A widower's entertainment

Chapter 359 [Highly Sought After] (Please Subscribe)
It has to be said that what Lin Youcheng and Zheng Xiaolong's group talked about regarding the script of "The Truman Show" and the possibility of product placement within the script really opened their eyes and shocked them all.

Besides the amazing story, what really impressed people was Lin Youcheng's insightful advice on product placement. His simple words opened up a whole new world for Zheng Xiaolong and the others, especially Feng Xiaogang, who was amazed by Lin Youcheng's advertising ideas.

It turns out it can still be like this!
Although Feng Xiaogang has become very experienced in product placement in movies, his film "Personal Tailor" earned more than 8000 million yuan in net profit before its release by placing 19 advertisements, which can be described as quite crazy, he should definitely thank Lin Youcheng for his turbulent journey.

When Feng Xiaogang returned to Haima Film Studio, he naturally told Wang Shuo about the advertisement Lin Youcheng had mentioned, which greatly excited Wang Shuo and the others.

In 1991, Lin Youcheng wrote a script for Hollywood that included this approach. They were all smart enough to know that securing such product placement meant money.

"That's amazing! I never thought it could be done like that!"

Wang Shuo said excitedly, "Lin Youcheng's suggestion is brilliant. If we can reach an agreement with a suitable company, we can earn extra money from TV dramas."

Obviously, everyone else also understands that the most important thing is to find the right plot and give it the right lines. This is not a problem for them, who are the story writers. They just need to add a few lines to the script. The biggest problem is, of course, to negotiate the advertising fee with the company.

Actually, we are in a period of rapid economic development, and many employees of state-owned enterprises have gone into business. They naturally do not find the word "money" vulgar. Otherwise, why would they have established Haima Film Studio? It couldn't be for pure film and television art. In the end, they will still look forward.

"With the popularity of 'Aspiration', our drama will definitely be accepted by advertisers, given the high viewership ratings."

Feng Xiaogang said it was a bit of a pity. The previous show "Aspiration" had such high ratings. It wouldn't have been easy to add a line or two of advertising to one of the episodes. Of course, in Feng Xiaogang's opinion, Lin Youcheng was really amazing. His idea was much better than that of some other "idea king".

Ma Wei nodded repeatedly in agreement, saying, "It would be great if we could reach an agreement on this."

"Speaking of which, you could add a line or two, or even a scene, to your nightclub."

"Haha, that's right. I even think we could write a script for a cabaret, maybe call it 'Seahorse Cabaret'?"

"I don't know how Director Lin came up with this idea, it's amazing."

……

Wang Shuo listened to Feng Xiaogang and the others discussing enthusiastically, all of them very excited. He also thought the idea was great, but he also thought that there shouldn't be too many advertisements, so as not to affect the plot of the TV series.

Thinking of this, Wang Shuo recalled the story of "The Truman Show" that Feng Xiaogang had mentioned. It was perfectly natural to insert advertisements into the entire movie script, and unlike them, they didn't have to think about where to put the advertisements or how to put them in appropriately. They could even just read the advertisement slogans directly.

That's really awesome!
Of course, what impressed Wang Shuo even more was Lin Youcheng's story "The Truman Show," whose imagination was simply amazing.

"Speaking of which, it's no wonder that the United States bought his script for 'The Truman Show'; the story is truly amazing."

Upon hearing Wang Shuo's words, Feng Xiaogang nodded and said with admiration, "Yes, the story is amazing. No wonder it cost a million dollars to buy. I think if they want to sell it to the United States, based on their previous stories, they will probably need this kind of imaginative science fiction story."

Clearly, Feng Xiaogang still remembers how the United States spent one million US dollars to buy Lin Youcheng's script, and naturally wants to follow the same path.

Ma Weidu was naturally well aware of the astonishing nature of Lin Youcheng's story. Although it is said that scholars are often jealous of each other, he had to admit that he could never have come up with such a story. He couldn't help but exclaim, "Only he could tell such a story. His imagination is amazing."

