1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 35 Submission for Review and Rumor Refutation

Hello, Your Honor. I gave my lawyer some money and asked him to buy the movie copyright from the American devils.

As a result, he embezzled the money and made a fake copyright certificate for me.

As a victim, can I sue the Hong Kong Bar Association because they actually issued a lawyer's license to a liar?
If Shen Wei knew what Zhai Yuan was thinking, he would probably tear up the certificate in his hand and throw it in his face.

“It feels a bit like being on a pirate ship.”

Standing under the Tax Building on Gloucester Road in Wan Chai, this thought came to Shen Wei's mind.

"I was ordered around by a 17-year-old student. I've really been going backwards in the past few years."

"But the assumptions he makes are really attractive!"

Thinking of the passionate speech that Zhai Yuan gave when he came to him and asked him to make a false certificate, Shen Wei couldn't help but get excited.

What he could not forget most was the sentence: "As long as this thing is done, the entire Hong Kong third-level film market will be ours in the future! If we want to do it, we should be like Zhao Gao, climb to the top step by step, and listen to the applause!"

A few drops of water from the air conditioner upstairs dripped down and splashed on Shen Wei's face.

It was like the spit sprayed on Zhai Yuan's face when he was giving a speech.

Shen Wei wiped his face, his eyes gradually became firm, and he strode into the tax building with the file bag.

"Excuse me, which floor is the Film, Television and Entertainment Affairs Management Office located on?"

"The thirty-ninth floor."

The elevator went straight into the sky and stopped at the 39th floor.

Shen Wei walked out of the elevator, looked around, and walked towards a department with a TV sign.

"Hello, I would like to apply for a screening license for an American film in Hong Kong."

Under the guidance of the front desk staff, Shen Wei found the relevant person in charge of the Film and Television Department and spoke straight to the point.

"Western movies? Which theater chain are you from?"

The staff member in charge of film review at the Film and Television Department raised his head and looked at Shen Wei in surprise.

In the past two years, due to the influence of Formosa Capital, foreign films have found it difficult to be distributed in Hong Kong. In addition, several major local cinema chains are also the largest film production companies in Hong Kong.

Of course, we will never do such a thing as inviting a wolf into the house and destroying our own rice bowl.

Therefore, local cinema chains default to showing one or two Western films only during festivals.

When selecting films, you should also be careful not to affect the market environment of your own films.

“We don’t have a cinema.”

Shen Wei finished his words with a smile, and seeing the film reviewer's surprised expression, he added: "But my boss is planning to open a new cinema chain."

The film reviewer became interested after hearing this: "Starting a new cinema chain? The market has been completely divided up by the three giants!"

The Big Three refers to the three major mainstream cinema chains: Zhaoshi, Jiahe, and Silver Princess.

At this time, there were nearly 200 cinemas in Hong Kong, and most of them had cooperation with the Big Three, making it difficult for outsiders to come in and interfere.

“Two years ago, the Legislative Council passed a new round of amendment bills on public entertainment venues, one of which was to allow mini cinemas to be opened in buildings.”

Shen Wei stopped talking mysteriously in the middle of his speech and said with a smile: "Well, if we continue, it will be a commercial secret. Sir, let's talk about the movie I brought today."

The staff of the Film, Television and Television Department were of course aware of this amendment passed by the Legislative Council in 1980, but two years had passed and no one in the market had tried the mini-theater operation model.

There are so many cinemas in Hong Kong that can seat thousands of people, so what use can a mini cinema with only a few dozen or a hundred seats have?
"Then I wish your boss good luck."

The examiner shrugged noncommittally: "What is the movie being reviewed this time?"

"It's an American pornographic film, copyrighted."

As Shen Wei spoke, he handed the file bag he was carrying to the window and swallowed imperceptibly.

If this certificate is found to be forged, I will have to stay in the walled city for the rest of my life.

When the reviewer heard that it was a Category III film, he didn't care too much.

At that time, Hong Kong did not have a film rating system. They received a batch of local and Taiwan Category III films every month, and they were no longer surprised by it.

"Diana, help me check this copyright certificate."

