Chapter 622 Tomson Pictures

Guowen Society is popular!

Once the "World Literary Classics Collection" project was launched, even the superiors paid attention to it and directly called Lin Weimin over to learn more about the situation.

After listening to Lin Weimin's detailed report, the leader encouraged Lin Weimin with a few words.

"In recent years, the reading atmosphere in society has declined, which may be an unfavorable factor for the publication and distribution of your series of books. But this is a good thing after all, especially for my country's publishing industry, as it fills a gap in an important field.

This is a huge undertaking, and it requires time, energy, and money. I hope that your Guowen Society can carry forward the spirit and complete this work excellently.”

Lin Weimin expressed a few polite words and left the leader's office.

In addition to the attention of superiors, the news of the "World Literature Classics Collection" also spread throughout the domestic publishing industry in a short period of time, attracting the attention of countless peers.

Such a high-standard and large-scale library series is extremely rare in the domestic publishing industry, and probably only a powerful publishing house like Guowen Publishing House would dare to do it.

Domestic publishing colleagues have mixed feelings about this big move by Guowen Publishing House. They envy their ability to undertake such a large project, are jealous of Guowen Publishing House's various inherent advantages, and hate themselves for not being able to do the same.

Many colleagues from publishing houses in Yenching University came to inquire about the details of the "World Literature Classics Collection".

For a while, the establishment of the "World Literature Classics Collection" project became the focus of attention in the domestic publishing industry.

No matter how much attention the outside world pays, the work of the National Literature Society is still proceeding in an orderly manner.

The establishment of the "World Literature Classics Collection" project has stirred up a lot of trouble at the Guowen Publishing House. It is not only the top priority of Lin Weimin's work this year, but also the number one task of the Guowen Publishing House this year.

Especially the two editorial departments, the Foreign Languages ​​Department and the Ancient Chinese Language Department. The content of the "World Literature Classics Collection" is basically covered by the work content of these two editorial departments. They will definitely be the main force, which leads to a sudden increase in pressure on the editors of the two editorial departments and their workload is directly increased.

On this day in mid-March, Lin Weimin was discussing the publication order of the "World Literature Classics Collection" with the directors of the Foreign Language Department, the Ancient Chinese Language Department and several key editors.

The name of the World Literature Classics Collection is "World", which includes classic literary works from various countries, so Lin Weimin first set the tone for the publication of the series, and the publication and distribution must be published one-time by "country".

The biggest advantage of doing this is that it can satisfy readers' purchasing desire and collecting habits as much as possible.

If the books are published one by one, it is very likely that readers will ignore some of the content due to the lapse of time, resulting in uneven sales of each work, which is also not conducive to distribution work.

What everyone is discussing now is which country's books will be published first. We are all senior editors. The literary works of France, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom have a wide influence in the world. In addition, China is the host country, so one must be chosen from these four countries.

Everyone had different opinions on which country's works should be published first, and they argued endlessly, but could not come to a conclusion.

Lin Weimin had to step forward, and he looked through the list of books that had already been confirmed.

"Don't worry about the old Russians. The quality of Soviet literature is unquestionable, but the Russians have just collapsed and their influence in China has not been as great as before. As for Chinese literature, there are too many books, many of which have not been systematically edited and annotated.

Of the two countries, I prefer France. Although French literature has a large number of titles, there are also many translations. Except for a few relatively obscure works, the rest can basically be used. "

After he finished speaking, he looked at Chen Jiangen in the Foreign Language Department and said, "Old Chen, what do you think?"

"We have no problem publishing French literature first. I am mainly worried that since French literature has a large number of titles and has been published many times in China, readers may not be so eager to buy it."

Lin Weimin said: "Your worry is somewhat reasonable, but the literature of the countries we are discussing all have such problems. No matter which country you choose, there will be such problems. Moreover, the sales of the World Literature Masterpieces Collection are destined to be a long-term process. We don't have to rush. We can first show some results to boost everyone's morale."

Chen Jiangen pondered for a moment and said, "You are right. I agree."

Lin Weimin looked at the others again, "What are everyone's opinions?"

Everyone said they had no objection and decided to implement Lin Weimin's suggestion.

Once the order of publishing the books is agreed upon, the content of the work will naturally have to be tilted. The translation, editing, review and proofreading of French literature, the "World Literature Classics Collection", is the top priority.

After arranging the work of the two editorial offices, Lin Weimin finally had a few days of free time.

During this period of time, he has been busy with the "World Literary Classics Collection" and has neglected the work at Tongwen Publishing House. He was planning to go to Tongwen Publishing House to take a look, but was interrupted by two sudden visitors.

Guo Feng is the owner of Taiwan's Xindi Literary Publishing House. In 1987, he introduced the works of many mainland writers and successfully published the "Contemporary Mainland Chinese Writers Series" on the island.

In 1989, he found Guowen Publishing House and proposed the idea of ​​introducing Lin Weimin's works in a separate volume.

