A widower's entertainment

Time marches on relentlessly, like the trajectory of fate, never to turn back.

Lin Youcheng was naturally happy to receive Cha Haisheng's wedding invitation. As for attending the wedding, that was a matter for later. Now, someone else came to Lin Youcheng, director Li Shaohong, with whom he had previously collaborated on a film.

It wasn't particularly surprising that Li Shaohong wanted to collaborate with Lin Youcheng on a TV series script. For a film director like Li Shaohong, who has been nominated for the three major film festivals, making TV series is a roundabout way to achieve his goal, because the domestic film market is really cold right now. It can be said that most of the box office charts are dominated by imported films, while the box office of domestic films is very dismal.

Domestic film studios are now operating on a self-sustaining basis, and many are struggling to pay salaries, let alone attract investment to make movies.

Li Shaohong also partnered with Li Xiaowan to establish Rongxinda Film and Television Company, planning to first produce TV series, since TV series are very popular, and then make movies after making money.

However, Li Shaohong naturally has her own artistic pursuits when it comes to making TV series, and she certainly doesn't want to just make any TV series. In terms of TV series, there are screenwriter Lin Youcheng's "Crossing the Guandong" and "The Great Song Dynasty Criminal Investigator", which are undoubtedly excellent scripts. Li Shaohong naturally hopes to collaborate with Lin Youcheng and make TV series based on Lin Youcheng's scripts.

"Youcheng, I was just thinking of contacting you to see if we could cooperate."

Lin Youcheng listened to Li Shaohong's words and said with a smile, "It would be good to have the opportunity to cooperate."

"Li Xiaowan wants me to film a historical drama, but there isn't a good script like 'The Great Song Dynasty Forensic Examiner,' and I can't film a drama like 'Prime Minister Liu Luoguo.'"

Now, thanks to the drama "The Great Song Dynasty Detective", there have been many copycat productions of ancient detective dramas, but such detective dramas undoubtedly need more solid scripts.

The recently aired drama "Prime Minister Liu Luoguo" is different. This popular series, adapted from historical records and folk legends, tells the story of Liu Yong, a young man traveling to Beijing for the imperial examinations during the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty. Heshen relentlessly harasses Liu Yong. From then on, Liu Yong and Heshen engage in a battle of wits, with the emperor constantly getting involved.
This historical drama had very high viewership ratings and can be said to have pioneered the genre of fictionalized historical dramas.

This is why Li Xiaowan wanted Li Shaohong to also film a historical drama.

However, it is clear that a story like "Prime Minister Liu Luoguo" is simply not a good fit for director Li Shaohong.

Lin Youcheng naturally thought of the story "Palace of Desire," which was undoubtedly the most suitable story for Li Shaohong to film.

This story revolves around the power struggles and emotional conflicts between Empress Wu Zetian and Princess Taiping, a mother and daughter. It tells a legendary and powerful story, with Princess Taiping's love story being the most prominent element.

Lin Youcheng thought about the story of "Palace of Desire". He knew very well that this drama was undoubtedly suitable for Li Shaohong to film. After all, "Palace of Desire" is a feminist drama expressed in a female language. In particular, the drama also has long monologues in the style of "Hamlet", with a lot of classical Chinese and ancient language. This kind of dramatic language has a lot of embellishment and is full of philosophy. Perhaps some people will find it a little unfamiliar, but it has its own characteristics.

This kind of prose-like language is rarely seen in other TV dramas. It can be said that in this respect, "Palace of Desire" is truly a unique existence in the TV drama world.

Of course, the story of this drama is disjointed, using characters to "drive" the plot. Unfortunately, several storylines are not only unclear, but also lack coherence due to the ambiguous backgrounds of some characters, making the story feel disjointed, like a dragonfly with a broken tail. On the other hand, while there are many romantic scenes, the writing style is overly sentimental and romantic. The love scenes between Zhang Yizhi and Princess Taiping in Daming Palace consist of long, ethereal, and fantastical dialogues with very little actual plot.

Most importantly, "Palace of Desire" is actually a fictionalized version of history, and there are many parts that do not conform to historical facts.

