"As for the chairman, let Ah Fa play the role, both in terms of fame and acting skills.
His appearance is very confusing. He will be very interesting to play opposite Mi Gao, and it will be easy to handle the publicity in the future. After listening to Lin Chaoyang's words, Xu Anhua's eyes lit up, while Xu Guanwen looked thoughtful.
Whether in novels or scripts, Lao Jin is a well-deserved protagonist.
But the character of the Chairman also has a lot of roles. Even because of Lin Chaoyang's excellent writing, this character is more complex and multi-layered than the protagonist Lao Jin.
This man looks polite, courteous, and courteous on the outside, but inside he is full of the arrogance and superiority of the upper class. His disdain and disdain for the lower class people are hidden under that thin mask.
In him, we can clearly see the alienation of money and power. All his self-reliance comes from money, and he has the kind of strong-willed but strong-willed middle-class character unique to the upper class. Chow Yun-fat is elegant in appearance, charming and charming, and his acting skills are online.
, it would indeed be a good choice if you could play the role of chairman.
This is the reason why Xu Anhua's eyes light up, and Xu Guanwen's meditation is also easy to understand.
Such a brilliant role was played by an actor who was not inferior to him in terms of fame and acting skills. He was inevitably worried about being robbed of the limelight. But soon, Xu Guanwen thought about it.
When it comes to filming, the most important thing is that the film is exciting. If the quality of the film is a mess, what's the use of having more scenes? "Afa is a good choice, but what about the others?"
Lin Chaoyang thought for a while and said: "Let's use Zhong Chuhong as the wife of the chairman. The "Autumn Fairy Tale" she collaborated with A Fa did well at the box office. Playing the husband and wife again will be a publicity point. I haven't thought about others.
, just look at the arrangements."
Xu Anhua said hesitantly: "Mi Gao, Ah Fa, Hong Gu, plus other actors, I'm afraid the actor's salary will be close to 10 million Hong Kong dollars. Investment... Lin Chaoyang looked indifferent, "10 million is not enough
It’s only 20 million, and Lam Pictures just lacks big investment.”
His statement surprised and delighted Xu Anhua and Xu Guanwen. They were surprised by Lin Chaoyang's generosity, but they were delighted by the huge investment in the film. For them, there would be more room for development. After thinking about it, the two of them understood Lin Chaoyang.
The reason behind doing this.
The banning order of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Free Association had just come down, and the Lin family urgently needed to make big moves to show their confidence and strength. After understanding this truth, both of them felt at ease.
Throughout the whole day, the three of them discussed various issues about the script and filming. They separated after dinner in the evening.
When Lin Chaoyang returned home, Tao Yumo shouted to him: "Brother-in-law, buy a mobile phone. I can't contact you all day long." Lin Chaoyang was too lazy to listen to her complaints and asked, "What's the matter?"
"
"A foreign publishing house wants to publish your book."
"Oh?" Lin Chaoyang raised his eyebrows, "Which country?" "Random House in the United States."
"Random House?" Lin Chaoyang was a little surprised when he heard the name.
Random House was founded in 1927 and played an important role in the American book industry throughout the twentieth century.
It started as a modern library, and then relied on ingenious planning to quickly become an internationally renowned literary publisher. Today, it has become one of the top publishers in the American book industry.
"What did they say?"
"The person who contacted me is Luan Walter, who is a senior editor at Random House. He wants to introduce your book "The Truman Show" to the United States," Tao Yumo said.
Lin Chaoyang secretly thought, is he going to publish "The Truman Show"? It is probably influenced by the movie. Thinking of Paramount Pictures, which was rejected by Tao Yushu some time ago, Random House may have heard some rumors and came here.
.
"Brother-in-law, your novel is going to be published in the United States!" Tao Yumo said with an excited expression.
Lin Chaoyang smiled and said, "I'll leave this matter to you." Hearing this, Tao Yumo was both excited and worried, "Can I do it?"
Lin Chaoyang had negotiated the publishing of previous novels, and she was responsible for being the agent and signing the contract. The first time she took charge of the matter, she felt a little unsure.
