In another time and space, 1993 was considered a turning point for Hong Kong movies from prosperity to decline.≧Novel,
Around 1992, a large number of production companies emerged in Hong Kong, such as Andy Lau's Tianmu, Wang Jing's Jingyi, Wong Kar-wai's Zedong, Li Lianjie's Zhengdong, etc. The financial backers behind these companies were all Taiwanese film companies.
Taiwanese film producers are very generous. As long as the Hong Kong producers come up with a story theme and list a star cast, they can first spend millions of cash to buy the project (commonly known as "buying movies"). This approach is very beneficial to Hong Kong films. People naturally have many benefits. For example, Wong Kar-Wai relied on Leslie Cheung, Lin Qingxia's all-star cast and the "plan" to adapt Jin Yong's martial arts to defraud the Scholar Company into investing tens of millions, and successfully started filming "Ashes of Time", but the budget ran out midway through the filming. Continue to trick Taiwanese businessmen into providing money.
Precisely because it is so easy to make money, most Hong Kong filmmakers have unprecedented confidence and are determined to make a fortune before the handover in 1997.
Unexpectedly, even before the year of handover, Hong Kong films have already reaped the consequences.
Around 1993, Hong Kong films followed the trend and were rampant, with a single theme and type, and the box office plummeted. However, the cost of filming continued to increase due to the skyrocketing salaries of stars. After this vicious cycle, no matter how abundant the funds of Taiwanese companies were, they could not sustain their income. It is not directly proportional to the long-term investment.
Taiwanese businessmen became increasingly dissatisfied with Hong Kong producers. When "Ji Gong" starring Zhou Xingchi was sold to Taiwanese film producers at a high price of more than 30 million yuan, the Taiwanese film producers lost all their money. This incident triggered Taiwan's eight major film producers to start working with the Hong Kong film industry. The Filmmakers Association negotiated on "how to curb the cost of Hong Kong films and lower the remuneration of Hong Kong films", and eventually the negotiations broke down.
Taiwanese film producers then reduced their investment in Hong Kong films and joined forces to boycott Hong Kong films that exceeded a certain budget. They instead asked the Taiwanese authorities to relax restrictions on Hollywood films.
By 1995, the Taiwan authorities lifted restrictions on Hollywood films at the request of film producers. Hong Kong films gradually lost the Taiwanese market.
Due to the butterfly effect brought by Kang Jianfei, Hong Kong films have prospered for at least two or three years ahead of schedule. Shao Yifu also announced that he will no longer invest in movies, so "Ji Gong" produced by Shaw Brothers will naturally not appear again.
Although the "Ji Gong" hit the streets did not trigger a collective rebound among Taiwanese film producers, Hong Kong films have deteriorated even more than before, with shoddy production, single genres, blind following, and inflated costs... All of these have caused hardship for Taiwanese film producers. Word.
Finally, "Mighty Dragon", which was released in Taiwan during the Spring Festival this year, became a huge hit.
This movie is a kung fu comedy co-produced by Taiwan's Longxiang Pictures, which hired Hong Jinbao and invested 20 million Hong Kong dollars, and co-produced it with Dual Cinema. Longxiang Pictures only has the distribution rights and box office revenue in Taiwan and Nanyang. As a result, the film was When it was released in Taiwan, it only earned over NT$8 million at the box office. This figure made Longxiang Pictures unable to cry.
Longxiang Pictures was already the leader among Taiwan's eight major film studios. When the investment failed, it immediately approached its peers to discuss the matter. It happened that "New Meteor Butterfly Sword" invested by Changhong and "Urban Heroes" invested by scholars also failed at the box office. , in the end, the heads of eight major film studios gathered in Hong Kong to discuss the negotiations with the Taiwan-Hong Kong Film Practitioners Association.
