Lam Pictures was about to go public, and an unexpectedly large number of media and reporters were present.
Many of them were entertainment reporters. Since there were so many celebrities present, it was not surprising that these reporters appeared at the scene.
Apart from these entertainment reporters, the number of other media and reporters coming today is also exaggerated.
Scenes like today's listing of companies happen dozens of times every year in the Stock Exchange, and the staff of the Stock Exchange also see them dozens of times every year, but no company has ever had such a spectacle.
Not only the staff of the Stock Exchange were curious, but also the insiders and guests of Lam Pictures were puzzled.
"Brother Jing, are there too many reporters here today?" Stephen Chow asked Wang Jing,
Both of them are considered to be the mainstays of Lin's Film Industry. They have followed Tao Yushu to conquer the world since the company was founded. It is not surprising that they attended the bell-ringing ceremony today.
"Maybe it's about announcing a movie," Wang Jing said.
Stephen Chow nodded clearly, "That makes sense."
Yesterday, he received a call from Mrs. Lin, saying that the company was going to raise funds for a movie produced by SZ in the Mainland, and Mrs. Lin also said that the movie would use an all-star cast.
In today's Hong Kong film industry, Lam Films is already recognized as the dominant player. It is not a problem for Mrs. Lin to make a charity movie with an all-star cast. The only thing Stephen Chow is curious about is what the movie is going to be about.
As far as he knew, the company's screenwriters received a task from Mrs. Lin yesterday, requiring them to come up with the outline of the script within three days. The script was being written while filming.
Flying paper is a tradition on the Xiangjiang set, so the screenwriters in Xiangjiang also nicknamed it "Flying Paper Boy".
But at Lam Films, there has never been a situation of paper flying on set.
It is impossible for a script to be put into production without going through many layers of review. Script modification is a compulsory course for every screenwriter in Lam Pictures, no matter how famous the script you have written.
Some books take several months to revise, and may not be ready for auction in the end.
But even though it was so strict, the company's screenwriters were still willing to make changes.
Why?
Because Mrs. Lin gave me money!
The screenwriters all receive salaries from the company, which is their basic income and falls within the normal white-collar standards in Hong Kong.
Official screenwriters have to submit two scripts to the company every year. After submitting the script, regardless of whether it is filmed or not, there is also a copyright fee, which is the fee for the script to enter the company's copyright library.
The combination of these two incomes can make the company's screenwriters surpass ordinary white-collar workers, but the bulk of the screenwriters' income comes from the dividends after the scripts are filmed and released.
Starting from the year before last, Lam Films was the first in the Hong Kong film industry to clarify the profit sharing mechanism for screenwriters.
In the case of box office profits, the screenwriter can get 2% of the movie's profit. This ratio is lower than that of the director and starring actors, but it is still considerable.
For a normally profitable movie, the dividends are enough to equal the annual income of ordinary people in Hong Kong.
If it sells well, it will be a windfall.
For example, the company's "The Swordsman 2" released two months ago was a box office hit, not only surpassing the first film, but also allowing Brigitte Lin, who played the undefeated Dongfang in the movie, to regain a second career.
Including income from other places, this movie has a conservative profit of 30 million Hong Kong dollars, and a 2% dividend is 600,000, which can buy a property worth 400 to 500 yuan.
Another example is that among the screenwriters who worked with him, which one did not make a lot of money? One movie bought a car,
Buying a property is almost standard in both movies.
When it comes to himself, it's even more exaggerated.
In the past few years, all the movies he starred in have been box office hits, and his salary plus dividends can basically earn him more than 3 million Hong Kong dollars.
The most important thing is the investment income. Last year, Mrs. Lin supported him in establishing his own Xinghui Film Company, which is currently filming a movie called "Manga Dragon".
This movie was not a big hit at the local box office, so his salary plus dividends was not much, only 1.9 million.
However, the film sold well in other places. Lin's Film Company made a large profit from its partial investment and distribution, and Xinghui Film Company also made more than 5 million.
He holds 60% of the shares of Xinghui Film Company, which is much higher than his salary plus dividends.
A few years ago, Stephen Chow would not have dared to think about earning millions of Hong Kong dollars from a movie.
His eyes fell on the words "Lin's Pictures" on the electronic display screen, and he was filled with emotion.
