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

Early October.

After a month-long delay, "Taken" finally passed the censorship. As soon as Zhao Yazhi got the news, she excitedly ran to Li Jiangbo's office.

As soon as I opened the office door, I saw Pan Yingzi and Li Jiangbo chatting there.

"Sister Zhi, what's wrong?"

Zhao Yazhi excitedly said, "Boss, our film has passed censorship!"

Li Jiangbo rubbed his chin. "It's a bit late to get it approved now!"

Pan Yingzi asked doubtfully, "Is it late?"

Li Jiangbo didn't answer, but he was thinking about something in his mind.

The situation this year is not very clear. Shaw Brothers just took over TVB, and Fong Yee-wah just took over Shaw Brothers.

Li Jiangbo felt that Shaw Brothers might not necessarily schedule his films for good release dates.

Just look at the three directors Shaw Brothers heavily relied on; Li Hanxiang was already making final preparations for "The Burning of the Yuanmingyuan".

Chu Yuan and Chang Cheh have only made eight films this year. This doesn't even include films directed by other directors, all of which were slated for release at Shaw Brothers.

Including his own Time Pictures, which has already released four films and has one more yet to be released, that makes a total of thirteen films.

Li Jiangbo had a premonition that Fang Yihua would definitely ask him to wait a little longer, and might even schedule "Taken" for next year.

But Li Jiangbo didn't have any good solutions. After all, in this era, theaters are king, and all production companies have to act according to the whims of the theaters.

With that in mind, Li Jiangbo could only let things take their course.

"Sister Zhi, you should talk to the people at Shaw Brothers! I estimate our film schedule will be booked until next year."

Zhao Yazhi nodded. "There's something else. The organizers of the Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan have sent you an invitation to attend the 17th Golden Horse Awards."

Li Jiangbo asked in confusion, "Our film has been nominated?"

"Yes! 'A Better Tomorrow' was nominated for Best Director and Best Actor, and 'Peking Opera Blues' was nominated for Best Screenplay."

If Zhao Yazhi hadn't brought it up, Li Jiangbo would have completely forgotten about it. It was Shao Daheng who signed up his film back then.

He doesn't have time to attend these activities. He'd be better off making more money in Hong Kong!

Seeing that Li Jiangbo didn't seem very interested, Zhao Yazhi quickly said, "They're also planning to hold a screening and discussion session for emerging Hong Kong directors' works."

Li Jiangbo laughed upon hearing this, "Oh~! So, am I considered a rising director? Or...?"

Before Zhao Yazhi could answer, there was another knock on the office door.

"Please come in."

Xu Ke excitedly pushed open the door and walked into the office.

"Director Li, are you going to the Golden Horse Awards? If you are, let's go together."

Li Jiangbo glanced at Xu Ke, "Oh! You got the news so quickly?"

Xu Ke laughed heartily, "Not only me, but also President Zhao received an invitation."

"Yes! I went with director Hsu An-hua."

Li Jiangbo nodded, pondering in his mind.

Time Pictures appears to be very productive, with decent box office returns in Hong Kong, but not so good in other regions.

Like last year's "Happy Ghost," this year's "Happy Ghost 2," "A Better Tomorrow," and "Chasing Girls" have received lukewarm responses in Taiwan.

Li Jiangbo's film "Dao Ma Dan" also received a lukewarm reception due to the absence of Lin Qingxia's participation.

If you want to tap into the Taiwanese market, you need to invite well-known Taiwanese actresses or actors to star in your movies.

The most popular female star in Taiwan right now is Lin Ching-hsia.

Unfortunately, at this time, Lin Qingxia should have been recuperating from her heartbreak in the United States, and she might not have come to Hong Kong to develop her career.

Why don't we go to Taiwan and see if there are any actresses willing to come to Hong Kong with us?

Thinking of this, Li Jiangbo said, "Okay! Sister Zhi, please contact Shaw Brothers first to check the film schedule. If it's next year, we'll go and join the fun."

Zhao Yazhi nodded in agreement and turned to get busy.

Xu Ke smiled and said, "Boss, I'm currently working on a fantasy movie. When the script is finished, I'll need your feedback."

Upon hearing this, Li Jiangbo thought to himself, "How could I have forgotten about this!"

He knew all too well that Xu Ke was preparing to make that movie.

That is the pioneer of Chinese fantasy films – "The New Legend of Shushan"!

Although it's considered the pioneer of fantasy films, this movie received critical acclaim but failed at the box office!

Li Jiangbo remembers that this movie really screwed over Golden Harvest.

However, Li Jiangbo did not dampen Xu Ke's enthusiasm.

"Okay! I'll take a look at your script once it's finished."

Upon hearing this, Xu Ke could no longer hide his smile.

He quickly replied, "Thank you for your help, boss. I'll get back to work now."

When only Li Jiangbo and Pan Yingzi remained in the office, Pan Yingzi said in a coquettish tone:

"Bo-zai, I want to go to Taiwan with you guys too."

Li Jiangbo sighed, "It's not confirmed yet! If I go, I'll definitely take you."

Upon hearing this, Pan Yingzi hugged Li Jiangbo and kissed him.

"Bo-zai is the best to me!"

After saying that, he skipped and hopped away from the office.

Zhao Yazhi spent an entire afternoon on this trip.

When she returned to the company, it was almost time to leave work. When she pushed open the door to Li Jiangbo's office, she saw him still studying stocks.

Zhao Yazhi closed the door. "Boss, we're done talking."

Li Jiangbo looked up, put down the newspaper in his hand, and said, "So, when will the queue end?"

Zhao Yazhi sat down opposite Li Jiangbo. "Next February or March."

"Hmm! It's later than I expected. I thought it would be booked until the beginning of the year."

"Although Aunt Liu's attitude was very polite, it was also very firm."

She paused here, glanced at Li Jiangbo's expression, and seeing that he wasn't angry, continued:

"The main problem is that Shaw Brothers' schedule is already full this year. Just the two great directors, Chor Yuen and Chang Cheh, each directed four films. Adding in the films by other directors, there's simply no room left."

Li Jiangbo took out a cigarette and lit it. "Okay! Go on."

"I mentioned to her that I could cut in line, even if it was at the end of December. Guess what she said?"

Li Jiangbo scoffed, "What else can I say? Of course I'll disagree."

Zhao Yazhi nodded vigorously, "Boss, you guessed right!"

After saying that, he began to imitate Fang Yihua's way of speaking.

"Oh dear! The film schedule from November to before the Spring Festival has already been set, all arranged by Sixth Brother. I'm just an employee, Ah Zhi, please don't make things difficult for Sixth Aunt, okay?"

With a "pfft," Li Jiangbo burst out laughing.

When Zhao Yazhi saw Li Jiangbo smile, she smiled too.

After a while, Li Jiangbo stopped laughing. "February or March it is. There's no use in rushing it anyway."

"You don't seem to be in a hurry at all."

Li Jiangbo sighed, "What's the use of being anxious? In this day and age, theaters are king, so we have to be mindful of their opinions. Shaw Brothers has already been quite polite to us; if it were Golden Harvest or Golden Princess, they might have made things very difficult for us."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Alright, it's settled then. You need to coordinate with them as soon as possible and finalize the schedule so that things don't change later."

Zhao Yazhi nodded, then, remembering something, "What about the Golden Horse Awards..."

"Go, while we have some free time, let's go to Taiwan and see if we can poach a few actors."

Zhao Yazhi nodded, "Let's go together then."