Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 477 Money Tree

Lu Yao was deeply moved by Lin Chaoyang's support. He regarded him as a close friend who understood and appreciated him, and was extremely excited.

Since the first part of "The Ordinary World" was published, except for some supportive voices within the Shaanxi literary world, most writers, critics, and screenwriters have given negative feedback on the novel.

Yesterday he went to Lin Chaoyang's house and the two talked for a long time, but they talked more about the creative process and some ideas.

Lu Yao even deliberately avoided asking Lin Chaoyang any questions about his opinion on the first part of "Ordinary World" because he was afraid that Lin Chaoyang's evaluation would be the same as those people.

Lin Chaoyang's remarks today really surprised and delighted him, especially in the face of such overwhelming public opinion, his support was even more valuable.

While Lu Yao was moved, the critics present had different expressions after thinking about it.

They are all professionals with superb qualities and experience in the field of literary criticism, and they have their own judgment on whether a work is good or bad.

Some people with a moderate attitude think that what Lin Chaoyang said makes sense. It is too arbitrary to deny a work as huge as "Ordinary World" based on only one-third of its content.

Some people believe that whether a novel is good or not is not only related to the integrity of the story, but also has a direct relationship with the creative techniques.

"The Ordinary World" is already behind the times in terms of technique, and writing two more will not make any difference.

But no matter what, after Lin Chaoyang, the absolute protagonist of the seminar, said such a thing, it is impossible for people to criticize "Ordinary World" anymore.

If that were the case, today's meeting would not be about discussion, but about making enemies with Lu Yao.

“Let me talk about Parasite.

Comrade Chaoyang just talked about "The Truman Show". In fact, both novels are set in the capitalist society of Hong Kong, but the reading experience is completely different.

"Truman" is a story based on absurdity and irony based on fantasy. What it first brings to readers is a complete and highly readable story, which is how Truman runs towards freedom.

Beneath this layer of "sugar coating" is the theme it wants to express: such as the excessive control and manipulation of media in capitalist society, the distortion of human nature, the entertainment of others' suffering, etc.

But "Parasite" is different. It constructs the most basic contradictory unit of capitalist society and miniaturizes this society into two families.

The complexity and struggle of human nature are laid bare before the readers. Both the character creation and the arrangement of plot conflicts are extremely delicate and natural.

It is this delicate and natural way of handling the story that makes the story logically impeccable and extremely watchable..."

After Lin Chaoyang, the critics continued to speak. Everyone tacitly did not comment on the first part of "Ordinary World" and still focused the discussion on "Parasite". The meeting returned to the old track.

Faced with this situation, the hosts Li Shifei and Wang Yu felt helpless.

Their original intention was to use this seminar to restore some reputation for the first part of "Ordinary World", but now it seems that this idea is simply wishful thinking.

On the contrary, because of the contrast with "Parasite", the first part of "Ordinary World" became even less popular.

Now Lu Yao could only sit there with a bitter face. Every minute of the seminar was like sitting on pins and needles for him.

When the day's seminar was over, Lu Yao was like a worker who had been drained of his energy and spirit. He was full of dejection, but he still had to maintain his outward strength and bid politely goodbye to those critics.

Before leaving, critic He Zhenbang who was attending the meeting told Lin Chaoyang that he wanted to visit his home tomorrow.

Lin Chaoyang knew that the other party must have something to ask for, so he nodded and agreed.

On the way back to Xiaoliubukou, Lin Chaoyang was driving and Lu Yao was sitting in the passenger seat, drowsy.

After arriving at the place, he said something to Lin Chaoyang, then went into the yard and never came out again.

It was not until the next morning that he came to greet Lin Chaoyang in high spirits.

Seeing him carrying luggage, Lin Chaoyang was slightly surprised, "You are..."

"I'm going back. The second part of "Ordinary World" has not been finished yet. I have to hurry up." Lu Yao said.

There was a stubborn light in his eyes, a firm belief that he wanted to prove himself.

Lin Chaoyang also knew that yesterday's meeting had given Lu Yao a great stimulus, and he patted Lu Yao on the shoulder.

"I won't say anything else. I hope you can finish "Ordinary World" soon!"

Lu Yao looked determined and nodded solemnly.

“I believe that day will not be too far away!”

Lin Chaoyang drove Lu Yao to the Capital Airport to catch a flight. When he returned home, He Zhenbang had been waiting for a long time.

In addition to him, there was another guest at the house, Tang Yin, who had known Lin Chaoyang for several years.

Lin Chaoyang apologized, explained, and chatted with Tang Yin for a few words.