This time when Lin's Pictures went public, Mrs. Lin made another big move. Employees within the company could subscribe for shares at a low price. He subscribed for 500,000 shares.
I don’t know how much these stocks will be worth when the market opens.
Stephen Chow was looking forward to it, and the staff of the Stock Exchange began to organize the guests to take photos.
"Chaoyang, are there too many reporters here?" Li Hanxiang secretly asked Lin Chaoyang after the group photo was taken.
He has been in the film industry for a long time and has attended many press conferences and premieres. The number of reporters here today has exceeded the scale of ordinary events.
"Isn't this Mainland SZ? Yushu wanted to take this opportunity to appeal to everyone to donate money. Many reporters called,
That way more people will see it." Lin Chaoyang explained with a smile.
Li Hanxiang nodded, "I see, then I will donate some too."
He asked again: "How much can the opening stock price rise?"
He is now the art consultant of Lam Pictures, and he used all of the 300,000 shares available for internal subscription before the listing.
"I don't know. Don't care too much about this. The stock price fluctuates too much, so it's not accurate. You don't lack the money."
"I asked for Lao Wu."
Lin Chaoyang glanced at Wu Siyuan, who was not far away. He was talking and laughing with Jet Li, and he didn't notice at all that a black pot was thrown firmly and hard on his head.
Wu Siyuan and Li Hanxiang are both art consultants of Lin's Pictures and both subscribed for shares.
"Director Wu, how much do you think the company's stock can rise?" Jet Li asked Wu Siyuan.
This issue is also one that everyone has been discussing early in the morning.
"Two to three percent is the minimum, anything more depends on the market reaction," Wu Siyuan said.
In the past two years, Wu Siyuan has worked as an art consultant for Lam Films and has supervised the production of many films.
"The Swordsman 1", "The Swordsman 2", "Young Hero Fang Shiyu", and "Once Upon a Time in China" to be released in the second half of the year·——·
Most of these films starred Jet Li, so the relationship between the two has always been good.
Seeing that Jet Li's attention has always been on the stock price, Wu Siyuan said: "No matter how much the stock price rises, it is just a small amount of money to you. Act in good movies and earn more."
In the past two years, Jet Li has made several well-received and well-received action movies, and his rise has been rapid, making him a Kung Fu star again.
The remuneration has also been rising all the time, from the earliest 100,000 yuan per movie, to 500,000 yuan, 1 million yuan-"·
In the latest movie "Once Upon a Time in the Grandmaster", he still received a salary of 1 million, but he also got the right to share dividends.
Wu Siyuan was involved in the whole process of the movie. He is very confident in the quality and has a high chance of being a hit. Jet Li's salary will go up in some time.
In the future, it will not be difficult for a film to earn two to three million. This figure has already stood at the top of the Hong Kong film industry.
"That's what you said." Jet Li replied with a smile.
But I don’t quite agree with Wu Siyuan’s words. When Lin’s Pictures goes public, employees can subscribe to stocks internally at low prices. The more the stocks rise, the more everyone earns. It’s like picking up money. Who doesn’t like picking up money?
He practiced martial arts since he was a child, and by his teenage years he had won multiple national championships with his outstanding martial arts skills. He was received by leaders and performed abroad many times. He was introduced to the world earlier than most mainlanders of that era.
He became famous after starring in "Shaolin Temple" in 1982, and he became famous in one fell swoop. At that time, this movie was a solid hit in the three places across the Taiwan Strait, Southeast Asia, Japan and South Korea.
After that, he made films such as "Shaolin Boy" and "North and South Shaolin", which were quite good at the box office.
At that time, because of his Mainland status, he could not get as high a salary as the stars in Hong Kong, and he has always been worried about this.
Later, several "Shaolin" dramas restricted his acting career, so he switched to filming "Heroes of China", which was a hit without any success.
Frustrated, he originally planned to open a martial arts gym in the United States to make money, but unexpectedly, Lin's Pictures suddenly asked someone to find him.
At that time, he thought it would be great to have someone looking for him to film, but he never expected that he would embark on a completely different path.
Now some media have begun to compare him with Cheng Long. Although he knows that there is a huge gap between him and Cheng Long, he still feels complacent in his heart.
Today, Lin's Pictures went public. He had no other ideas. He just hoped that the stock price would rise more. It was really expensive to raise a girlfriend.