The staff member waved and handed the file bag to the female colleague next to her, then said to Shen Wei with a smile: "I'm free today, so I'll accompany you to see the level of this American movie." More than an hour later, the reviewer walked out of the review room with a grim look on his face.

The more than thirty minutes of humiliation scenes in the movie made him feel a little uncomfortable.

"Give me a reason to pass the trial."

"In response to the new Legislative Council regulations, we are conducting a pilot investigation on mini cinemas to develop Hong Kong's film industry, thereby creating more employment and maintaining social stability."

As Shen Wei spoke the lines that Zhai Yuan taught him, he felt that his image became much taller.

The film reviewer immediately showed an expression that said, "How can you say that?"

"I checked and there is no problem with the copyright purchase procedures."

The female colleague who had just checked the copyright certificate came over.

She glanced at Shen Wei and asked curiously, "But I called the copyright company number on the material, and the phone number is from Australia, not America."

"Because the film was released in Australia, we bought the distribution rights there, which was cheaper than buying the rights directly from the American producer."

Of course Shen Wei would not say that he did not have any American friends to act with him.

The Australian number was found because a classmate of mine worked there and was bribed by Zhai Yuan for one thousand yuan to pretend to be an Australian publishing company.

He kept talking nonsense without changing his expression, and then smiled and said to the two film reviewers, "In a few days, I will fly to Australia on behalf of my boss to discuss other cooperation. If you have any questions, you can go with me for a field trip, but you may need to pay for your own air tickets and accommodation."

……

"Pick! My legs were shaking at the time. I was really worried that they would agree to go to Australia with me for an inspection."

After returning to the video room on the third floor of the housing estate, Shen Wei still spoke with some lingering fear after meeting Zhai Yuan.

"A flight ticket to Australia costs thousands of dollars. When have you ever seen a civil servant from the Hong Kong government willing to do such a selfless thing?"

Zhai Yuan didn't even raise his head as he carefully examined the screening permit in his hand. The paper still smelled of ink.

"Ayuan, if you do this, what if the American company comes to you?"

Liang Zhichao asked worriedly.

Neither Zhai Yuan nor Shen Wei answered because the question was a bit stupid.

The information business only started to develop in the 1980s, and now we are fighting a transnational lawsuit in America, on the other side of the world. What a joke!
"The next step is to wait for Jennifer's news to spread and for Li Zhongqiang to hand over the dubbed videotape to me."

After putting away the screening permit that he had spent so much effort to obtain, Zhai Yuan let out a sigh of relief.

Two days later, news about 20-year-old girl Jennifer being raped by four thugs began to appear in the gossip tabloids.

Gradually, more and more citizens noticed the news and called the newspaper office to inquire about the details of the incident.

Four days later, news about Jennifer was still circulating only in the tabloids, but the story had moved to the front page.

More citizens called in and the police also noticed the news.

A week later, Jennifer's news appeared in major newspapers for the first time, accompanied by a police statement saying that no relevant reports had been received so far, and that the investigation would continue, while also hoping that citizens would remain calm.

At the same time, in order to compete with major newspapers for traffic and popularity, gossip tabloids not only put Jennifer's news on the front page, but also included photos of women being humiliated that were taken from unknown sources.

Although there is a line of small words in the corner that says: The content of the picture has nothing to do with the news.

But it still triggered a new round of public opinion.

At the same time, Zhai Yuan also received a call from Li Zhongqiang and received the videotape of the movie "I Spit on Your Grave" which he had re-dubbed.

“Finally it’s all done!”

As Zhai Yuan was walking home with the videotape, he could hear people discussing news about Jennifer on the way.

The news even spread to the housing estate, and even Zhao Meizhen did not allow Zhai Yao to go out at night.

"It's so easy to make a big deal out of this. My cousin made these five thousand dollars really easily."

Liang Zhichao said this sourly as he followed Zhai Yuan back to the housing estate.

Zhai Yuan put his hands in his pockets, turned his head and smiled at him: "Go back and tell your cousin that you can go to the newspaper to refute the rumor. The reason is that he watched a foreign movie and made up this fake news to attract attention..."

(End of this chapter)