When the film "The Wrong Car" (1983) received 11 nominations at the 20th Golden Horse Awards, it was seen that the film's producer column was marked by the names of Mak Jia and Wong Pak-ming.
can take a look at the creative team in front of and behind the scenes, but most of them are Taiwanese names.
It is not surprising to say that this is a Chinese film produced by Xinyi City at that time to open the Taiwan market.
At that time, the Taiwan market was a big piece of the cake for Hong Kong filmmakers. After all, there are only a few million people in Hong Kong, and there are less than 90 cinemas in Hong Kong combined, so if you are counting on the local market, it is lucky that a film can recoup its investment.
In order to open up the Taiwan market, Xinyicheng invited Zhang Aijia, who had been working happily before, at this time. This time, instead of asking her to act, she was asked to be the director of the company.
Stills from the movie "The Wrong Car" (1983), Liu Ruiqi
And Zhang Aijia at this time also has another identity as a singer under Taiwan's Rolling Stones, who is ambiguously entangled with Luo Dayou.
Luo Dayou, Li Shouquan, Wu Nianzhen and Mr. Hou, these famous Taiwanese talents, if it weren't for her relationship, I am afraid they would not all appear in the behind-the-scenes team of "The Wrong Car".
It's no wonder that this movie was able to win all the music awards of the Academy and Golden Horse that year.
However, the main screenwriter of "The Wrong Car" is still Hong Kong native Huang Baiming.
From left: Luo Dayou, Zhang Aijia
I don't know whether to say that Huang Baiming is too talented or adaptable, and his previous main screenwriting works have been hilarious typical Hong Kong-style comedies like "Best Partner" (1982).
But in order to cater to the tastes of Taiwanese, he washed away the taste of Hong Kong overnight, and made the entire plot of "The Wrong Car" tactful and melancholy, full of the most popular literary and artistic atmosphere for Taiwanese audiences.
This "overnight" is not an exaggeration at all, but a literal overnight - because efficiency was paramount at that time, time was extremely tight, Huang Baiming really completed the script in just one night, which was widely praised as a standard in the Hong Kong industry, and later countless people followed suit, trying to create another miracle of producing high-quality products overnight, but they only ended up with a toddler.
"The Wrong Car" was a huge hit in Taiwan, winning word of mouth and box office success.
Stills from the movie "The Wrong Car" (1983), from left: Li Liqun, Sun Yue
With this, the new art city has completely opened up the situation in Taiwan. Because the limelight is too strong, I even received threatening letters.
Many years later, Huang Baiming recalled that year, and when he mentioned this paragraph, he couldn't hide his smugness: "Back then, it was hearsay that Taiwanese film dealers had three fears about new films. One of them is afraid that there will be a new film released in the new art city, and everyone will compete to avoid it, forming a new art city on the film, who can compete for the trend. No wonder some people hate us to the point of itching. ”
Don't look at Huang Baiming's young age, he looks like a well-mannered scholar, but he has actually gone through a rugged and tortuous life path. But "I am born to be useful", and finally became the "screenwriter saint" in the Hong Kong film and television industry.
You must know that there are two people in the Hong Kong entertainment industry who have made a fortune solely by writing - one is Ni Kuang (1935-2022), who is known as the father of Hong Kong science fiction, and the other is Huang Baiming, one of the founders of the new art city to be introduced below.
At the same time, he can also be called a living fossil of Hong Kong films, he can always keep the pulse of the times, and the movies he makes are always full of surprises and entertainment.
【A few rough roads】
Huang Baiming was born on April 8, 1946 in Kowloon, Hong Kong.
The family was living in a two-story building on Queen's Road West in Hong Kong at the time.
At that time, his father's business was good, so he lived with his mother, grandmother, and seven younger siblings.
Huang Baiming when he was young
At that time, there was a servant in the family, and the servant claimed that he was a "young man", and his grandmother doted on him very much, so he had a very good and happy childhood.
Things are always good for long, and soon, Huang Baiming's father suffered a setback in his business. Since then, it has been sluggish.
