Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 749 Script Controversy
Fang Minghua didn't know that the script he wrote was actually hidden among a pile of documents on his desk by a middle-level leader of Warner Bros. After New Year's Day, he was busy with another matter.

The preliminary review reading class for the 3rd World Chinese Literature Award held a meeting at Xijing Tangcheng Hotel. As a member of the reading class, Fang Minghua of course had to attend.

Like the previous two sessions, he is still a member of the fiction group, selecting five novels, five novellas and five short stories from hundreds of novels.

As in previous years, there were many excellent novels and the competition was fierce. The most eye-catching one was "No One with Me" written by the famous South African female writer Nadine Gordimer, which everyone believed had the greatest chance of winning.

Of course, the other four shortlisted novels are also very excellent and very competitive, including Wang Anyi's "Song of Everlasting Sorrow", Han Shaogong's "Maqiao Dictionary", Mo Yan's "Big Breasts and Wide Hips", and Yu Hua's "Xu Sanguan Selling Blood".

Yu Hua has been very popular in the literary world in recent years and is almost a regular winner of the World Chinese Literature Award. In the first award, his work "Screaming in the Rain" was successfully shortlisted. In the second award, he won the award for "To Live". This time, he once again amazed the judges with "Xu Sanguan Selling Blood".

However, everyone privately thought that it was unlikely that he would win the award this time. According to general award conventions, it would be impossible to give the best award to the same author for two consecutive years.

As for the other four films, Fang Minghua herself didn't know which one to rate as the best.

Haha, this is none of my business. Let the judges worry about it.

The meeting lasted ten days and ended. Fang Minghua went home in the afternoon, and in the evening his wife Song Tangtang also returned from the United States.

"Where are the two kids?" Song Tangtang's first question when he entered the door.

"It's the holiday now, your parents will take you over to stay for a few days." Fang Minghua explained.

Song Tangtang said "oh", changed into her home clothes, sat down on the sofa and said:
"I won't talk about Lili. We email each other often anyway. Besides, you're going to San Francisco soon. As for the filming, Wu Tianmin and his team have basically got their visas ready. They're going to Los Angeles soon."

"Don't you celebrate the Spring Festival?" Fang Minghua asked.

"Warner Bros. is pushing us to sign the contract as soon as possible. We have already contacted several famous Hollywood directors, but nothing has been finalized yet. The main reason is that the script has not been written yet. Hello, Minghua, have you sent your script?"

"I sent it a long time ago. After Lili translated it, I sent it to Warner Bros., but there has been no reply." Fang Minghua said.

"I've read it too and I think it's well written. I'll call Jeff later. This time Wu Tianmin is going over to discuss the script with them!" Song Tangtang replied, and then asked Fang Minghua: "When are you planning to leave?"

"The Chinese New Year is just over twenty days away. I'll go after that," Fang Minghua replied.

"Forget it. You should leave in a few days. There's only Lili and my second aunt, and a baby in San Francisco now. It'll be lonely during the New Year. Also, you should pay more attention to Warner Bros. I don't feel at ease after investing 90 million at once."

At the end, Song Tangtang sighed.

"What are you worried about? Didn't someone go there? Wu Tianmin has been the director of Xi'an Film Studio for almost ten years and has stayed in the United States for five years. He is an old fox. With him in charge, the US side won't do anything weird." Fang Minghua comforted.

"That being said, 90 million is the equivalent of you paying most of it out of your own pocket. What if the film is not good? What if the box office loses money? You are a star writer in the United States now, so it will be easier for you to go there!"

Fang Minghua was both amused and confused after hearing what his wife said.

What does I Am a Star Writer have to do with making movies?
I don’t know how to choose actors to make movies?
But when he saw the other person's anxious look, he swallowed the words back.

"Okay, I'll leave in a few days."

"Okay, let's stop talking." Song Tangtang looked at the clock hanging on the wall of the living room: "It's ten o'clock in the evening, and it's eight o'clock in the morning in Los Angeles. Jeff should go to work. I'll go make a call." After saying that, he stood up and walked upstairs.

"I'll get some hot water for you so you can take a shower later." Fang Minghua shouted at Song Tangtang's back.

After more than ten minutes, Song Tangtang came down from upstairs with a bad look on her face.

"What's wrong?" Fang Minghua asked. "Jeff said that the script is being reviewed by their planning department, and the results haven't been told to him yet. Really, the efficiency of a big company is so low!"

"Okay, what are you angry about? Let them watch slowly." Fang Minghua comforted him, "The water in the tub is ready, go take a bath, call me later and I'll rub your back."

"Um"

Song Tangtang walked into the bathroom, and Fang Minghua sat on the sofa and read the newspaper.

Thousands of miles away in the vice president's office of Warner Bros. Pictures in Burbank, Jeff looked a little unhappy.

He sat in the boss's chair, looking at a middle-aged bald man who was sitting in front of the boss's desk with his head slightly lowered.

"Thomas, I remember that I sent Mr. Minghua's script to your email half a month ago, right? Did I remember it wrong? Do you need to check the history?"

"No, Mr. Nick, you remembered correctly, it was December 12th, you sent it to my mailbox on the first day of work after Christmas."

"So what's the date today?"

Thomas hesitated before saying, "January 14th."

"It's been almost 20 days and you haven't even finished reading a single script?!" Nick suddenly flew into a rage: "Is this the efficiency of your planning department?! Thomas, give me a reasonable explanation!"

"Mr. Nick, we actually finished reading it a long time ago." Thomas had to tell the truth: "But I want to wait for Mr. Tony's script. I will report to you after we finish reviewing both scripts and comparing their pros and cons."

"Oh?" Nick calmed down his anger, sat back in the boss chair, crossed his legs and looked at him: "Did Mr. Tony send the script?"

"It was sent the day before yesterday, and several editors in our planning department reviewed it overnight."

"What's the result? Who do you think wrote better?"

Thomas was silent for a moment, and finally gritted his teeth and said, "Mr. Nick, several editors in our corporate department have always believed that Mr. Minghua's script is better, with a compact structure, smooth plot, and is more faithful to the original."

"Oh, you mean, Nick's writing is not as good as Minghua's?" Tony was a little surprised.

"Yes, actually the script written by Nick is quite good, maintaining his previous standard. If it weren't for Mr. Minghua's script, I think it could have been filmed. What a pity." said Tomatos.

"Really? Give me both scripts and let me take a look." Tony immediately became interested.

"Okay, I'll bring it to you right away."

Thomas left the office and brought back two manuscripts and placed them on Tony's desk a few minutes later.

Tony looked carefully.

These days, whenever Tony is not too busy at work, he reads the script. Later, he simply takes it home and continues reading it while drinking coffee in front of the fireplace in the living room.

In the end, he had to accept a fact.

That Chinese man is not only an excellent writer, but also an excellent screenwriter.

(End of this chapter)