Chapter 335: Poaching Talent from Shaw Brothers Studios
HKD 67,000—enough to buy a 1,000-square-foot (90-square-meter) luxury apartment in Central in the early 1960s.
For Changxing Group, this figure was just a drop in the ocean. But for the fledgling and limited film industry, it was a bombshell.
In 1962, The Legend of the White Snake by Shaw Brothers earned HKD 80,000 on its opening day, and ended with a total box office of HKD 790,000. By that metric, Calabash Brothers was already on track to easily surpass HKD 500,000.
It also marked a historic milestone: the first animated film ever produced by and for the Chinese community in Hong Kong.
Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong – Headquarters of Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) Ltd.
Sitting at his desk, Run Run Shaw silently read the front-page coverage in Ming Pao. After a while, he put the paper down and turned to a middle-aged man standing beside him. "Raymond, what do you think of this Calabash Brothers movie?"
"Raymond" was the English name used by one of his most trusted executives—Zou Wenhuai.
Zou Wenhuai replied, "Shaw Sheng, I never even considered that comic books could be turned into films. This time, Changxing Culture really caught us off guard."
Run Run Shaw responded, "In America, there are already many animated programs. You know that, right?"
"Of course," Zou Wenhuai nodded. "But I never expected someone in Hong Kong to actually go through with making an animated movie."
Run Run Shaw sighed, "This isn't really your fault. Animated films don't require live actors or sets. And since we never looked in that direction, there was no way we could have known in advance. Even if we had, it wouldn't have helped."
"Exactly," Zou Wenhuai added. "And it's not something we can easily imitate now either."
Though Shaw Brothers occasionally led in innovation, their bread and butter was copying popular genres. When they saw a breakout hit, they'd follow suit and usually make solid profits. But animation? That was another beast entirely.
"Indeed, we can't replicate it," Run Run Shaw said. "Do you think this movie will have a serious impact on us?"
Zou Wenhuai nodded. "It definitely will. Even though it's a different type of content, Hong Kong families only have so much money to spend on movies. If they see this one, they may skip ours. Cathay probably feels the same pressure."
Movies were still considered a luxury. The working class rarely went. For middle-income families, maybe once every few months. If they picked one film, they'd skip another. And while wealthy people didn't care about ticket prices, they still had limited time—not everyone could go to the theater regularly.
That meant the competition among Hong Kong's film studios was incredibly fierce. "Cutthroat" would be putting it mildly.
Run Run Shaw nodded. "Yes, that's what I'm thinking too. And on top of that, they've got their own theater chain, which is better than ours. That's the real problem. If Changxing Culture keeps making animated films, it could seriously impact our business."
Zou Wenhuai added, "And we can't stop them. What's worse is, I'm worried they'll move beyond animation and start producing live-action films, putting them in direct competition with us."
"You're sure?" Run Run Shaw's expression changed.
There were always rich people in Hong Kong willing to finance a film just to impress a woman. Run Run Shaw didn't care about those vanity projects.
But Changxing Group was a major Chinese financial force. If they entered the film industry for real, it would shake the entire foundation of the market.
"I can't say I'm 100% certain," Zou Wenhuai replied. "But do you remember when we tried to buy the film rights to several of Jin Yong's novels?"
Movies were all about stories. So were novels. And martial arts movies were all the rage these past two years. Shaw Brothers had been planning to adapt Jin Yong's novels—even if the plots were too long and complex, they could still cash in on the brand name.
"Yeah, didn't we buy them?" Run Run Shaw asked.
"No, Changxing Culture did," Zou Wenhuai said. "So it's only a matter of time before they start making martial arts movies. We just don't know when."
Run Run Shaw fell silent for a moment. "There's really nothing we can do."
Facing a giant like Changxing—with their own theaters, media channels, and capital—even the mighty Shaw Brothers was powerless.
"All we can do is wait," Zou Wenhuai said.
"Mm." Run Run Shaw nodded slowly.
April 9 — One Week After the Release of Calabash Brothers
At Changxing Tower, Yang Wendong had just taken a seat when Zhang Zhiyuan from Changxing Culture walked in, beaming. "Yang Sheng, the weekly box office is in—HKD 296,000 total!"
Yang Wendong raised his eyebrows. "First day was HKD 67,000, right?"
"Yes," Zhang Zhiyuan nodded. "The first day is always the peak because of the marketing push. It usually tapers off unless the film goes viral through word of mouth, which wasn't needed in our case—we advertised hard from the beginning."
