1980 My literary era

Chinese Literature Society is on fire!

Once the "World Literature Masterpiece Library" project was established, even the superior leaders paid attention to it and directly called Lin Weimin over to learn more about the inside story.

After listening to Lin Weimin's detailed report, the leader encouraged Lin Weimin with a few words.

"The reading atmosphere in society has declined in recent years, which may be a negative factor for the publication and distribution of your series of books. But this is ultimately a good thing, especially for our country's publishing industry. It is a fill-in A gap in a major field has been identified.

The scale of this work is huge, and time, energy, and money are indispensable. I hope that your Chinese Literature Society can carry forward your spirit and complete this work excellently. "

Lin Weimin expressed a few polite words and left the leadership office.

In addition to the attention of superior leaders, the news of "World Literature Masterpiece Library" also spread throughout the domestic publishing industry in a short period of time, attracting the attention of countless colleagues.

Such a high-standard and large-scale library series is extremely rare in the domestic publishing industry. Probably only a publishing house with the strength of the Chinese Literature Society dares to take action.

Colleagues in the domestic publishing industry have mixed feelings about this big move by the Chinese Publishing House. They are envious of others for having the ability to carry out such a big project, jealous of the various innate advantages of the Chinese Publishing House, and hating themselves for not being able to do it.

Many colleagues from the publishing house in Yanjing came over to inquire about the specific situation of the "World Literature Masterpiece Library".

Suddenly, the establishment of the "World Literature Masterpiece Library" project became the focus of the most attention in the domestic publishing industry.

No matter how much attention the outside world pays, the work of the Chinese Literature Society is still proceeding in an orderly manner.

The establishment of the "World Literature Classics Library" has stirred up the Chinese Literature Society. It is not only the top priority of Lin Weimin's work this year, but also the number one task of the Chinese Literature Society this year.

Especially for the two editing rooms, the Foreign Languages ​​Room and the Classical Literature Room, the content of the "World Literature Masterpiece Library" is basically covered by the work content of these two editing rooms. They must be the main force, resulting in sudden pressure on the editors of the two editing rooms. Increase, the workload is directly filled up.

On this day in mid-March, Lin Weimin was discussing the publication order of the "World Literature Classics Library" with the directors of the Foreign Languages ​​and Ancient Literature Office and several key editors.

The "World Literary Classics Library" is called "World" and includes classic literary works from various countries. Therefore, Lin Weimin first set the tone for the publication of the series. The publication and distribution must be published at one time in the unit of "country".

The biggest advantage of doing this is that it can satisfy readers' purchasing desires and collecting habits as much as possible.

If it is published in one volume after another, it is very likely that readers will ignore some of the content due to the saw-saw of time, resulting in uneven sales of each work, which is also detrimental to the distribution work.

Everyone is now discussing which country's books will be published first. Everyone is a senior editor. The literary works of France, the Soviet Union, and Britain have wide influence around the world. In addition, China, as the host, must be among these four countries. Pick one.

Everyone had different opinions on which country should be chosen to publish the works first. They argued endlessly and quarreled back and forth, but they could never make a decision.

Lin Weimin had to come forward and looked through the list of books that had been determined.

"Old Maozi, there is no need to think about it now. There is no doubt about the quality of Soviet literature, but Maozi has just disintegrated, and its influence in the country has not been as good as before. In the Chinese literature section, there are too many books, and many of them are not systematically edited, reviewed, and annotated. Pass.

Between Britain and France, I prefer France. Although there are many books on French literature, there are also many translations. Except for a few relatively uncommon works, the rest can be basically used. "

After he finished speaking, he looked at Chen Jiangen in the Foreign Languages ​​Department, "Old Chen, what do you think?"

"Our foreign language department has no problem taking the lead in publishing French literature. I am mainly worried that there are many domestic titles and frequent publications of French literature, so readers may not be so eager to buy it."

Lin Weimin said: "Your worries are somewhat reasonable, but the literature of the countries we are discussing all have such problems. No matter which country you choose, there will be such problems. Furthermore, the sales of "World Literature Masterpiece Library" are destined to be slow. We don’t have to rush for a while, and if we can achieve some results first, we can boost everyone’s morale.”

Chen Jiangen pondered for a moment and said, "What you said makes sense, I agree."

Lin Weimin looked at the others again, "What are your opinions?"

Everyone said they had no objections and would implement Lin Weimin's opinions.

The order of publication of bibliographies was agreed upon, and the content of the work naturally had to be tilted. The translation, editing, review and proofreading of French literature was the top priority.

After arranging the work of the two editing rooms, Lin Weimin finally had a few days of free time.

During this period of time, he had been busy with the "World Literature Masterpiece Library" and had neglected the work at the Tongwen Society. He was about to go to the Tongwen Society for a look, but was interrupted by two guests who suddenly arrived. pace.

Guo Feng is the boss of Wandao Xindi Literary Publishing House. In 1987, he introduced the works of many mainland writers and successfully published the "Contemporary Mainland Chinese Writers Series" on the island.

In 1989, he found the Chinese Literature Society and proposed the idea of ​​introducing Lin Weimin's works into a separate volume.

