For the same reason, Xu Guanwen, Sammo Hung and Deng Guangrong also received his invitation, although the Xu Pictures of the four Xu brothers did not make many films, but there were many classic movie copyrights, "Money Grabbing Couple", "Divine Calculation", "Half a Pound Eight Two 1", "Chicken and Duck Talk", "Ghost Horse Double Star", "Modern Bodyguard" and so on. Sammo Hung's preparation to emigrate overseas is no longer news in Hong Kong, and even Mr. Lam has learned that his nationality has now been changed to the United States. Sammo Hung is going to emigrate, and apparently his properties in Hong Kong are about to be sold. Lin Xiaozhi has long been eyeing the copyrights of dozens of films under his name Baohe and Baoxiang, as well as the famous film shooting team in Hong Kong - Hong Jiaban, which was formed by him.

As for Deng Guangrong, don't look at him in a black suit, he is full of aura, and he has two film companies, Darong and Ying Zhijie, and Wang Jiawei and Liu Zhenwei are the golden double guns under his command. But it's not Lin Xiaozhi who criticizes behind his back, he himself is good at acting, but he lacks three points of management ability and seven points of business courage, which is not as good as Xu Ke, who is very similar to him. Both of them are the same, their funds are limited by others, and the two who are too cautious almost don't make a movie and have to invest outside, giving away the dividends that should have been swallowed alone.

It's just that Deng Guangrong is a little worse than Xu Ke, at least Xu Ke has Cheng Xiaodong, Shi Nansheng and a bunch of henchmen, he is also Hong Kong's leading director, he has the courage to try to shoot blockbusters, and he is not exclusive to new film techniques, Hong Kong's most famous special effects production company - New Visual Effects Studio Company is his industry. In contrast, Deng Guangrong's funds are restricted by Taiwanese tycoon Tsai Songlin, although he was a popular student in Taiwan earlier, he is not well-known in the Hong Kong entertainment industry, and he has rarely taken on movies in the past two years. Da Rong and Ying Zhijie are now relying more and more on Liu Zhenwei and Wang Jiawei, and once the two of them leave, the film company that was previously called the 'Five Little Strong' with Xinya will collapse.

Deng Guangrong's lack of courage is both a bad thing and a good thing, at least when Lin Xiaozhi called him to discuss sharing the film copyright of Darong Movie Masterpiece on the phone before, Deng Guangrong didn't refuse directly like Xu Ke who didn't give face, so he received Lin Xiaozhi's invitation today. And that old monster Xu is not among the dozen people.

The restaurant on the 13th floor of the Mandarin Hotel is mainly engaged in high-end buffet Western food, which is also a favorite way for Lin Xiaozhi to communicate with each other. However, considering that today's guests are not necessarily used to it, it was changed to a dinner party. Today, Lin Xiaozhi chartered the whole restaurant, and after the people came, he didn't need to remind him, the waiter pushed carts and carts of food, including Western-style seafood sets, sauce steak, venison, caviar, matsutake mushrooms, foie gras and other delicacies, and even some Vietnamese snake breast, Thai black pepper beef tenderloin, shrimp spring rolls, etc., as well as champagne, whiskey, brandy, Japanese sake and white wine and other more than a dozen kinds of dozens of bottles of wine lined up in turn, around a huge table, everyone ate happily.

You come and go, and you drink three rounds. After a group of acquaintances chatted, Sammo Hung was the first to not hold back, he poured himself a full glass of whiskey, and took the initiative to ask for a glass with Lin Xiaozhi, but after raising his head and drinking, he didn't rush to sit down, but asked: "Lin Sheng, I heard that you recently acquired Debao, and now should be the busiest time, invite our big guy today, I'm afraid I don't have something to say."

Debao was originally established by him and Cen Jianxun, so it is easy to hide from outsiders, but it is difficult to hide from him.

