Chapter 237 I am Zha Zha Hui
Lu Yiming's words were so harsh that at least Liu Tianwang and Wang Jing frowned and looked depressed after hearing them.
As the most successful group of Hong Kong filmmakers, they naturally did not want to hear Lu Yiming so bluntly sentence the Hong Kong film industry to death.
King Liu thought of the huge debt he was carrying, and suddenly he became as anxious as an ant on hot pan.
"Mr. Lu, you may have some misunderstandings about the Hong Kong film industry..."
But Lu Yiming knew the future trend, so he interrupted him without hesitation and said, "It's not a misunderstanding, but a reasonable prediction made after objective analysis. King Liu, don't think that I don't understand investment because I'm young. Every penny I make is based on my understanding and analysis of things, not luck."
These words were undoubtedly very arrogant, so arrogant to the extreme, but King Liu opened his mouth, but didn't know how to refute it.
In fact, Lu Yiming was not lying. After all, his story of making a fortune had been reported over and over again in Hong Kong media newspapers. He had been put under the spotlight and studied inside and out countless times.
Whether shorting the ruble or betting against international hot money, Lu Yiming always relied on his vision and courage. Every decision he made had reasons and justifications, rather than risking his life.
Maybe in the eyes of others, his victory was all due to luck.
But only Lu Yiming himself knew that he actually relied on the information gap and his "accurate predictions". Before he stepped into the gambling game, he had already determined that he would win.
In military strategy, this is called winning first and then seeking battle, and naturally you will be victorious in every battle.
But the truth is, telling two filmmakers that their jobs are going to be ruined doesn't seem like a high EQ answer at all.
At least put it more tactfully!
Wang Jing was naturally unconvinced. He was even thinking about how to organize his words to refute the conclusion that Lu Yiming had just made.
However, before the two of them could speak, Lu Yiming continued, "I know you don't want to admit defeat, but this is the destiny of Hong Kong and the trend of the times. If you want to go against the trend, isn't that courting death?"
King Liu was left speechless.
Being in the situation, he may not be able to see the way forward, or the general trend, but he can personally experience the despair and struggle of slowly drowning.
There is less and less funding for filming, film contracts are gradually decreasing, movie box office revenue is falling year by year, and the market is shrinking.
All the signs support Lu Yiming's conclusion just now - Hong Kong films are in decline.
Is there anyone in this world who is immortal?
People have ups and downs, countries prosper and decline, and so does an industry.
The rise and fall of Hong Kong films was rapid, and the process of their prosperity and decline is actually in line with the objective laws of the development of things themselves.
In this regard, Lu Yiming sighed with regret: "Let me tell you this, Hong Kong in the 1960s was one of the four Asian tigers, with a booming economy. In addition, with the support of the Greater China cultural circle on the mainland, it can be said that it has a profound cultural heritage and outstanding people, so the film industry has achieved unprecedented prosperity."
King Liu thought about it and could only reluctantly admit: "Mr. Lu is very knowledgeable, and it is indeed true."
Hong Kong's film industry began to flourish in the 1960s, with Shaw Brothers being the most prominent example. The industry gradually spread across Southeast Asia, forming a huge oriental cultural trend that eventually became popular throughout Asia and even crossed oceans, causing quite a stir in the Western world.
Bruce Lee and Kung Fu almost became cultural symbols of the East at that time.
Lu Yiming then added: "Until the end of the 1990s, when Hong Kong returned to China, its historical mission had ended. The motherland, which chose reform and opening up, has set up special economic zones specifically for foreign investment to attract overseas investment. Hong Kong is no longer the only choice for international investors to enter the mainland. You should understand what this means."
Upon hearing this, King Liu fell into deep silence. Hong Kong was no longer destined to be prosperous and its decline was inevitable. This was something that could not be reversed by human power, nor could it be changed by him as a star.
The tide of the times surges forward; those who follow it prosper, while those who perish.
King Liu naturally understood this principle very well.
When Lu Yiming said this, his tone was obviously paused, and then he said: "Lord Liu, I know you are upset, but Hong Kong is a small place with a permanent population of less than 7 million. The upper limit of the market capacity is there. Even if you squeeze the wallets of Hong Kong people dry, how much box office can you get?"
