Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 479 Lin Chaoyang's Influence

Lin Chaoyang finally went with Xie Jin. Blackmailing someone was of course a joke, but as they had been friends for so many years, he was still willing to help to the best of his ability.

Some people think that the content of "Furong Town" is a bit excessive, but that is just their wishful thinking.

Since the 1980s, there have been countless films shot in China that reflect periods of humanitarian crisis. Almost every one of them has been questioned and embarrassed during its shooting and release, but in the end, weren't they all released anyway?

There’s no reason why it wouldn’t work in Furong Town.

What's more, the director of this drama is Xie Jin and the screenwriter is Lin Chaoyang.

"Ah, Comrade Chaoyang also participated in this film? Why is his name not mentioned?"

In the office, Shi Fangyu was stunned when he heard Xie Jin say that Lin Chaoyang was actually involved in the screenwriting of "Furong Town".

Lin Chaoyang smiled and said, "It's a long story. At that time, Old Xie asked Old Zhong's son Ah Cheng to write the script. Ah Cheng happened to be busy at the time, so I helped to revise the script. I didn't contribute much, so my name was not signed."

After he finished explaining, he said to Shi Fangyu: "Comrade Fangyu, the bureau has concerns about the film "Furong Town" and believes that this film may cause some controversy. Everyone can understand.

This is how I look at this issue. Weren’t there controversies when the country chose the site for Baosteel, established the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, and built the Three Gorges Dam?

Should we throw the baby out with the bathwater just because it is controversial?

Such controversy is all the more inevitable given that the humanities and arts are less rigorous than the sciences.

It's not scary to have controversy, we can discuss it. Lao Xie has been deleting and revising the scenes during this period, which can be said to be very cooperative with the work of our Film Bureau.

To be fair, I think the ideological connotation and artistic appeal of "Furong Town" are very high.

The novel won the Mao Dun Literature Prize, so there is no reason why it became a negative example in the movie. Don’t you think so? "

After Lin Chaoyang and Xie Jin entered the room, Xie Jin first chatted with Shi Fangyu for a few words, and Shi Fangyu's expression was noncommittal.

Seeing this, Xie Jin explained the relationship between Lin Chaoyang and "Furong Town" and winked at Lin Chaoyang. Lin Chaoyang had no choice but to stand up and say a few words for "Furong Town".

While he was speaking, Shi Fangyu remained silent.

"The King of Children" just won an award at the West Berlin Film Festival. Because of this international award, everyone in the Film Bureau felt proud.

In the past six or seven years, both the Film Bureau and local film studios have put a lot of effort into helping Chinese films go global.

In general, movies are managed by the propaganda department. The purpose of doing so is of course for cultural propaganda and to enhance China's external soft power.

Unfortunately, over the years, there have been very few results.

There are only two ways for a film to gain international influence: either it has audience appeal or it has award-winning appeal.

Needless to say, Chinese films are not popular with the audience. Most of them can only be exported to socialist brother countries, and only high-quality films are eligible. Don't even expect them to be exported to other countries.

As for winning awards, everyone has been trying it in recent years.

It won some small awards, but the impact was worrying and it did not make any splash internationally at all.

It was not until this year that "The King of Children" won the Jury Prize at the West Berlin Film Festival and was reported by major mainstream media in Europe, America and the world.

The shadow of Chinese films has finally appeared on the international film scene, which can be regarded as a small but full fruit of Chinese films' efforts over the years.

Shi Fangyu was very clear that the success of "The King of Children" had a lot to do with Lin Chaoyang, so he naturally couldn't not give him any face at all.

Moreover, Shi Fangyu clearly remembered that at the film review meeting of "The Garland under the Mountain" that year, Li Ying from the General Political Department said in person that Lin Chaoyang was a relative of a senior military general.

Regardless of public or private reasons, Shi Fangyu seemed to have no choice but to give this face.

Since you have to give, you might as well be generous.

