1980 My literary era

The Chinese New Year is just a few days away, and the hottest topic in the Chinese Language Society recently is of course the year-end bonus.

In recent years, the living environment of the domestic publishing industry has not been optimistic. Compared with the difficulties of many colleagues in the industry, the life of the Chinese Publishing House is not very smooth.

The Finance Department has become the most visited place recently, and everyone wants to know about this year's bonuses and benefits.

In fact, the benefits are nothing to care about. They are just food and drink expenses. Even if the price is higher, they are still dead things.

Bonuses are different, they are all real money, and one payment is equivalent to several months' salary, which is a large amount of money for every working-class family.

The customs pay rate before the end of the year can be regarded as a feature passed down from the early years of state-owned enterprises and public institutions.

On the afternoon of the 27th of the twelfth lunar month, many editors watched the bank's car drive into the gate of the Chinese Literature Society. Everyone knew that the car contained the wages and bonuses that were to be paid to them.

After the car entered the courtyard, there was a commotion in the club.

Ten minutes later, all newsrooms and departments were notified of queuing up to receive wages and bonuses. Everyone had a smile on their face, and the excitement in their hearts could not be suppressed at all.

We have been looking forward to it for a year, why are we looking forward to the New Year? We are just waiting for this bonus!

In front of the Finance Department office, everyone lined up in an orderly manner.

The first young man to receive the money was checking the money with bright eyes, and several people impatiently surrounded him.

"Hey, how much is it? How much is it?"

The young man was immersed in checking the money. He was afraid that he would forget to count. He handed over the salary slip in his hand and said, "Look at it yourself."

Others took the pay slip and glanced at it.

Everyone has a bonus on their monthly pay slip, but the bonus this month at the end of the year is different from the usual bonus.

They finally scanned the bonus column, which was 3,260 yuan.

"How many months? How many months?" someone asked.

A few months refers to a bonus equal to a few months' salary. There are hundreds of people in the Chinese Literature Society with different positions, titles, and work content. The number of bonuses is naturally different. However, based on experience in previous years, everyone's salary is basically the same. As the base number, multiply it several times.

Someone was quick at mental arithmetic and blurted out: "Four months!"

The team that had been chatting just now suddenly became lively.

"Four months? That's higher than last year."

"The sales of books and periodicals were poor this year, so I thought the bonus would be smaller."

"What is this? Other film companies and TV companies receive hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in dividends. How much money do we get?"

"Look at you, you are such a weirdo. No one else can you get such a high bonus? If you have the ability, you can make a movie. If it can get tens of millions in box office, I will apply with the president to give you a bonus of one million."

In the past two years, the Chinese Literature Society has made great efforts in the field of film and television, and has made a lot of profits. It has been very generous to the creators of film and television works, with dividends ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions.

Over time, some people within the Chinese Literature Society began to say strange things.

In the eyes of these people, they are the most up-and-coming employees of the Chinese Literature Society. However, at the end of the year, they can only receive bonuses equivalent to two or three months’ salary. People in the tertiary industry such as film and television companies can receive hundreds of thousands. Yuan, there is no justice!

There are not many people with this mentality. Most of the time they just complain, and from time to time they will be criticized like just now.

The Chinese Literature Society is a cultural institution, and most people understand that artistic creation has no distinction between status, position, or rank.

If people can create value for the company and the unit, it is natural for them to receive hundreds of thousands of dividends. This is a virtuous circle, just like when the Chinese Literature Society took the initiative to increase manuscript fees and change royalty contracts for writers.

Respecting creation and respecting art is the philosophy that Chinese Literature Society has always adhered to.

Therefore, the ulterior motives of a small number of people did not affect public opinion within the society.

After a few people argued, the queue to receive money moved forward a little further, and they were about to be there. The few people who waited did not bother to talk and began to queue up quietly to receive money.

Lin Weimin and Cheng Wanchun stood at the back of the team, and the voices of arguments from the front could be faintly heard from behind.

Cheng Wanchun whispered: "These bastards started to complain after having enough food for a few days."

"It would be strange if there is no such voice in any unit." Lin Weimin said nonchalantly, "Not only them, I think some leading comrades may also have some opinions, right?"

Cheng Wuchun glanced at Lin Weimin, "You know what you are asking."

The huge dividends paid to the creative staff by several companies under the Chinese Literature Society can also be explained by the concept that artistic creation is priceless. However, the salaries of the leaders of those companies exceed those of many leaders of the Chinese Literature Society, which is the most criticized aspect. .

Some comrades in the club had strong opinions on this matter, but because of Lin Weimin's prestige in the Chinese Literature Society, they only dared to talk a few words in private.

Things like this are not uncommon in the domestic business community in later generations. Many Chinese companies going global have faced this problem.

These domestic companies have acquired companies from developed countries, but their employees are paid according to the local salary standards, and they are paid pounds, euros, and rice. If you do some calculations, an ordinary local middle-level employee may have a salary higher than that of the head office. There are many bosses.

Faced with this situation, the vast majority of domestic companies will choose to increase the salaries of senior executives without caring about the lives of lower-level employees. One of the representative companies is Xinxiang.

"So I say, it is still necessary to change the business structure. Although the publishing business is the foundation of our company, its ability to generate income is not strong.

If we still maintain the current system, then the relationship between the several business sectors will still be that of father and son. The son will do more, but cannot eat as much. Over time, this system will be destroyed.

Restructuring the company means changing the relationship between father and son into a brotherly relationship.

