My Lord, you need to stand up!

Chapter 863 A Free Life Begins in the Heart

Hong Kong films need people like Wang Xin to make money.

Brother Long is exceptionally talented at making comedy-martial arts films. With various locations for filming, stunt performers, and explosive scenes, the production cost can reach 30 to 40 million, which means the film needs to gross over 70 to 80 million to make a profit.

This is almost impossible in Hong Kong.

Therefore, the scenario of making a small profit from an investment of several million or tens of millions, a big profit from twenty million, and a huge profit from over thirty million is the most in line with the laws of business companies.

However, this refers to the cost of covering the local market in Hong Kong. If the film is a popular film with a budget of over ten million in Hong Kong, the box office will often be higher than that in Hong Kong, even if it is sold in other regions such as Makan, Right Bank, Southeast Asia, Chinatowns in Europe and America.

Additional revenue is generated from the sale of videotape rights, television broadcasting rights, product placement, and soundtracks.

These are the net profits.

Therefore, the second half is often the key to whether a movie makes money. The reason why Jackie Chan is desperately expanding overseas box office is that the low-cost model in Hong Kong can no longer support his ambition. Movies that are made at a high price must be widely released to make big money.

When Qin Yuye heard that Chow Yun-fat had decided to take the team on a "tour", he was overjoyed and quickly said, "I'll entrust the team to you to tour various parts of Southeast Asia first. Isn't appearing on stage in cinemas the same as promoting the movie? The box office will definitely be a huge success!"

Moreover, next year, the Cherokee SUV, which has already begun mass production of parts for mainland China, will be like a basketball team playing commercial games and promotional matches everywhere to sell cars.

Wei Dong told her to shut up: "Now that this team will be competing in the Olympics next year, how could we possibly expose ourselves to commercial matches... But it's fine to have Cherokee or similar advertisements on our jerseys."

At this point, he finally expressed his frustration: "Oh dear, why didn't the jerseys in the movie have any advertisements?"

Chow Yun-fat said no problem: "I will definitely take on this part of the work when leading the team on the trip. I'm really tired of filming and want to try a new life. In any case, I still want to thank the boss for everything he has given me."

It should be said that Wei Dong helped him solve his immediate problem by starting with shampoo, and after he became popular again, he didn't try to take advantage of him.

Instead, he helped her buy a new house, which marked her entry into a different social class. Then, without any delay, he became a shareholder of the basketball company, completely changing his public image.

Most importantly, the two films currently being shot have generated over 60 million to nearly 70 million in local revenue. This means that Wei Dong only took back his initial investment of over 10 million Hong Kong dollars plus some interest before leaving. The rest was distributed based on the film company's shares and the actors' proportions. Chow Yun-fat has already received over 10 million, Wang Xin has received 7 to 8 million, and Ng Man-tat has received over 2 million for his supporting roles. Leung Ka-fai and Stephen Chow, who were just extras, each received over 1 million, leaving Wei Dong and his wife with only a few million in the end.

Even Wang Xin said he should contribute more to the boss's script outline, jokingly saying he wanted to get more of a share as the screenwriter.

In short, these two films alone are equivalent to all the films Chow Yun-fat has made before!

This is after his earnings increased to nearly a million in one year. Before that, he earned two or three hundred thousand per game, with a maximum of four hundred thousand.

So they were eager to fight bravely, as long as they weren't filming.

Moreover, someone else might worry that if I take such a long break and come back to acting, I might be pretentious and get abandoned by the market.

Now, Chow Yun-fat has Wei Tung backing him up, and his status as a basketball team owner and film company shareholder also supports his mindset, which he is used to being poor.

I finally dared to open my heart and go out for a walk.

He also emphasized that he must help the company make money while he's on his way.

Without further ado, after watching Leung Ka-fai's premiere, Chow Yun-fat led his basketball team to play a series of matches in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.

With Wei Dong now officially becoming the president of the HK Basketball Association, and having the association's staff contact the relevant national teams to see if they are willing to participate, it feels like he has the status of a diplomatic department.

It's so addictive!
Zhang Jinsong and the others were also very excited.

In the month or so since arriving in Hong Kong, Fan Bin quickly obtained his temporary Hong Kong identity card. He was the first to learn to drive, and Wei Dong bought him a brand new Dodge minivan as the team car. The group of them then enthusiastically drove around to see the world during their free time from training!

I didn't spend much money; the main thing was enjoying this completely free lifestyle.

Without any leaders shouting or government officials emphasizing, there is still a lot of free time after completing the high-intensity scientific training plan with a large amount of exercise every day.

Unlike the Black and White players who are keen on playing video games, the players from the four teams, one of whom has become a coach, have a more advanced mindset.

He led Ma Jian slowly from the neighborhood around the basketball court, gradually expanding the search area. They went to the more unspoiled Yau Tsim Mong, the more dilapidated Kowloon City, the Kai Tak runway with its constant flow of airplanes, the bustling and glamorous Central, the dazzling Causeway Bay, and the Clear Water Bay artists' village construction site that Wei Dong had taken them to before.

