Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 486 Renaudot Prize
Tao Yushu's eyes lit up when he heard his selections. "These two are good candidates. They are famous and not expensive. They are naturally on our side."

"But... even if the films they star in are not under the Lin Group's name, but under the name of a shell company, they still can't be shown in Wandao and make money."

Lin Chaoyang hesitated for a moment, "Yuen Biao can be asked to act in films sold to Taiwan. Now Golden Harvest won't let him act in Jackie Chan's films. Eastern Condors was a box office failure, and he was greatly affected."

Yuen Biao is one of the Seven Little Fortunes. He followed his senior brothers Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan and enjoyed a few years of fame.

After "Project A", Golden Harvest was afraid that Yuen Biao would take away Jackie Chan's star glory and stopped him from participating in Jackie Chan's movies. So Yuen Biao started to make movies with Sammo Hung.

Before 85, Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan were both equally powerful kung fu stars in the Hong Kong film industry.

Especially since Sammo Hung is his own boss, his status is even higher than Jackie Chan's.

But starting from 86, Sammo Hung made a big bet on action blockbusters, shooting "The Millionaire's Express" with an investment of HK$3000 million and "Eastern Condors" with an investment of HK$3500 million.

In the current Hong Kong film market, the only movies that can make bosses invest more than 3000 million in a single film are Jackie Chan's action movies.

Sammo Hung may have done this with the intention of competing with his junior fellow apprentice, but unfortunately his gamble did not succeed.

After the release of these two films, the local box office performance was quite good, exceeding 2000 million Hong Kong dollars, but compared with the huge production costs, it was nothing.

According to media reports, "Millions Express" ultimately lost HK$1000 million, while the loss of "Eastern Condors" was even more exaggerated, exceeding HK$1500 million, which is equivalent to the loss of a big-cast movie of the same period.

"Eastern Condors" was taken off the screen a few days ago, and Golden Harvest even held a review meeting for this purpose.

It was called a self-criticism, but in fact it was a criticism meeting against Sammo Hung. Zou Wenhuai compared the failure of "Eastern Condors" to the loss of "Cleopatra" which went down in Hollywood history.

As a result, Sammo Hung and Raymond Chow almost threw punches at each other on the spot, and the conflict between the two sides was completely intensified. This has been one of the hot news stories pursued by the Hong Kong media during this period.

"Hey, do you think we should take this opportunity to win over Sammo Hung?" Tao Yushu asked.

Lin Chaoyang hesitated for a moment and said, "It's not necessary. Although Sammo Hung has fallen out with Golden Harvest, the two sides are too deeply involved. There is no need to anger Zou and He. Besides, we are being watched by the Taiwan side now, so he may not be willing to cooperate.

Besides, his glory days seem to be over, otherwise Boss Zou wouldn't be so disrespectful to him."

Tao Yushu has always trusted Lin Chaoyang's judgment, so after hearing what he said, he stopped worrying about it.

"Yuen Biao has a good image and acting skills, and is somewhat famous in Japan and South Korea. Now that he is not favored by Golden Harvest, it is a good choice to use him to enter the Taiwan and overseas markets.

Liang Xiaolong has a mediocre image, so he should just star in the "Li Wang" series. Anyway, such a movie cannot be shown in Taiwan."

Two months later, Tao Yushu wanted to shoot some low-budget action films, so he poached Lan Naicai from Golden Harvest.

This guy has a very strong taste, nicknamed "Mouse", and has filmed many heavy-tasting action movies before.

After coming to Lin's Pictures, he contributed a series of ideas, each one more bloody and violent than the last, and Tao Yushu felt physically uncomfortable after listening to them.

However, talents are rare, so Tao Yushu still asked him to organize all his ideas. In the end, he found that almost all of his ideas came from Japanese comics.

After considering many options, Tao Yushu decided to shoot "Li Wang" first to test the waters. If the effect is good, he will shoot other films.

"Li Wang" is considered a Category III film in Hong Kong. The censorship system in Taiwan is much stricter than that in Hong Kong, and such films cannot be shown there at all.

