A widower's entertainment

Chapter 289 [Beijing Circle’s Enticement] (Subscription Request)
The royalties that Lin Youcheng and Huayi Publishing House worked out undoubtedly gave the literary circle a huge shock. For a time, the circle was in turmoil and all kinds of ideas popped up. Needless to say, these writers took the initiative to contact the publishing house to discuss royalties cooperation. In addition, there were other writers who had more novel ideas.

Like Lin Youcheng, Wang Qi also plans to start writing scripts and creating films and TV series. Although it is not a film and TV company like what Lin Youcheng imagined, it is also a film and TV creation center.

"Wang Qi, you said you wanted to set up a film and television creation center? Who do you plan to find to cooperate with you?"

Ma Weidu and Wang Lu have a close relationship, so it is natural for them to work together on such matters.

You should know that in another time and space, it was Wang Lu, Ma Weidu, Hai Yan, Mo Diao, Su Tong, Liu Zhenyun and others who founded the Haima Film and Television Creation Center. The writer team had more than 30 people. Ma Weidu was the secretary-general and Wang Lu was the chairman, setting a precedent for market-oriented writing.

At that time, it was a very trendy idea. The news of the establishment of the studio was even published in the "People's Daily" in the "Science, Culture and Sports" section, with the title "A group of young and middle-aged writers enter the film and television industry." As for the name of the studio, they also explained the reason for the name seriously: "The whole body of the seahorse can be used as medicine, with aphrodisiac, analgesic, and cardiotonic effects. Nowadays, literature and art are shyly caught in a dilemma, and elegance and vulgarity are like two hands pulling a saw. We just want to say: bring a few ounces of seahorse, and let whoever lacks something get it."

It is conceivable that the Haima Film and Television Creation Center was originally aimed at marketization.

The first TV series that confirmed the ambition of Haima Film and Television Creation Center was "Desire" planned by Wang Li. In 1990, the ratings of "Desire" broke the historical record of domestic TV series and even became a sensational social and cultural phenomenon. At that time, the crime rate dropped after the broadcast of "Desire" and the crew was commended by the Ministry of Public Security.

I don’t know if it’s because Lin Youcheng proposed royalties to the publishing house, or because of marketization, which makes Wang Qi and his team pay more attention to the marketization of film and television creation.

Obviously, with the current economic development and rising housing prices, especially in the coming 1990s, some people in the literary circle have gradually begun to feel that the influence of cultural works has also changed. In particular, as televisions have entered more households, the influence of literature has gradually given way to film and television. Compared with movies, TV series are closer to ordinary people.

Wang Ju looked at Ma Weidu and said directly, "We must find a writer, and we have to negotiate with Zheng Xiaolong."

"Zheng Xiaolong is currently busy filming Lin Youcheng's TV series, 'The Hidden Man.'"

When Wang Qi heard what Ma Weidu said, he raised his eyebrows and suddenly asked, "What do you think about us working with Lin Youcheng?"

Ma Weidu frowned slightly when he heard this and said, "That's fine, but I'm afraid he may not agree. Besides, we don't know him well."

Ma Weidu was naturally well aware of the strength of the writer Lin Youcheng, and he had very close cooperation with the Yenching Television Art Center. The two completely different versions of the movie and TV series of "The Sound of Wind" really surprised many people.

After all, no one expected that Lin Youcheng would actually replace Lao Gui with another one in the TV version of "The Sound of Wind", and Gu Xiaomeng and Li Ningyu actually switched their positions. The key is that the entire new "The Sound of Wind" is written quite brilliantly, and it is definitely a drama that will attract thousands of people.

After all, the original novel was quite popular, and the movie was even more well-received. With these two excellent examples, the TV series was a brand new design that completely exceeded everyone's imagination.

Everyone has to say that Lin Youcheng's screenwriting skills are awesome.

During that period, the entire capital city was discussing "The Whistleblower" in newspapers, and people were watching "The Whistleblower" on the streets.

As for the TV series "My Brothers and Sisters" that was broadcast not long ago, it was even more tear-jerking and the response was still quite enthusiastic. This tear-jerking family TV series is still being broadcast on TV.

In fact, to be honest, even if we don’t talk about his achievements in film and television creation, Lin Youcheng’s literary works alone are enough to show his influence and status.

