Living here is Yifu Shao, the tycoon who left his mark on Hong Kong film history!
At six o'clock in the morning, Yifu Shao had already gotten up. As for his confidante Fang Yihua, he did not live here. Instead, he lived with his two sisters in a fortress-like apartment near the Shaw office building on Clear Water Bay Road, which was only five minutes away by car.
villa.
"Sir, breakfast is ready!"
When I saw Shao Yifu coming downstairs, the servants at home were preaching with their hands hanging down.
Shao Yifu nodded slightly and came to the dining table. Although he was already a billionaire, Shao Yifu's breakfast was actually very simple, a bowl of noodles, a few pickles, and a glass of milk.
At the same time, there were several newspapers placed on the table for Shao Yifu to read while eating.
"According to this newspaper, Chu Huan, a new upstart in the film industry, has reached an acquisition deal with Jiamei Cinema. Black and White Pictures will officially acquire Jiamei Pictures and form its own theater chain company..."
Shao Yifu frowned slightly when he saw this news. The name Chu Huan had often appeared in his sight recently.
But Shao Yifu knew that Chu Huan was not a person during this period. Cao Wenjin originally wanted to expand his business in Southeast Asia, so he wanted to marry the Shao family. This matter was already discussed, but Chu Huan turned out to be born.
, actually caused this matter to die prematurely.
Later at the Jockey Club, Chu Huan even won HK$1 million from Shao Weiqiang.
This million was advanced by Shao Yifu.
Shao Yifu has a total of eight brothers and sisters. When he was born, he already had three brothers and two sisters. Shao Yifu was the sixth eldest in the family, which is why everyone called him the sixth uncle.
According to the Shaw family tree, the four Shaw brothers belong to the generation with the character "ren", so the four brothers are Shao Renjie, Shao Rendi, Shao Renmei and Shao Renlang!
But because all four brothers later entered the entertainment industry and abandoned their real names and used nicknames, the four brothers were Shao Zuiweng, Shao Cunren, Shao Shanke, Shao Yifu...
It can be said that the four brothers were brought into the entertainment industry by the boss Shao Zuiweng.
At that time, Shao Zuiweng founded Tianyi Film Company in Shengtan Beach. Shao Zuiweng took charge of the overall development of the company and also worked as a director and screenwriter.
The second child, who is from Shaocun, is responsible for the company's financial accounting.
The third son, Shao Shanke, is responsible for the distribution of the film.
The fourth child, Shao Yifu, is still in school, and because he is still young, he only does some chores in the company in his free time.
Later, Tianyi Films was attacked by other film companies in Shengtan Beach. Shao Zuiweng decided to find another way and sent his third son, Shao Shanke, to Nanyang to develop the market.
When Shao Yifu was 19 years old, he went to Nanyang alone to join his third brother, Shao Shanke, to jointly develop the Shaw family's business in Nanyang.
During the war, Shao Zuiweng moved the Shao family's film company, Tianyi Film Company, to Hong Kong and renamed it Tianyi Port Film Company, and later renamed it Nanyang Film Company.
However, due to being targeted by his peers one after another and having his film warehouse burned down many times, Shao Zuiweng was exhausted mentally and physically, became seriously ill, and even quit the film industry.
During the war, Yifu Shao was even arrested by the Japanese army when he was developing his career in Singapore. The crime was showing "anti-Japanese films". Fortunately, Yifu Shao's company had Japanese employees before, and the employees worked hard for Shao Yifu, and this was how Shao Yifu's life was saved.
.
After the war, the people of Thao Village returned to Hong Kong and changed their name to Shaw Brothers and Sons, preparing to revive the film industry.
But at that time, there were two major film companies in Hong Kong, namely Jiang Boying's "Greater China Film Company" and Li Zuyong's "Yonghua Film Company".
After all, the Shaocun people are from a financial background. Without his brother's ability, the Shaw and Sons company has never been able to make a name for itself in Xiangjiang, but the Shaocun people are doing well in the real estate industry.
