The three of them went upstairs, entered the office, and closed the door. Fu Qi sat casually on the sofa and asked, "Lao Wang, how is the situation this year?"
"As usual, all factories are tied up and too concerned about costs to dare to make big movies."
"Then you mobilize film studios across the country to negotiate with China Film Group!" Shi Hui said with a smile.
"It's not about China Film, it's about the country. What's the use of talking to them? China Film only gives 700,000 yuan per movie. Now the cost of making movies is getting higher and higher. Every studio is stuck on the 700,000 yuan line. What kind of good movie can we make?
Come?"
Wang Yang snorted and said: "I've been communicating, and it really made me anxious. I'll write directly to the Central Committee!"
Don’t underestimate the energy of Beijing Film Studio. You can go straight to Tianting. He said that he was not bragging when he wrote to the Central Committee. He shook his head and said: "If you don’t talk about it, how about your "Shaolin Temple"?"
"not good!"
Fu Qi looked sad and said: "Originally, one-third of the content was shot and the samples were sent to the capital. Mr. Liao was not satisfied, the Japanese were not satisfied, and we were even more dissatisfied. We had to tear it down and start over!"
"ah?"
Wang Yang was shocked and said: "For such a big drama, do you want to start over from scratch? Do you still have enough money?"
"I talked to the Japanese, and they were willing to add an additional 700,000 Hong Kong dollars. If we squeeze in a little more, we can still cough up a few hundred thousand, which is almost enough. I invited director Zhang Xinyan to come out, rewrite the script, and recast the actors...
Oh, it’s annoying anyway!”
Fu Qi smiled bitterly.
Liao Gong, whose name is Chengzhi, and his father is Liao Gong Zhongkai.
He is the director of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office and the Hong Kong Affairs Office, and is fully responsible for Hong Kong affairs.
At the beginning of this year, he met with a Hong Kong leftist film company and asked him to make a martial arts film.
The leftist company took over the task but had no money, so they found a Japanese monk named Zong Daochen. He had learned Shaolin boxing in China, and when he returned to Japan, he established a Shaolin Temple Boxing Alliance with more than 100,000 disciples.
He was willing to buy the Japanese rights to the film and paid HK$550,000 in advance.
So Zuo Zuo Company wrote a script based on the story of Thirteen Stick Monks who rescued the King of Tang Dynasty. The style was more serious. The protagonist was not the later young monk Jue Yuan, and there was no emotional line.
I found a director in Hong Kong and selected a group of actors from the Henan Peking Opera Troupe. The protagonist was named Wu Gang.
I filmed part of it, but when I took it back and took a look, I found that the opera style was strong and not like real kung fu, the story was lackluster, the exterior scenes were very windy and the visual effects were not good... All parties were dissatisfied, so they had to reshoot.
"Mr. Liao made a high-five with us and agreed to make 36 new movies with various themes within three years. We are determined to do it, but in fact it is difficult for a good woman to make a meal without rice. We need money but no money, and we need people and no one."
"..."
Wang Yang always looked weird from the moment he started telling the story, secretly thinking: What a coincidence???
"Lao Wang, do you have any ideas?"
"I just read one yesterday, and it was about Shaolin Temple."
"What a coincidence?"
Fu Qi was also surprised.
Wang Yang took out two small magazines from the drawer of his desk and said, "But these are about the story of the Shaolin Temple's fight against the court's eagle dogs in the late Ming Dynasty. The atmosphere is quite strong, and there is also an emotional scene in it."
"That's a pity. The script we rewrote is also the blueprint of Thirteen Stick Monks Saving the King of Tang, because the costumes and props have been prepared and cannot be changed."
"You'd better take a look. I think the emotional scenes are pretty good, especially the ending."
When he said this, Fu Qi and Shi Hui each took a copy of "Story Club" and started flipping through it.
I didn’t read it carefully, I just scanned the general idea. What Shi Hui read was the second half. At the end, the male protagonist decided to become a monk for the Shaolin Temple. The heroine stood outside the main hall and looked at him. She was separated by a door.
End the world of mortals.
There are two lines at the end of the poem: The world is safe and sound, and I will live up to the Tathagata and live up to you!
Shi Hui's eyes lit up, she poked Fu Qi and said, "This ending is really good, we can use it!"
"Let me see!"
Fu Qi also read it again and nodded: "Our new script has a young monk as the protagonist, adding a lot of comedy elements. We are also hesitating whether to add an emotional scene. After all, how can we add a monk more appropriately?
If you follow this idea, the logic is reasonable."
"Can you find this author?" Shi Hui asked.
"He is at the Beijing Film Studio. He is also the screenwriter of "Romance in Lushan" who asked you to buy clothes."
"Oh? Is there such a fate?"
Shi Hui laughed and said, "Then I really want to meet this comrade!"
"Don't worry, I'll ask him to come over after a symposium. This kid's head is not ordinary."
Wang Yang originally planned to study "Kapok Kasaya" to see if it could be filmed, but the needs of gay people in Hong Kong were greater, and he was willing to part with it. Of course, he had to ask Chen Qi's opinion first, as he was the author.
…………
"Why are you calling me to a meeting out of nowhere?"
Chen Qi was about to go to the Chinese Bookstore when he was suddenly called over by Liang Xiaosheng for a meeting.