Clearly, Lin Youcheng's literary imagination caused a sensation in the literary world as early as when his second novel, "The Devotion of Suspect X," was published. He has always been recognized as a literary giant with amazing imagination.

The same applies to "The Truman Show".

However, to be honest, compared to the people at Haima Film Studio who were amazed, the people at Paramount Pictures in the United States were also clearly amazed after seeing the script of "The Truman Show" brought back by producer Freeman. They had been working in Hollywood for so many years, so they naturally knew how amazing Lin Youcheng's script of "The Truman Show" was.

More importantly, Lin Youcheng's script didn't even need any special changes. Although the whole story was full of imagination, like a science fiction story, it wasn't actually something that was completely impossible for the United States. Of course, the idea of ​​more than 5,000 cameras broadcasting live 24 hours a day was still too exaggerated, but the whole story was still acceptable to the United States.

The script might need significant changes, or perhaps additional plot points and dialogue. This naturally involves product placement, as Lin Youcheng and Feng Xiaogang mentioned. Paramount Pictures will naturally seek out major American brands for product placement, since such placements are quite effective. There's no need to meticulously craft dialogue or plot; the advertising slogans can simply be used directly in the film. How could Paramount Pictures not love Lin Youcheng's "The Truman Show"?

Obviously, news of Paramount Pictures acquiring a pretty amazing movie script will spread in Hollywood. The key point is that this script was bought from Lin Youcheng in the East. How can other Hollywood companies accept this, especially Universal and Warner Bros., which have previously worked with Lin Youcheng?

Universal Pictures is now quite envious of the script for "Everyday" that Lin Youcheng sold to Warner Bros. Although "The Time Traveler's Wife" did well at the box office, the production cost of "Everyday" was much smaller, which is why Hollywood companies are going crazy.

Now Paramount Pictures has partnered with Lin Youcheng again, reportedly securing a new and incredibly impressive script. How could Universal Pictures accept this? They naturally feel like they've been poached, especially a valuable one. Of course, this is also because Lin Youcheng is no ordinary person; he's not just a lackey of any particular film company. As long as the price is agreed upon, he can collaborate with other Hollywood studios.

It's fair to say that the major Hollywood film studios are both curious about the script Lin Youcheng sold to Paramount Pictures and eager to collaborate with this amazing Eastern screenwriter.

This is, to some extent, what Eileen Chang meant by "fame should come early." Clearly, Lin Youcheng, this Eastern screenwriter, is quite famous in Hollywood now, and his status is naturally different. Even though he hasn't come to the United States, there are still plenty of rumors about him.

Lin Youcheng didn't pay much attention to the rumors about the United States. In his opinion, after the release of "The Truman Show," his reputation as a screenwriter would naturally rise to a higher level. He didn't even need to wait for "The Truman Show"; Hou Xiaoxian's film "Love" from Taiwan was sure to be competing for awards at the three major European film festivals, and it would definitely make his name as a screenwriter shine at the film festivals.

Lin Youcheng felt that even if "Love" might not win the Best Screenplay Award at the three major film festivals, since the original film directly won the Palme d'Or, it would definitely be good under the direction of Hou Xiaoxian and was aiming for the highest award. However, the Golden Horse Award for Best Screenplay in Taiwan would definitely nominate him, a screenwriter from the mainland. Moreover, with the influence of director Hou Xiaoxian and the excellence of the script itself, it was even possible that a mainland filmmaker would make history by winning the Golden Horse Award for Best Screenplay in 1991.

However, the Golden Horse Awards certainly cannot compare to the Oscars. In Lin Youcheng's view, as long as Paramount Pictures doesn't mess things up, "The Truman Show" should at least earn him a nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

Of course, the previous film "Everyday" could potentially make history for Lin Youcheng and earn him a nomination for Best Original Screenplay at next year's Oscars.

As for whether he can win an award, Lin Youcheng didn't think about it much. Just like when he was interviewed by reporters before, he didn't say it directly. Winning an award depends on the judges' strategy.

Lin Youcheng doesn't need to think about these things now, since everything still depends on the director's ability to make these two movies.

