Chapter 48: Attracting Talent

Shadow Film Company truly made a sensational debut this time—countless big stars and renowned directors attended the event, drawing intense media attention. As a result, Shadow Company became one of the hottest topics in Hong Kong overnight. Xiao Ran’s goal of creating a big buzz was a resounding success.

Of course, people discussed it not only out of curiosity about who had the influence to bring in so many stars and directors but also out of wonder at who would be foolish enough to invest in filmmaking when Shaw Brothers, once the industry’s dominant force, had stopped production.

Many journalists and ordinary people who witnessed the opening ceremony boasted about it to their friends for years to come, using the most lavish words and adjectives to praise it. It was only because Xiao Ran filmed the ceremony that people later learned about the many famous stars and directors who attended. However, they were still unknown at the time, so they didn’t draw much attention.

In today’s era, this opening ceremony only caused a brief sensation and wasn’t hailed by the media as the most extravagant and grand event of the 1980s. Since many attendees hadn’t yet shown their talents, people only saw Lin Qingxia and Cheng Long.

The next day, Fang Ruohai transferred 15 million dollars to Shadow Company under the name of his financial investment firm. Of course, an investment contract had to be signed. The contract specified that this money was to fund two films. In reality, 10 million was for Shadow Company itself, with another 5 million allocated for film production.

Xiao Ran and Fang Ruohai argued over this matter. Xiao Ran insisted on keeping full ownership of the company and refused Fang Ruohai’s offer to contribute money in exchange for a small share, which led to financial strain during the startup phase.

Xiao Ran was well aware that this investment method would be highly beneficial for him, but it would also give Fang Ruohai control over the company. He certainly didn’t want such a wealthy man to interfere in company affairs. So, they had to find another approach.

Currently, Fang Ruohai plans to inject 80 million dollars into Shadow Company over three years. In exchange, Xiao Ran will receive 70% of the profits generated by Shadow Company’s films over those three years.

Normally, investors who fund film production would never receive 70%—usually, they get only 20% to 30%. So, Fang Ruohai’s 70% share means that Xiao Ran has essentially converted over 40% of the expected profits for the next three years into Fang Ruohai’s 80 million investment.

Of course, this 80 million isn’t paid immediately but is distributed over the years. The contract states that in the first year, Fang Ruohai will invest not only the necessary funds for film production but also 40 million more, with the remaining 40 million to be paid in equal installments over two years.

According to the contract, Phantom Company must produce at least ten films per year, while Fang Ruohai’s Bohai Investment Company must invest at least ten more films’ worth of funds in addition to what it owes Phantom Company. Of course, if Phantom Company produces eleven films a year, it has every right to seek investors for the remaining one.

Xiao Ran certainly didn’t want to cooperate in this way. After all, a film like “True Heroes” still made over ten million in local box office revenue after all expenses, not to mention the earnings from Southeast Asia, which totaled at least sixty million. And the investment for this film was less than six million, yielding nearly ten times that profit.

This figure wasn’t just Xiao Ran’s random guess—he had investigated it in his time and also learned from some valuable information in his dreams. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, local earnings from Hong Kong films typically accounted for only a quarter, with very few reaching even a fifth. This shows just how highly profitable it was and how dependent Hong Kong films were on overseas markets.

If it weren’t for Xiao Ran’s desire to save Hong Kong cinema, he would never have done things like selling films for short-term profits to establish a standard practice for Hong Kong movies. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had to sacrifice so much future profit to secure initial funding. Even if the average profit per film was twenty million, he would lose over eighty million in profit to Fang Ruohai each year, amounting to over two hundred million in three years. This was several times more than Fang Ruohai’s investment.

However, neither Xiao Ran nor Fang Ruohai were fools. If Xiao Ran couldn’t make money, Fang Ruohai surely couldn’t either—something even idiots would understand. So, it was a wise decision for Xiao Ran to take eighty million upfront as 40% of the profits for the next three years, with another 30% to come later. Based on these earnings projections, after three years, Xiao Ran’s income would be roughly equal to Fang Ruohai’s. This was definitely a mutually beneficial partnership…

Don’t think that making movies yields little profit. New Art City had been in business for ten years, and aside from Lei Kaitai’s huge share, the three major figures like Huang Baiming each earned at least twenty million—of course, in US dollars.

Still obsessed with money, Xiao Ran didn’t expect this business to end up losing so much! Of course, he realized this only later, by which time it was already too late.

The money had arrived, but what was lacking now were people—film professionals! After much thought, Xiao Ran compiled a list of the film professionals he needed. Of course, this list mostly consisted of behind-the-scenes staff, not big stars.

December 4th was the 23rd Golden Horse Awards ceremony, and Xiao Ran hoped to finalize this list before attending. As for why he did this, he naturally had his reasons. At this edition of the Golden Horse Awards, cameraman Huang Yongheng and Zhang Shuping, who had the most nominations and awards in the history of the Golden Horse Awards, were set to win.

Once they won the award, Xiao Ran was likely to be outshone by companies like Jiahe. But before dealing with big names like Huang Yongheng, Xiao Ran had to go to Xinyi City first, where he could find the strong talents he truly needed.

Fortunately, Xu Ke and Wu Yusen were both in Xinyi City meeting to plan the prequel to “True Heroes.” Xiao Ran went straight to them and, without preamble, said, “Old Xu, Old Huang, you guys have to help me this time!”

