The Red Era: Living in Seclusion in a Siheyuan as a Boss

Chapter 802 The True Media Empire!!!

In the vast business empire of "Liu's Overseas Capital", although Liu Shudong, the helmsman, holds the important position of Chairman of the Board of Directors of "Asia Pacific Film and Television Group", he focuses more on strategic control and entrusts the daily operations to a professional team.

The person who truly controls the operation of this entertainment media empire is General Manager Zou Wenhuan, who has a keen mind for film and entertainment media.

This filmmaker, with his deep understanding of the film and entertainment industry, has led the Asia-Pacific Film Group to stand out in the fiercely competitive entertainment media market thanks to his keen market insight and outstanding management skills.

Under his strategic planning, the group not only achieved leapfrog growth in performance, but also gradually established its dominant position in the Asian entertainment industry.

Decades later, after Wrinkle Ring passed away.

With tears in his eyes, renowned Chinese action star Jackie Chan said, "Without Mr. Zou, Hong Kong cinema would be half as colorful."

"Film may fade, but the hands that held the lamp in the darkness will be forever etched in the light and shadow of the screen."

Furthermore, since the departure of Wrinkle Ring and others, Shaw Brothers films have been plagued by internal and external troubles.

The internal troubles stemmed from the departure of people like Wrinkle Ring, leaving the elders of the Shao family in a state of panic.

The external threat was Lu Yuntao, whom we mentioned earlier. After entering the Hong Kong film market, he brought Hollywood's studio system and management model to Hong Kong.

Lu Yuntao merged the two production companies, "International" and "Yonghua," and reorganized them into International Film Production Company Limited, abbreviated as "Cinema," officially putting them in direct competition with Shaw Brothers.

Cathay also established an actor training class, specifically to create stars and cultivate new talents. At the time, Shaw Brothers' training class was just copying what others had learned.

Cathay Organisation produced mostly musicals and modern films, while Shaw Brothers produced Huangmei opera and martial arts films. Logically speaking, they didn't have much overlap.

But the market is only so big. If you take a bigger bite of this pie, I'll take a smaller bite. How can there be no competition?

As a result, the two sides fought fiercely, poaching actors and directors, vying for subject matter and market share.

It wasn't until the mid-1960s, through the mediation of Chairman Z of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Film and Television Freelance Workers Union, that the two sides signed a "gentleman's agreement": they would no longer engage in vicious competition, but would meet with each other for tea every month to discuss filming topics in a friendly manner.

However, just three months later, a revolutionary event occurred at Cathay.

Lu Yuntao was on his way to the 11th Asian Film Festival in T Province when his plane crashed, killing him and his wife.

Afterwards, Lu Yuntao's brother-in-law, Zhu Guoliang, took over Cathay Organisation, but was no longer able to compete with Shao Yifu.

Chu Kuo-liang reorganized Cathay Organisation Ltd. into "Cathay Organization Ltd." and barely managed to survive until the early 1970s before officially closing the production department and handing over the studio to the rising Golden Harvest.

From then on, Golden Harvest's boss, Zou Wenhuan, once again took up the banner of fighting against Shaw Brothers.

After founding Golden Harvest, Zou Wenhuan overcame the initial difficulties and immediately demonstrated extraordinary business acumen.

He keenly observed that with the popularization of television, the traditional film industry was facing unprecedented challenges.

Therefore, Zou Wenhuan boldly adjusted her strategy, on the one hand continuing to consolidate the market share of martial arts films, and on the other hand actively exploring new models of international co-productions.

In the early 1970s, despite opposition, the company signed Bruce Lee, who had just returned from a disappointing Hollywood stint, to a high-profile contract and tailored the film "The Big Boss" specifically for him.

This film, which cost only HK$10 to make, eventually achieved a box office miracle of HK$300 million, reshaping the landscape of Hong Kong cinema.

Faced with the rise of Golden Harvest, Shaw Brothers began to panic.