Only then did Lin Chaoyang know that after the establishment of Luyuan, Tang Yin was transferred from the Literary Gazette to Luyuan to serve as the president, and He Zhenbang was transferred to Luyuan as vice president this year. He had previously worked as a literary critic in the Creative Research Office of the Literary Association.

Lu Xun Academy of Literature, formerly known as the Literary Institute, was renamed in 84.

After a few pleasantries, Tang Yin explained his purpose.

"Our institute's new training class will start this month, and we would like to invite you to give lectures to those students."

As early as 1980, when Lin Chaoyang had just won the second National Excellent Short Story Award, he went to the Institute of Literature to give lectures to the fifth class of students.

However, that was only a brief exchange. This time, Tang Yin and He Zhenbang hoped to invite Lin Chaoyang to give a systematic course to the students.

Tang Yin knew that Lin Chaoyang would be in Hong Kong for a considerable period of time every year, so he said that Lin Chaoyang's courses could be compressed into two weeks.

Lin Chaoyang hesitated for a moment and then agreed. It was not difficult for him to teach the students. After all, they were invited by acquaintances, so it would be difficult to refuse.

The class time for this student class is from February to July. Lin Chaoyang discussed with Tang Yin and He Zhenbang and finally scheduled his teaching time in June.

Time flies, and the Lantern Festival has passed for several days.

That night, after Lin Chaoyang coaxed Yan Yan to sleep, he began to count the days.

Tao Yushu has been away from home for more than half a month. The West Berlin Film Festival should be closed by now, right? I don’t know if “The King of Children” can win an award.

He reversed Chen Kaige's later betrayal and moved from West Berlin to Cannes, and supervised and controlled the script. He had done everything he could.

What remains to be seen is whether Hadden, the president of the film festival, is as optimistic as he says and will be optimistic about Chinese films.

The biggest problem in this era is the inconvenience of communication, Lin Chaoyang complained in his heart.

The very next day after he complained, at around ten o'clock in the morning, Lin Chaoyang suddenly received a call from Shi Fangyu from the Film Bureau.

"Chaoyang, we won an award! The King of Children won an award!"

Shi Fangyu's tone on the phone was excited and full of joy.

Lin Chaoyang was also excited when he heard this. He asked, "What award did you win? The Golden Bear Award?"

When Shi Fangyu heard Lin Chaoyang's question, his joy on the other end of the phone froze.

You really dare to imagine that the highest awards of the three major European international film festivals are like cabbage? Can you just take it easily?

"No. It's the Silver Bear Award, the Silver Bear Award for the West Berlin Film Festival Jury Grand Prix!"

When talking about the award, Shi Fangyu's tone could not hide his excitement.

The highest award of the West Berlin Film Festival is the Golden Bear Award, which is awarded by the festival presidium to reward the best film in the main competition unit of the festival each year. There is only one award in each session.

But there can be many Silver Bear Awards. Unlike the Golden Bear Award, which is a recognition of the comprehensiveness and integrity of the entire film production, it is used to reward a film's outstanding performance in terms of script, director, actor performance, etc.

Awards such as Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Screenwriter and Best Director are all Silver Bear Awards.

For example, in 2014, Liao Fan participated in "Black Coal, Thin Ice" directed by Diao Yinan and won the Silver Bear Award for Best Actor at the Berlin Film Festival.

The Grand Jury Prize is the most valuable of the many Silver Bear awards at the West Berlin Film Festival, second only to the Golden Bear.

To sum it up in a more vivid way, it is probably equivalent to the queen of a feudal dynasty - second only to the emperor and above everyone else.

Shi Fangyu's excitement is understandable. "The King of Children" won the Jury Prize at the West Berlin Film Festival, which can be said to have broken the history of Chinese films and became the first domestic film to win a heavyweight award at the three major international film festivals in Europe.

At this time, "The Truman Show" cannot be counted because the registration for this movie is based on the quota for Hong Kong.

After being happy for a while, Shi Fangyu explained to Lin Chaoyang the details of the film's award.

The opening of this West Berlin Film Festival was on February 2. "The King of Children" participated in the film festival. In addition to Tao Yushu representing the film company, Chen Kaige and Xie Yuan representing the crew, the Film Bureau also sent officials to the scene.

Just last night, at 7 o'clock local time in West Berlin, 2 o'clock in the middle of the night in Beijing, the film festival held an awards ceremony.

The Soviet film "The Theme" won the Golden Bear Award for Best Film, and "The King of Children" won not only the Jury Grand Prix but also a Ficipy Award.

The FIPRESCI Award, also known as the International Film Critics Award, is an external award often presented at the three major European film festivals or other international film festivals.