After thinking for a moment, Shi Fangyu laughed heartily.

“Comrade Chaoyang’s words make sense. We really can’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. As for Furong Town, there are some minor problems, but overall there are no problems.

Since Director Xie has already deleted and modified some shots, I think it would be better if I organize another film review meeting in the next two days.

If there are no problems, the film can be released.”

Seeing Shi Fangyu let it go so readily, Lin Chaoyang was a little surprised.

Xie Jin was overjoyed, but he still couldn't believe it until he left Shi Fangyu's office.

"How could the man surnamed Shi agree to let us go so readily? How bizarre!"

Lin Chaoyang joked, "Just now you were calling me 'Director Fang Yu', but now you're calling me 'The Man with the Last Name Shi'. Old Xie, your facial expressions are changing faster than Sichuan Opera!"

Xie Jin said disapprovingly: "If he did it for my sake, I would definitely be grateful, but he didn't really listen to me at all. It's obvious that he did it for your sake."

"I don't have that much face."

"Why not? The King of Children just brought honor to the film industry, and he can be considered to have retired with honor this time. I guess he wants to do you a favor."

"What's the point of doing me a favor?" Lin Chaoyang was puzzled.

"Don't play dumb! Have you forgotten who filmed "High Mountain"? You think I don't know.

Besides, even if we put aside your family relationship, your film career is developing so well, he might be able to use you in the future, so just consider it a good relationship."

Lin Chaoyang nodded. If Shi Fangyu wanted to retire, it would make sense to do so.

Now that the censorship issue of "Furong Town" has been resolved, Lin Chaoyang asked Xie Jin, "How are you arranging this?"

"What else can we do? We'll have to wait until it passes the censorship and release it. This movie has been in the works for two years."

Xie Jin said this with an impatient look on his face.

He stayed in Yanjing for another two days. After the film "Furong Town" passed the review of the Film Bureau, Xie Jin arranged to treat Lin Chaoyang to a meal to express his gratitude.

The dinner was held at Fengze Garden, and Xie Jin also invited several old friends in Yanjing.

I heard that it was Lin Chaoyang who stepped in to help Xie Jin solve the review problem of "Furong Town". Everyone was surprised that Lin Chaoyang had such a big face in the Film Bureau.

I just thought that Lin Chaoyang had just made "The King of Children" famous for Chinese films overseas, and he was a celebrity in the Film Bureau.

After a lively party, Xie Jin flew back to Shanghai the next day to arrange the release of "Furong Town".

In order to help Xie Jin, Lin Chaoyang first asked Tao Yushu and nanny A Di to take the two children back to Hong Kong.

After Xie Jin left, he planned to fly back to Hong Kong, but was persuaded to stay by Li Tuo.

After a lapse of two years, the National Awards for Excellent Medium and Short Stories will be awarded again at the end of March, and their cultural salon can be held again.

"I'm familiar with the process, just do it yourself."

"That won't work. Without you as my backbone, I won't feel safe. Everyone is here to pick on you."

Li Tuo was afraid that Lin Chaoyang would run away to Hong Kong, so he kept pestering him every day, making Lin Chaoyang feel helpless.

It would be impossible to ask him to run a cultural salon, so being a mascot would be more appropriate.

All matters were handled by Li Tuo and his group, and Lin Chaoyang was happy to be a hands-off boss.

Having nothing to do that day, he went to Xidan.

Today is the anniversary celebration of Asia-Europe Garment City. Early in the morning, the entrance of Xidan Shopping Mall was crowded with people and colorful flags were flying.

The format of the anniversary celebration is similar to last year's opening, with stage performances, celebrity performances, lucky draws for discounts...

Du Feng called in his former comrades from the art troupe to perform. In the morning, the troupe's current or retired actors performed, and later in the evening, the stars took the stage.

Around ten o'clock in the morning, the stars finally appeared.

