1990: Starting from Baojia Street

Although Zhou Yan just wanted to see how it felt, he was still somewhat surprised by the Backstreet Boys' performance.

The music score and lyrics Zhou Yan gave them were relatively simple, without any arrangement. If it was just one singer singing, there would definitely be no problem, but since they are a group, it is not that simple.

That night, they put together a set by themselves, with the alto and bass arranged properly and even the harmony.

Although it wasn't particularly good, they didn't have much time after all, and it was already very good that they could make it like this in one night.

Seeing their serious attitude, Zhou Yan adjusted the music for them and even composed a simple song for them on the spot.

This delayed us for another hour or so.

Finally, Zhou Yan asked someone to record it for them, and then said to the boys, "Okay, go back to sleep, I will have someone send this demo to New Balance."

Nick asked stupidly, "Y, can you sing this song for us?"

Kevin smiled and patted Nick on the head, "Silly, you sent the demo over, isn't it just for us to sing it?"

"Really?" Nick looked at Zhou Yan. Although the captain said so, he was still waiting for Zhou Yan's answer.

Zhou Yan nodded, "Of course, go back and rest, it has not been easy for you this day and night."

As it turns out, the Backstreet Boys are indeed suitable for this song. Although their performance on the verse part was not so good, it should be fine after some practice. The key is that they sang the chorus very well, with a particularly youthful feeling.

After hearing Zhou Yan's affirmative answer, the young men finally showed relaxed smiles on their faces.

For this song, their spirits have been tense from last night till now.

After receiving the score last night, they simply tried singing it and felt the charm of the song.

This song will definitely become as popular as "yellow", or even more popular than "yellow", because compared to the style of "yellow", this song will be more popular with North American fans.

"We Are Young" is a bit like the theme songs of some sports events and is easier to spread, especially the chorus, which is very catchy. Once you hear it once, it will keep repeating in your mind.

The feeling of hearing “tonight, we are young” is the same as hearing “we are the champions my friends”, which can make people's heart surge.

Knowing that this was a song that was destined to be a hit, they certainly didn't want the song to slip away from them, so they stayed up all night last night, wanting to perform better and gain Zhou Yan's approval.

And now Zhou Yan's affirmative answer made them feel that their efforts were not in vain.

Kevin laughed and said, "I'm afraid we can't go back to the hotel to sleep. We have to hurry to Phoenix because we have a show there. But we can sleep in the car."

Hearing what they said, Zhou Yan nodded, "That's fine."

I have to say, it's not easy for these guys. I heard that they just finished three consecutive performances with only a few days of rest in between, but they spent a lot of time with him.

People often say that he is very busy, but compared with these young men, he has an easy job.

……

After Zhou Yan separated from the Backstreet Boys, he was thinking about taking advantage of the time the next day or the day after tomorrow before returning to China to finish the arrangement of "Someone Like You" for Maria, but he just got back to the hotel when he received a call from Zhang Youan.

"where is it?"

"Hotel, what's wrong?"

"I have something to report to you. The Shutter Island deal has been finalized. It was negotiated based on the novel licensing model. The novel licensing fee is $1.8 million, and the screenwriter fee is $770,000, for a total of $2.57 million."

Zhou Yan couldn't help but give a thumbs up. Zhang Youan was quite capable. He was able to negotiate the fee down to 2.57 million US dollars. This price was already top-notch in Hollywood.

Although Shane Black just sold his script "Spy" for four million dollars, this is not representative because four million dollars is a huge lead in the screenwriting industry.

Most of the top screenwriters can only get one or two million US dollars.

"Two million five hundred and seventy thousand dollars is very good."

Zhang Youan smiled and said, "Warner has an additional condition."

"What strings attached?"

"Unless there is force majeure, the novel Shutter Island must be published within eighteen months, starting from the date of signing the contract."

Zhou Yan thought about it and said, "This condition is not very difficult."

They had already made plans to turn "Shutter Island" into a novel, and it would not be difficult to publish it within a year and a half. If Zhou Yan was willing, it could be published within this year.

"I know it's not difficult for you, but I can't tell the truth to Warner. I told them that you have been very busy with work in the past two years and can't spare the time to do it, so I asked them to relax the time limit to five years."

"It seems they didn't agree."

"Of course they disagree. The reason they set the time limit to 18 months is that they hope that the novel's publication will have a positive impact on the box office of the film. If it is relaxed to five years, it will be of no use to them."

Hearing the smugness in Zhang Youan's tone, Zhou Yan smiled and said, "In order to complete the novel within 18 months, they must have agreed to some conditions for you, right?"

"Or else you're smart. Yes, they agreed that you can get a certain amount of bonus for every sales volume of the novel before the movie is released. If the sales of the novel exceed one million copies, you can get 1.2 million US dollars, which is still very generous. If the sales reach two million copies, the bonus will be higher than the money you got this time."

Hearing the reward conditions, Zhou Yan couldn't help but click his tongue. Warner was indeed very generous.

But Warner did not lose money. If the novel of "Shutter Island" could really reach sales of two million before the movie was released, Warner would have earned more than two million US dollars.

They are not stupid and they can calculate the accounts clearly.

Apart from anything else, a novel with sales of two million can at least save Warner several million in advertising costs.

Why do Europe and the United States like to adapt literary works? Isn't it because movies adapted from literary works are popular? Whether it is classic masterpieces like "Sense and Sensibility" and "Les Miserables", or some influential novels at the moment, or some celebrity autobiographies, they are all very popular with directors.

For example, the classic film "The Godfather" is adapted from Mario Puzo's best-selling book of the same name, and "The Shawshank Redemption" is adapted from Stephen King's "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption".

Chinese directors also like to adapt literary works, but in this regard, there are essential differences between directors of the two countries.