At this time, the business model of the Shaw Brothers has also changed. Their relationship is no longer a family-style "partnership" relationship, but a "cooperative" relationship between two companies.
In the past, Shaw Brothers' films were supplied to their brother companies in Nanyang for free, but later they were purchased.
The film was shot by Shaw Brothers, but part of the cost was provided by the brothers in Nanyang. In addition, in order to protect the Shaw Brothers in Hong Kong, the Shaw Brothers in Nanyang could not buy films from other film companies for release, unless they were from Shaw Brothers in Hong Kong.
The film was distributed by his father and his son.
In addition, the two parties also agreed that whether it is 'self-produced' or 'purchased', Shaw Brothers will charge a 20% commission.
But as the business of Shaw Brothers and Sons, a Shaocun native, in Xiangjiang, went from bad to worse, Shao Yifu decided to return to Xiangjiang alone to revive Shaw Brothers Pictures.
After returning to Hong Kong, the first thing Shao Yifu did was to buy a lot at No. 220, Clear Water Bay, from his second brother at a price of HK$0.45 per square foot.
This is the later-famous Shaw Brothers Clearwater Bay studio.
Since then, Shaw Brothers has made great strides in developing Shaw Brothers Pictures in Hong Kong. It took more than ten years to build Shaw Brothers into the number one film company in Hong Kong and even Southeast Asia!
At this time, TVB was still led by Li Xiaohe and Shao Yifu was still focusing on the film industry.
After seeing the news in the newspaper, Shao Yifu, who had gone through many hardships, was silent for a while and continued to eat.
After breakfast, Yifu Shao did a set of Tai Chi as usual, then washed up, got into his silver Rolls-Royce, and headed to Shaw Brothers Studios.
As for the well-known No. 6 license plate, Yifu Shao had not taken the photo yet.
Even though it took less than ten minutes to drive from his residence to Shaw Brothers, Shao Yifu still took out the script that the company handed over yesterday and read it carefully.
When he arrived at the company, Yifu Shao did not go to his office immediately, but came to the test room next to the office.
In the right corner of the last row of the test room, there is a comfortable and soft sofa, a wooden shelf next to the sofa, and a small table and a lamp in the left corner.
Yifu Shao watches movies here every day. Whether they are from his own company or from other companies, he will watch them carefully and analyze the market conditions and audience preferences.
It can be said that he spends more time here every day than in his own office.
Today is no exception, but today, there is one more person here, and this person is none other than Chang Cheh, the current top director of Shaw Brothers!
If Li Hanxiang is the founding hero of the Shaw Brothers, then Chang Cheh is the minister who opened up the territory and expanded the territory of the Shaw Brothers. Before Zhang Che, the Shaw Brothers were mostly known for their female stars, and the Shaw Brothers were even known as the land of girls.
Chang Cheh, who was still a film critic at the time, criticized Shaw Brothers' films in the name of He Guan, saying they were too feminine and not enough masculine.
After seeing the article, Shao Yifu not only did not get angry with Zhang Che, but asked Zou Wenhuai to invite him to the company and had a long talk. Afterwards, Shao Yifu sighed at Zhang Che's talent, so he wanted to recruit him into Shaw Brothers, but he didn't want to do that. At that time, Chang Cheh had already signed a contract with D&M.
However, Chang Cheh lamented that Shaw Brothers valued him, so when his contract with D&M expired a year later, he immediately switched to Shaw Brothers.
Filmed Hong Kong's first movie "The One-Armed Sword" with a box office of over one million.
Although Shao Yifu's eyes were watching the movie on the big screen, he was still concentrating on chatting with Zhang Che.
"Our negotiations with Li Hanxiang are almost complete. Do you think it is appropriate for us to sign a contract with him?"
Zhang Che was not surprised by this inquiry, because Shao Yifu had already told him about Li Hanxiang two months ago.
As I have said before, there is a conflict between Li Hanxiang and Zhang Che, and their conflict is...
When Li Hanxiang became famous in Hong Kong, Chang Cheh was still just an unknown person. At that time, Zhang Che submitted a script to Li Hanxiang through Zou Wenhuai, and Shaw Brothers hoped that Li Hanxiang could direct it.
