The family is in the middle of the road and enters the film industry
Run Run Shaw, the name, is destined to be closely linked to the history of the development of the Chinese film industry. In 1926, Run Run Shaw was born into a prominent family in Shanghai.
His father supported the revolution in his early childhood, but later died of illness after failing in business. For a time, the once glorious Shao family was reduced to an ordinary family.
The 19-year-old Shaw could have chosen to study or become an official, or he could have sat back and spent his days in chaos. However, this young man is bent on changing the decadent fate of his family.
In desperation, by chance, he entered the fledgling film industry. With his extraordinary intelligence and enterprising spirit, Run Run Shaw quickly made his mark in this emerging industry full of opportunities.
In 1930, at the age of 23, he and his brother founded their own film company, Tianyi Film Company, and embarked on a legendary entrepreneurial road.
While others were still doubting the future of the film industry, the teenager had already seen the dawn of a new world. He keenly smells that film and television entertainment will become one of the most important cultural communication methods and industries in the world.
Under his tireless excavation and development, Tianyi Company gradually grew and expanded, laying the cornerstone for the rise of Shaw Brothers' future business empire.
The development of Southeast Asia and the development of markets in rural areas
The rapid rise of Tianyi Company attracted the jealousy of other film companies, and in 1930, six major film companies in Shanghai joined forces to carry out "Liuhe encirclement and suppression" against Tianyi. Faced with a strong opposition, Run Run Shaw had to lead the company out of Shanghai and into Southeast Asia to continue its development.
At that time, the film markets in Singapore and Malaysia were saturated, and new competitors could not gain a foothold. Undeterred, Shaw used his innate business acumen to extend the company's reach into the rural market.
Unlike other film companies that focus only on the urban elite, Shaw directly targets Tianyi's audience at the bottom of the peasant worker class. He realized that these groups also craved entertainment, and movies could meet that need.
So, Run Run Shaw traveled all over the towns and villages, shooting low-budget films with the simplest equipment and scripts. He returned the film to its essence and expressed the most sincere emotions in the most down-to-earth language.
These films have received great repercussions in rural areas, and Tianyi's performance is booming.
Under the leadership of Run Run Shaw, a business wizard, Tianyi successfully opened up the situation and fought his way out of the predicament of Southeast Asia. It was this experience that gave birth to Shaw's extraordinary business acumen, which laid the foundation for his future business empire.
The first sound film, technological innovation
In 1935, under the leadership of Run Run Shaw, Tianyi's business began to take shape. But the ambitious young man did not dare to rest on his laurels. In his view, enterprises can only be invincible if they continue to innovate in technology.
As a result, Run Run Shaw decisively went abroad and introduced the world's most advanced sound film shooting equipment at a high price. At that time, sound films had begun to be popularized abroad, while the Chinese film industry was still in the silent stage.
Shaw keenly seized this opportunity and ventured in to usher in a new era.
However, there are risks and opportunities. On his way back to China with his equipment, Run Run Shaw encountered a storm and unfortunately ran aground and sank. A few days later, a dying body was found by the lifeguards, and it turned out to be Boss Shao himself.
He survived death, and the equipment he had shipped was miraculously intact.
Finally, under the careful guidance of Run Run Shaw, the first sound film in the history of Chinese cinema was born. For a time, the public's enthusiasm for movies was unprecedentedly high, and the box office amount hit a new high.
Tianyi Company also seized the commanding heights of sound films for the first time, and its technical strength was greatly improved, laying the foundation for the establishment of TVB in the future.
During the Japanese occupation, the leaflets got into trouble and were captured by the Japanese army
In 1937, the Japanese army fully occupied Shanghai, and the Chinese film industry was once again turned upside down. However, Shaw, who had a sense of justice, did not flinch in the slightest. He produced a large number of film propaganda films exposing the atrocities of the Japanese army, and distributed anti-Japanese leaflets everywhere to arouse people's patriotic enthusiasm.
These actions quickly led to death. The Japanese searched for his whereabouts overnight, and finally captured the patriot. During the interrogation, Run Run Shaw was undaunted and resolutely unyielding in the face of the difficulties and torture of the Japanese.
This test of life and death gave Boss Shao an unprecedented understanding of the meaning of life. When he is beaten in a chair, he thinks of his young children; When he was starving and freezing in his cell, he would think of the group of employees of Tianyi Company who depended on each other.