The highest-grossing movie in Hong Kong is "Cold War 2", which was touted as a market-saving film, but it only grossed 66.82 million.
Moreover, it was already 18 years later in 2016. The situation in Hong Kong at this moment is even worse. There are only a handful of movies that can gross over 40 million, and all of them are glorious achievements that can be recorded in film history.
Take King Liu’s recently released movie “Dragon in the Rivers and Lakes” for example. He worked so hard to promote it, but the box office revenue was less than 17 million.
Even with this result, it is still the fourth best movie in this year's annual box office list. You can imagine what the entire market is like.
Today's Hong Kong film industry is truly a sewer industry. In the eyes of many investors, it is so stinking that only the mine bosses from the northwest who are stupid and rich may be able to save it.
Unfortunately, the mine owners now have no pursuit of cultural undertakings, and they don’t know that female stars and movie making can go together.
Therefore, it is very difficult for Hong Kong film directors to attract investment.
After all, rich people are not stupid. Who would be willing to invest money in a business that they know is not profitable?
The more he thought about it, the more desperate Liu Tianwang became. He was completely frustrated by Lu Yiming's remarks. He asked with a dejected look on his face, "Do those of us who make movies really have no chance at all?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Yiming smiled and said, "How can there be no chance? There is always a way out. Hong Kong films are indeed hopeless, but Chinese films can still be saved."
King Liu immediately perked up, raised his head, and looked at Lu Yiming with burning eyes: "Please show me a way forward, Mr. Lu."
Having said that, Lu Yiming did not continue to talk nonsense, but instead invited King Liu seriously: "Are you interested in developing in the mainland?"
Naturally, Lu Yiming had given it serious thought before getting involved in the film industry. If you don't find a way to occupy the cultural high ground, others will come and occupy it, and then use all kinds of smuggled films to bully you.
Squinty eyes, deliberately casting ugly actors, letting Asians play villains, and even exporting ideology in movies are all common practices.
The most disgusting thing is movies like "Miss Saigon", which not only beats you but also rubs salt into your wounds, and not only kills someone but also destroys their heart.
Lu Yiming doesn't want to endure this kind of spiritual humiliation even when he becomes rich in the future.
As for why he didn't look for those so-called first-generation directors in China, it was because Lu Yiming looked down on this group of people. They took advantage of their seniority to bully newcomers, engaged in illicit transactions in the circle, and made the entertainment industry a mess. In the end, they still called themselves artists, which was really disgusting.
You might think it would be fine if they could make domestic films by doing all this, but 20 years later, look at what kind of crap most of the domestic films are.
To put it bluntly, they are all forcing shit on the audience, and if anyone dares to say they are unhappy with the food, they actually think there is something wrong with the audience's taste.
In Lu Yiming's opinion, it was clear that these idiots had something wrong with their brains.
Therefore, Lu Yiming looked down upon any of these so-called cultural figures and artists. Instead of relying on this bunch of useless people who can only bully others in their own circle, it would be better to start from scratch and build a more combat-ready film team.
This world is material , so Lu Yiming knows very well that if domestic films want to rise, talent, capital and industry standards are all indispensable.
After those capital tycoons entered the film industry, they were all thinking about making money and cutting leeks, and none of them planned to make good movies. As a result, bad movies are popular, and all kinds of young actors make a fool of themselves on stage, which is really scary.
Lu Yiming does not want his descendants to passively endure cultural brainwashing from Europe, America, Japan and South Korea, so it is the right time to start planning the film industry.
What's more, making movies is profitable. The country has a large population and a vast territory. Its economic size alone is enough to support a huge box office market.
This is indeed the case. Around 2014, domestic films surpassed the island country with astonishing box office growth, becoming the second largest movie box office destination. In 2020, it even surpassed North America to become the region with the highest total movie box office in the world.
Therefore, Lu Yiming felt proud of being a Xia citizen. Being born in a country with growing national strength was like sitting on the vent of the wind. Even a pig could fly.
So as long as you are willing to shoot well and with your heart, you won’t have to worry about not making money from making movies.
