Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 458 Zheng Xiaolong's Troubles
"I want to bid, but I won't do it if it's a loss-making business." Zhao Hongjun expressed his opinion.

"Tangtang, what do you think?" Fang Minghua asked his wife again.

"I think it doesn't matter if we lose money temporarily, but if we keep losing money and the whole industry suffers from losses, we have to be cautious. After all, we are not like those TV stations. The money belongs to the government anyway, so it doesn't matter if we lose money or not."

"That's true." Fang Minghua agreed with Song Tangtang's analysis: "But I think if you really want to get involved in film and television, now is a good opportunity."

"Aren't you afraid of losing money?" Zhao Hongjun asked back.

"What Minghua means is that the script he wrote will be very attractive in the future, and audiences will like to watch it when it is filmed. This will win us a good reputation. If we shoot the next drama, we can negotiate the price with the TV station! Just like Wu Tianmin negotiated the box office share with China Film with "Red Sorghum"!" Song Tangtang expressed his thoughts.

Wu Tianmin won in the end.

Although it was a 90% split, the box office of Red Sorghum reached 40 million!

One tenth of that is 400 million, the Xi'an Film Studio is making a lot of money.

Zhao Hongjun agreed with what he said. He looked at Fang Minghua again and asked, "Is that what you mean?"

"In fact, we may not lose money. As long as we operate well, we may be able to break even."

Fang Minghua took a sip of tea calmly: "But there is a prerequisite here, it must be filmed well! The script is not a novel, and it can't be directly shown to the audience. No matter how good the script is, it will be useless without a good director and actors."

"Another thing is to find a suitable TV station to cooperate with!" Song Tangtang added.

"It's easy to find a TV station. There are so many TV stations in the country. I don't believe I can't find one! The key is the director and actors Minghua mentioned. We really don't understand these things."

Zhao Hongjun said this, scratching his hair and looking a little annoyed.

"I think we can keep it simple and just focus on the investment, and let the TV station we cooperate with find the specific directors and actors!" Song Tangtang expressed his opinion.

"Tangtang, now that you've put it like that, I've figured out the clues." Zhao Hongjun's brows relaxed. "The key now is to find a TV station to cooperate with. CCTV is in trouble. They probably won't bother with us. We have to be at least provincial. Don't even consider the municipal level."

"Our provincial TV station can't do that." Song Tangtang added.

"Of course! They know nothing!" Zhao Hongjun said with disdain when talking about the provincial TV station. "If they don't want such a good TV station, why bother looking for them? Look for those in Jiangsu and Zhejiang or Guangdong Province, where they are doing well and have high ratings.

Listening to the conversation between the two, Fang Minghua said slowly: "I suggest you find this TV station."

"Which one?"

"Yanjing."

Yanjing Television.

Zheng Xiaolong has been a little annoyed recently.

It turned out that just a few days ago, the director of the radio station gave him a task: he must shoot a 50-episode TV series within the next year, and it must be in line with the actual lives of the people and popular with everyone!
This is a fucking impossible mission.

Now we don’t even have a script, and more importantly, the director has also instructed us to save money and the budget cannot exceed 100 million!
What the hell!

On average, it’s only 20,000 yuan per episode!
Are you kidding me?

Do you think this was the early 1980s? Prices have increased several times now!
Complaints aside, Zheng Xiaolong, who had not been the director of the Yanjing Television Art Center for long, still took on the task.

You're going to quit the first task assigned by the Director. Do you not want to be the director of this center anymore?

烦呐
Zheng Xiaolong sat in his office, thinking about this matter. The most urgent task was to come up with a good script.

Looking for a novel to adapt into a screenplay?
But the novels in the literary world today are either scar novels full of bitterness, hatred and resentment, or avant-garde novels that are confusing and incomprehensible, or martial arts and romance novels. None of those things are close to the lives of ordinary people.

Two years ago, Minghua wrote a book called "Crossing the Guandong", which won the Mao Dun Prize. It feels good to have this novel adapted into a TV series.

But the budget is not enough.

With so many exterior scenes including the White Mountains and Black Waters, 2 per episode is definitely not enough.

It would be better not to make the film at all so as not to tarnish the novel.

Why.
Since there is no suitable novel, I can only find someone to write a script.

Who to look for?

