National Tide 1980.

After completing the legal procedures for the acquisition of Taurus Palace and making arrangements for the placement of Ken Utsui and Tomokazu Miura, it was already mid-September.

But it is a pity that although Ning Weimin himself is quite optimistic about the current situation and is very grateful for having obtained the agency contracts of several famous actors.

But apart from Keiko Matsumoto who had complete faith in his actions, other people in Mist Studio and Matsumoto's office had completely opposite feelings about the current situation.

Everyone only saw that Ning Weimin was desperately borrowing money and spending money lavishly for Matsumoto Keiko, but the actual problem of the company being oppressed and attacked by foreign enemies was not solved at all, and it was always on the passive side.

In particular, the resignation of Yasuko Sawaguchi, one of the leading actors in the drama "Black Leather Notebook" who played the role of Nami, dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the staff at Kiri Studios and Matsumoto Office.

For this matter, Toho Entertainment called the Mist Studio to explain that it was all the work of the Burning Department.

The stubborn Yasuko Sawaguchi even paid 30 million yen to terminate her contract with Toho Entertainment, and they had no choice.

Soon after, some tabloids published the news that Yasuko Sawaguchi had signed a contract with Ikuo Suho's entertainment agency.

It's easy to imagine that there's a high probability that Yasuko Sawaguchi's termination fee was paid by Ikuo Suho.

So, considering that Toho is also a film studio, Ning Weimin didn't even ask for compensation for breach of contract from the actors, and only took back the film remuneration and signing bonus.

No matter how you think about it, this matter is really pathetic.

In addition, the key point is that there has not been much growth in operating income, which is the most worrying thing.

Yes, although the movie "Li Xianglan" was a huge success, the video tape and music album also sold well.

Mist Studios has already recovered nearly 2.2 billion yen through this movie and has made a lot of money.

However, because the movie was taken off the screens half a year ago, the popularity of the film inevitably faded away, resulting in a simultaneous decrease in subsequent revenues.

Currently, the income that Kiri Studio and Matsumoto Agency are still receiving is insignificant, except for the advertising endorsement fees of around 20 million yen that Matsumoto Keiko can receive from Pierre Cardin and Dangu Restaurant on a quarterly basis.

As for the copyright fees for the "Li Xianglan" video tape and music album, we can only receive three to four million yen per month, and it will only become less and less. There is no way to expect anything.

The music tape of the TV series "Dream of Red Mansions" co-published by Ning Weimin and Jinniushan has been growing thanks to the expansion of fans of "Dream of Red Mansions".

  But after all, it is a niche hobby, and the sales growth rate is not fast, which can only bring about 2 million yen in profit per month.

And even this money will be gone in the future because of the acquisition of Taurus Palace.

According to Ning Weimin's request, all future business of introducing Chinese music albums will be handled by Taurus Palace and put in charge of Funaki Minoru. Naturally, all future profits will fall into the account of Taurus Palace.

In short, with this amount of income, it will be enough to pay the salaries of the staff of Kirigaya Studio and Matsumoto Office, which is better than nothing.

So, from Watanabe Mitsuru's perspective as a financial supervisor, the current situation of Kiri Studio and Matsumoto Office is quite bad. They are completely out of money and are living beyond their means.

But Ning Weimin is particularly active in the matter of loans.

The result is that the only thing that continues to grow on the account every day is the increasingly heavy debt burden and the increasing amount of loan interest that needs to be paid to the bank every month.

Just looking at the asset accounts of Mist Studio and Matsumoto Office, the debt ratio has reached nearly 300%.

The interest alone is 50 million yen per month, far exceeding the income.

This is an unheard-of extreme case for both film studios and art agencies, and it is simply worrying.

So no one could be more nervous than Watanabe Mitsuru. He was trembling with fear when he came to work every day, for fear that Ning Weimin would mortgage something again and ask the bank for a new loan.

Of course, it’s not that he doesn’t believe in Ning Weimin’s ability to make money.

After all, Ning Weimin used the method of getting something for nothing and relied on borrowing money to invest in the stock market to exchange for Kirigami Studios, Kurosawa Akira and Mifune Toshiro's studios for Matsumoto Keiko.

