Chapter 310 A good writing club cannot be ruined
"The Intouchables" performed well on Off-Broadway. After accumulating word-of-mouth over this period of time, an operating company invited "The Intouchables" to perform on Inner Broadway.
On the Broadway stage, the production chain of theatrical performances is very strict. From auditions, previews to premieres, every excellent play must go through this process and gradually mature through continuous polishing.
Now, "The Intouchables" has survived the most difficult stage, and its premiere has received good response and reputation. Once it enters Inner Broadway, it will be greeted with fixed weekly box office revenues, touring, and authorized production plans.
Broadway's operating model is producer-centered, with the producer managing two parties at the same time: the investor on one side and the copyright controller on the other.
The early stage of drama production is the investment period, during which time the money comes in but does not go out, and all the money spent is the investors' money.
When it comes to the operation stage, that is, the performance stage, the cost of each performance must be deducted from the box office revenue, and the investment cost must be covered as soon as possible.
After all investment costs are recovered, it is time for the producer, investor, and copyright controller to share the profits. The general sharing ratio in Broadway is 2:4:4.
The play "The Intouchables" is somewhat special because it was brought to the United States by Arthur Miller.
Few investors would be willing to re-produce a Chinese drama like this, so Arthur Miller also invested a portion of the money when producing the drama, reaching 30% of the entire drama investment.
In addition, there is also the issue of Lin Weimin’s share of the profits.
"The Intouchables" is the work of Lin Weimin, but Arthur Miller needs to go through some operations to bring it to the United States.
Lin Weimin is a Chinese and it is impossible for him to directly participate in the performance profit. Therefore, after the two people negotiated, the copyright of "The Intouchables" was handed over to Arthur Miller. Arthur Miller had a copyright agency, so Arthur Miller also became the so-called copyright controller. Arthur Miller then paid Lin Weimin's royalties through this copyright agency.
The copyright agency fee alone is not expensive, but the operation of "The Intouchables" is also handed over to Arthur Miller's copyright agency, so part of the income from this aspect must also be shared with Arthur Miller.
All in all, in the final profit sharing of "The Intouchables", Arthur Miller's share reached an astonishing 50%, the investor's share was 28%, and Lin Weimin, the original author, could only get 22%.
Of course, this profit share is finally paid in the form of royalties.
Arthur Miller specifically calculated the cost for Lin Weimin in the letter. If "The Intouchables" could have fixed performances every year after entering Inner Broadway, that is, fixed performances every week during the performance season, and the total box office revenue of each performance could reach 80,000 US dollars, the final net profit might be between 10,000 and 20,000 US dollars.
That is to say, for each performance, Lin Weimin can get a share of the box office revenue of about two thousand to four thousand dollars.
This estimate was made by Arthur Miller based on his many years of career. If The Intouchables fails in Broadway, then these words will be ignored. Another possibility is that if the drama becomes popular, even if it is a small one, Lin Weimin's income will likely be several times higher than this.
Because by then not only will the box office be higher, the number of performances will also increase, including tours, authorized productions, and so on.
When Lin Weimin read the letter to this point, he couldn't help but smile.
Not bad, not bad. I just donated some royalties and here comes another one.
And this amount is quite large!
In Broadway, musicals are the big brother and dramas are just the little brothers. But even so, as long as "The Intouchables" can gain a foothold in Inner Broadway, it can provide Lin Weimin with at least tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in income every year.
If it becomes a big hit, it will be like a million-meter sword.
Lin Weimin didn't think that far ahead, everything is good enough now.
Lin Weimin was not at all dissatisfied with Arthur Miller's exaggerated 50% share.
Comrade Lao Mi has been busy all the time, contributing both money and effort, so 50% is not a lot.
Lin Weimin knew very well that without Arthur Miller's name, the possibility of "The Intouchables" becoming successful in the United States would be almost zero.
This has nothing to do with the quality of the work. Broadway is an extremely commercial place, and only a big shot like Arthur Miller can successfully operate a play from China.
Lin Weimin can just sit in the country and do nothing, but he can get more than one-fifth of the total box office profits. What else is there to be dissatisfied about?
At the end of the letter, Arthur Miller repeated the old saying and invited Lin Weimin to visit the United States again.
According to him, if "The Intouchables" can really gain a foothold on Broadway, Lin Weimin will get rid of the "nobody" situation and can definitely show his talents on Broadway.
"I want to introduce a genius to the American theater world! Lin, I am looking forward to your arrival in the United States all the time!"
The letter ended with a passionate statement that made Lin Weimin feel very comfortable.
Lin Weimin put down the letter with a smile and began to look through the other things in the package.
There are more than ten photos, all of which are of foreigners. There are not only photos of the actors' performances on the stage, but also photos of the audience below the stage.
From the photos, Lin Weimin can see that the theater is a small theater with a capacity of several hundred people, and the attendance rate is at least 60% to 70%. This ratio is not low, especially since "The Intouchables" is a newly performed drama.
Among a pile of photos, there was a group photo of Arthur Miller and many actors, which made Lin Weimin couldn't help but smile knowingly.
At this moment, he felt a sense of accomplishment in his heart, not because of how much money the drama made, but because of the sense of accomplishment brought by the fact that his work could take root on the other side of the ocean. At the same time, he also felt a bit grateful to Comrade Lao Mi.
After looking at the photos and a performance poster, Lin Weimin thought it was very commemorative and could be hung in the study.
Among the items sent by Arthur Miller, the least noticeable one was the stack of newspapers and magazines.
Lin Weimin is in China, and no matter how loud the news is on the other side of the ocean, he has no personal experience of it. On the contrary, it is not as real as the reports, attention and discussion his donation received in the past few days.
