1980 My literary era

The next day, it was still the coffee shop opposite the King's Theatre.

Andrew saw Cameron standing up happily and said, "Cameron!"

Cameron McIntosh walked to the table, and Andrew introduced: "This is Lin, an excellent screenwriter and a writer."

Lin Weimin saw the alertness in Cameron's eyes.

After chatting and sitting down, Andrew didn't give Cameron any time to react and said: "Cameron, after my persuasion, Lin is willing to invest in our musical."

"Invest in our musical?" Cameron looked surprised and asked, "Andrew, our musical is not short of investors?"

"There is no shortage of investors, but there is a lack of investors who really respect us."

Cameron looked at Lin Weimin, with a bit of hostility, and said to Andrew: "Andrew, "The Phantom of the Opera" is a high-investment work, and investors are not that easy to find."

Andrew said: "Lin has the strength, and he is willing to support any decision I make."

"Any decision?" Cameron looked at Andrew in surprise.

"That's right!" Andrew saw the expression on his friend's face and couldn't hide the pride on his face. "Cameron, we need investors who truly understand art, not investors who just wave money and point fingers."

Cameron was silent, his eyes wandering back and forth between Lin Weimin and Andrew. He was not sure what trick the two were playing.

"Andrew, can you give me a good introduction to Mr. Lin?"

"certainly……"

Andrew was so happy that he just wanted to speak, but was stopped by Lin Weimin, "Andrew, I'd better do it myself."

Lin Weimin knew that as a producer, Cameron had much more to consider than Andrew as a composer. Naturally, the two were not on the same level. The flattery he used yesterday would definitely not work.

After reintroducing himself in detail, he said: "My identity is actually not important. Mr. McIntosh, I think you should also understand. Andrew is an excellent composer, and he has the ability to create a wonderful work." A superb musical, but unreasonable restrictions will only suppress his talent and tie him up. This approach is not a good thing for the work.

I have watched Andrew's "Cats" and "Evita" and admire his talent in musical theater creation. I think you, as his partner, do the same.

Most investors value nothing more than two things, risk and return. They are extremely risk-averse and greedy for gains, which is contrary to the original intention of artistic creation.

But I'm different. I appreciate Andrew's talent and am willing to pay to support his talent. Of course, if this work can make me some money, that would be great.

As a writer and screenwriter, I know all too well the pain of being interfered with in artistic creation.

At this point, I can assure you that I will never interfere with your creative process. Of course, I would never offend your authority as a producer.

I support you and Andrew unconditionally in all your decisions.

Because I believe there is no better partner than you. "

After Lin Weimin said these words, he looked at Cameron calmly, waiting for his reaction.

"Mr. Lin, your words are too pretentious. Do you know what Andrew is going to do?"

Lin Weimin nodded, "Use a dancer as the heroine, a comedian as the hero, and fire the lyricist."

Cameron looked at Lin Weimin like he was a madman, "You know this? And you still agree with him?"

"Why not? He's the one who created this musical, and no one loves it more than he does!"

Lin Weimin's words made Cameron silent again.

On the side, Andrew became excited, "Lin, you really understand me! Is there anyone in the world who loves this musical more than me? Would I deliberately screw him up? No one would love this musical more than me. Hope he’s well!”

The first half of Andrew's sentence was addressed to Lin Weimin, while the second half was an accusation against his friend.

Cameron didn't look into Andrew's eyes. He whispered: "Andrew, it's too risky for you to do this!"

Andrew immediately retorted: "Doing "Phantom of the Opera" is an adventure in itself!"

Cameron and Andrew looked at each other for a moment before finally losing.

Andrew is right, doing "Phantom of the Opera" was a huge gamble for them.

The 1980s was the peak era of Broadway. Although it was full of flowers, like all entertainment industries, it was all about donkey dung and eggs, and only a few people could really make money.

In today's Broadway, a normal investment musical will not exceed 1 million US dollars, and even a top-tier lineup with 2 million US dollars is enough.

The investment of 3 million US dollars in "Phantom of the Opera" created Broadway history and allowed the two to bet all their fame.

All Americans know that making a musical, like making a movie, is extremely risky.

Hundreds of musicals are staged on Broadway every year, but no more than 20 are truly profitable. Among them, the ones that can make a lot of money are all classics in Broadway's century-old history.

