"Tiancheng, are you planning to use funds from Mainland film companies to turn this into a co-production?" Zhang Kailin asked.
Zhang Tiancheng nodded. "Yes. If it's not a co-production, whether it can even be screened in the Mainland later is a big question. Even if it gets in, it won't make any money."
Co-productions did not count as imported films and could bypass the restrictions to enter the Mainland market.
Co-productions and imported films—a difference of just two terms, but a world of difference.
Imported films were further divided into block-purchased films and revenue-sharing films.
Block-purchased films were decided by China Film Group, which selectively bought out certain foreign films to be screened in the Mainland. Hong Kong films also fell under the category of foreign films.
This buyout meant purchasing the film's box office revenue in the Mainland outright, which was generally not very high.
Revenue-sharing films were created a few years prior to invigorate the Mainland film market, relying on Mainland film companies to handle distribution on their behalf.
The quotas were very small, with only ten films a year.
While revenue-sharing films were said to be distributed by Mainland film companies on an agency basis, the power to choose the films still rested in the hands of China Film Group. China Film Group was the boss, and when the boss didn't speak up, who dared to step out of line?
With only ten slots a year, plus high agency distribution fees, the profit the production team could take home was less than ten percent of the box office.
Co-productions were different. Before entering the Mainland market, the film was reviewed by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, and if there were no issues, it could be released directly, with profit-sharing identical to that of Mainland domestic films.
Co-productions became immensely popular in the years that followed. The reason many Mainland actresses were able to land female lead roles in Hong Kong films was precisely to qualify the productions as co-productions and enter the Mainland market.
Zhang Kailin let out a dry laugh and shook his head. "Tiancheng, you can't pull off a co-production.
A co-production isn't just about the source of investment capital; the official definition of a co-production doesn't even have an official document yet. What constitutes a co-production is entirely up to China Film Group to decide.
To make it a co-production, you have to build connections within China Film Group."
Zhang Tiancheng was somewhat taken aback.
He had assumed the regulations for co-productions had already been issued, not realizing they hadn't been released yet.
"Then let's register a film company in Hong Kong instead."
Zhang Tiancheng wasn't overly disappointed. After all, the Mainland market was still small right now and couldn't make much money anyway.
Besides, he hadn't intended for this film to make money in the first place; he was making it primarily to raise his director rating.
After having lunch at a nearby hotel, Zhang Tiancheng followed Zhang Kailin to register the company.
Hong Kong didn't care about shell companies; as long as you came to register, they would process it for you, and it was fast—everything was settled in less than an hour.
Although Zhang Kailin's home wasn't small, Zhang Tiancheng had four bodyguards with him, making it impossible for everyone to stay there. They had no choice but to check into a hotel near Zhang Kailin's place.
The next day, after breakfast, Zhang Tiancheng accompanied Zhang Kailin to Edko Films.
Edko Films was a veteran film company established over fifty years ago, partnering with all of the major American studios. American films released in Hong Kong were all distributed by Edko Films on behalf of the studios.
The boss, William Kong, could be considered a genuine film tycoon throughout all of Asia.
William Kong had invested in *Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon*, which had just finished filming, and according to the trajectory of his past life, Zhang Yimou's *Hero* would be entirely organized and spearheaded by William Kong.
There were also rumors from his past life that William Kong played a significant role in helping Liu Yifei land the role in the Disney-produced film *Mulan*.
Edko Films was located in Central, Hong Kong. Across the entire territory of Hong Kong, rents in Central were the highest, soaring far above anywhere else.
Edko Films owned a standalone office building in Central that stood over thirty stories tall.
Arriving downstairs at Edko Films, Zhang Tiancheng instructed his bodyguards to wait outside while he and Zhang Kailin entered the building.
"Manager Zhang." "Manager Zhang."...
Zhang Kailin was only thirty-nine years old, yet he had already attained the position of vice president at Edko Films. Anyone with half a brain could see that the position of general manager would undoubtedly be his in the future.
He might even make it onto the board of directors.
As soon as they stepped inside, the staff of Edko Films warmly greeted Zhang Kailin.
Once inside the elevator, just as Zhang Kailin was about to press the button for the eighteenth floor, a voice called out, "Kailin, hold the elevator."
Following the voice, a slightly short elderly man walked over.
After the elderly man stepped inside, Zhang Kailin hastily called out, "Chairman Jiang."
The old man nodded and pressed the button for the thirty-second floor.
Zhang Kailin hurriedly reached out and pressed the eighteenth floor.
As the elevator ascended, the elderly William Kong glanced at Zhang Tiancheng and asked Zhang Kailin, "Kailin, is this young man your newly hired assistant?"
"No, Chairman Jiang, he's my nephew. He came to Hong Kong to shoot a film, and I brought him to the company to rent equipment and hire a crew."
William Kong cast a surprised look at Zhang Tiancheng and asked with curiosity, "Young man, brave enough to direct at such a young age—who is your mentor?"
"Chairman Jiang, I'm from the directing department at the Central Academy of Drama in the Mainland," Zhang Tiancheng replied politely.
William Kong instantly lost interest. New directors who were academy graduates almost always failed in their first few films.
Still, out of consideration for Zhang Kailin, William Kong nodded with a word of praise.
"Not bad. Graduating from an academy holds great promise."
As soon as those words fell, Zhang Kailin immediately chimed in, "Chairman Jiang, it's my nephew's first time making a film, and there's a lot he doesn't understand. I'd like to take a leave of absence from the company for a while to go help him oversee things."
William Kong nodded. "Very well, Kailin. There isn't much going on at the company right now anyway. Just cancel your leave and return once your nephew finishes his film."
Although he held no hope for Zhang Tiancheng's film, if he refused Zhang Kailin's request to take time off to help his nephew, word would get out and he might lose the loyalty of his people.
Besides, Zhang Kailin was immensely capable; firing him would be a loss for Edko Films.
"Thank you, Chairman Jiang."
After Zhang Kailin and William Kong exchanged a few words about company matters, the elevator reached the eighteenth floor.
Leading Zhang Tiancheng out of the elevator, Zhang Kailin went straight to the logistics department to rent filming equipment, followed by hiring the crew.
While the Hong Kong film industry jointly squeezed outsiders from the Mainland, internally they were very united and quite willing to support newcomers. All film companies in Hong Kong were open to renting out personnel and equipment to outsiders.
Since rental services were already a standard business offering and Zhang Kailin himself was stepping forward, both the equipment and the crew were secured in a single day.
Locations were even easier to handle. Back when the Hong Kong film market was booming, fierce competition among Golden Harvest, D&B Films, and Cinema City meant that wanting to rent a location to shoot a movie was completely out of the question.
However, following the closures of D&B Films and Cinema City, and the gradual decline of Golden Harvest, the Hong Kong film market had begun to slump, prompting Golden Harvest's studio backlot to open up to the public and accept rentals.
Zhang Kailin had someone take the script to rent a location, while he himself took Zhang Tiancheng to the Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority to submit the script and apply for a filming permit.
The Licensing Authority functioned similarly to the Mainland's SARFT, though their working methods were different. While SARFT currently enforced strict script reviews, the Licensing Authority was very lenient, passing virtually any film as long as it wasn't too outrageous.
However, inspections after filming was completed were handled very strictly by the Licensing Authority; if any issues arose, the project was sent straight back.
With the script approved and the filming permit secured, Zhang Kailin set out to cast the actors.