Moreover, these types of films are all cult films, with box office revenue being secondary and video tape revenue being the highest.

"As for Jet Li, his image is more decent. Let's wait until the company finishes writing those scripts."

Seeing Lin Chaoyang's thoughtful consideration, Tao Yushu was completely relieved and said, "Just do as you say."

Lin Chaoyang smiled and said, "Okay, all the problems have been solved. Is it time to get off work?"

He extended his hand to Tao Yushu, who stood up with a smile on her face and put her hand in his. The couple then left the Prince's Building together.

When the couple returned home, they saw Maggie Cheung holding Yan Yan with a doting look on her face.

"If you like children so much, why don't you get married and have one?" Tao Yushu teased her.

Zhang Manyu threw Yanyan to Tao Yumo and said, "Forget it, she's just a child, just like her for a while."

"Auntie, hug me!"

Yanyan wanted to climb on her again, so Maggie Cheung had to pick her up again.

"Brother-in-law, I heard that you bought Cathay City shares?" Maggie Cheung asked.

Lin Chaoyang glanced at his sister-in-law, and Tao Yumo looked up to the sky, almost whistling.

"Yes."

"I see that Cathay City's stock has fallen a bit in the past two days."

"It has been rising for several months, so it is normal for the stock price to fall back."

Maggie Cheung gave him a surprised look and said, "The stock price is going to fall and you're going to lose money, but you're not worried at all?"

"What does losing money have to do with me? I cleared my position last week!" Lin Chaoyang said calmly.

"You cleared out your inventory?" Maggie Cheung was surprised.

She looked at Lin Chaoyang, then at Tao Yumo. Tao Yumo also looked at Lin Chaoyang in surprise. Noticing her best friend's gaze, she turned her head away guiltily.

Maggie Cheung didn't have time to settle accounts with her, so she asked Lin Chaoyang: "That's Cathay City, which has increased sixfold in three months. Are you just selling it like this?"

"You said it's increased sixfold in three months, and you've made enough money, so why not run?"

Maggie Cheung opened her mouth and finally said, "You are so lucky!"

Luck? You call this luck?
Lin Chaoyang really wanted to smash Maggie Cheung’s vase head to see what kind of mess was inside.

"Brother-in-law, brother-in-law, what do you think about me buying Cathay City now?" Maggie Cheung asked tentatively.

"Not so good. The stock price has increased several times. What are you going to do now? Are you ready to take over?"

"I think Cathay City still has potential. I heard they are going to acquire a real estate company this year. The share price will definitely go up then."

Maggie Cheung spoke with such confidence that Lin Chaoyang almost thought she had some inside information.

"Where did you hear that?"

“That’s what everyone says!”

Lin Chaoyang was speechless for a moment.

With someone like you, if you don’t lose money, who will?

"Would you consider changing your investment direction?"

"Change direction? Change what?"

Lin Chaoyang stared at Maggie Cheung's innocent face and asked, "Go to the bank and make a time deposit?"

Maggie Cheung felt insulted and glared at Lin Chaoyang with a pout. She wanted to ignore him, but when she thought about how the stocks Lin Chaoyang bought had increased several times and he had escaped in time, she couldn't help but "ask questions without shame".

After being pestered by her for a while, Lin Chaoyang said, "If it doesn't work out, you can speculate in real estate. The real estate market is on the rise now, and you can make money without losing money."

“How can speculating in real estate make money faster than speculating in stocks?”

Lin Chaoyang was silent after hearing this, and finally gave a suggestion, "Keep some of your future earnings in the bank."

"Brother-in-law, I told you I don't have a deposit."

"A current account is fine."

Maggie Cheung pondered for a long time before she realized the unfinished meaning in Lin Chaoyang's words, and she felt very indignant.

He muttered, "What's so great about that! It's just stock trading. Once I learn how to do it, I won't necessarily be worse than you!"

Tao Yushu advised: "The stock market is a high-risk investment activity. Your brother-in-law is right. If you make money, it is better to buy a house than to speculate in stocks."

