Against the Current Hong Kong 1979

Chapter 170: Recruiting Lin Zhengying and Visiting Deborah (Please Subscribe)

(Chapter 162 has been rewritten, with about a thousand words removed. Please bear with it.)

After the meeting, everyone went about their respective tasks and got busy.

Zhang Shuai'an called Yu Sijia over and instructed her, "Go and speak with Mr. Zou. I'll visit him later."

"OK." Yu Sijia nodded.

Zhang Shuai'an then said to Shi Nansheng, "Director Shi, you go ahead and get busy. Once 'Mr. Zombie' starts preparations, you'll have plenty of time to work."

"It's my duty." Shi Nansheng nodded with a smile.

Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly spoke up: "I see that the company is gradually getting on the right track, and it's time to need talent. There's someone I'd like to recommend to President Zhang, but I don't know if you're interested."

"Oh, who do you want to recommend?" Zhang Shuai'an asked knowingly.

"My husband is Tsui Hark," Shi Nansheng said with a smile.

(Tsui Hark and Nansun Shi)

Others address Tsui Hark as either "Master Tsui" or "Old Monster Tsui," but Shi Nansheng always calls him "Master" whether in private or in public.

"Great! I also have great respect for Mr. Xu's talent."

"There has been some instability within RTV recently, and he resigned from his position at the station a long time ago."

Shi Nansheng replied earnestly, "As for working with Mr. Wu Siyuan, it's all done on a per-part basis."

Zhang Shuai'an nodded: "Okay, then you set a time, and I'll meet with Master Xu to discuss the details."

"Okay, I'll let you know when we set a time," Shi Nansheng said happily.

Zhang Shuai'an returned to his office and dealt with some backlogged documents.

A short while later, Yu Sijia knocked on the door and said, "Mr. Zou said he's free now, so if it's convenient, you can come over now."

"Okay, I'll go down now."

After tidying up briefly, Zhang Shuai'an went downstairs to find Zou Wenhuai.

There were already people in Zou Wenhuai's office. In addition to He Guanchang, there was Hong Jingbao with Lin Zhengying and Yuen Biao.

"Anzai, long time no see." Hong Jingbao greeted Zhang Shuai'an with a smile.

Yuen Biao raised his hand to Zhang Shuai'an and said, "Handsome An, you've become even more handsome, almost surpassing me."

Seeing Zhang Shuai'an's rather reserved attitude, Lin Zhengying greeted him somewhat distantly, "Mr. Zhang."

"Hello, Brother Sanmao, Brother Ying, and Brother Biao."

Zhang Shuai'an greeted the three of them, guessing that Hong Jingbao had come to ask for a release date for "Encounters of the Spooky Kind".

Then, he addressed He Guanchang and Zou Wenhuai, saying, "Mr. Zou, Mr. He."

"Anzai, you've come at the perfect time."

Zou Wenhuai smiled and waved to him, "Sit down, everyone sit down and talk."

Zhang Shuai'an then sat down next to Hong Jingbao.

Just then, Zou Wenhuai's female secretary handed him a cup of hot tea.

"You've all come to me, probably because of the Christmas season, right?"

Zou Wenhuai smiled and said to the two of them, "With Ah Long gone, whether Golden Harvest Cinemas can become a hit depends on the two of you."

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"I've already seen the rough cut of Sanmao's 'Encounters of the Spooky Kind,' and the quality is quite good."

He took a sip of tea and said slowly, "But it's a ghost movie after all. Although it has some comedic elements, it's not really suitable for the Christmas atmosphere. It's more in line with Halloween, but unfortunately Halloween has already passed."

Hong Jingbao never liked beating around the bush, so he said directly, "Mr. Zou, how about this? I don't want the Christmas slot anymore, just book a slot for me in the first two weeks of December."

Zou Wenhuai pondered for a moment, then said, "Let's set it for December 5th, which is a Friday."

Hong Jingbao turned to look at Zhang Shuai'an, and seeing that the other man nodded slightly, he replied, "No problem."

"That way, Anzai, your company's 'Thirty-Six Strategies for Pursuing Women' will be delayed by about a week, how about that?"

Zou Wenhuai then looked at Zhang Shuai'an and asked him.

