Liang Liang's statement about waiving venue rental wasn't just a spur-of-the-moment decision.

In its previous life, Hengdian started hosting film crews in 1996, and in 2000, it made the decision to waive venue rental fees in order to attract more film crews.

This is what made it stand out among numerous film and television cities across the country, and built its dominance.

Liang Liang never intended to charge rent when he built Pingshan Film and Television City. He offered it for free from the beginning. If you want to dominate the world, you have to be ruthless to yourself.

He wouldn't charge a venue rental fee, and if he improved the facilities, he was sure no film crew would come.

As long as enough film crews come to Pingshan Film and Television City, he can recoup his investment in other ways as well.

Liang Liang's words struck Xie Jin's heart like a sharp arrow.

If we cover the meals for the entire crew, at an average of five yuan per person per day, a crew of forty or fifty people would only earn a little over twenty thousand yuan in more than three months.

It's not a huge amount of money, but waiving venue rental is no small sum.

Before the 1980s, it didn't cost much for a film crew to rent a location. However, this expense started appearing in the late 1980s, initially amounting to a few hundred, then quickly several thousand, and in the last two years it has risen to tens of thousands, and it is still increasing.

For a grand blockbuster like "The Opium War," the venue rental fee is already close to 100,000 yuan.

The best price Hengdian offered was still 80,000.

Eighty thousand plus twenty thousand for food, that's a total of one hundred thousand, which is no small sum!

Their total budget for making a film is only three to five million, which sounds like a lot, but it's gone in a flash.

And this saved 100,000 yuan right away.

"So, does that include the car you mentioned?" Xie Jin's assistant, who was very good at handling things, asked abruptly.

"Of course! I mean what I say, you won't have to pay for the gas for these cars."

I can afford to lose on my first deal. It's only 100,000 or 200,000. Let alone 100,000 or 200,000, even if it were 300,000 or 500,000, I wouldn't bat an eye. It's just losing money to gain publicity.

"Well...we'll have to go back and think about it," Xie Jin said vaguely.

We really need to go back and think about this.

"Thank you, sir! You are already a titan in the Chinese film industry. I have seen many of your films, and every single one is a timeless classic. However, the themes of your films are all quite serious. I wonder if you would be interested in making a New Year's film?"

"Shooting a Lunar New Year film?"

In 1996, the term "Lunar New Year film" was not a familiar one not only to the general public in China, but also to directors like Xie Jin.

Although since the mid-1980s, many Hong Kong stars would get together to make a lively film every year before the Lunar New Year, they still called it a comedy film instead of a Lunar New Year film.

The term "Lunar New Year film" truly emerged last year with the release of "Rumble in the Bronx." On the first day of the Lunar New Year last year, Jackie Chan's "Rumble in the Bronx" was released in mainland cinemas under the name of a Lunar New Year film, and it raked in 95 million yuan at the box office, causing a sensation.

As for the Lunar New Year film produced by a certain group of pants, that's something for next December.

Therefore, Lunar New Year films are not a term that everyone is familiar with.

"It's a movie that's shown during the Chinese New Year. We'll give it a catchy name, and it'll be mostly comedy or light comedy with a happy ending. It'll be something that will make people who have nowhere to go during the New Year happy in the theater. If you're interested, our Haiyun Audio-Visual Company is planning to invest in making such a movie."

Xie Jin laughed: "I'm really not good at comedy films. How about I recommend someone to you? How about Ma Xiaogang?"

Ma Xiaogang?

In his previous life, Ma Xiaogang made Lunar New Year films his entire life, and he was already the king of Lunar New Year films in China.

But Liang Liang didn't like this person. What do you think of someone who proposed using traditional Chinese characters at the National People's Congress? If you still don't understand, just look at the fact that all the movies he made were released around Christmas and you'll know what kind of person he is.

Liang Liang wouldn't use someone like that.

"Let's talk about the Lunar New Year film later. Are you going to make a martial arts film? A thriller? A detective film? A sci-fi film?"

Liang Liang rattled off several more film genres that Xie Jin wasn't particularly good at.

“I haven’t done much with these kinds of films, and I’m not very familiar with them. I’m getting old and can’t make many more films, so I won’t try these types.”

Knowing you can't film, I was just bragging to give the other party the illusion that I was going to make a big splash in the film and television industry.

As for what effect it will have, that's up to fate. Perhaps his spirit will influence Xie Jin's final decision.

If Xie Jin ultimately decides to abandon filming "The Opium War" at Pingshan Film and Television City, then Liang Liang will immediately prepare to film "Party A and Party B".

This time it's not "Be There or Be Square".

Anyway, the scripts are all ready-made. He just needs to dictate them and find someone to write them down. If there are no suitable directors in China, he will support a young director. If Ge You is not available, he will find another one.

Perhaps having someone else act in it would have a different effect.

Han Chui is just a bit too young. If he were a few years older, he would be the perfect replacement for Ge You.

In addition, he plans to discuss with Jinmeng Company the possibility of collaborating on several films.

Teams from Hong Kong tend to make movies quickly, producing a film in just one or two months.

"Xiao Liang! Don't worry, I'll go back and discuss it with the producer, and I'll give you an answer tomorrow."

Upon hearing that he would receive an answer tomorrow, Liang Liang was basically certain that the matter was settled.

There's probably no time in a day for Xie Jin to reach any agreement with Hengdian.

Liang Liang's guess was very reliable. The next afternoon, Xie Jin's side sent him a reply: their crew would enter Pingshan Film and Television City on July 20th.

After receiving accurate information, Liang Liang left the capital and returned home to focus on recording his band's album.

Yangcheng Street in Pingshan Film and Television City was fully completed on July 15th.

The hotel, which can accommodate 100 guests, has also officially opened for business.

The local people were completely baffled by the appearance of this building complex in a field.

Most people didn't understand what a film studio was used for until the film crew of "The Opium War" came in, and then they realized that it was used to shoot movies.

At first, they treated this matter with a "let's watch the show" attitude, but they soon discovered the business opportunities it contained.

One day, the film crew started recruiting extras at a rate of eight yuan per day.

This price wasn't high in 1996. Workers in factories were already earning around 300 yuan a month, and laborers in construction teams were earning 10 yuan a month.

But for farmers who have nothing to do at home during the off-season, this is a source of extra income.

Farmers who were idle at home decided to become extras since they had nothing better to do, and experienced being a star for a while.