Against the Current Hong Kong 1979

Chapter 114 Zhang Shuai'an plans to integrate the cinema chain (2 updates, please subscribe)

"What's wrong?"

Lü Liangwei stepped forward and opened the door, asking Manager Yang with concern.

Zhang Shuai'an also suddenly stood up and walked to the door.

"It's nothing," Manager Yang said with a smile when he saw that the two of them were there. "It's not very safe around here at night, so don't go out wandering around aimlessly. Get some rest."

Lü Liangwei closed the door with some confusion: "Brother An, what do you think Manager Yang is doing?"

"She's testing whether we're here or not," Zhang Shuai'an replied with a smile. "Something similar has probably happened before, so she's coming to test the waters."

Lü Liangwei immediately understood: "What would have happened if we had gone out just now?"

"Nothing will happen," Zhang Shuai'an replied. "At most, she'll go back and report to Manager Fang Yihua and Mr. Shao."

Lü Liangwei broke out in a cold sweat and said to Zhang Shuai'an, "Thank you so much for reminding me, Brother An, otherwise—I would be extremely grateful."

Actually, even if Lü Liangwei really went out and had a wild time, as long as he didn't cause any trouble, there wouldn't be any problems.

Shaw Brothers and Fong Yi-wah have always made the most of their talent. As long as it doesn't involve the interests of Shaw Brothers and TVB, they don't care at all about the actors' character.

However, it will more or less affect the perception, and this perception can sometimes play a significant role when making certain key decisions.

The night passed without incident.

The next morning, a deputy director of the TV station showed up and invited them to have a meal together as a welcome dinner.

It was from this person's words that Zhang Shuai'an learned that someone had indeed reported CTS, and then the Information Bureau sent people to CTS to question them in person.

To avoid any further complications, the station did not send anyone to contact Zhang Shuai'an and his group.

The matter is now over, and everything is back to normal.

"Manager Li, those two films should have passed the censorship, right?"

During the meal, Manager Yang asked a question.

Manager Li smiled and nodded: "It's all approved, absolutely approved. There won't be any problems this time. Moreover, 'Young Detective Bao Qingtian' has already aired two episodes, and the response has been excellent, with ratings exceeding 40%. Everyone at the station is very confident that importing these two dramas is definitely the wisest decision we've made in recent years."

These kinds of polite words are basically just something to listen to and then ignore.

Things proceeded as planned after that: I participated in the filming of some promotional videos, and in the evening, I participated in the recording of a variety show hosted by Zhang Xiaoyan.

This variety show was quite troublesome to film; it took almost an entire night to finish.

By Zhang Shuai'an's standards, it doesn't really qualify as a variety show; at most, it's a compilation of short dramas.

There is a host and some regular guests, all of whom have a persona and a fixed script, and react at appropriate times.

Zhang Shuai-an had only watched a very limited number of Taiwanese variety shows in his previous life. He had occasionally watched a few episodes of "Guoguang Help" and "Kangxi Coming," as well as a segment in "TV Three Musketeers" where they helped a boyfriend and girlfriend catch each other cheating.

Chang Fei, a big name in Taiwan's entertainment industry and Fei Yu-ching's brother, only debuted last year with the band "The Wynners." It will be another three or four years before he enters the variety show world.

Two uneventful days passed, and Zhang Shuai'an and his three companions booked their tickets and returned to Hong Kong after finishing their business.

Zhang Shuai-an was also wondering if there was a chance to meet actresses like Brigitte Lin, Lin Feng-jiao, Teresa Teng, or Hu Hui-zhong in Taiwan.

Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time, and they had absolutely no free time. CTS had packed their schedule quite full, so they were clearly quite reluctant to spend the money and were trying to squeeze some money back from them.

On the other hand, Brigitte Lin is currently in the United States, but the love triangle involving Chin Hsiang-lin and Chin Hsiang-lin has temporarily come to a conclusion this year. In the second half of the year, Chin Hsiang-lin and Brigitte Lin finally got engaged.

At that time, Teresa Teng was also in the United States. Jackie Chan was filming "The Killer" in Hollywood, and that's when the two met and dated for a while. However, their personalities, hobbies, and habits were completely different, and they broke up not long after.

Back in Hong Kong.

Zhang Shuai'an then proceeded with the post-production of "Chasing Girls," which was relatively easier.

The music can be left to Chan Hsun-chi; he's been responsible for many of the music scores for Hong Kong films in the past anyway.

At this time, "Shanghai Bund" continued to be a hit, but it should be nearing its finale.

"Young Master" continues to perform impressively at the box office. Everyone knows that a film that broke the 10 million mark at the Hong Kong box office is about to be born, and everyone is waiting for that day to come.

Zhao Yazhi finally made it public that due to filming three TV series in a row, she has developed some health problems and needs to rest for about half a year. She will temporarily decline any acting offers and announcements.

However, the audience isn't stupid. Although there was no official report about Zhao Yazhi's pregnancy, most people had already guessed it.

This time, Zhao Yazhi unusually went to her parents' house to rest during her pregnancy, which seemed to subtly reveal something unusual.

During a break from editing, Zhang Shuai'an brought a photography team, including Lü Liangwei, Chung Chuh-hung, and Rosamund Kwan, to the beach to shoot a series of photos.