"Gentlemen and ladies, distinguished guests: Good morning, everyone. I am Zhou Wenyao, CEO of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange——"
There were still 10 minutes left before the bell-ringing ceremony. Zhou Wenyao, President of the Stock Exchange, took the stage to deliver a speech and introduced the business situation of Lam Pictures. This was one of the procedures before the bell-ringing went public.
Tsui Hark stood in the crowd, looking at Zhou Wenyao not far away with a somewhat grim look. He was not unhappy.
I'm just born with a bad face.
The voice coming from the microphone was very real, but it was not heard by Tsui Hark. At this moment, he was thinking a lot.
Once upon a time, the New Art City where he participated as an entrepreneurial veteran was also so prosperous. At that time, Lin's Pictures was just a small company that had just been established and even needed to rely on others.
But now, it is Lin's Pictures that has reached the stage of listing. The then-famous New Art City has long been in decline. Tsui Hark sometimes also sums up the failure of New Art City and the success of Lin's. Summarizing, summing up, he
It was discovered that Xinyi City's failure seemed to be doomed.
There are thousands of people in a family, but there is only one person in charge, but Xinyi City has been doing its own thing from beginning to end.
In addition to being inconsistent, the more important thing is short-sightedness.
In the first few years since the company was founded, it had a lot of elite soldiers and good generals, produced numerous good films, made money easily, and made one star after another famous.
However, several bosses only focused on making money, fighting among themselves for petty profits, and never set any goals or plans for the company. As a result, in just a few years, the company became disorganized and talented people left one after another.
Compared with Tao Yushu, who spent a lot of money to recruit people at the same time, had clear goals and had a strategic vision, how could he be invincible?
Not to mention Xinyi City, which is constantly fighting among itself, even Jiahe, which dominated Xinyi City back then, isn't life difficult now?
Thinking of this, Tsui Hark suddenly felt a bit lucky. Fortunately, he chose to cooperate with Lin.
Several consecutive films have been hugely successful, and he has swept away the bad luck of the previous years and returned to the top.
The costume action movie "Once Upon a Time in the Grandmaster" directed by him will be released in August. Tsui Hark is full of confidence in this movie and he will reach a higher level with this movie.
"Hey, what are you thinking about?" A voice interrupted Tsui Hark's mental activities.
John Woo came to his side, and Tsui Hark chuckled, "It's nothing, I thought of the past."
"In the past."
2
John Woo let out a breath, and couldn't help but remember the past, when he and Tsui Hark could be regarded as happy enemies.
When he was in New Arts City, he became a box office poison and had no chance to make movies. It was Tsui Hark and his bosses who strongly recommended him to make "A Better Tomorrow."
At that time, the two of them were as good as one person, but later they fell out over the sequel to "A Better Tomorrow."
As a result, after going round and round, the two met again at Lin's Pictures.
The difference from Xinyi City is that they all have greater autonomy, so there are no conflicts.
"Let's have a drink together tonight!" After thinking about the past for a moment, John Woo suddenly suggested.
"Okay!" After Tsui Hark agreed, he took a quick look at John Woo's expression and felt that his expression was a bit strange.
"What's the good thing?"
John Woo waved his hand, "What's so good about this!"
The more he said this, the more curious Tsui Hark became. The two had known each other for more than ten years and knew each other's personalities very well.
Under Tsui Hark's questioning, John Woo had no choice but to say: "I may have to change the filming location."
"What's the meaning?"
"Mrs. Lin wants to increase investment in the North American branch. The director in the United States, Mrs. Lin, is worried because there is a shortage of directors there, so she plans to let me go over and make a film to test the waters."
When Tsui Hark heard this, his eyes widened and he couldn't hide his inner surprise.
"Are you going to Hollywood?"
Although Hong Kong filmmakers always consider themselves "Oriental Hollywood", there is always a big gap between it and the real Hollywood.
Over the years, I don’t know how many filmmakers have dreamed of breaking into Hollywood, and there are many practitioners among them, but there are few successful examples.
If Bruce Lee had not died young, he might have been a successful example.
John Woo reservedly said: "What kind of entry into Hollywood is this? Mrs. Lin gave me the opportunity. Alas, filming with US dollars,
It’s a lot of pressure!”
Tsui Hark keenly discovered the wrinkles at the corners of his old friend's eyes, as well as the suppressed pride in his tone.
Although he really didn't want to give John Woo a pretentious party, Tsui Hark was really curious.
