Huayu: Director started with art films

More than half an hour later.

Yung Kee Restaurant in Central.

In the box, Li Yishu met Zou Wenhuai and Ho Kuanchang.

The group of people exchanged some greetings and then sat down one after another.

After Florence Huo finished ordering and the waiter left, Li Yishu took out the Young and Dangerous videotape and put it on the table: "Mr. Zou, I heard that you recently invested in a movie called Young and Dangerous?"

"Young and Dangerous?"

Zou Wenhuai took a look at the videotape.

Ho Kuan-chang beside him was also curious, but nodded: "Mr. Li is right, we did invest in the second part of Young and Dangerous, and it will be released on the 30th of this month."

Li Yishu asked, "I wonder if we can not show it?"

“Not showing it?”

Zou Wenhuai and Ho Kuanchang were both dumbfounded and didn't understand what Li Yishu meant.

He then went on to talk about the dangers.

"You can't read Water Margin when you are young, and you can't read Romance of the Three Kingdoms when you are old

Li Yishu said earnestly, "Mr. Zou, I know that if the movie is not released, it will have an impact on you and the company."

"But I am willing to bear the losses of this movie. At the same time, I will give up 10% of the investment share in the Hollywood movie "Rush Hour" that I am cooperating with Mr. Yang."

In fact, this matter has nothing to do with Li Yishu.

But you clearly know that such a film will bring unimaginable negative impact to the post-80s and post-90s generations.

If he can afford it, he doesn't mind spending money to ban the film.

Even though many netizens on the Internet believe that good people will not become bad after watching Young and Dangerous, those who become bad have the potential to become bad people.

But this matter needs to be discussed from different eras.

Thirty years later, anyone who sees a Young and Dangerous gang setting up the Hung Hing gang would be a fool.

But in this era of great social change, such a nearly realistic gangster-themed movie, and at the end of the film, the male protagonist is successful and not only has a beautiful girlfriend, but also becomes a boss.

How great is the bad influence?
Zou Wenhuai and Ho Kuanchang looked at each other, neither of them quite understood what Li Yishu was trying to do.

Including investment and publicity, they only spent tens of millions of Hong Kong dollars on "Young and Dangerous 2". In exchange for a 10% investment share in "Rush Hour" directed by Li Yishu herself, it is definitely a sure-win deal.

"Rumble in the Bronx" sold more than 6500 million US dollars in North America. After deducting miscellaneous expenses, Zou Wenhuai got nearly million US dollars, which is about million Hong Kong dollars.

Not to mention the box office shares in other countries, and the shares from videotapes and VCDs, etc.

A 10% investment share can, conservatively estimated, at least triple in US dollars.

Zou Wenhuai was naturally willing, but he was more curious about why Li Yishu did this. After hesitating for a moment, he looked up and asked, "Mr. Li, can I ask why?"

"The film Young and Dangerous is too realistic. In the film, Chen Haonan not only has a beautiful girl, but also becomes the boss of Causeway Bay. This has a very bad social impact..."

Li Yishu talked endlessly about the social harm of this movie.

Zou Wenhuai had seen the first "Ashes of Time", and he did not feel that the film could have such an effect.

But Ho Kuan-chang next to him suddenly said: "When the first Young and Dangerous movie was released, there were indeed a large number of young people who went to watch it. I heard that many young and dangerous people went to watch it several times."

There is a rating system for Hong Kong films, but when the first "Young and Dangerous" was released, director Andrew Lau, producer Wen Jun, and investor Wang Jing screened it as a "youth film."

As a result, the age is not over 18, but stuck at 16.

At this age, people are already middle school students and are full of energy. After watching the movie, everyone will be excited.

With the words "Amidst the glare of swords and the shadow of sabers, I will bring fame to the society", everyone started to howl and wanted to join the society.

After hearing what Ho Kuan Chang said, Zou Wenhuai finally understood why Li Yishu did this, and nodded immediately, "Mr. Li is right. If this is the case, then this movie is indeed not suitable for release. I will communicate with the theater chain tomorrow and have the movie removed from theaters."

"Thank you, Mr. Zou."

Li Yishu smiled and said, "I will have someone go to Golden Harvest tomorrow to discuss the investment in Rush Hour with Mr. He in person."

"Haha, there's no rush." ​​Zou Wenhuai smiled and said, "Mr. Li's idea is right. Since film is considered a popular art, we filmmakers naturally have to shoulder our responsibility to the general public."

Zou Wenhuai says this, but he is a businessman at heart.

There is no business without treachery.

If Li Yishu had not said at the beginning that she was willing to invest 10% of the investment share in "Rush Hour", Zou Wenhuai would definitely not have agreed.