Lin Youcheng naturally mentioned "Palace of Desire" to Li Shaohong. This drama is actually based on the novel "Princess Taiping," which has only recently been published.

"Princess Taiping?"

Li Shaohong hadn't read the novel, but she did know about the historical figure's story.

Lin Youcheng naturally had no intention of writing the script for Li Shaohong. After all, he was already writing the script for "Our Millionaire," and Kong Sheng was also planning to film "Bright Sword," so how could he possibly put aside his own productions to write a script for Li Shaohong?

Of course, if the two companies collaborate, that would be a different issue.

After hearing Lin Youcheng's recommendation, Li Shaohong naturally went to find the novel to read. She found it quite interesting, but she still wanted to hear Lin Youcheng's opinion, and of course, she hoped that Lin Youcheng would be the screenwriter.

This is similar to how Li Shaohong, the original producer, consulted with Chen Aige and others about the script before filming "Palace of Desire." Later, Chen Aige recommended his wife, Cheng Hong, to play the adult Princess Taiping.

"I feel that this story is a bit thin, it's just about Princess Taiping's love."

Upon hearing Li Shaohong's words, Lin Youcheng couldn't help but laugh and say, "You can change it into a play about two women, namely Wu Zetian and Princess Taiping. The focus of the play is the conflict between women's emotions and power. Wu Zetian and Princess Taiping are a mother and daughter. They are both women with a strong desire for emotions and the center of power."

Hearing Lin Youcheng's words, Li Xiaowan, who had followed him over, nodded repeatedly.

Li Xiaowan also agreed with Li Shaohong's idea of ​​filming the story of Princess Taiping.

"Youcheng, you're right!"

Li Shaohong clearly agreed with Lin Youcheng's words.

Lin Youcheng looked at Li Shaohong and said, "The main narrative perspective of the play about Princess Taiping can be designed as a person who lives for emotions, while Wu Zetian sacrifices emotions for power. They form a strong contradiction. Wu Zetian wholeheartedly wanted to raise her daughter to be a pure woman, but she did not expect that Princess Taiping's personality was exactly the same as her own. In the end, she became her most difficult enemy to deal with in terms of power and emotions."

"This play is about the entanglement of power and emotions."

Li Shaohong nodded repeatedly as she listened to Lin Youcheng's words, feeling that Lin Youcheng was absolutely right. She then asked, "Youcheng, could you be the screenwriter for this drama and write the script?"

Lin Youcheng shook his head and said, "I don't have time here. I'm currently writing a movie script."

Li Xiaowan was naturally very curious when she heard that Lin Youcheng was writing a movie script. After all, everyone knew that Lin Youcheng's scripts were excellent, and many of his scripts had been sold to Hollywood film companies for prices that were the envy of everyone in the industry. Of course, compared to Li Xiaowan's envy of the script's price, Li Shaohong was more curious about what kind of story the movie script was. She also wanted to work with Lin Youcheng on a movie, but now most of Lin Youcheng's original movie scripts were done in collaboration with Hollywood, since the prices there were much more lucrative. A single script could easily fetch millions of dollars, and there were even scripts that cost two million dollars. Moreover, Lin Youcheng, who had won two Oscars, would also receive a share of the box office profits from his collaborations with Hollywood film companies, something that domestic films could never match.

As for original screenplays in China, even Lin Youcheng's original screenplays written in China are all TV drama scripts; he hasn't written any movie scripts yet.

"Youcheng, is this script still a collaboration with a Hollywood company?"

Li Shaohong would naturally ask a question as well.

Lin Youcheng shook his head and said, "It's not certain yet."

This is certainly true. After all, once the script is finished, it will naturally be shown to his daughter, Lin Zhaomei. If Lin Zhaomei is unwilling to film it, then it's uncertain who else will be chosen to write the script.

These words surprised Li Shaohong greatly. She hadn't expected that it might not even be a collaboration with a Hollywood film company. This was something she hadn't anticipated.

Li Shaohong was also curious about the story behind Lin Youcheng's film script. She naturally hoped to collaborate with Lin Youcheng, as their previous collaboration on the film "Atonement" had been very successful. However, she was now planning to film a TV series, so even though Lin Youcheng's film script was finished, she couldn't inquire about it. Nevertheless, she still asked out of curiosity, "Youcheng, what's the story behind this script?"