Liang Xiaosheng said in a low voice: "The Hong Kong comrades are here to hold an internal symposium. All the creative backbones of the factory are present. Calling you here shows that the factory director values ​​you. Look, you are the only non-staff member in the room."
"What non-staff? I sell big bowls of tea!"
The two of them entered the conference room. As expected, there were not many people there. There were only about forty people, all of whom were the backbone of the four major creative collectives. As soon as he walked in, everyone was surprised.
"Lao Wang, what's going on?"
"Fu Qi caught his eye on an idea and wanted to discuss it, so I simply asked him to come to the meeting."
"I know you cherish your talents, but you must abide by the discipline. This is an internal symposium. What should I do if word spreads?"
The person who questioned was a deputy factory director named Sun Wenjin. Wang Yang knew that he was in the wrong and he laughed and said: "I won't do it next time! I won't do it next time!"
Chen Qi faced everyone's gaze and found a corner to sit down. He knew in his heart: He was just an outsider living in the guest house, and it didn't matter if he was treated better, but if he really stepped inside, well, which unit is calm inside?
"Quiet!"
When everyone arrived, Wang Yang personally presided over the meeting and said: "First of all, we welcome Comrade Fu Qi and Comrade Shi Hui from Hong Kong. They came to the Beijing Film Studio despite their busy schedules and could not resist my shameless invitation, so they organized a
Internal symposium.
Today, asking them to talk about the current situation of Hong Kong films will be a great help for us to understand the outside film industry..."
"Whoosh!"
As the applause rang out, Fu Qi raised his hand to indicate that he was born in Shenyang and grew up in Shanghai. He spoke with a slight accent and said with a smile: "The last time I came here was more than ten years ago. In the blink of an eye, I was also destined to be a person of destiny, and I felt a lot.
Director Wang asked me to talk about Hong Kong movies, let’s start from more than ten years ago.
As everyone knows, our leftist companies and Taiwanese companies have been fighting with Hong Kong as the battlefield. At that time, we had the upper hand in all aspects and defeated them. The films we shot accounted for one-third of the Hong Kong market.
Great directors, great actors, great screenwriters, great photographers, we have everything, and we also have a theater chain with 8 theaters. I still remember the craze when "Sanjie Liu" was released in Hong Kong...
But things are different now.
After the storm, we open our eyes and look again. Hong Kong movies have fully entered the era of commercialization, and everything is based on box office. But this does not mean that the struggle has disappeared. Our battle is still going on.
Taiwan supports an organization called the Liberty Federation, which is specifically designed to win over Hong Kong film practitioners and suppress us.
Taiwan is the largest market for Hong Kong films. If a film wants to be released in Taiwan, the director and actors must join the Free Federation and become members. This is called a certificate of nomination.
There are also flatterers who blatantly bribe others just to get their own movies taken care of!
At the beginning of this year, Hong Kong TVB cooperated with Guangdong to record a program to celebrate the Spring Festival, with 29 artists participating.
Before coming to Guangzhou, they had to go to the Liberty Federation to register and submit a letter of repentance. The main message was: We have a contract with TVB, and we cannot refuse the work arranged by the company. Please forgive me..."
As Fu Qi was talking, he suddenly couldn't continue. Shi Hui stretched out her hand and patted him gently.
"Taiwan's ban is equal to the destruction of acting careers, so those artists dare not get close to us.
I also tell the truth that the leftists are in a difficult situation and rely entirely on the support of a few old people. Many comrades cannot persist and choose to leave.
In the past two years, our three companies have made a total of five movies, which have not done well at the box office. Because Hong Kong movies have developed so fast, we have had a long blank period and have fallen behind.
When we come to attend the Literary Congress this time, the central government’s stance gives us confidence. With our motherland behind us, we believe that we will definitely restore our past glory.
We do not belittle ourselves, nor should we aim too high. The most important thing at the moment is to increase production, produce several influential works, and regain a foothold in Hong Kong..."
"..."
The words were sincere and full of useful information, and the conference room was completely silent.
Everyone was surprised and responded with sympathy. The work of Hong Kong comrades is even more difficult. They have to face the British Hong Kong government, the rightists, and the restrictions from the mainland. They are often two-faced.
After Fu Qi finished speaking, Shi Hui spoke again.
Wang Yang smiled and said: "You can ask any questions you have. I finally caught them and I can't let them go!"
"Ha ha!"
Everyone also laughed, and an old director spoke first and asked: "Are you still shooting realistic movies?"
"Of course we will shoot! Realistic themes are our foundation, but the audience is getting smaller and smaller."
“What do you think of this year’s new films from mainland China?”
"It's all very good. I can feel the strong vitality in it. I have watched "Look at This Family" and I was surprised that it is a comedy. I hope there are more movies like this, the better."
"Will you make films that reflect life in mainland China?"
"It's difficult. The British Hong Kong government will not agree to release it. Let's put it this way, the first step for mainland movies or the mainland themes we shoot is censorship. They are afraid of cutting out every frame. For example, teachers' photos cannot appear, and their names cannot appear.
It can’t be mentioned, and it can’t be included in the lyrics..."
Fu Qi and Shi Hui answered questions very patiently. They asked questions about art, technology, scale, etc.
And suddenly, a sentence came out from these voices with the same tone: "Excuse me, which movie is the box office champion in Hong Kong this year??"
Chapter completed!