1980 My literary era

A genius is not afraid of losing money!

Doing a musical is worse than doing a drama.

But this is "Phantom of the Opera"!

Even if Broadway loses all its money, it will not lose money!

"The Phantom of the Opera" is the masterpiece of the talented British musical composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and one of the most popular musicals in Broadway history.

Since entering Broadway from London's West End in 1988, it has performed more than 14,000 times, and its cumulative box office in the United States alone has reached 1.181 billion U.S. dollars. In addition, "The Phantom of the Opera" has been performed in dozens of countries and hundreds of cities around the world over the past few decades, earning a global box office of more than 6.1 billion US dollars.

Until Lin Weimin traveled through time in later generations, it had become one of the longest-running and most-performed musicals in Broadway history.

When you meet this guy Andrew, there is no reason not to get involved!

Investing in "Phantom of the Opera" not only makes money, but also makes you famous. It is definitely a matter of fame and fortune.

Cameron's question lingered in Lin Weimin's mind for a few seconds.

Lin Weimin's face showed a calm smile, "Loss money? Mr. McIntosh, every business has the possibility of losing money. But the difference is whether it is worth doing. I think "Phantom of the Opera" is not only A business is also an outstanding work of art. If it can bring me profits, it is my honor. If not, then at least those who have watched "The Phantom of the Opera" will remember me as an investor. It will become one of the few investment experiences in my life that I am most proud of.”

Cameron looked into Lin Weimin's eyes, as if to delve into the depths of his heart, but from these eyes, he only saw sincerity and clarity.

After looking at each other for a long time, Cameron finally spoke.

"Damn! You're such a great lobbyist."

Lin Weimin smiled and extended his hand to Cameron, "For art!"

Cameron held Lin Weimin's hand and repeated his words, "For art!"

Andrew on the side cheered and encouraged, placing his hands on the hands held by the two of them, "Yes, for art!"

"Damn it! Andrew, get your sweaty hands off!" Cameron cursed.

After saying that, the three of them couldn't help laughing.

After being excited for a while, the three of them regained their composure.

Cameron talked to Lin Weimin about the current specific situation of "Phantom of the Opera".

He and Andrew's base is in London's West End. At this time last year, they received $500,000 in investment from investor Kim Friedberg and several other investors, and successfully launched the production of "Phantom of the Opera" Make.

Unfortunately, 500,000 yuan is just a drop in the bucket for such an ambitious film as "The Phantom of the Opera." Cameron had to continue looking for investment, and Broadway became the best choice.

If the British Empire is compared to the setting sun, then Lao Mi is at its peak. The same is true in the world of musicals. West Street in London is already a thing of the past, but Broadway is in its prime.

Cameron found investors on Broadway very smoothly. After all, Andrew is well-known and is a rare genius musical creator in recent years.

But Broadway investors are much more difficult to deal with than those in London's West End. There are too many constraints during the production process of the musical, and Cameron, the producer, is also very tired.

But there is no way, who made the investment in the musical "Phantom of the Opera" too large?

Although Cameron was concerned about Lin Weimin's joining at first, now that he has decided, Cameron's mentality is more relaxed than Andrew's.

His biggest use as a producer is to find money. Now that he has money and investors have promised not to interfere in the creation and production process, what else does he have to worry about?

The rest is left to Andrew, the creator. If Cameron hadn't trusted Andrew, he wouldn't have agreed to "The Phantom of the Opera".

During this time, he was also very tired trying to balance the relationship between Andrew and investors.

Well now, all problems will be solved.

After today's meeting, Cameron no longer has to worry about balancing investors and creators. Andrew got the creative freedom he dreamed of, and Lin Weimin also got the results he wanted.

All three were very happy. Andrew didn't care that it was still daytime, so he took Cameron and Lin Weimin to find a place to drink.

But now it was broad daylight, and no bar would be open anywhere. The three of them had no choice but to buy a few bottles of red wine and return to Dakota Apartment.

Cameron naturally knew about Dakota Apartments. Seeing that Lin Weimin lived here, he felt more assured about his investment.

In the apartment, the three of them drank until late at night. Cameron and Andrew returned home drunk, and agreed to negotiate with investors tomorrow and give Lin Weimin a reply as soon as possible.

Early the next morning, Lin Weimin called Arthur Miller.

Suddenly receiving a call from Lin Weimin, Arthur Miller was so happy that he thought his script had been written. After chatting, he found out that he was asked to help recommend a lawyer.

“Invest in a musical?”

After listening to Lin Weimin's words on the phone, Arthur Miller's first feeling was that he had been deceived.

Uneasy, he asked Lin Weimin to bring him with him when he meets Andrew next time.

Lin Weimin smiled bitterly, but he also understood Arthur Miller's good intentions.

After making the call, Lin Weimin ran to the New York Branch of the Bank of China at 1045 Avenue of the Americas.

