"Mr. Kang, the host dubbing of "Talking about the Yangtze River" is in Mandarin. I am afraid that Hong Kong audiences may not be used to it. Can they be re-made into Cantonese dubbing?" asked Liang Yueming, deputy director of the program at Phoenix TV.
Kang Jianfei sat behind and watched a paragraph, shook his head and said, "No, the voice host of CCTV is very good. When the "Silk Road" he dubbed a few years ago was broadcast in Japan, it also used the original Chinese sound. Japanese people liked it very much. It doesn't matter that Hong Kong audiences are not as good as Japanese."
"Okay, it's scheduled to be played every Friday night." Liang Yueming said with concern.
The in-depth cooperation between Phoenix TV and CCTV is of course not just about selling TV series to CCTV, but also requires both back and forth.
Just a month and a half ago, China and the United Kingdom officially signed an agreement (a few months ago signed a draft agreement), confirming that Hong Kong will return to the embrace of the motherland in 1997.
Although Hong Kong's social and disciplinary order has quickly stabilized, many Hong Kong citizens still have resistance to the mainland. The mainland generously gives DreamWorks an entry quota for 4 movies every year, so Kang Jianfei naturally wants to repay his support for the mainland. This time he chose to buy CCTV's humanistic documentary "Talk about the Yangtze River" and get it to Phoenix Station for broadcast every Friday.
Like "The Silk Road" a few years ago, "Talk the Yangtze River" was jointly produced by TV stations between China and Japan, but "Talk the Yangtze River" is the main creator of China. Many things in "Talk the Yangtze River" are world-class firsts and have been released to Japan and the United States in the form of videotapes, and the videotape sales are quite good.
In the 1980s, there was a popular TV program in Taiwan called "Double-Shot Cannon". The "History of Chinese TV" unit of "Double-Shot Cannon" was the most powerful. The ratings of three TV stations in Taiwan have dominated the three TV stations for several years - even the ratings of popular TV series are not as good as "History of Chinese TV".
Wang Weizhong, the producer of "History of Chinese Television", said in an interview with "Kangxi is Coming" many years later that he suddenly had the idea of ​​producing "History of Chinese Television" after watching the CCTV documentary "Talk the Yangtze River" in Japan, and imitated the voice host of "Talk the Yangtze River" during filming.
When choosing which program to buy CCTV, Kang Jianfei was actually quite confused. The staff of Phoenix TV who were responsible for going to Beijing to select films for a full month.
The reason why it is so difficult to choose is because it can convey patriotism and deepen Hong Kong people's understanding and recognition of the motherland, but it cannot cause disgust among Hong Kong audiences because of excessive preaching.
At this time, CCTV's programs were just preaching everywhere, and if they were broadcast in Hong Kong, they would definitely have the opposite effect.
"Talking about the Yangtze River" happens to be a documentary without any preaching meaning. When its producers planned this film, they had special requirements for the copywriting of the documentary. That is, no words such as "patriotism" and "patriotism" can appear. They are just objectively described from an approachable perspective. Through the description of the beautiful mountains and rivers of the motherland and the working people, patriotism is naturally aroused from the bottom of their hearts.
Seeing Liang Yueming's concern in his heart, Kang Jianfei smiled and said, "Don't worry, after all, this is just a documentary. It would be good if the ratings can be 15, and you don't have to be responsible."
Liang Yueming, the deputy director of the program, is responsible for broadcasting variety shows, conversations, documentaries and other programs. He said in embarrassment: "If "Talking the Yangtze River" is broadcast on Monday and Tuesday, I have nothing to say. But Friday night is prime time, and under normal circumstances, it is considered to be qualified if the ratings of at least 25 are at least considered a pass. It is a waste to use documentaries like "Talking the Yangtze River" to broadcast."
"Try to broadcast two episodes first. If the ratings are too low, adjust the broadcast time." Kang Jianfei was not sure whether "Journal of the Yangtze River" could attract Hong Kong audiences. Although all parties have high evaluations of this documentary, from Kang Jianfei's perspective 30 years later, "Journal of the Yangtze River" is very crude due to the shooting technology, and the commentary of the two hosts of the men and women seems a bit stereotyped.
Liang Yueming heard Kang Jianfei say that the broadcast time could be adjusted according to the viewership rate, and he felt much more relaxed and said: "Mr. Kang, we encountered some difficulties in the early preparation of the program we cooperated with Central Station in the Mainland."