The same words, spoken by different people, have different effects.

After Tao Yushu finished speaking, Maggie Cheung sighed obediently, "Alas! I don't have any money."

"No money?" Tao Yushu was puzzled. "You make a lot every year, right?"

Maggie Cheung blushed, "I earn a lot, but I spend a lot too! I buy houses, cars, clothes and bags for my parents..."

At this time, Tao Yumo interrupted and said, "Stock trading, and stock trading, the biggest losses are caused by stock trading!"

Maggie Cheung glared at her fiercely.

"I did lose a little bit in stock trading, but as for investing, there are losses and gains," Maggie Cheung said hesitantly.

"Which stock made money?" Lin Chaoyang asked, wanting to watch the fun.

Maggie Cheung's face immediately turned red, and the veins on her forehead popped out. She argued:

"How can you say whether an investment is profitable or not? Stocks are securities investments... The bigger the investment, the greater the risk... If the risk is high, isn't it normal to lose a little?"

There were a series of difficult to understand words, such as "stick to value investment" and "cover positions at low levels".

"Okay, okay, stop talking so much nonsense!" Tao Yushu interrupted her chatter and asked, "How much money do you have now?"

Maggie Cheung hesitated for a long time, "50."

"All?"

“Do you want to count the money in your bank account?”

"nonsense."

"50."

Tao Yushu's face was full of question marks. What does it mean?
Maggie Cheung explained embarrassedly: "I had 55 before. I bought 50 Cathay City shares a few days ago, and then their share price fell."

People will laugh unconsciously when they are speechless, and Tao Yushu is like this now, "So you only want to keep 5 yuan for yourself to live on?"

Maggie Cheung twisted her clothes with her fingers like a primary school student caught by her teacher. "Originally it was 250 million."

Tao Yushu looked at her in surprise, "So you lost nearly 200 million in stock trading?"

Maggie Cheung nodded timidly.

"Oh my God!" Tao Yushu couldn't help but hold his forehead.

Maggie Cheung is quite famous now, so it is no problem for her to earn three or four million Hong Kong dollars a year, but female stars also spend a lot, so it is already very good if she can save one or eight hundred thousand a year.

Losing 200 million yuan in stock trading was equivalent to her working for two years for nothing.

"No, you've lost so much money, haven't you ever reflected on whether you have a talent for investment?" Tao Yushu couldn't help asking her.

Maggie Cheung replied seriously, "I was just unlucky. I caught up with the market correction and didn't get out of the top accurately."

Lin Chaoyang couldn't help laughing out loud. You called that "not escaping the top accurately"? You were the one who took over the market, right?
If he remembered correctly, the Hang Seng Index has been soaring for a year.

Everyone else's stocks are rising, but the stocks you bought are falling, right?
Maggie Cheung looked at Lin Chaoyang with anger and grievance, feeling inexplicably sad and angry.

Up to now, Tao Yushu still doesn't understand.

Maggie Cheung must have learned about Lin Chaoyang's stock purchase through Tao Yumo, and thought there was an opportunity, so she bought some. However, she did not expect the stock price to fall back just after she bought it.

50 turned into 45, a loss of 10% in just a few days. I guess he couldn't bear it any longer, so I came here today to find out some news, but I didn't expect that Lin Chaoyang had already run away.

She figured out the whole thing and for some reason she felt like bursting out in laughter.

But Maggie Cheung looked at her with a depressed and pitiful expression, and she was really embarrassed and had to hold back her smile.

He held Maggie Cheung's hand and comforted her:
"Okay, okay. Investing is risky. If you lose, you have to admit it. Learn from your mistakes and don't buy stocks anymore."

Maggie Cheung's face was gloomy, and she seemed unwilling to see her investment career end like this.

“With more than $500,000, you can buy a 400-square-foot property.

According to the current housing price increase, it will not be a problem to earn hundreds of thousands of yuan in two years. "

Maggie Cheung is very dissatisfied with the figure of "hundreds of thousands". It is true that speculating in real estate does not make money as fast as speculating in stocks!

