A widower's entertainment

Chapter 433 [An Extraordinary Father] (Please Subscribe)
Although Lin Youcheng's screenplay for "City by the Sea" caused a great stir in the United States, there was no news coverage in China. However, another film industry event was reported: Zhang Yimou's "To Live" won the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Even more surprisingly, Ge You won the first Cannes Best Actor award for this film.

Undoubtedly, this news is just as astonishing as Pan Hong winning the Best Actress award at the Berlin Film Festival in March.

After all, he was the first Chinese actor to win the Cannes Film Festival Best Actor award, and arguably the first Chinese actor to win the Cannes Best Actress award. Although Pan Hong won the Berlin Film Festival Best Actress award, Zhang Manyu from Hong Kong had previously won this award.

But Ge You is the true number one!
As the original author of the film, Yu Hua was obviously quite happy. Not to mention that Zhang Yimou had given him nearly 30,000 yuan in copyright fees, the success of the film would naturally promote his novel, and the sales of the novel would be very good after its publication.

Now that Yu Hua has come to Xinghua Hutong to visit Lin Youcheng, they will naturally talk about the award that the film "To Live" won at the Cannes Film Festival.

Since Lin Zhaoyuan was asleep and the nanny, Sister Zhou, was helping to look after her, Lin Youcheng didn't need to keep an eye on his youngest daughter all the time, so he was able to entertain Yu Hua.

"It seems the novel will have to be made into a movie!"

Yu Hua then chatted with Lin Youcheng about the international awards won by the film "To Live," saying, "Now that the film has won awards, the publisher plans to reprint it."

Lin Youcheng smiled. In fact, Yu Hua himself had once jokingly said that he lived off "To Live," so it was clear that this novel was very important to Yu Hua. He said, "This is a good thing!"

"Of course it's a good thing. When the novel was first published, there was some controversy. Some people thought it was too cruel and that the tragic events that the protagonist, Fugui, experienced in his life were too concentrated, giving the impression of being piled up. In any case, the fact that the movie made from this novel has won an award proves that my novel is not simple."

Lin Youcheng nodded upon hearing Yu Hua's words and said, "Your novel, 'To Live,' is quite brilliant."

Yu Hua also had creative exchanges with Lin Youcheng. It was Lin Youcheng who suggested that he write this story in the first person, and the effect was quite good.

"However, I still can't compare to you!"

Yu Hua also knew that Lin Youcheng's novel had been bought by a Hollywood film company in the United States, and the copyright fee was millions of dollars, which was something that Yu Hua could not compare to. In particular, the screenplay written by Lin Youcheng had won many awards abroad when it was made into a movie.

Lin Youcheng just smiled at Yu Hua's words, because he couldn't say much. Although there were writers and screenwriters in China who wanted to learn from him and write scripts for foreign film companies to earn foreign exchange fees, it was not an easy thing to do.

After several works, Lin Youcheng finally attracted Hollywood companies to pursue cooperation with his solid works. There's no way around it; the pursuit of capital is just that realistic. Lin Youcheng's scripts are genuinely strong. It can be said that after the movie "The Truman Show," Lin Youcheng no longer needed to prove himself with his works.

However, after that, screenwriter Lin Youcheng continued to write excellent scripts, which naturally attracted Hollywood capitalists who were eager to collaborate with him.

Lin Youcheng was chatting with Yu Hua in the courtyard when, unexpectedly, Warner Bros. producer George arrived with gifts, clearly there to discuss a collaboration with Lin Youcheng. He was accompanied by a translator. Although Lin Youcheng could communicate in English, George clearly had a translator with him.

"Lin, it's been a long time! It's such a pity that the movie 'The Departed' didn't win an Oscar."

Hearing George's words, Lin Youcheng could only feel sorry for "The Departed". There was nothing he could do, since the film had encountered the perfectly correct "Schindler's List".

It's a real shame that a film that could have won four major awards ended up with so few at the Oscars.