But at that time, Li Hanxiang was in a bad mood. In Zou Wenhuai's office, he just took a cursory glance at Zhang Che's script, then fell down on Zou Wenhuai's desk and shouted loudly.
"What kind of script is this? It's a mess!"
At that time, Zhang Che was in Zou Wenhuai's office, which shows how devastating this scene was to Zhang Che.
Zhang Che, who was dissatisfied, turned around and began to attack Li Hanxiang in the newspaper "Xinsheng Evening News" where he contributed.
Li Hanxiang was also a master who refused to suffer losses, so he also wrote an article in the newspaper and began to respond to Zhang Che's attacks. As a result, the two sides started to verbally attack each other.
In the end, it was Zou Wenhuai who mediated and mediated the matter, but this also caused a grudge between Zhang Che and Li Hanxiang.
The following story is like a classic quotation in an online novel: Thirty years in Hedong and thirty years in Hexi. Do not bully young people into poverty.
Li Hanxiang left Shaw Brothers and moved to Taiwan, but returned with a huge defeat, while Chang Cheh had already secured the top spot as a Shaw Brothers director with his masculine films.
Now that Shao Yifu wants to recall Li Hanxiang, he naturally wants to ask Zhang Che's opinion to appease people's hearts!
"Uncle Six, as long as the conditions between the two parties are close, I don't think there's anything wrong with it!" Zhang Che replied.
Whether it was out of sincerity or something else, when Shao Yifu came to him one after another to talk about Li Hanxiang, Zhang Che knew that Shao Yifu really wanted Li Hanxiang to come back.
Since this matter cannot be stopped, let it take its course.
Sure enough, after hearing Zhang Che's opinion, Shao Yifu immediately showed a smile on his face and said with a smile: "But we still need to think about this matter again, don't worry."
Zhang Che nodded and said, "I will listen to Uncle Six in everything."
Shao Yifu originally wanted to discuss the new movie with Zhang Che, but at this time, Fang Yihua walked directly into the screening room without knocking on the door.
Without looking at the door, Zhang Che knew that it was Fang Yihua who came in. After all, she was the only one in the entire Shaw Brothers who had this privilege.
"Uncle Six, there is something you may need to know now!"
After Fang Yihua came in, she gave a sermon with a somewhat complicated expression.
Zhang Che stood up and prepared to leave, but Shao Yifu showed his respect for Zhang Che and said to Zhang Che with a smile: "There is no need to leave. There is nothing in the company that I cannot tell you."
After hearing what Shao Yifu said, Zhang Che sat down again.
Shao Yifu then asked Fang Yihua: "What's the matter?"
Fang Yihua said: "I just got the news that Black and White Pictures announced the signing of Li Hanxiang, with a salary of HK$66,000 per film!"
When Zhang Che, who was sitting there, heard the news, his heart was filled with confusion. Unexpectedly, Shao Yifu was still telling him about Li Hanxiang just now. As a result, the other party turned around and joined a film company called Black and White Imaging, and he also A sky-high salary of 66,000 was offered!
Thinking of this, Zhang Che glanced at Shao Yifu without any trace, but what impressed him was that Shao Yifu's expression didn't change at this time.
"Black and white image? Haha!" Shao Yifu said with a calm smile: "I just saw the news about their film company this morning. I didn't expect that the other party would turn around and sign Li Hanxiang. It's really unexpected."
Although Zhang Che is the most famous director of Shaw Brothers, if he is familiar with Yifu Shao, he still has to be Fang Yihua. When Yifu Shao said this, Fang Yihua knew that Yifu Shao was angry at this time, and he was still very angry.
If you think about it, you can understand. I originally thought that Li Hanxiang was already a sure shot, but he didn't want to create a black and white image halfway and rob Shao Yifu. No one would be happy if it were the case.
"What's the background of this black and white video company? How could it allow Li Hanxiang to sign a contract?" Zhang Che asked aloud.
