Exciting 1979!

Chapter 483 Movies and Games: Do Both Well!

Wei Hong didn't quite understand the foreign old man's status, but Wei Ming explained to her that he was "equivalent to Mr. Cao Yu in the American theater world," and she understood—he was a big shot.

After completing his work directing the Chinese version of "Death of a Salesman," Arthur Miller had to return to New York. The flight route was Beijing → Shanghai → San Francisco → New York.

Although Miller hasn't produced any masterpieces for many years, the few plays he wrote during his golden age are enough to support him for a lifetime. Now, a New York film company wants to remake "Death of a Salesman" and has secured Dustin Hoffman as the lead actor, so he has to go back and revise the script.

"So we're on the same flight!" Arthur Miller waved his boarding pass. "Great, this journey won't be boring."

Perhaps it was because Wei Ming had brought glory to the country that he was granted first class this time. It was certainly not as luxurious as it would be in later years, but the seats were more spacious, the armrests were adjustable, and the flight attendants' service was more attentive.

For a hedonist like Wei Ming, a long-haul flight of more than ten hours, first class is indeed the reward he most desires.

This first-class cabin is like a soft sleeper on a train; you can't buy it even if you have money, unless you reach a certain level or are a foreign friend.

Once on the plane, Wei Ming and Wei Hong were not seated next to Arthur Miller. However, the person sitting next to them was an American backpacker who had heard of Arthur Miller's reputation. Miller then swapped their seats with a signed copy of "Death of a Salesman".

The three of them stood closer together, but before Wei Ming could talk to Miller much, Wei Hong started practicing her spoken English with the old man.

"Arthur, please sit down."

Then Wei Hong began asking Miller what his works were about, and Miller naturally cited his most prized work, "Death of a Salesman," written during the Great Depression.

Wei Ming listened attentively to his understanding of his own work, as the original author.

In fact, Wei Ming thinks that Chinese people in this era may not be able to understand why a salesman would want to die. If it were forty years later, middle-aged men with families and mortgages during an economic downturn would be more likely to empathize.

On a smaller scale, this play tells the tragedy of an ordinary person.

After 30 years of hard work, with old age and declining health, his performance has declined and his earning power has plummeted. With two good-for-nothing sons and a mortgage to pay, the protagonist Willy finally decides to commit suicide to collect insurance money and squeeze out the last bit of his usefulness.

On a grander scale, it reveals the spiritual predicament of an era through the last 24 hours of an ordinary salesman's life.

Willie's tragedy lies in the fact that he believed his success in the first half of his life was largely due to the benefits of the times; in the fact that he wanted to succeed too much and, failing to achieve it himself, placed all his hopes on his two sons; and in the fact that people must learn to reconcile with themselves, otherwise constant inner conflict can easily lead to destruction.

This work was written more than 30 years ago, but even in the 21st century, it can still be found in reality. This is the power of classic texts. Wei Ming believes that even in 50 or 60 years, we can still see middle-aged men like Willy.

Miller told the story's ending before dinner.

"At Willie's funeral, only family members and two neighbors attended, and the scene was somber. His son, Biff, eventually decided to leave the city and return to farming, while his wife, Linda, tearfully recounted at Willie's grave that they had finally paid off the mortgage on their house, but no one needed to live there anymore."

Wei Hong could already feel that immense desolation: "I know Americans have a habit of spending in advance, and many people are burdened with loans. Arthur, do you have loans too?"

Miller laughed and said, "I also run my own company. As long as you run a company, you will inevitably have to deal with banks. But owing money to banks is also an art of dealing with them. If you want to study in the United States, you will definitely need to seek help from banks for a loan if you don't have your brother's financial support."

Wei Hong: "I don't need it. I wrote a book before, which sold over a million copies, and then invested it in the stock market. Now I have several hundred thousand dollars."

Miller: "..."

Is this what other people's children are like?

After lunch, everyone took a short break. Seeing Wei Hong's strong thirst for knowledge, Miller began to talk to her about his other masterpiece, "The Crucible" (also known as "Purgatory"). This play had been staged by Huang Shuqin's father, the master Huang Zuolin, at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre two years ago.

