Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 501 Splitting up the agency and sending out invitations
With the Cosmic Hero Festival just around the corner, Gu Ming has already given special instructions, as there are likely to be quite a few people attending.

But now, Gu Ming has something he absolutely must do.

Split up the firm.

Extreme Action Agency has never been a large organization, with fewer than fifty employees, which is incomparable to other agencies in Japan.

In particular, there is a unique characteristic within the Extreme Action Agency: only a few people can truly be called actors, while the rest are mostly just extras, stuntmen, or ordinary action performers.

Just like the martial arts stuntmen in Jackie Chan's stunt team, they get paid, but they have no status.

Furthermore, Gu Ming continued to recruit people who could not be called action actors, and now, splitting up the agency is an inevitable thing.

Gu Ming plans to split the agency into three parts. One part is a team based on various killing formation masters, positioned as a base of various martial arts troupes. In addition to supporting his own performances, it can also be lent out to anyone who comes to it—but only with his consent.

Gu Ming had no intention of following in Cheng Long's footsteps.

Jackie Chan was initially very good to the Jackie Chan Stunt Team, until he was betrayed by them during the filming of Operation Condor. The Stunt Team took on private jobs outside, which meant that when Jackie Chan needed people, he couldn't find anyone. In the end, Jackie Chan disbanded the Jackie Chan Stunt Team, and the reorganized team's positioning changed from the original brotherhood to simply being paid employees.

These are all lessons from the past, and Gu Ming remembers them clearly.

Therefore, the reorganized extreme stunt agency will only receive a fixed salary. They may have some holidays and corresponding benefits in accordance with Japanese law, but there will be no other bonuses. At most, there will be extra bonuses when performing dangerous stunts.

The second part is simply an actors' agency, which includes himself, various young male and female actors including Kanako Higuchi and Hiroko Yakushimaru, as well as actors like Ryu Manatsu who are about to become famous but haven't really become famous yet.

This part of the business is similar to that of a regular talent agency, acting as an intermediary to introduce performance opportunities and taking a share of the profits, etc.

After the reorganization, it was named 'Seventh Actor Agency'.

—Gu Ming originally planned to register the name as Madou Media or 1024, but for some reason, this name, which looks very normal in Japan, was directly rejected.

This left Gu Ming feeling very regretful, so he had no choice but to use the name of his first starring role, 'The Seventh'.

The third part involves separating the computer special effects team into a separate department. When the team is not filming, it can provide business services to other companies.

After much discussion, the special effects team was named the 'Bishamonten Electronic Special Effects Compositing Team'.

This Space Hero Festival is not only an opportunity to build brand awareness and promote new works, but also a chance to showcase technology and the technical capabilities of Bishamonten's electronic special effects compositing team.

Standing in the warehouse of the Extreme Action Agency, Gu Ming looked around and felt somewhat emotional.

In the blink of an eye, he has been busy here for several years. From when he first came to this world and was responsible for night patrols, to later renting a warehouse as the agency's activity base, to now, it has been seven years.

Gu Ming is also preparing to move away from here.

The stunt agency will continue to conduct daily training and work here, but the actors' agency will relocate to an office building in downtown Tokyo.

Gu Ming rented two floors and leased them for ten years straight, leaving the office building property management in disbelief.

This is a stable, high-quality, major client.

Gu Ming was embarrassed to admit it—the yen's value was fluctuating wildly, and it was expected to plummet in 1991… He certainly wouldn't buy a house before then. He'd rent it for ten years straight to avoid the office building management raising the rent.

Just rent it!
"Alright, let's pack up and get ready to leave. We probably won't be coming back here often after this."

Gu Ming had just turned around when he saw Tanaka's assistant coming over with a folder of files.

"Brother Gugu, the park invitations have been pre-ordered and can be sent out at any time. Do you have any medicine to replenish?"

"That's all, right? It's a given that we'll send copies to the major film and television companies, including Toho, Toei, Shochiku, Nikkatsu, and Kadokawa. It's also only natural that we'll send copies to the well-known acting agencies in the industry. And we should also send copies to our friends and acquaintances... Oh, right, send a copy to Hong Kong as well."