The so-called eight major film distributors in Taiwan, namely China Film, Scholars, Era, Longxiang, Judeng, Changhong, Xiongwei, and Fugui, are the Taiwanese film investment and distributors that invest and purchase the most Hong Kong films every year.
…
Hong Kong Hilton Hotel.
Taiwan's eight major film producers stayed here, so the hotel was naturally chosen as the venue for negotiations between filmmakers from Hong Kong and Taiwan.
It's only nine o'clock in the morning. Representatives of eight major film studios have already gathered in the conference room for the final pre-meeting communication. Their purpose is to force Hong Kong producers to reduce costs and star remuneration. If the negotiations fail, then
Only when I return to Taiwan will I be ready to flip the table.
At 9:14, Huang Baiming, the representative of Xincheng Cinema Line, came, entered the conference room and said hello to the eight major film producers, and then sat there waiting. Then. Luo Jiecheng (Yonggao Cinema Line), Chen Rongmei (double)
United Cinemas Line), He Guanchang (Golden Harvest Cinemas Line), Jiang Zhiqiang (Oriental Cinemas Line) and others also attended. In addition, some leading producers such as Xiang Huaqiang, Li Xiuxian, and Danny Mak also attended.
(Note: The once-splendid Golden Princess Cinema Line has closed down. Its theaters were acquired by Chen Rongmei, the owner of Xinbao Cinemas, and reorganized into Jinsheng Cinemas. Jinsheng and Xinbao are collectively referred to as "dual theaters")
The Taiwan side is headed by Yang Dengkui, who is the chairman of the Taiwan Producers Association. He is accompanied by Wang Yingxiang, Cai Songlin, Xu Anjin, Qiu Fusheng, Gong Xiangquan, Wu Dun and others.
After the two sides exchanged greetings and shook hands, Yang Dengkui glanced at the Hong Kong representative and asked: "Aren't Mr. Kang and Boss Zou here?"
He Guanchang said: "It is enough for me to talk."
Jiang Zhiqiang also smiled and said: "Mr. Kang has other important matters. I will fully represent Oriental Cinemas, Oriental Entertainment Distribution Company and Oriental DreamWorks."
"Ahem," Yang Dengkui coughed and said, "Everyone here is a representative of the film industry in Hong Kong and Taiwan. First of all, I have to admit that we have cooperated relatively happily over the years. I also hope that we can continue to make a fortune together in the future... However,
The cost of Hong Kong films is getting higher and higher, the salaries of stars are increasing, and many Hong Kong films invested by Taiwan cannot be delivered as scheduled. All these factors have caused heavy losses to us Taiwanese film producers. Today, I hope you can
Let’s sit together and properly resolve these issues.”
On the Hong Kong filmmaker side, Xiang Huaqiang first said: "How do you want to solve it?"
Wang Yingxiang, the boss of Longxiang Pictures, said: "Standardize the remuneration of stars, urge Hong Kong films to be delivered on schedule, and switch to a commission-based distribution method for Hong Kong films."
He Guanchang narrowed his eyes and asked, "What's the way to divide the commission?"
Cai Songlin, CEO of Scholar Pictures, explained: "For films with a box office of less than 10 million, we will take a 20% commission, and for films with a box office of more than 10 million, we will take a 15% commission."
The 20% and 15% commissions are only distribution fees for Taiwanese film companies, not box office share for theaters.
Jiang Zhiqiang directly objected: "I don't agree with this distribution method."
Wu Dun said: "Why do we change to commission-based distribution? It's because Hong Kong films are now shoddily produced, with regular box office receipts of less than 10 million, and film purchase fees are inflated. This is very unfriendly to us Taiwanese film producers, so changing
The issuance method is based on commission, which is fairer to everyone."
Jiang Zhiqiang smiled disdainfully: "Then with the box office of "Jurassic Park" of more than NT$200 million, does the distribution fee require a commission of NT$30 million for you?"