Although this story uses the past to satirize the present, aiming to criticize the political persecution and oppressive atmosphere of the McCarthy era, it's still necessary to remind Xiaohong that when studying in the United States, while she can respect her classmates' religious beliefs, she must never cross them.

Americans have a lot of shoe culture, and even Hollywood stars can't escape it.

After more than ten hours of flying, crossing the Pacific Ocean, the sun was just rising when they landed in Los Angeles.

After saying goodbye to Miller, Wei Ming and his sister were invited to visit Broadway in New York when they had time, and expressed their hope to have the opportunity to collaborate.

During his time at the Beijing People's Art Theatre, he learned about Wei Ming's play "Mr. Donkey" and felt that Wei Ming was very talented in writing plays.

After they exited San Francisco Airport, Gong Biyang, who had previously interacted with Wei Ming and now had business dealings with him, personally came to pick them up.

Gong Biyang said, "The old lady is waiting at home. Why don't we go home first?"

Wei Ming: "Okay."

Looking at the unfamiliar city, Wei Hong tightened her grip on her bag. When they went abroad, Lao Wei had just returned and had given them a century-old ginseng root to take with them; it was in the bag.

The car headed straight for Tiberon Estate, and on the way, Gong Biyang couldn't help but mention Wei Ming winning the Palme d'Or at Cannes.

"I was stunned when I saw the news. How could there be such a genius as you? Your novels sell over a million copies every time, and you even won Europe's highest award for a movie you made!"

"I was quite surprised to win the award; I guess I was just lucky."

"Luck is also part of ability, right? Will this movie be shown in the US? According to American filmmakers who have attended Cannes, it's very good."

Wei Ming thought to himself, "Has Amblin already started its publicity campaign?"
"Yes, Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment has bought the American rights to this film."

“Ampell Entertainment,” Gong Biyang recalled something. “The old lady asked Ampel for a price a while ago, but they refused to sell.”

Of course not. Amblin is essentially Spielberg's alter ego, having produced the highest-grossing film of all time, "E.T.", and with projects in development including "Back to the Future" and "The Goonies," both of which have the potential to be box office hits. How could he possibly sell it? Even if DreamWorks were to be sold in the future, he wouldn't have sold Amblin.

Moreover, Amblin wouldn't be of much significance without Spielberg.

Wei Ming was even more curious: "Is Grandma planning to enter the film and television industry?"

"Yes, it seems I was inspired by you."

Wei Ming nodded. This direction wasn't bad. Now that Reagan had taken office, the US economy was improving across the board, and the film and television industry, especially the once sluggish film industry, was beginning to enter a period of rapid development and its influence was growing. It was indeed worth getting involved in.

Moreover, film and television involve ideology. The number of Jews and Chinese in the United States is roughly the same, but their influence is vastly different. In addition to the different starting points, Jews control Hollywood and wield the mouthpiece of global propaganda, which is also an important reason.

Even Arthur Miller, whom I met on the plane, was a well-known left-wing intellectual who sympathized with the Communist Party, was friendly to China, and was praised as the conscience of American society. However, because of his Jewish background, he also wrote "Playing for Survival," a hymn to Israel.

"Did she eventually buy the film company?" Wei Ming asked.

"Haha, this is quite interesting. You can talk to her about it when you meet her."

Upon arriving at the Shi family manor in Tiberon, Wei Ming was surprised to find his aunt there, accompanied by Li Zhi.

"Grandma, I've come to see you. This is my little sister, Xiaohong."

Wei Hong looked around the luxurious manor, and when she saw her great-aunt Wei Lindi, she felt that only this old lady's temperament was worthy of such a house.

No wonder she was willing to give away that old villa in Shanghai; this house is worth several old villas.

"Grandma, this is a wild ginseng that my father personally dug up for you in Changbai Mountain. It's over a hundred years old. He almost got eaten by a bear while digging it up." Wei Hong quickly presented the gift after meeting her great-aunt.