The third point of Phoenix and Central Station cooperation is that the two stations work together to shoot a program. This kind of cooperation is very common in the television industry. For example, Japan's NHK, which is called "Japanese traitor" and "communist Taiwan" by Japanese right-wingers, made a large number of documentaries with CCTV after China and Japan resumed diplomatic relations. For example, "Talking about the Yangtze River" was co-produced by NHK and Central Station, and most of the funds were produced by NHK.
Programs cooperating with CCTV must achieve two effects: one is to show the beautiful side of mainland China, and the other is to be interesting and not to cause disgust of Hong Kong audiences. Therefore, Liang Yueming had a great headache when planning the program. Although he was traveling to the mainland for a few rounds, he still had a slight understanding of the situation in the mainland.
CCTV lacks experience in program production and does not have much program innovation ability, so I hope to shoot a documentary with Phoenix Channel introducing Chinese customs and historical geography, just like I have worked with Japan's NHK for a long time.
Kang Jianfei doesn't think so, because Hong Kong people live too fast, the main groups watching TV are housewives and aunts, and documentaries in this regard are difficult to attract mainstream audiences.
In the end, Kang Jianfei selected two programs, both documentaries that were more successful before he traveled through time, namely "Kung Fu Legend" and "China on the Bite of the Tongue".
"Kung Fu Legend" was originally filmed by Hong Kong Radio and is more popular in Hong Kong and the mainland, and "China on the Bite of the Tongue" is even more well-known.
But both of these programs were overthrown by Kang Jianfei. Judging from the current economic development situation in the mainland, neither "Kung Fu Legend" nor "China on the Bite of the Tongue" could be filmed.
In the end, Kang Jianfei selected a life-type role exchange program "Metamorphosis" at the toilet table, preparing to find a poor Hong Kong boy with a wealthy family to exchange roles with children from poor mainland families, and each replaced each other for a week.
The prodigal son is rich/the second generation is easy to find in Hong Kong, but no parents are willing to go to the mainland to do programs. They think that the mainland is too chaotic and poor, and it is life-threatening. This is the biggest difficulty Phoenix Station encountered when preparing for the program.
"Don't look for a rich man," Kang Jianfei said. "You can contact him more to see if there are middle-class families or small wealthy business families, and children who skip school and fight in society all day long. If parents feel that they can't teach their children, they can convince them to let their children go to the mainland to try it."
"Okay, I'll ask someone to look for it again." Liang Yueming said helplessly, Kang Jianfei had all asked him questions recently.
Whether it is "Talking about the Yangtze River" or "Metamorphosis", once it is broadcast, Phoenix Channel will inevitably be labeled as a red TV station, which will arouse many Hong Kong audiences who are resistant to the mainland.
...
...
"The Royal Sister" is very popular in the mainland, with a cumulative box office of more than 16 million yuan, equivalent to 57.6 million Hong Kong dollars..."
On January 25, 1985, a report from Wenhui Po shocked the Xiangjiang film industry.
Due to the problems of import quota and distribution capabilities, most film companies in Hong Kong now regard Taiwan as the largest overseas film market. When Kang Jianfei was banned by the Taiwan authorities, many film companies were gloating behind the scenes, because as long as DreamWorks withdrew from the Taiwan market, they would lose a big competitor.
But I never expected that Kang Jianfei would sell the movie to the mainland. "The Royal Sister" has not yet been released in the mainland, and the box office has been sold for more than 57 million Hong Kong dollars. It is a terrifying data of nearly 300 million to be converted into New Taiwan dollars.
Who else dares to say that Taiwan is the largest box office market for Hong Kong films?
"Movie Biweekly" is not afraid of Taiwan's ban. This magazine has offended the Taiwan authorities more than once. The latest issue commented on the popular screening of "The Royal Sister" in mainland China: "...The biggest difference between Hong Kong films and Hollywood films is that the former speaks Chinese and the latter speaks English. No matter when, the main audience of Hong Kong films are Chinese speaking Chinese, followed by audiences in traditional Confucian cultural circles such as Japan, South Korea, and South China Sea...
Today, the largest Chinese group is in mainland China, with 1 billion Chinese speaking people, and each of them is a potential audience for Hong Kong films. As early as the 1950s and 1960s, mainland China was actually the largest box office market for Hong Kong films, but due to political reasons, Hong Kong films could not be sold, so most film companies turned their focus to the Taiwan market.