Many people present heard the rumors that Debao had changed owners. It's just that Lin Xiaozhi has been hiding this matter for the past month and has not announced it to the public, and there are still some people present who are not sure whether this is true or fake news. For example, Liu Jialiang, Xu Guanwen, and Deng Guangrong are not clear about the authenticity of this matter. Therefore, as soon as Sammo Hung spoke, Liu Jialiang also followed: "I have been outside during this time, and I really don't know that Hong Kong has undergone such a big change, Lin Sheng, did you really buy Debao?" ”

Among the people present, he is the oldest, and of course he is also a first-class elder in the circle, even Sammo Hung, who is known as the eldest brother, he has to hand over cigarettes when he shouts three cents Sammo Hung, and this question is indeed the most suitable for him to ask.

It's time to make it public

Lin Xiaozhi glanced at Cen Jianxun, and the smile on his face remained unchanged, "There is no news in the entertainment industry, indeed, Pan Sheng is going to run away, and I am more interested in Debao, so I took over and bought it."

This is the first time he has admitted this matter in front of the public, and the faces of Liu Jialiang, Xu Guanwen, and Deng Guangrong, who received a definite answer from him, changed dramatically for a while. The former stagnated slightly, and the latter two frowned slightly. Their feelings were inadvertently revealed

After his company stopped production, Liu Jialiang has become a freelance director, taking on the drama if he wants to act, and being a director and martial arts instructor if he wants to make a film, which is very chic. After the Shaw Brothers stopped production, although he began to get close to Golden Harvest, but before Lin Xiaozhi took advantage of the Chen Baiqiang scandal and recognized his youngest daughter as a daughter, and there was some relationship between the two, plus his brother-in-law Liu Jiahui is now working in New Asia, so Lin Xiaozhi acquired Debao to become the new overlord of the Hong Kong film industry, which is not a bad thing for him.

But this news is not a good thing for Xu Guanwen and Deng Guangrong, the bosses of the two film companies, because Debao was originally one of the three giants of the Hong Kong film industry, and New Asia has risen very quickly in the past two years, and after the middle of this year, it has been praised by many film industry elders and media as one of the Big Four. The merger of the two giants also means that they will form a more powerful new film giant, which will not only compete with Golden Harvest and New Arts City for the box office, but also affect other small and medium-sized film companies. Moreover, both of them received a call from Lin Xiaozhi, wanting to buy the film rights of their own film company with them to enrich the film library. Sell it for fear of fueling the enemy's strength, and if you don't sell it, you are afraid of angering a strong enemy, no wonder you frowned.

Lin Xiaozhi looked at the expressions of the group present, and he himself knew that the birth of a giant was definitely not a good thing for small and medium-sized film companies. immediately shifted the topic away from the acquisition of Debao and answered Sammo Hung's question just now: "As Brother Sanmao said just now, I invite everyone to come today, in addition to wanting to get together with you to exchange experiences, I myself have another idea."

focused everyone's attention on himself, and Lin Xiaozhi was not stage frightened. looked at Li Guoxing, nodded at him and said: "The development of Hong Kong films has almost reached a critical period, the box office is skyrocketing, but the salary and shooting costs of stars are also increasing, in fact, our profits have not necessarily increased much." This is by no means a good phenomenon because with the emergence of blockbusters that cost 30 million, 40 million, 50 million Hong Kong dollars or more, our profitability is being tested."

What Lin Xiaozhi said was a fact, and Liu Jialiang took the lead in agreeing: "It's true, three or four million in the early years could make a good movie, but now the salary of some artists alone is more than this figure, and the higher the cost, the more difficult it is to make money." I heard that Lin Sheng's film company recently filmed "Red Alert" with an investment of more than 50 million Hong Kong dollars, counting the theaters, distribution and publicity, it must be at least 100 million Hong Kong dollars at the box office to recover the cost."

"Indeed" Lin Xiaozhi nodded, but there was no sadness on his face, but he was still full of confidence: "If it is only relying on foreign markets such as Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Southeast Asia, it will be difficult for this film to recover its investment, unless the videotape can sell millions of rolls, but it is unlikely to think so." In fact, not only our New Asia is facing this dilemma now, but many other film companies in Hong Kong have also begun to find this situation, that is, the risk of investing in a blockbuster film is too high, and many times the gains outweigh the losses. I'm worried that Indonesia and the Philippines are following suit, and that the whole of Southeast Asia is likely to follow suit. It's a reason to invite everyone to come today."

