Tokyo's bubble economy: From literary giants to great entertainers

Staircase entrance.

Masato Sakai and Teruyuki Kagawa apologized and bowed deeply, while Keiko Matsuzaka, with her fiery temper, stood there with her hands on her hips and gave them a lecture.

Shuichi Kanbara, standing nearby, raised an eyebrow in surprise.

He never expected to run into these two people here, since anyone who follows Japanese films and television shows would be familiar with them.

The scene in "Hanzawa Naoki" where Hanzawa repays a hundredfold, and Owada's final "Ha—" to the old senator, are both classics.

only...

"They both look to be in their early twenties? And here... Could they have been chosen by the Battle Royale production team?"

Shuichi Kambara was somewhat curious.

The two people in front of me both looked very inexperienced.

Masato Sakai didn't have the powerful aura he possessed in his previous life; he appeared refined and somewhat soft. Teruyuki Kagawa... well, his features naturally made him look older; there wasn't much difference between him in his twenties and thirties or forties.

That's quite interesting.

However, he didn't want to waste time here, so he stepped forward and said with a smile, "Ms. Matsuzaka, they didn't mean it, let's just let it go. We have important matters to attend to."

After hearing Kanbaru Shuichi's explanation, Matsuzaka Keiko stopped worrying and just glared at the two of them.

"Hmph! Remember to watch where you're going next time!"

After saying that, she swayed her hips and went upstairs again. Kanbara Shuichi turned back, smiled, and nodded slightly to the two of them before following them upstairs.

Only after he and Keiko Matsuzaka disappeared around the corner of the stairs did Masato Sakai pat his chest, revealing his signature squinty eyes, "Ah~ President Matsuzaka's aura is really intimidating."

"Yes. But speaking of which, who is that boy? Why is his hand wrapped in bandages?"

Teruyuki Kagawa's eyes held a hint of relief as he walked downstairs, asking curiously.

Masato Sakai, standing beside him, pondered, "I heard someone say at lunch yesterday that Matsuzaka Entertainment seems to have found a new screenwriter. It might be him."

"Wow?! Such a young screenwriter? Really?!"

Teruyuki Kagawa's eyes widened in surprise, while Masato Sakai shrugged and chuckled, "The world of geniuses is beyond the comprehension of us mere mortals. But he seems like a very kind person. We would have been in serious trouble if he hadn't helped us out."

"That's true... Hey, have we been out for that long? We need to get back quickly..."

The two chatted as they quickened their pace and jogged toward the film crew.

Although their conversation quickly drifted away from Shuichi Kambara, they all remembered this very special young man. Little did they know that their paths would cross again in the future.

Meanwhile, Shuichi Kanbara, led by Keiko Matsuzaka, had arrived at the filming location on the fourth floor.

.

In classroom 407 on the fourth floor, Shuichi Kambara sat in the first row like a good student, looking around.

This is clearly the filming location for Matsuzaka Entertainment's previous drama. All the props for a school drama are there, including tables, chairs, and benches, and the walls even look like they've been repainted.

Even the tripods and roller tracks on site hadn't been packed up yet.

"No wonder they're in such a hurry to find a new screenwriter; it seems they really spent a lot of money on that previous show."

"However, all the preliminary preparations have been completed..."

"This is actually quite friendly to me."

"As long as the director doesn't mess things up, the whole series can be completed within two months."

Shuichi Kambara made this judgment in his mind.

Japanese dramas are mostly quite fast-paced. "From Today, It's My Turn!!" only has ten episodes. After deducting the pre-production work, the entire filming process only took a little over two months.

Two months, this timing is very delicate, just around the time when I received his "The White Tower" serialization was about to reach its sixth installment.

Although according to publishing industry practice, a novel's standalone edition is usually published when it reaches around 15 words, many publishers will advance royalties to the author if the work is good enough.

For example, when Chi Xingzhou wrote "The City That Never Sleeps," the publisher directly gave him an advance of ten million yuan in royalties during the fourth week of serialization.

With ten million in royalties, plus some previous income, and if "From Today, It's My Turn!!" finishes its run and enters the DVD sales phase by then, he'll have enough start-up capital to make his own movie.

In Japan, novelists can receive royalties of 7%-15% of their works.

The film and television industry is similar. Although screenwriters can only receive a fixed script fee in the early stages, they can still earn royalties of about 1%-2% from the sale of merchandise such as DVDs.

two months.

As long as filming for "From Today, It's My Turn!!" is completed within two months, all the timing will be perfect.

but...

The prerequisite is that the director is reliable.

The plot of "From Today, It's My Turn!!" isn't very deep, at most it adds some twists and turns. The key is the control of the rhythm, but it's not easy to keenly grasp the rhythm points in the script.

"President, this script..."

At the entrance, a chubby director wearing brown sunglasses held a script in his hand, his face showing worry.

Keiko Matsuzaka crossed her arms, pointing her fingers at the crook of her arm. "Just say what you have to say."

The chubby director secretly glanced at Shuichi Kanbara, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes: "This kid thinks he can get into the film industry? He's really ignorant of his own limitations."

"Ahem, well then I'll just say it directly, this script is no good. The dialogue is okay, but it has absolutely no depth or substance. It lacks all the growth and naivety that a campus drama should have; it's just pure scatological humor, and the pacing is extremely disjointed."

"kindness?"

Keiko Matsuzaka raised an eyebrow slightly.

She didn't quite understand things like plot pacing, but depth and meaning...

She has a background in finance and couldn't understand the script. After all, the script wasn't a novel or outline, but rather a series of disjointed textual scenes without a timeline, making it difficult for non-professionals to comprehend.

But she knew that Shuichi Kanbara was the author of "The White Tower".

She also read that work, and found the characters to be very three-dimensional and profound. In addition, Takako Tokiwa said that she had read the tens of thousands of words that followed, and the plot was very deep.

Should we trust the director in front of us, or should we trust Shuichi Kanbara?

Keiko Matsuzaka took the script from the director and nodded to him.

Just as the other person put on a bright smile, she parted her lips slightly and said, "The finance department will handle your compensation. You've been laid off. Please look for other jobs."

"Yeah, young people these days are really too ambitious...wait, what?!"

Completely surprised that she was the one being fired, the chubby director froze on the spot. But before she could say anything, Matsuzaka Keiko had already moved to stand in front of Kanbaru Shuichi.

"The director said your script wasn't good. Oh, he was the former director."

He spoke very directly, which startled Rie Miyazawa and Kento Kaku, who were standing next to him, and they unconsciously swallowed.

Shuichi Kambara raised an eyebrow in surprise, but instead of fear, his eyes showed admiration.

He took the script, straightened the papers under Keiko Matsuzaka's equally surprised raised eyebrow, and smiled as he looked up, "Since Ms. Matsuzaka doesn't think much of that director, how about... I give it a try?"