1980 My literary era

The script of the co-produced TV series was written very quickly in Lin Weimin's hands, and was basically produced at the rate of two episodes per day.

Unfortunately, the script was too long, so Xiao Sheng could only wait in Yanjing Hotel.

In the evening of this day, Lin Weimin came to Xiao Sheng again with the six-episode script.

After reading the script, Xiao Sheng sighed: "There are still a few more episodes where the book is written, right?"

"Yes. According to history, Tan Yunxian lived to be ninety-six years old, but her later life was not very good. For the sake of the audience's feelings, it will not be written to the end. It will only be written to the climax of her writing a book and saving lives and healing the wounded."

Xiao Sheng nodded, this is a mature screenwriter.

After these days of creation, the TV series script has been written to 56 episodes. With another 4 episodes, it will be a full 60 episodes.

It’s not that TVB TV stations don’t have TV series with more than 60 episodes, but they are all unit dramas.

Lin Weimin has never written a TV series of this length with a single story, and its difficulty is not the same as that of a unit drama.

He recalled the content of the script, which was based on Tan Yunxian, a female doctor in the Ming Dynasty.

Tan Yunxian was born in the Tan family in Wuxi. The Tan family was not only a medical family, but also a prominent family in the era. His ancestors were both famous doctors and former political officials. Tan Yunxian is the daughter of Tan Gang, the second son of the family. Tan Gang was the director of the Ministry of Criminal Affairs in Nanjing at that time, and now he is a cadre at the department and bureau level.

As Tan Gang's daughter, Tan Yunxian was able to have a name at birth and also received a good education.

Tan Yunxian was smart since she was a child. She was nurtured by her grandparents and was deeply loved by her grandparents. They took her with them every time they went to the clinic and carefully explained various medicines and pathologies. When Tan Yunxian grew up, she had learned superb medical skills.

At the age of marriage, Tan Yunxian married the Yang family, who was also a doctor. Not long after her marriage, Tan Yunxian suffered from Qi and blood deficiency and was unable to have children. She used the pharmacological knowledge she learned to prepare her own prescriptions and tried the medicine herself. In the end, the medicine cured her illness, and she successively gave birth to three children for her husband's family. daughter and a son Yang Lian.

From then on, Tan Yunxian's medical skills impressed her husband's family, and they trusted her to treat their family members when they got sick.

When her grandmother Ru was dying, she gave all the medical skills, prescriptions, and medical equipment she had collected to Tan Yunxian, and affirmed Tan Yunxian's medical skills: "My eyes are closed!"

Influenced by Chen Zhu's Neo-Confucianism in the Ming Dynasty, social etiquette was strict. Many women were unwilling to ask male doctors for diagnosis and treatment due to the protection between men and women. Even if male doctors were invited, they could not inquire about the patient's condition because they could not see their appearance, and even the most basic questions could not be asked. A handkerchief is required to check the pulse, and tragedies often occur that delay the patient's condition and lead to death.

Due to the different physiological structures of men and women, women have many difficult and complicated diseases that involve privacy, which makes it difficult for them to talk to male doctors. The emergence of Tan Yunxian, a highly skilled medical doctor, gave many female patients hope and asked her to come to the clinic for treatment.

Encouraged by her grandmother, Tan Yunxian officially left the compound and walked around the world as a female doctor.

Tan Yunxian not only has excellent medical skills, but also has a very good understanding of the patient's psychology. During the communication process with the patient, Tan Yunxian uses the delicate and peaceful characteristics of women to relieve the patient's anxiety, and in this way, the tragic situation of women who have been abused is brought to light. She appealed to the people and gained such a great reputation that she even began to visit the court many times as a female doctor.

As Tan Yunxian's fame grew, many sick royal women who were unwilling to ask male imperial doctors for diagnosis and treatment invited Tan Yunxian to the palace.

Lin Weimin's script only ends here. Tan Yunxian has become a master of Chinese medicine, and the story in the next four episodes is the end.

"Historically, Tan Yunxian first wrote a book and established his theory, and then lost his son and grandson, and then he no longer had the intention to write a book. I plan to reverse the order a little, and first lose his son and grandson, and then write a book and establish his theory."

Xiao Sheng nodded after hearing this. Don't underestimate the reversal of the order of these two events. As long as the TV series is in place, the legendary and glorious image of the characters can be instantly established.

The TV series is not official history, and must be appropriately artistically processed for dramatic effect.

After finishing all the plot, Xiao Sheng asked: "The title of the drama should also be decided, right?"

Lin Weimin thought for a moment, "Otherwise, let's call it "The Biography of a Female Doctor"!"

""The Biography of a Female Doctor"?" Xiao Sheng chewed on the name and read it several times before saying, "Okay, this is a good name. It is simple and grand, and people will know the purpose and content as soon as they hear it."

Lin Weimin smiled. He chose Tan Yunxian, a female doctor, as the protagonist to write the script because he was influenced by Kimchi Country's "Dae Jang Geum".

The prototype of "Dae Jang Geum" did exist in history, named Seo Jang Geum. As a commoner's daughter, she taught herself medical skills, and was recognized by King Jungjong of the Joseon Dynasty and awarded the title of Dae Jang Geum. Later, he was convicted and exiled after the death of Zhongzong, and died in 1566.

Xu Janggeum and Tan Yunxian died in the same year, but Tan Yunxian was born decades earlier than her.

When it comes to medical achievements, Tan Yunxian can write books. In terms of life trajectory, she has far more ups and downs than Xu Changjin.

Lin Weimin felt that it would be a waste to leave such good material unused.

What's more, taking the little pickle's path left them with nowhere to go, and they felt happy just thinking about it.

At this time, there are very few TV series about female inspiration.