Li Guoxing saw everyone looking at him, put down his chopsticks and nodded and admitted: "Lin Sheng is right, Indonesia is now discussing the production of a new film protection bill, and it is likely that there will be regulations similar to those in the Philippines that restrict the introduction of Hong Kong films."

"That's bad"

Deng Guangrong and Sammo Hung glanced at each other, and their faces were gloomy. Hong Kong movies are becoming more and more difficult to make, one of these two is becoming more and more conservative, and the other is completely disappointed after successive investment failures and is ready to emigrate. Deng Guangrong asked, "Lin Sheng called us here, did he want everyone to discuss a solution?" ”

And the latter obviously thought more than him, Sammo Hung saw that his expression was calm, and asked directly: "Lin Sheng, have you thought of any solution, you might as well tell everyone about it?"

As soon as he said this, everyone looked at the confident look on Lin Xiaozhi's face again, and they all immediately understood.

"Sort of, in fact, this method is also very simple, and it is nothing more than a ———opening up new markets" This article is understood by anyone, so as soon as Lin Xiaozhi said it, some of the expectations that everyone still had in their hearts disappeared.

"Opening up new markets is easy to say, but how can it be so simple" Chen Xunqi sighed, and Zhang Guozhong next to him thought the same as him: "We have tried several times, but the Japanese and Korean markets have never been able to enter"

Therefore, there are still a lot of smart people, and everyone can see the limitations of Hong Kong films, but what is lacking is funding and persistence.

"It's true that opening up new markets isn't easy, and it's far from something that a film company can do on its own. In Japan, South Korea, Europe and the United States, and even the mainland market, it is very difficult for us to develop wherever we go, but with the development of Hong Kong films to the present, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Southeast Asia alone can no longer support us. That's why I'm inviting you here today. Presumably, everyone also knows that we Hong Kong filmmakers look glamorous, but in fact, our status in Hong Kong is not high, and our voice is not loud. Not only are the business and economic circles not optimistic about us, but now even some underworld gangsters dare to intervene, which shows that not many people really take us seriously. I think we should condense everyone's voices and make all efforts together, so that it is beneficial for everyone to make our voices heard in Hong Kong and to open up new markets abroad."

As soon as his words fell, everyone fell silent.

Xu Guanwen, a cold-faced smiler, just raised his head to look at the expressions of the others, only to find that Lin Xiaozhi's gaze fell on him. I secretly screamed bitterly in my heart, so I had to follow his meaning and say, "Lin Sheng, what do you mean, we also set up an organization like the Film Promotion Association?" ”

Hong Kong already has a "Hong Kong Film Promotion Association", formerly known as "First Screening Studio", which is a non-profit film culture group initiated and established by 8 foreigners living in Hong Kong in 19U. It often organizes free screenings, and is the earliest, longest-standing and influential film promotion and development organization in Hong Kong, and was renamed the 'Hong Kong Film Promotion Association' the year before last. The promotion association mainly focuses on film screenings, with an average of 3 to 5 films screened per month, and the slogan of the promotion is "to give full play to the responsibility of film education and cultivate audiences with appreciative ability through screening activities."

It's a pity that Lin Xiaozhi is not interested in this promotion association. Because most of the movies they screen are niche literary films, they are the kind of cheats who have to lose more money and more money. Therefore, when he received an invitation to join the promotion club before, Lin Xiaozhi, who has always disliked literary films and only made commercial films, declined.