His father became very irritable, and he had always had a fierce temper, so he often scolded his family for small things, and Huang Baiming also received a lot of scolding.
Huang Baiming when he was young
Huang Baiming began to feel the lack of family warmth. He is a tame child on the surface, but he is indispensably rebellious inside.
At that time, he felt that his home was like a prison, his father was like a tyrant, everything was almost unbearable, and he even secretly decided to run away from home!
But colorful ideals are often shattered in front of the relentless wall of reality.
From left: Gao Zhisen, Huang Baiming
Huang Baiming is the eldest son in the family and is undoubtedly an important pillar of supporting the family, besides, he had nothing at that time, so it was not easy to make a name for himself.
As a result, of course, he left home and was unable to continue his studies due to his family's poverty.
After graduating from secondary school, he went to work as a senior clerk in a large British import and export company, which at the time was a good advantage for those with equivalent qualifications.
From left: Leslie Cheung and Huang Baiming
Because Huang Baiming is conscientious and responsible, and his brain is flexible, coupled with his good management, the company has made a lot of money in just one year. The boss was so happy that he immediately promoted him to department manager.
But he is not satisfied with working for others, he is confident that he has the ability to be a boss and have his own business.
In 1973, he rented another office near the company and broke into the world on his own.
Huang Baiming in the office
With his enthusiasm and talent for his work, he staggered between two companies. He used his lunch break and evening work to get around his company's business.
He hired two assistants, and he used every minute and second of his time.
He eats a boxed lunch in the office twice a day, and at night in his company, he opens a canvas bed and sleeps, sleeping only about three or four hours a night.
Huang Baiming's signed promotional photo
At one point, his two assistants wondered why the papers piled up on the table had all been taken care of the next day.
It wasn't until one day that an assistant went back to the office building to pick up something, and then he discovered Boss Huang's "secret of the canvas bed".
But soon after, his career plummeted, and since then he has embarked on a bumpy road.
Huang Baiming has loved acting since he was a child, and his body is full of drama cells.
Huang Baiming
In order to make a living, he wrote to the film company and asked to accept him as an actor. However, the result of "self-recommendation" is often "sinking into the sea".
At that time, in addition to taking time out to act every weekend afternoon, he would never give up any performance opportunities he had, and often put down all his work and went to perform.
Huang Baiming and Stephen Chow
In this way, in the long run, due to the neglect of one and the other, his own company business will be affected, and over time, there will be no business.
At first, Huang Baiming was just in some repertory troupes, playing ordinary roles, with no fame or money. It's really hard.
It's still the same sentence "I'm born to be useful". Later, the opportunity finally came.
Wong Pak Ming and Alan Tam
【Mak Ka Seng Bole】
It was around 1970 that the famous director and producer Liang Tian (1932-2020) met him and thought that he was "a manufacturable material", so he introduced him to join TVB and participated in the performance of "Jade Theater", which undoubtedly helped him a lot in his future film and television career.
Soon he began to play leading roles in the troupe. He then organized the "Youth Art Drama Society" with Li Yongqiang and a group of young people who loved theater, and performed many comedies by Molière (1622-1673).
Huang Baiming is a talented screenwriter who can make Molière's comedies suitable for today's audiences.
He was particularly fond of comedy, and he admired Molière, the master of comedy, who once said: "I especially like the adaptation of Molière's comedy, which is of great help to my work today." Because of his popularity with the audience, he won the nickname of "blockbuster savior".
From left: Jacky Cheung, Wong Pak-ming, Chow Yun-fat
He usually likes to write, direct, and act by himself, and often memorizes all the lines in his head. Sometimes the opponent who rehearses together forgets the lines, and he can say the lines right away. It can also be seen from this that this weak scholar is not small.
In order to concentrate on his theatrical work, in 1975, he quit his well-paying job at a British foreign firm. Soon, due to the lack of juggling, he also closed his own company.