"It doesn't matter what can or cannot be done, it's not that difficult."
Lin Chaoyang's words made Tao Yumo feel at ease. Since her brother-in-law trusted her so much, she naturally couldn't retreat.
After dinner, while digesting food, Lin Chaoyang flipped through today's evening newspaper and saw the newspaper's report on the takeover battle of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotel Company.
When it comes to Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotel Company, almost no one has heard of it, but when it comes to Peninsula Hotel, many people should know that Peninsula Hotel is one of the company's properties. The company's other properties also include Kowloon Hotel, Repulse Bay Tower,
Peak cable car, etc., and has hotel business in the United States, Philippines and other countries.
With a current market value of HK$6.7 billion, it can be described as a behemoth in the Hong Kong hotel industry.
People in Xiangjiang call this company the Grand Hotel, and it is run by the Kadoorie family of British-Jewish origin.
The family not only controls large hotels, but also controls China Electric Power, the largest listed company in the Hong Kong stock market. It has been regarded as the top wealthy family in Hong Kong for more than half a century.
At the same time, the head of the Kadoorie family, Laurence Kadoorie, is still a British Lord. He has been given a life-long peerage by the emperor and a member of the House of Lords. He can be said to have both wealth and power. However, in such a large hotel with a huge and profound background, someone dares to stroke his beard.
.
This person is none other than Liu Luanxiong, a sniper who has become notorious in the Hong Kong stock market in recent years.
Starting from March, he and Lin Jianyue, the second son of the Lin family of Lai Xin Garments, suddenly announced a large-scale purchase of hotel stocks, with as many as 30 million shares. In recent days, the Xiangjiang Acquisition and Merger Committee ruled that Liu and Lin had no
"Acting in concert" rejected the Kadoorie family's complaint against the acquirer. Now the two sides are in a stalemate, and the hotel's share price has fallen.
Lin Chaoyang read the newspaper and compared the stock prices of Grand Hotel and Cathay City held by him during this period. He found that the acquisition battle was so fierce, but the increase in the stock price of Grand Hotel was far less than that of Cathay City.
Monster stocks are indeed monster stocks!
"Brother-in-law, do you also want to trade in stocks?" Tao Yumo asked.
Lin Chaoyang replied while flipping through the newspaper: "It's just a collection of information." Tao Yumo asked again: "Which stock do you think has potential now? Lin Chaoyang glanced at her, "What? You want to trade in stocks?"
"It's not me, it's Maggie. She has been trading in stocks for more than two years and has been losing money."
Lin Chaoyang couldn't help but be curious when he heard this. He had forgotten it before. The Hang Seng Index had been soaring since last year. He could still lose money under such circumstances. He was somewhat of an investment genius! "What stocks did she buy?"
"There are many, including Wheelock, Nunda, China Coal...
Tao Yumo reported everything in detail, and Lin Chaoyang fell into silence after listening. Just by listening to the company name, the stocks Maggie Cheung bought were all good targets in the market. But the problem is, sister, you specialize in buying targets that are involved in mergers and acquisitions wars.
What does it mean?
Lin Chaoyang knew without guessing that Maggie Cheung most likely wanted to fish in troubled waters, thinking that in this case she could follow the dealer and drink some soup. Little did he know that if a little shrimp like her got involved in such a big storm, she would only be swallowed up by the dealer.
destiny.
"Brother-in-law, why don't you speak?" Tao Yumo asked.
Lin Chaoyang did not answer her words, but warned her, "Stay away from her in the future."
"What's the meaning?"
"Be careful if she borrows money from you."
Tao Yumo sneered and said: "Brother-in-law, Maggie can earn more than me, several million a year..." She was halfway through her words before she realized what Lin Chaoyang meant.
"It's not as exaggerated as you said!" she muttered.
Lin Chaoyang shook his head and had already mentally labeled Maggie Cheung as an "investment genius" and "a lantern in the sea of ​​stocks". In future investments, as long as he tries to avoid the stocks she chose, the profit probability will be greatly improved.