Of course, this does not mean that "The Departed" was a failure. It should be noted that this movie had already earned Warner Bros. a considerable amount of box office revenue. As for the Oscar award, it was simply a matter of not managing to win it through public relations efforts, or perhaps the efforts were not strong enough.

Even with the movie "Schindler's List," it's not impossible for "The Departed" to win one or two awards if it really wanted to. After all, "Schindler's List" didn't win all the awards. "The Hunt," for example, won an Oscar for Best Actor, and it was its second Oscar.

Lin Youcheng also knew that the movie "City by the Sea" was very popular and well-received in the United States. However, he was well aware that next year the movie would clash with "Forrest Gump," which was also incredibly popular in the United States. The competition for awards would be quite tough, and it would depend on the public relations efforts of "City by the Sea" in terms of awards.

Yu Hua hadn't expected that just after discussing movies with Lin Youcheng, a film company from the United States would come knocking on his door. This was why he said he couldn't compare to Lin Youcheng; after all, which domestic writer or screenwriter could have foreign film companies seeking cooperation with them?

"Lin, although 'The Departed' didn't win any awards, it's a very good movie!"

George had actually called Lin Youcheng before to inquire about any scriptwriting opportunities. Now, he's visiting Lin Youcheng to maintain contact, but more importantly, he hopes to collaborate with him.

"Lin, have you really not written any new stories?"

Lin Youcheng smiled when he heard George's words and said, "I already told you on the phone."

George was aware of this, but he came here specifically to show his sincerity. After all, "Seaside City" is now showing in the United States, and this low-budget art film will undoubtedly make a fortune. This is actually why Hollywood companies are so fond of Lin Youcheng.

To be honest, Hollywood has no shortage of scripts, but good scripts are another story. Low-budget but good scripts like those by Lin Youcheng are the most important reason why they attract a group of capitalists.

In fact, Lin Youcheng was also thinking that films like "The Hunt," "Every Day," "The Departed," "Seaside City," and even "The Truman Show" were not particularly big productions. If he really wrote a movie script with a high production cost, he just didn't know if Hollywood companies would really invest heavily in it.

Of course, in Lin Youcheng's view, the most important thing is the script. As long as the script is good enough, those companies will not refuse it, after all, he, Lin Youcheng, is the screenwriter.

George came all the way to Beijing, showing his sincerity. In particular, he brought a lot of gifts for Lin Youcheng's family. He had already congratulated Lin Youcheng on the birth of his child, and this was also a gift for the new baby.

This can be considered a gift from foreign friends to Lin Youcheng.

This is what sets screenwriter Lin Youcheng apart; being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay three times in a row makes him the first person in the US, and arguably the first in the world.

George naturally wouldn't linger in Xinghua Hutong, as it was just a visit, and he had other matters to attend to. Yu Hua, having witnessed how foreign companies approached Lin Youcheng seeking cooperation, couldn't help but exclaim after George and his group left, "Youcheng, you really are amazing!"

Everyone says that the grass is greener on the other side, and everyone longs to go abroad. But now, foreign companies are all seeking to cooperate with Lin Youcheng. This is really quite remarkable.

After all, George wasn't the only foreign company that came to Lin Youcheng's door.

Lin Youcheng smiled when he heard Yu Hua's words and said, "Your 'Living' is also very impressive."

Lin Youcheng naturally changed the subject, asking about Yu Hua's later literary works, which could be considered a literary exchange.

Lin Youcheng originally wanted Yu Hua to stay for dinner, but it was clear that Yu Hua also had to go back, so he didn't stay long.

After Yu Hua left, Lin Youcheng went to see his daughter, Lin Zhaoyuan. The baby was being looked after by the nanny, Sister Zhou, so Lin Youcheng didn't need to worry too much. However, it was clear that Lin Zhaoyuan was very attached to her father, Lin Youcheng.