If you don't drive out, you can run or bike with Camp to the water sports center five kilometers away to play surfboards, windsurfing, and jet skis. Of course, you can also take extra classes with the fitness coach there.

Lu Bin encouraged Ma Jian, saying, "Look at Kemp's muscles and explosive power; they're the result of extra training. You need to catch up."

Moreover, after Wei Dong became the president of the Basketball Association, and half of the team and all the main players were his people, the Basketball Association must have opened up the use of the team.

The 5,000-seat stadium where the first competition was held became the training hall for the HK team. In any case, the stadium's standards far exceeded those of a dock warehouse conversion. It was open to the public every day for HK$5 to watch training sessions, and children under the age of 15 could visit for free.

If we move the sports brands that were previously crammed into the basketball court warehouse area to this place to set up stalls and put up a ring of billboards around them, selling advertising space for the Olympic team's global warm-up training commercial matches, then we can make another profit.
Moreover, this money doesn't go into Wei Dong's pocket; it all goes into the HK Basketball Association's revenue. Besides giving a few staff members an extra Olympic allowance, it's injected into the HK primary and secondary school basketball budget. Starting next year, primary and secondary schools will be encouraged to increase basketball competitions, and Olympic teams will be present to give demonstrations to children and parents.

This makes the work more varied.

Everyone felt the change, and in the end, it was the president of the Basketball Association who received the overwhelming praise.

Even the veterans couldn't help but tease Wei Dong, saying, "Isn't what you're doing just making us, the presidents of the sports associations, look like we're not even worthy of the title?"

It's important to know that there are a total of 74 sports federations under the HK Sports Federation!
Wei Dong unexpectedly snatched basketball, a sport that wasn't particularly popular in Hong Kong before, but which is now the second most popular sport in the world after football.

He then pulled himself into the group of dozens of association presidents.

It should be noted that, including the Sports Federation's one president and eight vice presidents, these dozens of people include almost all of Hong Kong's Justices of the Peace!
Regardless of how movies and TV dramas make fun of it, or how the mainland public and the government view these titles of gentry established by the Great British Empire, in Hong Kong they are celebrities and big shots, appointed to individuals who have made significant contributions to Hong Kong's development and can help maintain social stability.

This is what a proper high society social circle looks like.

So Wei Dong took his wife to a general association meeting. Using their experience of attending meetings at the prefecture-level city tax authorities, they observed that water sports in Hong Kong were meticulously divided into eight general associations: swimming, rowing, canoeing, sailing, windsurfing, dragon boating, diving, and waterskiing!

Then I will apply to participate in the work of the Windsurfing Association, not seeking a position such as president, but simply to contribute by sponsoring equipment and assisting in the development of the sport.

The purpose of the couple's discussion at home was to ensure that Li Yue'e could participate in a series of competitions smoothly, and not be ostracized within the team due to various objective factors. Having someone at home makes things easier.

As a result, the surfing club, which was so poor that it had to bring its own sails to join, didn't hesitate to pull in a billionaire, saying, "You can be the president, and you only need to pay a sponsorship fee of five million Hong Kong dollars per year!"
Despite having so many wealthy people in Hong Kong, who would actually sponsor this kind of thing?

"Alright, alright," Wei Dong said, making him and his wife exchange glances and pretend to reluctantly agree.

Actually, she was secretly chuckling to herself. Qin Yuye had sighed many times in private that her brother had earned tens of millions or even hundreds of millions and opened so many companies, but in the end, he never became a celebrity. Her husband was much better, finding this path in a unique way!
Even if their own business has nothing to do with sports, they can still enter the circle through this.

For someone like Wei Dong, who is preparing to make a living in the sports industry, it's like adding wings to a tiger. Just the basketball halls directly under the Basketball Association alone have hundreds of community and school basketball courts throughout Hong Kong. Although they all have their own property owners, if they want to hold official competitions, they all need to apply for approval, register, hire referees, and sell tickets.

They wield immense power!
When you're truly both the referee and the player, many things become your own business.

But Wei Dong thought to himself, "Don't even look at the guys I found. Before finding Kemp, I really didn't expect it to be so fast. It was only after qualifying for the Olympics that I was forced to find those guys..."

Of course, at this time, neither of them expected that Wei Dong, as the president of the basketball association, would at least play on the court often and be considered a little wild among amateur players with some unique skills.

"Now that you've become the president of the windsurfing association, you'll have to go out and skate around sometime, won't you?" the senior member teased the junior.

Wei Dongcai asked, "Are you going to participate in all of these?"

The veteran said proudly, "I was quite the football player when I was young. How about we play a game of chess?"

Wei Dong gasped, "Oh no, I can barely swim..."

The old man laughed heartily, finally feeling a bit relieved: "It took me two or three decades to become the president of two associations. Of course, there weren't many associations back then, and they weren't very open to Chinese people. I thought I was fighting for the rights of Chinese people, but you've figured this out way too quickly!"

Wei Dong quickly recommended: "Let's watch a movie! Don't you think this film should be shown in mainland China with the words 'Sponsored by the Hong Kong Chess Association' on it?"

Qin Yuye secretly pinched Shen Laosan, saying, "Look, look, the master is cheating people out of money again!"
(End of this chapter)