Hong Kong Entertainment: The King of Kung Fu

Yang Ye's trip to Japan and South Korea was very rewarding.

The original purpose was to promote the movie, but promotion of the movie became a by-product.

After acquiring Avex in Japan, he reached an agreement with Lee Mi-kyung in South Korea, allowing him to gain control of South Korea's future largest food company.

Speaking of which, the conglomerates behind the three major Korean film companies are all in the food business.

CJ made a good start, followed by Orion and Lotte.

The food industry and cinemas are a natural fit, it’s really a good business.

It seems like it’s time to go to Shandong to grow vegetables!
……

Yang Ye had previously mentioned at a fan meeting that he would invite Choi Jin-sil to be the leading lady in his new film.

It was actually a spur-of-the-moment idea, but since I've said it, I can't go back on my word.

Yang Ye makes action/war films, and the characters he plays are mostly macho men.

So if you want to use a Korean heroine in an action/war film, the most suitable one is undoubtedly "The Myth".

Yang Ye once used this story to trick Zhu Lin, and it was time to film it.

It’s just that Zhu Lin is too old and not suitable to play the role of a princess who marries a foreign prince.

This role needs to be played by a little Korean girl.

Yang Ye has always believed that the casting of the original version of "The Myth" was a complete failure.

"The Myth" has always been called the least Jackie Chan-like movie because the movie was originally written by Stanley Tong for Jin Chengwu to star in.

The theme of "Myth" is love, so its male protagonist should be a handsome guy.

But when Chen Long saw the script, he insisted on acting, and Tang Jili had no choice but to do it. After all, he was the big brother, and he had to keep his promise when he gave him face.

Besides, the scale of this movie is huge, and Jin Chengwu alone cannot raise much investment.

Only someone of Chen Long's stature could have made this movie.

After the movie was released, although it was well made, dragon fans were very dissatisfied.

The public opinion at the time was... this movie is not Jackie Chan at all.

As a result, the box office did not beat "The Promise", what a shame!

As for Kim Hee Sun, it’s not that she is bad, she is very beautiful in the movie, and her dance on the Great Wall mesmerized countless audiences.

But Yang Ye always felt that she was too old.

The small country of Korea offered a daughter to my First Emperor, a woman who was almost thirty years old?

Isn't this a great disrespect to the First Emperor?
If it was the 18-year-old Kim Hee Sun, it would be pretty good.

Now, there is no 18-year-old Kim Hee Sun, she is only 12 years old.

The 20-year-old Choi Jin-sil is pretty good, and she is currently the most famous female star in South Korea.

……

There will be basically no suspense about the separation between CJ Group and Samsung.

Because once the division is completed, Li's family will no longer be able to interfere in Samsung's affairs.

This was exactly what Lee Kun-hee wanted.

Besides, he also got the advantage in this equity exchange, and Samsung Insurance became more valuable.

However, it will take time for both parties to complete the transaction.

This was none of Yang Ye’s business, so he just went back to Hong Kong.

Before leaving, he also invited Lee Mi-kyung to invest in "Mythology", which was considered a good start for the upcoming CJ Entertainment.

For the films that Baiyang Pictures is currently producing, a certain percentage of its investment will be given to film distributors from all over the country.

In Taiwan, China Motion Picture Corporation has always been the only one that has monopolized the market, while other film producers could only watch helplessly.

It’s different now. Before Jianfeng died, the ban on political parties was lifted, and Li Zhengnan has no prestige, so no one takes him seriously.

Now everyone can invest.

Besides, Li Zhengnan will never have prestige, Yang Ye said.

In fact, making a movie is a very risky thing. Even Hollywood seeks investment from everywhere and will not use all its own money.

The profit model of a film company, besides box office, peripheral products, and copyrights, also has another major source of income, which is... eating from investors!
Especially for those novice investors who want to enter the industry, they need to pay some tuition fees first.

If you meet someone with a vicious heart, it is not uncommon to be cheated and lose everything.

Because when it comes to making a movie, there are so many things that can be manipulated.

As for the pay, props, and so on, the film company says exactly what it is, and no one else can figure it out.

For example, if I spent 100 million to build a set and then blew it up, you can check it out.

It is for this reason that the film industry is a natural breeding ground for money laundering.

Now all the societies in Hong Kong want to get into the film industry, and the situation is chaotic.

But for the time being, Yang Ye couldn't be bothered by it, so he just ignored it and kept out of it.

……

When Yang Ye returned to Hong Kong, the summer vacation was almost over.

Priscilla Chan held her farewell concert “When Will We Meet Again” at the Hong Kong Coliseum and announced her temporary retirement from the music industry.

She was going to study in the United States. There was no Qian Xi dispute in this time and space, but she still had to go.