With a tall and straight figure, a delicate face like a knife, and a graceful dance, Fei Xiang made a brilliant appearance while singing "You are like a fire in the winter."

The scene in front of Xidan Shopping Mall became lively in an instant!

At this moment, cheers and shouts reached the sky, and the entire Xidan North Street was affected by this huge sound wave.

Countless young girls and wives shouted desperately, the crowd surged like waves, and the scene was so fanatical that it was hard to tell how many times more enthusiastic it was than the top stars in later generations.

"Your big eyes
Bright and shining

Like stars in the sky
The brightest one

You are like that fire
......"

On the stage, Fei Xiang sang and danced with all his might, and the audience below were mesmerized.

"Hot! It's so hot!" Du Feng stood on the upper floor of Xidan Shopping Mall, looking at the hot scene outside through the window glass, muttering to himself.

Following his gaze, from the entrance of Xidan Shopping Mall to both sides of Xidan North Street, half of the street was filled with citizens who came to watch the excitement.

If Du Feng had not taken safety measures in advance, he would have no time to watch the fun here.

After being absent-minded for a while, Du Feng came back to his senses.

He smiled and said to Lin Chaoyang: "It looks like this year will be another good year!"

Lin Chaoyang nodded with a relaxed expression, and the two of them started talking about the site selection for the new clothing city. Du Feng had been busy with this matter since the Chinese New Year.

The store will be opened in Shanghai in May and in Shijiazhuang in September. Du Feng has great ambitions. Ultimately, it is the development of the Asia-Europe Garment City in Yanjing this year that has given him great confidence.

Although it has only been a year, when the people of Yanjing mention buying clothes, most people’s first choice must be "Asia-Europe Clothing City".

Even though the clothes here are much more expensive than those sold in department stores, clothing stores, and street stalls outside, it still can't stop people's enthusiasm for buying.

During this year, the Asia-Europe Clothing City has completely conquered the hearts of Yanjing citizens with its quality and service.

After talking about business and watching the fun, Lin Chaoyang planned to leave.

Du Feng suddenly asked, "Brother-in-law, are you and my sister's companies still short of people?"

Lin Chaoyang looked at him suspiciously, "Is there anyone looking for a job?"

"My former colleagues from the art troupe. In the past few years, the army has been forced to cancel contracts, and many people leave the art troupe every year. I had a drink with them yesterday, and some of them who used to have a good relationship with me were not assigned ideal jobs."

"Can't the clothing store arrange it yet?"

Du Feng said: "They are all my comrades-in-arms. It is not appropriate to arrange them in the clothing city."

Lin Chaoyang nodded slightly. Du Feng is indeed becoming more and more mature now.

It is not appropriate to arrange such a relationship as comrades-in-arms in one's own company, both in terms of public and private matters.

"Can we go to Hong Kong?" Lin Chaoyang asked.

Du Feng smiled and said, "They are looking forward to it. They want to find a good place to go."

Lin Chaoyang pondered.

Du Feng's comrades-in-arms are all from the art troupe. They are good at performing arts shows, but they are definitely laymen when it comes to making movies.

If I go to Lin’s crew, I will have to start from scratch, but it doesn’t matter. Just like Du Feng said, as long as they can go to Hong Kong, they will be very happy even if the salary is lower.

These days, being able to work in Hong Kong is basically the same as going abroad.

For Lin Chaoyang and his wife, the expansion of Lin's Pictures has indeed strengthened their control over the company.

These people who came to Hong Kong from the mainland did not need to do anything. Even if they worked as stagehands on a film crew, they could serve as a pair of eyes for Lin Chaoyang and his wife, and that was enough.

As his mind turned, Lin Chaoyang said with a smile: "Since he is your comrade, of course there is no problem. The company has a lot of films now, so it is no problem to hire five or six more people. More people will have to wait until later."

Du Feng was overjoyed, "Thank you, brother-in-law, otherwise I would not be able to get back my boast." Lin Chaoyang asked him curiously, "What boast?"

