Hong Kong General: The Departed? No, I am the Hong Kong Island Tyrant

Chapter 131 The Five Tigers of Causeway Bay, a show of brotherhood! [Please order the whole thing]

In the evening, the crew called it a day.

Di Qing booked a restaurant in Temple Street to hold a wrap-up banquet.

All the twenty-plus people from the crew were there, plus a dozen supporting actors, as well as the younger brothers from Temple Street and people from the film company, a total of more than a hundred people.

Di Qing personally attended the banquet with his three daughters, Qiuti, Arun and Gangsheng.

The restaurant owner entertains guests at dinner parties every few days, and his mouth is so smiley that it's crooked. He is in his fifties or sixties, but he keeps calling "Qing Ge, Qing Ge" all the time.

It didn't matter to Di Qing. It didn't matter where they gathered, so he might as well take care of the business in Temple Street.

At the main table, Di Qing toasted Di Weifeng: "Brother Feng, I have been working hard for you during this period. I won't say much, it's all in the wine. I toast to you."

Di Weifeng smiled and didn't refuse. He raised his glass and said, "You are the boss, how can a boss toast to his employees?"

Everyone laughed.

Di Qing didn't care either.

To be honest, with his current makeshift film company and his gang background, how could any regular director be willing to help him make a movie?

But Di Weifeng not only came, but also helped him to get a film crew.

Di Weifeng also helped a lot in promotion and finding theaters during this period.

Although he also pays salaries, these things cannot be measured by money.

The two had a drink together.

After three rounds of drinks, they started discussing movies again.

"A Qing, as for editing and post-production, as long as you can come up with the theme song, it will be done in two days at most, but the work of the other crew members has been completed." Di Weifeng said.

Di Qing understood what he meant, which meant that the work was done and it was time to get paid.

Di Qing nodded and said, "Brother Feng, don't worry. I'll go to the company to settle the bill tomorrow. It's how much it should be, and I'll give everyone an extra 1,000 yuan red envelope as a thank you for helping me make my first movie."

Di Weifeng immediately smiled, raised his glass and said, "Then I would like to thank you on behalf of everyone."

Di Qing clinked glasses with him, and after a moment of preparation, he asked, "Brother Feng, if this movie is a hit, I will continue to shoot the second and third parts... Then I would like to ask you to come and direct it, but you are still a Shaw Brothers employee after all, and you can't take leave at any time. I would like to ask you to come and help me directly, is that okay?"

"This..." Di Weifeng was a little surprised: "You want me to switch from Shaw Brothers to your company?"

"good."

Di Qing nodded and said seriously, "Although Shaw Brothers is a giant in the film industry, they are not short of directors now. Brother Feng, I don't know how many years it will take for you to succeed in Shaw Brothers. You might as well come and help me. Although my company is small, I want to make movies seriously. As long as you are willing to come, Brother Feng, you will have the final say in everything related to movies in the future."

"I can't guarantee that you will become a famous director, but in terms of salary and benefits, I promise that you will never be worse than those big directors of Shaw Brothers!"

Hearing this, Di Weifeng was slightly moved, and then fell silent.

To be honest, after a month of getting along, he could see that although Di Qing was a member of the H society, he was different from most other H societies.

Although Di Qing did not have a deep understanding of the film industry, he did have some insights of his own, including the scripts he came up with.

It can be seen that he really wants to work in the film industry seriously.

"There's a saying that goes, it's better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix."

After a moment of silence, Di Weifeng raised his glass and said, "Okay, I promise, I will follow you from now on!"

"This……"

This time it was Di Qing's turn to be a little surprised: "Brother Feng, why don't you think about it again? What if this movie doesn't sell well?"

Di Weifeng smiled and said, "Although I haven't directed any famous movies, I can still tell whether a movie will be a hit. The plot of this movie is not bad, and the publicity effect during this period is also good. Sometimes when I get home from work, I can hear people discussing it. There should be a lot of people watching it when it is released. Even if the box office does not exceed 10 million, the cost of several million should still be recovered."

"Also, although I came to help you initially out of A-kun's favor, now I am betting on you. I believe your film career will be successful!"