At least at this stage, when Chinese directors adapt literary works, they don’t really care about the fame of the author or the popularity of the work, because the novel doesn’t bring much to the promotion of the film. For example, before the release of “Raise the Red Lantern” and “Farewell My Concubine”, not many people knew the original novels. Even after the film was released, not many people knew the original novels.

If you go to the streets of China and ask anyone now, they may know these two movies, but they probably don’t know what the original novels are.

In Hollywood, the popularity of authors and their works is very important, and their main focus is on best-sellers.

Of course, they are also willing to spend money on film and television adaptations. For books with slightly higher sales, it is very normal for the adaptation fee to exceed one million US dollars.

In China, if an author can get tens of thousands of RMB for an adaptation, it is already a sky-high price. This is not only a gap in economic level, but also a gap in the film development model.

Zhou Yan didn't have any ambition for the bonus. He would be very satisfied if "Shutter Island" could sell hundreds of thousands of copies after its publication.

It is not impossible to exceed one million copies, but it needs to be released together with the movie or after the movie is released.

The popularity of the movie will in turn drive the sales of the novel.

However, this is obviously different from what Warner wants. They hope that the novel can sell well before the movie is released to boost the box office of the movie.

Zhou Yan wanted to get his hands on the movie, and Warner also wanted to get his hands on the novel.

"Now that the cooperation has been negotiated, who are they going to look for as the director? Can they invite Martin Scorsese?" Zhou Yan was more concerned about this issue.

Zhang Youan said with a smile, "I was just about to tell you about this. The director has basically been decided. It's Martin Scorsese. I heard that after he saw the script, he immediately agreed to direct. Now that the cooperation has been negotiated, Warner wants to arrange for you, the screenwriter, to meet with the director to communicate. Now let me ask your opinion. Is it possible within the next two days?"

"No problem." Zhou Yan agreed immediately, "Meet him before I go back."

As for composing music for Maria, if I have time after meeting Martin Scorsese, I will go and help her. If I don’t have time, I will write it for her in China and then communicate remotely. It doesn’t have any impact anyway.

"Okay, I'll talk to Chris right away and ask him to arrange the time."

"It's just these two days. After that, it won't work."

"Of course I know that."

Not long after hanging up the phone, Zhang Youan called Zhou Yan back and told him that the time had been set, tomorrow morning.

Martin Scorsese was also in Los Angeles during this period, so it was very convenient to meet.

The meeting place was scheduled at Warner, and I could also go and sign the contract.

……

The next morning, Zhou Yan and Zhang Youan went to Warner together, and Chris came to pick them up.

Although they have only known each other for a short time, Chris has established a pretty good relationship with them. After all, Chris speaks Chinese very well and has a good understanding of Chinese culture.

When we met again, Chris always had a bright smile on his face.

Things went relatively smoothly this time. They got the script for "Shutter Island" and invited Martin Scorsese to direct it as they wished. With such a lineup, it was a very good start.

The key is that Martin Scorsese praised the script highly, which made Chris more confident about the film. Martin Scorsese has professional judgment. If he says it is good, then the script must be good.

Now the company has decided to hand this project over to Chris. If such a project worth 40 to 50 million US dollars is successfully completed, it will undoubtedly be very beneficial to his development in Warner.

On the way to the office, Chris also told Zhou Yan and others that he would take over the project.

Zhou Yan asked curiously, "Then you won't take care of the business in China?"

"The Yanjing office originally hired a local person from Yanjing, who can handle all the specific matters. I just need to control the general direction, and there is no need for me to stay in Yanjing all the time. Moreover, the film is in the early preparation stage, and I have plenty of time to travel back and forth between the two places." Chris explained.

Zhang Youan said with a smile, "You will have a hard time in the future. The Shutter Island project is not an easy one, and there are many things to deal with in the early stages. Casting and filming locations all require careful attention."

"The casting is done by the director team. All I have to do is control the budget for them. The three actors Zhou Yan recommended before are all very good, and Mr. Scorsese also approves of them. As for other roles, the director should have his own ideas."

A director like Scorsese is different from Ang Lee. When he directs a movie, he definitely has the autonomy to choose the cast.

It's not just about casting, if Scorsese wants, he can put together a team made up entirely of his own people, and that's the privilege of a great director.

"As for the filming location," Chris added, "we have already found several alternative locations and are arranging people to conduct on-site inspections."

Zhou Yan nodded without asking any more questions. He didn't know the situation in the United States and it was difficult for him to comment.

Moreover, he didn't want to interfere too much in this movie and steal the show. A director like Scorsese didn't need him to comment.

The group went to the conference room and signed the contract first.

After the contract was signed, they waited for a while and Martin Scorsese hurried over.

As soon as he arrived at the conference room, Martin Scorsese apologized repeatedly, "I'm so sorry, I'm late."

Zhou Yan said politely, "It's not too late, we just finished our work."

Martin Scorsese first shook hands with Chris and Zhang Youan, and finally shook Zhou Yan's hand, "Y, I've always wanted to meet you, and today I finally got my wish."

"Me too." Zhou Yan said with a smile.

Martin Scorsese is not tall, only reaching Zhou Yan's chin, probably just over 1.6 meters tall.

He wore a pair of black-framed glasses and had a big nose, and the upper half of his face looked a bit like "Uncle KFC".

Compared with James Cameron, Scorsese gives people an academic feeling. The weather was quite hot today, but he still wore a black costume. He looked serious and meticulous.

Zhou Yan likes Martin Scorsese very much. Among these American directors, Martin Scorsese definitely ranks at the top in Zhou Yan's heart.

Interestingly, Martin Scorsese is of Italian descent, and Zhou Yan likes several Italian directors, such as Michelangelo Antonioni and Giuseppe Torredona. (End of this chapter)