Fang Yihua knew the importance of Zhang Che in Shao Yifu's heart, and explained with a smile: "This company is newly established, and the boss is a young man named Chu Huan, the second largest shareholder of Jiahu Textile, who was just taken over by Jiahe a few days ago. Stealing Lisheng Cinemas away and establishing Black and White Pictures."
Only then did Zhang Che remember the reports he had read. He was not keen on the financial sector, and he only found out about Chu Huan after the other party snatched away Golden Harvest's Lisheng Cinemas, which he was sure to win.
I just never paid attention to it, so I didn't think about the other party just now.
"It seems that this Chu Huan is determined to develop in the film industry. First he robbed Jiahe's theater chain, and now he robbed Li Hanxiang." Zhang Che sighed.
Fang Yihua said to Yifu Shao: "Uncle Six, there is another thing you may not know. Just two days ago, Hong Jinbao, who was shown in black and white, found the person in charge of the set and signed a document with him. New movies will use our set."
Shao Yifu looked up at Fang Yihua.
Fang Yihua immediately said: "I have already reprimanded the other party!"
Shao Yifu waved his hand and said: "There is no need for this. Our studio is already on loan. What's more, the news hasn't come back yet at that time."
Fang Yihua nodded and said: "I will let them pay attention to it in the future."
Shao Yifu nodded with satisfaction. Forget it if he had already signed the contract before, but Chu Huan didn't think that nothing would happen if he poached my corner, right?
When Uncle Shao Liu was in the Hong Kong film industry, Chu Huan was still drinking milk.
Zhang Che said with some schadenfreude: "This Chu Huan really doesn't know how to be generous. First he offended Jiahe, and now he's trying to tease Uncle Liu's beard. Does he really think that he can do whatever he wants just because he has his own theater chain in Xiangjiang?" "
Shao Yifu chuckled: "Young people, they are always so ambitious. If they think they have made some achievements, they will not know how high the sky is. It is always necessary to receive some lessons."
Fang Yihua reminded: "What about Uncle Six, where is Li Hanxiang?"
Shao Yifu didn't realize what he had lost at this time. After all, Chang Cheh's martial arts films were still very popular at this time.
So Shao Yifu smiled calmly and said: "It doesn't matter. Li Hanxiang doesn't need to worry about him for now. It's just that I thought that after the trip to Taiwan and Island, he would learn a lesson, but I didn't expect that he is still so impulsive. Let's wait a little longer." "
Seeing that Shao Yifu had said this, Fang Yihua and Zhang Che were not ready to say anything.
Later, Yifu Shao said to Fang Yihua: "By the way, please pay attention to Li Hanxiang's new movie and when it will be released."
Fang Yihua knew that this was Shaw Brothers' counterattack. If Li Hanxiang's film could be successfully completed without the support of the studio, then his new film would have to face the Shaw Brothers' sniper attack.
"Understood."
Shao Yifu said to Zhang Che again: "I have read your new script. It is very good. You can tell the producer to start filming."
Zhang Che also understood what Shao Yifu meant at this time and said: "I will not let you down, Uncle Liu."
Shao Yifu nodded with satisfaction. Since Li Hanxiang had not completely surrendered, this time, he would completely defeat Li Hanxiang.
This will also facilitate future negotiations with Li Hanxiang.
Jingle Bell!
At this time, the phone on the left side of the audition room rang. Fang Yihua took the initiative to go over and answer the phone. After answering and learning the identity of the other party, she spoke to Shao Yifu.
"Uncle Six, this is Mr. Feng's phone number!"
There are not many people in Hong Kong who can be called Mr. Feng by Fang Yihua. One of them is Feng Jingxi of Sun Hung Kai Securities.
Feng Jingxi is also one of the shareholders of Shaw Brothers.
After Shao Yifu learned that the call was from Feng Jingxi, he stood up and came to the phone and took the phone from the other party's hand.
"Brother Six!" Feng Jingxi's hearty laughter came from the other side of the phone.
Feng Jingxi was born in 2023, and Shao Yifu was born in 2007, so it is not an exaggeration for Feng Jingxi to call Shao Yifu the sixth brother.