Gu Ming guessed that Cheng Long probably wouldn't be able to come at this time, but he still sent him a copy anyway.

Originally, Jackie Chan should have been preparing for the film at this time, but since he received the script ahead of schedule, he started preparing for Project A early this morning. At this moment, Jackie Chan is filming Project A.

They may not be able to come, but invitations still need to be sent out.

After all, if Gu Ming hadn't taken his work, Jackie Chan would have become famous just like before.

When Jackie Chan's films were released in Japan last year, even "Lupin III" benefited from the hype.

Lupin III is not an emperor or a prince; Lupin III is both a work of art and a person. Lupin III is a national-level adventure manga in Japan. Other similar phantom thief works, such as Cat's Eye, are actually his successors in history.

Even so, when promoting the show on television, they still made a point of having Lupin III's character perform a set of Jackie Chan's kung fu moves.

It's a win-win situation.

Now Gu Ming is only responsible for sending out invitations.

As for whether Cheng Long can come, Gu Ming thinks it's unlikely.

…… ……

Just as Gu Ming had envisioned, the invitations were quickly sent to various companies in Tokyo.

Of course, these are mainly companies involved in film and television business.

Toho had already planned to hire a special effects team to assist in rebooting Godzilla, so they naturally came.

Relations with Toei are sometimes good, sometimes bad, but money is timeless, and they are planning to send someone over.

The invitations were naturally sent to Hong Kong as well.

Hong Kong, Jiahe.

Golden Harvest set up a company specifically for Jackie Chan, called Fist Power Films Limited, to invest in and produce his own films.

Since his less-than-successful trip to the United States, Jackie Chan has been holding back a lot of energy.

It's unacceptable to be insulted to your face in America and then be insulted again back in Hong Kong! People are pointing fingers at you and saying, "What rubbish is Jackie Chan making, you lousy bum!"

Until now.

Project A has finally finished filming, but it still needs editing.

Golden Harvest even reserved a screening time for this, which is this winter.

This film, which was originally scheduled to be released in the winter of 1983, has appeared a year earlier than planned.

In terms of quality, Jackie Chan believes it is absolutely fine and can be considered the best film of his career!

It boasts excellent action choreography, a deep script, and a rich historical context. It also received assistance from the Hong Kong Marine Police Department and invited his senior martial arts brother, Sammo Hung, to play one of the film's characters.

Even the story is different from the light-script Hong Kong films of the past, telling a complete story.

It's important to know that Hong Kong films have always relied on plot to drive the movie, and the stories themselves are quite scattered.

For example, Jackie Chan's early films only had one main storyline: revenge. The content consisted entirely of various fight scenes and comedic interludes.

This time, Jackie Chan is truly determined to regain his reputation in Hong Kong.

"Everyone contributed to the successful completion of our film! Let's go for drinks tonight, and drink until we drop!"

He raised his arm and shouted, and the crowd cheered in unison.

Drinking and eating without having to pay for it yourself, how great is that!
"Brother Long."

The assistant jogged over and got a few points closer.

"There is an invitation, sent from Japan."

"Japanese? Let me take a look."

Cheng Long glanced through it; the invitation was in Chinese, so he could understand it.

"A cosmic hero... oh, Ultraman! Why does he want to see me?"

Cheng Long was somewhat confused.

The assistant lowered his voice: "That's right, I heard that the small company that filmed Ultraman was acquired by Gu Sheng, and now he's the boss himself."

Jackie Chan said, "It's similar to the power of a fist?"

The assistant scratched his head: "Uh, it should be about right?"

The assistant wasn't too sure either, since he had never been to Japan.

Since it was an invitation from an old friend, and it was from some company, Cheng Long didn't care.

Let's go check it out. Anyway, we have invitations and there's no entrance fee. It's just a way to support an old friend.

"Well, the movie won't be released until December this year, so there's still time for editing. I'll go and talk to my godfather and find two weeks to go to Japan for a good rest!"

Hong Kong certainly has things to do, but when it comes to the service industry...

This isn't Jackie Chan praising someone excessively.

But Japan's service industry is absolutely the best in Asia!

Thumbs up!
(End of this chapter)