The king of ghost horse comedy

Chapter 192 Shaw's Crisis
Entering July, Xu Guanwu began to get busy, not only because he was going to attend the "Journal of Peace" award ceremony in the middle of the month, but also on NO.20, "Jaws" will be officially released in the United States.

As an investor, Xu Guanwu naturally wouldn't miss this grand event. He said hello to his wife early on and was going to the United States to attend the film's premiere.

Since Zhao Yazhi filmed "Riding the Wind and Waves", it seems that her addiction to filming has been aroused. Without further discussion with her husband, she accepted a new drama "The World of Good Friends" on TVB.

Xu Guanwu was quite dissatisfied with Zhao Yazhi's behavior of cutting first and playing later.

The last TV series "Riding the Wind and Waves" was said to only have a scene of more than 50 minutes, but it took more than a week to shoot. I often went out at four or five o'clock in the morning and came back at twelve o'clock in the evening, which seriously affected the couple's life.

This "The World of Good Friends" is even more hateful. Although Huang Shuyi plays the leading role and Zhao Yazhi plays the second female role, this role is also very important, at least it will not stop for another week.

"Azhi, make one TV series a year, and it's enough to get addicted to it." Xu Guanwu persuaded, "When will you be the leader if you keep taking plays and filming like this?"

"Ah Wu, don't be angry. I've already agreed to hire a producer." Zhao Yazhi put her arms around Xu Guanwu's neck, and said affectionately, "At most, I'll finish filming this movie, and I won't be filming this year. Is that okay?"

"If you really finish filming this movie, you won't be filming this year?" Xu Guanwu asked.

"En." Zhao Yazhi nodded.

"Okay, it's just this one time, it's not an example." Xu Guanwu waved his hand.

Seeing that her husband finally agreed to act in this play again, Zhao Yazhi couldn't help jumping up happily.

Xu Guanwu sighed, he couldn't figure out why he couldn't enjoy the good life, so he insisted on going out to suffer and filming.

In July, the temperature in Hong Kong is as high as 30 degrees. Sitting in the office with the air conditioner still feels stuffy. The TVB studio is not even prepared for fans.

But since his wife insisted on this, Xu Guanwu couldn't be stubborn, so he nodded and agreed.

……

After the release of "Ghost Horse Boxer Stupid Apprentice" produced by Golden Dragon Films, it followed the trend of ghost horse kung fu comedy and achieved very good box office results.

The midnight test screenings are already very popular, and the box office in the first week even reached 70 Hong Kong dollars, which made the boss of Golden Dragon Pictures very happy.It stands to reason that since the box office in the first week was 70, the box office in the second and third weeks should also be more than 50, which can have a box office of over one million.

Coupled with the port bonuses from Taiwan, Nanyang, South Korea and other places, it is enough to make him a lot of money for Golden Dragon Pictures.

The news somehow spread quickly.The boss of Golden Dragon Pictures is also willing to brag to others in order to increase his connections in the circle.

In this way, it was spread to ten, ten to hundreds, and within a week, everyone in the circle knew about it.

I am envious of Golden Dragon Pictures being able to make a lot of money, but also regret why I didn't cooperate so early and let others take this good fortune for nothing.

The Superstar Manager Company's business was booming for a while, and many film companies came to seek cooperation, making Xu Guanwu and others very busy.

……

The news reached Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest, and Sir Shao and Daheng Zou, who had experienced many battles, also greatly admired the management methods of Superstar Manager Company.

"This Xu Guanwu is really talented. He actually figured out such a set of methods. He really deserves to be feared by young people." Sixth Uncle Shao sighed.

"Sixth brother, isn't it just renting out celebrities to make movies? We Shaw Brothers often do this too." Fang Yihua said disdainfully.

"You don't understand, it's very different from us, let me explain to you," Shao Yifu waved his hand, and took a sip of the tea ceremony, "We let the actors and staff go out to film, and they are all part-time workers. They pay for it." , we felt that the price was right, so we released them directly. The left one and the right one are inappropriate.”

"But look at what Xu Guanwu does. You only need to pay for it, and he will take care of everything else, including lighting, photography, editing, props, actors, extras, screenwriters, and directors." Shao Yifu said with a smile, "This way First, save the production company a lot of effort, would they not be willing to cooperate with him?"

"There are a lot of leather film companies in Hong Kong. Apart from funds, they don't even have people who know movies seriously. Xu Guanwu's move just meets the needs of these companies." Shao Yifu sighed, "The more people who seek him to cooperate in the future, The more power he has in the film industry."

"How do you say it?" Fang Yihua asked suspiciously.

"It's very simple. The more people who work with him, the more job opportunities he can provide, and the more people are willing to eat with him. When the number of people under him grows to a certain extent, he can set the price at will. He It’s how much these people are worth.” Shao Yifu explained, “And if you want to use his actors, you must use his lighting, photography, screenwriting... At that time, the talents will be in his hands, you It just doesn’t work if you don’t want to.”

"So that's how it is. It really is a good method." Fang Yihua couldn't help but be dumbfounded after listening to Uncle Shao's explanation.

After a while, she suddenly pursed her lips and smiled, "Sixth brother, our Shaw Brothers has the most talent accumulation, and there are countless talents of all kinds. This method can also be implemented, and it is guaranteed to be faster than Xu Guanwu's expansion."

