights set on this period.

According to his plan, he doesn't intend to remain a screenwriter or script editor following behind the producer forever. To truly create something of his own, he must become the undisputed leading man in a production.

That's quite difficult.

Even Wai Ka-fai, who rose through the ranks the fastest at TVB, spent ten years transitioning from screenwriter to producer.

Fortunately, he had the foresight to lay a good foundation for the pre-production of "The Greed of Man," securing the titles of sole screenwriter and co-screenwriter.

Although the show hasn't aired yet, and he's still a newcomer with a position but no real experience, if "The Great Era" performs well and creates the expected buzz, he'll be qualified to compete for a spot in this experimental unit drama.

At the very least, having Wai Ka-fai lend his name as producer while he himself becomes the actual creator is not unacceptable.

However, this road is not entirely unobstructed.

No matter how niche the experimental unit drama may be, it is still a legitimate production project, and the scheduling rights are firmly in the hands of the drama division.

This is precisely the problem that is giving Huo Sheng the biggest headache right now.

TVB is full of factions and cliques. As a newcomer recruited by Wai Ka-fai, he didn't even need to go out and make a fuss; he was directly labeled as Wai Ka-fai's person.

The person in charge of scheduling, Tsang Lai-ching, nicknamed "Extinction Master," happens to be a top expert in the factional struggles within TVB.

She rose from assistant director to deputy director of the drama division, and has helped launch the careers of Chow Yun-fat, Andy Lau, and Tony Leung. Her influence within the station is exceptionally deep.

She has complete control over prime-time scheduling, producer appointments and dismissals, and budget approvals. Her cronies are all over the production department, and even Leung Ka-shu's faction has been squeezed into marginal slots and non-prime time slots.

Although Wai Ka-fai and she are currently keeping to themselves and maintaining a polite relationship on the surface, it's hard to say what will happen when it comes to their interests.

In other words, the more he wants to get the project, the more likely he is to get blocked.

Huo Sheng twirled his pen, staring at the blank area on the program schedule, and remained silent for a moment.

If I don't take this path and continue working with Wai Ka-fai, I estimate that becoming a producer wouldn't be a problem, but it would be a long time, at least another five years.

These were the five most glorious years for Hong Kong dramas...

Although the path to becoming a pilot is difficult, it's still better than wasting time here building up seniority.

He sat there thinking for a while, and the more he thought, the brighter his eyes became.

If others can make it work, there's no reason why he can't.

At worst, we can wait until the results of "The Greed of Man" are in, and then use those results to negotiate with people. By then, regardless of political affiliation, the ratings will speak for themselves.

He closed the program schedule, made up his mind and didn't hesitate any longer. He spread out a piece of paper and began to think.

What should I film next?

The first thing that popped into his mind was "A Step into the Past." A time-travel story where Xiang Shaolong unexpectedly returns to the Warring States period—it was definitely fresh and intriguing.

But it would be difficult to assemble the cast for this drama. Xiang Shaolong needs to be both scholarly and martial, Lian Jin needs to be sinister and ruthless, and Wu Tingfang and Qin Qing need to be charming and aloof respectively. Can TVB assemble such a team now? If they can, it would have to be a big production.

As a newcomer producing, he shouldn't even think about it.

How about we make a version of "War and Beauty"? It's the originator of palace intrigue dramas and pioneered the genre of dramas about tearing each other apart.

But palace dramas require sets, costumes, and grandeur. TVB's period dramas are fine for shooting everyday scenes, but if they really wanted to capture the magnificence of the Forbidden City, they probably couldn't even afford a decent carpet.

Given the limited budget of the experimental series, giving it 200,000 per episode is already a sign of Zeng Lizhen's goodwill towards him.

Even taking a picture of an ancient street scene can result in the loss of one's underwear.

Huo Sheng put down his pen, leaned back in his chair, and decided that all period dramas were out of the question; he would stick to workplace dramas instead.

doctor?

Films like "Healing Hands" only require operating rooms and wards, so the set construction costs are very low. However, the professional threshold is too high. To make the surgical scenes look decent, you need medical consultants, which he doesn't have right now.

police?

There are quite a few shows that could be made in this category. "Armed Reaction", "Detective Investigation Files", and "Forensic Heroes" are all good choices, but they often have more than twenty episodes and the main storyline runs throughout.

An experimental episodic drama is only one hour long, so it can't cram in too much content.

What else?

Suddenly, a multitude of fashion dramas began to churn in Huo Sheng's mind.

What about law?

This idea suddenly popped into his mind, and he fell into deep thought.

Speaking of legal dramas, one cannot help but mention that masterpiece from TVB in the past.

It only used three or four main locations to film an entire season, and hardly any outdoor scenes were needed. The main character would just sit at a table in a suit and tie, and the whole episode could be sustained by his words alone.

Moreover, each episode focuses on a single case, perfectly fitting the episodic format of a TV series. From the opening of the trial to the sentencing, the entire story unfolds in 45 minutes, interspersed with scenes depicting the relationships and daily lives of the main characters. Each case is independent yet has a central plot.

Low budget, little competition, easy to pass, easy to film, and the script is of extremely high quality; it's practically tailor-made for a newcomer like myself.

This has potential!

He hadn't discussed it with Wai Ka-fai yet, and didn't know if he would support his idea of ​​starting his own business, but now that the idea was in his head, he might as well just make a plan first.

Huo Sheng made up his mind and began to write.

Only the scratching sound of the pen tip remained, echoing endlessly in the office.