It is not affiliated with any film festival organization, but is awarded by the International Association of Film Critics and is a recognition from professional film critics.

It's not very valuable, but it's highly valued among film critics.

The fact that "The King of Children" won this award proves that international film critics are unanimously optimistic about this film.

After the award ceremony, the Film Bureau officials who accompanied the film festival contacted home as soon as possible, but due to the time difference, they were unable to get through until this morning.

Shi Fangyu was naturally overjoyed to hear the news. After spreading the good news, he remembered that Lin Chaoyang might not have received the news because it was inconvenient for him to make international long-distance calls, so he called him to inform him.

The two exchanged a few more words of congratulations on the phone before Shi Fangyu hung up.

"The King of Children" won an award. This is the achievement of the Film Bureau. He needs to quickly contact several media outlets to promote it.

Two hours after receiving Shi Fangyu's call, Chen Huaikai dragged Jiang Huaiyan to Lin Chaoyang's house, overjoyed, as if Fan Jin had passed the imperial examination.

"Haha! Chaoyang, you won a prize! You won a prize!"

Chen Huaikai's hearty laughter seemed to burst through the roof, and he was full of vigor and vitality. For him, who has always been calm and introverted, such performance was indeed a bit unusual.

But anyone who sees it will understand that parents want their children to be successful.

You have to know that Chen Kaige did not win ordinary awards. When he was filming Yellow Earth, he traveled around Europe and won several awards.

But all those awards combined are not as valuable as the Silver Bear Award at the West Berlin Film Festival. This is the value of the three major European film festivals!

As soon as Chen Huaikai learned that "The King of Children" had won the award, he did not bother to respond to the congratulations from the people in the factory. He dragged Jiang Huaiyan, the first person who came to congratulate him, and rushed to Xiaoliubukou Hutong.

He knew that without the help of Lin Chaoyang and his wife, Chen Kaige's road to winning the award would never have been so smooth.

"We must drink tonight! We won't go home until we are drunk!" Chen Huaikai said with great pride.

After he finished speaking, he went to buy groceries. At this time, two more people came to Lin Chaoyang's house. They were Zhang Yimou and Chen Jianyu.

After several months of creation last year, the script of "Red Sorghum" has been finalized. Before the New Year, Zhang Yimou went to Shandong to scout locations and decided to shoot the film in Mo Yan's hometown, Gaomi, Shandong.

Recently he has been preparing for the crew and casting, shuttling between major professional colleges and theater troupes in Yanjing every day.

Today, he and Chen Jianyu were supposed to audition actors at the Yanjing Film Academy, but before the audition was over, the news that "The King of Children" won the West Berlin Award was already spreading in the Yanjing Film Academy. Zhang Yimou was sincerely happy for Chen Kaige after hearing this news. At this time, he and Chen Kaige were still close classmates, colleagues, and friends.

After the audition, Zhang Yimou couldn't wait to come to Xiaoliubukou Hutong, wanting to talk to Lin Chaoyang about "The King of Children" winning the award.

After listening to what Zhang Yimou said, Lin Chaoyang was amazed. The news spread too quickly. It was hard to imagine that this was the speed of news transmission in the 1980s.

In just half a day, even Yan Ying had spread everywhere.

While he was marveling at the scene, Tao Yucheng ran into the yard, laughing. Needless to say, he must have come here after hearing the news that "The King of Children" had won the award.

"Chaoyang, you two are so awesome now! You won a Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival and a Grand Jury Prize at the West Berlin Film Festival. Your film company has become an award-winning company."

Tao Yucheng's tone was full of excitement. Hearing his words, the other people present couldn't help but feel shocked.

After he reminded us of this, everyone realized that "The King of Children" was already the second film that Lin Chaoyang and his wife had participated in that won an international award.

You have to know that before this, Chinese films have never won such an influential award in the international film scene!

Now they have got two at once, and the driving force behind the scenes is Lin Chaoyang and his wife and the Lin Pictures they run. What an amazing achievement!

The people present looked at Lin Chaoyang with admiration unconsciously.

Lin Chaoyang smiled and said: "The success of the movie is not the work of one person, everyone has contributed."

Chen Huaikai then said: "But you should take the first credit!"

Lin Chaoyang wanted to be modest, but Chen Huaikai continued, "I didn't participate in The Truman Show, so I don't know much about it. If you hadn't checked the script of The King of Children, it would definitely not be as good as it is now."

At this moment, everyone was extremely excited about "The King of Children" winning the award, and soon they were chatting enthusiastically.