Time flies to July. Lin Chaoyang spends a lot of time on new books every day, and the progress is gratifying.
In less than a month, nearly 200,000 words have been written for the new book. At this rate, it should be completed before the end of July. By the second Wednesday of July, "Autumn Fairy Tale", which had been in theaters for 23 days, was officially released.
The box office was as high as 26 million.
The investment in this film was 10 million Hong Kong dollars, but the cost was recovered and a huge profit was made based on the local box office alone.
Tao Yushu has been busy with the overseas release of "Autumn Fairy Tale" these days. With Chow Yun-fat here, there is no need to worry about the overseas release of "Autumn Fairy Tale". Lin's Pictures will definitely make a lot of money.
Wong Jing's "The Supreme Being" also started shooting two days ago. The crew's preparation process was very smooth and it seems that it was not affected by the blocking order.
The company's development has not been greatly hindered for the time being, and Tao Yushu's mood has become much clearer in recent days. She took time to spend a day at the amusement park with Lin Chaoyang and her two children over the weekend.
When having breakfast the next day, Tao Yushu was reading the newspaper when he suddenly said "Hey". Lin Chaoyang looked towards her, and Tao Yushu had a subtle expression and said, "Wandao is having sex!"
The so-called "JY" means to relieve JY.
JY has little impact on the daily lives of ordinary people, but its effect on the loosening of the entire society is extremely obvious. Wandao JY means that the capital of Wandao will be more active, which naturally includes film capital.
This is also the reason why Hong Kong's film market has entered a period of intense heat since 1988. Too much hot money poured in at once. "Do you think this is a good thing or a bad thing for us?" Tao Yushu asked Lin Chaoyang's opinion.
Lin Chaoyang pondered for a moment and replied: "In the next few years, the film market in Xiangjiang will probably become more and more lively, which is actually beneficial to our development..." Li Yunlong was able to win the battle not because of the entire Jin Dynasty.
The northwest is in chaos. If you want to fish in troubled waters and take advantage of the opportunity to expand, it would be better if the situation is a little more chaotic.
Listening to his analysis, Tao Yushu nodded affirmatively.
A few days later, Tao Yumo told Lin Chaoyang that the royalties from Mingbao Publishing House had been settled. This was the second royalty received by Lin Chaoyang this month. In January, "Parasite" was published in mainland China and in Hong Kong, showing that
Excellent as always.
In the first month of the mainland, 450,000 copies were sold, with cumulative sales of 1.64 million copies and a settled royalty of 510,000 yuan.
The cumulative sales of Xiangjiang were somewhat beyond Lin Chaoyang's expectations, exceeding the 150,000-copy mark.
150,000 copies were sold in half a year. This is the first time since Lin Chaoyang's works were launched in Hong Kong that such a sales speed has been achieved.
This kind of sales volume is enough to show that Lin Chaoyang's appeal among Hong Kong's pure literature readers has reached an extremely high level. Lin Chaoyang believes that this is inseparable from the honor that "The Truman Show" has achieved for Hong Kong.
The hot sales of "Parasite" in Hong Kong also brought Lin Chaoyang 1.95 million Hong Kong dollars in royalties, which is also the largest royalty income his work has received since it was published in Hong Kong.
Lin Chaoyang made a careful calculation and found that not counting the assets of Lin's Pictures and other companies, as well as the assets and deposits in the mainland, his available deposits in Hong Kong alone already amounted to more than 9 million Hong Kong dollars.
If you include the floating profit caused by the soaring stock price of Cathay City during this period, this figure will reach HK$15 million.
These savings are certainly not large compared to the wealthy people in Hong Kong, but as a pure literary writer, it is already very rare to make so much money in Hong Kong. In an environment like Hong Kong, it is difficult to become a rich man simply by writing.
of.
Even if you are talented, you must become a boss to get rid of those invisible restrictions.
