Chapter 164 We owe Teacher Lin an award
Lin Weimin still went to Mr. Wan's home to celebrate this year's Spring Festival.
Han Zhuangzhuang set off for Shanghai on the 29th day of the Lunar New Year. He had to go home to be with his father. The uncle and nephew agreed that next year Han Zhuangzhuang would bring his father over so that the family of three could spend a reunion year together.
There are only these three bachelors left in the Lin family and the Han family.
Wan Fang is not here this year as she went to her mother-in-law's house to celebrate the New Year. Only Mr. Wan and his wife and Lin Weimin are at Mr. Wan's house.
During the meal, Mr. Wan suddenly said, "A few days ago, a comrade from the Dramatists Association came to me and wanted to ask for my opinion. They plan to give the drama award next year to your work "The Intouchables"..."
Lin Weimin raised his head, he knew that Mr. Wan had not finished speaking.
"Alas!" Mr. Wan sighed, "I rejected it."
"Teacher, don't worry too much. I understand." Lin Weimin comforted.
Mr. Wan said with a bit of guilt in his eyes, "You have to understand, not only this year, but as long as I am still alive, you will not win this award."
The drama award mentioned by Mr. Wan is the National Excellent Script Writing Award founded by the China Dramatists Association in 1980 and first awarded in 1981.
In 1994, in order to commemorate Mr. Wan's outstanding contribution to the Chinese theater industry, the theater was renamed after Mr. Wan and sponsored by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Dramatists Association.
In the following decades, this literary award has always been the most authoritative and well-known national drama literature award, and has had a significant impact on the creation and development of contemporary drama literature.
Mr. Wan is one of the judges of this award. As the chairman of the China Dramatists Association, his opinions have a significant impact on the award results.
"The Intouchables" premiered in March 1992. During the premiere, it received unanimous recognition and praise from many media and audiences. It is a rare good play produced by the People's Art Theatre in recent years.
If we judge purely by the quality of the drama script, it would not be difficult for "The Intouchables" to win this award.
The scope of the Screenwriting Award is relatively broad, with 10 official awards and 10 nomination awards each year.
The Dramatists Association is going to present a formal award to Lin Weimin. As an outstanding play produced by Yanjing People's Art Theatre, a leading company in the domestic drama world, The Intouchables is well-deserved to win this award.
Lin Weimin smiled and said, "Teacher, you underestimate me. Even if I can't win the drama award, I still have the novel award. Everyone says that next year's National Excellent Novella Award must be mine."
Mr. Wan still had a bit of guilt in his eyes, "Alas, I'm sorry for delaying you!"
"Teacher, how can you say that? You should know how much advantage I have taken by being your disciple? Apart from anything else, if it weren't for you, no matter how good my scripts were, they would have to go through layers of screening before the People's Art Theatre could use them! Now, the People's Art Theatre is begging me to write scripts."
Mr. Wan shook his head and said, "You wrote the script well, it has nothing to do with me."
Lin Weimin said with a smile: "I didn't say you helped me get in through the back door, don't be so anxious to avoid suspicion!"
Mr. Wan couldn't help but laugh, pointing at him helplessly and said, "You! You!"
"hey-hey!"
Mr. Wan may be protective of his own people, but he still needs to be cautious when it comes to judging awards, and he needs to be cautious to the point of being nitpicking.
The reason is very simple. The National Excellent Script Writing Award is a national award, but the organizer is an association. Without the constraints of public power, it is very likely to become a tool for the drama circle to entertain itself.
Once that happens, the award is ruined.
What will be damaged will be the credibility and influence of the entire industry. Just look at the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards in later generations.
This year is only the second year of the National Excellent Screenwriting Award. He must be cautious and maintain the authority and fairness of this award.
Therefore, Mr. Wan would rather let his students down and be accused of seeking fame than give Lin Weimin the award.
He is the chairman of the Dramatists Guild, and this gesture represents his attitude, which is consistent from top to bottom.
This behavior may seem pedantic, but it can avoid the damage to the awards caused by human relationships to the greatest extent.
Lin Weimin had no objection to this. As he said, becoming Mr. Wan's disciple was already beneficial enough for him.
He would not feel aggrieved if he did not receive the award, nor would he blame Mr. Wan.
Without his guidance on the creative path, Lin Weimin would not have made such rapid progress.
Besides, even if he is not awarded this award ten times, industry practitioners and audiences have a scale in their hearts, and they will feel an extra bonus for Lin Weimin.
It’s just like how marketing accounts in later generations often lead the trend by saying “We all owe Stephen Chow a movie ticket.”
After several years, the entire industry and even the general audience will have to say something.
"We owe Teacher Lin an award."
Thinking about it this way, it’s quite exciting.
After eating the New Year's Eve dinner, Lin Weimin sat on the sofa in the living room and watched TV with Mr. Wan and his wife. It was a recording of the annual Spring Festival Gala, and the program was unremarkable.
Lin Weimin couldn't help but think of the Spring Festival Gala in later generations. Looking at it from the perspective of later generations, it was really bad!
But if it happened forty years ago, it would have swept away everything.
Speaking of the 1983 Spring Festival Gala, it seemed that it was about to be born. After the whole year of 1982, the Spring Festival Gala was here.
Lin Weimin actually felt a bit of anticipation in his heart.
Lin Weimin spent the few days of the Spring Festival holiday very fulfillingly. He had no relatives in Yanjing, but he had many friends. He wandered around everywhere and even stopped writing.
Poor Yu Zhaohuai waited in the editorial department of Zhongshan for two months, but Lin Weimin couldn't even produce a novella.
The space reserved for him was moved again and again. "Zhongshan" is a bimonthly magazine, and the second issue of this year is about to be published.