"What kind of film are you shooting? How much is the investment?"
John Woo looked around, looked mysterious, and lowered his voice and said, "It's still a gunfight movie, with more action scenes. The investment is 18 million US dollars."
After hearing the last number, Tsui Hark's eyes turned red.
Most directors have a "phobia of insufficient funds" and no one would mind investing too much.
How much is an investment of US$18 million converted into Hong Kong dollars?
Tsui Hark calculated in his mind, 140 million Hong Kong dollars!
He was silent and felt complicated.
When he filmed the first part of "Once Upon a Time in the Grandmaster", his investment was also 18 million, but it was only in Hong Kong dollars. The 7.8 times exchange rate difference made Tsui Hark very upset.
"Congratulations!"
Tsui Hark squeezed out this sentence through his teeth. He felt that John Woo in front of him was really hateful and he didn't want to say another word to him.
But John Woo had no plans to let him go, and kept expressing his worries and doubts about going to the United States to film.
"What are you talking about?"
Shi Nansheng's appearance saved Tsui Hark. He smiled and talked about John Woo. Shi Nansheng said: "What a coincidence! Azhen was still talking to me about this matter just now."
Hearing this, John Woo couldn't help but glance in Wu Meizhen's direction, feeling a little dissatisfied. Didn't he say that the news would be kept secret for the time being?
But he didn't dare to trouble Wu Meizhen. Wu Meizhen was Mrs. Lin's personal assistant and the company veteran noticed Wu Yusen's eyes. Wu Meizhen looked at him and nodded with a smile.
Turning her head, she focused her eyes on Tao Yushu, who was socializing with many guests, and then glanced at the time on the electronic display.
The time is really long!
I think back then, she had just graduated from college and accidentally got into Lin's Pictures.
At that time, the company was still on the seventh floor of the Prince's Building, with two or three cats and kittens, and the boss didn't look like he was rich. Wu Meizhen thought about changing jobs more than once.
But whenever she had this idea, her boss would always give her a salary increase at the right time, easily giving up her idea.
Wu Meizhen is not very greedy, but she thinks it is hard to work with Mrs. Lin. Why should she increase her salary?
Compared with the celebrities and famous directors present, she attaches more importance to the company's listing. Those people make hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars per movie.
And she is just a miserable wage earner. Her salary is good compared with ordinary white-collar workers, but it is far from her ideal.
For internal subscription, she has 100,000 shares. Whether she can exchange that small apartment for a thousand-year-old mansion depends on today.
With something in mind, Wu Meizhen's eyes watched Tao Yushu walk up to the stage to deliver a speech, full of anticipation.
The person in charge of the company takes the stage to deliver a speech, which is the last step before listing.
Because it was very close to the bell-ringing ceremony, I only had five minutes to speak.
For the bosses of many companies, the day of listing is definitely considered a big day in their lives, and it goes without saying that they feel proud.
In contrast, Tao Yushu's performance was much more calm and majestic, and the guests, reporters and staff in the audience also understood it very well.
Counting Lin's Pictures, which went public today, Mrs. Lin standing on the stage already owns three listed companies.
Moreover, he has been ringing the bell at the Stock Exchange for two consecutive years. Such an achievement has never been achieved before, and I am afraid that there may not be anyone else in the future. What’s more, Tao Yushu still has the title of “Hong Kong’s richest woman” on her head.
"——Thank you again for your continued support of Lam Films."
There were still two minutes left before the bell was rung, and Tao Yushu reached this point. Everyone thought she seemed to be concluding the story.
Unexpectedly, Tao Yushu changed the subject and continued:
"Today, Lin's Pictures went public. It was originally a happy day, but I personally have a few words to say -
When many guests and reporters heard this, they were a little curious and didn't know what she was going to say.
"Friends who have been paying attention to the news recently should know that since May, there have been heavy rains in East China.
So far, many places have been hit by floods. The situation is so serious that it has not been seen in a century.
Compatriots are connected by flesh and blood, and blood is thicker than water. At this time of crisis————
In the past half month, major media outlets have reported on flooding in the Mainland from time to time. Everyone is aware of the situation, and since this week, enthusiastic people in the society have begun small-scale fundraising activities.
It's not surprising that Tao Yushu mentioned this topic.
She paused, attracting expectant looks from everyone.
