msmithbooks Chapter 51 Donation
Chapter 51 Donation
In just half a month, Tang Long had indeed experienced considerable changes.
The people around them became more polite;
Finally, when he went out, fans asked him to take photos with them.
Finally, he no longer needs to rack his brains to attract investment for "Reign of Assassins".
Tang Long went from being excited at first to becoming somewhat carried away.
But Tang Jia's wake-up call quickly brought him to his senses, and he has since become indifferent.
This is just the beginning; there are many people more famous than him.
In three months, Jet Li will become even more popular.
However, his temperament has changed quite a bit without him even realizing it.
"Hey, Brother Long is here."
Upon hearing this, Tang Long immediately smiled ingratiatingly:
"Director Xu, how dare I call myself Brother Long in front of you? I really have no choice; I can't afford to offend Deng Guangrong."
He's also an elder of mine, and he has a very good relationship with my uncle. He suddenly brought my uncle to see me, so I couldn't refuse.
"He has no taste. I remember you approached him first when you had the script, right?"
Xu Ke curled his lip, clearly looking down on Deng Guangrong.
"Ah Long, have you agreed to let Deng Guangrong participate in the investment of 'Reign of Assassins'?" Wu Siyuan asked.
"I agree," Tang Long nodded. "My uncle is involved, so I can't refuse."
Tang Long naturally wanted to retort, "You used to ignore me, but today I'll make you regret it."
But if I say that, I might get beaten up the next day.
He knew Deng Guangrong's meaning when he submitted the script to Yingzhijie Film Company but received no response.
He was quite upset at the time, considering he had been calling him Uncle Rong.
Later, he realized that securing film investment wasn't easy, and besides, the person wasn't his uncle, so it was impossible for him to help him unconditionally like Tang Jia did.
To put it bluntly, he really couldn't afford to offend them, and he still needed to maintain a good relationship with them.
"What about us? You're not going to refuse, are you?" Xu Ke pressed.
"Of course not. From the very beginning, I planned to work with Mr. Wu and Director Tsui on 'Reign of Assassins'."
For this reason, I even turned down Golden Harvest.
"You also rejected Golden Harvest?"
Tsui Hark knew exactly how powerful Golden Harvest was; it was undoubtedly the number one film company in Hong Kong at the time.
"That's right. They not only wanted to invest in 'Reign of Assassins,' but also wanted me to sign with Golden Harvest and promised to set up a company for me."
While Golden Harvest's resources were certainly tempting, even figures like Hui Kwan-man and Hung Kam-po suffered significant losses with the company.
With my limited resources, I wouldn't dare cooperate with Golden Harvest; I might end up owing them millions instead of making any money.
It would be better if we collaborated like we did on "New Dragon Gate Inn," where it was more comfortable for us.
Upon hearing this, Xu Ke's lips curled up slightly:
"That makes sense, so the investment in 'Reign of Assassins' was just the three of us plus Deng Guangrong's Yingzhijie?"
"Well, it's just the four of us. We'll discuss the specific details of the collaboration after 'New Dragon Gate Inn' is no longer showing."
Xu Kedong is a skilled production manager with a highly capable production team.
Ng See-yuen is skilled in publicity and distribution, and with his extensive network and rich experience, he can handle all the work except for production.
The collaboration with "New Dragon Gate Inn" is a good example.
Therefore, for Tang Long, both of them are excellent partners, and they are also familiar with each other.
Compared to "New Dragon Gate Inn", the only difference in this collaboration with "Reign of Assassins" is that his say has greatly increased.
After all, they were the ones who took the initiative to seek cooperation this time.
As for Deng Guangrong joining, it was because Tang Long wanted to maintain his relationship with him.
The film and television industry will be in chaos in the next two or three years. Now that he's famous, he doesn't want to be targeted with bullets.
Having Deng Guangrong as a connection would save him a lot of trouble.
After discussing the investment issues of "Reign of Assassins," Wu Siyuan spoke up:
"Ah Long, I'm not only looking for you this time because of 'Reign of Assassins,' there's another matter I need your help with."
"Tell me what it is, and I'll definitely help if I can."
You should know that there have been major floods in East China, right?
"Of course I know, both TVB and ATV reported on it."
Tang Long already had a general idea of what kind of help Wu Siyuan needed from him.
"The Directors Guild plans to make a charity film to raise funds, which can be seen as our Hong Kong entertainment industry's support for the mainland."
"You're very popular now, so we'd like to invite you to act in our film, but there's no payment."
"Of course, no problem. This is a great thing. Even if you hadn't said anything, I would have participated."
This disaster affected eighteen provinces and caused tens of millions of people to be affected.
Because the mainland was not yet wealthy at that time, it appealed to the international community for help for the first time.
This also deeply touched the Hong Kong entertainment industry; the announcement of the charity film project...
Everyone responded enthusiastically, wanting to do their best to contribute to the relief efforts for the natural disaster in mainland China.
This flood became a rallying cry that united the entire Hong Kong entertainment industry.
Wong Bing-Yiu was responsible for setting the tone and coordinating the script; Shaw Brothers provided filming locations free of charge and unlimited costumes.
Directed by four directors—Tsui Hark, Gao Zhisen, Cheung Tung-cho, and Cheung Kin-ting—the film features over two hundred celebrities who acted without pay.
The only ones receiving a salary are the grassroots staff who are struggling financially and receive a daily wage—temporary workers such as tea servers, drivers, and site managers.
The production team adhered to the principle of "daily wages paid as usual" to ensure that the livelihoods of grassroots workers were not harmed for the sake of public welfare.
The film "The Banquet" was eventually produced for HK$700,000 and took seven days to complete, raising a total of HK$12 million.
Tang Long's body houses a soul from the mainland, so he naturally wants to do his part in this regard.
Not to mention acting in "The Banquet" for free, he's also been brewing another idea in his mind these past few days.
Since Wu Siyuan and Xu Ke had brought this up, he no longer hid it:
"Mr. Wu, Director Xu, I have an idea and would like to ask for your opinions."
"Tell me about it."
"How about we donate all the profits from 'New Dragon Gate Inn' in Hong Kong?"
Upon hearing this, Wu Siyuan and Xu Ke fell silent.
Both of them couldn't help but do some mental calculations.
Based on the current momentum, the final box office of "New Dragon Gate Inn" is expected to be around HK$25 million.
The money he would receive would be around 12 million, which was exactly the total cost of the film.
However, the revenue of a film in Hong Kong, in addition to box office revenue, also includes revenue from videotapes, original soundtracks, and other copyright-related income.
This part adds up to about one or two million.
According to Tang Long, the idea was to have the three of them donate the one or two million yuan.
"I'm fine, Wu Sheng, what about you?"
"I have no problem with that either. The majority of our revenue comes from outside Hong Kong, and we'll donate land to generate revenue from Hong Kong itself."
Tang Long's face lit up with a smile when he saw that the two had agreed.
He only had a 20% share in "New Dragon Gate Inn," so making this suggestion seemed like he was being generous with other people's money.
The two have been working tirelessly to make this charity film a success.
If you ask them to donate again, they won't be willing to do so, and there's nothing you can say about it.
Tang Long was even mentally prepared for their disagreement, and he decided to donate his share of the profits if the situation changed.
Although the money wasn't much, it was a token of his appreciation; this was all he could do at his current level.
However, it now seems that their vision is much broader than they imagined.