Yu Zhaohuai couldn't wait any longer, and finally called the editorial department of Contemporary Magazine again after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
"Happy New Year, Teacher Lin. Happy New Year. As for the manuscript, don't worry, I'm just wishing you a happy new year. Oh, you want to write a long novel? Great, great, great, great! Great, great, I'll wait for your manuscript."
After hanging up the phone, Yu Zhaohuai met the editor-in-chief's gaze and asked, "What do you mean?"
Yu Zhaohuai smiled bitterly, shook his head and said, "He said he wanted to write a long novel. We have to wait."
"Oh, this Lin Weimin..." A look of worry appeared on the editor-in-chief's face.
When Yu Zhaohuai said he wanted to ask Lin Weimin for an article, he was a little nervous. Over the past year, Lin Weimin's reputation has been growing. Just think about how many publications want to ask him for an article every day.
Unexpectedly, after Yu Zhaohuai sent out the letter inviting him to write an article, Lin Weimin actually took the initiative to call the editorial department of Zhongshan and agreed to the invitation.
The editor-in-chief was very happy, not only because of Lin Weimin's commission, but mainly because of Lin Weimin's attitude. He called on his own initiative, proving that he still valued Zhongshan.
The editor couldn't help feeling proud when he thought of such a popular writer whose debut work was published in Zhongshan.
How can he be considered a writer cultivated by Zhongshan?
But as Lin Weimin's promised manuscripts were delayed again and again, the editor's patience gradually wore out. He even began to doubt whether Lin Weimin had actually written the work he mentioned.
Are you trying to fool them?
The editor hesitated for a long time and finally did not say it out loud.
Yu Zhaohuai also saw through his thoughts, and the two of them understood each other tacitly, but Yu Zhaohuai firmly believed that there was no need for Lin Weimin to lie about this matter.
It's just that waiting makes people anxious, Yu Zhaohuai secretly groaned in his heart.
"Wait a little longer, good things are worth waiting for."
The editor-in-chief said, "Then there's no need to save the space for the next issue. Let's wait for the next issue. It's still a long story. Hehe, I really don't know when it will be finished."
When Yu Zhaohuai heard this, he suddenly recalled the communications he had with Lin Weimin in the past few times and couldn't help laughing.
The editor-in-chief looked at him in surprise, and Yu Zhaohuai began to learn from his experiences.
"Yes, yes, just write a short story, okay."
"Oh, it's become a novella? Okay, okay, I'll write it well."
"Want to write a long novel? Great, no rush, no rush."
Although Yu Zhaohuaixue's tone was serious, the editor couldn't help laughing, and his frown relaxed.
"Hahaha, this Lin Weimin is really interesting, haha!"
Yenching, Guowen Press, Editorial Department of Contemporary Magazine.
At the beginning of the year, many authors came to visit the editorial department. Everyone gathered in the office to chat and discuss everything. The room was filled with smoke and noisy voices.
Lin Weimin answered the phone and almost fell down as soon as he opened the door.
Such situations happen frequently in the editorial department, and everyone has long been accustomed to them.
Lu Yao was sitting at his desk, sucking on his cigarette butt so hard that he almost put the cigarette holder into his mouth.
"Just stop polluting the environment here. What advice can I give you?" Lin Weimin said.
Lu Yao put the cigarette butt into the ashtray and looked at Lin Weimin. "I'm confused. There are so many production studios. Who do you think I should give it to? You should give me some advice!"
Lu Yao came to Yanjing yesterday, saying that he came to discuss the adaptation rights of "Life" with Lin Weimin.
But Lin Weimin knew very well that this guy just wanted to come to Yanjing to enjoy a few good days, and then wait for the National Excellent Novella Award Ceremony in March to win the award.
Although there is no conclusion yet, both people in the industry and readers understand that Lu Yao is sure to win this award.
As for the adaptation rights of "Life", this issue has been bothering Lu Yao for almost two months.
Ever since Life became popular after being published in Contemporary Magazine, film studios from all over the country have been contacting Lu Yao, hoping to obtain the rights to adapt Life into a film.
Yanying Studio, Shanghai Film Studio, Xi'an Film Studio and Changchun Film Studio are all well-known film studios and a stronghold of the domestic film industry. Lu Yao was conflicted for a moment, and was afraid that if he chose one, he would offend the other.
"I suspect you are just here to show off!" Lin Weimin said.
Liu Yin also said, "That's right. We didn't hear that you had any troubles. Instead, we were envious and jealous."
Lu Yao's chubby face was wrinkled with laughter. "Teachers, I am of course happy that my novel is going to be adapted into a movie. The problem now is that I don't know who to write to! It's not right to not write back to them."
"Well, let me give you an idea."
"What's the idea?"
Lin Weimin said: "Just wait and see who comes to your door most frequently, and then you can give the adaptation rights to that person."
"Ah?" Lu Yao looked disbelieving, "What's your idea?"
"Good idea. Let me ask you, what do you like most about the movie adaptation?"
Lu Yao thought for a moment and said, "Restore my thoughts."
"That's right. The film studio wants to adapt Life purely because it's popular now. How can you tell who really wants to make a good story or just wants to take advantage of the popularity?"
Lu Yao understood after hearing this, "This shows their sincerity."
"If you don't really like it and really want to shoot this subject, who would take the initiative to come to you? Just do what I say, and you won't go wrong."
Liu Yin teased, "Weimin, aren't you afraid that people will say that Lu Yao has become famous and is putting on airs?"
Lin Weimin said nonchalantly: "They are talking about Lu Yao, why should I be afraid?"
Lu Yao: ...
(End of this chapter)
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