Guangdong is adjacent to Hong Kong. Over the years, through certain special channels, many popular things in Hong Kong have always become popular in Guangdong at a relatively lagging speed.
Fashion, pop songs, film and television dramas - comics are no exception. They have always had a certain audience and market in Guangdong over the years, but due to policy reasons, these things cannot be brought to the table.
In the periodical industry, there is one thing called back issues, that is, expired magazines.
Back issues are different from second-hand magazines. They are still brand new and belong to inventory with poor sales volume in the current issue. Usually, after being overstocked for a certain period of time, publishers and booksellers will dispose of them to second-hand booksellers at low prices.
It was through this method that some comic magazines from Xiangjiang flowed into Guangdong and nourished the first batch of comic readers in China.
As a veteran in the publishing industry, Li Shifei knows the inside story very well.
He was thinking about the feasibility of Tao Yushu's idea.
In the past two years, the sales volume of domestic pure literary journals has declined visibly, and Huacheng Publishing House's "Flower City" and "Essays" have not escaped this environment.
Although it's not to the point where it can't be done anymore, it's actually not as moist as it used to be.
The appeal of serious literature to the public is declining.
On the other hand, those popular literary magazines or magazines in other professional fields, such as "Story Club", "Popular Films", "Wulin" and other magazines, are like a duck in water.
Guangdong's local Lingnan Fine Arts Publishing House founded a "Weekend" pictorial magazine in 1980. With several comic strips serialized, this pictorial magazine, whose influence was limited to Guangdong and surrounding provinces, had a peak of 1.5 million copies.
sales volume.
If Huacheng Publishing House could establish a comic magazine, it would be a good development path.
But the problem is that Huacheng Publishing House has no experience in running comic magazines, nor does it have the talents and resources in this area.
As for the comics introduced by Yulang Agency in the future, it is not difficult for Huacheng Publishing House.
After thinking for a moment, Li Shifei looked at Tao Yushu attentively and pointed out the difficulties of Huacheng Publishing House to her.
Tao Yushu pondered for a while and said: "The comics industry in the Mainland has not yet taken shape, but comic strips and comics are similar, and you only need to study a little.
Our Yulang organization can recruit people, and your Huacheng Publishing House can set up a training class to train editing talents in the early stage and cartoon talents in the later stage.
In this way, won’t the problem be solved?”
Tao Yushu's sincerity is not insignificant. He is providing money and effort to help Huacheng Publishing House expand the comic magazine market and cultivate comic talents for free.
After hearing this condition, Li Shifei no longer hesitated and said to Tao Yushu: "I can't make the decision on such a big matter by myself. I have to go back and discuss it with several major leaders in the company."
"Yes, then I will just wait for the good news." Tao Yushu said with a smile and full of confidence.
Li Shifei nodded at her, and then extended an invitation to Lin Chaoyang, saying that the GD Provincial Cultural Association happened to have an event these two days and wanted to invite Lin Chaoyang to participate.
In addition to being the editor-in-chief of Huacheng Publishing House and the editor-in-chief of "Flower City", Li Shifei is also the vice-chairman of the GD Provincial Literary and Art Association.
The next day, Lin Chaoyang appeared at the GD Provincial Literary Association. The theme of today's meeting was to discuss the development of reportage in the Guangdong literary world, and the magazine "Flower City" was the protagonist.
Since the 1980s, the literary genre of reportage has been developing in full swing in China. "Flower City" was the first domestic literary magazine to set up a "reportage" column. In recent years, it has published many widely influential reportage works.
Since last year, "Flower City" has deliberately increased the proportion of reportage in the publication.
The main reason why they do this is because the documentary nature of reportage has a strong ability to intervene in real life, and is more attractive to ordinary readers than pure literary works.
The standard of this meeting was not low. Not only the older generation of highly respected writers such as Ouyang Shan, Qin Mu, and Chen Canyun attended, but also well-known young and middle-aged writers such as Chen Guokai and Liu Simen were present.
A conference brought together half of Lingnan literature.