Watanabe Mitsuru was so impressed by this move that he even followed Ning Weimin and bought some stocks, making a small fortune.

In addition, he also believed in Ning Weimin's character.

Just look at the film library that Ning Weimin bought from Europe, the shares of France's Yves Saint Laurent, and the equity of Taurus Records, all of which are registered under Matsumoto Keiko's name.

He knew how much Ning Weimin loved his wife and that he treated Matsumoto Keiko with complete sincerity.

But the problem is that Watanabe Mitsuru's heart has limited endurance.

This time, Ning Weimin loaned tens of billions of yen to Matsumoto Keiko, and the amount of funds hoarded was really scary.

All the pressure is on the accounts on the Japanese side, and Watanabe Mitsuru is not told how to earn back the interest on these funds. He can only wait patiently.

As for those overseas assets, Watanabe Mitsuru has no control over them.

So this game is simply too exciting for Watanabe Mitsuru.

He always couldn't help but worry that Ning Weimin would make a mistake and encounter some accident that he couldn't control, resulting in a complete loss.

So, he is now nervous and depressed every day, and he is increasingly doubting whether he is still competent for his current position.

It is estimated that if he spends half a year in this fear of the future, he will definitely suffer from mental illness.

It is also possible that one may lose his life because he cannot bear this kind of suffering.

  Then who can I complain to when the time comes?

Therefore, there is only one way to relieve his anxiety and pain, which is to at least let him see that the work of Fog Studio is back on track, and there is at least hope that these loans can be repaid, so that he can live a stable life again.

As for the director of Kiri Studios Akira Okamoto and the director of "Black Leather Notebook" Yoshitaro Nomura, they are similar to Mitsuru Watanabe and are now also worried about the poor situation of Kiri Studios.

The casting issue for the "Black Leather Notebook" crew has not yet been resolved, which has become the most difficult problem facing them.

Obviously, the announcement for recruiting roles had been sent out for a long time, but apart from a few unknown actors sent by Shochiku Films to apply, and a few newcomers who dreamed of becoming actors but lacked performance experience and came to recommend themselves, no one else came to audition.

They all knew that under the current circumstances, it would be impossible to find suitable actors even after another year.

So how can they not worry?

The two of them were so worried that they could hardly eat or sleep.

But it doesn’t matter. The good thing is that Ning Weimin knows the reasons leading to this situation better than anyone else.

Even though he has been allowing things to develop out of control and seems to have no power to fight back, that's because he is a person who likes to plan afterward. It is impossible for him to do everything according to his opponent's pace, as that would be what his opponent wants.

The real counterattack can only be launched when he is ready.

Besides, there are some things he really doesn't care about.

For example, those who followed Suho Ikuo's instructions and attacked Kiri Studio all day long and spread nonsense.

The more those people praise Zhou Hou Yuxiong now, the more painful it will be when they are slapped in the face in the future.

Also, if that "little bucktooth" Sawaguchi Yasuko wants to leave, just go ahead, Ning Weimin really doesn't care.

This idiot, instigated by Ikuo Suho, was willing to offend Toho Entertainment in order to quit the performance.

  Does this mean that he really doesn't take the "five major things" seriously, or does he disdain his own long life?

He probably doesn't even need to do anything in this matter. In the future, Toho will have to find an opportunity to deal with this ungrateful person who dared to betray him.

  Still want to be famous?

Just wait for your fart.

However, on the contrary, many unexpected situations require him to make arrangements one by one.

For example, accepting Utsui Ken and Miura Tomokazu. And after acquiring Jinniu Palace, how to integrate the business of Jinniu Palace and arrange the treatment of Teresa Teng.

Because in order to resist foreign aggression, one must first stabilize the internal situation. Only by having a stable rear area can Ning Weimin concentrate on dealing with external enemies.

Now that he had done almost everything he needed to do, it was time for him to personally restart "Black Leather Notebook" and troubleshoot the problems.

On September 1987, 9, Ning Weimin held a production meeting at the Matsumoto Office in the name of Matsumoto Keiko to discuss the casting issues for the "Black Leather Notebook" crew.