Zheng Xiaolong thought of his buddy, Wang Shuo.

This guy had three of his novels adapted into movies this year, and he suddenly became a hot star.

Ask him for help?

Zheng Xiaolong was thinking about it and was about to pick up the phone on the desk when he suddenly heard a knock on the door.

"Please come in!"

The person who came in was a staff member from the production center. He said to Zheng Xiaolong, "Director Zheng, a boss named Zhao wants to see you."

"Surname Zhao?"

"Yes, he said he was the general manager of Xijing Shengshi Book Publishing Company, Zhao Hongjun."

Prosperity Books?

Zheng Xiaolong has heard of this company.

It is said to be the largest private book publishing house in China. Many best-selling books on the market are published by this company, although they are under the names of other publishing houses. However, I am not familiar with this Manager Zhao.

Why is he looking for himself?

"Please ask him to come in." Although Zheng Xiaolong was confused, he still made the invitation.

"Ok."

The staff member went out, and within two minutes a fat man in a black woolen coat walked in.

"Hello, Director Zheng, I am Zhao Hongjun, the general manager of Shengshi Books."

"Hello!"

The two shook hands warmly.

Zheng Xiaolong poured him a cup of tea and then said, "Boss Zhao, do you want to talk to me about something?"

"I know you're very busy, Director Zheng, so I won't beat around the bush. I have a script here, and I'd like to work with you to make it into a TV series." Zhao Hongjun went straight to the point.

Zheng Xiaolong was delighted when he heard this.

How come this is like a sleepy head meeting a pillow?

I'm just short of a script.

But there was nothing unusual on his face. He just smiled and said, "Oh? What script?"

Zhao Hongjun didn't say much. He took out a thick stack of manuscripts from his bag and handed it to the other party.

"Desire. Written by Minghua?!" Zheng Xiaolong was shocked when he saw the author's signature: "Is it Minghua, the editor-in-chief of your Xijing Yanhe magazine?"

"Haha, who else besides him?" Zhao Hongjun laughed.

Zheng Xiaolong immediately became interested.

He is a famous writer in the country. I was just thinking about his book "Crossing the Guandong" when he sent me a ready-made script.

God willing?

Zheng Xiaolong watched it carefully and was soon immersed in it.

Zhao Hongjun was not in a hurry and drank his tea slowly.

When he finished his glass and no one offered him another, he stood up, picked up the thermos on the table and poured himself a glass.

Zheng Xiaolong woke up suddenly.

"Hey, Mr. Zhao, why do I let you pour the water yourself? Let me do it."

"You're welcome, Director Zheng. What do you think of the script?" Zhao Hongjun asked with a smile.

"The beginning is well written, but I didn't finish reading it." Zheng Xiaolong thought for a moment and then said:
"How about this, Mr. Zhao? I'll finish reading the script today and try to get back to you tomorrow morning."

"Okay, no problem. I live in Yanjing International Hotel. This is my room phone number. You can just call me when the time comes." Zhao Hongjun picked up a pen and paper and quickly wrote down a number and handed it to the other party.

"Then I won't bother you anymore. I'll leave first." Zhao Hongjun stood up.

"Okay, I'll see you off."

"No, no, just watch yours."

Zhao Hongjun said as he walked out of Zheng Xiaolong's office and came to the outside of the Yanjing TV station building, looking at the dim sky.

Although the weather is cold, I still have to do something.

Go see a courtyard house.

Fang Minghua bought a courtyard house in Yanjing and boasted about it so much that Zhao Hongjun was also tempted.

Not long ago, his friend in Yanjing contacted him about a courtyard house for sale, so he stopped by to take a look when he came over this time.

Zhao Hongjun was busy with this matter all day long.

Zheng Xiaolong was busy reading the script.

shit
This fucking thing was written for me.

It was six o'clock in the evening when Zheng Xiaolong finished reading it all. He rubbed his sleepy eyes and couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

It tells the stories of ordinary people and is down to earth.

Moreover, most of the shots are indoors, so there are not too many outdoor scenes, which can reduce the shooting expenses.

Of course, the story takes place in Xijing, and it can be modified to be set in Yanjing, which is not a difficult task for Minghua.

"That's him! Contact Zhao Hongjun tomorrow and try to buy the script!" Zheng Xiaolong made the decision.

(End of this chapter)