Kung Fu movie budgets?

[Guest deathdunt]

Ok, so it's pretty common knowledge that in the kung fu movie heyday, Shaws Brothers and Golden Harvest had the highest budgets. In Wang Yu's interview on the One Armed Swordsman disk, he states that movies at the SB studios usually cost about 300-400 thousand hk dollars...which is about 50'000 us dollars...NOTHING!!! This leaves me to wonder what the little guys were working with if the BIG dudes were working with next to nothing themselves? Joseph Kuo's stuff all seemed to be on the same page, production value wise as well as Ng See Yuen's and severall others. But what about the REEEEEEEEEEALLLLY shoddy stuff like godfrey ho and all the bruce le junk?? Considering these budgets, the movies are damn near miracles!

Any thoughts? DO I have my numbers wrong? Anyone know what the little guys budgets were like?

I gues im n ot taking into consideration that SB had all of its sets on location so that was costfree, but even so...

[Guest Markgway]

You could probably get a packet of donuts for what it cost to make a Godfrey Ho Ninja epic.

No change though...

[Guest Killer Meteor]

Don't forget Shaws payed peanuts. Actors like Ti Lung got considerably more from Taiwanese indie producers

[Linn1]

Don't forget Shaws payed peanuts. Actors like Ti Lung got considerably more from Taiwanese indie producers

this is a bit of a misconception. While the actors got paid smallish salaries (actually not bad for HK at the time), they also got bonuses if the films did well and had to pay for virtually nothing while at SB studios. The place had it's own dorms, fitness room, theater, restaurant, etc. Outfits and the like were often paid for too, by ads in magazines or Run Run himself. So while they might have not been paid as well as other places, they had little need to spend very much in the first place. I could see the major stars complaining, but the lower tier people were a different story.

[Guest deathdunt]

What I dont get is this...if the indies were paying more, why are their movies of generally lower production value? maybe all the money was plunked on top tier stars? Meng Fei and Chi Kuan Chun are prime examples of this...I mean Guy with the Secret Kung Fu and Eagle's Fist look like were shot on super 8 with a bunch of no names besides them...enjoyable films but ever so obviously low budget

[Guest Coward Bastard]

What I dont get is this...if the indies were paying more, why are their movies of generally lower production value? maybe all the money was plunked on top tier stars? Meng Fei and Chi Kuan Chun are prime examples of this...I mean Guy with the Secret Kung Fu and Eagle's Fist look like were shot on super 8 with a bunch of no names besides them...enjoyable films but ever so obviously low budget

Because wages took up a much greater proportion of the budget, as the big name stars were also the best way to get a film promoted and noticed.

$50,000 dollars back then was worth substantially more than $50,000 dollars is now, factoring in inflation and exchange rate changes. It wouldn't suprise me if many indie films cost less than 20% of a Shaw Budget, simply as their main expenses seemed to be wages and celluloid.

[BaronK]

Shaws incurred the biggest expense. They had stars, dorms, carpenters, martial trainers, acting classes and teachers, house directors, house choreograpers, sets, post production facilites and crews, cafeterias, and various staff. They had more money going out on the regular. They also put product out on the regular.

If you notice, when most movies start(old school through the traid 90s) each one is a different "company". You'd see a few with mulitple releases(seasonal, eternal, gh, golddig, asso asia), but for the most part, they were one shot singles. They'ed get up the dough for a schlocky, whatever the genre was quickie, and that was that.