Lin Weimin also deliberately avoided the bloody love affairs and palace battles in the so-called "female inspirational" TV series in later generations, and completely focused on portraying Tan Yunxian, the first female doctor in history. This is called a real "big heroine" drama".

A few days later, the script of "The Biography of a Female Doctor" was officially compiled.

Dai Linfeng, Xiao Sheng, and Lin Weimin gathered again in the coffee shop of Yanjing Hotel. Xiao Sheng took out the budget he calculated based on the script.

Twelve million!

Seeing this number, Dai Linfeng's heart trembled.

Two classics were filmed in Taiwan, "Journey to the West" cost 3 million yuan, and "Dream of Red Mansions" cost 6 million yuan. The TV series "The Legend of a Female Doctor" actually cost 12 million yuan.

"This...this is too much!"

Recently, Yang Jie just spent all the 3 million that the TV station invested in her. In addition, the crew often changed roles and the special effects were abnormal. Yang Jie was reported to the TV station. CCTV also set up a special investigation team to go to the "Journey to the West" crew to check the accounts. .

Lin Weimin said: "Dai Tai, you can't look at it like this! The total number of episodes and duration of our TV series is as many as the two TV series "Journey to the West" and "Dream of Red Mansions". Together, they have invested almost 1,000 Is that all right? Besides, we also have comrades from Xiangjiang here, and labor in Xiangjiang is also expensive!"

When Lin Weimin talked about Xiangjiang's labor force, Dai Linfeng felt even more distressed. It's not like I asked them to come here. It's better to use our own talents.

"Dai Tai, don't forget. The investment in this TV series is divided between TVB and CCTV, TVB Seven, and you three. In fact, CCTV doesn't pay much."

Dai Linfeng felt a little better after being reminded by Lin Weimin.

"There have been too many big investments in Taili in the past two years." Dai Linfeng sighed.

"I understand, I understand!" Lin Weimin said with a smile.

The few people continued to communicate, and the behind-the-scenes production team will be a collaboration between the two places, with a staff ratio of half and half.

When it comes to actors, Xiao Sheng's attitude is rather stubborn and requires actors from TVB to be used for the main roles.

His reason is also very simple. Mainland audiences usually don't pay attention to the reputation of actors. They look at everyone the same, as long as the actor fits the role.

But the audience in Xiangjiang is different. It was originally a co-production, and actors from the mainland were used. They are not famous in Xiangjiang. It would be bad if it affected the broadcast performance of the TV series.

Dai Linfeng argued hard, "For a co-production, a co-production will naturally use actors from both places. How can we only use actors from Hong Kong and not from our mainland? I don't agree."

The two held their own opinions, and the situation fell into a stalemate for a time.

Lin Weimin tried to smooth things over, "This problem can be easily solved. Since Producer Xiao is worried that the actors are not well-known and will not be well accepted by the Hong Kong audience. Then can't we just find two famous actors?"

"A famous actor? Who to look for?" Xiao Sheng asked.

"Liu Xiaoqing, who previously acted in "The Burning of the Old Summer Palace" and "Behind the Curtain", should still be well-known in Xiangjiang."

Dai Linfeng's eyes lit up, "Not bad, not bad, Xiaoqing is very suitable."

How suitable!

Lin Weimin couldn't help but complain in her heart, how could her big Ben'er look anything like the heroine like me?

But there is no other way. In order to take the overall situation into consideration, Teacher Lin can only recommend her with her nose pinched. Who made her famous!

Xiao Sheng pondered when she heard the name. "The Biography of a Female Doctor" is a veritable drama with a female protagonist. All the drama is focused on the heroine. To make way for this heroine, Xiao Sheng felt that even if all the other protagonists and supporting roles were eliminated, Even after I got it, I was at a loss.

"As the heroine, I think our TVB TVB has two actresses who are more suitable than Liu Xiaoqing."

"This is a co-production. The roles have been given to you. What else can we mainland actors do?"

Dai Linfeng was angry at Xiao Sheng's greed.

The two sides discussed and discussed, but no one could convince the other.

Lin Weimin once again tried to smooth things over, "Since we can't decide, let's not decide yet! Anyway, Producer Xiao has to go back to Hong Kong. How about this, we will list all the spare actors. When Producer Xiao returns to Hong Kong After discussing with the senior management of TVB, we can discuss it over the phone."

Dai Linfeng and Xiao Sheng could only agree with Lin Weimin's plan.

The next day, Xiao Sheng took the script and boarded the plane back to Hong Kong.

The matter of "The Biography of a Female Doctor" has come to an end for Lin Weimin.

Time passed in August, and Lin Weimin once again received a letter from Arthur Miller.

The Tony Awards mentioned in my previous letter had an award ceremony in June.

"The Intouchables" won two awards for Best Actor in a Drama and Best Supporting Actor in a Drama, but missed out on two heavyweight awards: Best Drama and Best Drama Director.

This result was expected by Lin Weimin. "The Intouchables" is a drama purely driven by characters and stories. It is not a good one in the competition for these two awards. It is very good to win two acting awards.

Arthur Miller obviously recognized this result and expressed his happiness in the letter.

Because of the Tony Award, the attendance rate of "The Intouchables" reached a new high, and almost every venue was full in more than a month after winning the award.

Therefore, Lin Weimin's performance share this quarter has increased compared to before, reaching 420,000 US dollars.

Lin Weimin looked at this number and felt surprisingly calm.

I can’t spend it all anyway.

After putting the email away, Lin Weimin was planning to continue reviewing the manuscript, when Mo Yan came to the editorial office of "Contemporary" for the first time in a long time.

Lin Weimin asked happily: "Is it time for your school holidays? I thought you had returned to your hometown!"

Mo Yan nodded, "Let it go. I was going back, but there is still something unfinished."