The world begins with Hong Kong movies

Chapter 348 The Unexpected Event Has Finally Arrived

Wen Bixia followed Yanfang into a private room on the second floor of an upscale nightclub.

The luxurious private room was filled with many people, all of whom were celebrities in the Hong Kong entertainment industry.

Leslie Cheung, Andy Lau, and several members of the Grasshopper band were all there; they were all close friends of Anita Mui.

"Why are you here so late?"

When Guorong saw Yanfang, he immediately joked, "I hope I haven't bothered you?"

Upon seeing Wen Bixia enter, his eyes lit up, and he chuckled, "So it's you, A-Xia! What a rare guest!"

At this moment, Andy Lau and the Grasshopper band members all stood up to greet her, and when they saw Wen Bixia, they also showed surprise on their faces.

"I hope my sudden arrival won't disturb you!"

Wen Bixia didn't seem awkward at all, and chuckled as she said, "Sister Mei asked me to come over and have some fun!"

"How could we possibly disturb you? We'd be more than happy to welcome you!"

Guorong chuckled and said, "We'd be very happy to get close to a beautiful woman like you, Ah Xia!"

Andy Lau, who was standing next to him, and the members of the Grasshopper band all nodded in agreement.

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

At this moment, Yanfang sat down casually and said irritably, "Just now, Xia and I were at the entertainment center of Fengrui Film and Television. The latest internal popularity ranking of Fengrui Film and Television has been released!"

At this point, pointing at Wen Bixia, she exclaimed, "The top spot on the popularity chart is still held by A-Xia. It's been four months in a row, hasn't it?"

"awesome!"

Upon hearing this, Guo Rong couldn't help but show a surprised expression, and hurriedly praised, "Fengrui Film and Television's internal popularity chart is very well done. I try to get a copy of it every week, but it's a pity it's not sold to the public!"

Andy Lau chimed in, "Yes, I think this popularity chart could be promoted throughout the entire Hong Kong entertainment industry!"

"Every month, we can find out which celebrity is the most popular, so we have a clear reference!"

At that time, he was one of the top ten male stars in Hong Kong.

The minimum salary for a single movie is two million!

Crucially, his singing career was also thriving, and the combination of the two made him incredibly famous, leading him to start his own film company early on.

Ahem, this is Sky Screen Film Company, which is frequently mentioned in many rebirth entertainment novels.

It's just a pity that Andy Lau's business acumen is far inferior to his fame.

The key issue is that this person was too loyal, and as a result, he was completely betrayed by his so-called friends.

Regardless, Andy Lau was now the owner of a film and television company, and his status and position had changed.

As for the Grasshopper band members, they are purely background figures here, just there to make up the numbers.

They had a close relationship with Yanfang, or rather, they were Yanfang's apprentices.

And so it is; in the rankings of Hong Kong Island bands, it is able to steadily surpass the band founded by Wong Ka Kui, at least in terms of awards.

In fact, everyone in the Hong Kong music scene knows that Wong Ka Kui's talent far surpasses that of the Grasshopper band. Whether it's releasing his own songs or participating in the creation of theme songs for films and television dramas, Wong Ka Kui was an exceptionally talented singer-songwriter.

Unfortunately, Grasshopper had Yanfang as a powerful backer!
And so it was. In the end, Wong Ka Kui saw no further opportunities in the Hong Kong music scene, so he decided to try his luck in the small entertainment industry.

"You two are overthinking it!"

Wen Bixia sat next to Yanfang and shook her head, saying, "The popularity charts are not easy to promote at all, and it's difficult to calculate the individual revenue alone!"

Traditional Chinese thinking: Don't flaunt your wealth!
Fengrui Films is a breath of fresh air in the Hong Kong entertainment industry. Other film and television companies certainly don't protect their stars and artists to the same extent as Fengrui Films.

It's not that they lack ideas, but rather that they lack the necessary strength.

"Sister Mei was coming over, so she invited me to come and have some fun!"

Wen Bixia continued, "In the future, I might get more film contracts outside, and who knows, I might have the opportunity to work with Brother Hua and Brother Rong!"

"Let's get to know each other beforehand, so we won't be too unfamiliar with each other when we cooperate later!"

She acted with grace and composure, without hiding her true thoughts.