In fact, even if you choose to give up, you can still make money.
However, Lu Yiming feels that no matter in life or work, one should still have some pursuits. If doing something can benefit oneself, the country and the people, why not do it?
"Going to the mainland to develop?"
King Liu raised his eyebrows subconsciously, feeling quite hesitant.
At that time, the mainland market was a completely unfamiliar area for him.
Rampant piracy and various complex problems that are likely to be encountered are all obstacles standing in the way.
For King Liu, rashly entering the mainland is equivalent to jumping out of his original comfort zone to meet new and unknown challenges.
Doing so would most likely lead to the loss of all the connections and reputation he had accumulated in Hong Kong, and he would even have to start all over again. He was already 40 years old, and he didn't know how many more years he could work hard, whether he would have enough time to make a name for himself again, and he was even more unsure whether the result of his development in the mainland would be worse than it was now.
However, the population of the mainland is a hundred times that of Hong Kong, and the market prospects are visibly broad and high, which is also a rare opportunity for King Liu.
King Liu certainly knows that the greater the risk, the greater the benefit, the more he can turn a bicycle into a motorcycle, but he does not have much room for choice.
"Yes, ahem... a little thirsty, do you have any water?"
After saying so many words in a row, Lu Yiming was so dry-mouthed that his mouth was dry.
King Liu turned his head and saw a person not far away, so he waved his hand: "Zha Zha Hui, pour a few glasses of water for Mr. Lu and his companions."
When Lu Yiming heard the name, he couldn't help but shrink his pupils slightly, and subconsciously recalled the fear he had when he was dominated by Tanwan Lanyue while watching short videos on his mobile phone in his previous life.
Zha Zha Hui?
This name, which seemed to be engraved deep in his memory, directly triggered his conditioned reflex.
Following King Liu's line of sight, Lu Yiming saw the man who had not yet become the Golden Horse Award winner. He was not even the protagonist. He was filming a TV series at ATV not long ago and had just switched to TVB to "study and further his studies" in the crew.
"God of Gamblers 1999" can be said to be Zha Zha Hui's debut work from the small screen to the big screen, even though he is only a supporting role in this movie.
But it is much better than being a supporting actor. At least he has lines and roles, which gives him a chance to perform.
And he is indeed very talented in acting, very hardworking, and knows how to behave himself.
Lu Yiming took the warm tea handed over by Zha Zha Hui and couldn't help but smile and praise: "Young people are proactive and have a bright future."
The future movie star seemed flattered by the compliment and bowed to Lu Yiming repeatedly to express his gratitude: "Thank you, Mr. Lu, for the compliment."
After visiting for a while, seeing that it was getting late, Lu Yiming and his friends prepared to go home.
King Liu personally escorted the man to the gate. Lu Yiming patted him on the shoulder and suggested very seriously: "You'd better think about what I just said. Remember to call me as soon as you make a decision."
In Lu Yiming's eyes, that was a situation that even the Golden Immortal could not save.
But a tree that doesn't move will die, but a person who moves will live. The mainland has broad market prospects. If you start planning now, you can seize the opportunity.
When Xia joins the WTO and its economy takes off, the huge market in the mainland will be enough to support a large number of filmmakers.
Of course, this depends on whether King Liu is willing to give up the advantages and fame he has worked so hard to build in Hong Kong. After all, if he wants to enter the mainland now, he really has to be prepared to endure the hardships of pioneering and developing new areas.
The problem of piracy, the demands of cinema chains, and the covetousness of all kinds of monsters and demons are all real obstacles. If you want to make money, it depends on whether you have the ability to do it.
So Lu Yiming gave Liu Tianwang the opportunity to choose, and Liu Tianwang was not his only choice, so he was not in a hurry about this matter. He just tried his best.
After Lu Yiming and his group left, King Liu couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
Wang Jing quickly stepped forward and asked, "Hua Zai, what are you thinking about?"
King Liu smiled bitterly: "What Mr. Lu just said."
Wang Jing nodded slightly after hearing this. As a Hong Kong filmmaker, he couldn't help but sigh: "This matter is very serious and really needs to be carefully considered."