"Of course not, the Film Promotion Association is too niche, and I am not optimistic about its development at all. My suggestion is that we set up a commercial club to provide resource sharing for the members of the club. For example, we are opening up distribution channels in Japan, South Korea and other foreign cities, and we are also willing to open up the channels we have built for members who join the club, including the convenience of film distribution and release, and even reduce the dividends of some theater merchants and give more shares to the producers. ”

Among the people present, Lin Xiaozhi, who has just acquired Debao, is undoubtedly the strongest, his Xinya and Debao are both one of the largest film companies in Hong Kong, and they also own Debao Cinema Line, one of the four major cinema chains in Hong Kong. When he opened his mouth like this, it was obviously not empty words.

Deng Guangrong glanced at Xian Qiran, who had a good relationship with him, and wanted to get some hints from his old friend. Unfortunately, he was greeted with an apologetic smile. Obviously, he had already known something in advance, but due to the current positions of the two of them, it was inconvenient for him to reveal anything.

The old friend behaved like this, and Deng Guangrong had to consider the gains and losses in this matter by himself. Frankly speaking, he is still more interested in Lin Xiaozhi's proposal to set up a club, if nothing else, at least the channel he hinted at sharing Xinya and Debao, and even increasing the profit of the film producer in distribution, is attractive enough.

However, there is no such thing as a lunch without money. Deng Guangrong has worked hard in the circle for so many years, and he still understands this in the end. Glancing at Lin Xiaozhi, Deng Guangrong picked up the wine glass in front of him, "Lin Sheng, I'll toast you with a glass of wine."

Lin Xiaozhi smiled and clinked glasses with him in the void, and the two of them put down their glasses after taking a sip each, Deng Guangrong asked: "Lin Sheng offered such a generous condition, it seems that what he wants is not small." I'm a little interested in Lin Sheng's club, can you please explain it in detail? ”

"Brother Rong, you can think wrong, in fact, the club I proposed to set up is very casual, there is no president, chairman, chairman, everyone's status is equal, there are not so many restrictions. The reason why I came up with this idea is because I recently intended to go north to test the water continent, and I wanted to touch the desolate land to the north. It's just that after the political storm last year, many remarks in our Hong Kong film industry offended the north too badly, and I felt that the voice of Hong Kong films was too small, so I felt that I wanted to set up such an organization, or our filmmakers' own business circle. ”

After a pause, Lin Xiaozhi deliberately glanced at Cen Jianxun, his brows furrowed slightly. To say that Shum Jianxun is definitely one of the best managers in the Hong Kong film industry, he is no less talented than Huang Baiming, Shi Tian, Mecca and others, and has a bit of professional manager's ethics, since the beginning of 87 years after completely selling the shares of Debao, he only eats Pan Disheng's annual salary of more than one million yuan every year, and he has worked hard for Debao for several years.

Compared with him, in order to get more company shares, the three giants of Xinyicheng will make a secret move, and you will fight to the death. Coupled with his talent in managing the company, Lin Xiaozhi values him very much. But this person is a little bad, as the older generation of filmmakers in Hong Kong has the highest level of knowledge, after graduating from the University of Hong Kong, he went to the United States and Britain to study, has his own political views, and admires the British and American-style Western political system.

After the outbreak of the political crisis last year, we want to make a list of the most ruthless people in the whole of Hong Kong who scold the north, and his name Cen Jianxun can definitely be ranked among the top three ranks, unlike many politicians and media people who scold the mainland, Shum Jianxun is the flagpole of the film industry, and even Lin Xiaozhi heard the rumors, and some media in the mainland have called him and Mei Yanfang and Zhang Jianting the anti-Hong Kong entertainment industry. A total of three urgent pioneers. Cen Jianxun's name was even on the blacklist of Zhongnanhai bigwigs, which shows how ugly and ruthless he scolded last year, and the mainland even issued a wanted warrant for him, prohibiting him from stepping on the mainland indefinitely

It is this that makes Lin Xiaozhi have a headache for him. In his previous life, he only had the right to be elected, and he was very indifferent to politics, and he could pay attention but did not care. In his opinion, if you are a businessman, you should concentrate on making money, and the dirty things of politics should be left to businessmen who are taller than him to have a headache. I heard that recently, the red-top businessman Huo Yingdong is still waving the flag for the northern mainland, and intends to form a Hong Kong businessman delegation to go north for the first time after the political storm to support the scene for the new No. 1 leader. It's a pity that the pro-Taiwan and pro-British businessmen led by the Guo brothers and Li Zhaoji did not buy it, and Li Jiacheng, the leader of the most powerful neutral faction, was even more scheming, while releasing rumors to transfer assets to Canada and Europe, and made a momentum to emigrate. On the other hand, he is still waiting for the north to offer what conditions he will offer in order to keep him, the richest man in China. Regarding the pro-mainland Huo Yingdong's proposal to go north, he has not expressed his position so far.