Du Feng felt a little embarrassed and said that it was because he drank too much in the past two days and made a careless promise to help several comrades find good jobs.

When Young Master Du makes a move, he must make sure the job cannot be too bad. He also doesn't want to use his father's connections to send them to public institutions, so he thought of Lin Chaoyang's film company.

Working in a film company is not a very good job, but if you go to Hong Kong, it is a good job that is hard to find even if you try your best.

Lin Chaoyang smiled and shook his head, "You, drink less in the future."

"I will pay attention next time." Du Feng agreed humbly.

A few days later, the Xunweizhai Cultural Salon, which had not been held for two years, was held again in Xiaoliubukou Hutong.

This year, because there are also awards for outstanding short and medium-length novels, there are many winning writers, as many as thirty.

Perhaps because there were so many people, or perhaps because it had not been held for two years, the atmosphere at this year's salon was particularly lively, and it once again attracted a few curious reporters.

Since the salon was first held, writers who have participated in it have published their experiences in literary magazines, mostly about interesting things that happened when the writers were eating and chatting.

After the publication of these articles, the fame and influence of the cultural salon were invisibly increased.

Because no reporter has ever personally participated in it and no media has ever systematically reported on the inside story, these reporters are still full of curiosity about the cultural salon and hope to interview it.

But in line with the principle of keeping a low profile, the people attending the salon still did not accept interviews from these reporters.

But the more they did this, the more journalists became interested in the event.

On the second day after the cultural salon was held, several media outlets reported the event in a serious manner and gave readers a formal explanation of the origin of the salon and some hearsay, which attracted the attention of many readers.

It also adds to the mystery of Xunweizhai Cultural Salon among the public.

While the domestic literary circles and readers were discussing the flourishing cultural salons, Lin Chaoyang had already left Yanjing.

On the afternoon of his first day in Hong Kong, Tao Yushu brought Xu Guanwen home.

Lin Chaoyang greeted Xu Guanwen enthusiastically, and then secretly asked Tao Yushu: "I just came back today, why did you bring him here?"

Tao Yushu said helplessly: "After the Chinese New Year, I came to the company every day, fearing that you would be intercepted by others."

"Intercept? Intercept what?"

At this point, Tao Yushu's eyes flashed with joy, "You don't know yet, right? Paramount Pictures in the United States wants to adapt "The Truman Show"!"

Lin Chaoyang was a little surprised when he heard this. "When did it happen? Did they contact you?"

"Don't contact me, contact Jiahe..."

Tao Yushu briefly explained the situation to Lin Chaoyang.

In the second half of last year, "The Truman Show" was released in the United States and earned more than 900 million US dollars at the box office, becoming the fifth highest-grossing foreign film introduced to the United States last year.

This result may not seem impressive, but "The Truman Show" has the buffs of "art film" and "non-English language". Looking at the result the film has achieved in the American market, it can be said to be no small miracle.

The film's North American distributor Paramount tasted the sweetness and after research decided to acquire the adaptation rights for "The Truman Show."

"The Truman Show" was adapted and released less than a year ago. Of course, they wanted to obtain the adaptation rights not to remake it immediately, but to expand their script library.

This situation is common in Hollywood, not all scripts they buy will be adapted into movies.

However, there is a high probability that "The Truman Show" will be filmed and released in the end, because its box office has already proven itself.

Paramount first contacted Golden Harvest, which was quite happy at first, but later realized something was wrong.

Because Lin Chaoyang had already taken precautions against this situation when he signed the contract with them.

Although Golden Harvest owns the copyright to "The Truman Show", it does not have the right to sell the remake rights of this film to any film producer.

In other words, if Paramount wants to get the remake rights for "The Truman Show", it can only turn to Lin Chaoyang and Lin Pictures.

When Lin Chaoyang made this request, no one paid attention to it. Unexpectedly, this became a stumbling block for the cooperation between Golden Harvest and Paramount.