"If I had money now, I would buy a house." Tao Yumo felt that Maggie Cheung was like a full man who did not know the hunger of a hungry man. She had money but did not buy a house, while she wanted to buy one but had no money.

When Tao Yushu bought an office in Prince Building to start her company, she witnessed the property price of Prince Building increase from $950 per square foot to the current $1500 per square foot.

Stocks can make money, but the risks are too great and it’s not as stable as real estate speculation!
Seeing Maggie Cheung's expression changing from gloomy to bright, Tao Yushu knew that she definitely had not given up.

She also understood that this was just like gambling. Everyone wanted to make a profit, so how could they give up so easily?

Tao Yushu glanced at his sister with reproach. In fact, she was also responsible for this matter.

When Tao Yumo saw her sister looking at her, she looked embarrassed and thought to herself, I mean well too.

Tao Yushu sighed and asked Lin Chaoyang, "Chaoyang, do you think Cathay City still has potential?"

Hearing this, Maggie Cheung's eyes were suddenly filled with desire, and she stared at Lin Chaoyang closely.

“Cathay City’s parent company is Century City, which had outstanding results last year and has also performed well so far this year.

Last month, Standard Chartered Asia also specifically introduced Cathay City’s future investment intentions and spoke highly of their management.

If you hold it for a long time, it is also a good choice.”

When Lin Chaoyang analyzed the share price of Cathay City, his expression was calm, which made people unconsciously feel convinced.

After listening to his analysis, Maggie Cheung felt somewhat relieved, "Then I won't sell it for now."

"Okay, let's eat!"

After solving Maggie Cheung's investment problem, Tao Yushu arranged for everyone to have a meal.

Time flies and it is almost September. "A Lang's Story" directed by Johnnie To is officially released.

This was the first time that Lin Films released its own film after taking over Shaw Cinemas. The publicity was huge and it also held a joint screening with Shuangnan Line and Golden Princess.

The Shuangnan Line is a Z-style cinema chain, consisting of several large theaters such as the Yindu Theater and the Guodu Theater. They have also gathered several small theaters that are not managed by other theater chains, forming a cinema chain consisting of 10 theaters.

Princess Jin is the financial backer behind Cinema City. Plus, Lam's Pictures is now banned by the Freedom Federation. Logically, they should avoid Lam's Pictures as much as possible.

However, Tao Yushu had already contacted Feng Bingzhong a few days ago. Feng Bingzhong was plotting to become independent from Princess Jin. Tao Yushu took the initiative to come to him, and he was so happy that he couldn't contain himself.

He is one of the people in charge of Princess Jin, so it is natural for Princess Jin to appear on "A Lang's Story" without any problem.

And when doing business, you can’t be too rigid.

Two years ago, in order to compete with Golden Harvest, Cinema City had joint screenings with the two southern lines more than once.

It's just a movie. If Taiwan finds any clues, they will start to attack and kill all the film companies in Hong Kong, and they will be exhausted themselves.

What's more, Cinema City has been operating in Taiwan for many years, so this is not a problem at all.

A total of 38 theaters including Lin’s, Golden Princess, and Shuangnan lines jointly screened "A Lang's Story", which became an instant success and caused a great response in the news media.

You should know that the ban order from the Freedom Association has been issued for three months, and the actors were also named during this period.

As a result, the release of Lin's Pictures' new film was not affected at all, but instead felt even more powerful.

Such a bizarre situation naturally became a hot topic for many Hong Kong media, and also prompted "A Lang's Story" to become the focus of these media as soon as it was released.

In its first week of release, "A Lang's Story" easily earned over 10 million yuan at the box office, becoming the biggest dark horse in the Hong Kong film industry this year.

"A Lang's Story" tells the story of A Lang, played by Chow Yun-fat, who turns over a new leaf and becomes a new man for his son, even at the cost of his life.

It does not have those weird and fierce actions of today's Hong Kong movies. It is just an art film about the love between father and son.

But no one expected that such an art film could achieve such amazing box office figures in its first week of release.

