After the news of Shaw Yifu's announcement of the suspension of Shaw Brothers Pictures spread, Hong Kong's newspapers, both leftist and right-wing, carried a lot of nostalgic reports on it.

"When it comes to Hong Kong films, Shaw Brothers Pictures is a topic that can never be avoided, he once represented a glorious era of Hong Kong films, and has the reputation of Oriental Hollywood. Now that Sir Shaw has ended 24 years of film production at Shaw Brothers Pictures, marking the end of a film era, the name Shaw Brothers will forever remain in the memory of fans......

This is the extremely high evaluation of Shaw Brothers by Sing Tao Daily, and it is also the general opinion of many eulogies on Shaw Brothers.

With the publication of these eulogies, Ye Zhiming, a business genius, found Shao Yifu, selected dozens of classic Shaw Brothers old movies to make videotapes, and also printed the words "out-of-print treasures" on the cover, selling more than 800,000 boxes of horror sales in the next three months.

In addition to regret and nostalgia, there are also newspapers analyzing the reasons for the decline of Shaw Brothers, such as the "Oriental Daily" interviewed an old Shaw Brothers employee. The old employee used to be a middle-level manager of Shaw Brothers, and now that Shaw Brothers is out of production and planning to retire, he is not polite at all, and directly refers to Fang Yihua as a sinner in Shaw Brothers' collapse:

"What is a movie? Movies are a commodity that amuses people.

No one will buy a bad record, and no one wants to watch a bad play. Movies are like records and dramas, if you want your movie to be a hit, you have to do it well, so that the audience will buy your account.

I joined Shaw Brothers in '62, and at that time, Shaw Brothers was striving for excellence in filmmaking. "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai" is why it can be popular all over Hong Kong, Taiwan and Nanyang because the Shaw Brothers at that time were willing to spend money, and it took 70,000 or 80,000 yuan to build the library where Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai studied. At that time, it was 70,000 or 80,000 yuan, and now it is tens of millions, do you think such a sincere work can be good-looking?

On the other hand, in the past ten years, there have been few Shaw Brothers films with an investment of more than one million. Don't talk about the huge amount of money to set up the scene, even the actors' costumes can be saved.

When did this phenomenon begin?

From the beginning of Fang Yihua's reign at the helm of the Shaw Brothers.

When Mr. Zou Wenhuai was in charge of Shaw Brothers productions, Shaw Brothers had no film budget at all, and although the salaries for the staff were low, they were willing to spend money on film production. After Ms. Fang Yihua took control of Shaw Brothers, the first thing she did was to set up a budget mechanism. The director said that a street scene needs 200 extras, but Ms. Fang said no, the budget is only enough to hire 100. The director said that the costumes for this play need to be designed, but Ms. Fang said no, there are many costume rooms of the Shaw Brothers. Go pick a few.

Some plays require two or three sets of costumes, one for the actors, one for the stand-ins, and one for sweating or soiling. The one I remember most vividly was because Ms. Fang's budget was too low. The actor and the stand-in had to share a set of costumes, and the results of the final shoot were miserable.

Of course. At that time, Shaw Brothers was the most profitable. Because the movie sold well at the box office, and at the same time the cost was very low.

But the audience is not a fool, when Golden Harvest, DreamWorks, New Art City and other companies rise, and all the movies are better-looking, who will watch inferior Shaw Brothers movies?

I have worked at Shaw Brothers for more than 20 years, and I can say that I have watched Shaw Brothers grow and decline step by step. Touching my conscience, I dare to say that Ms. Fang has an unshirkable responsibility for the suspension of Shaw Brothers! ”

"Bastard!" Fang Yihua slammed the newspaper to the side, and her old face turned green with anger.

"Well, don't be angry about a story. In the future, we can develop wireless stations with peace of mind. Shao Yifu leaned on crutches and bent down to pick up the newspaper on the ground.

How could Fang Yihua not be angry, after this report came out, many old Shaw Brothers employees scolded her half to death behind their backs, and called her the culprit of Shaw's collapse.

Shao Yifu slowly put the newspaper back in place, and then asked: "I heard that the ratings of "There is a Wife in the Family" were crushed by "Sister Tuogun 3"? ”

"A Wife in the Family" is a fashion drama starring Liang Chaowei, Lan Jieying, Lu Liangwei and Zheng Yuling, the main purpose is to take advantage of the past "Deer and Ding Ji" boom to continue to praise Liang Chaowei, and then borrow Lu Liangwei, Zheng Yuling and other old stars to make the newcomer Lan Jieying.

When this TV series was just broadcast, the audience's feedback was still very good, and Lan Jieying even won the title of "Beautiful Wutai Mountain".

But less than a week after the launch of "A Wife in the Family", Phoenix Channel suddenly offered the killer feature of "Sister Tuogun 3", which instantly dropped the ratings of "A Wife in the Family" to more than 20 points.

The "Sister Tuogun" series is the treasure of Phoenix Terrace, not like the original time and space for a sequel, and the plot collapsed and it was impossible to watch it. Phoenix Channel has a plan to release sequels at a rate of one a year, and at the time of production, the screenwriting team of DreamWorks spent half a year writing the script, and the second and third parts of "Sister Tuogun" are much better than the original time and space.