With tens of millions of dollars spent on it, how could it just be left gathering dust in the film library?
He Guanchang suddenly said, "Mr. Li, I'm afraid that this approach of not showing it directly is still a bit inappropriate."

"What does Mr. He mean?"

"The first part of Young and Dangerous has been shown now. Many young people in Hong Kong have watched it. It is also being shown in Taiwan."

He Guanchang paused and continued, "I understand what Mr. Li means. In order to prevent teenagers from learning bad things, blindly banning it may be counterproductive. So why don't we modify the second part?"

"Modify?" Li Yishu raised his eyebrows.

Zou Wenhuai, Yang Shoucheng and others looked at Ho Kuanchang curiously, wanting to hear what he had to say.

"good."

Ho Kuan Chang nodded and said, "After the first film was released, we contacted the film distributors in Taiwan and Southeast Asia. The Singaporean side required us to change Chen Haonan into an undercover agent before the film could be released, so we temporarily reshot a plot, but it was only a version specifically for Singapore."

"Now we can completely change the second part to Chen Haonan becoming an undercover agent and catching all the gangsters in it."

Hearing this, Zou Wenhuai's eyes lit up and he immediately agreed, "What Raymond said makes sense, Mr. Li, since you think this movie might lead teenagers astray, then we might as well change the second part. This way, there will be two parts, with Chen Haonan being an undercover agent who infiltrates the gang and catches the bad guys."

The initial investor of the movie "Young and Dangerous" was Jingyi Film Company founded by Wang Jing.

After the film became a huge hit at the box office, Zou Wenhuai saw the potential of the film and immediately took over the project. He started filming the second part shortly after the film was released.

Now that the movie has been made, for the sake of 10% of the share of "Rush Hour", Zou Wenhuai is naturally willing to let it be thrown into the film library to gather dust.

But if we can change the approach and re-shoot part of the plot of the movie and then release it, with the current momentum, it will definitely not be a problem to sell it for 20 million Hong Kong dollars.

In this way, not only would Golden Harvest Company not suffer a penny of loss, Zou Wenhuai would also earn 10% of the investment share for free, and at the same time, Li Yishu would owe him another favor.

Li Yishu looked at Ho Kuan Chang, then looked at Zou Wenhuai, and chuckled, "Of course no problem, but can I see the film negative?"

"Of course, if Mr. Li is free tomorrow morning, please come to Golden Harvest. I will contact the director and producer, and call the leading actors."

Zou Wenhuai said with a smile: "Speaking of which, Mr. Li is also a shareholder of our Golden Harvest, but he has not been here for a long time. This time when he comes to Hong Kong, he must give guidance to our company's employees."

"No problem Mr. Zou."

Li Yishu laughed, glanced at Huo Wenxi beside her, and said to her: "Wenxi, go ask why the food is not ready yet, hurry up and serve the food. I haven't eaten for a long time since I got on the plane."

"Okay Mr. Li."

Huo Wenxi smiled and nodded, then stood up and went out to ask.

After a while, the dishes started to be served one after another. Everyone ate and drank, talking about the movie.

Zou Wenhuai has been asking about the preparations for the "Rush Hour" crew. When he learned that Lee Ye-seo would go to the United States in a few days to participate in the main casting, and that filming would officially start in May or June, he immediately smiled with satisfaction. He was really worried that this movie would be like Lee Ye-seo's "Red Cliff of the Three Kingdoms", which took a year or two to prepare.

When they learned that the film cost 30 million US dollars, Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai were stunned.

According to the conditions that Li Yishu just gave to Zou Wenhuai.

10% is 300 million US dollars, which is equivalent to nearly 2500 million Hong Kong dollars.

They are still begging for help for tens of millions of investments.

Zou Wenhuai immediately took out three million US dollars without saying a word.

And this is the compensation provided by Li Yishu. Under normal circumstances, Zou Wenhuai probably wouldn't even be qualified to invest.

It's true that people have different fates.

They are all directors, and Lee Ye-su’s quality as a director is really high.

The meal lasted until about nine o'clock.

Zou Wenhuai and Ho Kuanchang left happily, having received a 10% investment share, which was extremely important to Golden Harvest Film Company.

In 94 and 95, Golden Harvest Films reduced its production significantly, which also led to a sharp drop in its stock price.

Zou Wenhuai plans to invest in at least ten movies this year. After spending a large sum of money to acquire the film rights to "Young and Dangerous", he plans to make it into a series.

Just like the "Huang Feihong" series in previous years.

But I didn't expect Li Yishu to suddenly intervene.

But fortunately, the result is good.

As long as we re-shoot and re-edit the film, make Chen Haonan an undercover agent, and shoot this part as the next one, all the investment costs can be recovered.

He also got a share of the Hollywood commercial blockbuster shot by Lee Yi-su.

The best of both worlds.