In the evening, Lin Chaoyang prepared a table of wine and food, and everyone drank and chatted.

Zhang Yimou was full of envy for Chen Kaige's award. Chen Huaikai encouraged him, saying, "Yimou will soon become a director. You have a talent for movies. It's only a matter of time before you win an award."

After hearing his words, Zhang Yimou quickly and humbly said that this was his first time making a movie and he didn't even dare to think about winning an award. He just hoped to make a good movie.

"If the film is well made, awards will come naturally." Chen Huaikai joked.

Zhang Yimou echoed and laughed twice.

Seeing Zhang Yimou's lack of confidence, Lin Chaoyang was about to speak, but was called out by a phone call from the alley entrance.

When he came back, everyone was curious about what news he had, but Lin Chaoyang didn't say anything and just turned on the TV.

"Chaoyang, what's wrong?" Tao Yucheng asked.

Lin Chaoyang showed a mysterious smile on his face, "You will know in a moment."

It was just past seven o'clock and Lin Chaoyang turned on CCTV-1.

Wearing a gray suit and looking young, Luo Jing is reporting the news to the camera.

Lin Chaoyang thought, after all, this is Xiao Luo who has not evolved completely, why does he still have to read the manuscript when reporting the news?

While he was watching TV, everyone was also looking at him. Seeing that his eyes were always on the TV, everyone had a premonition in their hearts.

So, everyone just watched TV quietly, no one touched the wine or food, and even the voices of chatting became lower.

Ten minutes passed quickly, and it was the last ten minutes of the "News Broadcast", which usually reported international news.

Zhang Yimou was talking softly to Tao Yucheng. Tao Yucheng knew that he was recently casting for Red Sorghum and asked him to go to the Central Academy of Drama.

In fact, even if Tao Yucheng didn't say it, Zhang Yimou would never miss the professional school of the Central Academy of Drama, not to mention the relationship with Tao Yucheng.

"I'll go there tomorrow."

"Okay, I'll arrange someone for you when the time comes." Tao Yucheng said happily.

At this time, Luo Jing on TV was still reporting the news at a leisurely pace:

"According to our news, at the just concluded 37th West Berlin Film Festival, the film "King of Children" directed by Chen Kaige won the festival's jury award. This is the first time that a Chinese film has won a major award at a well-known European film festival."

Luo Jing's oral broadcast was very brief, just a dozen seconds, but it was a great honor for all those who participated in "The King of Children".

The award-winning drama "King of Children" was even featured on the "News Broadcast"!
Chen Huaikai and others finally understood why Lin Chaoyang turned on the TV. They recalled the short news report of just a dozen seconds, their hearts filled with great joy, and they cheered.

While everyone was celebrating, Lin Chaoyang's expression was calm.

Later, "Red Sorghum" won the Golden Bear in West Berlin in 88. When Zhang Yimou returned to China, he immediately appeared on CCTV and his broadcast accounted for nearly a minute.

In comparison, it is normal for "The King of Children" to win the Silver Bear and be on the screen for more than ten seconds.

Lin Chaoyang patted Zhang Yimou on the shoulder.

"Yimou, this year it's Kaige, next year it's you, West Berlin is our blessed land!"

Lin Chaoyang's tone and expression when he said this were meaningful, causing Zhang Yimou's heart to beat violently for no apparent reason.

"I will do my best!" Zhang Yimou said in a firm tone.

Then he turned his eyes to the screen. The news report about "The King of Children" winning the award had ended, but his ambition for the West Berlin Film Festival had just begun in his heart.

The next morning, all major domestic official media reported that "The King of Children" won the Silver Bear Award at the West Berlin Film Festival.

Yesterday, the news of the film's award was still spreading in the film circle of Yanjing, and today the news spread across the country through television and print media.

For a while, the domestic film industry was shaken.

Around 1984, Chen Kaige and other students from the Class of 78 of Yanying Film Academy shot their debut films, such as "One and Eight", "Yellow Earth" and "Hunting Ground Zasa".

These works shocked the film industry with their distinctive artistic style and innovative visual style. At the "Film Symposium on the 9th Anniversary of New China" held in September of that year, the film critics attending the seminar proposed the name "Fifth Generation Directors".

Since Yellow Earth, Chen Kaige has been regarded as one of the best fifth-generation directors.

Now with the blessing of such a heavyweight award as the Silver Bear Award at the West Berlin Film Festival, Chen Kaige's position in the domestic film industry has undoubtedly been further consolidated.

This allowed him to leave behind several of his peers who had once been on par with him in previous years, and he was far ahead of the rest.