After the children finished school, Lin Zhaoqing was naturally still very nervous, because his college entrance examination was getting closer and closer, with less than two months to go, which made him very anxious. He didn't know how he would do on the exam.

Compared to Lin Zhaoqing's nervousness, the other children were not so nervous, and they all came over to see their little sister, Lin Zhaoyuan.

Lin Zhaomei watched Lin Zhaoman and the others playing with their little sister in the yard, then turned to Lin Youcheng and asked, "Dad, I heard that some people from the US came to see you again today?"

Lin Youcheng smiled and nodded, saying, "Yes, I also brought you some gifts."

These words naturally excited the other children, who hugged Lin Zhaoyuan and went to see the gifts that their foreign friends had brought.

Lin Zhaomei didn't pay much attention to the gifts, but asked, "Are they here to buy your script again?"

Clearly, Lin Zhaomei knew that her father's film scripts were very valuable to foreign companies, even astronomically so.

Lin Youcheng smiled and nodded. Although he had not reached a direct cooperation agreement with George, Lin Youcheng was well aware that exporting scripts to earn foreign exchange would still be a significant source of income, as such capital accumulation was quite rapid.

"Dad, you are truly amazing!"

Lin Zhaomei looked at Lin Youcheng and said something very seriously.

This is Lin Zhaomei's true thought. The older she gets, or rather, the more she learns about film-related knowledge, the more she realizes how remarkable and amazing her father truly is.

This remarkable achievement wasn't due to Lin Youcheng creating happy and wonderful living conditions for them, allowing them to study and live in the capital without any worries.

Although these achievements are impressive, Lin Zhaomei has always been well aware that she is a great writer and very remarkable. However, after learning about film, she realized what it meant when she casually said that she wanted to win the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. To this day, only Chen Aige in China has won it. It was after learning some things that she learned that her father's screenplay was bought by a US company and made into a film, and that her father had even won an Oscar.

The Oscar for Best Screenplay is incredibly difficult for screenwriters in China; it's truly a miracle. And this miracle has actually happened. Moreover, Lin Zhaomei is well aware that her father has been nominated for an Oscar more than once.

It was only after she truly understood these things that she realized just how remarkable her father was, just like now when people from foreign film companies come to her home looking for him.

Lin Zhaomei now truly admires her father from the bottom of her heart because her father has really accomplished many impossible things in the film industry.

Looking at Lin Zhaomei's adoring gaze, Lin Youcheng understood what Lin Zhaomei meant by "remarkable." Being admired by his daughter made Lin Youcheng quite happy.

"Zhaomei, Dad believes you will be a great director in the future."

Lin Youcheng could see that Lin Zhaomei was very interested in filmmaking and had made up her mind to apply for the directing department of Yanjing Film Academy. She often read professional books on film and often took a DV camera to shoot some daily videos. All of this was because Lin Zhaomei really intended to become a director and make movies.

Otherwise, Lin Zhaomei wouldn't have wondered why he still needed to write TV drama scripts.

More importantly, Lin Youcheng was well aware that his daughter was actually very sensitive to everything around her, or rather, had a keen insight and observational ability. This insight and observational ability made Lin Zhaomei exceptionally mature.

Hearing Lin Youcheng's words, Lin Zhaomei was naturally moved. For some reason, she now clearly understood what the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival meant and how difficult it was to win. But she still nodded and said, "That's right, didn't I say I wanted to win the Palme d'Or?"

"Dad, I will definitely try my best."

Upon hearing Lin Zhaomei's words, Lin Youcheng couldn't help but smile and said, "Dad, I believe you can do it."

Although Lin Youcheng doesn't particularly expect his children to become outstanding, as a father he naturally hopes they can do what they want to do according to their own ideas. He is also looking forward to his daughter Lin Zhaomei becoming a great director in the future.

Of course, this is all predicated on Lin Zhaomei being admitted to the directing department of Yenching Film Academy.

(End of this chapter)