In the 1960s, Hong Kong had Jin Yong and "Ming Pao", and in the 1980s, Hong Kong also had Huang Yulang and Yulang Organization. It's all like this. In August, Lam Pictures' "Wealth and Power" was released.
This movie does not have a luxurious cast, and even the leading actors are Dong Piao and Shun Dianxia, ​​who have little appeal as hosts. It is entirely based on the plot.
But it happened that such a movie, which didn't seem to be a hit at all, achieved an outstanding result of HK$5 million within three days of its release. I don't know how many peers in the Hong Kong film industry fell behind.
In the first week of its release, "Wealthy" made 11 million at the box office, and its performance was even better than "Autumn Fairy Tale" starring Chow Yun-fat and Chung Chu-hong. Now even the boss Tao Yushu was a little surprised.
The total investment of "Wealth and Power" is less than HK$5 million, which makes it a proper small- and medium-sized investment film in Hong Kong today.
Tao Yushu originally just wanted Gao Zhisen to try the waters, but he unexpectedly gave her a huge surprise. In the first week after the movie was released, it not only paid back the money, but also made money. What a treasure!
Tao Yushu secretly rejoiced at the benefits that the internal fighting in Xinyi City had brought to Lin's family. He called Gao Zhisen to encourage him and then sent him a red envelope worth 200,000 yuan. Gao Zhisen was filled with joy after receiving the red envelope. He came to Lin's family in the first place.
It was the boss Tao Yushu's generosity that made him angry. Now that he saw it, he was indeed with the wrong person.
His red envelope was calculated separately and did not include the dividends paid to the director at Lam Films.
With the money, Gao Zhisen was full of motivation and took the initiative to make a movie called "Rich and Rich".
Since his director was so proactive, Tao Yushu naturally would not dampen his enthusiasm. He not only agreed to Gao Zhisen's request, but also gave him an additional budget of HK$3 million.
The success of two consecutive films has finally lifted the dark cloud of "blocking" that has been hanging over Lam Pictures for more than two months.
But the current situation is far from the time to sit back and relax. The Hong Kong and Kowloon Free Association has not made any new statements during this period. Tao Yushu does not believe that they will stop just now. She must take advantage of the fact that Lin still has room to move around, mostly in
Hold some cards in your hand.
Since Shaw Brothers announced its closure in 1985, it has carried out a series of weight loss actions.
They first transferred the Clearwater Bay studio to TVB, and then cut the production business from the original 30 to 40 films a year to six to eight films, and mainly focused on investment. For the theater business, part of the theater chain was leased to Pan
The Debao Company, jointly run by Dickson and Sammo Hung, is still partially self-sustaining today.
And Tao Yushu is eyeing the theater chains that Shaw Brothers still owns today: Kowloon, Peninsula Hotel, and Felix Restaurant.
This is Tao Yushu's most frequent place for entertaining guests. The decoration is exquisite and the environment is elegant. She attaches great importance to today's guests and specially waits in the restaurant in advance. "Miss Fang!"
After waiting for more than ten minutes, Tao Yushu saw an elegantly dressed woman walking over under the guidance of a waiter. She stood up and smiled. After the two shook hands, Miss Fang couldn't help but look Tao Yushu up and down, and said with a smile
:
"Mrs. Lin, you are so young. I have heard of you for a long time." "You are so polite. You are my role model in my career!"
The Miss Fang in front of them is not only Boss Shao's confidante, but also an important partner in his career. Many people only think that she is a vine clinging to Run Run Shaw, but they have no idea of ​​her help to Boss Shao.
With the rise of Golden Harvest, the dominance of Shaw Brothers in the Hong Kong film industry ended, and the situation began to turn from prosperity to decline.
She sensed the booming prospects of the television industry and suggested that Boss Shao shift his focus from movies to television. Boss Shao then spent huge sums of money to purchase the shares of several other TVB partners. Only in this way did Boss Shao have a long-lasting business for half a century.
In addition to her huge contribution to the development of TVB, Miss Fang has also taken over the responsibility of Shaw Brothers since Shao Renmei's death.