At the beginning of Huang Baiming's TVB, the road was quite flat. In 1976, he officially became a wireless screenwriter, and his famous works at that time included TV series such as "Wong Fei Hung" and "Forced to Liangshan" (1976).
Among them, the ratings of "Forcing Liangshan" are good, but TVB not only did not treat him as a hero, but instead reduced his screenwriting fee from 1,000 yuan per episode to 600 yuan.
Huang Baiming and Mao Shunyun
For Huang Baiming, this is not a question of money, but an insult to the artist.
Therefore, no matter what hardships TVB has, Huang Baiming doesn't want to "let people eat meat", so he bent his waist for the 600 yuan, and when he wrote the fourth episode, he finally left TVB angrily.
He began to become more and more interested in films, so he used the money he had saved from several years of hard work to make a joint venture with a friend, "The Vortex" (1978).
From left: Xu Guanjie, Xu Guanying, Huang Baiming, Xu Guanwen, Tsui Hark
"Vortex" met Jackie Chan's "Drunken Fist" (1978), which is needless to say a complete failure. His family had long been dissatisfied with him for quitting his job, closing the company, and investing in filming at an inopportune time, and they were happy to see his film fail.
thought that he would learn a lesson from now on, and he would never dare to develop in the film and television industry again.
But he still tried to make another film, "Walking the Wrong Way with the Wrong Straw Shoes" (1979), this time it was really "the wrong way", and the film unfortunately lost its roots.
He couldn't help but lament: "My luck is too bad!"
It wasn't until Huang Baiming met Mai Jia, a famous director and actor, that he embarked on the road to success.
It's still the same sentence." I am born to be useful", a person with the ability will always have a day to get ahead. Mai Jia can be said to be the "Bole" of his life.
The location of the movie "Best Partner" (1982), from left: Huang Baiming, Mak Jia, Hui Guanjie
How did Huang Baiming describe Mai Jia——
He said: When I first met Mai Jia, I saw that the other party had long hair like fluffy grass, a messy beard, a pair of jeans, and a rough appearance, but he had the style of an artist, and a little wild (this is far from Mai Jia's later bald detective image).
“新艺城三巨头”，左起：黄百鸣、石天、麦嘉
After meeting, Huang Baiming felt that Mai Jia was straightforward and consistent, and was the best partner for cooperation.
The two hit it off at first sight. Soon after, his first play for Mai Jia, "Fighting for Life" (1979), was a good hit, which proved Huang Baiming's screenwriting talent.
After a little effort, Huang Baiming found that his biggest advantage is nothing else, but a screenwriter.
"The Big Three of New Art City", from left: Mai Jia, Huang Baiming, Shi Tian
【Red Half the Sky】
In 1980, Huang Baiming, Mai Jia and Shi Tian (1950-2021) established New Arts City Film Co., Ltd., and he became one of the "Big Three" of New Art City.
Huang Baiming served as a screenwriter, changed his past creative habits, and mainly promoted a light comedy style. This is because in Hong Kong in the 80s of the 20th century, the film market was monopolized by two old film companies, Golden Harvest and Shaw Brothers.
"The Big Three of New Art City", from left: Huang Baiming, Mai Jia, Shi Tian
However, at the beginning of the establishment of the company, the foreshadowing of the uneven "account sharing" had been laid, and the three of them discussed with the boss Lei of the "Golden Princess" in this way: Huang Baiming accounted for 9% of the equity of Xinyicheng, Shi Tian accounted for 19%, and Princess Jin and Mai Jiahe accounted for 72%. Of the 72% shares, Princess Jin accounts for 51% and Mai Jia accounts for 49%. In other words, among the "Big Three", Mai Jia took the lion's share.
It was this uneven "distribution of spoils" that also laid the groundwork for the later disintegration of the new art city.
A still from the movie "Funny Times" (1980), Shi Tian
New Arts City's first film, "Funny Times" (1980), quietly made a name for itself with a box office of 5.18 million.
In 1982, Xinyicheng won a box office of 26 million with "Best Partner", firmly occupying the first place in the box office list that year.