"True, our campaign was comprehensive," Yang Wendong said. "Based on the first week's numbers, we should be able to estimate the total box office?"
Zhang Zhiyuan answered, "Yes. In Hong Kong, films typically run for just two weeks, unless the movie is phenomenal or there's a lack of new content. If we follow the usual trend, total box office should land around HKD 500,000. But Zheng Sheng promised us more theater resources, so I'm optimistic we could hit HKD 600,000."
"HKD 600,000? That's pretty good," Yang Wendong nodded.
Box office numbers could be manipulated, but only to a point. Once the target audience had seen the movie, it was hard to force others to go—even for free. Of course, that applied under normal circumstances. In his past life, the triads forced famous actors to star in garbage films purely to fabricate huge ticket sales—just to launder money.
Zhang Zhiyuan said, "Yes. The domestic box office alone will cover all our production costs. Now, quite a few Southeast Asian cinema chains have contacted us directly."
"Very good," Yang Wendong smiled. "Selling our comics or printed books in Southeast Asia is a major challenge—the logistics are difficult, and everything needs to be translated. But films? That's simple. They handle the subtitling and distribution. We just sell the rights and collect the money."
What was hard to do with print became easy with movies—and films had a far greater cultural impact and reach.
"Exactly," Zhang Zhiyuan said. "Yang Sheng, I've already started negotiations with Southeast Asian distributors, but neither our internal team nor our legal consultants have much experience in international film licensing. We're mostly just referencing deals made by other Hong Kong studios."
"I get what you're saying," Yang Wendong nodded. "Didn't you consider this issue before the movie launched?"
Zhang Zhiyuan had previously worked at Disney in the U.S., specializing in merchandising, so he was a good fit for building out the ecosystem. But the overseas film distribution side was a whole new territory for them.
Zhang Zhiyuan quickly explained, "We thought about it. But even though many Hong Kong studios distribute films abroad, small companies have no leverage. The foreign theaters call the shots. Only two companies in Hong Kong really have the power to negotiate terms—Cathay and Shaw Brothers."
"I know those two," Yang Wendong said. "Is it hard to poach people from them?"
Shaw Brothers might not be a familiar name to some in the present day, but everyone from the '80s and '90s knew TVB—another of Run Run Shaw's creations, and Yang Wendong's next target in the media sector.
Cathay, meanwhile, was a major competitor in the 1960s, but its founder Lu Yuntao died in a plane crash in 1964, and the company declined afterward. However, with Yang Wendong's interference in history, nothing was certain anymore.
Zhang Zhiyuan said, "At Cathay, all the overseas business is handled by Lu Yuntao himself. His assistants just do minor tasks, so there's nothing we can get there.
At Shaw Brothers, the overseas division is run by a man named Zou Wenhuai—a very capable and well-educated executive. He's the third-in-command there. I originally planned to poach him, but when we tried reaching out, he refused to meet. I even waited outside his home, but he still ignored me."
"So loyal?" Yang Wendong asked in surprise. "You didn't offer him a deal?"
"I did. Told him we could talk about anything. He still wouldn't budge," Zhang Zhiyuan said. "I couldn't exactly kidnap him, and we were on a tight schedule, so it didn't work out."
Yang Wendong laughed. "Interesting. Go find him again. Tell him I want to meet him personally."
"You want to meet him?" Zhang Zhiyuan asked, stunned.
"Yes," Yang Wendong said. "Tell him I plan to heavily invest in the film industry, and I want him to head up our entire movie division."
In terms of raw profits, real estate was far more lucrative than movies. One residential block could generate more income than the entire Hong Kong film market in a year. Even with overseas sales, it wasn't much better.
But for Yang Wendong, the film industry was one branch of a broader cultural enterprise. With enough capital, he could support Hong Kong's development in film, TV, music, novels, and comics. Once they all scaled up, and paired with his future overseas investments, it could form a massive cultural-industrial chain.
Even in the 1990s, under pressure from Hollywood, they could survive—especially with access to the mainland Chinese market. With its talent and potential, they might even surpass expectations.
Sure, culture didn't make as much money as electronics or real estate. But it would be a core pillar of his empire. And the foundation of that pillar? Hong Kong cinema.
Zou Wenhuai was a key figure in the real-life history of Hong Kong film—worthy of a personal interview.
"Understood. I'll arrange it immediately," Zhang Zhiyuan said.
The next day, in a residential complex in Clear Water Bay…
Zou Wenhuai was once again stopped by someone at the gate. He was just about to brush them off when he heard:
"Mr. Zou, our big boss—Yang Sheng—would like to meet you."
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