Now, more than two years have passed, and the "Contemporary Chinese Mainland Writers Series" has set off a mainland fever in Taiwan. The "Lin Weimin Volume" has sold well, exceeding 400,000 copies. It has not only boosted Lin Weimin's fame and influence among Taiwan's literary lovers, but also contributed more than 2 million US dollars in royalties to him.

Guo Feng did not come here for himself today. After a few pleasantries, he first introduced a charming female boss next to him to Lin Weimin.

Xu Feng started out as a film actress. In her early years, she appeared in works by many famous Taiwanese directors, such as King Hu and Ding Shanxi. Her screen image was mostly that of a female knight.

In 1980, she married Tang Junnian, chairman of the Hong Kong Tang Chen Group, and faded out of the film industry.

In 1984, she decided to transition behind the scenes and founded "Tang Chen Film Industry Co., Ltd." in Taiwan. She served as the producer herself and set up branches in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

In the past few years, her company has produced many films, including "The Ugly Duckling", "Killing Husband", "Beauty Picture", "Good Boy", "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", "The Stars Are Shining Tonight", "Red Dust", etc., many of which are excellent works and are quite famous in both sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong.

Guo Feng has published Lin Weimin's works. Today, he was commissioned by Xu Feng to act as an intermediary. Xu Feng plans to buy the film adaptation rights of Lin Weimin's works.

Xu Feng's experience reminded Lin Weimin of Ms. Yang, with whom he had worked on "The Lover". Both of them were actors who turned behind the scenes and achieved very good results.

When people talk about Xu Feng in later generations, they have long forgotten her identity as an actress. She is most praised for her two identities.

One is the investor and producer of the movie "Farewell My Concubine", and the other is the owner of Tomson Yipin.

After Guo Feng finished speaking, Xu Feng continued, "Mr. Lin, I now live in Hong Kong all year round, and travel back and forth between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong. I have heard of you and your works for a long time. My film production company has been established for eight years. I have invested in and produced a series of film works, many of which have achieved good results.

The reason I come to visit you this time is to obtain the film adaptation rights of "Farewell My Concubine" and hope to get your approval.

I know you have worked with production companies in Hong Kong and the United States. As for the price of the script, what do you think of $400,000?"

Xu Feng came straight to the point and gave a very impressive number.

If we look at the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong and Macau, this price has already broken the ceiling. No film company will pay such a high fee to any screenwriter.

But if we compare it with the price Lin Weimin paid for his collaboration with Hollywood, the difference is quite a bit.

Lin Weimin hesitated for a moment and said, "Ms. Xu, Farewell My Concubine has been published in many countries overseas and has sold over 10 million copies. I'm afraid your price is not in line with the popularity of this novel."

Hearing his answer, Xu Feng looked a little surprised.

Four hundred thousand meter swords are not enough?

Seeing her expression, Lin Weimin said, "To be honest, a few years ago, Hollywood director Spielberg bought the copyright of "Life is Beautiful" for 800,000 dollars."

Xu Feng took a breath and a look of surprise flashed in his eyes.

The reason she found Lin Weimin this time was mainly because of the strong recommendation of director Yan Hao.

Yan Hao is the director of the movie "Like Water Flowing Time", which was invested and produced by Ms. Yang's Blue Bird Company. In recent years, Ms. Yang's company has produced fewer and fewer films, so Xu Feng brought Yan Hao over.

In 1990, the movie "Red Dust" invested and produced by Xu Feng and shot by Yan Hao was released in both sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong. It not only achieved impressive box office results, but also won several awards, making Xu Feng rely more on Yan Hao.

As early as when Yan Hao was working with Ms. Yang, he knew that Ms. Yang wanted to change Lin Weimin's "Farewell My Concubine", but Ms. Yang failed to do so.

Yan Hao loved this novel very much and knew that Xu Feng was very talented. Unlike Ms. Yang, she could not invest in and produce a movie every two or three years. So he strongly recommended Xu Feng, hoping that she could get the adaptation rights of "Farewell My Concubine".

Before coming, Xu Feng did some research on Lin Weimin. In recent years, many of Lin Weimin's novels have been published in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Xu Feng had heard of his name a long time ago, but had rarely read his works.

This time, because of Yan Hao's recommendation, she specially found the novel of "Farewell My Concubine" and read it. After reading it, she was so moved that she decided to adapt this work.

Xu Feng knew that Lin Weimin had collaborated with Hollywood. In 1988, "The Last Emperor" won nine Academy Awards, and Lin Weimin became famous in Hollywood.

According to her understanding, in Hollywood, for an A-level production with an investment of more than 50 million US dollars, the editor can get between 400,000 and 500,000 US dollars.

She considered for a long time before deciding on the figure of 400,000 US dollars. The production budget of "Farewell My Concubine" was definitely far from the level of Hollywood, and 4 million US dollars was the limit she could afford.

40/400, one tenth. Xu Feng thought that his price was sincere enough, but he never expected that Lin Weimin's appetite was so big.

The key point is that they are not making such a claim without a purpose and are not asking for too much.

If what he said is true, and Hollywood director Spielberg paid 800,000 US dollars for the film adaptation rights of his film, then how much should I pay?

Xu Feng was caught in a dilemma for a moment.

(End of this chapter)