"Uh..." Wu Dun choked and said, "Mr. Kang's film is just a special case. Apart from him, which Hong Kong film has a box office of over 100 million in Taiwan?"
Jiang Zhiqiang was unreasonable and said: "So, your commission-based issuance method has loopholes!"
Taiwan's eight major film studios looked at each other, then whispered to each other, and said: "We just discussed that movies with a box office of more than 50 million will take a 13% commission. For every 10 million box office, the distribution commission will be reduced by 1%. The minimum
Until it drops to 6%.”
Jiang Zhiqiang did some calculations and found that this commission-based distribution method was beneficial to DreamWorks. He nodded and said: "On behalf of Oriental DreamWorks, I agree to commission-based distribution."
Xiang Huaqiang strongly objected: "No, you are passing the distribution risk on to the producer."
Yang Dengkui is now the boss of the Tiandao League. He is not afraid of Xiang Huaqiang. He sneered: "Why does DreamWorks agree, but you Yongsheng doesn't? It's not just following the trend and shoddy production, fearing that the box office in Taiwan will be less than 10 million."
Wu Dun was equally unfaithful to Xiang Huaqiang and said: "We Taiwanese film producers are not fools. We buy bad films and pay the distribution fee for the purchase. Can we continue to do this business?"
Xiang Huaqiang sneered: "You will lose money and pay back? Except for the people from China Film Group, which one of you here didn't start your career by distributing Hong Kong films!"
Qiu Fusheng coughed and said: "That was before. Now it is no longer profitable to distribute Hong Kong films. All the money has been made by your Hong Kong producers, directors and stars."
There is one more thing Qiu Fusheng didn't say, that is, Taiwan's theater companies are also making huge profits, but theater companies are not among the topics of today's negotiations.
The two sides went back and forth and exchanged words with each other. After arguing for a long time, they still couldn't reach an agreement. Except for DreamWorks and Golden Harvest, who agreed to distribute on a commission basis, all other Hong Kong representatives refused.
In the past, Taiwanese film producers negotiated prices and had to pay to buy the distribution rights of Hong Kong films in Taiwan before distributing them in Taiwan. This type of transaction has two advantages for Hong Kong producers. First,
Funds are recovered quickly, and the film purchase fee can be obtained before the film is released in Taiwan; secondly, there is no risk, even if the film is a piece of shit, you have already got the money when selling the film. Whether it can make box office is Taiwan
Something that film producers need to worry about.
Once the commission distribution method is adopted, Hong Kong producers will have to wait until the film is released to withdraw funds, and if the box office is too poor, they will have to pay high distribution fees. This plan is very suitable for large companies such as DreamWorks and Golden Harvest.
This is a good thing. Although there are some minor troubles in capital withdrawal and issuance, it can better highlight the capital and quality advantages of large companies.
But for those companies that want to make money by relying on shoddy manufacturing and blindly following the trend, this is tantamount to bad news. Their money-making speed will be at least several times slower than before.
On this point alone, the conflict between the two parties is simply irreconcilable.
Jiang Zhiqiang and He Guanchang, on the other hand, sat firmly on the Diaoyutai, watching with laughter that people from other companies were fighting with Taiwanese film producers.
This negotiation is an opportunity for Golden Harvest and DreamWorks to leverage their own advantages. Regardless of whether other companies agree or not, Golden Harvest and DreamWorks will definitely contact Taiwanese film producers privately, and there will be no psychological burden on them to sell to their peers.
No.
The issue of commission distribution could not be reached, so Yang Dengkui had to raise the second issue. He threw out a form and said: "As of April 1 this year, a total of more than 250 Taiwan-funded and Hong Kong films have not been delivered as scheduled. I hope you will
The association can urge relevant producers and directors to complete the project as soon as possible with quality and quantity!"
Jiang Zhiqiang smiled and said: "DreamWorks never accepts investment from Taiwan. You guys chat slowly while I smoke a cigarette first." (To be continued...) u