Now more than two years have passed. The "Contemporary Chinese Mainland Writers Series" has set off a mainland craze in the Bay Island. The "Lin Weimin Volume" has sold well, with more than 400,000 copies. It has not only boosted Lin Weimin's literary reputation in the Bay Island His fame and influence among fans has also contributed to his royalties of more than 2 million US dollars.

Guo Feng didn't come here for himself today. After a few words of greeting, Guo Feng first introduced Lin Weimin to Lin Weimin, a charming female boss next to him.

Xu Feng is a film actor. In his early years, he appeared in the works of many famous directors from the island, such as Hu Jinquan and Ding Shanxi. Most of his screen images were of chivalrous women.

In 1980, she married Tang Junnian, chairman of the Hong Kong Tomson Group, and faded out of the film industry.

In 1984, she decided to change her career behind the scenes and founded "Tomson Films Co., Ltd." in Wandao. She served as the producer herself and set up branches in Xiangjiang and Shanghai.

In the past few years, her company has successively produced many film works such as "The Ugly Duckling", "Killing My Husband", "Beauty Pictures", "Good Boy", "The Wandering Child", "Starry Night", "Red Dust", etc., many of which are excellent. His works are quite famous in the three places across the Taiwan Strait.

Guo Feng has published Lin Weimin's works, and today he was entrusted by Xu Feng to act as an intermediary. Xu Feng planned to buy the film adaptation rights of Lin Weimin's works.

Xu Feng's experience made Lin Weimin couldn't help but think of Ms. Yang, who had worked with "Lover". They were both actors who turned behind the scenes, and they all achieved very good results.

Speaking of Xu Feng in later generations, the world has long forgotten her identity as an actress. She is most famous for her two-tiered identity.

One is the investor and producer of the movie "Farewell My Concubine", and the other is the boss of Tomson Yipin.

After Guo Feng finished speaking, Xu Feng continued: "Mr. Lin, I live in Hong Kong all year round and travel between the three places across the Taiwan Strait. I have heard about you and your works for a long time. It has been eight years since my film production company was established. During this time, we have invested in and produced a series of film works, many of which have achieved good results.

This time I come to visit you to obtain the film adaptation rights of "Farewell My Concubine", and I hope to gain your approval.

I know that you have cooperated with production companies in Hong Kong and the United States. The price of the script is 400,000 yuan. What do you think? "

Xu Feng got straight to the point when he came up and gave a very impressive number.

If you look at the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and the three places, this price has broken the ceiling. No film company will give such a high fee to any screenwriter.

But if you compare the price of Lin Weimin's cooperation with Hollywood, there is a big difference.

Lin Weimin pondered for a moment and said, "Ms. Xu, "Farewell My Concubine" has been published in many overseas countries and has sold more than 10 million copies. I'm afraid your price is not in line with the popularity of this novel."

Hearing his answer, Xu Feng had a bit of surprise on his face.

Even 400,000 meters is not enough?

Seeing her expression, Lin Weimin said: "To tell you the truth, a few years ago, director Spielberg in Hollywood bought the copyright of "No Matter What, Life is Beautiful" for a price of 800,000 yuan."

Xu Feng took a breath of cold air and a look of surprise flashed in his eyes.

She found Lin Weimin this time mainly because of the recommendation of director Yan Hao.

Yan Hao is the director of the movie "Homecoming". This movie was invested and produced by Ms. Yang's Jade Bird Company. In recent years, Ms. Yang's company's production volume has become less and less, so Xu Feng attracted Yan Hao over.

In 1990, the movie "Red Dust" invested and produced by Xu Feng and shot by Yan Hao was released on both sides of the Taiwan Strait in three places. It not only achieved good box office results, but also won several awards, which made Xu Feng even more interested in Yan Hao. Reliance.

As early as when Yan Hao was cooperating with Ms. Yang, he knew that Ms. Yang wanted to change Lin Weimin's "Farewell My Concubine", but Ms. Yang failed to do so.

Yan Hao loved this novel very much and knew that Xu Feng was outstanding and unlike Ms. Yang who could only invest in making a movie every two or three years, so he strongly recommended it to Xu Feng and hoped that she could get "Farewell My Concubine" right of adaptation.

Before coming, Xu Feng got to know Lin Weimin. In recent years, many of Lin Weimin's novels have been published in Xiangjiang and Wandao. Xu Feng has heard of his name, but has rarely read his works. .

This time, because of Yan Hao's recommendation, she specially read the novel "Farewell My Concubine". After reading it, she was so excited that she decided to adapt this work.

Xu Feng knew that Lin Weimin had collaborated with Hollywood. In 1988, "The Last Emperor" won nine Academy Awards, and Lin Weimin became famous in Hollywood.

According to her understanding, in Hollywood, for an A-level production with an investment of more than 50 million US dollars, the editor can get between 40 and 500 million US dollars.

She deliberated for a long time before settling on the figure of US$400,000. The production budget of "Farewell My Concubine" was definitely far less than that of Hollywood. US$4 million was the limit she could afford.

40/400, one-tenth. Xu Feng thought that his price was sincere enough, but he never expected that Lin Weimin's appetite would be so big.

The key point is that people are not just targeting the target and completely opening their mouths.

If what he said is true, the great Hollywood director Spielberg would have to pay 800,000 US dollars for the right to adapt his film, then how much should he pay for it?

Xu Feng was caught in a dilemma for a moment.