In addition to the four theater chains of Shaw Brothers, Golden Harvest, Golden Princess, and Left Wing, Hong Kong also has a loose Western film theater chain, which mainly serves Hong Kong's middle class and foreigners.
This theater chain is a spontaneous alliance of many small companies. Each company does not have many theaters, so they just stick together to keep warm.
On weekdays, each company introduces films by itself, or screens them by itself, or joins several companies to show them together. When it comes to Hollywood blockbusters, they may join forces to introduce and screen films to strive for maximum profits.
In short, there are no strict rules and it is very free.
What films are shown in Hong Kong theaters is not determined by anyone, it is all market behavior. Western film theaters cannot squeeze into the local film market, so they can only produce Western films. And they have good relations with overseas film producers, and local film theaters cannot grab Western films, so they have their own
well.
The father of the Jiang brothers has been involved in the introduction of Western films for a long time. There is an Anle Pictures and two Broadway theaters. You read that right, two theaters, and they are small theaters with six to seven hundred seats.
Currently, the Jiang family's business is headed by his eldest brother Jiang Zhiwen. Jiang Zhiqiang is still a follower, but he introduced Hayao Miyazaki's "Castle in the Sky" in 1986 and a series of subsequent cartoons. This is an exclusive track in Hong Kong.
All achieved good box office success.
In 1989, he replaced his eldest brother and took over the family business.
It was not until the late 1990s that Hong Kong films declined and Hollywood made a big move, but Kong Chi-keung became the leader.
Because he made Western films and was familiar with Hollywood, he used the relationship accumulated over the years to launch "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "Hero", "House of Flying Daggers", "The City of Gold", etc., ushering in the era of blockbusters, and suddenly transformed into
Became the savior.
Later, Liu Yifei was able to get "Mulan", and it was Jiang Zhiqiang who was the matchmaker.
Inside the hotel.
Jiang Zhiwen held up a film list and said: "We are going to watch 30 films this time, in addition to 4 global ones."
"30 movies are not many. It would be great if I could pick up movies like "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "007"," Jiang Zhiqiang said.
"You street boy!"
Jiang Zhiwen scolded him when he opened his mouth: "We are a small business, buy more and put more, earn some hard-earned money, and success depends on luck. You are 30 years old, you should be more cautious, haven't you learned enough lessons from last year?"
"..."
Jiang Zhiqiang remained silent. Last year, he made his first independent purchase and introduced an animation "Garfield Goes to Town", but he lost money.
The Hong Kong market is small, and overseas film producers don't pay much attention to it. They sell the film at a similar price, or they distribute it through an agency and split the accounts.
For example, last year's "ET" had a box office of 16 million Hong Kong dollars. Regardless of agency or profit sharing, Hollywood companies could only get hundreds of thousands of dollars, which is like mosquito meat.
"What's there in the world?"
""The Heroes", "The Two Lights", "The Iceman 40,000 Years Old" and "Planet Fighters"!"
Jiang Zhiwen shook his head and sighed: "The name and introduction are not very good, but we have signed an exclusive agent with Universal, so we must introduce them."
"Actually, local films in Hong Kong are popular. It would be great if we could squeeze in."
"Do you still need to tell me? It's not like our family has never tried it before, and we are on the street! How can it be so easy for Shaw Brothers, Jiahe, and the left to monopolize the market?"
Jiang Zhiwen paused and suddenly said: "The Oscars are about to be held. The leftist "Life is Beautiful" has been nominated. Mr. Chen must be in Los Angeles. Do we want to meet?"
"What are we going to do when we meet, discuss cooperation?"
"No matter what he talks about, it's okay to get to know each other. Our Western movies don't involve Taiwan and have nothing to do with the rightists."
Jiang Zhiwen is very action-oriented. He didn't know which hotel Chen Qi was staying in, so he first contacted the Silver Capital in Hong Kong.
…………
Chen Qi didn't know about this yet and was focused on preparing for the Oscar.
20th Century Fox naturally took active actions. Roberts was originally responsible for overseas affairs. He was familiar with Chen Qi and was transferred as a liaison.
At this moment, the two of them went downstairs together, and Roberts kept complaining: "You guys arrived too late. How could you arrive two days before the Oscars? You should have attended the event a week in advance and accepted various interviews to build up the excitement."
"It would be great if we could come, let's get to the point!"
"There are twenty media outlets downstairs, and "Life Is Beautiful" has attracted a lot of attention. Your biggest rival for best foreign language film is "Fanny and Alexander," and your biggest rival for best picture is "Mother and Daughter."
"I haven't even seen it!"
"I know you haven't seen it, but reporters will definitely ask. I know Chinese people like to be modest, except you. Don't be too showy when you are interviewed, and you should respect the master..."
Roberts Barabara, Chen Qi was surprised: "Don't you Americans look down on European art films?"
"It's an ordinary art film. Even if it reaches Bergman's level, Americans will praise it."
"Just like the nouveau riche who like to buy a few antiques for decoration?"
"Your metaphor is great, that's it!" Roberts said.
"Mother and Daughter" is an American film that tells the story of a middle-class family's family relationship.
That's all, "Fanny and Alexander" is a European art film directed by Ingmar Bergman, whose masterpieces include "The Seventh Seal", "Wild Strawberries", "The Virgin Spring" and so on.
You don't need to know how awesome he is, just know that he is awesome.
There is a saying of the "holy trinity" of modern art films, which refers to three directors: Bergman, Fellini, and Tarkovsky. Their status is equivalent to the Three Pure Ones in the art film world.
"Fanny and Alexander" was also nominated for Best Foreign Language Film, and is on par with "Life is Beautiful" in terms of probability of winning the award predicted by the outside world.
"Be respectful! Be respectful!"
Roberts gave the final reminder, and Chen Qi smiled and said: "Don't worry, I was famous in Los Angeles last year, and I am an interesting Chinese."
As he spoke, he walked towards the reporters waiting in the lobby on the first floor.
The reporters suddenly became commotion and raised their cameras one after another. Firstly, it was because of the Oscar bonus, and secondly, Chen Qi came here last year, which indeed left a deep impression on everyone.
"Why did you arrive so late? Is the government banning you from leaving the country?"
There is no need to overestimate the integrity of the Hong Kong media. When facing the American media, the Hong Kong media is as pure as a virgin. The first question was very annoying. Chen Qi glanced at the bearded reporter who asked the question and said: "Sir, give me
A reason to arrive early?”
"Of course it's a promotional warm-up!"
"But I arrived today, didn't you also come for the interview? You can leave now."
The bearded man suddenly became so popular that his colleagues would not pity him, but laughed a few times. Another reporter asked: "Have you seen "Fanny and Alexander"?"
"No!"
"Which one of you do you think has a greater chance of winning?"
"We won't know until the Oscars are over."
"What do you think of Bergman?"
"He is a recognized master, but he will not attend the Oscars. I am here, so I deserve your attention more.
Let's talk about "Life is Beautiful". I heard that this film has been released on a small scale. I hope 20th Century Fox spends more money to let the audience smash Japanese cars again, or try the feel of Japanese home appliances...
"
"Ha ha!"
The reporters laughed and asked a few more questions. Chen Qi said seriously:
"I naturally hope that "Life is Beautiful" can win the award. This is not only a breakthrough for mainland films, but also a breakthrough for Hong Kong and Taiwan films. It is not a good thing to divide us geographically. We have a unified name overseas, Chinese films.
.
I hope "Life is Beautiful" can become the first Chinese-language film to win an Oscar!"
(I feel very bad today, no more...
Chapter completed!