1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 305 Compliment
Shi Nansheng arrived at the company early in the morning to work.

When she entered the elevator, she was still thinking about how many documents she had to sign today. In addition, Boss Zhai asked her to work with Jiahe to set up a new director support fund for the Film Association. New Vision's budget for the Baby Bus children's film was overspent, so they needed to apply for a new budget...

"We also need to get the men in the creative team together to discuss making that kind of obscene movie in May. Now that the rating system has been basically finalized, the scale is getting bigger and bigger. We should suggest that the company make some low-budget exploitation movies, just like Roger Corman in Hollywood who made a lot of money with a small investment."

The housekeeper walked into the company with a strong aura, and employees from top to bottom stopped and called her Miss Shi.

In terms of reputation, this first female tycoon in the Chinese-language film industry had already begun to show her brilliance at this time. She was the de facto second-in-command of Jiuyi Entertainment, and was in charge of the company's investment, budget, finance, distribution, production, supervision, administration, brokerage, and behind-the-scenes operations.

It's a pity that he is a love brain.

Shi Nansheng returned to his office and processed a few approval documents for about half an hour. Then he asked his assistant to bring in a cup of coffee.

A cup of coffee is on the table.

Shi Nansheng glanced at his watch, raised his head and asked his assistant: "Have the directors from the creative team arrived? Tell them to come into the conference room in an hour to have a chat."

The female assistant replied politely, "The directors from Jiuyi, Sanhe, and Xinyicheng arrived at eight o'clock in the morning, and were all called into the projection room by Mr. Zhai to work."

Shi Nansheng raised his eyebrows in surprise.

What's going on? Boss Zhai is so diligent today that he came to the company at 8 o'clock and called away the creative team?

"Got it. I'll go take a look."

Shi Nansheng gave his assistant a few instructions, then stood up and walked downstairs to the editing room.

Arrived at the door of the screening room.

The door was closed and strange noises could be faintly heard coming from the projector.

Shi Nansheng didn't think much about it, turned the handle and pushed the door open.

The door had just been half opened when an unbearable babbling sound came into my ears.

In the screening room.

Except for Xu Qi who went to New Vision to work on Baby Bus, the room was filled with male directors from 91 Entertainment and its affiliated film companies, all staring intently at the screen.

On the screen, the images and sounds being played matched each other, and were disgusting and outrageous.

Hearing the noise at the door, everyone turned around at once with innocent eyes.

The thirty-five-year-old housekeeper looked at the two worms twisting on the screen and swallowed.

"Sorry to bother you."

The housekeeper slammed the door shut and felt her face getting hot and her heart beating faster.

A group of men huddled together to watch a Category III… no, Category IV film? Besides, what kind of posture was that? Too shameless!

The sound from the projector suddenly stopped.

There was silence for a moment, both inside and outside the house.

The door opened again.

The directors filed out one after another, and when they passed by Shi Nansheng, they smiled, said hello, and walked away.

Zhai Yuan was the last one to come out and coughed a little awkwardly.

"From now on, you still have to knock on the door before entering."

"Yes, I didn't expect Mr. Zhai to have a party in there."

Shi Nansheng used a joking tone to ease the embarrassment: "Luckily I came in. If other people saw it and reported it, they would definitely sue you for distributing obscene audio and video products."

Under the rating system, the highest level of films that can be released is level three. Films like "Toyo" with or without censorship are more explicit and are classified as level four films this time, commonly known as "Sizai".

Strictly speaking, the term Adult Video has not yet appeared. In Hong Kong, it is called "Si Zai" or "Xian Pian", while in Japan it is called "adult documentary works".

No matter how capable Zhai Yuan is, he cannot convince the Hong Kong government to allow such things to be released. He can only make videotapes and CDs according to relevant laws and put them in stores that specialize in selling such audio and video products. The "Ordinance on the Control of Obscene and Indecent Articles" will be introduced together with the rating system.

"According to the regulations, there are no restrictions on private possession or distribution of such films among friends."

Zhai Yuan laughed and said seriously, "Besides, I want everyone to learn the advanced filming technology of the East, so that the company can develop new types of films in the future."

Shi Nansheng still felt that the glimpse he had just seen was very explosive, and asked curiously, "Are all the Japanese level 4 films like this, uh, simple scenes?"

Zhai Yuan thought for a moment and said, "There will also be a few minutes of plot during the halftime break."

"It's so simple that there seems no need to bring the whole group together to learn it."