However, Lin Weimin still looked through it carefully. Most of the media were from the New York area where Broadway is located. There were three newspapers and one magazine, which looked a bit shabby.
But when I think about it, this is just a drama with little investment, and it is not easy to get such attention.
The newspaper Lin Weimin unfolded and read attracted the attention of his colleagues.
"Weimin, this is an English newspaper?" Liu Yin asked.
"Well, my play was performed in the United States, and people sent me media reports," Lin Weimin explained.
Everyone immediately turned their attention to him.
Yao Shuzhi exclaimed: "It's even in the American newspapers?"
"It's a regional newspaper, equivalent to the level of the Yanjing Daily."
"That's not enough?" Yao Shuzhi looked at Lin Weimin with a strange look in her eyes. "People's Daily has published too many articles. Even the Yanjing Daily is not worth mentioning."
Colleagues also looked a bit teasing, "That's right, even if you're on a US newspaper, you can't look down on the Yenching Daily!"
Jokes aside, the fact that Lin Weimin's play could be performed in the United States and was reported by the media did shock his colleagues.
The 1980s was the honeymoon period for the United States. With all the publicity, the United States was like a paradise. If a work could gain a foothold there, wouldn't it be equivalent to becoming famous all over the world?
Lin Weimin noticed the eagerness in the eyes of these people and knew that within a day, the news would spread throughout the Guowen Society. After a week, the impact would spread to Yanjing City.
Alas, is this Chinese Literature Society still a place for a writer like me?
Before leaving get off work in the afternoon, Lin Weimin received a call from Tao Huimin.
Tao Huimin told Lin Weimin a good news on the phone that the filming of "Beautiful Prisoner" was about to be completed.
"Then when can you come over?"
This is what Lin Weimin is most concerned about.
"I only have a few days off, and I have to go back to the troupe!"
"It won't delay us. We have to pass by Yanjing anyway. What do you think about the work?"
Tao Huimin hesitated and said, "I plan to discuss it with my parents after returning to Zhijiang. The school is also a problem."
In addition to being an actor of the Xiaobaihua Yue Opera Troupe, Tao Huimin is also a five-year technical secondary school student majoring in opera at the Zhijiang Art School. This group of students initially took the part-time work and study path and were both actors and students.
She entered the school in 1982 and graduated in 1987.
There is indeed a problem with the school, and Tao Huimin needs to make a choice on this matter.
Although there are many advantages to having a girlfriend, there are also many disadvantages.
For example, you still have to wait until she graduates!
After the call, Qin Chaoyang joked, "Is your girlfriend coming again?"
"yes!"
"Take care of yourself!" Old Tan recalled the expression on Lin Weimin's face when Lin Weimin's girlfriend came to Yanjing last year, and couldn't help but kindly remind him.
You are such a disrespectful old man!
"Well, I won't go to this literary conference."
It is now early July, and there are less than ten days left until this year's writers' conference of Contemporary China, which will be held in Yantai again.
His girlfriend was about to come, but he left again. It was a perfect miss, and it lasted another half a year.
When he heard that Lin Weimin asked for leave, Comrade Lao Tan was a little flustered. "No. You've been busy for more than half a month, you should at least relax!"
Lin Weimin thought to himself: Are you afraid that you won’t tire me to death?
The old man has a very bad conscience. He won’t even let me rest when my girlfriend comes.
If Lin Weimin does not go to Yantai, one of Meng Weizai and Qin Chaoyang will definitely have to take on all the work during the writers' meeting.
If that happens, a good writing session will be ruined!
At this time, Comrade Lao Tan felt more and more the importance of comrades serving the people.
"Our editorial department can't do without anyone else but you!"
Facing the unbridled flattery of Comrade Lao Tan, Lin Weimin was not moved at all, "No, no, no matter what, I can't go. It's so hard to see each other once a year."
Qin Chaoyang tried to persuade her for a long time without any effect, and started to think of some crooked ideas.
"How about bringing your girlfriend along? Just treat it as a trip together!"
After Qin Chaoyang finished speaking, he admired his own wit.
Lin Weimin was somewhat excited when he first heard this. Yantai is indeed a good tourist destination.
But then I thought again, it doesn't make sense. As long as I go to Yantai, I will be destined to suffer.
By then, wouldn’t it be even more uncomfortable for the beauty to be alone in the empty room?
"No!" Lin Weimin refused firmly.
Qin Chaoyang was anxious and pulled him to Meng Weizai's office, "Old Meng, you have to take care of this kid. He is really being unreasonable now!"
Angry and humiliated, Lao Tan started to complain.
"What's going on?" Meng Weizai asked.
Qin Chaoyang described what had just happened.
After hearing this, Meng Weizai said to Lin Weimin earnestly: "Weimin, you have to consider the overall situation in this matter..."
When Lin Weimin heard this, he knew something was wrong. He changed his mind and interrupted Meng Weizai.
"Leader, you and your girlfriend can only see each other once a year. Tell me, is it easy?" Lin Weimin complained first, then said, "Didn't Xiao Tong come this year? Old Zhu, Old He and Xiao Tong are enough to handle the writers' meeting."
"Xiao Tong is still young and has just come to the editorial department. He needs training at this time. This writers' meeting is the best opportunity!"
"I can't let Xiao Tong miss such a crucial training opportunity for my own selfish desires. The key to cultivating ladder-type editorial talents is to give young people opportunities!"
In order to stay in Yenching, Teacher Lin has become shameless.
At critical moments, he sold out his teammates without mercy.
Lao Meng and Lao Tan looked at each other. Although they knew that the boy was talking nonsense, when they thought about it, it seemed to make some sense.
Let’s do it this way.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
