1979 Golden Age

Evening.

Suite at the Peninsula Hotel.

This is a room that Zou Wenhuai has rented for a long time, and he lent it to Sammo Hung and Cheng Long to discuss things. The two were still a little worried, and they touched here and there, fearing that there was something hidden.

After searching for a while, Cheng Long felt that this behavior was a bit stupid, and said: "What a fool! What are we doing? No matter how powerful that guy is, can he hide a camera in this room?"

"Not necessarily, he has a master of the palace around him, who comes and goes without a trace..."

Sammo Hung also felt that it was stupid, and gave up this idiotic behavior. He sat on the sofa and opened a bottle of foreign wine, poured a glass, drank it all, and sighed: "How are you this year, what plans do you have?"

"No! Taiwan asked me to go, so I went. There are also movies in Japan that asked me to guest star, so I have to go too. It's all about human relationships. I don't have a clue about my own movie, what about you?"

"Me too, I have no clue."

At the beginning of the year, during the Spring Festival, Golden Harvest suffered a disastrous defeat.

Cheng Long has not recovered from the failure of "Young Master Dragon". Sammo Hung has a good "Beware of Little Hands", but it can't compete with Cinema City.

Golden Harvest implements the satellite company system. Xu Guanwen, Sammo Hung, Yuan Heping and others have established companies. This model supports the huge system of Golden Harvest. The works they produce can all be counted as Golden Harvest.

But even so, they have not beaten Cinema City.

Especially Sammo Hung, he should have a "People Scare People" this year, but Chen Qi gave it to Yuan Heping. Golden Harvest kept the summer schedule to share with Shaw Brothers and join forces to fight against the enemy.

The two chatted and saw that the time was almost up.

There was a knock on the door on time. Sammo Hung went to open the door. The person who came was Chen Qi, holding a gift box in his hand.

"Are you not late?"

"You came just in time. Please come in!"

"A small gift, it's a respect!"

Chen Qi handed the gift box to Sammo Hung and shook hands with Cheng Long.

Cheng Long is 28 years old this year, at the peak of his physical condition. He has half-long curly hair, which is the style in "Young Master Long". His eyes have long been double-lidded, and his huge nose is particularly eye-catching, which is familiar to later generations.

"Mr. Chen, I have heard a lot about you!"

The two were polite to each other. Hong Jinbao opened the gift box, took out a bottle of red wine, and said, "I thought you were going to give Moutai."

"Moutai is not suitable. This is Lafite from 1981, which is of good quality. When the grapes are picked this year and made into wine, you can also collect some. The genuine Lafite from 1982 will appreciate in value."

He was talking about a joke that only he understood. Cheng Long thought he was really talking about red wine, and laughed: "Mr. Chen is really different from the mainland people I have in my impression. You are more like an American."

"Hey, don't talk nonsense like this, I will be punished when I go back."

Hong Jinbao had already opened the wine and ordered some food casually, drinking and chatting.

Cheng Long had wanted to meet him for a long time and was extremely curious about him. He said, "Since Mr. Chen came to Hong Kong, his speeches have always been earth-shattering. He also wrote articles in newspapers to predict, and it seems that he has never failed. I would like to ask, are you really, uh..."

"Oh, this is not feudal superstition first, I just came to the conclusion through analysis of various materials."

Chen Qi understood what he wanted to ask, pretended to think for a few seconds, stared at him and said, "For example, you, you will have a son this year!"

Hmm?

Cheng Long was stunned and wanted to ask carefully, but Chen Qi laughed: "It's just a joke, don't take it seriously, let's talk about business!"

The business, of course, is Xinyicheng.

"Everyone knows that Xinyicheng makes money, but no one analyzes why they make money, and no one does market research. Who are their audiences? Hong Kong's film industry seems to be prosperous, but it is actually too rough."

"Then why don't you talk about it, Mr. Chen?"

"It's actually very simple!"

Chen Qi was not polite and began to instruct Jiang Shan... Jiang Shan: Hmm?

"The first is the type. Cinema City's films can be called modern luxury comedies. Modernity lies in fashion, and luxury lies in investment. Their protagonists are no longer ridiculous and pitiful in small-time comedies, but are fashionable, elite, hedonistic, and popular culture.

What is your "Young Master Long" about? The local underworld fighting in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China!

What is their "Best Partner" about? Interpol bravely fights against jewelry thieves, and the mafia godfather makes a cameo appearance. There are all kinds of high-tech equipment that dazzle the eyes, and the big scenes are full of money. How can you compare with them? They are so tacky!"

"You!"

Cheng Long clenched his fists, but was unable to refute. This was what this guy hated the most.

"The second is the status of female characters. In your movies, women are just embellishments, and the audience will forget them after watching them. But will the audience forget Zhang Aijia in "Best Partner"? No, because she is the real heroine.

Cinema City's works are full of love, jealousy, and flirting. There should be interaction between men and women. The audience likes to watch it.

The third is the audience.

Now the audience is younger, and teenagers aged 15 to 25 are the main consumers. You ignore the changes in the market and cling to your comfort zone. You deserve to fail!

The last is the story structure.

Their 90-minute movie will be divided into 9 parts. The first part must be eye-catching, the fourth part must have a big climax, the seventh part must have another climax, and the ninth part must have a biggest climax as the ending.

At the same time, the elements such as action, jokes, love, and stunts must be properly configured and carefully distributed in each part to ensure that each scene has a gimmick and maintains density and rhythm. This is already the Hollywood standard. Can you do it?"

"..."

Hong Jinbao and Cheng Long were silent. They didn't know before and lost without knowing why. Now they knew that they were really bad. They were bad in every aspect.

"In my opinion, if you want to break the deadlock, you must first increase investment and make big movies. Don't be petty. There must be a big cast, a big scene, and a lot of money!

For example, why don't you two cooperate?"

Huh?

The two were stunned.

They only cooperated when they first debuted. They were both extras and martial artists. Later, they developed separately. Even though they had a good relationship, they never thought about it.

Because they are all big stars and can carry the box office by themselves, there is no need.

"Now is an extraordinary period. Xinyicheng has beaten you to pieces. Why do you still care about this little face? Of course we have to join forces. You appear in the same movie at the same time. Do you know how much influence it will have?

It's a natural gimmick, but you don't use it? I don't understand what you are thinking!"

Chen Qi educated with an unreserved attitude that is all for your own good, saying: "In addition to the two of you, find a few second-tier stars to form a leading team. They must have distinct personalities and each person has independent characteristics.

Find a beautiful female lead, interact more, create jokes, don't be afraid of being vulgar, the more vulgar the audience likes it.

Insert a main line, grab treasures, solve cases, catch thieves, adventures, whatever you want, the key is to have a modern feel, don't shoot the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, half of it is buried in the ground!"

He didn't give the script directly, but talked about it theoretically.

These two people can definitely understand.

Although they come from martial arts backgrounds, they are actually rare all-rounders in the Hong Kong film industry. They can produce, direct, write, design action, drive, edit, etc., and they can do everything...

There are many movies like this, such as "The Lucky Stars", "Wheels on Wheels", "Summer Lucky Stars", "Millions Express", etc., which are basically directed by Sammo Hung and have high box office.

He doesn't mind doing a favor. Anyway, the Lucky Stars will be released next year. He told them himself, at most a little earlier...

The two looked at each other and were a little moved.

Cheng Long thought for a while and asked again: "Mr. Chen, you have said so much, can you kill Cinema City like this??"