It was they who gave Shaw the strength to keep living. In the face of these tribulations, Boss Shao is eager to live like never before. This stimulated his strong vitality and helped him to come back from the clutches of the devil safely. He vowed to make the invaders pay the price.
For this belief, he did not hesitate to gamble and vowed to live and die with the film industry.
Hong Kong is fighting again against the international power industry, and life and death are at a speed
In 1945, Run Run Shaw led Tianyi Company to make a comeback, aiming directly at Hong Kong, the center of the film industry at that time. The business opportunities here are endless, but the competition is also fierce.
The biggest competitor is the powerful international film industry. It has a large number of first-line stars, and its strength should not be underestimated.
However, Boss Shao is not afraid of strong enemies. He led Tianyi to constantly innovate and successively launched a number of blockbuster films. Its super business operation ability and keen sense of smell have made the company's performance rise and gradually catch up with its old rivals.
In stark contrast to the competition in the mall, the two have a good personal relationship and appreciate each other. In 1964, business leaders from both sides took a plane trip and unfortunately suffered a crash.
Boss Shao survived, while the biggest competitor, Boss Lu, passed away forever.
"I've lost my opponents, I don't have anyone to compete with in the future, and my progress is limited. "Boss Shao is saddened by the sudden death of his old friend. However, shopping malls are like battlefields, and the weak eat the strong.
In this cruel competition for survival, Shaw Brothers finally overwhelmed Dianmao and became the boss of the Hong Kong film industry. With this experience of racing against death, Boss Shao seems to have a deeper understanding of life. He cherished what he had more and remembered to do good all the time.
It is with this luck that Lao Shao's career can ride the wind and waves and continue to successfully climb new peaks.
Founded TVB and built a TV empire
In the 1970s, the Hong Kong film industry entered a golden age, and Shaw Brothers was already the boss of the film industry. However, the business genius Boss Shao is not satisfied with the status quo.
He was keenly aware that TV was the future, so he decided to cooperate with TVB to enter this new blue ocean.
Boss Shao adopts a two-handed development strategy: one is to set up a performance artist training class, and always adhere to the concept of cultivating stars; The second is to create a sensational Miss Hong Kong beauty pageant, and use this platform to sort out new stars.
Under his meticulous management and behind-the-scenes operation, TVB has emerged and a large number of well-known stars and hosts have emerged. It quickly gained a firm foothold in the Hong Kong TV circle and won the love of the people, and its ratings have always ranked first among major TV stations.
By the mid-80s, with the painstaking efforts of Boss Shao for more than 30 years, TVB had grown into Hong Kong's No. 1 TV station, opening its door to the TV empire.
It not only dominates the development of Hong Kong's television industry, but also gradually transforms and upgrades into an integrated media group.
Today, TVB has become an important member of Hong Kong's cultural scene. It carries the memories and emotions of two or three generations of Hong Kong people, witnessing and playing the role of the city's cultural and spiritual symbols.
And all this brilliance depends on Lao Shao's foresight and perseverance.
The harem is very prosperous, and the children cut off the relationship
When his career reached its peak, Boss Shao was a little eclectic emotionally. Many years after the death of his original partner Huang Tai, he fell in love with the 40-year-old actress Miss Fang, and continued at the age of 72.
This was a sensation in Hong Kong at that time, and it was even known as the "Oriental Iron Lang".
However, this sister-brother relationship eventually led to the rupture of Boss Shao's kinship with flesh and blood in his twilight years. He was already estranged from his children because of business ties, and this move was even worse.
The children were dissatisfied with Lao Shao's informal style and chose to draw a line with him.
"You have a new love now, and we can't worry about your family business." Boss Shao's own son said. Not only did they refuse to communicate, but they also stated that they would give up Lao Shao's huge business inheritance, which made the old man's heart half cold.
After several failed attempts to repair the relationship, the aging Boss Shao is left alone to face his empire-like business empire. He was lonely and lacking in fighting spirit, and he left the company's operations behind him all day long.
Eventually, the legend died in '92, failing to find a successor and shattering the huge business empire.
The tragic fate of being lonely and old has become an indelible regret in Lao Shao's life. This also makes future generations ponder: behind the success and glory, without the company of family, everything will become overshadowed.
Money and power will eventually drift away like dust, and only family affection is the eternal sustenance.