The world begins with Hong Kong movies

Chapter 742 Stunned! (Seeking monthly votes)
That's why they say having close friends and family members encouraging you can lead to unexpected results.

Wu Aiguo did not expect that his boss, Dehua, would agree to film "Tuen Mun Yelang" so quickly, but he was only willing to provide 2.5 million in filming funds.

For a low-budget crime film, that's enough.

The company didn't even need its boss, Dehua, to exert his influence in the film industry; the staff of Sky Films handled all the preliminary preparations.

Then, we invited the actors and started filming immediately.

Wu Aiguo got the position of assistant director, after all, he was the main writer of the script, so this was called reward for his work.

Of course, this is also related to the fact that Sky Films is a very small company, basically revolving around the film business of its boss, Dehua, and therefore has a serious lack of production.

With fewer people and fewer things to do, there are naturally fewer complicated issues.

Before filming began, Wu Aiguo made a concerted effort.

Using Andy Lau's name, they attracted some scattered sponsorships and product placements.

The total amount was less than 300,000, but it still shocked his colleagues, who exclaimed that it was amazing.

All I can say is that the name of the boss, Dehua, is quite useful.

When they arrived at the filming location in Tuen Mun, they didn't have to spend any extra money on meals. A food stall that appeared many times in the movie provided free meals for the crew.

Faced with his colleagues' praise, Wu Aiguo waved his hand and said it wasn't that mysterious, stating that only a complete script could properly arrange these product placements.

Unexpectedly, trouble came knocking when the actual filming began.

"Hey, hey, hey, where did you film crew come from? Do you even know whose territory this is? You haven't paid the land fee and you want to film? Are you looking down on us?"

Suddenly, five or six gang members appeared out of nowhere, swaggering over with an arrogant, swaggering gait.

The entire crew felt like they'd eaten shit.

Wu Aiguo was speechless. How long had it been since his soul transmigrated here?
Damn, I've worked on two film sets and both times I've encountered this kind of extortion attempt. Is there no justice in this world?
Just kidding. When filming on Hong Kong Island, unless it's a film set like Clear Water Bay or Fushan Road, it's simply impossible to bypass the local triads.

The so-called "site fee" refers to the security costs incurred during filming.

The goal, of course, is to avoid being disturbed during filming.

Otherwise, once the production team gets going, it's constantly burning through money, and we simply can't afford to delay it any longer.

Some big production teams even hire influential figures in the film and television industry to oversee things, since the goal is the same.

Wu Aiguo and several colleagues went directly to the group members, and the colleague in charge of filming handled the situation.

Otherwise, he would have slapped him across the face long ago.

You really can't back down when dealing with gang members who are deliberately picking on you.

He had baseball bats and steel pipes at hand, and he could easily take down several gang members who looked like they had too much of a nightlife and were as thin as monkeys.

Just then, a van suddenly rushed over.

That is, just before hitting someone, he slowed down slightly, and then, like bowling, knocked all the troublemakers to the ground, creating a chaotic scene.

Wu Aiguo hurriedly pulled several colleagues back, their eyes meeting the sharp gaze of the hooded man in the driver's seat of the van.

He is a ruthless character!
The van came to an abrupt stop, and the masked driver quickly got out.

The baseball bat in his hand looked to be of high quality and quite expensive.

They gave the gang members lying on the ground groaning a good beating, and the sound of bones breaking echoed continuously, while their wailing and pleading for mercy were deafening.

"Today we're just collecting some interest; your leader is going to be dead!"

The masked driver sneered, then turned around, got into the car, and drove away.

At this point, the crew members called an ambulance.

"Let's get to work! Everyone, get back to work!" With the club members gone, the crew members immediately resumed normal operations as if nothing had happened.

Nima!

Upon seeing this, Wu Aiguo was at a loss for words.

"Wu-zai, are you scared? This kind of thing is quite common. You'll understand once you've seen it many times!"

The colleague in charge of managing the film crew reassured them, "Don't worry, this has nothing to do with us and won't affect us!"

Does this kind of thing happen often?

Wu Aiguo asked curiously, "Wasn't that person's method a bit too cruel?"

"Cool my ass!"

A colleague muttered under his breath, "Those gang bastards have no bottom line. They deserve to be beaten to death!"

After saying that, he waved his hand and went about his business.

Wu Aiguo clicked his tongue, clearly realizing that his understanding of Hong Kong Island at present was far from sufficient.

After that, there were indeed no more incidents of gang members coming to cause trouble.

A local triad leader came with his men, inquired about the situation, and left without showing any resentment.

When Boss Dehua found out, he didn't say much and remained very calm.

That's why Hong Kong film crews shoot movies incredibly fast.

Filming for "Tuen Mun Yelang" was completed in just half a month.

The director the company hired also said that having a complete script is good, as there's no need to come up with ideas on the fly to piece together the plot.

The post-production editing was also very fast, and it was completely completed in just a few days.

Then, using the remaining filming funds, they placed a few advertisements on television and in newspapers, and the film was released directly.

Wu Aiguo was completely dumbfounded!
Even if the company doesn't value this movie, the release speed is too fast, with almost no promotional effect.

In his understanding, the best way would be to let the public relive the Tuen Mun night owl incident through television stations and newspapers, using detailed data obtained from the police station.

Only then should the movie and its release date be announced, so that the publicity effect can be achieved as expected.

Otherwise, it's unlikely that relying on word-of-mouth will lead to high box office returns.

Sure enough, the film grossed 7.5 million yuan in its first three weeks and was quickly pulled from theaters.

Even so, the boss, Dehua, was quite satisfied and even held a celebration banquet, where each of the main creators received a substantial red envelope.

Wu Aiguo, as the assistant director, received a red envelope of 10,000 yuan.

That's really true; the amount in the red envelopes is equivalent to more than a month's salary.

The company colleagues involved in the filming were all extremely excited, as if a new century had been opened.

They never expected that the ideas and scripts provided by Wu Aiguo would earn them so much money so easily.

"Wu-zai, let's continue!"

Having tasted success, Wu Aiguo's colleagues continued to encourage him to write new scripts, determined to make even more money.

Even Dehua's trusted assistant, Liang, had the urge to get involved.

For no other reason than that Dehua had a bit more money in hand and actually invested in his friend's art film.

(End of this chapter)