Chapter 479 This thief is so greedy for money!
After leaving Cheng Zaochun's office, Lin Weimin returned to the editorial department. Cheng Zaochun wanted him to write a Chinese version of "Life is Beautiful Anyway", which was of course no problem. All the details of the novel were in his mind, and it would not take long to sort them out.
From Lin Weimin's perspective, different cultural backgrounds may indeed affect the sales of this novel.
"Life is Beautiful Anyway" is a little different from "Burning", a novel describing American society. At least there are some points of interest in "Burning", but the time background of "Nothing" is around World War II, so I'm afraid not many people will be interested in it.
However, he had no hesitation about this. This novel itself was mainly published abroad, and whether it sold well or not in China had no effect on him.
As for what I just said to Cheng Zaochun in his office, it was naturally a joke. He has been in the Chinese Literature Society for so many years, from a young man in the beginning to gradually becoming a leader of the unit. Naturally, there are feelings, and he always has to remember the incense and the friendship.
The royalties paid by the publishing house certainly cannot be compared with those paid abroad, but they are indeed quite decent. A few years ago, the maximum royalties were ten yuan per thousand words, but the publishing house could only give him twelve yuan or fifteen yuan per thousand words. Just for this reason, Lin Weimin would not easily give away the publishing rights of his works.
Unless, they offer too much!
The most important event in the country in April would be the conference in Yanjing.
The Congress passed a constitutional amendment, adding a provision to Article 11 of the Constitution: The state allows the existence and development of private economy within the scope prescribed by law. Private economy is a supplement to the socialist public ownership economy, which clarifies the legitimacy of private economy.
The spring tide of reform and opening up is surging again, and the new term "going into business" has become popular again after 1984.
On April 11, at 5 p.m. local time in the United States, the 60th Academy Awards was held at the Shrine Civic Theater in Los Angeles, attracting the attention of many Chinese communities.
After almost two months of warm-up, most Americans learned about "The Last Emperor," a film nominated for multiple awards, through the news. The Chinese people's attention to this film is naturally because the content of the film is about China.
In China, news about this year's Oscars ceremony was reported on the "News Broadcast" on the evening of the 12th.
"The Last Emperor, a feature film co-produced by China, Italy and the United Kingdom, directed by Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci and distributed in the United States by Columbia Pictures, won nine awards including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards ceremony held in Los Angeles last night...
It is the first time in recent decades that a film based on China and shot in China has won nine Oscars in the United States. The Last Emperor reflects the life of Puyi...
One of the screenwriters of this film is the famous Chinese writer Lin Weimin..."
The 1 minute and 14 seconds long broadcast of the "News Broadcast" proved the importance CCTV attached to this news. Lin Weimin was specifically mentioned in the program, giving him another chance to shine.
With the previous Goncourt Prize sweeping the domestic news media, this time when Lin Weimin's name appeared on the "News Broadcast" because of "The Last Emperor", the sensational response caused across the country was not as strong.
The main reason is that "The Last Emperor" was not released in China, so it has no mass base and ordinary people just listen to it and forget about it.
But the sensation this news caused in the film industry was unprecedented.
There are two reasons for the shock in the film industry. The first one is naturally because "The Last Emperor" was nominated nine times and won nine times, becoming the biggest winner at the Oscars. You have to know that this is a Chinese-themed movie.
Seeing such winning results, many brave people have begun to imagine that Chinese people will appear at the Oscars in the future.
The second reason is because of Lin Weimin.
Everyone knows that Lin Weimin is a good scriptwriter, but his main focus has always been on drama. Many of the dramas performed by the People's Art Theatre and the two award-winning dramas in the United States are well-known to everyone.
This time, his screenplay for The Last Emperor won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. In addition, his previous work The Lover won the Best Screenplay Award at the Cannes Film Festival, and his work Red Sorghum won the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival...
Lin Weimin has only tried three times in the film industry, but he has won big prizes every time.
This kind of strength is simply not human.
Even gods can’t do this!
"The Last Emperor" won nine Academy Awards. The authorities took great pains to cooperate with the production of this film. Now that the time has come to reap the rewards, it is natural to promote it with great fanfare.
Following the "News Broadcast", newspapers, radio stations and television stations reported on it in succession. No matter whether people like to watch it or not, they have to watch it.
The news about the Academy Awards made some people in the film industry think of some rumors that had been circulating in the industry before.