Wei Lindi asked in surprise, "Oh, you even encountered a bear, didn't you bring me a pair of bear paws?"

Wei Hong was taken aback, and then Wei Ming and Wei Lingling all burst into laughter. They laughed, and Xiao Hong laughed too. She hadn't expected the old lady to be so humorous.

After the joke, she actually opened the wooden box and looked at the huge old ginseng root covered with tendrils.

Young people don't really understand this stuff, but Wei Lindi was a wealthy young lady who managed the Shi family for so many years, so she has a very sharp eye.

"It really is a century-old ginseng. Your father is so thoughtful. Why didn't you bring him along this time?" The great-aunt instructed the housekeeper to put the ginseng away.

Wei Ming replied, "He was still in Changbai Mountain when I bought the plane ticket. Maybe next time, definitely next time."

"You really went to Changbai Mountain to dig it up yourself?" Wei Lingling asked in surprise.

“You think you can fool your aunt? My dad went to Changbai Mountain with Xizi to film ‘Journey to the West’,” Wei Ming explained to his aunt. “Xizi is my Uncle Ping’an’s son. He’s a child star, known as the male version of Shirley Temple in mainland China. He played Red Boy in the CCTV drama ‘Journey to the West’.”

"I know, I know. I heard he even won Best Actor. He inherited that from his grandma. He could come to Hollywood if he has the chance. Why don't you write a script for him?" his great-aunt said with a smile.

When she mentioned Hollywood, Wei Ming asked directly, "I heard that you're going to enter the film and television industry and even buy a film company?"

Wei Lingling: "We were just talking about that. I only arrived last night."

Wei Ming: "Did you buy it? How much did it cost?"

"It won't be that fast, but we've reached an agreement. The other party quoted 3000 million," Wei Lingling said.

"3000 million dollars, which company is it?" Wei Ming asked. This amount definitely doesn't belong to a large company, but it's certainly not a small company either. It must be a company with a certain level of brand recognition.

Wei Lingling said, "Have you heard of AMC?"

Wei Ming: "This isn't a film company, it's a cinema chain." Wei Lingling: "Wow, you're amazing, you even know that."

Wei Hong seized the opportunity to say, "My brother is known as the 'know-it-all' from Peking University; there's nothing he doesn't know."

Wei Ming wasn't that insightful; he only knew that AMC was one of the three major cinema chains in North America, and that it was later bought by Wanda for over $30 billion, operated for a few years, and then sold.

However, at this time, AMC was not considered a particularly large theater chain in North America, because there were no large theater chains in the United States at that time. They were all relatively scattered and in a period of transformation. AMC could only be considered one of the companies that had done a good job in the transformation and had great potential.

Wei Ming asked, "Grandma, what made you think of buying a cinema chain company?"

"You haven't eaten yet, have you? Let's have breakfast together and chat while we eat."

At the dinner table, the old lady shared her thoughts: "At first, I wanted to buy a large film company directly, such as a smaller one within a large company like Columbia or United Artists. After inquiring about the price, I felt it would be a bit difficult to buy. Then I looked at those smaller companies and found that Hollywood film companies are established and go bankrupt very frequently. Some small companies sometimes go bankrupt or even become heavily indebted because of a mistake in investing in a single film. This industry values ​​foresight too much, and it's not easy for outsiders to get in."

Wei Ming nodded. That's true, especially for small companies. They have poor risk resistance and can only operate on a small scale. Unless they encounter a particularly good opportunity, they will live under the shadow of bankruptcy for the rest of their lives.

The old lady continued, "However, the film industry is indeed getting better and better. The annual box office growth is very stable. Last year, there was even a movie called 'E.T.' So I thought I might as well try the cinema industry, which is indispensable for movies. As long as the film market is good, it's hard to lose money."

This idea isn't bad; the North American cinema industry is expected to grow steadily for at least the next thirty years, though it won't be as explosive as the internet and electronics boom.

Wei Lingling said, "So you originally wanted to make a movie, but with the Paramount Decree, you can't make one now."

