Dreams of the Fragrant River

"Of course there is a difference," said Cen Jianxun, "if it's just to make quick money, then you can shoot whatever the subject matter is popular, and invite the star to be the protagonist, like the Yongsheng Films of the Xiang brothers. For a movie made in this way, unless the director is too bad or there is no schedule for release, it will be difficult to lose money.”

Pan Disheng listened and nodded, and then asked, "What if you are concentrating on your film career?"

Cen Jianxun said: "If Mr. Pan, you want to take movies as seriously as your jewelry business, then we must first formulate the company's development strategy, so that we can do it for a long time and stand out among many film companies."

"That's right, a company must have its own unique business philosophy." Pan Disheng agreed with Cen Jianxun's words, because his flute jewelry business relies on strategy to win, so it has grown and grown in just a few years.

Cen Jianxun further analyzed: "Before formulating a development strategy, we must be clear, what are the advantages of Debao Films?"

"It seems that we don't have any advantages." Pan Disheng thought for a long time and said that he himself did not understand film production and distribution, and his partner Hong Jinbao was often busy with Baohe Film Company. I'm not going to be a director myself.

Cen Jianxun shook his head and said, "There are at least three advantages of Debao Films. First, Hong Jinbao is the company's second largest shareholder. Although he doesn't have much energy to run and develop the company, his fame is there. And sometimes you can direct and act to get a good box office, which is an advantage that other small companies do not have; second, Mr. Pan, you have a good relationship with Jiahe. As long as our movies are not too bad, then we will not Worrying about the issue of distribution and release is the basic guarantee for the development of the film company; the third and most important advantage is that we are not bad for money.”

"Not bad money?" Pan Disheng laughed and said, "I'm really not bad money. But what kind of advantage is that?"

Cen Jianxun also smiled and said: "This is a great advantage. The bottleneck of many film companies' development is lack of money. The gold owner of Xinyi City, Lei Juekun, suffered heavy losses in the stock market crash and real estate bubble in the past two years, and he has not much money anymore. I have spare money to play big productions, which led to the fact that the films of Xinyicheng last year were all small urban comedies, and even last year, two theaters under the Golden Princess Cinemas were sold out."

Pan Disheng said, "You want me to invest in a big movie?"

"I'm just giving an example," Cen Jianxun shook his head and said, "After knowing the advantages, we need to analyze what we lack?"

Pan Disheng smiled bitterly and said, "We lack everything except the boss and funds. Even the cameras for filming are rented from Golden Harvest."

Cen Jianxun said: "That's right. A film company needs to develop for a long time. First of all, the company's films must be able to sell well. To increase the chance of a film being sold, it must have a good director who can cooperate for a long time. Hong Jinbao is a good director. , but Hong Jinbao's work focus is not now at Debao Films."

Pan Disheng understood it now, and said, "What do you mean. If Debao Films wants to develop, it must sign a few best-selling directors?"

"That's right," Cen Jianxun said with a smile, "so I say Debao's biggest advantage is that it doesn't lack money, because as long as you have money, you can hire a good director."

Pan Disheng asked again, "Then who do you think is better to dig?"

Cen Jianxun analyzed: "The best-selling movies in Hong Kong now are comedies, and comedies are divided into many types. Kung Fu comedies rely too much on actors, and it is difficult to sell without Cheng Long and Hong Jinbao; urban comedies need idol stars, and when shooting Please invite Alan Tam, Lin Zixiang, Zhang Guorong and other stars to be the protagonists; the fantasy comedy has high requirements on the screenwriter, otherwise the film will be a piece of garbage."

"Then what kind of comedy should we shoot?" Pan Disheng continued to ask.

"Campus comedy." Cen Jianxun smiled and said, "Since Kang Jianfei's "Happy Ghost", the box office of campus comedy has been good, but except for the "Happy Ghost" series, other films of the same type rarely sell well. No one is shooting anymore. ."

Pan Disheng was puzzled and said, "It's no longer a blockbuster, what are we doing here?"

Cen Jianxun explained: "There is no trick to not getting a blockbuster. This campus comedy must first have directors and screenwriters who are good at this type of comedy, and then choose the right actors. Actors should choose the kind of young and beautiful girls from the sea, which can save money and save money. To give the audience a sense of freshness, the director needs to dig an expert in this field!"

"Who to dig?" Pan Disheng asked.

"Gao Zhisen," said Cen Jianxun, "this man can write and direct, and several of his campus comedies filmed in Xinyicheng have done well at the box office."

Pan Disheng still knew Gao Zhisen and said, "Gao Zhisen seems to be Huang Baiming's apprentice, can we dig it?"

Cen Jianxun said with a smile: "Xinyi City is now disillusioned. As long as we can afford the money, Gao Zhisen will definitely agree."

Pan Disheng nodded and said, "As long as the price he asks is not too outrageous."

Cen Jianxun added: "Actually, if you're willing, Mr. Pan, we might as well make nonsensical comedies, but there will be a lot of bleeding when poaching people."