On the third day after the closing of the West Berlin Film Festival, which was also the second day of extensive official media coverage, Chen Kaige returned home with honor.

As soon as he got off the plane, he was surrounded by reporters at the Capital Airport who had learned the news of his return. He was even more popular than movie stars.

In the next few days, Chen Kaige was greeted with flowers and applause wherever he went, and he accepted interviews from a number of authoritative media outlets.

As news reports spread, he not only became a popular figure at domestic film festivals, but also a famous director known to countless ordinary people.

The spring breeze is proud of horseshoe disease, seeing Chang'an flowers in one day.

This line from ancient poetry could not be more appropriate to describe Chen Kaige's mood and situation a few days after he won the award.

Unfortunately, his happiness did not last long. On the fourth day after he returned home, he was kicked out of the house by Chen Huaikai.

"It's been three or four days since I returned to China. Don't you know how to visit your uncle Lin to express your gratitude?"

"Don't think that winning an award is so great. Without everyone's support, would you have won the award?"

Along the way, Chen Kaige recalled the lessons his father taught him before he left home, and felt very indignant.

He won a prestigious award at the West Berlin Film Festival, second only to the Golden Bear Award. Why shouldn't he be happy?
Besides, isn’t it his contribution that contributed the most to the film winning the award?
Thinking of this, Chen Kaige's inflated mentality suddenly shrank a lot, and his mind recalled the fear of being dominated by his father and Uncle Lin.

Even if it's not the biggest, it's certainly not small.

He comforted himself and came to Xiaoliubukou Hutong. When he saw Lin Chaoyang and his wife, he immediately smiled obediently.

"When did Aunt Lin come back?"

"Last night's flight."

Tao Yushu returned to China a few days later than Chen Kaige, mainly because he had to deal with the overseas copyright transaction of "The King of Children".

Chen Kaige quickly asked, "How is the copyright selling?"

When it comes to participating in film festivals, awards are of course key, but for most filmmakers, copyright transactions may be more important.

After all, making movies is an art that costs a lot of money.

When "The King of Children" first arrived in West Berlin, not many overseas film producers were optimistic about it.

Tao Yushu contacted several overseas film producers privately, and the buyout prices they offered were pitifully low, ranging from only 10,000 to 20,000 US dollars to no more than 50,000 US dollars.

Although it was Tao Yushu's first time to attend a film festival, he had some understanding of the festival's ecology.

The film producers who were willing to give quotes in the past two days were simply trying to take a gamble.

If the film you buy wins an award, it will most likely generate considerable revenue.

If the film doesn't win an award, the money spent is small anyway, so the loss won't be that big.

After contacting several film producers in succession, Tao Yushu gave up the idea of ​​copyright transactions and waited for the film festival to close.

According to Xiao Yu's feedback from China Film, the festival's president Hadern is very optimistic about "The King of Children".

According to the unwritten rules of many film festivals, even if a film supported by someone like Hadden doesn’t win the most important award, it will definitely not be a problem for it to win one.

Therefore, Tao Yushu thought it would be better to wait until everything was settled. Although there was a risk of getting nothing, the worst result would not be much worse than being picked up by the film producers.

Facts have proved that Tao Yushu made the right bet!
"The King of Children" won the film festival's jury grand prize and its value doubled overnight.

There was an endless stream of overseas film producers coming to bid, and the offers for buying out the copyrights increased several times compared to when the film festival first started.

For three consecutive days, Tao Yushu signed 19 copyright transaction contracts with a total transaction amount of up to 536 million US dollars.

This figure is far from the amount of copyright transactions after "The Truman Show" won the award at the Cannes Film Festival.

On the one hand, the reason is that in the past two or three decades, France has been a European film powerhouse, and can even compete with Hollywood in the United States. Therefore, the copyright trading market of the Cannes Film Festival is much better than that of West Berlin.

On the other hand, in terms of content, "The Truman Show" is obviously more popular with moviegoers in the Western world.

"The King of Children" tells the story of contemporary social education issues in China, which is unlikely to resonate with audiences in Western countries, and the film producers are well aware of this.

But no matter what, the overseas copyright transaction amount of US$536 million is a big harvest for Lin Pictures.

According to the current exchange rate between RMB and USD, the copyright transaction amount exceeds 1800 million RMB, and the return on investment of "The King of Children" has reached an astonishing 1500%.

If you can make money from making movies, it will be more exaggerated than selling drugs!
And this is not the final revenue of the film. With the release of the film in the future and the sale of copyrights, the revenue of Lin Pictures will continue to increase.

Every time they win a prize, they get an extra cash cow!

(End of this chapter)