Wei Ming thought that this wasn't entirely true. During Reagan's second term, the Paramount Decree, which prohibited film studios from operating theater chains, had become virtually ineffective and was increasingly relaxed. Major film studios began to re-enter the theater chain business. Columbia, Universal, Paramount, and Warner Bros. all successively purchased parts of the US theater chain, eventually occupying 16% of the US theater chain resources, and these were all the theaters with the best box office revenue.

However, the old lady wasn't thinking of exploiting legal loopholes. What she was thinking was: "I won't make it, but you can. Aren't you making movies in Hong Kong too? Have you ever thought about coming to Hollywood to make it? That way, we'll be on the same side, both upstream and downstream."

Wei Lingling hadn't considered that the film industry wasn't as lucrative as the real estate and finance industries, and it wasn't her area of ​​expertise either.

However, Wei Ming did think that he couldn't be idle during the time he was accompanying his child to study.

His aunt glanced at him and smiled, "What, have you thought about it?"

Wei Ming: "Many of my novels are actually suitable for film adaptations. It would be a pity to hand them over to others to make. However, Hollywood is too exclusive, so it's not an easy task."

In the past, Chinese capital had also poured into Hollywood, but none of it had worked out. Hollywood would only offer the films that it didn't want and that were the riskiest to Chinese investors, and it would also tightly control the distribution channels.

When it comes to forming groups, the Chinese are indeed not as good as the Jews.

Even when Japanese conglomerate Sony made a big-money acquisition of Columbia and MGM, and Panasonic acquired Universal and its parent company, they still paid a heavy price in learning, and in the end, they still had to give up MGM and Universal.

But this lesson was worthwhile. Sony can enhance its global brand value through Columbia Pictures, thereby influencing consumers' perception of Japan, much like the Jewish people have done through film for decades, or even more subtly and effectively.

Wei Lingling said, "If you can spare the time and energy, I'm definitely fine with it. I also want to see Optimus Prime and Megatron on the big screen one day."

It's too early to talk about making a Transformers movie now; it would be good enough if they could just make a Jumanji movie.

Wei Ming said to his great-aunt, "Actually, I was thinking of staying in the United States for a longer period of time so that I could take the lead in doing this. However, it would be best to use my aunt's name since she is American, which would be more convenient. Also, it would be best to directly acquire an existing company with qualified operators. Going from 0 to 1 is too troublesome. I would rather spend more money to do the work of going from 1 to 10."

The great-aunt was pleased: "That's perfect. I've collected information on those small film companies before. I'll have someone give you a copy later, and you can see which one is suitable to buy from."

Wei Ming hummed in agreement.

Lizhi's eyes sparkled. She and Wei Ming were both in the United States. He was going to run a company, so he certainly wouldn't do those little things himself. Wasn't she the perfect personal assistant?

Wei Ming was so energetic that while Xiao Hong had already gone back to her room to adjust to the time difference, he was still looking at the materials his great-aunt had given him.

Just then, Wei Lingling knocked on the door and came in; she wanted to watch it with Wei Ming.

Wei Ming asked, "You're too good to Xiaoli, aren't you? You even personally take her to school?"

Wei Lingling laughed and said, "Xiao Hong said you know everything, but do you know about Atari?"

Wei Ming: "I don't know, I only know Nintendo."

"Ha, you even know that!" Wei Lingling's eyes lit up.

Wei Ming wasn't really familiar with Atari. He had only heard some fellow gamers mention it when he was playing video games in the 1990s. They said it was a very prestigious game company, and even Steve Jobs had started Apple after leaving the company.

Later, this American company failed, and the video game industry became dominated by Japanese companies.

She told Wei Mingdao, "I've analyzed the toy market. Many children lose interest in toys after elementary school, but their interest in video games increases. Also, the claw machines we make have something in common with video game consoles, so I was thinking about whether I could enrich Langning's business in this area."

Although she decided to transform into finance and real estate, Langning was the brainchild of her uncle and aunt and could provide a stable and sufficient cash flow, so Wei Lingling did not neglect it.