"Of course it is necessary. In addition to learning filming techniques, it is also necessary to open the director's mind and horizons. I won't tell you the detailed filming scenes, lest Old Xu fights with me if he knows."

Zhai Yuan spoke purely from an artistic perspective, saying, "In short, only Japanese directors in Asia are making this kind of film now, and we at Jiuyi must keep up with the times, so this time I plan to set up a production team to specifically send them to Japan to learn filming, and then release the finished film on a CD."

When it comes to business, Shi Nansheng is not so shy and said with a smile: "I originally wanted to suggest that Mr. Zhai make low-budget exploitation films like Roger Corman did, but I didn't expect you to have this trick."

"We still have to make exploitation films. The company now has many directors, so we can have more legs to walk on."

Others may not be able to tell the difference, but in Zhai Yuan's mind, exploitation films, B-level films, and cult films are all the same type. Roger Corman, in Shi Nansheng's words, is known as the 'King of Exploitation Films'. Although the films he made can only be played in certain special theaters, his videotapes are selling like hot cakes. His own distribution company is on par with the eighth generation of Hollywood distribution companies. Last time, "The Invisible Woman" was picked up by his API independent distribution company, and he has also cooperated with Jiuyi.

"Roger Corman has already blazed a trail in this area. He has occupied more than half of the videotape market in North America with exploitation films. After 1991, we just need to follow suit and replace the videotapes with CDs."

Zhai Yuan pondered for a moment, and a bunch of B-movie memories came to his mind. The emergence of "Jaws" increased the production cost of this type of film, but it was still within a controllable range. With the cooperation of the new visual effects company, the black magic of Southeast Asia, the witchcraft of southern Yunnan, and even the guinea pig series of the East can all hit the curiosity of Asians.

"But let's solve two things first."

Zhai Yuan talked to Shi Nansheng about future plans and then got back to the topic: "I just had an idea for a Category III film in May, but the script hasn't been written yet. However, the production cost is higher than before, so it may not be released in May. I estimate that it will be released in theaters at the same time as the rating system is introduced in the summer season. If the audience asks about it during this period, I will spread rumors and blame the delay on the rating system review."

When Shi Nansheng heard that he had to spend money again, he immediately became sensitive: "How much can a Category III film cost to produce?"

Zhai Yuan said: "At least 5 million Hong Kong dollars to start..."

... "The movie produced by Xianshi Mayday this year is a story I extracted from a Qing Dynasty novel. This novel was repeatedly banned and destroyed. Now the manuscript is kept in the University of Tokyo. I am very dissatisfied with this, so I hope that by making this movie, more Chinese people will know our own traditional culture."

In the meeting room of Jiuyi Entertainment.

Zhai Yuan explained to a group of main creators his original intention for creating this year's new film.

The group of people looked at each other in surprise, feeling that the topic Zhai Yuan talked about was very high-end and profound, and full of positive energy.

But aren’t we making a Category III movie?

Shi Nansheng coughed, and she was the only one who dared to confront Zhai Yuan directly, saying, "Mr. Zhai, let's get to the point. Now is not the time for you to make a speech in an official tone in front of the camera."

Zhai Yuan scratched his head and smiled, "I'm sorry, I've been interviewed a lot recently. But Sister Nan, when we men talk about this kind of thing, would you like to avoid it?"

Shi Nansheng shook his head and said, "No, I want to hear whether this story is worth five million."

Zhai Yuan could only continue to tell the story helplessly: "The story is about a man named Wei Yangsheng who is proud of his talent and his lifelong wish is to marry the most beautiful woman in the world..."

As soon as Zhai Yuan started, the directors present knew what novel he was adapting.

An abridged version of "The Complete Works of Li Yu" from the Qing Dynasty.

But Mr. Zhai was speaking so excitedly that no one dared to interrupt him. They just listened to him until the end, when Wei Yangsheng had a great enlightenment, became a monk, and became a disciple of Monk Budai together with Quan Laoshi.

"Mr. Zhai, this story should be called "The Carnal Prayer Mat."

"Zhao had filmed a version before, starring Lam Kin Ming and Lai Siu Tin, and the heroine was Roland."

"For movies from the 1970s, Mr. Zhai, look through the Zhao's movies you bought and you should be able to find them."

The directors below were talking at once.

The film "The Carnal Prayer Mat", released in 1975, was too unpopular and Zhai Yuan had indeed never seen it.

It instantly destroyed the image of his pretentiousness.

Wang Jin had to come to the rescue at the critical moment.