Lin Chaoyang was invited temporarily, and everyone was surprised when he showed up at the venue.
He has spent most of his time in Xiangjiang in the past few years. Except for the occasional return to Yanjing, he has basically no exchanges with the domestic literary circles.
Some time ago, the Zhuang Chongwen Literary Award was held in full swing, setting off a wave of attention and discussion in the literary world, and making Lin Chaoyang a man of the hour. As soon as he appeared at the venue, everyone immediately turned their attention.
”——I personally think that the rapid development of reportage in China is not a good thing.
In our country, we advocate that literary creation should be based on reality, and novel creation should be based on life. However, literary creation cannot be completely true, and it must contain a certain amount of fiction.
It is precisely this kind of fictional existence and the combination of reality and fiction that can create truly literary, ideological and artistic masterpieces.
Reportage is completely based on real people and true events, and pursues 100% restoration. There is a problem here. Its audience is often not attracted by the artistry of the work,1 but by various curious and out-of-the-ordinary plots and elements.
attract.-"
The seminar proceeds normally. Since it is a discussion, everyone must express their opinions.
Reportage has developed vigorously in recent years. Some people appreciate it, while others oppose it. The literary world has always had mixed views on this genre.
The seminar lasted for more than an hour, and it was Lin Chaoyang's turn to speak.
"I understand everyone's controversy about reportage. What I want to say is that the genre of reportage is actually very un-literary. It is closer to in-depth journalistic investigation or social investigation report.
Rather than saying it is a novel, it is better to say it is news. This is true both in form and content. But what is interesting is that after entering the 1980s, it has developed greatly in China.
Just now some comrades said that it pursues novelty or is too popular.
These situations do exist, but as creators, we should still see some deeper reasons.
Isn’t the popularity of reportage or documentary literature because it is more in line with the reading needs of ordinary readers or ordinary people? Isn’t it because they are strongly involved in our real life?
Lin Chaoyang's argument was refreshing. When everyone was discussing reportage as literature, he told everyone that it was news.
When everyone pays attention to the literary and artistic nature of reportage, he also tells everyone that they should pay attention to whether the work is close to the readers.
At first glance, this statement gives many people the impression that he is here to disrupt the situation, but if you think about it carefully, it makes sense.
Over the years, Lin Chaoyang has fulfilled his qualifications with one work after another. The only difference is his age. After he won the French Renaudeau Literature Prize last year, his status and prestige in the domestic literary circle has quietly increased.
This year he promoted the establishment of the Zhuang Chongwen Literary Award, which has invisibly widened the distance between him and ordinary writers.
While everyone was still racking their brains to win the award, he had already become the one judging the award.
At that time, "China Youth" organized a "May 4th Youth Literature Award", and Lin Chaoyang also served as a judge, but it was only an award organized by a magazine.
In comparison, the background of the Zhuang Chongwen Literature Prize is much higher.
It was established with donations from patriotic Hong Kong businessmen, and organized by the Literary and Art Association, the Ministry of Culture, the Chinese Literature Foundation and other units and institutions, with a huge bonus of NT$300,000.
The momentum of the first awards immediately surpassed that of the Mao Dun Literary Award. It not only received heated discussion and recognition among readers, but also became an award that everyone in the literary world is eager for.
This gap in status and structure made Lin Chaoyang's speech gain the attention of everyone present.
After receiving the Zhuang Chongwen Literature Award, Lin Chaoyang made his first appearance in front of colleagues in the literary world, and the weight of his speech was no longer the same as before.
After the seminar, the venue did not disband immediately. Everyone was chatting and laughing. Lin Chaoyang became the center of the topic. Many people were very interested in the Zhuang Chongwen Literary Award that had just concluded. They wanted Lin Chaoyang to win the award.
Give me some inside information.
"Our award is actually not much different from most awards. The main organizational work is done by the comrades of the Cultural Association.
Lin Chaoyang picked some interesting stories about the award and told them, and everyone listened with great interest.
