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

The twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month.

Time Group has started its annual leave, from the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month to the 8th day of the first lunar month, a full ten days off.

Li Jiangbo had only one requirement for the leaders of the Shiguang Group: someone needed to be on duty during the Spring Festival, especially at the Shiguang Newspaper.

Meanwhile, three films are currently being released in Hong Kong's film and television industry.

One of the films was "The Young Master," produced by Golden Harvest and directed and starring Jackie Chan. Released on February 9th, the film consistently achieved an occupancy rate of around 2% daily. This was also Jackie Chan's first film with Golden Harvest.

One of the films was "Modern Country Bumpkin," produced by Shaw Brothers, directed by Chen Jiasun, produced by Shaw Yifu, and starring Lin Zixiang. Released on February 15th, this film was Shaw Yifu's attempt to compete with Golden Harvest.

It is obvious that Shaw Brothers has lost again in its battle with Golden Harvest.

Since last year, the two companies have been competing, and Shaw Brothers has lost more often than it has won. Only with Li Jiangbo's "Happy Ghost" did Shaw Brothers manage to beat Golden Harvest. However, Shaw Brothers also lost in the battle for Jackie Chan.

A week after "Modern Countryman" was released, Shaw Brothers called Li Jiangbo, wanting a movie from Time Pictures to take over the release date.

However, Li Jiangbo refused. Wang Jing's "Chasing Girls" had not yet started its promotion, and releasing it at this time to compete with Golden Harvest's "Young Master" would be an extremely unwise choice.

After Li Jiangbo's efforts to mediate, Uncle Liu hung up the phone, cursing under his breath.

Another film is a war documentary called "The Tragic War," which surprisingly went head-to-head with Jackie Chan's "Young Master."

Sometimes, the daily box office of "The Devastating War" even exceeded that of "Young Master".

This worried Golden Harvest's Chow Wen-huai and Ho Koon-cheung. If an obscure documentary defeated their meticulously crafted film, wouldn't the Hong Kong film industry laugh their heads off?

Fortunately, "The Painful War" lost momentum in its later stages, and its box office revenue was halved in a single day.

On February 25, Shao Yifu called Li Jiangbo again.

"Hey, Bo-zai!"

"Hello, is this Uncle Liu? Is there something you need on your call?"

Shaw Yifu was silent for a moment, then asked, "Bo-zai, could your film 'Chasing Girls' be released on the first of next month?"

Li Jiangbo exclaimed in surprise, "What? Is 'Modern Country Bumpkin' going to be taken off the screens?"

"Bo-zai, to be honest, this film didn't get great reviews, and its box office performance couldn't beat Golden Harvest's 'Young Master.' So I plan to pull it off the run on the 29th, and then have your 'Chasing Girls' take over."

Li Jiangbo laughed heartily, "No problem! But, Uncle Six, how long do you plan to run my 'A Better Tomorrow' movie?"

Upon hearing this, Shao Yifu fell silent again. He still hadn't seen the movie "A Better Tomorrow," and Li Jiangbo had told him before filming that it was a remake of a 1960s film.

Therefore, he wasn't very optimistic about this remake. But after leaving Shaw Brothers, Li Jiangbo continued to create miracles.

First, he filmed the TV series "Shanghai Bund," which drew huge audiences in Hong Kong. Then he filmed "Happy Ghost," which broke Hong Kong's box office records. Shaw Yi-fu had no idea that Li Jiangbo could create another miracle.

He subconsciously said, "Bo-zai, why don't you take some time to let everyone watch your video, and then we can talk about scheduling?"

Li Jiangbo understood Shao Yifu's concerns and readily agreed.

"How about this, I'll arrange the publicity for 'Chasing Girls' first, and then I'll come see you?"

"Okay, there's no rush."

After hanging up the phone, Li Jiangbo called Wang Jing and the Time Daily and Oriental Daily.

Tell them the release date of "Chasing Girls" and let them start promoting it tomorrow.

Wang Jing was overjoyed when he received the call and readily agreed.

Time Daily and Oriental Daily News also contacted Wang Jing, Zeng Zhiwei, Rosamund Kwan, Dean Shek, and others to interview him.

The following day, Time Daily and Oriental Daily News began promoting "Chasing Girls".