Wang Qi heard what Ma Weidu said and nodded. It was indeed true. They were not familiar with Lin Youcheng. Although Lin Youcheng was also in the literary circle of Beijing, they had naturally met him, but they had only met him. Moreover, Lin Youcheng also had his own circle. Besides, he was either taking care of children or writing manuscripts. He had never had any special dealings with the local literary circle in Beijing.

"How about visiting and asking?"

Hearing Wang Jue's words, Ma Wei thought for a moment and asked, "What if this is rejected?"

Wang Lu did have some concerns. He felt that if he rushed to discuss cooperation with others and was rejected directly, it would be too embarrassing.

In fact, now is the most popular time for Wang Jue, otherwise there would not be the saying of "Wang Jue Year" last year. He is a child of a big courtyard, so he naturally has his own temper. In addition, the two directors of the Seagull movie who are working with Wang Jue, Ye Jia, have a very good relationship. Otherwise, they would not have brought Wang Jue's two novels "Floating Out of the Sea" and "Half Sea Water, Half Flame" back to the Xiying Studio and directly adapted them into movies. Another novel "Big Breath" is the directorial debut of Ye Jia.

Ma Weidu asked, "Why don't we ask Mo Diao first to find out what he thinks? Lin Youcheng taught Mo Diao and the others before."

When Wang Qi heard this, he couldn't help but say, "Why not ask Zheng Xiaolong to help contact Lin Youcheng? Zheng Xiaolong has a closer relationship with Lin Youcheng."

In fact, if Zheng Xiaolong had not collaborated with Lin Youcheng on several dramas, he would probably have had more interactions with Wang Li's circle. After all, these people are all native Beijingers. However, because the works of writer Lin Youcheng were adapted into TV dramas by the Yanjing Television Art Center, and the response after they were broadcast was unprecedentedly enthusiastic, Zheng Xiaolong would naturally have closer interactions with Lin Youcheng.

If it weren't for Lin Youcheng, the Yanjing Television Art Center would definitely have a closer relationship with Wang Jue from the Beijing circle. As one of the four major pillars of mainland literature and art in the 1980s and 1990s, there were naturally many closely related members of the Beijing circle. Many of them were known to more audiences thanks to the hit dramas of the Yanjing Television Art Center. As the deputy director of the Television Art Center, Zheng Xiaolong is in charge of TV drama production. In addition to producing "Desire", the team also produced "The Story of the Editorial Department", the first script written by Wang Jue. After it was broadcast, this drama was regarded as the ancestor of domestic sitcoms.

In fact, the script of "The Story of the Editorial Department" was supposed to be completed by several writers from the Haima Creative Studio, but it disappeared before filming began. Ma Weidu, Wei Ren and others were unwilling to do it again. Feng Xiaogang, who was doing odd jobs on the crew, found Wang Qi and said that he hoped to help him finish it. This incident started a long-term cooperation between the two. This is the later Beijing Circle, which produced "Desire", "The Story of the Editorial Department", "Yanjing People in New York" and "Getting High". "The Story of the Editorial Department" made Ge Da Ge famous, and "Yanjing People in New York" made Jiang Wen famous... Feng Xiaogang and Zhao Baogang were not really children of the academy, but through these dramas, they gradually gained independent directing rights and began to gain greater reputation.

Of course, Wang Lu and Zheng Xiaolong have a good relationship now, after all, they are both from Beijing.

"Then let Zheng Xiaolong help contact and ask first."

Ma Weidu also thought that he could let Zheng Xiaolong contact Lin Youcheng first, so as to avoid visiting him directly and being rejected, which would be very embarrassing.

...Beijing City, Xinghua Hutong.

Lin Youcheng didn't know that Wang Qi was interested in cooperating with him. He was busy taking Zhao Gensheng and his group to travel in Beijing, and later he had to discuss the royalties cooperation method for publishing with Huayi Publishing House.

The royalty that Lin Youcheng negotiated with Huayi Publishing House was 8%. Although this was a precedent for domestic publishing, it was obvious that Huayi Publishing House knew that there was a huge market for publishing Lin Youcheng's novels. In particular, Huayi Publishing House learned that Lin Youcheng's novel "The Hidden Corner" would later be filmed and broadcast as a TV series of the same name, which naturally made Huayi Publishing House more aware of the market potential behind it.

After all, when "The Sound of Wind" was broadcast, it can be said that the whole country was watching this TV series, and this is not an exaggeration at all.

Huayi Publishing House has naturally read the novel "Insidious" and is well aware that this novel is wonderful. When the novel was published, the literary world was discussing "Insidious".