This branch was established in 1981 and was the first Chinese bank to conduct business in the United States.

All the foreign exchange in Lin Weimin's hands is stored in the Bank of China account. Because it is a special situation and special treatment, although Lin Weimin can have a foreign exchange account, the limit is limited. He needs to inform the bank in advance.

Hearing that Lin Weimin wanted to temporarily use a sum of foreign exchange that could reach 3 million US dollars, the New York branch did not dare to make the decision, so a call was made to the headquarters.

Lin Weimin could only explain to Yanjing why he was in urgent need of money. After wrangling for a long time, they agreed to let him go this time.

Three days later, Lin Weimin met with Andrew and Cameron again, accompanied by Arthur Miller and Ken Nash, Arthur Miller's long-term partner. In addition to them, there were also several other investors. lawyer.

Andrew and Arthur Miller are both well-known figures on Broadway. Although they have never met before, they have seen each other in the news media. What's more, the battle between the two sides today is huge. After the exchange, Arthur Miller was relieved.

"Lin, I really didn't expect you to meet Andrew." Arthur Miller and Lin Weimin murmured.

"This is all coincidence and God's will."

"But are you sure you have thought about it? This is an investment of millions of dollars, not a small amount. The risks of investing in musicals are extremely high." Arthur Miller reminded.

On Broadway, production funds have skyrocketed since Disney invaded Broadway after 2000. They successively invested 14 million meters to produce "Tarzan" and 15 million meters to produce "The Little Mermaid" and many other musicals.

Although the investment is huge, box office revenue alone cannot make it back. Disney is losing money and making money, and what it wants is popularity and industry linkage.

Before Disney invaded Broadway, the investment of several million in musicals was already a big figure.

In the 1980s, this number was even lower.

Therefore, Lin Weimin invested two to three million in the musical "Phantom of the Opera", which is definitely a big investment.

"I am very optimistic about this musical, and Andrew's previous works have done very well at the box office." Lin Weimin said.

Arthur Miller sighed inwardly, you only see works that do well at the box office, don’t you see works that don’t do well at the box office?

Of course Arthur Miller would not say this. He came today just to confirm whether Lin Weimin had been deceived.

Now that it has been determined that Andrew is not a fake, his mission is completed.

As for the investment in musicals, we can only pray that Lin Weimin's vision will not be wrong. But Arthur Miller felt that Lin Weimin did not rely on vision, but on a whim. After all, how much did he know about Broadway?

Lin Weimin naturally didn't know what Arthur Miller was thinking, and even if he knew it, he couldn't explain it.

how to explain?

What you rely on is your vision. I'm different. I'm lucky!

In the past few days, Cameron has not convinced all American investors. He has only obtained agreements worth 1.6 million US dollars from three investors, but this is enough for Lin Weimin.

He will not dictate the production process of "Phantom of the Opera", he only needs to ensure that his subsequent income is consistent with other investors.

When signing an agreement, the lawyers of the three parties have the heaviest workload. They need to confirm the contents of the agreement item by item.

On the contrary, the several parties involved were very relaxed and gathered together to chat.

It was not until more than two hours later that the lawyers finally finalized the investment agreement. After signing and confirming, the three parties shook hands.

It can be seen that Cameron and Andrew are very satisfied with this change of investor agreement.

Whether in London's West End or on Broadway, it's hard for creators and producers not to love tycoon investors like Lin Weimin who only care about giving money, just like later generations of domestic screenwriters and directors miss the coal boss.

After all, the coal boss would stuff a little girl in his mouth, but Teacher Lin really didn’t care!

Just one word: open to play!

Teacher Lin paid the bill today!

The cooperation matters were officially finalized, and everyone had lunch together to celebrate the success of the cooperation.

During lunch, Lin Weimin chatted with Andrew and Cameron about the production process of "Phantom of the Opera".

Although Teacher Lin doesn't care about things, he is still concerned about the progress.

"In the second half of the year, the premiere will definitely be possible in the second half of the year." Cameron assured Lin Weimin.

Cameron and Andrew's base is in the West End of London. The purpose of coming to Broadway this time is similar to last year. On the one hand, it was for vacation, and on the other hand, it was to communicate with investors about the problems encountered in the production of musicals.

"If the premiere goes well in the second half of the year, we will consider performing it in the West End for a year, and then try to come to Broadway. After all, this is the most suitable place for musicals to survive." Cameron added.

Lin Weimin nodded. For a mature producer like Cameron, after eliminating those conflicts, investors actually have very few things to worry about. He already has a mature production process and performance plan in mind.

After the meal, both parties said goodbye.

In two days, Andrew and Cameron will return to London to continue the production of "The Phantom of the Opera." Lin Weimin invested 1.92 million yuan in "The Phantom of the Opera" and obtained 53% of the equity in the musical.

Teacher Lin picked up a golden pimple this time!