This was filmed for the Baleno company, and will be broadcast on TVB and RTV after the finale of "Shanghai Bund".

Southern Film Company.

That day, Zhang Shuai'an brought Fatty Wang to see the general manager of Shuangnan Cinema Line.

After arriving here, Fatty Wang seemed rather uneasy, constantly looking left and right, and sweating profusely on his face.

"Jing, what's wrong with you?" Zhang Shuai'an asked.

Fatty Wang replied, "This is the left-wing camp. Isn't it inappropriate for us to be here?"

Zhang Shuai'an asked, "What's wrong?"

"Don't you know?" Fatty Wang said nervously in a low voice, "This is a film production base with very close ties to the mainland. If the Liberty Council finds out you're close to them, you might not be able to sell your films in the Taiwan market anymore."

Zhang Shuai'an then asked, "I swam all the way from the mainland."

Wang Jing paused for a moment, then clapped his hands and said, "Oh right, I forgot about that. Never mind then."

"The Freedom Association, I know that." Zhang Shuai'an nodded and said indifferently, "It's just an organization that wields its authority too much."

"You absolutely can't say that," Fatty Wang quickly stopped Zhang Shuai'an. "They really do have the power to restrict Hong Kong films from entering the Taiwan market."

Zhang Shuai'an said, "I have never paid any attention to the soup and broth at the Taiwan Island Market."

Fatty Wang was immediately taken aback, looking at Zhang Shuai'an in astonishment: "If you're not going to make money off the Taiwanese film companies, whose money are you planning to make?"

"The Taiwan market is too small. If we can take it, we will; if not, we won't force it."

Zhang Shuai'an had his own plans, and said seriously, "Moreover, as long as my movie sells well, the film distributors in Taiwan will naturally help solve the so-called ban problem. In this era, everything is about business, including bans."

"What you said makes some sense," Fatty Wang couldn't help but remind him, "However, without the Taiwan market in the short term, the company might not be able to survive for that long."

Zhang Shuai'an said, "Therefore, we need to expand into the market. Japan, South Korea, Europe, and America all earn more than Taiwan. We should also integrate the cinema chains so that we can screen all of them together, which will be more profitable than selling to just one chain."

Wang Pangzi had no idea where Zhang Shuai'an got such confidence; he talked about expanding the market and integrating cinema chains all the time.

The problem now is that we don't have any money!

If you have the money, who wouldn't want to integrate the cinema chains!

Fatty Wang was quite straightforward; these matters didn't concern him much, so he let Zhang Shuai'an worry about them.

Upon arriving at the Southern Film Company building, Zhang Shuai'an greeted the security guard at the reception desk, saying, "Hello, I'm Zhang Shuai'an. I called Manager Xu earlier."

"Wait a moment, let me check."

Upon hearing this, the security guard immediately returned to the pavilion and made a phone call.

A few minutes later, the security guard hung up the phone and opened the gate.

He pointed out, "Mr. Xu is waiting for you in the general manager's office on the third floor."

Thank you.

Zhang Shuai'an thanked him and led Fatty Wang to the general manager's office.

The left-wing cinema chain is now called the "Double South Cinema Chain," which is named after the Southern Cinema and the South China Cinema, which are its flagship cinema chains.

Founded around 1950, this company initially focused on distributing Soviet and Eastern European films, but began to increase its distribution of films from mainland China in the 70s. It was also a major distributor for leftist film companies such as Changfengxin.

After pushing open the conference room door, Zhang Shuai'an saw a sprightly old man who looked to be in his fifties and somewhat thin.

Zhang Shuai'an took the initiative to greet him: "Hello Mr. Xu, I am Zhang Shuai'an, and this is Wang Jing."

Manager Xu stepped forward to greet them, smiling and saying, "It's a pleasure to meet you two young comrades. Please have a seat."

"Mr. Xu should already know why we've come."

After a few pleasantries, Zhang Shuai'an got down to business: "We'd like to screen my commercial film, 'Chasing Girls,' in the Shuangnan Cinema Circuit. What are your thoughts?"

"That might not be very convenient!"

Manager Xu frowned slightly. "As you know, our cinema chain basically only shows specific films. It's not that we don't show commercial films, but we have a consistent policy of not showing films from other companies."

"I've also looked into it, and the Shuangnan Cinema Circuit's business performance hasn't been very good in recent years."

Zhang Shuai'an spoke slowly, "Relying on funding from above is not a long-term solution. Moreover, the mainland is also undergoing reform and opening up, and economic development has become the top priority."

If Shuangnan Cinemas clings to outdated practices, it risks being left behind by the times. I believe that with your company's vision, you must have seen the problem and already implemented reforms.

As Zhang Shuai'an said, the goal was to counter the monopoly of Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest and expand the screening network for leftist films.

Southern Films has recently expressed interest in collaborating with Far East Organization to form a new "Lianhua Cinema Circuit" by combining several of Far East's cinemas.

This matter hasn't spread yet; not many people know about it.

Zhang Shuai'an knew this, of course, because he relied on his memories from the future as a time traveler.

Xu Dunle looked at Zhang Shuai'an with some surprise: "I didn't expect Comrade Zhang to have such a sharp eye at such a young age, even able to see this. So, how do you want to discuss this?"