Hong Kong Entertainment: The King of Kung Fu

Yang Ye changed his clothes casually and soon arrived at the Peninsula Hotel where the representatives of the eight major film producers were staying.

The eight major film producers are China Film, Scholar, Era, Longxiang, Judeng, Changhong, Xiongwei and Fugui, and they all control the cinema chains.

Baiyang Pictures' films were previously shown in Taiwan, mainly in collaboration with China Film Group.

Only after China Film Corporation has screened the film once, other companies will have the opportunity to screen it for the second or third round and get some of the leftovers.

However, it has been several months since Baiyang Pictures was unblocked in Taiwan, but its films have still not been released in Taiwan.

Because Baiyang Distribution Company declined China Film’s request to purchase the film.

The reason is that the boss went abroad to make a movie and they have no say in the matter!

This reason is extremely ridiculous, but it sends out a message, that is, Yangji does not want to cooperate with China Film anymore.

Yang Ye offended China Film Group just after the ban was lifted. Isn’t he afraid of being banned again?
However, Baiyang Pictures did not directly refuse to cooperate with China Film, but just found an excuse to slow down the matter.

At this time, other film producers extended cooperation invitations to Baiyang Pictures, but... they were all declined.

Baiyang Pictures does not cooperate with China Film Group or any other film companies.

The result is that after several months of being lifted from the lockdown and the summer vacation season has arrived, none of the films produced by Yangji have been released in Taiwan, except for "The Last Emperor" in which Hollywood participated.

Rumor has it that Yang Ye simply doesn't think highly of the Taiwan market and he won't go there even if it's unblocked!
Yang Ye would naturally not be so arrogant as he was not crazy.

Although the movie has not been released, Baiyang Company is constantly taking action.

First, Xu Feng returned to Taiwan, restarted the Taiwan branch of Baiyang Pictures, and participated in the investment of Hou Hsiao-hsien's film "A City of Sadness".

One of the leading actors in "A City of Sadness" is Chen Songyong, who once collaborated with Baiyang Pictures to shoot "Fang Shiyu".

Baiyang Pictures was banned at the beginning and Chen Songyong was implicated. The use of Chen Songyong this time can be regarded as a kind of compensation.

The predecessor of this branch was the film studio opened by Yang Ye for director Li Xing. It disappeared after being banned and Li Xing retired immediately.

Now that it has restarted, Li Xing has been rehired as the branch's art director.

He is old and can no longer lead.

Afterwards, Xu Feng began to visit the eight major companies and invited them to visit Hong Kong to discuss cooperation matters.

Xia Meng, the general manager of Baiyang Pictures, is old and preparing to retire. Xu Feng has taken over all the affairs of the film company.

In addition, she is Taiwanese herself, so it is very appropriate for her to handle this matter, which also reflects Baiyang Company's respect for the Taiwanese market.

At Xu Feng's invitation, representatives from eight major companies came to Hong Kong together.

As the boss, Yang Ye naturally had to show up to meet them.

……

"Everyone, I'm sorry, I'm late!"

Yang Ye apologized briefly, then shook hands and exchanged greetings with the representatives of the eight major companies.

There was a man named Yang Dengkui in this group of people. He was not qualified at first, but Yang Ye had some friendship with him, so he asked Xu Feng to bring him in as well.

Yang Dengkui was imprisoned in 1985 because of a youth project and was released from prison not long ago.

Yang Ye's helping him now was like timely assistance, and he also invited him to be the producer of "A City of Sadness". Naturally, Yang Dengkui was grateful.

In fact, Yang Ye was just going with the flow. Even if Yang Ye had not taken action, Yang Dengkui would still have become the producer of "A City of Sadness" and would have grown into the most powerful film producer in Taiwan within a few years.

This is the benefit of predicting the future. If you put in a little effort at critical time points, you can reap extremely rich rewards.

Representatives from the eight major companies have already visited Baiyang Company, and today is their last stop, the Ziqidonglai Special Effects Studio.

Zi Qi Company is extremely famous in Asia. They are responsible for creating the amazing special effects shots in many films produced by Bai Yang Pictures.

Especially last year's "Terminator 2", the magical and cool visual effects amazed countless people.

Zi Qi Dong Lai's strength is not inferior to Hollywood's Industrial Light & Magic, and is even more powerful in some areas. This is naturally the result of Yang Ye's help.

At Ziqi Company, Yang Ye first led the group to visit the exhibition hall.

On display are various props made for movies in the past.

On one wall, there is a row of heads, including Yang Ye’s, Lin Qingxia’s, and Cheng Peipei’s.

Yang Ye's head was made when he was acting in T800, and a metallic luster can be seen under the exposed skin.

Lin Qingxia's head was photographed as a model made when she was killed by a nuclear bomb, and her expression was very terrified.

The scariest thing about Cheng Pei-pei is her head, which is completely bald with very few hairs. There is also a wound on it that is more than ten centimeters long. It looks creepy, and the realistic effect makes people gasp.

Yang Ye introduced: "This is actually a headgear. We first scanned Sister Pepe's head with a laser, and then used plaster to replicate it one-to-one, and then used this as a reference to make such a headgear. When using it, through makeup technology, put it on Sister Pepe's head, and you can achieve a lifelike effect."

Songlin Cai of Scholars asked, “Why was this movie made?”

Yang Ye said: "We are currently working on a new film, Ghost Blows Out the Light!"

"I heard that the investment scale of this movie is even bigger than that of Terminator 2?"

"No, that's not the case. Terminator 2 was filmed entirely in California, and the daily expenses of the team of more than a thousand people alone were a huge sum of money. However, Ghost Blows Out the Light has more special effects shots, more than ten times that of Terminator 2."