"Okay." Zhang Shuai'an had no objections.

After all, Zou Wenhuai didn't personally direct "The Thirty-Six Strategies for Chasing Women," so it's normal that he didn't have that much confidence in the film.

However, with the success of "Chasing Girls" as a precedent, and being a pure comedy, it's normal for Chow Wen-huai to believe that its box office potential is higher than "Encounters of the Spooky Kind".

As for the Christmas season, Chow Wen-huai has scheduled it for John Woo's new film, "Fight to the End".

"To fight to the bitter end" describes doing everything in one's power, risking everything, and even resorting to unscrupulous means to make money.

Perhaps influenced by the butterfly effect of Zhang Shuai'an, John Woo made this film that did not exist in the original timeline, which, together with the previous "Money Makes Mischief" and "Money Crazy", forms John Woo's "Hate Money" trilogy.

This movie tells the story of two factory workers who, unwilling to toil like beasts of burden for the rest of their lives, try every possible way to start their own businesses. They've set up street stalls, sold beef balls, and even dreamed of becoming male escorts.

They later discovered that they couldn't get rich doing this kind of thing. True wealth comes from shady dealings; only by doing shady things can one become rich. So the two decided to steal their boss's money and gamble it all in Macau. However, through a series of unforeseen events, they ended up stealing the boss's ill-gotten gains intended for buying weapons.

They were immediately hunted down by their boss, gangsters, and arms dealers. Ultimately, they worked with the police to quell the situation, and the two were rewarded. Although they didn't become rich, they did win the hearts of their beloved.

The male leads of this film are Wu Yaohan and Xu Guanying, while the female leads are Miao Kexiu and Guan Zhilin.

Zhang Shuai'an was somewhat surprised when he learned this information. Rosamund Kwan had actually become more diligent, having filmed two or three movies in a row since "Chasing Girls".

After confirming the schedule.

Zhang Shuai'an then mentioned to Zou Wenhuai that he was preparing to make a film to compete in the Spring Festival film season.

Zou Wenhuai asked, "What genre is it? Have you chosen a director and a male lead yet?"

Zhang Shuai'an immediately replied, "I'm the director, it's a dual male lead series, and I'm the lead actor. The genre is similar to 'Encounters of the Spooky Kind'."

It's somewhat similar, but categorized under kung fu films, it's a new genre, which I've named a supernatural kung fu film.

"A supernatural kung fu movie?" Zou Wenhuai pondered the new term, then thought of "Encounters of the Spooky Kind" and found the name quite fitting.

Ho Koon-cheung asked, "So what's your budget this time?"

"The initial budget is four million," Zhang Shuai'an replied. "We expect filming to last about a month and a half, and we may need to shoot on location in Taiwan."

This investment is considered quite high compared to others in the same period, but Zou Wenhuai felt much more at ease considering Zhang Shuai'an's earning power.

After a moment's consideration, Zou Wenhuai said, "Okay, I'll invest in this project, all conditions remain the same."

Zhang Shuai'an, however, said, "I hope the share can be increased by 5%."

"That's acceptable." After a moment's consideration, Zou Wenhuai agreed, but with a condition: "However, you'll have to reduce your share of overseas box office revenue by 5%."

"Then how about we do it the other way around?" Zhang Shuai'an said with a smile. "I can reduce the Hong Kong box office by 5%, and increase the overseas box office by 5%."

Zou Wenhuai said, "I'll give you a maximum increase of 3%."

Overseas box office revenue is the main source of revenue, so for Chow Wen-huai to give up 3% is already quite remarkable.

For example, Jackie Chan's "Young Master" only grossed over HK$11 million in Hong Kong, but it grossed over US$10 million in Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia.

The box office revenue in Taiwan was equivalent to US$278 million, in Japan it was 9.3% of the yen, equivalent to US$411 million, in South Korea it was 43 viewers, equivalent to US$396 million, and in Singapore it was 110 million Singapore dollars, or more than US$50.

Jackie Chan and Golden Harvest's overseas box office revenue share is approximately 35%:65%.

Zhang Shuai'an's "Chasing Girls" has also sold the rights to Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea through Golden Harvest, but it has not yet been released.

