Chapter 249: The Prize-Winning Plan is Quietly Underway...

As soon as February arrives, the atmosphere of the Chinese New Year seems to gradually intensify.

The box office of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" has been steadily rising during this period, moving closer and closer to the 30 million mark.

Qian Bo is always so captivating yet hateful. During this period, various reasons for censorship and criticism have been coming one after another, as if they want to use the media offensive to pull the rating of the movie "The Man in the Jianghu" down again, from IIB to III. If it is downgraded to III, then minors under the age of 18 who contributed a lot to the box office of this movie will not be able to openly enter the cinema to watch this movie.

In other words, they will lose a large portion of the audience market and a significant amount of box office revenue.

Therefore, the three clever guys at "Best Partners" company certainly wouldn't let these people have their way. They've been running around trying to pull strings to resolve this issue, and the script for the sequel has been temporarily put on hold.

After all, if this public opinion crisis cannot be resolved, not to mention whether a second sequel can be made and what the returns will be, the box office of their first film will be significantly affected.

It's rare that such a box office dark horse was cultivated unintentionally, and the trend and popularity of the sequel are quite commendable. Who would be willing to give up before they've even had their fill?

So, under pressure from multiple sides, the chubby producer Huang Zheng finally gritted his teeth and went back to his old employer, Rong Sheng Film Company, besides TBL.

The original intention was to find the Shang couple, who had a triad background, to act as a backer. However, Rong Sheng was busy with the publicity and distribution of Zhou Shengyi's Lunar New Year film "The New Three Smiles Marriage". Although "The Man in the Jianghu" only had a small overlap in release dates, it was still considered a "rival". Therefore, it was difficult for them to reach an agreement on cooperation.

Moreover, how should I put it—businessmen are thick-skinned, but businessmen with triad backgrounds still have to consider saving face. The female lead, Li Sishi, in the movie "The Gangster" was a last-minute replacement of Kong Wei in order to open up the domestic market. As a result, Li Sishi became a hit in another movie...

If they go back to their old flame, other gangs will definitely envy and resent them for making money, and they will also use this incident to make sarcastic and mocking remarks about them for a while.

No matter how tempted you are by the return on investment in terms of cost and box office, you should at least wait until this hype dies down before making any decisions.

However, Rong Sheng's path was not easy. Rong Sheng's "superior," Jia Sui Film Company, took the initiative to come after hearing about the unexpected success of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes."

According to the historical division of Hong Kong's film industry, Jia Sui Film Company is...

Back then, Zhou Yunhua, a key figure in Zhao's film company, was dissatisfied with Zhuang Menghua's sudden appointment and, based on the idea that "working for someone else your whole life is not as profitable as being your own boss," he left with a group of close friends and established his own film company.

And Jia Sui Film Company lived up to its name, which means "the wind rises and the harvest is plentiful," and was in line with the will of heaven and received divine help. First, it acquired the King of Kung Fu, then Brother Long Sheng, and also brought in the Four Heroes of the Lui family. In one fell swoop, it overshadowed its former employer, Zhao's Film Company, and produced several box office and critically acclaimed films every year, becoming the box office champion of the 1970s.

When Lee Sze-sze participated in the Miss Hong Kong pageant, Lui Koo-man, who described her beauty as "so beautiful that you don't want to blink," was the eldest of the Lui family's four brothers and also the first "comedy king" of Hong Kong in the 1980s, known for his dry humor comedies that depicted the lives of ordinary people and satirized the social status quo.

According to seniority, Zhou Shengyi, the current second-generation "King of Comedy," is still ranked behind Lü Guwen.

However, enemies and friends are never permanent. After the rise of the "True Art Presents" film company in the 1980s, which was jointly established by a group of new directors, producers and screenwriters, Zhao's film company, which had reduced its production by a lot, and Jiahui film company, which was being defeated one after another, had no choice but to put aside their past grievances and unite. This led to the situation in which Zhao's, Jiahui and True Art Presents divided the Hong Kong film market into three separate powers.

The "Best Partner" film company established by producer Huang Zheng and his friends is based on the box office miracle film "Best Partner" that broke the local box office record in Hong Kong.

Back then, it was common for talented individuals to jump between several large companies, and they mostly left Zhao's Film Company and scattered to various places. Therefore, Zhao's Film Company could be considered the industry's "first-class" talent training program, and its sibling company TBL inherited this characteristic, serving as the only designated talent supply base in Hong Kong's entertainment industry...

Later, as the film economy declined in the 1990s, Zhao's film company shifted its focus to TBL to produce TV series. Zhen Yicheng gradually fell from grace, while Jia Sui built satellite companies to attract talent and maintain its status through accumulation. Therefore, Jia Sui's desire to discuss cooperation again based on past relationships undoubtedly had an excellent innate advantage.

Now that they have no further "teeth" with Jia Sui, Zhuang Menghua is naturally happy to facilitate the collaboration between the "best partners" and Jia Sui Film Company: Jia Sui has always been wealthy and willing to invest in film production, coupled with their network of connections and TBL's control over public opinion, once Jia Sui is brought into the cooperation circle, the "Man in the Jianghu" series will never be the same again.

There's no need to worry too much.

If this series continues smoothly, Li Sishi's commercial value will be basically stable, placing her in the position of a rising A-list actress, allowing her to focus on "awards" with peace of mind.