Because this was what she had agreed with her parents when she first entered the entertainment industry.

It was the last song, and when the music started, Chen Huixian felt mixed emotions.

All the reluctance is condensed in this song "Thousands of Songs".

……

Even if thousands of songs are sung in the future, they will float along my distant road.

Even if there are thousands of stars in the future, they will be brighter than the moon tonight.

None of them can compare to the beauty of this night, and none of them can make me appreciate it more.

Ah...because you sang with me tonight!

……

Five years ago, when Priscilla Chan just made her debut, Yang Ye presented her this song at the Golden Melody Awards ceremony.

At that time, she didn't understand the true meaning of the song and her performance was average.

And at this farewell moment tonight, everyone on and off the stage burst into tears.

Faced with countless fans who were reluctant to let her go, she finally gave her all and performed the song to its fullest.

This also makes this song... an eternal classic!

……

After Priscilla Chan passed away, Anita Mui became the only dominant female singer in Hong Kong.

Neither Sally Yeh nor Vivian Chow from Yang Kee are his match.

In fact, when Priscilla Chan was around, she couldn't beat Anita Mui.

This cannot be compensated by writing a few good songs for them.

Anita Mui's neutral style is more attractive to female fans.

Female fans are more loyal than male fans and are more willing to spend.

In terms of consumption value, men are not even as good as dogs!

Like Zhou Huimin, she looks pure and has a lot of male fans.

But male fans usually get it for free, without paying any money, unless Zhou Huimin takes off all her clothes to shoot a pornographic movie.

Therefore, Zhou Huimin's commercial value is very low and cannot be compared with Anita Mui at all.

In fact, it is very simple to make money from men, but the law generally does not allow it.

The top priority for Baiyang Records was to find a Cantonese female singer who could compete with Anita Mui.

This is too hard to find, unless you try to dig out Teresa Teng or Jenny Chan.

But Yang Ye was not interested. It was better to cultivate new ones than to dig out old ones. He had Wang Fei in his hand, so why was he in such a hurry?
Another way is to let Teresa Teresa make a comeback and release a Cantonese album.

Last year, Teresa Tang’s comeback film “A Touch of Love 2” was sold out.

If she releases another Cantonese album, the sales will definitely be good.

But this proposal was also rejected by Yang Ye.

"Our top priority now is to prepare for The Voice of China. Let Huaxing and PolyGram have some fun this year!"

"The Voice of China" has been launched, and Baiyang and Rolling Stone are selecting singers respectively.

The original version of "The Voice of China" cannot be broadcast for too long due to policy restrictions.

Therefore, the blind audition stage of the mentors had to be compressed, resulting in many blind audition singers only showing up once.

For example, Liang Bo, the champion of the first season, showed his face for less than five seconds during the blind audition stage.

The subsequent group championship battle was supposed to be four parts, but it was compressed into three parts, making it a mess.

In fact, the blind audition stage is the most interesting and fun.

Now that it is hosted by Star TV, there are no restrictions, so naturally we have to give it our best shot.

In terms of the competition system, Yang Ye prepared eight rounds of blind auditions, with ten singers in each round, and the duration was controlled at two hours.

Each singer selected to compete in Hong Kong will sing the entire piece, and will receive comments from mentors, giving them ample opportunities to show their faces.

This requires a total of eighty singers, and the program team has a huge amount of pre-production work to do.

However, the effect is not comparable to that of TVB's "New Talent Singing Contest".

Because the new talent singing competition is only held in Hong Kong, how many good talents can there be? The stage is very simple and the competition system is very backward.

The Voice of China held auditions throughout the entire Chinese world, and the final eighty contestants selected to stand on the stage were all masters.

Add to that the gorgeous stage and interesting competition system, it would be strange if it wasn't good.

In the list of qualified candidates sent by the two music companies, Yang Ye saw several familiar names.

For example, Ren Xianqi, Xu Meijing, Gu Juji and others almost made Yang Ye laugh out loud.

……

Yang Ye asked, "How is the contact with the tutor going?"

Zheng Donghan shook his head: "It's not going well. It's not that Sam and Alan don't want to come, but our show takes too long. They can only give us two months at most."

The Voice of China will be broadcast for five months, so it needs at least half a year’s schedule. How can two months be enough?
But it is understandable. They are all superstars and are extremely busy every day. How can they spare half a year for their work?

Only Zhang Guorong, although he is famous, is easy to talk to as he is one of us, so he should just try to adjust himself.

There is another reason. Both Xu Guanjie and Alan Tam had left Yang Kee before, and it would be a bit embarrassing to ask them to come back now.

Unless Yang Ye goes to invite him personally.

Yang Ye is not going. Forget it if you don’t want to come.

