1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 652, "Family Reunion," is finished.

"Film copyright?"

Li Bihua was somewhat surprised, because in her heart, "Farewell My Concubine" was not her best novel, and Jiang Xian was a mainland Chinese. It was quite unexpected that her novel, "Farewell My Concubine," would be adapted into a film.

"Ms. Li, can you name a price for the film rights?" Jiang Xian said.

"Mr. Jiang, are you going to take it back to the mainland to film?" Li Bihua asked.

“Yes, I plan to film it in mainland China, and it will likely be released in Hong Kong’s Southern and Northern cinemas.” Jiang Xian stated his plan directly. “Does Ms. Li have any concerns?”

"concern?"

Li Bihua shook her head. "No, no. Mr. Jiang can just name any price for the film rights. Actually, I'm already very happy that this novel can be made into a movie."

Jiang Xian felt a headache coming on when he saw how easy Li Bihua was to talk to.

Li Bihua is not very good at socializing. She has a very introverted and gentle personality, which explains why, despite being a talented woman in Hong Kong, she is always elusive and rarely seen.

This was unlike many of the brilliant writers he had met.

Like the literary talents often mentioned in later generations, whether it's Han Han, Guo Jingming, or Fang Zhou Sang, they all do their best to market themselves.

Li Bihua is different.

This made Jiang Xian feel uncomfortable.

If Li Bihua were as shrewd and calculating as Mr. Jin Yong, then Jiang Xian could also openly negotiate the price with her.

But Li Bihua's politeness made it difficult for Jiang Xian to ask for an exorbitant amount, as it would seem particularly unreasonable and like he was taking advantage of her.

"How can that be done?"

Jiang Xian smiled at her, "Business is business. If Miss Li is too polite with me, I'll find it harder to set a price. Please don't make things difficult for me, Miss Li. Just give me a price that suits your taste."

Li Bihua thought for a moment, "Then I'll give you a price. If you don't think it's suitable, we can talk about it further."

"it is good."

"How about 10?" Li Bihua asked tentatively.

Jiang Xuan was stunned. "RMB?"

“Hong Kong dollars,” Li Bihua said.

"."

Jiang Xian was completely speechless.

It's not because Li Bihua's price is high, but because it's too low, ridiculously low.

The Hong Kong dollar is not as valuable as the Renminbi.

In 1988, one Hong Kong dollar was roughly equivalent to less than 50 cents in Chinese yuan.

So HKD 10 is actually RMB 5.

This price is extremely generous.

There is generally no uniform standard for calculating copyright fees in Hong Kong. Taking Jin Yong's works as an example, when Hong Kong television stations filmed them, each of Jin Yong's works would cost approximately HK$50.

Later, CCTV in mainland China filmed the Smiling, Proud Wanderer, which was the version starring Zhang Jizhong. Jin Yong received 1 yuan as a copyright fee.

However, Jin Yong was not satisfied with that version because some of the original plot had been altered. Jin Yong mentioned this incident, saying, "They originally said they would never change this version, so I gave it to them. But they didn't keep their promise, which made me a little angry. However, we later became friends, so I couldn't say anything. But I really admire their good intentions."

Later, when Stephen Chow was making "Kung Fu Hustle," he used the names of several characters from Jin Yong's works, such as Yang Guo and Xiaolongnu, as well as martial arts moves, so he took the initiative to contact Jin Yong to pay copyright fees.

Jin Yong was initially confused, but after learning the reason, he found it very interesting and said with a smile, "I used 6, so I'll give 10,000 for each one, making it 60,000 in total."

In short, the price Li Bihua asked for is almost matching the copyright fee she paid to Jin Yong for "Kung Fu Hustle".

"How about you raise the price a little higher? 10. I feel bad about that price," Jiang Xian said.

"How about I add another condition?" Li Bihua said.

"What conditions."

"Can I specify an actor?"

Jiang Xuan was taken aback. "Who do you want to designate?"

“I would like to invite Mr. Leslie Cheung to play the role of Cheng Dieyi. If you can get Mr. Leslie Cheung to play the role, I will not charge any royalties,” Li Bihua said.

She and Leslie Cheung had just finished a collaboration, namely "Rouge". Many people should have seen this story. Hong Kong prostitute Ru Hua and playboy Twelve Young Master made a pact to die together. Fifty years later, Ru Hua's soul returned to the human world to find Twelve Young Master. She found that her former lover had broken his promise and was still alive, but had become a destitute old man. In the end, Ru Hua returned the token and was reincarnated.