Shaw urgently convened a meeting of senior executives and decided to increase investment and emulate Golden Harvest's star system.

However, by this time, Shaw Brothers was already riddled with problems. Veteran directors were sticking to old ways, while new generation actors were being poached by Golden Harvest.

More than a year later, when Chow Wen-huan swept the Asian box office with "Enter the Dragon," Shaw Brothers' proud "The House of 72 Tenants" achieved great success domestically, but suffered repeated defeats in overseas markets.

Even more fatally, Zou Wenhuan seized the opportunity and took the lead in introducing a "profit-sharing system" to replace the traditional salary system.

This innovative move allowed Golden Harvest to quickly gather a group of new-generation filmmakers, including Hui Kwan-man and Hung Kam-po.

Their new style of street comedy and kung fu films completely shattered the last barrier of Shaw Brothers' Huangmei opera films.

By the mid-to-late 1970s, Golden Harvest's annual box office revenue had surpassed that of Shaw Brothers, marking the official entry of Hong Kong's film industry into the "Zou Wenhuan era".

Later, Zou Wenhuan led the entire Golden Harvest Group to join the "Asia Pacific Film Group," where they became even more successful and continued to expand their business empire.

Under the leadership of Wrinkle Ring, Asia Pacific Film Group successively established branches in Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, and Southeast Asia. It also acquired a second-tier film company in Hollywood and gradually promoted stars such as Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao to the international stage.

By the late 70s, Shaw Brothers, the dominant force in Hong Kong's film industry, began its decline.

The reasons are complex, but the most important one is the rise of the television industry.

Before the advent of television, cinemas, amusement parks, and theaters were indispensable leisure and entertainment venues for people.

But after the advent of television, movies were greatly impacted, as people could watch performances at home without leaving their houses, and for free.

If everyone can entertain themselves at home, is movie theater still that important?
Secondly, the Shaw Brothers Company had been established for a long time, and there were many internal factions. The company's own resources could not be effectively circulated, so how could it compete with the outside world?

Established brands, over time, inevitably become complacent, arrogant, and exclusive, resembling a self-enclosed kingdom that gradually loses its vitality.
In addition, Shaw Brothers was known for its low wages, heavy workload, lack of allowances, and no clear path to promotion, leading to a significant brain drain.

The Shaw Brothers gradually showed signs of decline as they failed to retain the talent they had cultivated.

In addition, external forces launched a massive attack.

Under Raymond Chow's management, Asia Pacific Film Group created kung fu superstar Li Shaolong and also promoted a new generation of kung fu stars such as Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, creating the golden age of kung fu in the 80s.

The "independent producer" system of the Asia Pacific Film Group is significantly more flexible and adaptable, in line with the development of the times, while the aging Shaw Brothers is gradually falling behind the times.
Asia Pacific Film Group also attaches great importance to talent. With the strong support of the company, a new generation of directors such as Tsui Hark, John Woo, and Ann Hui, who have returned from studying abroad, have set off a new wave of film throughout Southeast Asia.
Seeing that "Asia Pacific Film Group" was making a fortune, new capital followed suit and entered the market. The various forces fought each other, but the old power brokers like Shaw Brothers suffered the most, while the audience was the lucky ones.

The once invincible Shaw Brothers eventually announced in the mid-1980s that it would cease film production and shift its focus to television.

Shaw Brothers' entire film business, including its cinemas, was sold off to Asia Pacific Film Group.

This battle for supremacy in the Hong Kong film industry, which lasted for more than a decade, finally came to an end with a complete victory for Zou Wenhuan and the Asia Pacific Film Group.

However, it cannot be said that Shao Yifu was a failure, because he bid for the operating rights of TVB when the television industry was just emerging and succeeded in one fell swoop.

Approaching his seventies, Shao Yifu no longer had the energy to juggle film and television. He focused his main efforts on the emerging television industry, training actors, organizing the Miss Hong Kong pageant, and making TVB thrive.