Subsequently, Huang Baiming and others took advantage of the victory to pursue and released "Best Partner 2: Magical Powers" (1983), "Best Partner 3: The Queen's Secret Order" (1984), "Best Partner 4: A Thousand Miles to Save the Poor Mother" (1986) and "Best Partner 5: Terracotta Warriors" (1989).
Stills from the movie "Best Partner 5: Terracotta Warriors" (1989), from left: Li Zhi, Leslie Cheung, Xu Guanjie, Mak Jia
Later, Tsui Hark, Shi Nansheng, Zeng Zhiwei, and Teddy Robin joined one after another, forming a seven-member creative group, which was later called the "Seven Monsters of New Art City".
Together, these seven members contributed to the success of New Arts City Film Company, and their collaboration and contribution in film creation and business management gave New Arts City a place in the Hong Kong film market in the 1980s.
Seven Monsters of New Art City, from left: Shi Nansheng, Huang Baiming, Zeng Zhiwei, Mai Jia, Shi Tian, Teddy Robin, Tsui Hark
At that time, Huang Baiming, who was one of the founders of Xinyicheng and a screenwriter, became famous, and the "Happy Ghost" (1984) series of movies starring him also opened a precedent for "comedy ghost films".
There are a total of 5 "Happy Ghosts", the first part became popular with Li Lizhen, the second part "Happy Ghost Summer Vacation" (1985) made Yuan Jieying popular, the third part "Happy Ghost Hit the Ghost" (1986) has the youthful and invincible rabbit tooth Maggie Cheung, the fourth part "Happy Ghost Saves the Happy Ghost" (1990) is tailor-made for the Beyond band, and the fifth part "Happy Ghost on the Wrong Body" (1991) The heroine is the daughter of the Philippine president.
During the promotion of the movie "Happy Ghosts" (1986), from left: Yuan Jieying, Huang Baiming, Chen Jialing
During the promotion of the movie "Happy Ghost Save Happy Ghost" (1990), Huang Baiming took a group photo with the Beyond band
Director, actor, producer, film and television company CEO...... Huang Baiming, who is already an all-round artist, has become a "sweet and sweet" that everyone is vying for.
At that time, the movie of Xinyi City, written by Huang Baiming, was well received, with a box office of tens of millions, threatening the two giants of Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest, and making people inside and outside the circle look sideways.
From left: Li Ming, Huang Baiming, Leslie Cheung
In these films, Huang Baiming appears as a "planner" and "screenwriter", so he is known as the brain of the "New Art City". It can be seen that this well-mannered scholar-looking filmmaker does have his own unique ability.
Because his films can attract audiences, someone once asked Huang Baiming curiously: "How did you find so many jokes? Do some of the scripts you write borrow from the advantages of foreign films?"
Stills from the movie "Happy Ghost" (1984), Huang Baiming
Huang Baiming replied bluntly: "Our jokes are indeed more 'foreign', and we also take the success of some foreign films for our own use." For example, "The Fairy Nest" (1981) was partly inspired by David Lean's (1908-1991) Oliver Twist (1948). ”
Many people think that the production of some comedy movies is written by crossing the sea gods and writing scripts while filming, and only adding jokes temporarily, just caring about the completion of the draft, I don't know what Huang Baiming's situation is?
Huang Baiming and Zhong Chuhong
Huang Baiming said, "Of course I won't do this, how can I do things perfunctory." Of course, minor changes are inevitable, but I've always taken the script more seriously, basically writing a script first, and then handing it over to the director to start shooting. ”
Huang Baiming believes that if there is no complete script, if you make a movie casually, it will definitely not be good, and there will definitely be incoherent plots and repetitive stories, unless it is a remake, but if you throw away the film after it has been made, it will cause waste.
Huang Baiming and Zhao Wenxuan
Therefore, the script of the film must be written first no matter what, and how the director handles it is his personal business.
