So in watching the Gem of Life and seeing how such a great storyline is slowly being killed due to lack of good writing, not to mention bad English accents and lack of business based knowledge in the script, led me to formulate how to write the next great TVB business-based drama similar to At the Threshold of An Era.
First lets get to the corny cliches of TVB dramas that revolves around a family and their business:
-revenge of any kind (think Louis Ko in ATE II)
-power grabbing by another family member
-fast money making (think of the quickie stock market investments in Greed of Man)
-2 to 3 helpers for the main business guy similar to Gem of Life where Terrence Ho and Calvin have only a few helpers
-out of nowhere corporate ladder climbers
-adopted members of the main family feeling either slighted or too grateful ala Gallen Lo in that grand production series he did with Jessica after ATE (can't remember the name at the moment)
There are probably a few more cheesy cliches but those are the first ones that popped into my head. Feel free to list yours below as well.
So now that we have these stupid cliches established lets throw them out and start with fresh ideas ala ATE as we imagine ourselves to be newly hired writers at TVB.
Here are the 2 main storylines that I would start with in designing the ultimate script.
1. Stock investing based plot
2. Rags to riches plot
The first storyline can also melt with the second storyline.
1. Let me get to my first storyline of stock market investing. I know the idea looks like it was rehashed from Greed of Man but trust me that piece of crap quickie stock investing scheme would look like crap compare to my storyline. First off we're throwing out all of the household wife ideas of buying into the stock market which is predominately day trading based. Instead we're throwing in real stock market investing ala Warren Buffett style. My ideal script would start with 3 families (gotta love those family dynamics) of which 2 are ultra wealthy (perhaps top 2 most wealthy families in HK) and their heirs being a good looking guy and a gorgeous girl. The third family would be very wealthy (although not ultra wealthy) and is in the middle of the HK pack in terms of wealth. This heir of the 3rd family is a humble down to earth guy who did not attend a Ivy League school in the states but rather a HK U but possess extraordinary intelligence. Lets also mold this guy in the specifications of Raymond Lam's goody too shoe character in Moonlight Resonance. We gotta have a good guy to grab the household wives' attention in HK as well.
Now lets make the top richest heir guy very cocky although he'll be friends with the 3rd guy. The 2nd family's heir, the gorgeous girl would also be friends with the 2 guys and they together will form the love triangle. To make this audience friendly especially to those who root for the underdog, the girl will love the top guy with his looks and family fortune which will match hers. As for the 3rd guy, he'll be in love with the girl but knows that he doesn't stand too much of a chance due to his "average" looks and average wealth (avg. in terms of the circle that they hang around with). Also the family of the 3rd guy is dependent on the other 2 for business as we'll make it manufacturing base whereas the top guy's family is mainly in real estate (shopping plazas and housing), and the girl's family in telecommunications. Now it's important to make their family business kind of concentrated rather than the loose conglomerate type of Gem of Life.
The story would begin where the 3rd guy just comes back from his Int'l Ph. D Finance studies from HK U (he's been doing a study aboard program) in order to take over the family business due to the health of his father. He finds that a lot of changed since he's been away for 5 years aboard with Hong Kong families increasingly doing dangerous day trading activities in the stock market and the increasing ruthlessness of the top guy in conducting his real estate business which is a winner take all, screw the environment type of strategy. The series will also have a education element to it in that it will attempt to use the 3rd guy's character to explain the riskiness of day trading and compare it to a day at the casinos. He will try to explain the workings of the stock market in terms of long term investing rather than short term profits.
Now back to the main storyline, the girl's family business is in the decline which is why they want her to marry the top guy in order to secure their family fortunes for future generations which the girl is willing to do but the top guy being a womanizer isn't. The 3rd guy still having this incredible crush on the girl but isn't willing to act on it since he has so much on his mind in terms of securing his family business. He finds that manufacturing isn't really for him as he has been acclimated to a service business lifestyle due to his studies in Finance and the conflicts of his family business to his environment friendly philosophies. He will proceed then to wain his family fortunes away from their factories in Shenzhen and Guangdong to that of an investment firm as he start up his own quasi hedge fund/private equity firm. Later on his firm will find themselves competing with the top guy's firm for business and to stymie his environment destroying business practices.
There are of course a lot more details in the storyline but the above is my core plot. Obviously the love story hasn't been too developed by me but I'm sure someone else here can elaborate on it. I'm curious to hear everyone's thoughts on my proposed storyline. I believe the strategy of the series being educational, environmentally friendliness, and solid business strategies in the show will attract a great audience.
As for the 3 main characters, I say Raymond Lam should take on the 3rd guy's role, Ron Ng as the top guy as I can see him being a bit devious, and of course Linda Chung as the girl due to her awesome acting in Gem of Life's rich girl character. What are your thoughts, who would be your ideal characters.
I know I still have the second storyline to explain but I'm going to elaborate on this later on as I've spent quite a bit of intellectual capital on the first one. Of course the rags to riches can also be incorporated in this storyline as Raymond Lam's character can have a poor background who happens to hang out with the rich kids in Ron and Linda.