Politics is not at the level of Huo Yingdong and Li Jiacheng, in Lin Xiaozhi's opinion, you really don't need to pay too much attention, because you don't have the right to speak. Therefore, for Cen Jianxun, who seems to be determined to face the mainland to the end, Lin Xiaozhi is now also worried about how he should use it? Can it still be used?

Perhaps, it's time to give him eye drops in advance.

With a certain idea in his heart, Lin Xiaozhi began to think about finding an opportunity to find out the matter and tell him. Of course, he didn't forget that others were waiting for him to finish speaking, and quickly continued: "Of course, my money didn't fall from the sky, and if you want to join the club and enjoy our Xinya and Debao channels and get more box office dividends, you must sign a 13-year exclusive distribution agreement with us, ensuring that the film can only be distributed in our theaters or by our own distribution company." ”

As soon as he finished saying this, Deng Guangrong, Xu Guanwen and Sammo Hung glanced at each other, and they all breathed a sigh of relief

Sure enough, there is no such thing as a lunch without money. Lin Xiaozhi's conditions are not excessive, because whether it is Golden Harvest or Golden Princess, or the new treasure cinema line that has just appeared. With the intensification of competition in theaters, they are all wooing small and medium-sized independent film companies, offering some preferential terms and signing exclusive distribution agreements with them.

At this moment, all the words have finally been put in the clear, and it depends on who will make a statement first.

Deng Guangrong didn't mean to speak, he was still calculating whether it was a good thing or a bad thing that his Darong was tied to the same chariot as Ying Zhijie and Lin Xiaozhi. Xu Guanwen is also entangled, he has always been close to Princess Jin, this time if Lin Xiaozhi didn't want to buy the film distribution rights with him, Xu Guanwen, who didn't have much contact with Lin Xiaozhi, would not have been invited by him. Sammo Hung, whose expression has changed several times, is known to be the film company he invested in with Golden Harvest in his early years.

There was a brief silence, but Lin Xiaozhi was not in a hurry. After giving Li Xiuxian and Chen Xunqi a look, Li Xiuxian took the lead in saying: "It's true that the voice of our Hong Kong film industry is too small if you don't form a group, and it doesn't hurt to join the club anyway, count me in."

Among the group of people, he was the first to speak, and for a while, several eyes fell on him, and they seemed to be thinking about why Li Xiuxian agreed so easily.

"Count me in, provided that Lin Sheng and you don't dislike our Yongjia is too young" The second vassal is Chen Xunqi.

Chen Xunqi is a legend in the Hong Kong film industry, although his Yongjia Film Company is small, but it has also made a lot of movies, although he did not make any money, but Chen Xunqi is still happy to insist on making films, and he is also the number one person in the Hong Kong film industry. can sit here, and Chen Xunqi is not timid at all, this man with four eyebrows is the same as Lu Xiaofeng in Gu Long's pen, he is an extremely smart person.

Chan Ho-ki has always been regarded as the only all-rounder in the Hong Kong film industry, he is the best soundtrack among Hong Kong directors, the best producer in the soundtrack, the best speed car director in production, the best screenwriter in speed coaching, one of the most famous actors in screenwriting, and one of the most successful directors among actors. Lin Xiaozhi has dealt with him a few times before, and the two have a good personal relationship, not to mention that now Yongjia is also a satellite film company of New Asia.

After the two of them spoke, the smile on Lin Xiaozhi's face became thicker.