Huang Baiming also has an interesting habit of writing scripts, that is, after the first draft is written, he immediately finds someone to listen to the script and asks them to pick more thorns. In this way, it was constantly revised until Huang Baiming himself thought it was the best.
Chow Yun-fat's first film "Reiki Force" (1984), which broke 10 million at the box office, was filmed after entering the New Arts City
【Experiencing a low tide period】
During the Spring Festival in 1988, there was a family-style light-hearted comedy, starring Chow Yun-fat, Chung Chuhong, Cheng Yuling, Feng Baobao, Jacky Cheung, Wong Baiming and others, the film "Eight Star Annunciation" (1988), with a box office record of 38 million, which was the highest-grossing film since the opening of Hong Kong at that time.
And one of the screenwriters and leading actors of this film is Huang Baiming.
Stills from the movie "Eight Stars Annunciation" (1988), Wong Baiming and Chow Yun-fat
Since then, family Chinese New Year comedy has become a new marketing method. This has also become a magic weapon for Huang Baiming to "absorb gold" in the future.
In the late 80s of the 20th century, the three giants of the new art city fought separately, and Mai Jia reused Lin Lingdong (1955-2018) to shoot the "Fengyun" series, and the big sales of violent realistic films made Mai Jiamei smile.
From left: Huang Baiming, Huang Yulang, Stephen Chow
Huang Baiming's family New Year comedy is also very popular. Only Shi Tian set up a creative team by himself, and filmed films such as "Eight Treasures" (1989) and suffered a fiasco, so he had the idea of retiring.
In 1990, Mai Jia and Shi Tian decided to leave the film industry to devote themselves to stock speculation and real estate, and Xinyicheng was disbanded.
The Big Three of New Art City, from left: Huang Baiming, Mai Jia, Shi Tian
Subsequently, Huang Baiming founded his own Oriental Film Company, and filmed family New Year comedies such as "Happy Family" (1992), "Happy Events in the Flower Field" (1993), "The Rich Family" (1994), "97 Happy Events" (1997), all of which resonated with the general public in Hong Kong, and all of them were masterpieces with a double harvest at the box office.
Stills from the movie "Happy Family" (1992), from left: Huang Baiming, Leslie Cheung, Stephen Chow
Stills from the movie "Happy Events in the Flower Field" (1993), Huang Baiming and Wu Junru
Compared with other directors, Huang Baiming's biggest advantage is that he has a very strong ability to create scripts, most of the blockbuster movies of other directors are from other masters, and he can just shoot wonderful stories as a craftsman, but all of Huang Baiming's blockbuster movies are basically written by himself, which shows that his research on the film market and audience psychology is not sharp.
Stills from the movie "The Rich Family" (1994), Huang Baiming
Then, he experienced the low ebb of Hong Kong films. "On the day my company went public, it happened to be 9/11, when global stocks plummeted, and I said to myself that I grew the strongest in the most difficult situations. ”
After the mainland liberalized the rules on co-productions, Huang Baiming cooperated with Guangguang Pictures many times after 2000, launching films such as "Happy Events in the Family 2009", "Happy Events in the Flower Field 2010" and "The Strongest Happy Events" with mainland elements and mainland actors, and he also filmed films such as "Seven Swords" (2005) and "Dragon Tiger Gate" (2006).
The film "Seven Swords" (2005) American Blu-ray version of the sleeve
The huge market in the mainland gave him confidence, and his investment in "Ip Man" (2008) also propelled Donnie Yen to the altar of kung fu superstar.
The subsequent "Ip Man" series and the "Anti-Corruption Storm" series were produced by him.
The film "Ip Man" (2008) won the Best Film at the 28th Hong Kong Film Awards, from left: Tsang Chi-wai, Wong Pak-ming, Yip Wai-shun, Donnie Yen
【Appreciation of Leslie Cheung】
Huang Baiming has made countless stars, but the one he admires most is Leslie Cheung (1956-2003). "What does he act like, he has never had a shelf, the movie is promoted in other places, Chow Yun-fat only brings one person, that is, his wife, and Leslie Cheung doesn't bring anyone.