Zou Wenhuai was very dissatisfied with this. As early as 1980, Golden Harvest hoped to use Jackie Chan to enter the American film market.

At that time, Zou Wenhuai went to the United States and ambitiously proposed in front of many reporters to spend 6000 million US dollars to shoot 6 movies to help Jackie Chan gain a foothold in the United States and become an action superstar.

Then Golden Harvest filmed a movie called "The Trench" in the United States, and that was it.

As the saying goes, if you are not a fierce dragon, you cannot cross the river. It is true that Golden Harvest is a fierce dragon in Hong Kong, but in the United States, it can only be regarded as a small Karami.

Although the first attempt to enter the United States failed, Zou Wenhuai never gave up the idea.

This time, Paramount suddenly extended an olive branch to Golden Harvest. He was overjoyed to think that he had the opportunity to enter the United States again, and this time he would cooperate with a big Hollywood company.

Unexpectedly, the boat capsized in the ditch. How could Zou Wenhuai not be angry?
But no matter how angry he was, he had to put his emotions aside first and pretend to contact Tao Yushu, hoping to fool Tao Yushu into getting the authorization for the adaptation.

Then Tao Yushu noticed something was wrong and asked Xu Guanwen, only then did he know about Paramount.

Now Tao Yushu has contacted Paramount and is negotiating a remake of "The Truman Show".

Paramount's idea was to have Lin Chaoyang, the original author and screenwriter, write another version of the script, and they were willing to pay an additional $5 for the script.

"30?"

Lin Chaoyang hesitated when he heard this number. This number was the total fee given by Paramount, which included the remake rights and Lin Chaoyang's script fee.

"You also think this number is too low, right?"

Seeing his expression, Tao Yushu couldn't help but said angrily, "They are treating us like beggars. The Truman Show made tens of millions of dollars in profit, and they want to take the remake rights for 20 dollars!"

At this time, Lin Chaoyang chuckled and asked, "What do you think?"

"What do you think about us co-investing with Paramount in the American version of The Truman Show? This way we can make money and expand our business in the United States."

"No. If we cooperate with a giant company like Paramount, we might even lose money in the end if the movie sells well."

Lin Chaoyang recalled what he had heard from later generations about the shady operations of the Big Six in Hollywood and shook his head firmly.

He briefly explained to Tao Yushu how the big Hollywood companies handled this kind of co-production, which made Tao Yushu feel discouraged.

"Then why not just not cooperate with them? It's only $30. We can make other plans when we have the strength."

Tao Yushu was discouraged for a moment, then made a decision.

30 US dollars, converted into Hong Kong dollars, is only more than 200 million, which is really not a big deal for the Lin family now.

There is no need to sell the copyright of "The Truman Show" for this little money.

Lin Chaoyang praised: "My wife is wise!"

After they chatted for a while, Lin Chaoyang finally remembered that there was a guest at home. At this time, Xu Guanwen had been waiting anxiously for a while.

As soon as Lin Chaoyang sat down, Xu Guanwen immediately mentioned "Parasite" and asked Lin Chaoyang about the possibility of adapting it.

"Of course we can adapt it, but we at Lin's Pictures will be in charge of this film."

Xu Guanwen was mentally prepared before coming, so when he heard Lin Chaoyang's words he did not resist at all and agreed readily.

As long as he is still the leading actor, it doesn’t matter who invests in the movie. Anyway, he is earning enough from the film salary alone.

"Director should look for An Hua," Xu Guanwen suggested.

Lin Chaoyang nodded. Ann Hui was not a brilliant director. Instead, she could implement the contents of the script more thoroughly and reduce the risk of film failure.

Seeing Lin Chaoyang so happy, Xu Guanwen became excited.

The director, screenwriter and leading actor are still the same as in "The Truman Show", which makes him feel very safe. With the quality of the original "Parasite", it may be another award-winning film.