Although Li Sishi just won the Most Popular Female Singer award at her own TV station's "Jade Solid Gold Awards Ceremony" and won numerous awards at various music award ceremonies in January, such as the Chinese Gold Songs Awards Ceremony and the Ultimate Song Chart Awards Ceremony, Zhuang Menghua believes that her singing and acting career is just icing on the cake.

As for the position he really wanted to elevate Li Sishi to, he envisioned her as a "legendary actress" who would surpass Huang Qianyan, a top-tier actress, and possess both commercial value and critical acclaim.

Huang Qianyan is popular and talented, but lacks the luck and opportunity to win awards. She also suffers from a lack of love and a tendency to be overly focused on her career due to her romantic nature. Shang Lanyu, although also a former Miss Hong Kong from TBL, is too self-centered and disobedient.

Moreover, unlike Huang Qianyan, she experienced a situation where she was successful in awards but not so successful at the box office...

Only Li Sishi combined the strengths and weaknesses of both men. Unfortunately, she was born too late and did not appear during the peak of Hong Kong cinema. Now she can only wait and search for the opportunity that will allow her to soar to new heights.

However, one can still work hard behind the scenes to achieve "awards"—Zhuang Menghua thought to herself, glancing sideways and gesturing for Lu Yiting to hand over this year's Asia-Pacific Film Festival materials folder to Li Sishi.

Although the Asia Pacific Film Festival's reputation and influence still lag behind those international awards, its advantage lies in the large number of Asian countries participating in the competition, which can significantly increase the exposure of participating artists in markets outside Asia.

Before the rise of other film companies in Hong Kong, Zhao's Film Company was the dominant force in the city. The Asia-Pacific Film Festival has a deep connection with Zhao's Film Company, and this year, the chances of getting Li Sishi a major award are not small.

Especially since Li Sishi is at the perfect age now, if she can win the Best Actress award at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival, she will be the youngest Chinese actress to win the Asia-Pacific Film Festival Best Actress award!

The only minor setback for Li Sishi is that her only leading role in a film is "Mermaid Romance," a movie that leans more towards a youth idol style. Submitting it for the Best Actress award would inevitably be subject to some potential limitations imposed by the conventions of film genres.

In comparison, the film genre of "The Voice of Dreams" and Li Sishi's performance in this film are actually more stable and safer—if they could shamelessly submit their nominations for Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Lotus Awards while also competing for the Asia-Pacific Film Awards.

If the exhibition is about the Best Actress award, then...

“No, I don’t think so.” Li Sishi knew what they were going to discuss today, so she had done her homework early on. “Because the films that are going to be screened this year are mostly art films, my role in ‘The Voice of Dreams’ is a bit less significant compared to the others.”

Although her role was roughly equal to that of the male lead played by Shang Hanyou, she was ultimately just a "starter." The real "core" of the film was the male lead—which is why she could be considered both the female lead and the supporting actress in the awards category.

"Moreover, the most crucial point is that 'The Voice of Dreams' is limited by its Cantonese songs and its reflection of issues in the Cantonese music scene. Excessive localization will put it at a great disadvantage in international awards. On the other hand, Hou Yaoxin's 'Little Fish Girl,' which also 'reflects social issues,' is much more 'international'..." Li Sishi shook her head.

Hou Yaoxin's novel "Little Fish the Girl" is adapted from a literary work by a well-known writer who lives in the United States. It tells the story of a poor girl who is unable to settle down abroad and eventually has no choice but to enter into a sham marriage with an old white man to obtain residency.

Both the original novel and the film explore the oppression of overseas Chinese, who are in a vulnerable position, by the dominant Western civilization. Even if they eventually break through racial and cultural barriers and achieve spiritual sublimation, the "realistic descriptions" in the early stages are very much in line with the "Western-style Eastern aesthetic" that has been popular in recent years.

Those people enjoy watching Chinese faces portray characters who are either pitiful, impoverished, or unsophisticated and vulgar, while white faces act as saviors or judges, all while calling it "reflecting reality."

"To expose the wounds."

Therefore, if they were to compete with "Little Fish" this year using a similar film genre, Li Sishi could already foresee that they would most likely lose—even if Sir Zhao of Zhao's Film Company had a close relationship with the organizers of the Asia-Pacific Film Festival, it would be difficult for his old friends to completely control the discourse on award selection and allocation, just as they had in the early days decades ago.

Instead of attacking others' strengths with one's own weaknesses, it would be better to find another way and let the unconventional "Mermaid Romance" fight against the traditional "Little Fish Girl": After careful research, Li Sishi found that many places in Western society have begun to embrace the concept of environmental protection.

The visuals and plot of "Mermaid Romance" are quite simple and easy to understand, and music is the only medium that can transcend language. In addition, with the gimmick of "the most beautiful live-action mermaid movie", it will be easy to achieve a fresh, fashionable and modern style that can give most judges who are tired of "scar literature" a refreshing surprise.

It can be said that the strength of "Mermaid Romance" lies in its "non-localization and easy-to-understandness". It does not need to expose its own wounds to please those who want to treat Chinese people as pitiful monkeys, and to be overjoyed to feel that it has gained so-called international recognition by winning one or two awards under their "sympathetic gaze".

What Li Sishi wanted was to use beautiful visuals and melodious music that could transcend language, national borders, and regions, along with a storyline that was still quite novel and exciting in this era, to create an unprecedented award-winning plan.

At the same time, it is hoped that those with ulterior motives will see that the ancient country of the East today is no longer the "sand-covered countryside, dusty and weary faces, and gloomy and dim world of their memories," but a brand new image full of vitality and modernity, quietly working hard and then inadvertently stunning the world.