The Golden Age of China Entertainment

Shao Yifu smiled and said, "Okay! Let me hear how you sing in a high note!"

"Let's put it this way, the Xiangjiang Film Market is like a piece of cake. People living in this circle only think about how to divide it, but before I eat it, I think about how to make the cake bigger. Only when the cake is bigger, I can eat more, and at the same time, only when the cake is bigger, I don't mind others sharing it."

Shao Yifu frowned and said, "Do you think there is a problem with Xiangjiang's film market?"

Not only is there a problem, the problem is simply too big!

Otherwise, the reason why Xiangjiang Films would fall quickly after reaching its peak and becoming the benchmark of Asian films is that there are too many disadvantages in this circle.

As Yi Qing said just now, everyone in this circle is thinking about how to fight for this cake, but no one has ever thought about how to make this cake bigger.

To give a simple example, two equally wonderful movies are released on the same schedule because they belong to different theaters. The two movies are fighting to the death for the audience. In the end, it seems that they can decide the winner. Both are losers!

What's more, after a movie with a certain theme became popular, everyone came to follow suit and shoot movies with the same theme. For example, zombie movies are the most obvious example. Lin Zhengying made zombie movies, so a large group of people immediately followed Jin, completely disregarding the quality of the film, dared to jump around in an official uniform of the Qing Dynasty, ruining the brand and making it stink.

After some analysis, Yi Qing came to a conclusion: "To solve this problem, there can only be one theater chain in the Xiangjiang film market in the future! Only when the right to speak is in the hands of one person can I formulate rules and eliminate these disadvantages , so that Xiangjiang Movies can develop healthier, and make this cake bigger and more delicious!"

Chapter 3 Zero Two

Although Xiangjiang is the economic center of Asia, it is still too small after all. It is such a big place with a population of several million. How big can the movie market be?

But in such a small place, there are so many film and television production companies, large and small, that if you get a camera, you can just invite two people to make a movie, and there are actually four cinema companies.

The Shaw family, the Jiahe family, the Golden Princess family, Huamao with the red background, and some scattered movie theaters compete with each other and compete with each other, especially the Shaw and Jiahe.

As for the grievances between Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest, anyone who has a little knowledge of the Xiangjiang entertainment industry will know that Shao Yifu scolded Zou Wenhuai for being a [-]-year-old boy for a lifetime, and Zou Wenhuai also scolded Zou Yifu for being an only husband for a lifetime.

If we want to talk about the beginning of this grievance, we have to start in 1959, when Zou Wenhuai entered Shaw Brothers, which was in urgent need of talents. He was promoted by Shao Yifu, from the promotion director to the production manager.

With the power in hand, Zou Wenhuai carried out drastic reforms at Shaw Brothers. He planned to shoot the Huangmei Diao movie Fighting Cathay Pacific, which created the era of Shaw Brothers martial arts. He also hired foreign directors to make Western films, hoping to lead Shaw Brothers to the world.

It can be said that he has made great achievements repeatedly, and has made great contributions to Shaw's dominance of Xiangjiang, and he also has the title of "Shao's Sixth Second" in Shaw.

However, one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers.This so-called dilemma between the ruler and his subjects has been the same in ancient and modern China and abroad.Zou Wenhuai quickly hit the ceiling at Shaw Brothers, unable to take another step forward.

Although Zou Wenhuai is said to be the No. [-] member of the Shaw Group, he has been checked and balanced by three general managers. Shao Yifu never promotes him, and implements the strategy of "first-class talents, third-class positions, and special rights" for him.

Especially in 1969, when Run Run Shaw's confidante Fong Yat Wah entered Shaw Brothers, Chow Wen Huai even lost power.So, he left Shaw Brothers with He Guanchang and other friends, and created Jiahe himself.

However, it is obviously very difficult to compete with the flourishing Shaw Brothers.

For the start-up Golden Harvest, Zou Wenhuai has only 200 million funds in his hands. The only director who can work immediately is Huang Feng, and the actors are only three new recruits, Miao Kexiu, Yi Yi, and Mao Ying.

There is no studio, and there are not many employees. The office space is a rented unit of a few hundred feet in Dong Ying Building on Nathan Road, and there can only be a few desks.

While the crowd was watching, the first film that was presented received mediocre response.In order to attract the market, Zou Wenhuai prepared to shoot.

But Shaw Brothers' golden lacquer signboard, so this drama attracted a lawsuit with Shaw Brothers that lasted for more than a year, and the legal fee alone was as high as one million.

During this period, Golden Harvest, which was launched by Golden Harvest, also had poor performance and weak funds, and Golden Harvest came to an extremely dangerous situation.

Fortunately, Zou Wenhuai has a good eye for talents, and put all his wealth on Li Xiaolong. Finally, with one movie, he completely revitalized Golden Harvest, and also started the more than ten-year long struggle between Golden Harvest and Shaw Brothers.

Naturally, Golden Harvest, which has a more advanced management concept, won the last battle. Zou Wenhuai's independent producer system is at least 20 years ahead of Shao Yifu's large-scale studio system. There is absolutely no reason not to win.

