Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 433 Dissatisfied with the Male Lead
Zou Wenhuai worked in the journalism industry in his early years and achieved considerable success. It was not until the late 50s that he entered Shaw Brothers through the introduction of a friend, and was deeply appreciated by his boss for his outstanding language talent and intelligence.

At his peak, his influence in Shaw Brothers was greater than that of the boss Shaw Liuye. Many Shaw Brothers staff only knew Zou Wenhuai but not Shaw Liuye.

This is also one of the two fundamental reasons why Zou Wenhuai left Shaw Brothers - his achievements surpassed his boss.

Another reason was that Zou Wenhuai was dissatisfied with Shaw's harsh treatment of employees and proposed the idea of ​​dividends to the boss, but was suppressed by Shaw Liuye, who brought in Miss Fang in the late 1960s to check and balance Zou Wenhuai.

Therefore, Zou Wenhuai's generosity towards celebrities after he founded Golden Harvest may have been due to his mentality of "even if I have been caught in the rain, I should hold an umbrella for others."

Of course, business is business. As a boss, he is willing to give dividends to his stars, more because these stars can make money for him.

Otherwise, why doesn't he give dividends to the team behind the scenes?

If we make an analogy between the three dominant players in the Hong Kong film industry, Shaw Brothers is a place where everyone is equal. No matter who the stars, famous directors, or famous screenwriters are, they are all cattle and horses to me.

As for Golden Harvest, Zou Wenhuai learned from his experience and lessons at Shaw Brothers and regarded stars as the primary productive force.

But his thinking also has its limitations, otherwise why would Cinema City rise in just two or three years?
Because Cinema City grasped what Zou Wenhuai overlooked, that is, compared to stars, the behind-the-scenes production team is the more important productive force.

By analogy, it is not difficult to find that the three overlords represent the three development stages of the Hong Kong film industry.

This time Xu Guanwen wanted to transform himself and brought in Lin Chaoyang and Li Hanxiang, and agreed to the dividend and investment requests of these two behind-the-scenes personnel. This was not in line with Golden Harvest's traditional style, but was rather a bit like the approach of its rival Cinema City.

The reason why Boss Zou agreed was probably a try.

In 1985, Shaw Brothers was already in decline. The first half of the year had already passed, and so far, no film produced by Shaw Brothers had grossed more than million Hong Kong dollars.

Not only is the local box office showing signs of decline, but the foreign markets are also experiencing the same situation.

In March this year, Run Run Mei died of illness. He was the "brother" among the "Shaw Brothers". In 3, he and Run Run Shaw jointly founded Shaw Brothers Film (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd.

Over the past twenty years, the two brothers worked closely together to build the Shaw Brothers' empire in the Hong Kong film industry, with their influence spreading to Southeast Asia.

With the death of Shao Renmei and the company's declining performance year after year, there have been rumors recently that Shao Liuye is planning to close down Shaw Brothers Pictures.

Now that Shaw is old, there is no need to worry anymore.

Golden Harvest is in its prime, while Cinema City is at its peak. In the next few years, the Hong Kong film industry will surely be a battle between these two companies.

So at this stage, Boss Zou must unite all the forces he can to meet the challenge of Cinema City.

In Xu Guanwen's transformative work, he wanted to take the lead and brought in Li Hanxiang and Lin Chaoyang, and Zou Wenhuai was happy to see it happen.

On the one hand, it shared the investment risk of Golden Harvest, and on the other hand, Boss Zou also wanted to try out Cinema City's approach and increase investment in behind-the-scenes talent to see what the returns would be and whether it was worth his continued investment.

Several people discussed in detail for more than an hour in Zou Wenhuai's office and finalized some specific details of the film's investment and production.

The new film's investors include four parties, namely Golden Harvest Films, Hui's Films, New Kunlun Pictures and Lin Chaoyang. The total investment in the film is HK$550 million, with investment ratios of 4:3:2:1 respectively.

Among them, Lin Chaoyang used the discounted price of the script at HK$55 as an investment and enjoyed an equal share of dividends.

"As for the director, I plan to have Ann Hui come. What do you think?"