Not to mention comparing it with art films, even ordinary commercial films with big casts would be beaten by "A Lang's Story".

"Eastern Condors", which was released in July, had an investment of 7 million yuan and starred many stars, but it only earned 3500 million yuan at the box office.

Looking at the box office performance of "A Lang's Story", many filmmakers can tell at a glance that this is definitely another 3000 million-level box office bomb.

The argument that "no one can be richer than Chow Yun-fat" has once again emerged in the media, and everyone in the film industry can see it clearly.

The most fundamental reason for the success of "A Lang's Story" should be attributed to the "operator" Lin's Pictures.

Despite the ban, Lin's Pictures not only did not show any signs of decline, but the box office of its films was higher than the previous ones, and it also had its own cinema chain, and its business was getting better and better.

Anyone who sees this situation can't help but admire it.

Moreover, during this period of time, everyone has more or less heard about some actions of Lin Pictures.

Everyone can see clearly that Lin's Pictures is still far from exploding.

The success of "A Lang's Story" allowed the outside world to see the strength of Lin's Pictures and also stabilized the confidence within the company. Tao Yushu, as the boss, also felt a lot more relaxed.

By mid-month, she received news that Shi Fangyu had stepped down as director of the Film Bureau and that Teng Jinxian, former director of Emei Film Studio, would be the new director.

Tao Yushu specially contacted Shi Fangyu to greet him and learn about the current situation of the Film Bureau.

Then Shi Fangyu mentioned that China Film Corporation would take the lead in organizing a Chinese film festival recently, and he helped Tao Yushu and Teng Jinxian get a spot to participate in the exhibition.

Tao Yushu expressed his gratitude and decided to go and see for himself.

According to Shi Fangyu, the scale of this Chinese Film Festival is not small. In addition to many film producers from socialist countries that already have good relations with China, there are also film producers from many developed countries such as the United States, Canada, and Japan.

This is the largest film exhibition held in China in decades, and Tao Yushu certainly would not miss such a good opportunity.

That day, while she was packing her luggage, she was explaining company matters to Tao Yumo. After Lin Chaoyang finished his phone call, he came out with a strange look on his face.

"What's wrong?" Tao Yushu asked.

"It's nothing, I was shortlisted for an award." Lin Chaoyang said.

His tone was so flat that Tao Yushu almost ignored it. Only after she realized what she was doing did she stop what she was doing.

"Nominated? What award? From which magazine?"

It’s no wonder that Tao Yushu would ask this question, as the current time does not coincide with the award ceremony of any important literary award in the country.

On the contrary, in the past two years, literary awards held by major domestic magazines have been very popular, with one emerging from time to time.

People's Literature Award, Contemporary Literature Award, October Literature Award...one after another.

"It's not a domestic magazine, it's from France."

"French?"

Tao Yushu's voice involuntarily rose two notches. Not only her, but also Tao Yumo's eyes widened.

"Yes. Gallimard Publishing House said that The Truman Show has been shortlisted for the Prix Renaudot."

After all, Tao Yushu studied Chinese and had worked as an editor for several years. She thought about it in her mind and then a look of ecstasy appeared on her face.

"The Prix Renaudot, which is awarded on the same day as the Prix Goncourt?"

Lin Chaoyang nodded.

Tao Yushu grabbed his hand at once, "Really?"

Lin Chaoyang held her hand with his backhand and said softly, "It's just a nomination, it doesn't necessarily mean you'll win the prize."

"I know, of course I know."

Although he tried hard to suppress the excitement in his heart, Tao Yushu couldn't help but feel a surge of warm and irrepressible joy in his heart, and his heart was surging.

Just as she was feeling happy, she thought of a key question.

"The Renaudot Prize is usually awarded to French writers, right? Is there any precedent for awarding it to foreign writers?"

"I asked Clement Metayer, and he said there was no precedent. The reason why I was shortlisted this time was partly because their publisher did the public relations, and partly because The Truman Show was very much to the taste of the judges.