It was almost ten o'clock in the evening when Li Yishu got in Huo Wenxi's car and returned to the villa halfway up the mountain.

After drinking two glasses of wine, he was a little tipsy, but not drunk.

"Boss, have a glass of water."

Huo Wenxi poured a glass of warm water from the kitchen.

"Yeah." Li Yishu took the cup of water and took a sip, then leaned back on the sofa and patted the seat next to him. Huo Wenxi sat over obediently.

Li Yishu hugged her and asked, "Has TVB launched a counterattack recently?"

“There will definitely be a counterattack.”

Huo Wenxi laughed and said, "But their counterattack is quite interesting. They actually want to poach people from us. Yesterday, Wan Qiwen came to me and said that someone from TVB contacted her and asked her to transfer to TVB. Not only did they raise her company, they also asked her to play Feng Chengcheng in "New Shanghai Bund"."

"TVB is going to remake The Bund?"

"Yes, it seems to be in preparation. I heard that the script has been changed a lot."

Li Yishu recalled the 96 version of "The Bund", but the impression...seemed like she had no impression.

The popularity of this TV series should not be very high. He is not sure about the ratings, but it did not make any waves anyway.

"The ratings for remakes of old dramas should still be guaranteed to a certain extent."

Li Yishu asked curiously, "What did Wan Qiwen say?"

"The fact that she told me this means she doesn't want to change jobs."

Huo Wenxi said confidently: "It's not me who says that everyone knows what the salary level is at TVB."

"Even if I change jobs now and get a high salary, I may get a pay cut in half a year or a year. It will be impossible to return to ATV by then. In order not to lose my job, I have no choice but to stay in TVB."

"What's more, our current benefits are much better than TVB's. No one would be willing to change jobs."

Li Yishu didn't expect Huo Wenxi to think of this, and agreed: "Well, you are right, but there will always be people who can't resist temptation. You can tell the TV station that anyone who jumps to TVB will never be able to return to ATV, and the mainland market will not be open to them in the future."

"Isn't this bad?" Huo Wenxi was a little hesitant. If he said that, wouldn't it be obvious that he wanted to completely break off relations with TVB?

"There's nothing wrong with it." Li Yishu shook her head. "Hong Kong has only a few million people, so it doesn't need two TV stations. In the future, the market can only support the survival of one TV station, either ATV or TVB."

He remembered that about twenty years later, ATV closed down completely, and the only remaining TVB was also struggling to survive.

It’s hard to maintain one TV station, let alone two.

What's more, Li Yishu also has the advantage of the mainland market. If she doesn't take advantage of her own advantages, is she giving TVB a chance?

Commercial competition is all about using any possible means.

As long as TVB survives, how can Li Yishu become a media tycoon in Hong Kong, open up the Southeast Asian market, and create a media empire?
"Okay, boss. I'll go to the office and give notice tomorrow."

Huo Wenxi nodded, and suddenly remembered something. She said, "Oh, boss, the Hong Kong Satellite TV Company has cooperated with others to establish a company called Phoenix TV based on the Chinese TV station. I heard that it will resume broadcasting on March 3st."

Phoenix TV!

This name is so familiar.

The difference between Phoenix TV, TVB and ATV is that they are purely a news media and only produce news and talk shows.

Li Yishu frowned slightly and said, "Pay more attention to this satellite TV station and quickly reform our own satellite station. At the same time, we can launch a live news channel. The new station's staff can be recruited in large numbers from the mainland, among which the hosts and backstage staff are particularly important. This station will all switch to Mandarin in the future."

ATV still uses Cantonese, with only a few news programmes being broadcast in Mandarin.

But this is far from enough.

In the future, Mandarin will gradually become the language of mainstream news reporting, and if we want to expand our influence overseas, Mandarin is a mandatory standard.

No matter where you are from or whether you can speak Mandarin or not, at least you can understand Mandarin.

"I understand, boss." Huo Wenxi nodded in response.

She understood that Li Yishu changed to Mandarin in order to expand the market outside Hong Kong Island.

the next day.

Around eight o'clock in the morning.

Wenjun and Liu Weiqiang hurried to Golden Harvest.

Last night, they received a call from manager Ho Kuan-chang, asking the two of them to come to Golden Harvest early this morning to discuss the reshoot of "Young and Dangerous 2".

This made the two of them unable to sleep well all night.

Why do we have to reshoot all of a sudden?

When the two arrived at Golden Harvest and learned the details from Ho Kuan Chang, Man Chun and Andrew Lau looked at each other in bewilderment.

They really didn't expect that it was Li Yishu who asked for it, and she even said something that they couldn't refute at all, which harmed the minds of young people.

With this big hat put on them, even if they are obsessed with entertainment, they can't refute it, and they don't have the courage to refute it with Li Yishu. (End of this chapter)