Although Shaw Brothers had already declined at this time, a lean camel was bigger than a horse, and the resources in Miss Fang's hands were still considerable. After sitting down for a few words and ordering the dishes, the two women did not talk about business as soon as they came up.
The conversation became commonplace.
Miss Fang was born in Shanghai. Her mother was Fang Wenxia, ​​a popular stage star in old Shanghai. She went to Nanyang when she was young, and then met Boss Shao and became a singer. She came to Hong Kong with Boss Shao in the 1950s.
She knew that Tao Yushu was from the Mainland, so she asked about some of the development and changes in the Mainland over the years. After listening to it, she couldn't help but sigh. "If Miss Fang has time, she might as well go back to the Mainland for a walk. There are still great changes now."
Fang Yihua smiled and said, "If time permits, of course I hope to go back and have a look."
After saying this, she said with a smile: "Mrs. Lin, you are so humble, and you have developed the Lin family so well in just two or three years. It is really impressive!" "Thank you, thank you.
I'm just a latecomer in the film field."
Listening to Tao Yushu's humble words, Miss Fang joked: "If Mrs. Lin is a late student, we at Shaw Brothers will be old bones."
Tao Yushu noticed the temptation in her words and said: "Without Shaw Brothers, the Hong Kong film industry would not be as prosperous as it is today.
If Boss Shao’s business focus had not shifted to television in recent years, the Xiangjiang Film Market might not have had the turn for us juniors to get involved.”
Tao Yushu's compliment made Miss Fang smile. The verbal compliment was certainly pleasant, but Miss Fang was even more happy that the topic finally got to the point. The two chatted for a few more words, and then Tao Yushu said:
"Miss Fang, I asked you out today because I want to talk about our cooperation."
"Oh?" Miss Fang raised her eyebrows slightly, showing some interest, and asked: "What do you think, Mrs. Lin?" The films released by Lin have been shown in Shaw Brothers theaters in the past two years, and the two parties have actually had a relationship for a long time.
cooperate.
Moreover, due to the sudden ban by the Hong Kong and Kowloon Free Association in the past two months, Lam also made concessions on the box office share, which is equivalent to Shaw Brothers getting millions of dollars of income in vain in a year. Tao Yushu said that if we want to talk about cooperation, there must be something
Miss Fang was naturally curious about the new proposal.
Tao Yushu looked calm and said calmly: "I hope to further deepen our cooperation."
Hearing this, Miss Fang was still cutting the steak unhurriedly, and asked lightly: "Deepen it? How to deepen it?" "I want to set up a joint venture with Shaw Brothers to set up a film company!" Tao Yushu said.
Miss Fang's fork paused for a moment, then she put the steak into her mouth and chewed it slowly. The quiet atmosphere became extraordinarily long, but Tao Yushu's expression did not show any impatience, and his face was full of indifference.
Miss Fang swallowed the food in her mouth, wiped the corners of her mouth gently, and asked: "Establish a film company? Of course we would be happy to cooperate with Lin, but who has the final say in a joint venture?"
"The operation and management will be handled by our Lin family, and we can transfer the dividend rights appropriately." Tao Yushu said simply and clearly. Miss Fang's eyes were calm, "Mrs. Lin thinks that our Shaw family is short of money?"
"Of course Shaw Brothers is not short of money, but I think Shaw Brothers still retains a certain amount of film investment, and also hopes to retain a voice in the Hong Kong film industry. Cooperating with our Lin Brothers is a big deal for Shaw Brothers
There are benefits.”
Miss Fang shook her head after hearing this.
"Mrs. Lin, with all due respect, Ms. Lin is still carrying a banning order from the Hong Kong and Kowloon Free Association. We at Shaw Brothers are taking a big risk by being able to play in your show.
I think you should also understand that if the ban from the Freedom Association escalates, we at Shaw Brothers may not be able to appear in your films again..." Ms. Fang's words were like a dagger, accurately stabbing Tao Yushu's life gate.
Why is the blockade by the Hong Kong and Kowloon Free Association, or rather the Bay Island, so lethal?