Fatty Wang coughed and said righteously, "Although Zhao made this movie in the past, it is completely different from the original novel that Mr. Zhai told me. The production cost of that movie was only a few hundred thousand yuan, and the plot was about monks and nuns having sex. It was just called "The Carnal Prayer Mat". It's a typical case of selling dog meat under the guise of selling mutton. After listening to the original novel today, I realized that the story is so exciting. Mr. Zhai is great!"

The other directors realized how could they undermine their boss's performance and quickly followed suit and applauded.

"So this is the story that The Carnal Prayer Mat originally tells. Mr. Zhai is indeed very knowledgeable!"

"No wonder Li Hanxiang was furious after watching Zhao's The Carnal Prayer Mat, criticizing them for insulting classical literature. He even teamed up with Toei Company to invite ten Japanese filmmakers to remake the film. However, when the film was submitted for approval, Singapore and Malaysia refused to approve it due to the scale issue, so he reluctantly gave up. Mr. Zhai is carrying forward the spirit of his predecessors to respect the original work, which is admirable!"

"I admire you, you are so knowledgeable!"

……

The early script will end with a bunch of compliments.

Zhai Yuan was somewhat embarrassed.

The stock of films is still not enough. I'm still giving lectures, and it even feels like these guys are not just flattering me, but are coaxing children.

Too cowardly!

"This film is jointly released by New One City and Sanhe, and Huang Boming is in charge of the production. We will discuss the plot in detail this afternoon, and you should come up with a script as soon as possible."

After the reorganization, Huang Boming of New One City has the same shares as Mecca and officially takes the seat of boss. He also has directors like Gao Zhisen under him. Let them practice with a Category III film first.

Zhai Yuan continued, "Also, after it's released, it should be renamed "The Sex and Zen" to make it sound better."

The directors learned their lesson this time and nodded in praise: "This word 玉 is good, it is more elegant and sophisticated."

"The full name is The Carnal Prayer Mat."

"Great! It's elegant yet still erotic, and appeals to both the elite and the masses. Mr. Zhai has such a creative idea for a movie title."

Zhai Yuan looked at the people praising his wealth and couldn't help but sigh how great it was to be rich.

In fact, it doesn’t matter whether it’s jade or flesh, but Chinese audiences or readers seem to prefer the implicit expression of jade, such as jade hands, jade feet, jade arms, jade legs... They become quite abstract after seeing them too much.

Shi Nansheng asked a key question: "It is true that the cost of shooting a costume film is higher. Can we save some money on the actor cast?"

"It would be better to choose a more gentle male lead who has acting skills."

In fact, the pressure on men to shoot Category III films is not necessarily less than that on women. Zhai Yuan remembers that Wu Qihua was forced to finish the film due to a 2000 million yuan penalty for breach of contract. He was so depressed that he almost retired from the film industry. Therefore, no names were mentioned in the casting this time, and the creators were allowed to select the actors themselves.

"I'm going to invite a Japanese actress for the female lead role. The price will be higher. You guys can choose the other female supporting roles. A pretty face and a good figure are the key."

It is also a tradition in the Hong Kong film industry to invite Japanese actresses to star in pornographic films.

Zhai Yuan has chosen Akasaka Rei as the female lead this time.

In the original film, Amy Yip had just finished filming the TV series "Swordsmen of Legends" and had not yet had plastic surgery to transform her into a busty lady. Her face alone did not have much of an advantage.

Besides, what if they run into each other in the future and sparks fly? Ye Yuqing has a little crush on her, maybe they can form a double-leaf combination...

Zhai Yuan stroked his chin, his thoughts drifting away again.

Shi Nansheng felt that there was no need to spend a high price to hire Japanese actresses. Times have changed. There are now a group of female artists in Hong Kong who are willing to devote themselves to art.

But seeing that Zhai Yuan had made up his mind, the housekeeper didn't say much.

After finalizing the play in May, Shi Nansheng asked: "Besides "The Sex and Zen", what is the second thing Mr. Zhai just mentioned?"

"Yes, I almost forgot."

After being reminded by Shi Nansheng, Zhai Yuan looked around at the directors around him and said, "Jiuyi has set up an agency in Dongyang, and plans to shoot some new types of movies, which are the four-level movies that everyone just learned and visited in the screening room. Dongyang has already started preparing a filming team. I need two or three of my own people to form a production team to supervise. Is there anyone willing to go on a business trip to Dongyang?"

(End of this chapter)