Dreams of the Fragrant River

~: Two hundred and sixteen [Shaw's dilemma]

Due to the early prosperity of Hong Kong films, the quality of Hong Kong films and the taste of the audience have improved a lot at this time, and the result is that the Hong Kong film circle is becoming more and more chaotic. [;Starting]

More and more film companies are opening, and there are even people who don't know much about movies, but are willing to invest all their wealth in making movies. It seems that as long as he enters the film circle, everyone can be Kang Jianfei, soar to the sky and become rich in billions.

Most of these small film companies are shoddy, and the quality of their films is extremely low. Nine out of ten films cannot be released in several major theaters.

Can't show what they filmed for?

Don't forget that in addition to the four major theater chains, there are also many neighborhood theaters and rural theaters.

In another time and space, the total number of cinemas in Hong Kong in 1980 was 83. In 1981, due to the slump in the stock market and the property market and the economic downturn, the total number of cinemas dropped to 82, but in 1982 it soared to 89 ( This year was the beginning of the Hong Kong film boom).

But now it is completely different. Because of the butterfly effect brought about by Kang Jianfei's random entry, the early prosperity of Hong Kong films has not only added a large number of small film companies in Hong Kong, but also caused the number of theaters to continue to grow. In addition to the newly opened 4 cinemas on the Golden Princess Cinema Line, many scattered small cinemas have also been added.

It is only the early autumn of 1981, and the total number of cinemas in Hong Kong has grown to 88.

The low-quality films produced by those small film companies are shown in a large number of scattered small theaters. Although they can only sell hundreds of thousands at the box office if they are killed, it is enough for them to recover the cost and make a small profit.

Especially for those illegal pornographic films, one man and one woman can make a film with one bed, one camera, and one man and one woman.

While Hong Kong's film boom is accelerating, Shaw Brothers is declining ahead of schedule.

The sign of Shaw's decline is not in the reduction in the number of films it produces each year. On the contrary, its production has exploded this year, producing 17 films in the first half of the year alone.

Why does this happen?

This is because the attendance rate of Shaw Brothers' films is too low, and each film has to be released in advance within a few days of its release. And there is a big booth in the Shaw Brothers Cinema Line. If you don't release a movie, you will lose money every day, so Shaw Brothers has to increase the production of movies to meet the needs of its own theater chain.

As a result, a disgusting cycle is created. The poor quality of the film results in a low attendance rate, and the reduced attendance rate reduces the number of days a single film is released. If the number of release days is reduced, more films must be made to make up for the scarcity of film sources, and in order to make more films It will inevitably reduce the production cost of a single movie, and the reduction of the production cost will lead to a decrease in the quality of the movie.

This is a dead knot that cannot be undone at all.

Shaw Brothers Film Company and Shaw Brothers Cinema Company, two companies that should complement each other and promote each other. Now they are dragging each other down. become a burden to each other.

Shao Yifu has realized this. But he couldn't do anything about it.

Compared with Shao Yifu, Kang Jianfei, the boss, is very leisurely. When Shaw Brothers was first established, Shao Yifu was already a rich man, and he was 51 years old at the time. Still directing or producing films in person. And Shao Yifu was in his 60s when he became a shareholder in TVB, but he lived and ate every day on the set to guide his work.

Whether it is Shaw Brothers or TVB, it is Shao Yifu's hard work, and he cannot give up either.

But now the film industry has become more and more sluggish. In addition, Fang Yihua has been blowing the pillow wind to develop TV stations, so Shao Yifu has to favor the younger son of TVB, and gradually reduce the support for the eldest son of Shaw Brothers Pictures. and attention.

The Chinese Rookie Singing Contest was held by Huaxing Records, and at this time Huaxing was just a department of TVB. It does not have a signed singer, and is only responsible for helping tvb act as an agent for record distribution and music production.

In another time and space, the first Chinese Rookie Singing Contest was supposed to be held in 1982, but now Shao Yifu has transferred more funds and energy to the TV station, causing the singing contest to be held a year earlier.

The reason for the singing contest is actually very simple. That is to cultivate signed singers for Huaxing Records, cultivate stars for TV stations, and increase the ratings of TVB variety shows by the way.

The first singing competition has come to an end. The champion of the first singing competition is Wei Qishan, who has become the first signed singer of Huaxing Records (Shen Dianxia, ​​Zhao Yazhi, Shi Xiu, etc., although they have already released records or singles in Huaxing Company. song, but not officially signed a record deal).

In the following days, Zheng Shaoqiu, Luo Wen and others who were signed by the entertainment record company, all transferred to Huaxing Records. At the same time, Huaxing announced to reporters that the company has officially transformed from a department company under the wireless TV station to a real record company.

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Peninsula Hotel Tea Restaurant.

The habit of Hong Kong filmmakers who like to drink afternoon tea here was started by Shao Yifu, and he has not changed it when he grows old.

At this time, Shao Yifu and his concubine Fang Yihua were sitting in the tea restaurant, drinking afternoon tea slowly and leisurely, enjoying that moment of relaxation after the busy work.

"Hua, you did a good job in this singing competition." Shao Yifu praised in a rare voice. Compared with Shaw Brothers, which made him devastated, the wireless TV station that Fang Yihua controls now makes him much more comfortable.

