1980 My literary era

"The Intouchables" performed well on Off-Broadway. After accumulating word-of-mouth during this period, an operating company invited "The Intouchables" to perform on 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 in the process of continuous polishing.

Now, "The Intouchables" has passed the most difficult stage. The premiere has received good response and reputation. Once it enters Broadway, what awaits it will be regular box office revenue, tours and authorized version production plans every week.

Broadway's operating model is centered on producers. The producers support two companies, one is the investor, and the other is the copyright controller.

The early stage of drama production is the investment period. During this period, you can only get in and out, and all investors’ money is spent.

In 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, profits will be shared among the three parties: producers, investors, and copyright controllers. The general sharing ratio for Broadway is 2:4:4.

The play "The Intouchables" is somewhat special because it was brought to the United States by Arthur Miller.

Very few investors are willing to touch upon the re-production of such a drama from China, so when Arthur Miller produced this drama, he also invested part of his own money, with the investment amount reaching 30% of the entire drama investment.

In addition, there is another issue regarding Lin Weimin’s share.

"The Intouchables" is Lin Weimin's work, but if Arthur Miller wants to bring it to the United States, he needs to go through some operations.

Lin Weimin is Chinese and it is impossible to directly participate in the performance sharing. Therefore, after the two people negotiated, the copyright of "The Intouchables" was handed over to Arthur Miller. He has a copyright agency in his hands, so Arthur Miller also became the so-called copyright controller, and then Arthur Miller paid Lin Weimin royalties through this copyright agency.

The pure copyright agency fee is not expensive, but the operation of "The Intouchables" is also handed over to Arthur Miller's copyright agency, so part of the income in this area must also be shared with Arthur Miller.

In total, Arthur Miller's share of the final profit from "The Intouchables" reached an astonishing 50%, and the investors' share was 28%, while Lin Weimin, the original author, could get The profit share is 22%.

Of course, this profit share is ultimately paid in the form of royalties.

Arthur Miller specially calculated an account for Lin Weimin in his letter. If it enters Broadway, "The Intouchables" can have fixed performances every year, that is, fixed performances every week during the season, and the total box office of each performance will be If the income can reach 80,000 US dollars, the final net profit may be between 10,000 and 20,000 US dollars.

In other words, for each performance, Lin Weimin's box office share can reach about 2,000 to 4,000 knives.

This estimate was made by Arthur Miller based on his many years of career. If "The Intouchables" enters Broadway and fails, then these words will be ignored. Another possibility is that the drama becomes popular. Even if it is a small hit, Lin Weimin's income is likely to be several times higher than this.

Because by then, not only will the box office of the performances be higher, but the number of corresponding performances will also increase, including tours, authorized productions, etc.

When Lin Weimin read the letter and saw this, he couldn't help but smile.

Not bad, not bad, I just donated a royalties and here comes another one.

And this one is even bigger!

On Broadway, Big Brother is a musical, and drama is just the younger brother. But even so, as long as "The Intouchables" can gain a foothold on Broadway, it can provide Lin Weimin with an income of at least ten or two hundred thousand dollars every year.

If it can become a big hit, it will be a million-meter shot.

Lin Weimin didn't think that far ahead, and it was already good as it was now.

Lin Weimin was not dissatisfied at all with Arthur Miller's exaggerated 50% share ratio.

Comrade Lao Mi is busy, contributing money and efforts, so a 50% share is really not much.

Lin Weimin knows very well that without Arthur Miller's name, the possibility of "The Intouchables" being successful in the United States is almost zero.

This has nothing to do with the quality of the work. Broadway is an extremely commercial place, and only a master like Arthur Miller can successfully run a play from China.

Lin Weimin can get more than one-fifth of the overall box office profit by sitting in China and doing nothing. What else is there to be dissatisfied about?

At the end of the letter, Arthur Miller once again invited Lin Weimin to the United States.

According to him, if "The Intouchables" can really gain a foothold on Broadway, then Lin Weimin will be freed from the "nobody" situation and can definitely go to Broadway to show off his skills.

"I want to introduce a genius to the theater world in the United States! 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 more comfortable.

Putting down the letter with a smile, Lin Weimin began to look through other things in the package.

There are more than ten photos, all of which are foreigners. They include not only the performance of the actors on the stage, but also photos of the audience in the audience.

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 60-70%. This ratio is not low, especially since "The Intouchables" is a newly staged drama.

Among the bunch of photos, there was a group photo of Arthur Miller and many actors, which made Lin Weimin couldn't help but smile.

At this time, he felt a sense of accomplishment in his heart, not because of how much money he made from the play, but because of the sense of accomplishment that his work would take root on the other side of the ocean. At the same time, he also felt a bit of gratitude to Comrade Lao Mi. .

After looking at the photos and a poster of the performance, Lin Weimin felt that this thing was very commemorative and could be hung in the study.

Among the items sent by Arthur Miller, the most insignificant thing was the stack of newspapers and magazines.

Lin Weimin is in China. No matter how loud the whistle is from the other side of the ocean, he has no personal experience. On the contrary, it is not as real as the reports, attention and discussions that the donation received in the past few days.

However, Lin Weimin still looked through it carefully and found that they were basically media from the New York area where Broadway is located. There were three newspapers and one magazine, which looked a bit shabby.

But considering that this is a drama with little investment, it is extremely difficult to get such attention.

