Back to 80: My Literary Life

"Ms. Song opened a film company?" Stephen Chow was very surprised when he heard the news.

"Does the mainland allow private individuals to open film companies?"

Faced with Stephen Chow's question, Song Tangtang briefly explained the establishment process of Shengshi Film and Television, and finally emphasized:

"Mr. Zhou and Mr. Liu, although Shengshi Film and Television has not been established for a long time, it has invested in several movies and TV series. Especially last year, it cooperated with Mr. Zhang Yimou and invested in the filming of "Raise the Red Lantern", which has both box office and reputation. Excellent results have been achieved above.”

Zhang Yimou!

Although Stephen Chow made commercial films, he has also heard of Zhang Yimou.

More importantly, the film "Raise the Red Lantern" won one of the top ten Chinese films at the Hong Kong Film Awards last year!

And his collaboration with Liu Zhenwei in "The Gambler" was only nominated for Best Actor at the Hong Kong Film Awards last year.

"Oh, by the way, Zhang Yimou's movie was also written by my husband. I asked my husband to be the screenwriter for several of the movies he made." Song Tangtang added.

After hearing this, Zhou Xingchi and Liu Zhenwei looked at each other.

Sure enough, Fang Minghua is known as the number one screenwriter in the Mainland, and he is well-deserved.

"Song Tangtang, I have another question." Liu Zhenwei asked: "According to mainland policies, private film companies are unable to obtain a public release license, which is what you call Long Biao. How will the films planned by the company be released?"

"This is very simple." Song Tangtang smiled slightly: "We can cooperate with mainland film studios and purchase Dragon Label. "Raise the Red Lantern" is a cooperation with China Film Co., Ltd."

Song Tangtang briefly explained the cooperation process with China Film Co-production Company, and finally said: "Mr. Zhou, Mr. Liu, don't worry, I can purchase the dragon label from any film studio in the mainland, including Xiying."

This woman is very capable!

Zhou Xingchi and Liu Zhenwei had this idea in their minds at the same time.

The mainland is not Hong Kong. There are many regulations for film and television production and distribution. A private company can handle it all. It is simply impossible without the ability.

Maybe it also has something to do with the man beside me?

Stephen Chow took another look at Fang Minghua, who was sitting next to Song Tangtang.

But now Fang Minghua has his legs crossed, looking like he has nothing to do with him.

He and Liu Zhenwei exchanged glances again, and each other understood what they meant.

"Ms. Song, we are willing to cooperate with you." Stephen Chow finally made the decision.

"Okay, then we can talk in detail about how to cooperate?" Song Tangtang still had a faint smile on his face.

"OK!"

"Mr. Zhou, Mr. Liu, then you talk to my wife." Fang Minghua suddenly stood up and said with a smile, "I have something else to do."

After saying that, Fang Minghua added: "I'm not very interested in business matters." After saying that, he turned around and walked upstairs.

He's really not interested.

What’s so nice about collaboration?

They must be arguing with each other, and they all want to do what is best for their company.

Fang Minghua believes in his wife's abilities.

Rather than sitting here like this, which is boring, I might as well go upstairs to read a book and listen to music.

Upstairs, Fang Minghua was drinking tea and reading the latest issue of "Yanhe".

Downstairs, Song Tangtang, Zhou Xingchi and Liu Zhenwei had a heated discussion and even quarreled about cooperation matters.

The whole morning was spent like this, until it was almost time to eat at 12 noon, when Song Tangtang went upstairs to call Fang Minghua.

"Are you done talking?"

"Well, a preliminary cooperation agreement has been reached."

"good."

Fang Minghua went downstairs and warmly invited Zhou and Liu to have a light lunch together, but they were declined politely.

"Mr. Fang, Ms. Song, we booked a plane ticket for two o'clock. We have to go to the airport now. How about having dinner together next time we come to Xijing?" Zhou Xingchi said.

In this case, Fang Minghua did not force it. The couple politely sent everyone to the entrance of the courtyard. They saw Stephen Chow getting into a Mercedes-Benz before returning to the small courtyard.

He looked at the watch on his wrist: "It's already 12 o'clock, why don't we stop cooking at noon and go to a restaurant?"

"The food outside is not clean, so you'd better cook it yourself. You rest while I do it." Song Tangtang walked into the kitchen, put on an apron and got busy.

Song Tangtang doesn't like eating out. On the one hand, the hygienic conditions of restaurants outside are indeed not good, and on the other hand, she doesn't feel like she has the atmosphere of home.

I don’t have time when I’m busy at work, so I just like to cook when I’m free.

When his wife went to the kitchen to work, Fang Minghua went over to help her without having anything to do, and sat on a small stool to help choose vegetables. The two of them chatted while working, and naturally it was about the movie.