It’s true that Andrew is an excellent composer, and it’s true that his previous works have won a lot of honors and box office, but who can guarantee that his next work will be popular?

You must know that before "Phantom of the Opera", Andrew's "Tell Me on a Sunday" and "Excellent People Drive It Away" received only mediocre responses and barely managed to save money. This is already very lucky.

For musicals, failure often means losing all your money.

Because musicals are an industry with a strong "long tail effect".

The income of musicals mainly comes from the box office. If a musical can withstand the test of time, it can continue to perform for decades and continuously generate income. This is a box office potential that even movies cannot match.

But there are also dangers behind the scenery. The initial investment in musicals is large, and even if the performance has a high reputation, the box office revenue of each performance is fixed.

No matter how many seats are sold, fixed personnel and equipment costs are paid. Unlike movies, which solve all costs at once, costs will continue to be incurred during the musical tour and residency.

Only when the income from a single game is greater than the cost of a single game can the initial cost be covered, and then there will be a long payback period.

No one can guarantee how long a musical will be a hit.

But according to Broadway statistics over the years, an ordinary musical can be considered an excellent work if it performs continuously for six months.

In six months, it would be extremely difficult to not only cover the performance costs but also cover the upfront costs before talking about profitability.

In Hollywood, except for those top musicals, no one can guarantee that they can achieve such investment efficiency.

Therefore, the investment of 3 million US dollars in "Phantom of the Opera" is a huge risk for both investors and Andrew and Cameron.

"Cameron, do you remember this time last year?" Andrew asked while Cameron was deep in thought.

This time last year, Andrew was on vacation and accidentally caught a glimpse of the novel "Phantom of the Opera" on a second-hand bookstall, and learned about the love story hidden in the Paris Opera House.

The Gothic suspense, darkness and extremely romantic plot in the novel instantly ignited Andrew's creative passion. He couldn't wait to call his producer and friend Cameron and proposed to put "The Phantom of the Opera" on the stage, and Cameron also I happily agreed.

"Of course I remember!" Cameron said emotionally, thinking of his original passion.

Andrew and Cameron have worked together for many years and have a perfect understanding. The planning of "Phantom of the Opera" went very smoothly from the beginning.

But as the production of the musical progressed, things began to go wrong.

Andrew is determined to promote his new wife Sarah Brightman, but he has attracted many doubts from investors and critics. Everyone has very strong doubts about Sarah Brightman's background as a dancer.

On the other hand, in terms of the selection of the male lead, although he has signed a contract with Steven Harley, the lead singer of the currently popular rock band Cockney Rebel, Andrew, who has known countless musical actors, is not satisfied with Steven Harley. , I have always wanted to replace this male protagonist.

However, investor and producer Cameron considered the market for market reasons and believed that Steven Harley was currently popular and using him as the leading actor would be helpful to the box office, so he rejected the actor Michael Crawford recommended by Andrew.

Coupled with the recent disagreement with Richard Stego during the creative process, the entire creative team is already full of conflicts that are so intense that they cannot be reconciled.

Cameron pulled away from his thoughts again and looked at his old friend, "Even if I agree, you can't convince those investors that we have signed an agreement."

"Lin promised to buy our agreement from them at a 20% premium."

20% premium?

Cameron looked at Lin Weimin with surprise in his eyes. The 20% premium may not seem like much, but this is a musical that has not yet been performed and is still in the creative stage!

Of course those investors originally took huge risks, but compared with Lin Weimin, who invested at a 20% premium, what did their risks count?

The balance in Cameron's heart was tilting, "What if they are unwilling to accept it? You can't guarantee that they will accept such conditions, right?"

Andrew and Lin Weimin looked at each other and laughed.

"Then let them accept my conditions, just as I wish."

Lin Weimin also said: "If that's the case, I would like the beauty of adulthood. I will be sincerely happy for you if "Phantom of the Opera" can gain investors who respect its creators so much."

Cameron realized that this was an unsolvable conspiracy.

He frowned, looked at Lin Weimin, and asked the questions in his heart.

"Mr. Lin, if you invest at a 20% premium and give Andrew and I all the right to make decisions, aren't we afraid of losing money?"