Fang Yihua nodded, saying that "A Wife in the Family" was indeed pressed very badly, she said: "The drama "Sister Tuogun" is too famous, and the audience was snatched away as soon as the third part started. Now TVB is useless in filming, so I can only temporarily back down and plan the next drama. ”

"It's good that you can think like this," Shao Yifu said approvingly, "Ah Hua, your ability is very strong, but sometimes your temper is too impatient, and your mind is too small to tolerate, so you must change this aspect." ”

"I'll try to pay attention." Fang Yihua didn't take Shao Yifu's words at ease, she was thinking about what kind of scene to shoot back and forth to Phoenix Terrace. Some time ago, I finally filmed a "Deer and Ding Ji", which suppressed the ratings of the TV series of Phoenix Channel without resistance, but I didn't expect to be won back by the other party for just over a month.

Shao Yifu glanced at Fang Yihua and walked slowly outside on crutches.

Shao Yifu never regretted what he had done, but this time he always couldn't help but think: Is it really wrong to sell Shaw Brothers Cinemas to Kang Jianfei?

Just yesterday's "Oriental Daily", the headline of the entertainment section published a special article, titled "Kang Jianfei's Entertainment Kingdom".

"Mr. Shao Yifu's film kingdom has fallen, and a new era in the Hong Kong film industry has already come, and who is the banner bearer of the new era?

There is no doubt that the current Hong Kong film industry is a three-legged triumph of Golden Harvest, DreamWorks, and New Arts City, and in terms of the box office situation of this summer, DreamWorks' box office revenue is equivalent to the sum of Golden Harvest and New Arts City.

Looking at the box office of DreamWorks movies in recent years, the worst movies are above 2.5 million, and there are more than a dozen with a box office of more than 10 million, which is really an amazing data, and it is far more than the data of other film companies.

And Kang Jianfei obviously wants more than that.

Just next week, several of Kang's companies will move into Tseung Kwan O Film and Television City, which will greatly facilitate the close cooperation between Oriental DreamWorks, Oriental Entertainment, Fengxing Records and Phoenix TV. Movies, television, records, and Oriental Entertainment Company, which has a large number of star resources, seem to form an independent entertainment kingdom in Tseung Kwan O Film and Television City.

No one knows how far this entertainment kingdom will develop in the future, but it is undeniable that Kang Jianfei has mastered the entertainment trends and trends in Hong Kong......"

……

……

Yongjia Pictures, Inc.

Compared with New Arts City and DreamWorks, Yongjia Pictures' office space is really small, including the general manager's office, there are only two offices.

Chen Xunqi walked in with his trouser pocket in one hand, threw the script on the table, and then collapsed on the chair.

"Brother Qi, the script didn't pass again?" Wang Jiawei leaned over and asked.

Chen Xunqi said with a wry smile: "Recently, the company filmed "I Want a Golden Turtle Son-in-law" and "Yiren See You Again", one of which has a lower box office than the other, Boss Lei doesn't believe me anymore, he used to pay for movies without saying a word. ”

"Brother Qi, I'm sorry, it's my script that's not good." Wang Jiawei said with self-reproach, because "I Want a Golden Turtle Son-in-law" and "Yiren See You Again" are scripts written by him.

Wang Jiawei, 26, worked as a part-time editor at Cinema Fortnight when he was in college, and later signed up for TVB's screenwriting training class. After participating in the creation of a TV drama script, Wang Jiawei first joined Xinyicheng as a screenwriter (that is, to translate Huang Baiming's ideas into words), and was later valued by Chen Xunqi and pulled into Yongjia Pictures.

Wang Jiawei has always regarded Chen Xunqi as his Bole, and when he saw that Chen Xunqi's movie could not get funds at this time, he was also anxious for him.

"It's none of your business," Chen Xunqi comforted with a smile, "Your script is very well written, but something went wrong when I directed it." This year, the company may not be able to make a movie, and Boss Lei's side is short of funds, so he really has no spare money to invest in me. If you're not filming, I don't have the money to pay you much salary, so you might as well go outside to take on more private work. ”

Chen Xunqi said that he was the owner of a film company, but there were only 4 people in the entire company plus himself, which was similar to the film studios of Xu Ke and McDonald's Bear.

In the first year or so, Chen Xunqi's movies were big hits, and he was naturally proud, but unfortunately most of the profits went into Lei Juekun's pocket.

Now that the box office of two consecutive movies has dropped sharply, although it can still make some money, the company's finances have begun to be stretched, because Yongjia Pictures has only made one movie this year.

I didn't leave DreamWorks if I knew it, and now I have to manage the company and find money to make movies, and I have a headache to death all day long.

This is an occasional thought in Chen Xunqi's heart, but he is a more face-saving person, and he really can't wipe his face when he returns to DreamWorks.

Wang Jiawei was still counting on mixing with Chen Xunqi, at this time, seeing that the company's development was not going well, he was more anxious than Chen Xunqi, and couldn't help but say: "Brother Qi, I heard that you have a good relationship with Mr. Kang?" ”

"Average." Chen Xunqi really didn't want to mention Kang Jianfei's name.

Wang Jiawei instigated: "It's better for you to shut down Yongjia Pictures, just like McDonald Bear and Xu Ke, and open a movie studio in DreamWorks." ”

Chen Xunqi's expression was a little unnatural, and he coughed and said, "I'll ask Boss Lei for investment in a few days." ”

Wang Jiawei picked up the "Oriental Daily" on his desk, pointed to the report of "Kang Jianfei's Entertainment Kingdom" and said: "Brother Qi, Mr. Kang will be another 'Shao Yifu in the film industry' in the future, and now you should go back and cooperate with him, at least you don't have to worry about not having money to make movies!" (To be continued......)