After discussing the investment shares, Zou Wenhuai asked everyone for their opinions on the director candidate.

Ann Hui is one of the new directors emerging from the new wave of Hong Kong films. In recent years, she has directed a series of masterpieces such as "The Story of Woo Viet" and "Boat Man".

Not only did it gain acclaim, it also performed unexpectedly well at the box office, earning her an excellent reputation in the industry.

Ann Hui is not tied to any film and television company. In recent years, she has cooperated with many major film and television companies in Hong Kong. For example, she collaborated with Shaw Brothers in "Love in a Fallen City" last year, and participated in "The Lucky Stars" in cooperation with Golden Harvest the year before.

This candidate was obviously discussed by Zou Wenhuai and Xu Guanwen. Lin Chaoyang had no objection. In his impression, Ann Hui has always been a director with stable output.

Except for two films she made in her later years that were a bit absurd, the quality of the films she created was quite high most of the time.

"Wen Huai, actually I..."

As soon as Li Hanxiang opened his mouth, Lin Chaoyang knew that he was still ambitious and was still coveting the rights to direct the film.

Zou Wenhuai listened to Li Hanxiang's idea and frowned, "Haven't you been tinkering with historical films? You haven't touched on this kind of modern subject matter before, so don't force yourself."

Zou Wenhuai's words were almost like pointing at Li Hanxiang's nose and saying "You must have some idea in your mind", and being looked down upon by his old friend, Old Li couldn't help but look sullen.

"Ann Hui's films may not be as good as mine!"

He said something sarcastic, and his psychological state at this moment was somewhat similar to that of Ah Q, but no one paid any attention to him.

Zou Wenhuai added: "I have only communicated with Ann Hui at the moment. Whether she will accept the film or not will depend on the script."

At this point, his eyes fell on Lin Chaoyang, who immediately understood what he meant, "The script will be out within a week."

Zou Wenhuai nodded in satisfaction, while Li Hanxiang muttered, "She's still being picky."

"Then wait until the script is finalized, and then ask her out for a formal talk."

"it is good."

As everyone was chatting, it was almost noon. Zou Wenhuai was planning to invite a few people out for lunch, but by chance, a nimble fat man walked into his office.

"Zou Sheng!"

"Sanmao!" Sanmao is Sammo Hung's nickname. Zou Wenhuai took Sammo Hung's hand and enthusiastically introduced him to Lin Chaoyang and others.

Sammo Hung greeted them one by one, but he looked a little worried, as if he had something important to discuss with Zou Wenhuai. He had no intention of chatting with Lin Chaoyang and the others. Seeing this, Lin Chaoyang and the others said goodbye.

After they left Zou Wenhuai's office, Li Hanxiang asked Xu Guanwen with a smile, "I guess Sanmao is here for the dividend issue from other cities again?"

In the Hong Kong film industry, it is said that Boss Zou is very generous to the stars under him, but this generosity is also subject to limitations.

Golden Harvest has always been very efficient in paying its share of the Hong Kong box office, but when it comes to the share of the foreign box office and the share of the copyright buyout, its efficiency is very low.

This is of course due to the limitations of the external environment, but in the final analysis, they are still reluctant to give up this big piece of fat meat. These days, the overseas revenue of Hong Kong films is much greater than that of local films.

"I hope Boss Zou won't play this kind of trick on us." Li Hanxiang said quietly.

Xu Guanwen said with an embarrassed look on his face: "The overseas income is a little slow, but at least it has been paid all the time."

Li Hanxiang smiled. With his status in the underworld, he was naturally not afraid that Zou Wenhuai would drag his feet and not pay.

Xu Guanwen looked at Lin Chaoyang, afraid that the conversation between them would bother Lin Chaoyang, but Lin Chaoyang's expression remained normal, making it hard to guess what he was thinking.

A few days later, Lin Chaoyang finished writing the script and called Xu Guanwen to make an appointment.

The meeting place this time was not chosen in the office building of Jiahe, but in a coffee shop called Hoi On Cafe in Sheung Wan.

It is called a coffee shop, but in fact it also runs a tea restaurant business. This is also the business habit of coffee shops that opened in the 1960s and 1970s.