Obviously, in addition to the Yanjing Television Art Center, Huayi Publishing House is particularly looking forward to the broadcast of the TV series "The Hidden Corner". After all, by that time, the novel "The Hidden Corner" will be known to more people.

Zheng Xiaolong was busy with the filming of the TV series "The Disguiser" and did not pay attention to this matter in the literary circle. But even if he did not pay attention to it, he knew about it and admired Lin Youcheng very much. He even went to Lin Youcheng's house to tell him that the male lead of "The Disguiser" was Li Xuejian, whom he recommended, and the female lead was an actress whom Lin Youcheng did not know very well, named Zhang Hui, who had starred in "Eight Women Jumping into the River".

Lin Youcheng didn't care much about it. After all, the casting for the TV series was done by Zheng Xiaolong, and he just mentioned the candidates for the actors.

He did not pay special attention to the casting of actors in the two TV series "The Sound of the Wind" and "My Brothers and Sisters". Zheng Xiaolong still made the TV series very well and received enthusiastic responses after they were broadcast. Naturally, there was no need for Lin Youcheng to care too much about the choice of actors in "The Disguiser".

"The actors you choose must be suitable for the roles."

When Zheng Xiaolong heard Lin Youcheng's words, his face was full of smiles. He and Lin Youcheng were old acquaintances. After talking about the filming of the TV series "The Hidden", he turned to the main topic and said, "Actually, I came here this time because I have something else to tell you."

"Wang Qi and his team are planning to set up a film and television creation center and would like to invite you to join them."

Lin Youcheng was very surprised to hear what Zheng Xiaolong said. He didn't expect that Wang Lu would actually want to find him to set up a film and television creation center. Obviously, he knew that this must be Haima Film and Television. He also knew that this film and television creation center had indeed created many wonderful film and television dramas, but it would collapse in the future, and the people in it would all have their own ways out. Wang Lu would also be banned in the future.

However, even if the Haima Film and Television Creation Center did not collapse, Lin Youcheng had no intention of joining it.

Lin Youcheng told the truth: "In fact, I have had this idea myself."

Zheng Xiaolong was surprised by this. He didn't expect Lin Youcheng to have such an idea. He asked, "When did it happen? Do you also want to set up a film and television creation center?"

"I have thought about opening a film and television company."

Although Lin Youcheng said that the idea came to his mind because his daughter Lin Zhaomei said that she wanted to make movies and win the Palme d'Or in the future, the more important reason was that he himself was a screenwriter and was already in the film and television industry. He had published works in literature before, which was actually his main profession. After all, the 1980s was the springtime of literature, and as a widower with six children to raise, he naturally wanted his children to live a good life in the springtime of literature.

Zheng Xiaolong originally thought that Lin Youcheng would refuse, but he didn't expect that Lin Youcheng also had this idea, which surprised him. He couldn't help but ask: "What about Wang Shuo's suggestion--"

Lin Youcheng looked at Zheng Xiaolong, shook his head, and said, "I won't join."

"what--?"

Zheng Xiaolong was quite surprised. He didn't expect Lin Youcheng to have this idea, but he refused and asked, "Why?"

“Because the film and television companies I think of are different from film and television creation centers.”

"The film and television creation center is just writers and screenwriters, but the film and television company will also have directors and actors."

Zheng Xiaolong didn't expect Lin Youcheng to even think about directors and actors. He was shocked. Not to mention TV series, most movies nowadays are produced by film studios. He said in shock, "You are thinking far ahead."

Lin Youcheng smiled and said, "It's just an idea. I think the film and television drama market has great prospects in the future and will definitely become more and more market-oriented."

Zheng Xiaolong listened to Lin Youcheng's words and shared the same opinion. After all, with the current economic development, more and more households have televisions, and people are becoming more and more fond of entertainment such as TV dramas.

Lin Youcheng smiled and said, "Maybe we can cooperate with Wang Jue in the future."

Zheng Xiaolong just came here to ask Lin Youcheng's opinion on behalf of Wang Lu. Since Lin Youcheng had his own ideas, Zheng Xiaolong naturally would not say much. After all, he had a closer relationship with Lin Youcheng, so he naturally stood on Lin Youcheng's side.

Lin Youcheng did not think about joining Wang Li’s Beijing circle, but that certainly does not mean he is not a member of the Beijing circle.

Just like now, he and Zheng Xiaolong are sitting in their own courtyard talking about film and television dramas, isn't it just a circle?

(End of this chapter)