Di Qing also laughed when he heard this: "I will be the banker in this gambling. I guarantee that you, Brother Feng, will win a lot of money!"

Ding!
The two wine glasses clinked together and warm applause broke out all around.

After a drink, Di Weifeng continued, "But my contract with Shaw Brothers still has some time left. If I come here now, I will have to pay a lot of liquidated damages. Besides, Shaw Brothers agreed to release the film because of me. If I change jobs now, if they block our film from being released, it will be troublesome to find a new theater. It is better for me to wait until the film is released and then resign when the contract is renewed next time."

Di Qing nodded: "Okay, you decide. Anyway, I'll let you direct my next movie."

Di Weifeng smiled slightly. It was a good feeling to be valued.

It's like a thousand-mile horse and its master.

He didn't dare compare himself to a thousand-mile horse, but Di Qing was definitely that person.

Even if he fails again, he will accept it.

Next, Qiu Di, Gang Sheng and A Run also toasted Di Weifeng one after another, and were very happy about Di Weifeng's joining.

Arun has learned a lot from Di Weifeng on the crew during this period of filming. She admires and is grateful to this senior who graduated from a professional school.

Qiu Di and Gang Sheng were happy because Di Weifeng would occasionally come to the company during this period to discuss some work matters with them and made many useful suggestions.

Through these, they could naturally see that Di Weifeng's abilities were much better than those of them who were half-baked.

With Di Weifeng joining, the company will definitely develop better in the future.

At this moment, several people from the crew at the next table heard the conversation between Di Qing and others. After looking at each other, two of them stood up and came over to toast, saying, "Boss, can we follow you in the future?"

Di Qing was slightly surprised, but soon waved his hand and said, "Sure, not only you, but also anyone in the crew who is willing to stay and work with me, I want them all, and I guarantee that your lives will only be better than before!"

Everyone was immediately overjoyed.

"Boss, I'll stay and work with you too!"

"Me too……"

For a time, almost all the crew members were willing to stay.

As mentioned before, they are not a famous big crew, and are considered to be dispensable in Shaw Brothers. They are usually only used in films that the big crews don't like or are too busy to handle.

Most of the other time there is no work.

Now that there are better options, they naturally know what to choose.

What's more, they knew that Di Qing opened a new company and currently had no fixed crew. As long as they joined, they would be the only crew in the company.

This means that the company will be able to use them whenever it makes a movie in the future.

With such good conditions, do you still need to consider it?
Several supporting actors were also very tempted, but they had signed long-term contracts with the company. Even if they wanted to take private work, they had to get the company's consent. If they wanted to resign, they could not afford the high penalty for breach of contract, so they could only sigh and give up.

"Boss, I'd like to offer you a toast. Thank you for taking me in!"

"Brother Qing, I respect you too!"

The crew members toasted one after another.

Di Qing accepted everyone who came to him. He took them all.

The crew is the core of a film company, and he also hopes to find a capable crew.

It just so happens that this crew does a good job and their professionalism is beyond reproach. Since I’m looking for someone anyway, I might as well find someone I’ve worked with before and am familiar with.

After negotiating with the crew, Di Qing asked them to come to the company tomorrow to sign a contract, but this time it was an employment contract.

Before it was a cooperative relationship, and in the future it will be a relationship between boss and employee.

Then, Di Qing looked at Chen Haonan and Shan Ji who were sitting at the same table, and asked, "Anan, Shan Ji, where are the five of you? Are you willing to come over and follow me?"

"This……"

Chen Haonan hesitated and said, "Brother Qing, we are still members of the society."

"What's wrong with the club? Who said that people in the club can't be actors?"

Di Qing said, "And I'm not asking you to switch gears and follow me. You can continue to follow Brother B in the club, but you will just sign a contract with my film company and become actors under my company."

Chen Haonan was still a little hesitant, because Brother B was already unhappy about the fact that they came to help Di Qing make a movie.

If they join Di Qing's company, Brother B might say something to them.

Shan Ji and his companions didn't think too much about it. Instead, they felt it was quite good after listening to what Di Qing said.

Yes, who says that people in H society can’t be actors?
In the society, they follow Brother B; when they are actors, they follow Di Qing. What's wrong with that?