"Brother Feng, you don't go to the Three Treasures Hall for anything. Why did you remember to call me today?" Shao Yifu asked with a smile.
"It's been a while since I last saw you, Brother Six. How about having tea together this afternoon?"
Feng Jingxi extended an invitation to Shao Yifu on the phone.
Shao Yifu replied: "Okay, let's meet on the peninsula in the afternoon."
Having afternoon tea at the Peninsula has been a habit that Shao Yifu has adhered to for many years. This has also led to many Hong Kong celebrities going to the Peninsula to have afternoon tea, hoping to meet Yifu Shao, the Hong Kong film tycoon.
"Okay, see you there then!" Feng Jingxi hung up the phone after finishing speaking.
Fang Yihua asked Shao Yifu from the side: "Why did Feng Jingxi think of calling you?"
Shao Yifu shook his head and said: "It's not clear yet. We won't know until we go there."
...
Sun Hung Kai Securities.
"Uncle Feng, thank you!"
Chu Huan sat opposite Feng Jingxi, looked at Feng Jingxi who had just put down the phone, and thanked him seriously.
One thing that Chu Huan has to admit is that in the current Hong Kong film industry, even though Chu Huan has acquired Li Hanxiang and has his own theater company, compared with Shaw Brothers, he is still as far away from an ant as an elephant. .
Fighting head-on is obviously not a better way. If Chu Huan chooses to compete with Shao Yifu in the stock market, first of all, it will definitely disrupt Chu Huan’s already arranged plan. Secondly, Shaw’s cash is abundant, plus there are several other companies. With the support of the Shaw family, it would be difficult for Chu Huan to mount an effective attack on the Shaw family.
In the end, at most, you will lose one thousand and two to yourself and eight hundred to the enemy.
Doing business is more about making money with harmony. If this matter can be resolved peacefully, Chu Huan still hopes not to have too big a conflict with Shaw Brothers at this stage.
So when preparing to sign Li Hanxiang, Chu Huan had already thought of asking Feng Jingxi for help.
After Shaw Brothers went public, Feng Jingxi became one of the major shareholders of Shaw Brothers, and he also had a good relationship with Shaw Brothers, so it was most appropriate for Feng Jingxi to step forward.
Of course, although Feng Jingxi admired Chu Huan, he could not create a gap with his old friend just because of a junior like Chu Huan.
So Chu Huan still paid some actual benefits, such as letting Fengwu Securities cooperate with Sun Hung Kai Securities...
"You!" Feng Jingxi glanced at Chu Huan helplessly and said, "Jiahu Textile must be thinking of various ways to target you now. Why don't you keep some cash on your hands to deal with them at this time?
, he went to open some kind of film company."
Everyone knows that the matter between Chu Huan and Chu Tianxiao regarding Jiahu Textile is not over yet. Chu Huan becoming the second largest shareholder of Jiahu Textile is at best the beginning of a confrontation between the two parties.
Chu Huan invested a large amount of money into the film industry at this time, obviously exposing his shortcomings to the other party!
"Even if you want to develop your own second career, you should start in securities. How can you make a movie?"
Facing Feng Jingxi's advice from his elders, Chu Huan did not show any impatience. After all, the other party was thinking about himself.
"Uncle Feng, I don't want to either, but now Chu Tianxiao has unified the operation of Jiahu Textile. Although I am the second largest shareholder of Jiahu Textile and have two seats on the board of directors, whether it is from within or
There is no good chance of intrusion from the outside.
Instead of doing this, it is better to develop your own career first, wait for Chu Tianxiao to take action, and cope with all changes by staying the same!"
After listening to Chu Huan's explanation, Feng Jingxi nodded helplessly and said: "Chu Tianxiao is still very capable. It is not easy for you to take Jiahu Textile in his hands."
Chu Huan would smile bitterly.
"But Brother Six is also a decisive person. Even if I try to make peace, I can't guarantee whether Brother Six will agree to it."
Feng Jingxi preached to Chu Huan.