Classic TV dramas such as "The Greed of Man," "File of Justice," "At the Threshold of an Era," and "Healing Hands" dominated the childhoods of those born in the 70s and 80s.

In the year 2000, TVB's stock price once hit a record high of HK$85.25, with a market value of over HK$37 billion, making it almost like a large aircraft carrier.

TVB Television Group ranks third among all television stations in Asia, behind only TV Tokyo (ranked second) and Asia Television (ranked first).

"Asia Television" is one of the core industries of "Asia Pacific Film & Television Group". It began satellite broadcasting as early as the mid-1980s, and its signal covers the entire Asia Pacific region.

In 1985, when the news of Shaw Brothers' official cessation of film production was announced, the entire Hong Kong film industry was shaken.

The once-glorious Clearwater Bay film studio has gradually become deserted, and those studios that witnessed the golden age are now reduced to faded posters swaying in the wind on mottled walls.

Meanwhile, the Asia Pacific Film City in Kowloon Tong was brightly lit, where Jackie Chan was filming thrilling stunt scenes for "Police Story," and the set was surrounded by international media who had come to visit.

Zou Wenhuan stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of his office, overlooking the bustling scene on the film set. He had just reached an agreement with Hollywood giant Columbia Pictures to co-invest in the production of the "Cannonball Run" series.

The secretary knocked on the door and came in, handing over a latest market report: "Asia Pacific Film Group" has exceeded 85% market share in Southeast Asia, and its "Asia Pacific Film City" cinema chain is building Asia's largest screening room in Singapore.

Zou Wenhuan gently stroked the gold-embossed group logo on the cover of the report, and suddenly recalled that afternoon a few years ago when he was received by Boss Liu at a tea restaurant.

From that day on, Zou Wenhuan's life changed, and he became the "godfather" of Asian entertainment.

If the film industry is fiercely competitive, the television industry is just as competitive.

After retiring from the film industry, Shao Yifu devoted himself entirely to the management of TVB.

He learned from the Asia Pacific Film & Television Group and personally oversaw the construction of a new broadcasting center. TVB's "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" is being broadcast simultaneously to many countries and regions via a leased communications satellite.

Meanwhile, at TVB headquarters, the production team is preparing for the first Miss Asia pageant, and the planning director, Peter Lam, specially invited a fashion designer from France to create custom gowns for the contestants.

The wheels of time keep turning ever forward.

In 1987, Jackie Chan's film "Armour of God" grossed $1.2 million worldwide, marking Hong Kong cinema's true internationalization.

In the same year, TVB imported the Japanese anime "Doraemon," which achieved an astonishing viewership rating of 42 points.

Was Shao Yifu's decision wrong? It cannot be said that it was wrong; he simply chose a path that conformed to the development of the times.

Shaw Brothers could have adapted to change and become a century-old film company, but it disappeared into the past due to a combination of factors.

In 1983, my second brother, Shao Yike, suffered a stroke and fell into a coma, relying on medication to sustain his life.

More than a year later, this brother who had stood by Shao Yifu through thick and thin passed away in Lijiapo.

Before this, the second elder brother, Shao Yiren, had died ten years earlier, and the eldest elder brother had also passed away long ago.

In the mid-1980s, Shao Yifu's wife, Huang Meizhen, passed away in America.

As for Shao Yifu's children, he had already entrusted his wife and children to his brother Shao Yike's care when he left Lijiapo, so it was inevitable that they would be emotionally distant.

What shocked onlookers even more was that one year, Run Run Shaw's eldest son, Shaw Weiming, was kidnapped near his residence in Lijiapo.

Shao Yifu actually took 11 days to pay HK$100 million to the kidnappers to ransom his eldest son, which shows how audacious he was.

Later, Shao Weiming and his younger brother Shao Weizhong went to Hong Kong to help their elderly father manage his business, but they did not get along well with Fang Yihua, who was also on the board of directors.

