Back to 80: My Literary Life

"The New Year is with you." Fang Minghua said an honorific that Xijing people often say during the Chinese New Year, and smiled as he let Zhang Yimou enter the yard.

The two entered the living room, and Fang Minghua asked: "Tea or coffee?"

"Tea bar, to be honest, after staying in the United States for two years, I still can't get used to drinking coffee." Zhang Yimou said.

"Then let's drink tea. Xiaohong, go get the white sand green tea from my study." Song Tangtang shouted to the new nanny.

Within a few minutes, the nanny came down from upstairs. Fang Minghua took a small tea can and said to Zhang Yimou: "This is sent to me by Han Shaogong from Tianya Magazine. The new tea is on the market this year. It tastes good. Come and try it. "

With that said, Fang Minghua started to make tea.

Looking at the bright yellow-green color of the soup in the white porcelain teacup, Zhang Yimou picked up the teacup and sipped it slowly: "Well, it's good tea, and it still has a bit of fragrance."

"When you leave, take some back and enjoy them slowly."

"No, no, I don't understand tea. It would be a waste to take it back." Zhang Yimou quickly refused.

The two chatted for a while and then heard Zhang Yimou say: "Minghua, how is the writing of the script going?"

Fang Minghua knew that Zhang Yimou would definitely ask about this when he came to pay New Year's greetings today, so he said, "It hasn't been completely finalized yet. Can you take a look first?"

"Okay, let me take a look."

The two went up to the second floor and came to the study. Fang Minghua turned on the computer and called up the document, and Zhang Yimou looked at it carefully.

"Read it slowly." Fang Minghua knew that a script of more than 40,000 words is not long, but Zhang Yimou is a very serious person and will definitely watch it for a long time.

Sure enough, Zhang Yimou spent the whole afternoon in the study, and Fang Minghua asked the nanny to come up and give him two cups of tea.

It wasn't until half past five that Zhang Yimou came down from upstairs.

"Have you finished reading? After dinner, the two children will go home from school immediately." Fang Minghua greeted.

Zhang Yimou said politely and agreed.

During the Chinese New Year, many things are ready-made. The nanny prepared a table of dishes, and Fang Minghua opened a bottle of Maotai. After the two children came back, everyone sat in the restaurant and started eating.

"Minghua, give me the script." Zhang Yimou said.

"I haven't completely finalized it yet," Fang Minghua replied.

"Okay, I think it's pretty good. It's very in line with my ideas. Isn't Mr. Song coming back from the United States soon? I want to talk to her about the movie project. I have some ideas of mine. I need to be familiar with the script first."

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In fact, Fang Minghua's script has been written. It is basically the script of "Hero" in history, but the flaws in the script have not been solved yet.

He wanted to think about it again. It was not easy to maintain the watchability of a commercial blockbuster while also deepening the depth of reality.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Yimou wanted it now.

Seeing Fang Minghua's hesitation, Zhang Yimou added: "I heard that Taiwanese director Ang Lee is also planning to make a martial arts movie. I want to get ahead of him."

"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"!

Historically, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" filmed by Ang Lee was indeed released at this time in the new millennium. The film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and was also the first Chinese-language film to win an Oscar. Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Immediately afterwards, Zhang Yimou made "Hero", but it was only nominated for an Oscar but did not win. It is said that the former was also because of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".

Can’t the best foreign language film always go to a Chinese martial arts film?

Now, Zhang Yimou did not film "My Father and Mother" and "Happy Days", but directly filmed "Hero" at the same time as Ang Lee.

The two martial arts films started shooting at the same time. If "Hero" can be released before "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", Zhang Yimou's Oscar dream may be fulfilled.

Thinking of this, Fang Minghua agreed.

"Okay, I'll leave it to you first. I'll think about what needs to be modified and we'll discuss it later."

"Okay, I'll start preparations when I get back today!"

Song Tangtang came back three days later, and Fang Minghua drove to Xianyang Airport to pick him up. In the car, the two talked about what happened to each other.