As for Roman Tam, he left EMI last year and joined Huaxing. There was no way Mona Fong would let him come, and Cheng Tung Han didn't even try to contact him.

However, Cheng Donghan was not entirely without merit. He said: "Although Sam and Alan could not come, I was able to invite George Lam."

This is awesome, Yang Ye is very satisfied.

In Hong Kong, according to IFPI's sales records, George Lam ranked third with 16 platinum records and Zhang Xueyou, only behind Alan Tam and Teresa Teresa.

However... since 1990, IFPI has been in name only, and many recording artists and record companies are too lazy to apply for this crappy award.

Therefore, IFPI's sales records can only represent the situation in the 1980s, and many Cantonese singers only started to make progress in the 1990s.

Despite this, this also fully demonstrates George Lam's strength, because he does not make a living by his face, but by his voice.

"Isn't George Lam from Warner? How could Warner agree to this?"

"Oh, I dug him up!"

“Awesome!” Yang Ye was convinced.

"There's one spot left. How about you come?"

"How can I have the time? I have to make a movie. Besides, I'm not a serious singer and I can't sing better than those three."

"When it comes to appeal, who can compare to you? Besides, you invented this show, and no one knows it better than you. Bringing the three of them along will make our show more popular."

When Zheng Donghan said this, Yang Ye suddenly thought of the scene where Xia Luo beat Zhou Jie with a stick, and almost laughed out loud.

Zheng Donghan was overjoyed: "You agreed?"

Yang Ye was stunned: "Promise what?"

"If I don't agree, why are you laughing?"

"I remember something happy!"

"Is your wife giving birth?"

"The Mermaid" has already been released, and the "my wife gave birth to a baby" joke has become widely circulated.

Zheng Donghan knew that Yang Ye was playing tricks, and said seriously: "I really think there is no one more suitable than you."

"Look for it again. Star TV will open in a few days. Remember to attend!"

……

Although Star TV has started broadcasting, not many households have installed satellite antennas these days, so they are unable to receive the program channels.

Yang Ye remembered that when he was a child, his family had a big pot that could receive all kinds of channels.

Once upon a time, the magical device called "satellite TV dish" was everywhere in the vast rural areas of mainland China, to the point where almost every household had one.

It accompanied the childhood of many rural children born in the 80s and 90s.

It’s a pity that this thing was later banned.

The reasons are, firstly, this thing can receive overseas TV stations, and secondly, it makes way for cable TV.

So, what should we do if we want to allow the majority of users in Asia to watch Star TV when satellite antennas are not yet popular?

The simplest and most direct way is to popularize satellite dishes.

To this end, Star TV directly took out 50 million US dollars and cooperated with antenna manufacturers in various countries to implement a subsidy policy.

This tactic is the same as the later strategy of sending home appliances and cars to the countryside.

Star TV uses money to subsidize users and guide them to install antenna dishes. Antenna manufacturers can sell more products and naturally promote them vigorously.

In the original time and space, after the cucumber's satellite Chinese station went on air in 91, its advertising revenue exceeded million US dollars a year.

Star TV is spending 50 million on promotion now, which is nothing at all, and it will earn even more in the future.

Antenna dishes are very cheap, and this money spent can add millions of viewers to Star TV.

In addition, there is another way, which is to cooperate with local TV stations to convert satellite signals into closed-circuit signals.

For example, in Hong Kong, thanks to the help of ATV, Hong Kong citizens can directly receive Star TV.

But this requires paying the TV station a fee.

Although ATV and Star TV are a family, even brothers have to settle accounts clearly and give what is due.

Star TV is not solely owned by Yang Ye. He has introduced several shareholders, such as Singapore's Singtel and mainland China's CITIC.

With the addition of SMG, Star TV will be able to reach the whole of Singapore and Malaysia with the help of Star TV's channels.

In mainland China, Star TV has been launched in Shenzhen, Zhaoqing and Guangzhou, and will open several cities each year depending on the situation.

As for Taiwan, Star TV did not take any action.

The reason is simple. There are hundreds of Channel 4 stations in Taiwan.

These fourth channels are just makeshift ones that broadcast anything and everything just to make money.

During the Seoul Olympics last year, they directly broadcast the Olympic games and even took the opportunity to start gambling.

The programs of ATV and TVB are their most popular programs that they broadcast all year round. They even broadcast Japanese TV stations.

ATV and TVB are both Cantonese TV stations, not to mention Japanese TV stations, which I can't understand at all.

In this situation, if a TV station suddenly appears that speaks Mandarin and offers some very good programs, it would be strange if they don't go crazy for it.

Therefore, from the moment Star TV started broadcasting, Taiwan had at least 300 Star TV stations. (End of this chapter)