It goes without saying that financial supervisor Watanabe Mitsuru, producer Okamoto Akira, screenwriter Hashimoto Shinobu, director Nomura Yoshitaro, assistant director and executive director are all required to be present.

Even the actors of the two main characters of the drama, Ken Utsui and Tomokazu Miura, who had just joined Mist Studios, were invited and arrived on time to participate in the meeting that day.

However, before the meeting started, no one was in the mood to exchange pleasantries.

Everyone had a solemn look with frowned brows, and some even sighed softly while smoking.

If for no other reason, it is because this drama carries the hopes of many people, but given the current situation, it is not optimistic and everyone feels an invisible pressure.

However, what is absolutely unexpected is that for such an important meeting, a sign saying "No entry for outsiders" was hung outside the door in advance.

However, the two main characters, Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko, were not only more than ten minutes late, but they also brought someone no one expected to appear here - Matsumoto Seicho.

"I'm sorry, I'm a little late. I've kept you waiting for a long time."

"Oops, sorry, everyone is so punctual."

In the meeting room of about 20 square meters, the main members of today's meeting have already arrived.

As soon as Matsumoto Keiko and Ning Weimin came in, they quickly apologized to everyone.

But don’t say it, not only do they have a good attitude, but even their lateness is excusable.

Because Matsumoto Seicho, who is over 70 years old, immediately stated on the spot, "Please don't be offended, it's all because of me, an old man, who delayed the time today. If I hadn't suddenly remembered that I forgot to bring some medicine with me at home and had to go back, we wouldn't have come so late. I'm sorry, it's my fault for wasting everyone's time, I hope you don't mind."

As a result, not to mention that these people did not dare to have any dissatisfaction with their boss in the first place, now they have completely eliminated the grudges in their hearts for this legitimate reason, and everyone said kindly, "It's okay" or "You're too polite."

However, everyone couldn't help but be curious about why Matsumoto Seicho appeared here today.

That’s right, the drama “Black Leather Notebook” is adapted from the novel of the same name by Seicho Matsumoto. Logically speaking, the author is indeed qualified to participate in the discussions of the production meeting.

But that usually happens before the script is finalized, when the crew consults the author for the adaptation of the script.

The current script was written from beginning to end by Shinobu Hashimoto according to Ning Weimin's requirements.

In order to bring a relatively fresh experience to the readers of the novel, and also to be more relevant to the current social environment of decadence and decadence and rampant bubbles.

Based on some suggestions made by Ning Weimin, Shinobu Hashimoto made some major changes to the final ending.

The script he completed did not give the heroine Haraguchi Motoko, played by Keiko Matsumoto, the most tragic ending as in the original novel - the people she had blackmailed teamed up to take revenge, and not only did she go bankrupt, but she also lost the baby in her belly.

Instead, they are all villains and no one has a good ending.

Motoko Haraguchi, who was good at blackmailing others, fell in love secretly with Congressman Andohima, who had to respect the political marriage. As a result, Andohima's political enemies discovered the clues and eventually reported their insider trading and criminal evidence, and she was sent to prison.

But this is not the real end.

The real ending is that many years later, after being released from prison, Motoko Haraguchi came to the nightclub in Roppongi again, and with her more comfortable skills and experience, she tried to rise again here by working as a hostess.

She vowed to return to Ginza and take back her nightclub.

To put it bluntly, the main message that Matsumoto Seicho's story wants to convey is that "unrestrained greed will eventually leave people with nothing."

The core content of Shinobu Hashimoto's script focuses more on retribution and cause and effect, and the principle of the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

As for the final ending design, it is to give more comfort to those who like a happy ending.

Strictly speaking, the core ideas that the novel and the TV series emphasize are quite different.

Moreover, the casting has already begun. Under such circumstances, they invited Matsumoto Seicho, who is so old, to come here. The first instinct of the crew members was whether they should change the script?

Do we have to eliminate many main characters just because of the current casting difficulties?

So everyone showed a confused and worried expression, and a shadow of bad luck flashed across everyone's face. They were all afraid that Ning Weimin was about to say something shocking.