After the road show of the second Harry Potter film in the United States, it has been released simultaneously in North America and Europe. With the blessing of winning the "Hugo Award", authoritative organizations predict that the box office will exceed that of the first film.

The peripheral development of the "Harry Potter" series of movies has reached an agreement with Warner Bros. Both parties will jointly authorize it. It has been negotiated that Hasbro of the United States has obtained the toy and game rights, Scholastic has obtained the educational publishing rights, and Warner Bros.'s brother companies have WBCP acquired the video game rights.

All copyright income will be divided between Shengshi Film and Television and Warner Bros. at a rate of 73%.

This is a lot of income!

"Minghua, I want to open a Shengshi Film and Television subsidiary in the United States. It will be located in Los Angeles and will be fully responsible for the company's business in the United States, including the filming of Harry Potter and peripheral licensing agreements. This will save me the hassle of traveling back and forth."

"This is a good idea!" Fang Minghua fully agreed: "Who will be the person in charge of the company?"

"Let Wu Tianmin take over the job for the time being. The rest of the staff will wait for me to return to the company to start discussions before sending someone over." Song Tangtang explained.

"Yes, but I think it's better not to have too many people. In American companies, employees should be mainly local Americans or international students from our country. They are most familiar with the American market and accounting laws. Key positions in the company can only be held by those sent there. Just keep it in people’s hands.”

"Okay, I'll listen to you."

Of course, there is also the matter of Zhang Yimou filming "Hero".

"Minghua, I received an email from Yimou. He talked about this matter in detail, including the script you wrote. I think the depth of this script is not as profound as your previous one." Song Tangtang expressed his opinion.

"It was originally written according to the idea of ​​a commercial blockbuster, and it is still a semi-finished product." Fang Minghua explained: "Zhang Yimou is in a hurry to prepare, so give it to him first. It will be in time to modify it when the filming starts. Anyway, the basic framework will not change."

Song Tangtang nodded and smiled: "I think Zhang Yimou is very competitive. He has been competing with Chen Kaige and now he is fighting with Ang Lee."

Fang Minghua laughed: "As an old Qin person, don't be fooled by his silly appearance like the Terracotta Warriors!"

Song Tangtang came back from the United States and started to get busy again after a few days of rest.

The third part of "Harry Potter" has started shooting, but Wu Tianmin is the producer there, so Song Tangtang doesn't have to worry about it.

More than half a year has passed since Shengshi Film and Television acquired Xiying Studio. Internal integration and personnel diversion are still ongoing, but Song Tangtang's work focus is not here. She handed it over to Deputy General Manager Liu Xiaoguang. She is mainly responsible for the establishment of the American company and the project establishment of the company's current film and television programs.

First of all, the movie "Hero" was officially established. On the one hand, the project was reported to the State Film Administration, and the crew was prepared at the same time.

Naturally, it was Zhang Yimou's creative team. In addition, the famous Chinese-American musician Tan Dun was invited to compose the music for "Hero".

At the same time, according to Zhang Yimou's idea, this time a large investment and production will be made, and all big stars from the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan are prepared.

In addition to "Hero", Shengshi Film and Television has started shooting several films.

Feng Xiaogang's "Endless", as the third part of the Lunar New Year trilogy, has started shooting.

Zhang Yuan's "Going Home for the New Year", the script was successfully reviewed and filed with the State Administration of Film, and it will start shooting immediately, using Li Bingbing, a newcomer who graduated from the Shanghai Theatre Academy.

Wang Quanan, who has been silent for several years, also started filming his second movie "Lunar Eclipse" this year. The main character is Yu Nan, an actress who graduated from Yandian.

He only filmed one TV series: the third part of "Kang Weifu Private Visits".

Shengshi Film and Television has shifted its focus back to movies.

Fang Minghua has basically nothing to do after writing the script for "Hero". It is supposed to write the sixth Harry Potter movie "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", but I really can't muster the energy.

Let's put it aside for now.

It is mid-March now, the spring is bright and beautiful, and the annual provincial writers' association meeting is about to be held, but this time it is not in Xijing, but in Tianhan.

South of the Qinling Mountains, spring is more beautiful, and everyone can take a look around.