Leslie Cheung played the male lead, Chan Chun-pong, known as the Twelfth Young Master, and won the Best Actor award at this year's Hong Kong Film Awards for his brilliant performance.

“In my mind, if there is to be a Cheng Dieyi, it would probably be Mr. Leslie Cheung. He is the most perfect actor in my mind,” Li Bihua said. “So if you can invite Leslie Cheung to play this role, I would rather not pay the copyright fee.”

"."

Jiang Xian was silent for a while, "To be honest, when I first read this novel and saw Cheng Dieyi, I also had an image in my mind, which was also Leslie Cheung. We actually thought of the same thing."

"You also think Leslie Cheung is suitable?" Li Bihua's eyes lit up.

Jiang Xian nodded, "I'm afraid no actor would be more suitable than Leslie Cheung. So even if you hadn't brought it up today, I would probably still have asked Leslie Cheung to star in it. If possible, as for the copyright fee, I still hope that you, Ms. Li, will give it a good consideration."

“I really don’t want it anymore,” Li Bihua said. “I still hope to participate in the screenwriting work later. After the script is revised, I will ask you for the adaptation fee.”

"This"

Jiang Xian was also helpless; he was willing to give it to Li Bihua but she didn't want it, which showed his true nature.

"Alright, let's do it your way then." After hesitating for a moment, Jiang Xian stopped dawdling. If they were to film "Farewell My Concubine," they would definitely need to collaborate more deeply with Li Bihua. He could make up for Li Bihua's shortcomings in other ways later.

Zhu Lin has rented office space for Jiang's Film Company on Hennessy Road.

Hennessy Road is located in the central part of the north shore of Hong Kong Island. It is a unique community where the old and the new coexist, blending the essence of old traditions and new developments. It is also one of the oldest and most culturally rich areas in Hong Kong.

The eastern section of this road is the Causeway Bay Central District, one of the busiest roads in Hong Kong.

Jiang's Film Industry was beginning to take shape.

Meanwhile, Raymond Wong acted quickly. Within days of returning, he produced the script for "Family Reunion," which he had discussed with Jiang Xian. The production team immediately approved the project and assembled a star-studded cast, with Michael Hui in the lead role. The process of securing Michael Hui went relatively smoothly, since in Golden Harvest's eyes, neither the Jiang family nor Xinbao were considered their main enemies.

Moreover, Jiang Xian was very generous with his money. Michael Hui's salary was not cheap. It cost HK$80 just to hire Michael Hui. Raymond Wong was quite shocked by Jiang Xian's generosity.

In fact, he wasn't very confident about this big battle with "Aces Go Places".

With Jiang Xian's ample financial support, Huang Baiming finally felt he could go all out and fight.

Hong Kong people are very particular about filming. Before filming begins, they hold a ceremony to mark the start of production, which involves slaughtering a pig and burning incense.

Jiang Xian naturally attended such an occasion, taking the opportunity to meet the actors as the big boss.

He was very familiar with the celebrities present, and he hardly needed Raymond Wong to introduce them, because these people had played roles in movies he had seen countless times.

The most eye-catching one is Joey Wong, she's so striking, and she's not even 20 years old yet!
So tender!

Joey Wong plays Raymond Wong's younger sister, a flight attendant. Wearing her flight attendant uniform and at the most beautiful age, it would be hard for any man to take his eyes off her.

“Say hello to Mr. Jiang,” Raymond Wong said.

"Mr. Jiang." Joey Wong nodded politely, then her eyes darted around Jiang Xian.

She was still very curious about this big boss, after all, she had heard of his name before. He was a great writer and screenwriter, and he wrote the popular Hong Kong films "Huo Yuanjia" and "Shaolin Temple".

To Wang Zuxian's great surprise, this big boss was incredibly young and quite handsome. If you saw him on set at first glance, you might mistake him for the male lead.

Because the two male actors in "Family Reunion" are Michael Hui and Raymond Wong, neither of them can be described as handsome.

Jiang Xian stood here, exuding the air of a leading man.

Seeing that Joey Wong took the initiative to greet him, Jiang Xian smiled and greeted her back, then glanced at the other actors on set.

This is a supporting role.

The cast is still quite large.

Simon Yam looks incredibly young now, only in his early thirties, a true heartthrob.

Fun fact: Simon Yam entered the film industry as a model. Because his family was poor, he saw an advertisement for models in the newspaper when he was in his first year of secondary school. He applied for the exam and was selected to participate in training. When he filmed his first soft drink commercial, he only drank three bottles of soft drink and passed the test.