With the reform and opening up of mainland China, the mainland film market will gradually relax Hong Kong films. It can be foreseeable how much impact this situation will have on Hong Kong films. DreamWorks sells "The Royal Sister" to the mainland, which is a very positive test. The cumulative box office data of nearly 60 million Hong Kong dollars has actually proved the huge potential of the mainland film market. I believe that in the next ten or twenty years, the mainland film market will account for the most important share of Hong Kong film box office.”
"It's very clear that I just don't know if Hong Kong films can live until twenty years later!" Kang Jianfei threw "Movie Biweekly" aside and called Li Lizhi over and ordered, "Tomorrow's last day of shooting, you'll ask Ah Xing and Ada to work overtime to arrange the show tonight, and it's very tight before the Spring Festival."
On the side of Jiahe, Zou Wenhuai put down the newspaper and sighed: "This Kang Jianfei is really a loach. After being banned by Taiwan, he not only did not recover, but instead went to the mainland to make a fortune."
Liu Lianghua also has a small amount of shares in Jiahe Pictures. She was so jealous of more than 57 million Hong Kong dollars that she said, "The Royal Sister" has only been released in the mainland for more than a month. By the time the film is finished, the box office will probably be 70 to 80 million. If you sell a drama in the mainland, you will be selling several movies in Taiwan. Otherwise, Jiahe will try to get in touch with the mainland?"
"No need," Zou Wenhuai shook his head and said, "We have a complete distribution network in Taiwan. Cooperation with the mainland is equivalent to pushing down all the foundations developed in Taiwan over the past ten years. Moreover, the mainland market is not allowed to enter just by entering. The distribution of mainland movies is in the hands of the G Party. With the support of the G Party, it can be sold for a good box office. Kang Jianfei and the other side are just an exchange of interests. I heard that Phoenix Channel is planning to broadcast a patriotic documentary in the near future, but none of our TV stations use it to flatter G Party."
Liu Lianghua has her own considerations. She said: "Now that Hong Kong has confirmed the return of 97. If Jiahe does not make plans early, it may be unfavorable for Hong Kong to return."
Zou Wenhuai said: "The return of 97 is still far from the past, and it will not be too late to consider it in a few years."
"The sooner this kind of thing, the better," said Liu Lianghua. "You see, He Shili has such a deep foundation in Hong Kong. When the G Party and the UK signed the agreement last month, he obediently closed the "Business Daily"?"
Zou Wenhuai was deeply touched by Liu Lianghua's words. The "Business Daily" has been in Hong Kong for nearly 60 years, carrying the memories of several generations of Hong Kong people. Now, just because it is confirmed that Hong Kong will return in 1997, He Shili has suspended the "Business Daily" without saying a word in order to please the G Communist Party.
Zou Wenhuai knew that Shao Yifu had also gained some contact with the mainland. It was the general trend for Hong Kong businessmen to turn to the mainland, but Zou Wenhuai still wanted to not offend him. He said: "In the future, you should pay attention to Jiahe's films, and you should not use plots to discredit the mainland government."
"I will tell Lao He." Liu Lianghua said.
Zou Wenhuai turned around and asked, "That Ziqiong Yang is in Hong Kong recently. Has she signed a contract with Debao?"
Liu Lianghua said: "I don't know this, I have to ask it before I know it."
Although Jiahe has signed several actresses and has dug up the beating girl from DreamWorks, none of them can take the lead. The box office sales of "The Owl and Dumbo" made Zou Wenhuai take a look at Yang Ziqiong's potential at a glance.
Unfortunately, Ziqiong Yang is an actor invited by Pan Disheng from Malaysia, and Debao Film Company can barely be regarded as Jiahe's satellite company. Zou Wenhuai is not a shameless Kang Jianfei, who will not break up and dig up the satellite company's artist.
"Don't alarm Pan Disheng and Sanmao, just contact Yang Ziqiong quietly," Zou Wenhuai instructed, "If she has signed into Debao, forget it. If she hasn't signed yet, she should communicate with Pan Disheng and the others first before signing."
"I understand what you mean, pay attention to unity." Liu Lianghua smiled.
In the just-passed Christmas season, Debao Film Company, founded by Pan Disheng, Sammo Hung and Cen Jianxun, became a hit in the opening work "The Owl and Dumbo", and the box office was only 150,000 less than that of Jiahe's blockbuster "Fast Food Truck", which instantly became famous as Debao Film Company.
If Debao can continue to sell good movies, Zou Wenhuai will take special care of the company. He doesn't want to make Pan Disheng and Sammo Hung be angry because of poaching an actress.
Chapter completed!