When Lin Chaoyang arrived, Xu Guanwen had already arrived. Li Hanxiang was busy with the post-production of "Fire Dragon" and did not come today.

The two sat in the cafe sipping coffee and chatting for a while before waiting for Ann Hui to arrive.

Among directors, Ann Hui looks very young. She has a mushroom-like haircut and wears plain cloth shoes. Even wearing glasses cannot hide her dark circles under her eyes.

After saying hello, Ann Hui's eyes fell on Lin Chaoyang, with curiosity flashing in her eyes.

When Zou Wenhuai contacted her a few days ago, they had already talked about the general situation of this movie. The comedy king wanted to transform himself, so he found a mainland screenwriter and wanted to invite her, a female director who specializes in art films. It was interesting to think about it.

After a few pleasantries, Xu Guanwen handed the script to Xu Anhua, "Anhua, please take a look at the script first."

Ann Hui took the script. There was no packaging. It was just ordinary manuscript paper. Even the text was in simplified Chinese. The writing habits were completely different from those in Hong Kong.

She didn't care about these details, her eyes were fixed on the name of the script.

——"The Truman Show".

Lin Chaoyang still insisted on using the domestic translation of the film in later generations, rather than using the direct English translation of "The Truman Show" or "Reality Show".

Ann Hui had already heard Xu Guanwen talk about the general plot of the film before, and now she can finally see the complete script. She is full of anticipation.

Opening the script, she habitually lit a cigarette for herself, her eyes following the words as they moved, her brows furrowed from time to time.

Today is the first time that Xu Guanwen and Xu Anhua have seen the complete script. It will probably take them a while to read it. Lin Chaoyang drank coffee leisurely and stood up to move around from time to time.

After waiting for nearly two hours, the two finally finished reading the script.

Although he already knew the outline of the script and was very confident about the final product, Xu Guanwen was still full of surprises after actually reading the script.

"Mr. Lin, the character of Truman is so well written!"

Unlike Xu Guanwen's surprise, Ann Hui frowned even more after watching the movie. She sat there thinking for a long time.

"Mr. Lin, when you were writing this script, what style did you set for it?"

Ann Hui’s question hits the nail on the head. She is a director, and unlike Xu Guanwen who is an actor and focuses more on the characters, she has to consider the integrity and style of the story.

A mentally sound and mature man has lived in a reality show for thirty or forty years without realizing it. The core of "The Truman Show" is undoubtedly very sci-fi and horror.

But when reading the script, Ann Hui also discovered that Lin Chaoyang completely abandoned the science fiction elements when writing it, and did not deliberately exaggerate the horror at the core of the story.

He replaced the darkness and depression that the script should have shown with a sunny atmosphere and brisk rhythm, making the overall atmosphere of the story relaxed.

It should be said that what is presented in the script now is more comedy than plot, while maintaining relative restraint, and does not undermine the seriousness and thoughtfulness of the story itself.

"As for the style, let's go with a light comedy. The core of this script is already heavy enough. If it's written too deeply, it will be too heavy from the audience's perspective, which will also be detrimental to the distribution and release of our film."

Ann Hui nodded slightly after listening to Lin Chaoyang's words, but she did not completely agree with what Lin Chaoyang said.

If Ann Hui were to write this script, she would definitely continue to dig deeper into the original thriller core and explore human nature in depth.

She also didn't believe that as a creator, Lin Chaoyang would voluntarily give up the original plot tension which had extremely strong extensibility.

Considering that this was Xu Guanwen's transitional work, Ann Hui guessed that he must have put a lot of pressure on Lin Chaoyang to make Lin Chaoyang compromise on the script.

Pity……

If Lin Chaoyang had created the script according to his own ideas and the original core and context of the script, how amazing would this script be!
As she thought this in her heart, she sighed imperceptibly and even shook her head unconsciously.

This made Xu Guanwen, who had been paying attention to her, feel unsure. Could it be that such a script could not satisfy her?

Little did people know that Ann Hui was not dissatisfied with the script, but with the leading actor!
(End of this chapter)