Soon after a burst of laughter, Liu Jialiang also nodded: "My film company has long been discontinued, Lin Sheng, if you don't dislike me as a lonely person, I will be named in the club" He was the most chic one present, the film company had already stopped production, and he had no scruples at all.

Lin Xiaozhi naturally agreed: "You are a senior in the circle, experience alone can make many people take fewer detours, Liu Sheng is willing to join this is naturally the best, it's too late to welcome."

It's a pity that as soon as his words fell, Sammo Hung's big voice rang out: "I would like to be as famous as Master Liu in the club, but in the past two years, I invested in six or seven movies and only two movies paid off, and I lost a lot of money." And the prospect is uncertain, and I also have the idea of immigration. Baohe and Baoxiang don't know when Ludao will be discontinued......"

The implication is that I will join the club, but it is unlikely that the two film companies under his name will sign an exclusive distribution and release agreement with Lin Xiaozhi's theaters.

is such a thoughtful fat man, Lin Xiaozhi ate a soft rejection from him, and he was not angry in his heart. Don't look at Sammo Hung who is fat and fat, he looks very easy to deceive, but he can be called the big brother of the film industry, how can he be without a little catty.

Xu made a bad start, Deng Guangrong and Xu Guanwen also expressed their positions successively, although the two did not refuse his face, they both agreed to join the club he was going to make. But Deng Guangrong excused himself to think about it, and did not promise his Darong Film Company and Ying Zhijie Film Company to sign an exclusive contract with Lin Xiaozhi. Xu Guanwen even used the excuse that Xu's Pictures was the common asset of the four brothers, and threatened to go back to discuss it with the other three brothers, but he did not express his willingness to sign an exclusive contract with him, which made Lin Xiaozhi a little disappointed.

However, this disappointment in his heart soon disappeared completely. Because he had been very silent that night, Zhang Guozhong, Hong Kong's most successful ace manager, who rarely spoke, finally opened his mouth. This man, who has dozens of well-known Hong Kong artists under his Performing Arts Entertainment, made himself the focus of the venue with just one sentence.

“…… Lin Sheng's proposal is good, if we don't form a group, others will bully us. The voice of our film industry in Hong Kong is really too small, and we artists are willing to join the club. It's just Lin Sheng, I have a question. What is the name of this club? ”

As soon as his words fell, not only Lin Xiaozhi looked at him with a little surprise, not to mention Deng Guangrong, Sammo Hung, Xu Guanwen and others.

Zhang Guozhong's entertainment is not as good as Li Xiuxian's Magnum, Chen Xunqi's Yongjia's kind of leather bag company, and Xinya and Ying Zhijie used to be called the five film companies in the Hong Kong film industry second only to the three giants (referred to as the five small strong), in Hong Kong, where assets of hundreds of thousands, millions of leather bag film companies are everywhere, Yineng is one of the only companies with assets of more than 100 million, and it is even stronger than Deng Guangrong's Ying Zhijie, he directly agreed to join the club in the name of Yineng, which has made it clear that everyone present can't understand, What kind of medicine is this lord selling in the gourd?

"It's great that the artists are willing to join"

Lin Xiaozhi paused for a moment, and immediately reacted, with the most kind smile on his face: "Welcome Zhang Sheng, as for the name of the club." Since we are a loose alliance, we don't need to make a film XX association or something like that. By the way, I heard that Li Chaoren had a peace association with some businessmen with whom he had personal friends, and he often exchanged some business information to seek a win-win situation. We proposed it today at the Cultural Hotel, why don't we call this club 'Mandarin Club.' ”

In the bland and easy-going tone, a trace of ambition to compare himself to the richest man in China is obvious. At this moment, someone did not understand; Some people frowned slightly; Someone tilts his cheek sideways; Someone's eyes widened; Someone's eyes twinkled. Suspicion or criticism, but there is no doubt about one thing. At this moment, Lin Xiaozhi, who proposed the establishment of the 'Wenhua Society' and tried to link the interests of all participants with himself to form a huge interest group, became the center of the eleven people present.