This shows that you have confidence!
There's no other reason than that she's backed by Fengrui Film & Television, and she's the top female star at Fengrui Film & Television!
When it comes to film and television resources, none of the people in the private room can compare to her.

However, the competition within Fengrui Films is fierce, and there aren't many films that suit her image and temperament, so it's time for her to go out and explore.

She's a pioneer; once she's paved a relatively stable and reliable path, other stars and artists from Fengrui Film & Television will follow suit.

The Hong Kong entertainment industry is booming, with a large influx of funds and resources. For Fengrui Films to be able to occupy more than 30% of the film market is already quite remarkable.

Other film companies are not to be underestimated either, and a large amount of hot money is pouring in, so there are plenty of opportunities.

"Haha, Xia, that's a great idea!"

Leslie Cheung smiled and said, "Would you like me to help you find some film offers?"

"No need to trouble Brother Rong!"

Wen Bixia waved her hand and said, "We've received quite a few film offers from outside, and my management team will help us choose the good ones!"

"What about the movies from Fengrui Films? A-Xia, aren't you going to make them anymore?"

Andy Lau asked curiously, "Those are all high-quality projects!"

When he said this, his tone was full of envy.

Only after starting his own film company did he realize just how complicated it was to keep the company running and to produce movies.

It can only be said that Wu Feng's appearance changed many things.

Firstly, the Hong Kong film and television industry places far greater emphasis on scripts than in normal times.

They are particularly enthusiastic about adapting classic and popular novels into film and television dramas.

As a result, Andy Lau's film company has also become more meticulous in terms of scripts.

Putting aside other things, I won't be easily fooled by a few words from a friend.

The films produced by his company were either based on novels or real-life events. Although the production quality was still not very high, the box office performance after the screening was barely acceptable.

At least, unlike in a normal timeline, they didn't lose everything, not even their pants.

Most of the films produced by Sky Films were only minor losses.

However, one or two films did make a small profit, resulting in an overall loss of less than five million. This is the biggest change. Otherwise, why would Andy Lau be in the mood to go out and have fun right now?
The burden of tens of millions in debt nearly drove him to the brink of collapse.

"how is this possible?"

Wen Bixia chuckled and said, "If there's a suitable role, I'll definitely prioritize the company's own movies!"

"That's it!"

Andy Lau nodded to show he understood and said directly, "I was just thinking of asking you, the top actress at Fengrui Films, to help me get a role in one of your company's movies!"

In Hong Kong's film and television industry today, apart from a few superstars, who isn't keeping a close eye on Fengrui Films' every move?
There are countless celebrities who want to collaborate with us!

There was no way around it; at this point, Fengrui Films was already showing signs of becoming the leader of the Hong Kong film industry, much like Cinema City at its peak.

Fengrui Films is very different from Cinema City in that it produces a wide variety of film genres rather than focusing on a single genre.

With its excellent integration of entertainment and cultural activities, and even better collaboration with arcade games, it naturally attracted many film and television companies in Hong Kong to follow suit and pursue it.

For example, Andy Lau really wants to collaborate with Fengrui Films.

It's just a pity that his salary is too high.

At present, unless it is a period action film or an action movie that requires a lot of props, Fengrui Films will keep the production cost of a movie under 15 million.

Actors' salaries, including the director's and staff's salaries, should ideally be kept to around one-third of the total budget to ensure the quality of the film produced.

The total production costs for medium-budget and low-budget films have been reduced to less than ten million and five million respectively.

Under such circumstances, actors' salaries really cannot be too high.

Only truly big-budget productions, those that have received Wu Feng's approval, can break through such limitations in production costs.

That's true; although Fengrui Films enjoys immense success, it has never actually collaborated with superstars like Andy Lau or Leslie Cheung.

"Sure, I can talk to the company about it!"

Wen Bixia readily replied, "As for the specifics, we'll have to discuss that with a specialist at the company!"

Andy Lau's fame speaks for itself, and at this time he is also the owner of a film company, so he can completely decide how much his salary is.

This leaves room for negotiation; otherwise, there's simply no way to bring it up.

"Thank you very much, Xia!"

Andy Lau was all smiles, never expecting the opportunity to come so easily.

As for his desire to collaborate with Fengrui Film & Television, his main purpose, besides wanting to act in movies, is to gain in-depth access to Fengrui Film & Television's script system.