Chu Huan said very humbly at this time: "It is true that I did something careless in this matter. I will seriously review it when I see Uncle Liu!"
Looking at Chu Huan's appearance, Feng Jingxi laughed out loud: "Don't you dare act like this in front of me. I don't believe you didn't think about what you would face when you did this."
Chu Huan chuckled and said, "Uncle Feng, I'm very serious."
...
The news that Chu Huan signed Li Hanxiang actually didn't cause much trouble in Xiangjiang. After all, Li Hanxiang is just a director, not one of those brilliant actors.
Except for those who pay special attention to Chu Huan, those who noticed this matter were all people in the film industry.
Just like Zou Wenhuai from Jiahe!
When Zou Wenhuai was in Shaw Brothers, he was known as one person below ten thousand people. However, it was precisely because of this that he was suspected of being the most powerful person. At that time, Zou Wenhuai even had a semi-public underground secretariat in Shaw Brothers.
The location of the 'Lunch Club' is Zhao Yaojun's home in the studio dormitory.
Zhao Yaojun was also a very important person in Shaw Brothers. His title at Shaw Brothers was ‘Chief Engineer’, and he later also managed the color printing room.
All Shaw Brothers films were produced here.
Every noon, Zhao Yaojun would entertain senior staff of Shaw Brothers for dinner at his home.
It is precisely in this way that the so-called ‘lunch club’ was formed.
When Zou Wenhuai left Shaw Brothers, he took several key members of the Lunch Club with him, including Zhao Yaojun, He Guanchang, and Liang Feng.
There are also directors Luo Zhen, Xu Zenghong, Huang Feng, Ye Zurong, actors Wang Yu, Zhang Yi and others.
At this time, in Zou Wenhuai's office, Zou Wenhuai and He Guanchang were sitting together, discussing Chu Huan's affairs.
"Too careless!"
Zou Wenhuai put the newspaper aside and said with some regret.
He Guanchang obviously agreed with Zou Wenhuai's statement, saying: "I promised Sanmao to leave Jiahe before, but I just thought that Sanmao was a military commander and did not have much effect. In addition, the company has other military commanders, but now
He has only been away for a few days, and the company's military leadership is actually not enough."
Zou Wenhuai sighed: "It's not just this matter, it's also the case with Lisheng Cinemas. I didn't expect this young man to do things so quickly and snatched Lisheng Cinemas away from us."
He Guanchang glanced at the newspaper on the desk and suddenly laughed out loud: "Fortunately, now Shao Laoliu also understands our feelings.
He originally wanted to stretch Li Hanxiang, but he didn't expect that Li Hanxiang turned around and joined the black and white image."
"Yes, although Li Hanxiang failed in Taiwan, he has proved that he is very familiar with the film market in Hong Kong through the two films "The Story of Deception" and "The Grand View of Deception". What a pity!"
Zou Wenhuai sighed again.
He Guanchang comforted: "Lemon, you don't need to worry too much. After all, Black and White Pictures is a newly established film company. Although it has theaters, it does not have a studio. Now he has offended us at Golden Harvest and Shaw Brothers at the same time. Xiangjiang can
There is nothing more to provide them with a filming set.
In this case, black and white images are actually digging their own graves, and it will be difficult to succeed."
When Zou Wenhuai heard He Guanchang's explanation, he felt a little more comfortable and said: "Let's do this for now, but we can't take it lightly. Pay attention to what the black and white image will do next!"
He Guanchang smiled and said: "Actually, even without us taking action, Shao Laoliu will definitely not swallow this breath."
Zou Wenhuai nodded.
...
When the time came in the afternoon, Shao Yifu arrived at the peninsula on time. When the waiter saw Shao Yifu, he immediately said: "Mr. Shao, Mr. Feng has arrived."
Shao Yifu gave some tips and walked straight in.
After arriving at the coffee shop, Shao Yifu finally knew why Feng Jingxi asked him out because he saw Chu Huan sitting next to Feng Jingxi.
Although I have never met Chu Huan, I still saw Chu Huan’s photo in the newspaper!