But Chen Haonan is their boss, and if Chen Haonan doesn’t speak, they dare not say anything.

But Baopi asked curiously: "Brother Qing, if we come to follow you, how much can we earn every month?"

"Five thousand dollars a month!"

Di Qing said: "Whether there is a movie to shoot or not, it's 5,000 yuan per month. If there is a movie to shoot, you can get the salary. The minimum for each movie is 50,000 yuan!"

"Oh my god! Fifty thousand as a minimum per play?"

"You're getting 5,000 yuan for nothing even if you don't have a job?" "Brother Nan, do it!"

"Yeah, Brother Nan, where can we find such good conditions? Tell Brother B, he won't stop us!"

Several people suddenly became excited and started to persuade Chen Haonan.

Seeing this, Chen Haonan had nothing to say. If he still disagreed, he would be preventing his brothers from making money.

"Okay, I'll talk to Brother B when I get back. As long as Brother B agrees, I'll sign with you!"

Di Qing immediately smiled and raised his glass, saying, "Happy cooperation!"

……

A wrap party attracted a director, a crew, and five actors... No, including Arun, there should be six.

This was the initial team of his film company.

His business blueprint took the most critical step today!
……

the next day.

Di Qing and the three daughters of Qiu Di came to the company together, settled everyone's contract issues, and paid their salaries and film remuneration.

Including director Di Weifeng's salary, the total cost was less than 70 yuan.

As for the total cost of making this film, since Qiu Di kept detailed records of every expense, Di Qing took a rough look and found that the main expenses were the film remuneration and publicity, which had cost about one million yuan so far.

As for the production and filming, since the script story was provided by Di Qing, the screenwriter of the crew was only responsible for organizing and modifying it, which did not cost much money.

The equipment was borrowed from Liang Kun's company, and it was completely free.

Four or five hundred thousand yuan was spent on publicity, which was handled by Tang Twelve and the theater distribution department. During this period, all kinds of advertisements and posters were posted everywhere, and the film was promoted on television, radio, newspapers, magazines, etc., as well as buses, taxis, ferries... and even in bars, nightclubs, karaoke bars and other places.

What’s even more outrageous is that it is said that even some horse stalls, Kun stalls and Long Fenglou in Yau Tsim Mong have printed advertisements.

The publicity is very good.

In this regard, Di Qing had to admire the thinking of Gangsheng and Tang Shier.

But as long as the publicity is effective, Di Qing thinks it is worth it no matter how much is spent.

The first movie must be a blast!

The next big expense is post-production and distribution.

However, more than one million had been spent, and Di Qing no longer cared about the remaining expenses.

He believes that this movie will definitely help him make the money back!
In the previous life, the original crew took less than half a month to shoot this movie, with a cost of less than one million, and earned 2100 million at the box office.

Although the time and space have changed, a box office of at least 10 million should be no problem, right?
After everything is done, the next step is to wait for post-production distribution and theatrical release.

As for the two theme songs, Di Qing, under the influence of alcohol, came up with the lyrics last night. There are two sentences that may not be quite right, but the meaning is basically the same. Anyway, not all of them will be shown in the movie.

He doesn't know how to compose music, but he knows how to sing.

So when handing the lyrics to Di Weifeng, Di Qing suppressed his embarrassment and sang both songs separately.

Someone in the crew who knew music immediately composed music based on Di Qing's voice.

Di Qing's singing skills are probably at the karaoke level, but it still cannot conceal the classic nature of these two songs.

Especially the song "Years of Friendship" made Di Weifeng's eyes light up immediately, and then he quickly asked Di Qing which master wrote this song.

When they learned that it was written by Di Qing himself, Di Weifeng and others were stunned.

They really want to ask: "Boss, what else don't you know?!"

Joining clubs, opening bars, making movies, and playing music...

Although he is not professional in any of them, he seems to understand everything. Is he a god?
After coming to his senses, Di Weifeng immediately praised the song, complimented Di Qing on his musical talent, and asked him if he had any ideas about pursuing a career in music.

If Di Qing were asked to specialize in writing lyrics or singing, he would definitely not be interested.