Pan Disheng's smile narrowed: "Are you going to let me dig Zhou Xingchi?"

Cen Jianxun nodded: "Not only Zhou Xingchi, but also Li Lichi, the assistant director of "God of Gamblers". It will cost about 15 million to 20 million to dig the two of them."

"The risk is too great. If it doesn't sell well, it will lose money." Pan Disheng still didn't have much confidence in making a movie, he said, "Then dig Gao Zhisen first, and Zhou Xingchi will talk about it later."

Cen Jianxun is not easy to persuade him. After all, no one dares to guarantee the ticket and make a steady profit, so he only said: "After talking about the director, let's talk about the actors. In addition to finding young beautiful girls with scouts, Mr. Pan, you must sign Michelle Yang as soon as possible, her The image and acting skills are still very promising. If you can sign it, you can try to let her shoot different types of movies, and then find the right direction to develop and cultivate. It is best to sign one or two more distinctive men. Actors, so that you can play the sign of the film company."

Pan Disheng kept all of them in mind, but heard Cen Jianxun say again: "When the company develops to a certain scale, it must invest in theater chains, otherwise it will be controlled by others forever."

"The theater line is too far away, so I don't need to think about it for the time being." Pan Disheng said with a wave of his hand. Now that the Hong Kong property market has picked up, and even the rents of houses have risen sharply, investing in cinema chains requires at least hundreds of millions of dollars.

…

…

Spring Festival Eve.

Gao Zhisen and Zhou Xingchi received invitations at the same time, and both Jiahe and Debao quickly started poaching.

And with the approach of New Year's Eve, the box office of "The Holy Gambler" also set off a **** again, pressing "Fu Xing Gao Zhao" firmly under the body.

Xinyicheng's "Gong Xi Fa Cai" is a bit miserable. In another time and space, "Gong Xi Fa Cai" only has a competitor of "Fu Xing Gaozhao", but it only received more than 18 million at the box office.

Now, there is an extra "Gambling Saint" out of thin air to grab the audience, and the dull and boring "Gong Xi Fa Cai" immediately showed its true colors after cheating the box office for a week by relying on several star actors.

In the second week of its release, both "The Gambler" and "Fu Xing Gao Zhao" were still sucking the box office, but the single-day box office of "Gong Xi Fa Cai" dropped below 500,000, and the attendance rate of major theaters was so low that Point out.

Mecca, Shi Tian, ​​and Huang Baiming, the three big bosses of Art City, had a somewhat uncomfortable Spring Festival this year. After some reflection, they plan to make a blockbuster movie in the coming year.

Compared with the depression of these three, the bosses of many small companies in Hong Kong are in a better mood.

Perhaps because of the shadow of the Sino-British negotiations, Hong Kong movies have once again ushered in an explosive development since the Christmas season in December last year.

There were only 6 movies released in Hong Kong in January last year, but 13 movies released in January this year, more than doubled directly.

The reason why so many films have been released is that in addition to the increase in film production, I think there are a few more cinemas in Hong Kong. What made Kang Jianfei laugh or cry was that those small retail movie theaters actually learned the tricks he had used before and began to connect them together to form a temporary theater chain for the release of films from small and medium-sized film companies.

Even during the Spring Festival in February, 6 movies were released in Hong Kong at the same time, one each from DreamWorks, Art City, Golden Harvest, and Yindu, and the other two were released in temporary theaters by ordinary film companies.

"Crack, ninety thousand!" Wu Mengda shot out the mahjong.

Anita Mui picked up a card and looked at it. Suddenly, she played mahjong between her palms, and said something in her mouth: "Heavenly spirits and spirits, bless me with a good card!"

"You've watched too much "The Holy Gambler"!" Zhang Guorong, who was sitting at her next house, complained and said impatiently, "Please hurry up, I'm going to fall asleep."

Anita Mui usually has a great popularity and character, but as soon as she sits at the poker table, she completely changes herself, and she often does **** things. She rubbed the cards for a long time before throwing them out, and sighed at her opponent Zhou Xingchi: "If only I could rub the cards like Ah Xing."

Zhou Xingchi usually has very few truths, and is a very boring person. Now listening to Anita Mui saying this, he couldn't help but pick up the gambling money in front of him and joked: "If I could shuffle the cards, I wouldn't have to play cards every time. lost."

This not funny joke made several people laugh.

After the release of "Love Saint" half a year ago, many people still called Zhou Xingchi "Xingzai", and newcomers and actors who did not get along well called him "Xingge". But when the box office of "The Gambler" soared, everyone with a discerning eye knew that Zhou Xingchi would be a star of Zhou Runfa's level in the future, and even Anita Mui sometimes jokingly called Zhou Xingchi "Star Lord".

How popular is "The Holy Gambler"?

Just look at Hong Kong people playing cards during the Spring Festival this year. Whether it is mahjong or poker, many people will learn to play Zhou Xingchi for a long time after getting the cards.