It can be said that Fengrui Films holds novel copyright resources that are the envy of all film and television companies in Hong Kong; they are all golden goose that can lay eggs.

Guorong wasn't in a rush to cooperate, but he was quite curious about Fengrui Films' production situation.

Who can blame them when Fengrui Pictures is truly doing a good job?

Previously, both Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest tried every means to penetrate the mainstream American film market.

Both companies are quite ambitious, investing huge sums of money, each amounting to tens of millions of dollars.

As a result, by collaborating with film companies in the United States, they provided the funding but relinquished control over the film's production.

In the end, he inevitably suffered a crushing defeat, almost ruining the rising star of Hong Kong Island.

Especially Cheng Shilong, if he is not mentally strong enough, he could really be driven to a mental breakdown by the American film companies.

Later, Cinema City rose to prominence, but unfortunately, Mr. Lei's determination was insufficient, and even entering the Southeast Asian Chinese market was quite difficult.

At most, they managed to open up the Taiwan market through Zhang Aijia's connections, but the actual profits were just so-so.

Take Cinema City's trump card, the "Aces Go Places" series, for example!
Due to copyright issues, it simply couldn't penetrate the small-market segment or the European and American markets. Despite its impressive box office figures in Hong Kong, it didn't actually make much money.

By the time of the fourth installment of "Aces Go Places," the series' decline was already quite evident.

It's not that there aren't good stories!

The directors and screenwriters at Cinema City could easily emulate the James Bond series and localize the content of well-known detective films and television dramas from Europe and America; they have consistently done a very good job.

The problem is that relying solely on box office revenue from Hong Kong Island, Taiwan, and parts of Southeast Asia, as well as copyright revenue, is not enough to cover production costs.

There's no other reason than that there are more large-scale productions now, and actors' salaries have increased dramatically, leading to outrageous production costs.

Of course, with its connection to classic and high-quality films and arcade games, Cinema City not only did not fall apart, but on the contrary, it thrived.

They've even started preparing for the fifth and sixth installments of "Aces Go Places," because it's profitable.

The arcade game adapted from the movie of the same name was able to easily cover its production costs by selling well in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and parts of Southeast Asia.

Other revenue streams, such as box office revenue and copyright revenue, are all profits!

When it was Fengrui Films' turn to take the lead, they surprisingly succeeded in getting some of their films into the European and American markets.

Although few films can enter the mainstream film market, it is already quite difficult to even get into some cinemas in Europe and America.

The videotape market, in particular, has only just begun to boom in Europe and America. Most of Fengrui Films' movie videotapes can be sold through videotape channels there.

Putting aside other things, relying on the large number of videotapes sent over, and the high-quality action movies that are occasionally shown in some cinemas in Europe and America, and even in the mainstream film market, they have already gained a certain reputation in Europe and America.

This is quite remarkable!
In other words, Fengrui Films doesn't have a leading male action star; otherwise, given the channels they control, they would probably already be quite famous in Europe and America.

Hong Kong kung fu films are unique in Europe and America!
The fame and influence that Bruce Lee left behind can help action actors in Hong Kong to more easily and smoothly enter the European and American markets.

Thus, Fengrui Films was at that time a film company with global influence and prestige.

Naturally, it has an extraordinary attraction for male celebrities in Hong Kong.

They were all in the industry, and had very good temperaments and personalities, so the communication was quite harmonious and pleasant.

Wen Bixia easily adapted to the relaxed atmosphere in the private room, chatting happily with Yanfang, Andy Lau, and Leslie Cheung about the Hong Kong entertainment industry.

Not to mention others, even the Grasshopper band members, who had been playing a supporting role the whole time, listened with great interest and were completely absorbed in it.

Given their status in the Hong Kong entertainment industry, it's almost impossible for them to know so much inside information about the film and television industry.

boom!
Just as everyone was chatting and enjoying themselves, the door to the private room was suddenly opened from the outside, and several men in suits swaggered in, completely ignoring the astonished looks on everyone's faces.

"Brother Hua, will you accept our invitation or not?"

The middle-aged man at the head of the group had a fierce look on his face. He glanced at everyone in the private room, his gaze lingering on Wen Bixia for a moment before looking at Hua Zai, whose face was pale.

(End of this chapter)