Ten times? Everyone has heard how expensive these lenses are. Cai Songlin said: "Mr. Yang is indeed the leader of Hong Kong movies, what a big spender!"

A group of people followed Yang Ye inside and were truly enlightened.

You may encounter monsters, zombies, human skin and hair in every corner and on the stairs.

Qiu Shuzhen, who came to watch the fun, couldn't help but say, "I'm afraid the people working here don't dare to work overtime."

Yang Mingxin, the head of Ziqi Company, smiled and said, "We made all of this ourselves, so why would we be afraid?"

Qiu Shuzhen nodded and said, "That's true!"

Soon they arrived at the second-floor attic, where all kinds of zombies were lying all over the floor.

As the crowd's footsteps shook, the floor trembled a few times. The zombies, covered in blood and with hideous bodies, also shook their hands.

"what!"

Qiu Shuzhen was shocked and quickly took a few steps back.

Yang Ye supported her and said with a smile: "Don't be afraid, they are all fake!"

Qiu Shuzhen hummed and forced a smile at Yang Ye.

Worried that she would be startled again, Yang Ye simply held her hand.

Qiu Shuzhen felt much more at ease as Yang Ye led the way. She walked and stopped with the crowd and continued her tour.

Soon we arrived at the prop room, where the special effects staff were making a large white-browed tiger with hanging eyes.

The tiger is sturdy, lifelike and looks very powerful, but it has not been completed yet.

Yang Ye introduced: "This is a prop for a movie that will be filmed soon. We will present a dangerous scene of a fight between a man and a tiger in the movie."

Wang Jing's eyes lit up and he said, "Are they going to film Wu Song fighting the tiger?"

"Well, the movie is still in the preparation stage, so keep it secret for now!"

There are various weapons, monsters and other things being manufactured in the back, each of which is eye-opening and shows the professionalism and strong strength of Ziqi Company.

The film producers could not help but whisper to each other. Wu Dun from Changhong Company asked, "Mr. Yang, if we invest in making a movie, can we ask Ziqi Company to be responsible for the special effects production?"

Yang Ye glanced at Yang Mingxin, who smiled and said, "Our Ziqi Company is open to business, so why wouldn't we accept it? To be honest, we even accept business from Hollywood. Some time ago, Hollywood director Cameron filmed the sci-fi blockbuster Spider-Man, and our company participated in the special effects production."

When everyone heard this, they thought it was awesome that the business had even reached Hollywood.

The last department we visited was the computer special effects department, where the staff demonstrated several completed shots on site.

On the eerie and terrifying Naihe Bridge, a man was seen with pale green flames all over his body, and was instantly burned to ashes.

Wang Jing exclaimed: "There is a similar shot in Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark, but this shot is more realistic than that one, so sharp!"

Yang Mingxin smiled proudly and said, "That shot in Raiders of the Lost Ark was produced by Industrial Light & Magic seven years ago. At that time, computer CG was still very primitive. They used a prop made of flour for the actual shot, and then rendered it in post-production. Our current technology has advanced a lot compared to that time."

Wu Dun said: "When will this "Ghost Blows Out the Light" be released? We are looking forward to it very much!"

Yang Ye said: "The plan is to release it during the summer vacation next year."

After visiting Ziqi Company, Yang Ye invited people from the eight major companies to dinner at Liyuan, and then started to talk about business.

In Bai Yang Yang Ye's meeting room, Yang Ye went straight to the point and asked Zhang Jiawen, the current general manager of China Film:

"The eight major Hollywood companies are using the US government's trade negotiations as a weapon to conquer cities around the world and realize their 'global market integration' strategy.

With all due respect, Taiwan simply cannot withstand the pressure from the United States and can only compromise again and again. Now the cinema chains of China Film Group Corporation will arrange to show Hollywood movies in good schedules, even though Hong Kong movies make more money.

This is why we at Yangji are unwilling to continue cooperating with China Film Group. It’s not worth it! ”

Zhang Jiawen couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. Yang Ye said it very bluntly. His movies obviously made more money than Hollywood.

If he continues to cooperate with China Film Group, his interests will be seriously affected if he fails to get a good schedule.

So... I won’t play with China Film Group anymore.

In fact, Zhang Jiawen is also very helpless about this kind of thing, because Taiwanese audiences nowadays like to watch Hong Kong movies instead of Hollywood movies.

Using the best time slots to show Hollywood movies is just a waste of money.

But there is nothing we can do. The situation is stronger than people. America is our father. Do you dare not listen to him?

Zhang Jiawen didn't care about the other film producers present and said, "Mr. Yang, we at China Film Group can't do anything about the policy, but we will definitely try our best to arrange a good schedule for your company's film."

Yang Ye nodded and said, "Thank you! Let me tell you what I think. Although Hollywood's global market integration strategy is powerful, it can force theaters to exclude its movies, but it cannot force audiences to watch its movies. Taiwanese audiences prefer Hong Kong movies because there is a small cultural gap and they look cool. Theaters can make more money by showing Hong Kong movies than Hollywood movies. No one can resist money, right?"

Everyone nodded, and Yang Ye smiled and said, "Everyone present here is a leader in the Taiwanese film industry, but we, Baiyang Films, only have one company. If we cooperate with any of you, we will offend others. If you are allowed to bid for the film, it may drive up the price, forming a vicious cycle. So after thinking about it, there is only one way..."

Yang Ye paused, took a sip of water, and said, "I hope...the eight major companies' theaters can show our movies at the same time!"

My goodness, this guy has been talking nonsense for a long time, but he actually wants to eat eight meals at once.

The representatives of the eight major film companies looked at each other in bewilderment!

This kid's appetite is too big, isn't it? (End of this chapter)