"It's a love story, but it's also about human destiny."

Clearly, upon hearing Lin Youcheng's words, Li Shaohong became even more curious, as if ants were crawling on her heart, making her eager to know what kind of love story it was and what kind of life fate it was.

Just these three words, put together, must make for a very complex story in the hands of Lin Youcheng, a screenwriter who has won two Oscars.

Li Shaohong even thought of the TV series "Strange Tales of the Human World" that is now reportedly starting filming. The story written by Lin Youcheng is also about human destiny and love, and it is quite wonderful and moving.

Li Shaohong was naturally very envious of director Li An for being able to make this movie. She also really wanted to make this story, but she had heard Chen Aige say a long time ago that Lin Youcheng had rejected him, knowing that the film technology was not good enough. Moreover, even if she were to make it now, it would definitely be difficult to attract foreign film companies to invest.

Thinking about it this way, Li Shaohong felt somewhat disappointed, but she was even more determined to make money by making good TV series before making movies.

Since Lin Youcheng was writing his own movie script, Li Shaohong naturally couldn't ask him to write the script for "Palace of Desire". However, the suggestions Lin Youcheng made were already of great help to Li Shaohong, and she was very grateful to him. Moreover, she could still communicate and discuss with Lin Youcheng.

This is similar to how Li Shaohong recommended Tian Zhuangzhuang to provide guidance for Lin Youcheng's TV series "The Great Song Dynasty Forensic Examiner".

It's like a circle, since they're all in Beijing and naturally have some interaction.

Some people in the industry have heard that Lin Youcheng is writing a movie script. Regardless of the quality of the script, the mere fact that this news has spread has naturally attracted a lot of attention in the industry. Of course, many people also know that most of the movie scripts Lin Youcheng has been writing recently are collaborations with foreign film companies. Of course, adaptations like "Human Wonders" don't count. Most of his original movie scripts are collaborations with foreign film companies, while his domestic works are TV drama scripts.

There are also rumors that Lin Youcheng's script was not intended for a foreign film company, which has naturally aroused the curiosity of many people. They wonder what kind of story Lin Youcheng wrote this time, and which director he will collaborate with.

Naturally, this will lead to people coming to them for help.

However, it wasn't the director who came knocking, but the editor. Zhang Wei from People's Literature magazine also had Lin Youcheng writing a film script for him, and he'd heard it was a story about human destiny. This naturally piqued Zhang Wei's curiosity, and he wanted to know what kind of story it was.

Of course, what Zhang Wei was more concerned about was that if Lin Youcheng had time to write a movie script, he should also write a novel.

After "Hidden in the Dust," Lin Youcheng hadn't published any more novels, so as the editor, he naturally had to urge Lin Youcheng to submit his manuscripts.

Lin Youcheng wasn't surprised at all by Zhang Wei's visit, as they were old acquaintances. He smiled and said, "I'm writing a movie script."

"What story?"

"How about we write the novel first, publish it, and then adapt it into a movie?"

Clearly, Zhang Wei had the same idea. It's not good to publish a script for a TV series or movie in People's Literature magazine, but if it's a novel first and then adapted into a script, that's a different story.

This is the real operation. Lin Youcheng's previous works were all adapted into screenplays after the novels were published.

This explains the current popularity of film, television, and literature. Writers are starting to write scripts and make TV series. Lin Youcheng's scripts are even more impressive. He makes movies abroad, earns foreign exchange, and wins major awards. This is something that was unthinkable before.

Lin Youcheng smiled and said, "This script is very important. I don't plan to publish it as a novel first, because that would eliminate the sense of surprise."

"Very important?"

Zhang Wei was also puzzled, not understanding why Lin Youcheng would say it was so important, and asked, "Why?"

"Because this is the movie script I wrote for Lin Zhaomei."

Zhang Wei was taken aback. This notebook was written by Lin Youcheng for his daughter; no wonder he said it was very important.

However, a thought struck Zhang Wei: this notebook must be something extraordinary! (End of Chapter)