"You still think too simple. This method looks easy, but it is very difficult to implement." Uncle Shao shook his head, "You also know that there are so many people in our Shaw Brothers, and there are several dramas that start shooting at the same time every day. We Even if the theaters only show their own films, they still have to fight for the schedule. How can they find the time to show other companies' films?"

"The films of our own company are not going to be screened, but we have to give up the schedule to outsiders. After a long time, these old courtiers will have objections." Uncle Shao said again, "Besides, the outside world is naturally more exciting than home, and all the talents are recruited. Rent it out, if they play wild with their hearts and don't want to come back in the future, wouldn't we lose more than we gain?"

"But if that's the case, are we going to allow the Xu family to expand rapidly and swallow us up one day?" Fang Yihua asked worriedly.

Shao Sixth Uncle sighed. He also expected such a day, but he was powerless to reform.In the nearly 20 years since its establishment, Shaw has established a huge foundation in Xiangjiang.

But as the saying goes, it is difficult to get back to the end, and now the internal struggle of Shaw is fierce.Old courtiers fight with new forces, old courtiers fight with old courtiers, I will appear on the stage after you fight, it is a joy to fight.

A few years ago, it was because Shao Yifu pushed Fang Yihua to the top that made Zou Wenhuai, He Guanchang and other old courtiers leave; Fang Yihua's high-pressure policy of strictly controlling costs also made a group of old courtiers who remained in Shao's very dissatisfied.

The new director promoted by Shaw Brothers was also suppressed by the old courtiers.Director Gui Zhihong, who defected to Xu's, was suppressed at Shaw's before, and had no filming at a young age.

Instead, the old courtier relied on his old qualifications to compete with the young director for the opportunity to make a film.The Shaw Brothers pursued an old-school management method, talking about seniority and seniority, how did the young director snatch away those old courtiers?
The old courtiers are also full of contradictions, and the great directors Chang Cheh and Li Hanxiang each have a dislike for each other.Although Li Hanxiang left Taiwan before to found the League of Nations, and after the failure, he returned to Hong Kong in embarrassment. It was Zhang Che who nodded and suggested that Uncle Shao Liu recruit him back.

But Li Hanxiang returned to Shaw Brothers, made several blockbuster films in a row, and immediately became the best-selling director of Shaw Brothers, and also became Shao Liushu's favorite vassal.

The original favorite, the great director Zhang Che, naturally felt quite disappointed, and naturally couldn't see Li Hanxiang, a traitor and thief.

As for the martial arts instructor Liu Jialiang who has been working with Chang Cheh's director, he has already entered the industry in the 60s and has directed countless blockbuster films.But until now, Hong Jingbao and Cheng Long, who were juniors, and even Zeng Zhiwei, who was with him before, have all become directors, but he still follows Zhang Che as a martial arts instructor.

The so-called literature is not the first, and martial arts is the second. How does Master Liu Jialiang, who claims to be the direct descendant of Huang Feihong, deal with himself?
Apart from these internal struggles, Shao Yifu was unable to reform.And the most important point is that Shao Yifu does not want to spend more money.

Shaw Brothers has always followed the system of a major studio, whether actors, directors or staff are just tools for making movies, as long as they are obedient and make money, no other selfish thoughts are allowed.

Because actors are only used as tools, the salary will naturally not be high.

Ti Lung and Jiang Dawei, the golden partners, have made many blockbuster films, and their salary is only tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars.As for Xu Guanjie, Cheng Long, Hong Jingbao and other juniors, their salary has risen to more than 15.From this we can see how stingy Shaw Brothers is.

If we want to reform the studio system and implement the star system, then actors' salaries will increase.For so many actors, each salary increase by [-]% is equivalent to an annual cost increase of tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars, which is a burden that it simply cannot bear.

"The accumulation is hard to return, and the tail is too big to lose." Uncle Shao Sixth sighed, "Although the Shao family looks prosperous now, it is just a centipede that is dead but not stiff. In fact, the crisis has already appeared."

"Then what should we do, Sixth Brother, we can't sit still and wait for death, can we?" Fang Yihua was taken aback, she had never seen through this level, so she fought with those old courtiers for power and profit, and fought fiercely.

Now thinking that Shaw Brothers will eventually go bankrupt, what is the use of these powers that I have worked so hard to fight for?

"Don't worry, the Shao family has a big business, at least it can last for a few years." Shao Yifu said with a smile, "But in order to prevent problems before they happen, I want to transfer part of the funds to TVB. Recently, Qi Dezun's management of Heji Foreign Company is not good. He has been forced to resign, and he plans to return to his hometown of England. I plan to pay for the shares in his hand.”

"Sixth brother, are you optimistic about the development of TV stations? It is a new media, and it is hard to say what it will develop into in the future." Fang Yihua persuaded.

It has only been more than ten years since the invention of television, and the future seems to be bright, but no one can see through it.On the contrary, in the film industry, Shaw Brothers has been in business for many years and has long been familiar with it.

As the saying goes, it's better to be a stranger than to be familiar with it. Fang Yihua couldn't figure it out by investing in the TV industry instead of working in the film industry she was familiar with.

(End of this chapter)