Among them, screenwriter Shinobu Hashimoto and director Yoshitaro Nomura were the most worried.

Because if that were the case, the chances of the show failing would double after such a dramatic change, and they don't want to ruin their reputation.

But it is quite strange. Although he is a close friend of Yoshitaro Nomura, Matsumoto Seicho came to participate in the meeting this time but didn't say a word to him. He just smiled and watched the strange reactions at the scene, as if he was here to watch the fun.

As a result, it was the crew members who lost their patience, and Akira Okamoto took the initiative to reveal his scars.

"Matsumoto-san, President Ning, I want to publicly apologize to everyone today for the actor recruitment. Now let me inform everyone of the current situation. We have been recruiting actors again for more than ten days, but unfortunately, not many people have come to apply for roles, and most of them do not meet our requirements. There are only a few insignificant minor roles. We have reluctantly selected a few and have made a list. But there is still no suitable candidate for the missing main role..."

As he spoke, he placed some documents on the table. "The poor progress of this matter is mainly due to my fault. But even so, I think it is not easy to make major changes to the script. We should continue to try to find actors from more channels, such as through recommendations from people with good connections in the industry..."

But as soon as he said this, he was interrupted by Matsumoto Seicho.

The old man laughed unabashedly, and then said in a joking tone, "Okay, don't get me wrong. I'm not here to give you any opinions on the script. I'm here just to participate in the casting. Of course, according to President Ning, it's also to help create some hype for the show and increase its social attention. After all, Mist Studio is my child. At this special time, I can't just sit there and watch. I should do my part."

It would have been fine if he hadn't said this, but it became even more strange after he said it. It seemed like no one understood what he said and didn't know what he meant.

Because in theory, when it comes to casting for any drama, it is the responsibility of the crew alone, and there has never been a case where the original author interferes with such matters.

If for no other reason, it is because filming TV series and movies is subject to cost constraints. How is it possible for every actor to conform to the author's perception?

If this is really done, not only will the cost of actors be difficult to control, but the film may not necessarily be recognized by the audience.

After all, there are a thousand Hamlets in the hearts of a thousand people. The actor recognized by the author may not be the image in the audience's mind.

So at this time, everyone's eyes were focused on Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko's faces, hoping that they could explain everything further.

However, what no one expected was that both of them actually agreed with Matsumoto Seicho's words on the spot.

"Yes, this time I'll have to trouble you, Mr. Matsumoto. Please help me choose the actor who best suits your taste."

"Yes. I believe that with your approval, the characters of this drama will be more deeply rooted in people's hearts and the story will be interpreted more brilliantly."

Fortunately, Ning Weimin gave everyone an explanation afterwards, which shocked everyone.

"Gentlemen, I am very aware of the casting difficulties that the crew has faced recently. Facing the pressure from the Burning Department, those entertainment agencies ignored our needs because of fear or wanting to stay out of it. Therefore, it is unrealistic for us to obtain excellent actors in the conventional way."

"Therefore, I now announce that we will no longer consider the price when choosing roles. As long as the actor is suitable for the role, even if he is a famous first-line actor with a high price, we will try to hire him. Even if the cost of filming doubles from 300 million yen to 600 million yen, or even 1 billion yen, it doesn't matter. Because only those famous actors who have already become famous and have continued to be popular are truly independent and free, and do not need to fear the pressure of the Burning Department, nor can they be controlled by the Burning Department."

"So we invited Mr. Matsumoto this time to listen carefully to his understanding of the image of each character and see what kind of actors would fit the role according to his idea. To put it bluntly, since it is impossible to save costs, let's not consider the cost and just use all our strength to polish this TV series into a masterpiece with famous actors. At least through this method and external publicity, we can also make our Mist Studio famous."

"Of course, Mr. Matsumoto himself said that he would not be blindly biased about the role, but only provide personal opinions for everyone's reference. Therefore, the specific casting method is that everyone present here considers a list, and then writes it down on the blackboard, first select the least controversial role, and then slowly discuss other controversial ones. Remember, I say it again, when writing the list of recommended actors, you must forget the price and only consider the fit with the role." (End of this chapter)