Hong Kong has not had a singing competition before, but this time, Huaxing Records teamed up with TVB to increase the entertainment in all aspects, making this singing competition a great success, and the ratings of the same period program from LiTV was far behind.

Fang Yihua put down the teacup and said, "The company is asking someone to write a song for the champion Wei Qishan, and I plan to record her while it's hot this month."

Shao Yifu nodded and said, "Alright, although the singing competition is over, the heat hasn't completely dissipated. It's a good time to release a record."

Fang Yihua said with a smile: "Chen Meiling from Entertainment Records has also made it clear that she will be able to sign with Huaxing Company next month."

Chen Meiling is a beautiful girl star who became popular in Southeast Asia in the early 1970s. She is only in her early 20s now. Although she is not well-known in the Hong Kong music scene, her records are selling well in Southeast Asia. If Huaxing Records signs Chen Meiling, then the Nanyang record market is guaranteed.

Shao Yifu nodded, but his mind turned to the movie again. Movies are his favorite career, and he can't give up no matter what,

However, Shaw Brothers and Shaw Cinemas have already suffered losses since the third quarter of last year, and they have lost even more this year.

Over at the film company. It is also possible to send the overseas box office to make back the lost money, but the money lost by the Shaw Brothers Cinema has no possibility of making it back.

There are a total of 16 cinemas under the Shaw Brothers Cinema Company, but only 11 belong to Shao Yifu. The remaining 5 are all joined by others, and they are large cinemas located in prosperous roads.

Those 5 large movie theaters, if they have good film sources, will generate a large amount of profit every day. But if the attendance rate is very low, then their operating costs are much higher than other theaters, so the loss will be even more serious.

Because of the Shaw Brothers film slump. Now the 5 franchise cinema owners of the Shaw Brothers Cinema Line. It has already started to quarrel to break up.

Shao Yifu thought for a long time. I can't think of a safe and good way. To solve the current problem of Shaw Brothers, we must use a knife to dig out the rotten flesh. But this method of treatment is too violent, maybe Shaw Brothers' illness is not cured. The company has already disbanded.

Seeing that it was almost time, Shao Yifu stood up and said, "Let's go!"

Fang Yihua immediately came over to help Shao Yifu out, and their servants came from another table and followed them with their belongings.

Just after walking out of the tea restaurant, suddenly seven or eight reporters who had been waiting for a long time ran forward, aiming long guns and short guns at Shao Yifu and Fang Yihua.

Both of them thought the reporters were here to cover the news about the singing contest. They had become so used to it these days, so they didn't have any objection. He walked slowly and cooperated with reporters to interview.

The reporters really came to interview the singing competition. One reporter asked firstly, "Ms. Fang, do you remember that there was a female contestant named Anita Mui in the Chinese Rookie Singing Competition?"

Although Fang Yihua came up with the Chinese Rookie Singing Contest, she has a lot of things to do all day, and she is most concerned about the finals and semi-finals. Where can I watch the knockout stage?

Fang Yihua had no impression of Anita Mui at all, but she was afraid that she would forget her memory, so she did not dare to talk nonsense, but nodded with a smile: "Every contestant is great, I hope they can continue to work hard in the future?"

Another reporter asked: "Then do you know that Anita Mui became a contracted singer of Pop Records after being eliminated from the singing competition?"

When he mentioned Fengxing Records, Fang Yihua immediately thought of Kang Jianfei and looked at Shao Yifu with a slightly changed expression.

Shao Yifu has gone through great winds and waves, naturally he will not show any strange expression because of this trivial matter, he smiled: "Everyone has the right to choose, since the singer surnamed Mei has chosen to sign a popular record, then we can only Respect her choice."

These seven or eight reporters have been squatting outside the Peninsula Hotel for a long time, because Shao Yifu likes to drink afternoon tea here, many people in Hong Kong know.

While waiting for Shao Yifu to come out, these reporters obviously had already negotiated ~lightnovelpub.net~ and set up a cover for Shao Yifu and Fang Yihua to drill into it.

However, Shao Yifu and Fang Yihua are both seasoned and sophisticated people. They answered several questions in a polite and courteous manner, and they did not fall into the trap at all.

Finally, a reporter couldn't help but say: "Shao Daheng, Ms. Fang, and Miss Anita Mui's singles were broadcast on two Hong Kong radio stations yesterday. As soon as that song came out, it was hit by the audience on demand, don't you know? ?"

Shao Yifu's face changed slightly, but Fang Yihua's face turned black, because they didn't know anything about it.

In fact, there are not many people in Hong Kong who know that Anita Mui sings. These seven or eight reporters are all news that Kang Jianfei deliberately released. The purpose of doing this is not to disgust Fang Yihua, but to use the singing contest that has not yet dissipated, as well as the wireless station and Huaxing Records to hype, so that Anita Mui's fame has expanded rapidly.

Kang Jianfei didn't want to disgust Fang Yihua, but Fang Yihua was really disgusted. Thinking about it gave her a headache. A singer who was eliminated in the Chinese Rookie Singing Contest, signed a contract with Pop Records and released a single and achieved good results. Isn't this slapping Fang Yihua's face and saying that she has no eyes?