The Time Daily Entertainment Headline is: 36 Strategies for Chasing Girls, Every One Hilarious! A Textbook Collection of Hong Kong-Style Love-Seeking Mishaps.

The Oriental Daily's entertainment headline is: A contemporary comedy! Watch Shi Tian teach you the art of love.

Both newspapers began to praise "Chasing Girls" extensively, and Wong Jing also put a lot of effort into the publicity, publishing full-page photos of Rosamund Kwan and Poon Wing-tsz.

Every day, both newspapers published a beautiful photo of two women who were fifteen years apart in age.

Wang Jing copied Li Jiangbo's approach, but the promotional slogan is a bit off. The two beauties standing together look completely the same age, with no discernible age difference between them.

Li Jiangbo was completely unaware that Wang Jing had invited Pan Yingzi to play Lin Xiaoxia in "Chasing Girls".

Moreover, Li Jiangbo was not very familiar with Pan Yingzi, only knowing that she had played Wu Zetian in "The Empress".

A few days later, Li Jiangbo arrived at TVB with a copy of "A Better Tomorrow" and a publicity plan.

In Shao Yifu's office on the top floor.

Shao Yifu opened the plan in his hand, and after he finished reading it, he pushed the plan to Fang Yihua.

After Fang Yihua finished reading, he asked, "What do you say?"

Fang Yihua shook her head. "Bo-zai, you've gone too far with this. You want to air a promotional video on TV, hold a premiere, and even get TVB to broadcast it... This will probably cost two or three hundred thousand!"

Li Jiangbo smiled slightly, "Manager Fang, the current movie promotion methods are too outdated. When I was collecting glass in the United States last year, I heard that this is how they do it, so I want to give it a try."

Fang Yihua was speechless for a moment upon hearing this. She knew that Li Jiangbo was right. As early as 1922, the United States had already begun to lay out red carpets and carry out film promotion.

Shao Yifu took a sip of tea and said, "Bo-zai, we can cooperate with your plan, but..."

Li Jiangbo said, "Sixth Uncle, please speak freely."

Shaw Yi-fu nodded. "You'll cover all the publicity and distribution costs. I can give you the green light from TVB. But don't blame me if the movie is critically acclaimed but doesn't sell well."

"No problem. After Uncle Liu sees the movie, he'll understand why I have so much confidence in this film."

Shaw Yifu laughed heartily, "Alright! Let's go then, let's see the great movie Bo-zai talked about!!!"

In TVB's small screening room, only three people accompanied Shaw Yi-fu to watch "A Better Tomorrow".

Besides Li Jiangbo and Fang Yihua, there was also Ji Tongguang, the general manager of Shaw Brothers Cinemas.

The lights dimmed, and the screen lit up.

As the end credits rolled, the theater fell silent.

Shao Yifu took off his reading glasses and rubbed his temples. He didn't speak immediately, staring at the screen.

With slightly reddened eyes, Ji Tongguang wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes. "Sixth Uncle, this play... is incredible."

Shaw Yi-fu nodded in agreement. He never expected that a remake would allow this young Bo-zai, who hadn't even grown up yet, to make such a splash.

When Dillon's character, Sung Chi-ho, says, "Officer! I haven't been a gangster for years!"

He felt a strange pang of sorrow. He had experienced all the ups and downs of life, from Shanghai to Malaysia and then to Hong Kong. Only he knew the true joys and sorrows of his journey.

Watching this movie reminded him of his past as a powerful figure in Hong Kong.

Thinking of this, Shao Yifu slowly spoke, "Bo-zai, is two or three hundred thousand enough for publicity?"

Li Jiangbo nodded. "That's enough. I plan to use the newspaper to promote it for a month first, and then use a promotional video to promote it for another half month."

After a moment of silence, Shao Yifu said, "The promotional video's runtime has been increased to one month. We'll give you a 30-second trailer during all of TVB's prime time slots."

Li Jiangbo remained silent, while Ji Tongguang, standing nearby, asked, "Sixth Uncle, how should the screening schedule be arranged?"

Shao Yifu looked at Li Jiangbo and asked in an inquiring tone, "How about we see how 'Chasing Girls' performs first, and then 'A Better Tomorrow' can take over?"

Li Jiangbo nodded. "No problem."

"Then we'll arrange for all twenty-three Shaw Brothers theaters to screen the film consecutively."