However, Di Weifeng's words also reminded him that since these songs are classics that do not exist in this world, there is no need to give them away to other people and let singers from other music companies sing them.

He can definitely start his own music company.

As long as his singing skills are good enough, he can train his own singer.

Although he didn't remember too many songs from his previous life, the ones he could remember were basically popular songs.

Just like the movie, if it was popular in the previous life, there is no reason why it wouldn’t be popular in this world.

The memories in my mind are enough to support a music company!

Even if you can't remember some of the lyrics, as long as you remember the general melody and how to sing it, you can find professional composers and musicians to take care of the rest, and you can also fill in the lyrics you can't remember.

Di Qing took Tang Twelve to register a music company that day and posted an advertisement to recruit singers.

Thus, Di Qing’s third company came into being.

Qinglong Pictures, Qinglong Security, Qinglong Music.

And all the offices are located in one place.

Everyone was overwhelmed by Di Qing's swift and decisive operation.

It was the first time for them to realize that doing business and starting a company was so simple.

Aren’t you afraid of losing money?

But Di Qing was the boss, so they couldn't say anything and could only do what Di Qing said.

It was difficult for the film company to recruit people, mainly because Di Qing’s requirements were relatively high, and there really weren’t many professional management talents these days. After more than ten days of recruitment, they only recruited a few people.

But as soon as the singer's photo advertisement was sent out, someone came to apply for the job that afternoon.

The person who came was a resident singer in the bar, named Ah Ju. He looked weak and frail, with delicate features and long hair. He really looked like an artist.

Since he had good looks, Di Qing didn't care about his background, so he immediately asked him to try out the two songs.

"The lost time is scattered in the wind, as if I can't remember to face it again..."

In the office, as soon as Ah Ju opened his mouth, everyone's eyes lit up.

Even Di Qing was somewhat dazed, as if he had really returned to his previous life, to those lost years...

Ah Ju's voice has a sense of vicissitudes, but it is also very loud, like a cry from deep in the heart, magnetic, and somewhat similar to a singer who died young in his previous life.

He performed the two songs with different feelings.

Coming back to his senses, Di Qing immediately decided that it was him!

So we signed the contract that afternoon, and rented a recording studio the next day to record the two songs.

Ah Ju also signed the contract in a daze and became the first signed singer of Qinglong Music, with the same basic salary of 5,000 yuan plus commission.

Over the next two days, the production team worked overtime and added the theme song, and finally produced the film "Young and Dangerous".

Di Qing led everyone in the company to watch it from beginning to end, and everyone gave it high praise.

And everyone has different ideas.

Even if you are not a gangster, you will be attracted by the plot of this phone call.

From the movie, they intuitively understood for the first time the cruelty and indifference of H society and saw the sinister nature of human nature.

In their eyes, this is a movie that encourages people to be good, not to go astray, and not to join the H society.

But in the eyes of a group of young brothers in Temple Street, what they saw was the protagonist Handsome Yao’s loyalty, youthful arrogance, etc., which made them a little envious of Chen Haonan and his friends. After watching it, they even wanted to make a movie.

The quality of the film is good, and the next step is to make copies and then release it to theaters.

These required negotiations with the distributor and theater chains, including specific profit-sharing contracts and so on. With Di Weifeng's connections at Shaw Brothers, Di Qing didn't have to worry about it and just left it all to Di Weifeng to help him handle it.

As for the release date, it was decided long in advance.

5 month 30 number.

There is only one week left until the release.

There are advertisements everywhere outside, and you can see movie posters in the alleys if you take the wrong road.

The five Chen Haonan brothers appear on the poster with their upper bodies naked. The one standing in the C position is naturally Chen Haonan, who plays the protagonist, Handsome Yao. The over-the-shoulder dragon on his body is very eye-catching, coupled with his handsome and cool appearance, which attracts everyone's attention at first sight, making people can't help but want to take another look.

Below is the movie title and slogan:

'Young and Dangerous People in the Jianghu——

The five tigers of Causeway Bay staged a Young and Dangerous brotherhood. On May 30th, Shaw Studios is waiting for you to fight!

(End of this chapter)