“Your company just opened and has already secured a major backer—there shouldn’t be any problems so soon, right?” Huang Baiming said with a hint of teasing in his voice.

Xiao Ran smiled, found a chair to sit down, nodded at the stunned Wu Yusen standing by, then put on a pitiful expression. “As you all know, Shadow Company is short of people and money right now. Money can be solved, but the staffing issue… Hehe, that’s why I’m turning to you old friends to help!”

Xu Ke immediately understood Xiao Ran’s intention and frowned, glancing at Wu Yusen. “You mean Ah Sen? He definitely can’t be given to you! You know very well what his status is now!”

Xiao Ran just chuckled and said nothing. Of course, he knew Wu Yusen’s value had already soared to 200,000, and it would increase by at least half once the prequel was released. But he clearly wasn’t here for Wu Yusen—any fool could see that Xu Ke and Huang Baiming wouldn’t let him go.

Smiling again, but this time seriously rather than playfully, Xiao Ran said, “Forget Ah Sen. I know you won’t let him go, but the others should be fine, right?”

Huang Baiming hesitated for a moment before nodding along with Xu Ke. In fact, Xiao Ran could have taken the people away without notifying them, as Xinyi City didn’t have any rules requiring contracts with these directors. Last year, when several directors trained by Xinyi City, like Yu Rentai, were poached by Deppa, Huang Baiming and the others only complained for a while instead of signing contracts with the directors.

Xiao Ran greatly admired Xinyi City’s approach, though he had to admit they had the strength to back it up. Xinyi City wasn’t afraid of competitors poaching their talent—they could immediately train even better new directors after losing one. On this point, Xiao Ran was eager to learn.

This time, Xiao Ran was sincere—he had always treated the people at Xinyi City as real friends. Huang Baiming and the others were already very friendly. For example, later when Ye Qianwen, who had signed with Xinyi Music (a record label founded by Xinyi City), wanted to transfer to Warner Music, it was Huang Baiming who convinced Lei Kaitai to let her go.

With Xiao Ran speaking so earnestly, Huang Baiming and the others had no choice but to hand over their employee roster for him to choose from. Of course, they also had many exclusive talents, which they mentioned to Xiao Ran, who merely smiled at that.

Without hesitation, Xiao Ran brought all the ones he had previously wanted over to his side, even taking Lao Jianhua and Luo Wenqiang. Finally, he pointed at Du Qifeng’s name and said, “I want Ah Du too!”

“He’s not good enough; he’s not for sale. Choose someone else!” Fortunately, Xiao Ran didn’t pick too many options, so Huang Baiming didn’t act overly extreme. But when it came to Du Qifeng, Huang Baiming was indeed reluctant. After all, Du had only made one successful film this year, which proved his talent.
Xiao Ran let out a soft sigh and said sadly, “All the people you’ve given me are unknown. At least give me someone famous—Du Qifeng will do. As friends, let’s not be too fussy!”
After much negotiation, Huang Baiming still lost to Xiao Ran. In the end, the future great director was sold to Xiao Ran like a slave. After settling the matter regarding the people, Xiao Ran talked with Xu Ke and Huang Baiming about the prequel for a while before leaving.
Since he had always maintained a good relationship with Huang Yongheng, Xiao Ran quickly found him. To this renowned photographer, Xiao Ran simply said, “Go to Shadow Studios; I’ll sign you!”
Hearing this, Huang Yongheng’s eyes lit up. In fact, film companies usually sign actors and directors; photographers and art directors are hired temporarily. At least Xiao Ran had never heard of photographers being signed by film companies. Signing the entire crew would be an enormous expense.
Xiao Ran wanted to sign photographers mainly because he hoped Shadow Studios would have a complete filming team—one composed of top experts. Once they got used to each other, the impact of such a team would be unimaginable.
After dealing with Huang Yongheng, Xiao Ran went to find Zhang Shuping. Now that he had met such a legendary figure like Zhang Shuping, he wasn’t even slightly excited anymore—after all, he had seen too many legends and had grown desensitized.
Yet Zhang Shuping was truly a legend, someone who had won so many awards he could hardly keep up. Not only was he excellent as an art director, but he was also one of Hong Kong’s four most famous editors. Later, he became a top fashion designer in Hong Kong, serving as the key asset for Wang Jiawei’s future success in the film industry.
If Xiao Ran let away such a talented person, it would be utterly foolish. And our protagonist, Xiao Ran, was clearly not that stupid. So, he quickly secured Zhang Shuping with favorable terms. For the rest of the day, he rushed around, searching for highly skilled talents.
(Please keep your VIP monthly subscriptions for this book, as its VIP chapters will be officially released on July 4th.)
*****
Novel title: Huang Baiming
Real name: Huang Bai Ming
Occupation: Film company owner, screenwriter

Wong Pak-ming was one of the three original founders of New Art City. He played the role of the eldest brother in “Eight Stars Bring Good Luck” and Kang Sen-gui in “Happy Go Lucky”. He had a high level of skill as a screenwriter, especially proficient in comedy, and possessed excellent investment judgment. Although he was one of the owners of New Art City, he often took on the roles of writer, director, and actor himself to cut costs, which is why his performances could often be seen on screen. After the collapse of New Art City, he became the owner of Oriental Film Company. Lacking modern vision, the films he invested in over the past few years have failed repeatedly; his main business is film printing.
Works: “Happy Go Lucky” series, “Eight Stars Bring Good Luck”, “A Family Celebration”