"Video games are indeed very powerful when done well." They can not only sell games and game consoles, but also create intellectual property (IP) for the development of toys and movies. For example, Nintendo's market value exceeded $1000 billion at its peak, and it influenced the aesthetics of teenagers around the world through games, forming a unique cultural phenomenon.

It's quite normal for American teenagers who grow up playing Japanese video games to naturally be more pro-Japanese as adults.

Seeing Wei Ming's agreement, Wei Lingling said, "That's right, and it can also be linked with Kuangren Comics. If we make 'Qin's Moon,' 'Fengyun,' or even 'Transformers' into fighting games, they will definitely be very popular."

Wei Ming paused what he was doing: "Go on, what does this have to do with Atari?"

“Atari has really messed up…” Wei Lingling sat down and said slowly.

Atari's major blunder is also related to "E.T." Wei Lingling: "Last year, 'E.T.' was a global phenomenon. Atari spent over $2000 million to acquire the game's rights, and in order to release it before Christmas, they only took six weeks, even skipping quality testing altogether. And the result... well..."

Of the 400 million copies of the game released, 350 million buyers requested refunds, which directly led to a crisis of consumer trust. As returns increased and new products could not be sold, Atari products were left unsold and were eventually sent to landfills in New Mexico for destruction.

"This mistake was a fatal blow to Atari, and even hit the entire American video game industry hard. It's estimated that Atari will never recover. I heard that its parent company, Warner..."

"Is this company Warner?"

"Yes, I heard that Warner is interested in selling, so I wanted to see if there was any chance to buy some technology or patents."

Wei Ming thought for a moment: "I guess they won't sell. If they want to buy, they'll probably have to buy the whole company and then slowly divest the junk assets."

Wei Lingling: "If it's not too expensive, I'd really like to try it."

Wei Ming: "Hong Kong is going to get involved in real estate, such a huge undertaking, you really have guts."

Wei Lingling shrugged: "Anyway, I don't have to worry about having too much debt. Whether I borrow money from my uncle or my aunt, I pay interest according to the market rate."

That's to be expected. Although they are both family businesses, their operations involve many stakeholders who share in the profits, so they can't really be like family businesses.

"Then why don't you give it a try? Do you need me to go to Los Angeles with you?"

Wei Lingling: "Not for now. Atari is in Silicon Valley, I'll go to Silicon Valley to take a look first."

"Well, there's one more thing I want to ask. In San Francisco, or more broadly, which university in California has a strong humanities program?"

Why are you asking this? Are you planning to take the postgraduate entrance exam?

Wei Ming snapped his fingers: "Correct answer."

“Since I want to develop our own film and television industry in Hollywood, I may need to live in the United States for a longer period of time. The reason of accompanying someone to study is not very convincing, so I might as well take this opportunity to improve my academic qualifications,” Wei Ming said.

I've had this idea before, but I wasn't firm in my decision. Now I can be more certain because I not only have to write the movie script, but I also have to design a classic game for my aunt that can reverse life and death.

Those who are capable should do more work.

Wei Lingling said, "Then you've come to the right person. If you want to study film..."

“I don’t want to study film,” Wei Ming said directly. Wouldn’t it be better to be someone with more say than the director? Besides, he already has enough film skills. He wants to supplement his knowledge with some literature and history.

Despite having so many identities, his favorite thing is being a writer, but his current English ability is only enough to write stories, not literary works.

Wei Lingling said, "Then I suggest you choose the University of California, Berkeley. The humanities department at this school is very strong in the entire West. Berkeley is also in the San Francisco Bay Area, an hour and a half drive from Stanford and only an hour from the University of San Francisco."

Wei Ming nodded, it was a good choice, but then he suddenly asked, "But why did you mention the University of San Francisco?"

Wei Lingling: "Xiao Li goes to school there."

Wei Ming smiled and waved his hand: "Then I'll go back later."

He flipped through the documents in his hand, saw the name of a company, and suddenly became serious. Does this company also sell?
……

(Today's guaranteed minimum)
(End of this chapter)