When Xu Guanwen thought about the possibility of winning a few more Best Actor awards in the future, his eyes were filled with anticipation.

After he left, Tao Yushu said, "If you want to write a script, it will delay your novel writing."

"It doesn't matter. It doesn't take long to write a script, and I can use this time to collect information for my next novel."

Hearing him say this, Tao Yushu became happy and quickly asked him about the general idea of ​​his next novel.

The last time Tao Yushu asked Lin Chaoyang about his new work, he was hesitant. This time he had an idea and answered fluently, which made Tao Yushu's eyes light up.

"Your idea is well structured. The characters you describe come alive to me just by listening to them. They will definitely be more vivid if written down.

But it does involve a lot of knowledge that you didn’t know before, so it’s right to collect more information and go out and collect some folk stories.”

"Yes, you still have to be fully prepared, so that what you write won't be embarrassing."

Tao Yushu said a few words with high hopes in his eyes to cheer Lin Chaoyang up.

On the third day after returning to Hong Kong, Li Hanxiang learned that Lin Chaoyang had returned and invited him to dinner.

His New Kunlun Pictures invested in "The King of Children". Now that the movie has won awards and its overseas copyright is selling well, he has also made a lot of money. He is so proud of himself that he specially called a bunch of friends over.

After meeting each other for the first time in several months, everyone felt a little dazed when they saw Lin Chaoyang again.

The reason is simple: Lin’s Pictures is quite popular right now.

Last year, "The Truman Show" and "A Better Tomorrow" were both great successes at the box office and in the public eye. Not only did they occupy the top two spots in Hong Kong's annual box office rankings, they also sold well in other territories and made huge profits.

By the end of the year, "The Romantic Comedy" once again gave the Hong Kong film industry a big surprise.

"Best Friends" was released half a month ago. Director Wang Jing's performance is still stable. Seeing that the box office is about to break 2000 million Hong Kong dollars, the performance in overseas areas will definitely not be bad.

In addition, Li Hanxiang made a fortune by investing in "The King of Children", so when people look at Lin Chaoyang, they can't help but put a thick filter with the taste of money on it.

Especially when everyone recalls that less than two years ago, the Lin Chaoyang they met was just a writer from the mainland, this strong contrast is even more shocking.

With everyone's mentality, even though it was Li Hanxiang who was treating the guests, Lin Chaoyang became the focus of the banquet.

But Li Hanxiang was not dissatisfied at all. In his eyes, Lin Chaoyang was just a money-giving boy. Not to mention that he had stolen the limelight from his party, even if he was asked to give away the mansion in Mid-Levels, he would not hesitate.

And after the party, Li Hanxiang did exactly that.

"Give me the house in Jiahui Garden?" Lin Chaoyang looked at Li Hanxiang in surprise, then said with a smile: "You're just giving me a house worth millions of dollars. You're spending a fortune like that!"

Li Hanxiang said bluntly: "You helped me make a lot of money, so what's the big deal about giving you a house?"

Lin Chaoyang smiled and said, "I appreciate your kindness, but forget about the house."

After being rejected, Li Hanxiang persisted for a while, but seeing Lin Chaoyang's firm attitude, he could only sigh helplessly.

He knew in his heart that it would not be so easy to make a lot of money by riding on Lin Chaoyang's coattails like before.

Seeing his expression, Lin Chaoyang guessed what he was thinking and said, "If you want to invest in our company's movies in the future, you can't do it the same way as before."

Li Hanxiang's heart skipped a beat; what was supposed to come finally came.

Friends are friends, and business is business.

He repeated this sentence in his heart, and his face became serious, "I understand!"

"You know nothing!" Lin Chaoyang cursed with a smile, and then said: "If you invest again in the future, you must bring in at least five investors for me, and you will pay 40% of the investment!"

Li Hanxiang was stunned when he heard this.

(End of this chapter)