Later, Simon Yam supported his tuition fees through modeling work and also helped his mother support the family.

Incidentally, his father was a policeman, and his later portrayal of police officers so professionally probably stemmed from having those images ingrained in his mind since childhood.

As for why Simon Yam can only play a supporting role in "Family Reunion" now, the reason is simple. To be honest, he was a bit unlucky. When he first entered the film industry, he signed with the "Bang Bang" film company mentioned before. When the company went bankrupt, he suffered along with it, so he hasn't played any good roles since.

Another supporting role was specially brought in by Jiang Xian, and it was played by Tony Leung Ka-fai, who is now somewhat forgotten in Hong Kong.

This is one of our own. After being blacklisted, he has appeared in some films over the years, but they have all been minor roles.

Now that Jiang Xian has come to Hong Kong, he should naturally take care of these people who are his own.

After the opening ceremony, Raymond Wong began his frantic filming schedule.

Meanwhile, Jiang Xian in Hong Kong was also extremely busy with various invitations, especially from Ta Kung Pao, which kept calling to try and meet him after learning that he had come to Hong Kong.

Ta Kung Pao is undoubtedly one of the most famous newspapers in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong films are made very quickly; Raymond Wong's family-friendly film was almost finished in just two weeks.

Jiang Xian then contacted reporters from Ta Kung Pao, hoping to invite them to the film launch of "Family Reunion" to promote the film.

The press conference for the movie "Family Reunion" was held at the Regent Hotel, which was quite prestigious.

People who like Stephen Chow's movies should be familiar with the name of the Regent Hotel.

Because Stephen Chow filmed scenes here when shooting the movie "From Beijing with Love".

Many people think that the Regent Hotel in the movie is fictional, but there really is such a hotel in Hong Kong, and it is very luxurious.

Especially noteworthy is the impressive reception vehicle at the Regent Hotel, a Rolls-Royce Phantom VI, arguably the most prestigious reception vehicle in Hong Kong.

The front design is Rolls-Royce’s signature style, with a very imposing and grand grille, elegant and dignified headlights, strong lines, and a vintage-style wheel design.

This car is also a true limited edition classic car. In the 22 years of its production, only 374 were produced, which is basically only 17 per year.

This is a classic model that is entirely handcrafted, making it an absolute treasure. In the 80s, the Regent Hotel bought two of these models specifically to accommodate some VIP guests.

Most of the people it has served are well-known figures, including many celebrities and tycoons. Andy Lau has also ridden in this car.

On the day of the press conference, the main members of the production team, as well as Raymond Wong and Jiang Xian and Zhu Lin, the two big bosses of Jiang's Film Company, all arrived in these two cars.

As soon as I got out of the car, the paparazzi swarmed around me, their flashes going off one after another.

Many media outlets attended today's press conference.

What surprised Jiang Xian the most was Ta Kung Pao. He didn't expect Ta Kung Pao to make such a big fuss about this matter, with even Fei Yimin, the editor-in-chief who had served Ta Kung Pao for nearly 60 years and had been in charge of the Hong Kong edition for 40 years, coming.

Since such a person was giving him so much face, Jiang Xian naturally went to meet him immediately.

"I've long heard that Mr. Jiang is a leading figure among the younger generation of writers in mainland China, and I've read many of his works. Today, I finally have the opportunity to meet him in person," Fei Yimin said happily.

"You flatter me. I've only written some works and been fortunate enough to gain recognition from my peers and readers. Compared to you, it's nothing," Jiang Xian said very politely.

Fei Yimin was born in 25 and lived through that era. He made great contributions. It is said that in 45, when Taiwan surrendered, Fei Yimin went to Taiwan as a special envoy to report on the surrender ceremony and published several reports.

Later, he assisted Hua Luogeng, Hong Xiannu and other people to return to the mainland.

Furthermore, he was a true "knight," and in the early 80s, the French government awarded him the Legion of Honour.

“Mr. Jiang, if you are being overly modest, that would be arrogance.”

Suddenly someone spoke up, "If you ask me, Mr. Jiang is definitely the most talented and famous new generation writer in China. He has made great contributions to the country's literary work. As far as I know, Comrade Jiang Xian has won many domestic literary awards since he entered the literary world, and his creations have always been at the forefront of the literary scene."

Jiang Xian looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"you are?"

“Ming Pao, Tung Chiao”

(End of this chapter)