Later, the two brothers left Hong Kong in anger and returned to Lijiapo to help their uncle manage his business, never touching Shao Yifu's business again.

Over the years, Shao Yifu has used part of his wealth for charity, building numerous buildings such as Yifu Building and Yifu Hospital.

The other part was used to establish a trust fund to ensure that the children would have no worries about food and clothing and could live a wealthy life for the rest of their lives.

Therefore, it was unprecedented for his children to disregard his property.

To this day, the Shaw family still owns a large number of properties and hotels in Hong Kong, mainland China, Singapore, Malaysia and other places, with assets reportedly worth tens of billions.

The story of the Shaw Brothers' rise to wealth is also part of the history of Chinese people migrating to Southeast Asia.

The Shaw family also represents half of the history of Hong Kong's film industry.

Times have changed, and the era that belonged to Shao Yifu and his generation has passed.

With the official announcement of the cessation of production by Shaw Brothers Studio, the glorious era of Shaw Brothers films came to an end.

Under Zou Wenhuan's leadership, the Asian film and television industry officially became dominated by the "Asia Pacific Film and Television Group".

In the late 1980s, Japan's economy suffered a severe blow after the Plaza Accord.

Japan's largest film company, Toho, was acquired by Asia Pacific Film Group after its parent company went bankrupt, becoming one of its subsidiaries.

The Japanese company "Toho" is no unknown entity; it is a long-established film company.

"Toho" means "Tokyo Takarazuka" and was formed in the early 1940s by the merger of the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater Company and Toho Film Company.

Unlike other Japanese film production companies, Toho initially started with theaters before entering the film industry.

Furthermore, in terms of film production, unified leadership was strengthened in all areas of production, distribution, and exhibition, and the organizational structure and modern management methods of America Film Enterprise were adopted.

Therefore, Toho boasts a strong lineup of writers, directors, and actors, and its abundant financial resources have enabled it to produce many challenging works that make full use of special effects.

After being acquired by Asia Pacific Film & Television Group, Dongbao entered a period of rapid growth.

They released a series of classic animated works, such as Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, and Detective Conan. Just listing a few of them could be childhood memories for those born in the 70s and 80s.

Besides Toho, another memorable aspect of Japanese cinema is the opening sequence of Toei.

The waves crashed against the rocks, and then the words "Toei" suddenly loomed large in front of us, creating a truly impactful scene.

Toei is one of the entertainment companies that was acquired by Asia Pacific Film Group after Toho.

Tokyo Eiga Film Co., Ltd., commonly known as Toei Co., Ltd. or Toei, was founded in 1949 and is one of the five major film companies in Japan.

In addition to film production and distribution, Toei also operates cinemas, theaters, satellite television, and film rental businesses.

When talking about Toei, one cannot help but mention its achievements in animated films.

In the early days of animation, Toei Company also became a hub for outstanding talent.

Especially after being acquired by the Asia Pacific Film Group, it had a positive impact on the early development of animation in Japan and the world, becoming a leader in the industry.

A good training system coupled with excellent working conditions makes it the top employment choice for anime enthusiasts.

Asia Pacific Film & Television Group has not only established a film and television media presence in Japan, but also in South Korea, the "Kimchi Country" on the Korean Peninsula.

For example, the famous "SM Entertainment" in South Korea is one of them.

SM Entertainment is a large artist management and agency in South Korea, primarily responsible for artist management, planning, and music and film production.

Founded in the early 1990s by singer Lee Soo-man, the company is headquartered in Seoul.

Its name "SM" is an abbreviation of "Star Museum", meaning "star museum, hall of fame".

Following the 1998 Asian financial crisis, SM Entertainment was acquired by Asia Pacific Film & Television Group.

SM Entertainment, through the channels of its parent company ATV, introduced its HOT and SES brands to Tokyo, Japan, and Southeast Asia, sparking a "kimchi craze" across Asia.

(End of this chapter)