Brothers fighting tigers, what our Chinese language agency wants to do is to be a cultural industry group, and the relationship between various business sectors should be complementary to each other.

It is true that publishing is the leader, but it is only the engine. Only by cooperating with all sectors can we create maximum benefits. "

Lin Weimin chatted to Cheng Wanchun in a calm voice, leaving Comrade Cheng speechless for a while.

Could he not know what Lin Weimin meant?

I just want to spread these words through his mouth, stabilize the people's hearts, and prevent some people from complaining and resenting too much, which will affect the unity, and then affect the good situation of the Chinese Literature Society.

"Didn't the leader tell you not to spread the word about the restructuring?" Cheng Wuchun mocked.

"Isn't this with you? Anyway, I just told you alone. If I hear someone outside spreading this matter later, it will be you who said it."

"I……"

"Then you go to the leader to urge him." Cheng Wuchun said angrily.

"Why are you so anxious? This is something you and I can decide in a hurry? We are just giving a suggestion to the higher-ups. The decision-making power rests with them."

When the two of them were talking, the people next to them consciously moved away from each other, and no one heard their low-pitched discussion.

The team moved forward bit by bit. Most people didn't care about these things. What they cared about was the one-third of an acre of land in front of them.

January's salary plus year-end bonus is equivalent to an employee's income for five months, which is a lot of money for most ordinary employees.

Throughout the afternoon, the Chinese Literature Society was filled with joy.

The various editorial rooms and department offices were filled with the chatter and laughter of employees.

Many workers in the People's Cooperative next door have long been accustomed to this kind of laughter and joyful atmosphere, and it has nothing to do with them anyway.

Just talk, laugh, and rub salt into our wounds.

Before getting off work, Lin Weimin received a good news call from Michael Phillips from the United States.

"Life is Beautiful" was released on October 30 and was officially released in US theaters two days ago, with a total of 85 days in theaters.

The film did not first be released in a small number of art film theaters in major cities in the United States like most art films, and professional media reviewers were invited to watch and review it. After gaining word-of-mouth, the film was then screened on a large scale. Instead, it directly chose to achieve large-scale gains.

This choice was the same as when "Farewell My Concubine" was released in the United States. The reason why the producers and distributors were so sure was that the first reason was naturally the quality of the film itself. "Life is Beautiful" swept this list in the first half of the year. Cannes Film Festival.

Another reason is their confidence in the original film.

Although the original novel "Life is Beautiful No matter what" is not as well-known and influential as "Farewell My Concubine" in the United States, it is also a best-seller with millions of copies sold and is widely welcomed by readers.

Moreover, Spielberg, the most commercially valuable director in Hollywood, also planned to adapt this film. If it were not for the opposition of a small Jewish group, the film adapted from this novel might have been released long ago.

Finally, the film was released, and the audience lived up to the confidence of the film producers.

In its first three days of release, "Life is Beautiful" earned an outstanding box office of $12.6 million.

This figure is certainly nothing when compared to large-scale commercial movies, but "Life is Beautiful" is an art film with an investment of 20 million US dollars, and it is also a foreign film.

Roberto Benigni, the movie's star, is relatively well-known in the United States, but everyone understands that the movie's first-week box office has little to do with him. The fact that so many viewers came to support it is probably due to the influence of the original work.

In the second week, "Life is Beautiful" achieved a box office of 20.5 million.

By its third week, the film had grossed 21.3 million at the box office.

Three weeks after its release, the box office actually declined. This box office trend can no longer be described as healthy.

By the fourth week, the box office of "Life is Beautiful" was still frighteningly stable, 19.4 million, with a box office drop of less than 10 percentage points.

Such a weird and unnatural box office trend has shocked many Hollywood practitioners who are concerned about the film's box office. By this week, everyone has seen the huge box office potential of this foreign film.

18.3 million, 16.9 million, 15 million...

In the nearly three months since its release, the box office drop of "Life is Beautiful" has set a record in American film and television, never falling by more than 20%.

Such a healthy decline also contributed to the film's final box office performance of $165 million.

This result seems to be much lower than the box office of "Farewell My Concubine" of nearly 300 million US dollars, but the gold content is unmatched by "Farewell My Concubine".

The schedules of the American film market can be roughly divided into five, namely the winter schedule: starting from the first Friday of the new year to before spring break, the spring schedule: starting from spring break to Memorial Day weekend, and the summer schedule: starting from late May each year Until September 4th, autumn period: from September 5th to before Thanksgiving, year-end holiday period: from the weekend before Thanksgiving until New Year.

The year-end holiday schedule spans the two major holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas, so it is also one of the must-have schedules for film producers.

"Life is Beautiful" was released on October 30, which is the autumn schedule of the American film market. During this period, the film market is tepid. Many production companies release films that are aimed at women, and there are basically no blockbusters.

However, because the release cycle of "Life is Beautiful" is too long, it not only covers the tepid autumn schedule, but also spans the hottest year-end holiday schedule in the American film market.

The period from the weekend before Thanksgiving to the New Year is the hottest period in the American film market. It is basically a battleground for major Hollywood film companies, and all the best movies of each company will be unveiled at this time.

"Life Is Beautiful" was able to earn 165 million US dollars at the box office during the year-end holiday period when many blockbusters gathered, which has shocked the jaws of countless practitioners.

All companies and practitioners are analyzing the secret of the film's success.

The final analysis is that Roberto Bernini, the absolute protagonist of the movie, who is the writer, director and actor, takes the greatest credit, but the most fundamental reason for all this is still based on the excellent quality and wide influence of the original work. .