These days, a considerable number of film adaptations are based on novels, and writers have always had a very high status in the film industry.
Lin Weimin became famous in the early 1980s, but not a single film adaptation of his works has been made.
Given his fame and the popularity of his works, it is natural that no one had approached him. On the contrary, quite a number of domestic film studios and directors had approached Lin Weimin, including the "two Xies" Xie Tieli and Xie Jin.
But surprisingly, no one got the adaptation rights of Lin Weimin's works.
Through bits and pieces of information revealed by the production studios and directors who have communicated with Lin Weimin, everyone in the circle knows that Lin Weimin is extremely demanding of the directors he works with, and even the directors cannot change the script or the lines.
He's not going there to be a director, he's clearly going there to be a grandson.
The key point is, you get to be a grandson, and people give you the title of "director". Tell me, are you touched?
The circle is so small that the news will spread to everyone in no time. Who would dare to approach Lin Weimin to discuss cooperation?
Movies are the art of directing. If you, a screenwriter, are put on top of it, will people still save face when the story gets out?
After a long time, everyone naturally developed a tacit understanding.
It is better not to change Lin Weimin's works.
With so many writers in China, who wouldn’t be overjoyed when a director noticed their work and adapted it?
There is no need to go to Lin Weimin and suffer this humiliation!
But……
Lin Weimin's play won the American Tony Award!
"The Lover" written by Lin Weimin won the Cannes Best Screenplay Award!
"Red Sorghum" written by Lin Weimin won the Berlin Golden Bear Award!
"The Last Emperor" written by Lin Weimin won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay again!
One piece of news after another constantly challenges the bottom line of these directors in the film industry. As the value and popularity of the awards increase, their fragile nerves are constantly being devastated.
The directors' cognition was constantly being refreshed. Looking at the awards that shone in the world film scene, some people suddenly began to feel that the conditions proposed by Lin Weimin were not so difficult to accept.
Once the mentality changes, it will naturally be reflected in different behaviors.
It had been several years since any director approached him for adaptation, but after the Oscar news came, Lin Weimin became the most watched and popular figure in the domestic film industry.
Senior directors from major film studios called one after another seeking cooperation, leaving Lin Weimin overwhelmed.
Lin Weimin knew very well why this group of people called him so diligently. Under such circumstances, how could he hand over his work casually?
Besides, the fees quoted to him by these domestic film directors were no more than three to five thousand yuan, which was really a bit too cheap.
Lin Weimin didn't ask for money when he helped Zhang Yimou polish the script. He was just doing a favor. His scripts won many awards including Cannes, Berlin, and Oscars. But these directors only asked for a few thousand yuan for the adaptation fee. Aren't they treating Lin Weimin like a fool?
Lin Weimin knew that this of course had a lot to do with the fact that the domestic film industry was still in the studio era.
Everything was under the planned economy. Movies nowadays could not share box office revenue like in later generations. The studios could only recover costs by selling copies. Even if it was a box office hit, it was difficult to make much money by selling copies.
In this case, where do the studios get the funds and motivation to support expansion and development?
It's nothing more than a struggle to survive!
The script of "The Last Emperor" was co-written by Lin Weimin and Teng Jinxian. Bertolucci paid 200,000 US dollars for the script, which was divided equally between Lin Weimin and Teng Jinxian. Teng Jinxian had an official status, so the green light was given to him.
Let alone a movie costing 100,000 dollars, even if it's only 100,000 RMB, it's impossible for domestic film studios to produce it. This has nothing to do with courage, but a system problem, just like the royalties that Lin Weimin discussed with Cheng Zaochun.
Phone calls came one after another, and people visited him from time to time with sincerity, but none of them moved Lin Weimin.
Many film directors came eagerly but left disappointed.
Just a few days after the Oscar's favorable reception, Lin Weimin's reputation in the domestic film industry became even worse.
This thief is so greedy for money!
When Lin Weimin heard the news, he could only smile helplessly. The two sides were completely on different channels.
The directors from the film studios that came to him were basically under the planned economic system, while his requirements were put forward in accordance with the market economy, so it was normal that they could not reach an agreement.
At a time when rumors were rife in the domestic film industry that Lin Weimin was demanding an exorbitant price for script royalties.
With the closing of the 60th Academy Awards, "The Last Emperor" as the biggest winner of this year's awards ceremony has become the focus of countless media, and more and more American film and television companies have noticed the name signed in the screenwriter column of "The Last Emperor".
(End of this chapter)
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