"I have reached a preliminary agreement with Stephen Chow and Liu Zhenwei to make two movies, one and two, with an estimated investment of HK$40 million. Shengshi Film and Television will account for one-third, which is about 13 million. We will wait until they make a detailed budget to sign the contract." Song Tangtang said. Taomi said.

Fang Minghua frowned slightly after hearing this: "13 million Hong Kong dollars is equivalent to more than 14 million yuan according to the current exchange rate. Shengshi Film and Television doesn't have such funds now, does it?"

"Yes, "Raise the Red Lantern" actually only made 2 million yuan. "Yanjing Man in New York" is not bad. So far, the sales of broadcast rights to local TV stations and advertising revenue are about 9 million yuan. The total is only 11 million, which is not enough at all, and this does not include the necessary expenses for the operation of my company." Song Tangtang sighed.

"But it doesn't matter. 14 million is not a one-time investment. We still have time. The three TV series we filmed will generate income. If it is not enough, I plan to borrow some money from Shengshi Books. They have sufficient cash flow now."

Indeed, although Zhao Hongjun has taken away most of the funds of the two companies in Hainan, Shengshi Film and Television would not be so embarrassed otherwise.

But Shengshi Books is doing much better. In addition to gradually recovering the debts owed by booksellers, it also published the "Dragon Ball" series.

It was only last spring that the first three volumes of the comic books "Little Goku and His Friends", "Martial Arts Conference Volume", and "Battle of the Black Silk Army Volume" from Japan's Toriiyama were introduced. There are 15 volumes in total. Once they were launched, they were immediately sought after by young people.

The first print run was 6 million copies, which were quickly sold out.

Now Shengshi Books is contacting the printing factory and working overtime for the second print run. At the same time, Shu Bin went to Japan to negotiate with Shueisha for the publishing rights of the remaining comics.

With this set of comic books, Shengshi Books made a lot of money.

Since Song Tangtang said that he didn't have any major problems, Fang Minghua didn't ask any more questions.

What he focused on was how to ensure that the box office would be better than expected once the film was made - at least not lose money.

Of course, this is not something to consider now.

"Minghua, I will hold a meeting at the company after work this afternoon to discuss this matter. Tomorrow I will go to Yanjing to find the leaders of the China Film Cooperative Production Company. Buy their dragon logo. In addition, Stephen Chow and others are from Hong Kong after all. They are unfamiliar with the mainland. There are many martial arts scenes in the script. I also need to find martial arts actors. I want to contact Beijing Film Academy to see if they are interested."

In fact, it is best to find martial arts actors from Xi'an Film Studio.

Xi'an Film Studio has shot several western martial arts films with strong styles, such as "Swordsman of Shuangqi Town", "Yellow River Hero", "Magic Whip", "Tai Chi", etc., with many talents.

However, before Fang Minghua came to this era, he had read reports online that during the filming of "A Chinese Odyssey", due to uneven role distribution and communication problems between the two sides, the martial arts actors of the Xi'an Film Studio directly blocked the Hong Kong martial arts director in the room. The entire crew was in chaos, and Cheng Xiaodong even locked himself in the room and dared not come out.

In the end, it was the producers of the Xi'an Film Studio who negotiated with the representatives of the martial arts actors to ease the situation.

Of course, these martial arts actors may not all be from the Xi'an Film Studio. There are many people practicing martial arts in Xijing, such as Fan Shunjiu, Tian Diaoxia, Zhao Changjun and Cui Yushan.

Especially Zhao Changjun, like Jet Li, has won the national martial arts championship.

These people are also difficult to serve. If they do not cooperate with the Xi'an Film Studio this time, it is estimated that there will be more trouble in the future. It is also good to follow Song Tangtang's opinion.

Beijing Film Studio has also shot many martial arts films, such as "Wulin Zhi", "Mysterious Buddha", "Golden Dart Huang Tianba", etc.

It is not bad to find them to cooperate.

"Hey, Minghua, what are you doing?"

Song Tangtang's words woke Fang Minghua up, and he hurriedly said, "Tangtang, I think your idea is very good." "Hurry up and pick the vegetables. I want to wash them."

"Okay."

The next day, Song Tangtang took his secretary Xu Hui and several staff members to Yanjing. This time, he not only wanted to find the China Film Co-production Company, but also the leaders of Beijing Film Academy. He had to stay in Yanjing for a while.

Fang Minghua became a lonely person again.

There was nothing to do all day, so he played with flowers and grass, or took the bean sprouts out for a stroll. He almost carried a birdcage.

Should I write something?

Fang Minghua remembered the theme of workers' layoffs, "Textile Girl", which he wrote at the beginning of this year. Now society, whether in cities or rural areas, has entered a period of transformation, with a series of contradictions and conflicts. There are too many things to write about.

Fang Minghua had not yet decided what to write, and another big man in the Qin Province literary world had finally published a novel after five years of hard work.

White Deer Plain.