Renaudot’s style has always been to emphasize innovation and artistry in his works. The Truman Show excels in this regard, which is the most critical reason for its nomination.”

The Renaudot Literature Prize was founded in 10 by 1925 journalists including Charente-Marie-Claude Piccard in memory of Overaste Renaudot, the founder of France's first newspaper.

It is awarded every year on the same day as the Prix Goncourt, France's first literary award, and has always favored works and writers with unique styles.

Because it aims to make up for the regrets and shortcomings in the awarding of the Goncourt Prize, it has been highly praised by the French literary community and even the European literary community for many years.

Its influence in France is second only to the Prix Goncourt.

After listening to Lin Chaoyang's answer, Tao Yushu suddenly laughed for some reason. His laughter was full of joy, which left Lin Chaoyang confused.

"Sister, what are you laughing at?" Tao Yumo asked.

Tao Yushu then stopped laughing and said, "I laughed because of course your brother-in-law won the award."

"Won the award? Didn't they say they were shortlisted?" Tao Yumo looked puzzled.

"It's true that he's on the shortlist now. But why is he a foreign writer and his work on the shortlist? You don't think the jury made an exception just to let your brother-in-law be on the shortlist, do you?"

Lin Chaoyang and Tao Yumo suddenly understood.

Yes, if it was just for being shortlisted, why would the Renaudot Prize jury go to so much trouble to make an exception?

"So it's a sure thing that my brother-in-law will win the award?" Tao Yumo asked excitedly.

Tao Yushu calmed down at this time. "I can't say it's set in stone, but I feel it should be a high probability. At least the heavyweights on the jury should like your brother-in-law's novel very much. Otherwise, how could a foreign writer's work be shortlisted?"

"That makes sense! The American publishing contract for The Truman Show was just signed a while ago, and now we are going to win an award in France.

Brother-in-law, this time you are going international! "

Tao Yumo's face was filled with a bright smile, and she was even happier than if she had won the award.

"It's too early to talk about whether it's international or not." Lin Chaoyang said with a smile.

They didn't know much about the Renaudot Prize. They only knew that the award would be presented in early November, which was still more than a month away. Everyone was happy for a while and then got back to business.

Tao Yushu boarded the plane back to the mainland with great excitement. She went home first after landing, and then she contacted Yu Yuxi. She learned that the filming of "Red Sorghum" was going smoothly, and she felt even happier.

Then she went to Yanying Studio to find Chen Kaige.

After winning the award at the West Berlin Film Festival, Chen Kaige first enjoyed flowers and applause for a few days, and then was brought to Hong Kong by Tao Yushu to visit and study for nearly a month.

Tao Yushu could see that he was not interested in the commercial films of Hong Kong cinema, and he did not force him. Even if he did not need to learn the style, he could at least learn the techniques.

After returning to the mainland, Chen Kaige has been studying the script of his next film.

After meeting, Tao Yushu chatted with Chen Kaige for a while, and then asked about his script. Chen Kaige took out the script he had just written.

Tao Yushu's brows furrowed more and more as he read the script. Seeing this, Chen Kaige also became nervous involuntarily. He knew why Tao Yushu was frowning.

After a long time, Tao Yushu raised his head and looked at Chen Kaige with a hint of disappointment in his eyes.

"Keigo, you're still following the old path of making movies."

Chen Kaige's heart sank when he heard Tao Yushu's comments, "Aunt Lin, I think..."

"Your opinion is not important. What is important is the audience's feelings. Your script is still so obscure, exactly the same as the first draft of "The King of Children".

You have to understand that these things in the script that you think are poetic and philosophical will be nothing but nonsense that no one listens to if there is no audience to appreciate them.

Don't expect such works to do well at international film shows or festivals.

Those foreigners have completely different cultural backgrounds from yours. Why do you think they can understand your ideas?
If you can’t first impress them with the story and then make them resonate with it, do you think you can win the award?”

Tao Yushu's words were merciless and could even be considered a reprimand.

Chen Kaige's face turned red as he heard this, and his heart was filled with grief and indignation at not being understood.

(End of this chapter)