Lin Youcheng knew very well that what he needed to do now was to continue investing. After all, he had earned another sum of foreign exchange, and he couldn't just leave it sitting there; he had to spend it eventually.

Xie Shuhua was a little confused about Lin Youcheng's decision to spend money on buying more houses. She knew that Lin Youcheng already owned quite a few houses, and although she didn't interfere with his house purchases, she was still somewhat puzzled and asked, "Youcheng, are you sure you want to buy more houses?"

Lin Youcheng understood Xie Shuhua's doubts, but he couldn't say directly that buying a house or a courtyard house in Beijing was a sound investment. Of course, Lin Youcheng also knew that he could make other investments, but none of them were as straightforward as buying a house. Moreover, the value of houses in Beijing had been rising steadily until the 21st century, and they could be easily liquidated later, sold off midway, and used to make even more aggressive investments.

Of course, Lin Youcheng couldn't say these things directly, much less guarantee that the housing prices in Beijing would rise to astronomical levels that they could only look up to. He smiled and said, "Let's leave a few more houses for the children. We might have more children in the future."

Clearly, Xie Shuhua felt a little embarrassed after hearing Lin Youcheng's words.

In fact, Xie Shuhua also had this on her mind. She knew that Lin Youcheng would not think that just because he already had six children, including Lin Zhaoxi and his siblings, he would not want any more children. She naturally wanted to have her own children as well. Although she also regarded Lin Zhaoxi and Lin Zhaoqing as her own children, she also wanted to have her own children.

Of course, Xie Shuhua was also concerned about what Lin Zhaoxi and the others would think, but their opinions could not change Xie Shuhua's desire for her and Lin Youcheng's child; it was only natural for her.

"Even if we have more children, the house should be enough."

Xie Shuhua knew that Lin Youcheng had bought several houses before, all intended for his children. She just felt that as long as there were enough houses, that was enough, and said, "The commercial housing in the Asian Games Village is sufficient."

Lin Youcheng smiled and said, "There are only six courtyard houses. If we have more children, we will naturally prepare for them as well. We must treat everyone equally."

Xie Shuhua wanted to say something more, but then felt it was unnecessary. Ultimately, it was up to Lin Youcheng to make the decision. After all, all those foreign exchange and copyright fees were earned by Lin Youcheng. She was just thinking about what Lin Youcheng had said: "Treat them all equally." She was very clear that even if she had her own children in the future, she would treat them all equally and love Lin Zhaoxi's children just the same.

Lin Youcheng was unaware of Xie Shuhua's thoughts. He knew very well that regardless of whether he and Xie Shuhua would have children, they couldn't leave the royalties untouched. After all, if they didn't keep them, the million dollars wouldn't even be enough to buy a house in this area of ​​the Second Ring Road.

In Lin Youcheng's view, in addition to living in commercial housing and courtyard houses, one can also buy shops and rent them out.

Now that Lin Zhaoqing has successfully entered the senior high school of Xinghua Middle School, and his elder brother Lin Youcai and his family from Decheng are also coming to Beijing soon, it's worth considering doing some business.

Just as Lin Youcheng was thinking about buying a shop for his older brother to start a business, many companies in Hollywood wanted to do business with him and discuss cooperation. There was no way around it, because Lin Youcheng, the screenwriter, was really hot. And it wasn't just Hollywood; naturally, many film studios in China also wanted to cooperate with Lin Youcheng, and even many television stations wanted to work with him.

Lin Youcheng's fame and works speak for themselves. It's worth noting that Mo Yan, thanks to the popularity of Zhang Yimou's "Red Sorghum," was also approached by many to write television scripts. To earn money, Mo Yan wrote works like "The Broken Dream of Love," "Red Forest," "Conscience as Witness," and "The Youthful Memories of My Brothers"...

Lin Youcheng, who is currently very popular, will naturally have people coming to him, but it is clear that some people simply don't have the connections.

This is all because Lin Youcheng, this screenwriter at the height of his career, truly holds an extraordinary position—of course—

Lin Youcheng is not short of money.

(End of this chapter)