The newspaper Lin Weimin opened attracted the attention of his colleagues.

"Weimin, is this 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 paid attention.

Yao Shuzhi exclaimed: "Has it all appeared in American newspapers?"

"It's a regional newspaper, equivalent to the Yanjing Daily."

"Isn't that enough?" Yao Shuzhi looked at Lin Weimin with a strange look, "There are too many "People's Daily", and even "Yanjing Daily" can't be seen."

The expressions of my colleagues were also a bit mocking, "That's right, you can't look down on the Yanjing Daily even if you are published in an American newspaper!"

Just kidding, the fact that Lin Weimin's play was staged in the United States and received media coverage really shocked his colleagues.

In the 1980s, China and the United States were in their honeymoon period. With all kinds of publicity, the United States was a paradise-like place. If a work could gain a foothold there, wouldn't it mean that it would be world-famous?

Lin Weimin noticed the eagerness in the eyes of this group of people and knew that within a day, the news would spread throughout the Chinese Literature Society. A week later, the impact will spread to Yanjing City.

Alas, is this Chinese Literature Society still a place for literati like me?

Before getting off work in the afternoon, Lin Weimin received a call from Tao Huimin.

Tao Huimin told Lin Weimin the good news on the phone that the filming of "Beautiful Prisoner" was about to be completed.

"Then when can you come over?"

This is the focus of Lin Weimin's concern.

"I only have a few days off, and I still have to go back to the troupe!"

"No delay, I'm going to pass through Yanjing anyway. How are you thinking about work?"

Tao Huimin hesitated and said: "I plan to discuss it with my parents after I return to Zhijiang. There is also a problem with the school."

In addition to being an actor in the Xiaobaihua Yue Opera Troupe, Tao Huimin is also a five-year technical secondary school student majoring in opera at Zhijiang Art School. They were all part-time students at the beginning and were both actors and students.

She entered school in 1982 and graduated in 1987.

The school is indeed a problem. For Tao Huimin, this matter requires a choice.

Although there are many advantages to finding a girlfriend, there are also many disadvantages.

For example, you still have to wait for her to graduate!

After the phone call, Tan Chaoyang joked: "My girlfriend is coming again?"

"yes!"

"Pay attention to your health!" Lao Tan recalled Lin Weimin's girlfriend's face when he came to Yanjing last year, and he couldn't help but kindly reminded her.

You are a disrespectful old man!

"Then what, I won't go to this pen meeting."

It is now early July, and there are less than ten days left before this year's PEN Conference of "Contemporary", which will be held in Yantai.

My girlfriend is coming, and if he leaves again, I will miss it perfectly. Once I miss it, it will be another half year.

As soon as he heard that Lin Weimin asked for leave, Comrade Lao Qin suddenly panicked, "Don't. You have been busy for more than half a month, so you have to go and relax!"

Lin Weimin thought to himself: Are you afraid that I will die from exhaustion?

The old man's conscience is so bad that he won't let me rest even when my girlfriend comes.

If Lin Weimin does not go to Yantai, one of Meng Weizai and Qin Chaoyang must be responsible for various tasks during the PEN Conference.

In that case, a good PEN Club will be ruined!

At this time, Comrade Lao Qin felt more and more the importance of being a comrade for the people.

“Our editorial department can’t live without you!”

Faced with Comrade Lao Qin's unscrupulous flattery, Lin Weimin remained unmoved at all, "No, no, no, I can't go even if I tell the truth. It took a long time to see him this time in a year."

After Tan Chaoyang tried to persuade him for a long time to no avail, he began to think of crooked ideas.

"How about bringing your girlfriend with you? Just treat it as a trip together!"

After Qin Chaoyang finished speaking, he admired his own wit.

Lin Weimin was a little excited when he first heard it. Yantai is indeed a good tourist destination.

But then I thought wrongly. As long as I go to Yantai, I will suffer a lot.

When the time comes, won't it be more uncomfortable for the beautiful woman to stay alone in an empty room?

"No!" Lin Weimin refused firmly.

Tan Chaoyang was anxious and pulled him to Meng Weizai's office, "Lao Meng, you have to take care of this kid, it's really shameful now!"

Angry from embarrassment, Lao Tan complained.

"What's wrong with this?" Meng Weizai asked.

Tan Chaoyang described what just happened.

After hearing this, Meng Weizai said to Lin Weimin seriously: "For the people, you have to consider the overall situation in this matter..."

Lin Weimin knew it was not good as soon as he heard these words. His heart changed and he hurriedly interrupted Meng Weizai's words.

"Boss, you and your girlfriend only get to see each other once a year. Tell me, is it easy?" Lin Weimin first complained, and then said: "Isn't Xiao Tong here this year? Lao Zhu, Lao He plus Xiao Tong, It’s enough to handle the PEN meeting.”

"Xiao Tong is still young and has just come to the editorial department. It is the time when he needs to exercise. This PEN meeting is the best opportunity!"

"I can't let Xiao Tong miss such a crucial training opportunity for my own selfish desires. The most important thing in cultivating ladder-type editorial talents is to give young people opportunities!"

In order to stay in Yanjing, Teacher Lin has become shameless.

At critical moments, he shows no mercy to his teammates.

Lao Meng and Lao Qin looked at each other. Although they knew that this kid was talking nonsense, when they thought about it, it seemed that there was some truth in it.

So let’s do it.