Shao Yifu insisted on the large-scale studio system, no matter how big the star or management of Shaw Brothers is, they only get one salary and do not participate in dividends.

Shao Yifu's business philosophy of "sole proprietorship and self-responsibility for profit and loss" made stars and directors dissatisfied with their salary, and Zou Wenhuai also suffered from it.

When Li Hanxiang was dissatisfied with his income and left Shaw, Zou Wenhuai proposed to Shao Yifu the excessive dividend system but was rejected.

When the Shaw Brothers earn a lot of money but have nothing to do with the employees, it is naturally difficult to win the hearts of the army, and the employees will change their families at the slightest sign of trouble.

After working in Shaw for 11 years, Zou Wenhuai is well aware of the drawbacks of this system, so after founding Golden Harvest, he took the initiative to share dividends with his partners. Li Xiaolong was the beginning of the dividend system.

The competition with Golden Harvest was frustrated, and Shaw Brothers finally stopped production. Although Shaw Yifu focused on the TV industry, he still had a heart of revenge in the face of his once strong rival Golden Harvest.

In 1998, due to the expiry of the Fushan Road studio contract that Golden Harvest had used for more than 20 years, it was taken back by the Xiangjiang government. Golden Harvest set its sights on the newly developed Tseung Kwan O and planned to build a film and television base there.

Just when Golden Harvest was determined to win, Shaw Brothers teamed up with China Star, Media Asia, Meiya, Era, and Crystal Arts to form a team to bid, and finally won the Tseung Kwan O studio at a high price of 6 million.

At that time, the film industry of Xiangjiang was hit by a cold wave, and the major production companies suffered financial setbacks, and they also encountered squeeze from the TV industry.

Of course, Zou Wenhuai's Golden Harvest was also doomed. The bid for the Tseung Kwan O Film City was retaliated by Shao Yifu, and the bid failed.

Golden Harvest, which lost its base, went downhill from then on. Finally, in 2007, Zou Wenhuai transferred the equity of Golden Harvest to Orange Sky Entertainment in the Mainland, completely quit the film industry, and retired from the world to live a retired life.

After decades of entanglement in the struggle, it finally ended in a loss-losing end, and the Hong Kong film industry was the most injured. The Hong Kong film industry, which could have been the benchmark for Asian films, has since fallen into a slump. Actors and directors from all walks of life have gone north. Vacuum state.

Yi Qing never thought of turning things around, and really leading Xiangjiang filmmakers to fight against Hollywood, that is pure nonsense, after all, Xiangjiang film itself is inherently deficient, and the market is too small.

With a population base of several million, how can we watch Hollywood confrontation?

What a mess!

The reason why Yi Qing entered the game was actually very simple. It was just a plan to stabilize the downward trend of Xiangjiang films and at the same time use the Xiangjiang market as a place for importing mainland films in the future.

But if you want to achieve such a goal, you must have the right to speak, not only to be able to speak out, but also to be qualified to formulate rules.

He is clear about the nonsense of Xiangjiang Film Company, but if he becomes the person who makes the rules, he can obviously avoid some problems and make the market develop healthier and more orderly.

Shaw is just the first step, followed by Jiahe and Princess Jin. As for Huamao, Yi Qing pretended not to see it. The place with red background is not something that he, an ordinary person, can casually set foot in, but future cooperation is very possible.

After listening to Yi Qing's analysis of the problems in the Xiangjiang film market, Shao Yifu couldn't help sighing secretly. As a generation of film and television tycoon, how could he not see the existence of these problems.

When a theme becomes popular, someone immediately follows suit and shoots, and they have to tap the potential of this theme until it becomes stinky.

A film company's work had a high box office, and immediately some people joined forces to suppress it, digging pits and causing obstacles. The most uncomfortable thing is to let the schedule crash.

Shaw Brothers did this kind of thing too, in order to fight against Jiahe.

Even though Shao Yifu knew that this was not good, this was not right, but when he thought of Zou Wenhuai's [-]-year-old boy, he would lose his composure.

"If Shaw gives it to you, you are really sure to persuade Zou Wenhuai, he is not an easy guy to deal with!"

Shao Yifu and Zou Wenhuai have been fighting for more than ten years. Although they extremely hated each other's betrayal, they have to admit that Zou Wenhuai is a talent, and a great one at that.

"Mr. Shao, as I said just now, Zou Wenhuai and Lei Juekun, one of them will accept it, even if they don't accept it, or even join forces to deal with me, I don't care. Although Xiangjiang is not big, it has built a few There are still places for movie theaters, moreover, I have sufficient funds, famous directors, celebrities, I can hire famous directors and celebrities with money, I am not afraid of fighting them, as long as I know that I will be the one who can last till the end!"

If you fight for money, how much money can Zou Wenhuai have now?

In 1994, when Golden Harvest went public, Zou Wenhuai's net worth was only HK$6 million, which was not enough compared to Yi Qing.

However, Yi Qing didn't really want to fight for money with Jiahe, so it was settled.

He didn't even think that this time he came to Xiangjiang to solve this matter completely. No matter what he did, it would take a process.

The current Yi Qing has no foundation in Xiangjiang. Even if he wins Shaw's theater chain and has no works, who knows what he does?