The overseas box office revenue sharing agreement he signed with Chow Wen-huai was previously 25%:75%, and now it's increased by 3%, which is quite a lot.

After all, Jackie Chan is Golden Harvest's darling, and currently he certainly has a better market appeal.

The best way for Zhang Shuai'an to increase his share of the profits is to produce high-grossing films and prove his commercial value.

Of course, he could also establish his own connections with other regions.

However, this kind of thing cannot be accomplished in a short period of time.

We still need to rely on Jiahe, a large company, and it's normal to pay the corresponding price.

"Sanmao, Ying, wait a moment, I have something to say to you."

After leaving Zou Wenhuai's office, Zhang Shuai'an called out to Hong Jingbao and Lin Zhengying.

Yuen Biao immediately objected, saying to Cheung Sau-on, "Hey, handsome Cheung, what do you mean by only calling out to those two and not me?"

Zhang Shuai'an laughed and said, "Brother Biao, you come too."

"Forget it, you didn't call me. If I insisted on staying, wouldn't that make me seem too easy to get away with?"

Yuen Biao waved his hand, Chong Hung Ching-po gave him a look, and then they left.

"Let's talk over there," Hong Jingbao said.

Zhang Shuai'an led Hong Jingbao and Lin Zhengying upstairs to his office.

When Yu Sijia saw that guests had arrived, she immediately went to make tea.

After sitting down, Hong Jingbao asked directly, "What do you want us to do here?"

"You all heard what I just said to Mr. Zou."

Zhang Shuai'an said with a smile, "I said there are two male leads, one of whom is me, and the other one we'll have to borrow from you, Brother Sanmao."

Hong Jingbao asked, "Who do you want to borrow? It can't be me, can it?"

"It's Brother Ying," Zhang Shuai'an said, pointing to Lam Ching-ying. "I want him to be the other male lead."

Lam Ching-ying was taken aback, then pointed to himself: "Me?"

"Yes!" Zhang Shuai'an nodded solemnly: "Moreover, half of the highlights and selling points of this movie lie in you, Ying-ge."

Lam Ching-ying found this statement absurd: "On-jai, don't joke with me. In all of Hong Kong, the most commercially successful people are Ah Lung and you. I'm just a stuntman who occasionally plays a small role. What's my selling point?"

Zhang Shuai'an didn't answer him, but instead looked at Hong Jingbao: "Brother Sanmao, what's your opinion?"

Hung King-po readily agreed and even advised, "Ah Ying, since On-jai has taken a liking to you, then you should do your best to help him with his filming!"

Upon hearing Hung Ching-pao's words, Lam Ching-ying didn't hesitate: "Okay, I'll act."

Zhang Shuai'an and Lin Zhengying agreed to discuss the details of their cooperation the next day.

After seeing Hong Jingbao and Lin Zhengying off, Zhang Shuai'an called Ling Zhijian and went to the hospital to visit Di Bona.

Xie Xian cherished his offspring so much that as soon as Di Bona found out she was pregnant, he booked a special care ward at St. Mary's Hospital and hired several nurses and nannies to take care of her 24 hours a day.

Dibona was quite happy to see Zhang Shuai'an.

However, despite her happiness, she also had some lingering worries.

Zhang Shuai'an presented a gift of HK$100,000 as a small token of his appreciation.

Xie Xian expressed both gratitude and apology to Zhang Shuai'an: "Anzai, I'm really sorry for delaying your filming."

"It's alright, the movie's finished filming anyway." Zhang Shuai'an was quite understanding: "La Jie's health is the most important thing, you can't be too careful."

"What a loyal friend!" Xie Xian pointed at Zhang Shuai'an and said, "From now on, if you want to work with me, Xie, you'll get a 50% discount!"

Zhang Shuai'an nodded and said, "Then thank you in advance, Fourth Brother."

"When my son is born, I'll definitely make him recognize you as his godfather!" Xie Xian laughed heartily, feeling that Zhang Shuai'an was just the kind of person he liked.

Zhang Shuai'an said with a smile, "That's great, I will definitely treat him like my own son."

"It's settled!" Xie Xian patted Zhang Shuai'an on the shoulder, very happy.