Isn’t the reason just that the Hong Kong film industry is a rat-proof device?
As long as you cooperate with a film company or a blocked company or individual, it will be impossible for any film related to this film company to be released on the Bay Island. If the Freedom Association further escalates its restrictions and blocking on Lin Films in the future,
, and began to name the actors and film companies who worked with them.
Then these film companies will inevitably make a choice to "take sides", and there will be no room for "ambiguity" like now.
Judging from the current situation, if it really goes that far, even if Lin's Pictures is not dead, it will probably suffer a big blow. Miss Fang said this, naturally to gain more bargaining chips.
Tao Yushu also understood this truth. Her face was calm, without any panic, and she said calmly:
"What good will it do to the Shaw family if the Bay Island bans us? On the contrary, if the Shao family can cooperate with us, the Lin family, the benefits will be even greater." After listening to her words, Miss Fang did not express an opinion, but signaled
Tao Yushu continued.
"If Shaw Brothers' cooperation with us is really affected, then it will just be that the few movies you invest in every year will not be released in Bay Island. Another thing that may be affected is the export of TVB's TV programs to Bay Island.
Let me just say one thing, whether it is movies or TV, how much profit can it bring to Boss Shao and Miss Fang?" When Tao Yushu said this, his momentum suddenly became strong.
Fang Yihua fell into silence after hearing this. If Shaw Brothers really made money, Boss Shaw would not cut off his strength.
The TV industry in Bay Island is no less developed than that in Xiangjiang. TVB exports TV series to Bay Island every year, and the profits from variety shows are also extremely limited.
But Miss Fang said: "Although Mrs. Lin is very confident about the prospects of our cooperation, who can guarantee that a high-risk investment like a movie will always make money? How do I know that working with you will definitely make money?"
Tao Yushu asked with a smile: "Can Miss Fang find a business that is sure to make a profit without losing money?" The two looked at each other, and there was a faint smell of gunpowder in the air.
Of course they didn't really want to quarrel, the purpose was actually to gain the upper hand in the negotiation.
But in the final analysis, Shaw Brothers still holds the initiative. Tao Yushu sighed slightly after looking at each other and asked: "Why does Ms. Fang think I would be willing to give up 20% of the investment share in "Parasite"?"
She didn't wait for Miss Fang's answer, and said to herself: "With "The Truman Show" in front of me, "Parasite" has a bright future. I think this is enough to show my sincerity in cooperation.
If you insist on a guarantee, I think we can sign a gambling agreement. ""Gambling agreement?" After hearing these four words, Miss Fang's face finally changed.
"That's right. Both of us jointly invested 40 million Hong Kong dollars in the new company. The joint venture has been established for three years and has a total profit before interest and tax of 120 million Hong Kong dollars. I can give you this promise. If the bet fails, we will return the money at a high price as stipulated in the contract.
Buy your shares.
What Shaw Brothers needs to do is to lease the theater chains you still have in your hands to us, Lam Brothers, for five years at HK$10 million per year, in order to obtain 49% of the equity of the joint venture company.
After expiration, both of us can negotiate to renew the contract at market prices, and we, Lin, only have the right of priority to renew the contract."
Tao Yushu finally revealed all his trump cards. Miss Fang narrowed her eyes slightly, obviously thinking about the pros and cons.
Last year, the total box office of Hong Kong movies was HK$640 million. There were 130 theaters. Shaw Brothers owned 10 theaters. Last year, the box office was nearly HK$60 million and the profit was more than 8 million. Lam is willing to rent the theater chain at an annual rent of 10 million yuan.
, naturally to show sincerity.
Moreover, there is a gambling agreement there, so Shaw Brothers can be said to be guaranteed to make a profit without losing any money.
Rent plus investment income is 30 million yuan a year, which is a large amount even for TVB, which now occupies the leading position in the Hong Kong TV market. Last year, TVB's revenue only exceeded HK$800 million, and its net profit
It can barely reach HK$150 million.
This condition is not unfavorable, it is simply full of sincerity.
Chapter completed!