"We, Lin's Pictures, will shoot the movie "The Banquet" in three days, and all the box office proceeds will be donated to the mainland to help our compatriots in the mainland tide over the difficulties.
We will use an all-star cast to star in this movie, and the actors who have been confirmed so far include--"
Hearing the words "all-star lineup", the curiosity of everyone present was piqued by Tao Yushu.
"Xu Guanwen, Stephen Chow, Chow Yun-fat, Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung, Jet Li, Brigitte Lin, Maggie Cheung——..."
Every time Tao Yushu read a name, everyone present could not help but exclaim.
One movie almost captured most of the first-line stars in the Hong Kong film industry.
In recent years, the Xiangjiang Film Market has occasionally produced family-friendly movies with big casts during the Double Dancing Festival and Chinese New Year. They also use a star cast, and any actor who appears in the movie has a name.
But compared to the lineup announced by Tao Yushu today, the casts of these movies are completely insignificant and not on the same level.
When Tao Yushu was reading these names, reporters were already calculating the salaries of these stars. With so many people added together, the salary would probably be 30 to 40 million Hong Kong dollars, right?
But everyone also understands that since it is a charity, of course these celebrities cannot ask for pay.
With the current influence of Lam Films in the Hong Kong film industry, it is not unusual to have such a strong star lineup.
Just when everyone was still marveling at the cast of "The Rich Man's Night Banquet", Tao Yushu made another big move.
"In addition to the project of the charity movie "The Rich Man's Night Banquet", we, Lin's Pictures, have also joined hands with TVB.
A large-scale charity performance will be held this weekend at Happy Valley Racecourse.
The currently confirmed performance lineup includes all the actors confirmed to participate in "The Banquet" as well as all the artists of TVB.
We also strongly appeal to our colleagues in the Hong Kong performing arts community to contact us and actively participate in this art show.
All the funds raised from this performance will still be donated to the disaster-stricken compatriots in the mainland to help them rebuild their homes!"
It was a charity movie and a charity performance. The reporters present were overwhelmed by the news one after another.
As for the names mentioned by Tao Yushu just now, the scale of this mobilization is absolutely unprecedented for the entertainment industry in Hong Kong. Even many entertainment reporters who are used to seeing big scenes can't help but admire Tao Yushu's courage.
Just when everyone thought Tao Yushu had finished speaking, Tao Yushu paused and took out three more checks from his coat pocket.
"In addition, on behalf of three companies, Lam Films, Yulang Organization, and Ming Pao Enterprises, I would like to donate HK$100 million to the mainland to help with disaster relief and reconstruction in East China."
As soon as these words came out, the atmosphere at the scene was stagnant at first, and then exploded with a "boom".
If the previous two measures were just Tao Yushu using her own influence and that of the company to encourage the public to provide disaster relief, then now she has spent real money.
100 million Hong Kong dollars!
Such a large-scale gesture really caught everyone present by surprise, and it was even more difficult to hide their shock.
100 million, what is the concept? If you give this money to anyone, that person will immediately become a billionaire!
After the shock, many reporters who were sensitive to news immediately reacted and discussed it with their colleagues around them.
"100 million Hong Kong dollars, this should be the largest charity donation since the opening of Hong Kong, right?"
"Is there anything more than this?"
The reporters were well-informed and inquired about each other. No one expected a donation larger than 100 million yuan, and they all became excited.
The headlines will be here soon!
This is an unprecedented number in the history of Hong Kong charity!
Just as the discussion among the guests and reporters was in full swing, Tao Yushu's speech time had come. At this time, everyone suddenly remembered that today was the day to ring the bell for the listing of Lin's Pictures, not a charity conference.
But at this moment, no one is in the mood to pay attention to anything listed. There are dozens of companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange every year.
What is this kind of news worth reporting?
Take a look at the news headlines that Mrs. Lin has prepared for you: super luxurious star movies, large-scale cultural performances, and unprecedented donation figures.
All the reporters were thankful that today was the day, and the content was enough to make headlines for three days.
The reporters were so distracted that they even used their cameras to chase the shots of Lam Pictures’ IPO bell.
But the bell-ringing ceremony must continue.
"10,9,8."
Amid the countdown, at 9:27 a.m., Tao Yushu, chairman and president of Lam Pictures (Group) Co., Ltd., sounded the gong.
Chapter completed!