Now the big stars, assistants, makeup, hairstylists, and bodyguards all have to be brought, one person with 10 people, and the air tickets are a lot of money. Alas, it would be nice if Leslie Cheung was still here, and it would help me save a lot of money!"
Huang Baiming and Leslie Cheung
Leslie Cheung was able to take on "Farewell My Concubine" (1993) largely thanks to Huang Baiming: at that time, Leslie Cheung was a contracted artist of Oriental Cinema Line, and he could not have taken over other companies' films, but Huang Baiming, as the boss, not only did not make restrictions, but vigorously encouraged him to take over the play, saying that the script is so good that "it will become the masterpiece of your life", this kind of thoughtfulness and generosity is very rare in the commercial society.
Huang Baiming and Leslie Cheung
Leslie Cheung is also a grateful person, and since then, he has made a Chinese New Year movie for Huang Baiming every year, and the salary has been discounted, and it is still the same until the contract expires.
Huang Baiming, who is good at making comedies, has switched to action movies and crime films in recent years, and he said helplessly: "It's hard to find good comedians in Hong Kong." Like "Happy Events in the Family", the lineup that brings Leslie Cheung, Stephen Chow, Maggie Cheung, and Wu Junru together is no longer possible. ”
Huang Baiming and Leslie Cheung
【Scandal and Disease Resistance】
In 1970, Huang Baiming and Xu Wenjuan met and came together, started a family, and later had a son and a daughter.
Many times, on social occasions, he will also bring his wife, son and daughter to attend.
Huang Baiming and his wife Xu Wenjuan
A family of four, looking happy and harmonious, quite a "family portrait". And Mrs. Huang seems to be quite dignified and generous, virtuous and decent, and is a good standard wife.
But the unprecedented, honest Huang Baiming actually had a scandal. The object is the very open "outdated" Miss Hong Kong Zheng Wenya.
Huang Baiming and his wife Xu Wenjuan and their children
Cheng Wenya played the heroine in the film "Little Life is Afraid" (1982). The film responded very well, but then came their peachy news:
What Huang Baiming takes good care of her, and she picks her up by car every day, and once met Zheng Wenya's boyfriend, director Mai Dangjie, and almost got into a fight...... Wait, it's a mixed bag.
Stills from the movie "Little Life is Afraid" (1982), Huang Baiming and Zheng Wenya
Of course, Huang Baiming strongly reprimanded him, and he was so angry and restless at this kind of closed-door and irresponsible rumors that he was angry.
Originally, this kind of thing was done every day by journalists. Huang Baiming could ignore it and fart it, but Mrs. Huang was miserable.
Zheng Wenya's ex-boyfriend Mai Dangjie
It seems that kind-hearted relatives and friends have called one after another, all asking about her husband and Zheng Wenya. The three of them became tigers, and Mrs. Huang finally frowned, and she couldn't help but be confused.
Faced with his suspicious wife, Huang Baiming simply did not go home at all, indulging in the drunken lights.
Many years later, Huang Baiming admitted in the show that he was disloyal during that time, but it was by no means Zheng Wenya, and the two once broke up.
Until 1997, Xu Wenjuan was suddenly diagnosed with terminal ovarian disease, Huang Baiming suddenly realized that he owed his wife too much, so he immediately decided to suspend work and accompany his wife to fight the disease together.
Huang Baiming desperately accompanied his wife to seek medical treatment everywhere, and even went abroad to receive chemotherapy.
In the past, Huang Baiming devoted himself to work, but after Xu Wenjuan fell ill, his focus became to take care of his wife, until 2012, when all the cancer cells in Xu Wenjuan's body were finally "eliminated".
Huang Baiming and his wife Xu Wenjuan
In the 15 years that he has accompanied his wife to fight the disease, Huang Baiming has also become more and more aware of the importance of his family.
Later, Huang Baiming compiled this experience of fighting the disease with his wife into a book "Desperate Survival", and Mrs. Huang has been fine until now.
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