Fortunately for the old writers, they are no longer so concerned about gains and losses. Many young and middle-aged writers present have ambitions for the Zhuang Chongwen Literary Award.
Thinking about the first Zhuang Chongwen Literary Award, it was so influential and had such a generous bonus. If you win the award, you will gain both fame and fortune. Who can not be moved?
"Comrade Chaoyang, can you tell us the focus or taste of the jury's awards?"
Someone asked such a question, obviously trying to be opportunistic, but no one laughed at him.
Writers are human beings too, and they also have ambitions for fame and fortune. If they can say it frankly, they will look more cute.
After bursting into laughter, Lin Chaoyang said with a smile on his lips:
"You are making things difficult for me. I really don't find any emphasis on reading aesthetics or taste in the judging panel. If I must say it, I should write good works.
The selection rules for the Zhuang Chongwen Literature Award are different from all awards at this stage. We rely on tens of thousands of college students across the country.
I know that many colleagues in the literary field are distrustful of allowing college students to serve as judges, but facts have proven that
These young comrades who are educated, aesthetic, and enthusiastic are reliable.
The more than fifty works (parts) nominated for this year's awards are all selected from the best and the best from the best. Even our jury was surprised by the appearance of some works.
For example, Yu Hua's "Eighteen Years Old and Going on a Long Journey", such as Su Tong's "Escape in 1934".
Although these works did not win awards, their appearance proved the diversity and openness of the Zhuang Chongwen Literary Award awards, and also allowed the works of these young writers to be noticed by more people.
Good works are never the same, they must each have their own splendor.
There is no need to speculate on the criteria for awarding awards. As long as you write good works and are loved by readers, you will definitely be recognized.
Of course, the number of places for the Zhuang Chongwen Literary Award is limited, and we can only select the work that resonates most with readers and judges."
Lin Chaoyang's speech can be said to be watertight, and people can't fault it. The reason why he made such a statement is:
I'm just afraid that some people are smart enough to deliberately change their creative style to cater to the so-called judges' tastes.
As for the true thoughts of everyone present after listening, Lin Chaoyang had no way of knowing.
After chatting casually for a while, he left the venue.
At noon the next day, Lin Chaoyang and his wife arrived in Shenzhen.
On a rare visit to Shenzhen, Lin Chaoyang contacted Ermatai. In the evening, he brought Tao Yushu to Hongling Building. It was much more lively than when he came to attend Ermatai's wedding two years ago.
After not seeing each other for two years, Ermaitai was extremely excited when he saw Lin Chaoyang. He hugged him and then said hello to Tao Yushu.
Luo Huifang held the child in her arms, and Lin Chaoyang teased her twice, "Little guy, he's as tough as a tiger!"
After saying that a red envelope was handed out, Ermatai and his wife wanted to refuse, but Lin Chaoyang suppressed it with "It's for the children."
Ermatai and Luo Huifang got married two years ago. Their son was born last year and is now 16 months old.
Luo Huifang is still working at Zhuyuan Hotel, but Ermitai has made progress and has become a small contractor.
"Oh! Before I got married and had children, I just knew how to work. Now that I have a son, I want to make more money————"
When Ermatai talked about his experience as a contractor, he felt quite bitter about being forced into a dangerous situation, because it was Luo Huifang who forced him to take this path.
Luo Huifang rolled her eyes at him and said to Lin Chaoyang and his wife: "He knows how to use stupid energy. If he does it the way he did before, he won't make much money even if he works on the construction site for the rest of his life."
In order to help Ermaitai contract the project, Luo Huifang also borrowed 5,000 yuan from her parents and brothers.
"Afang's idea is right. There are so many infrastructure projects in Shenzhen now, and there are opportunities everywhere. Marrying such a wife is a blessing you earned in your previous life."
Tao Yushu's compliment made Luo Huifang smile. Ermatai could only laugh and scratch his head, and echoed: "
yes."
Lin Chaoyang frowned as he looked at it. He looked so naive and naive, and he didn't have the aura of a contractor!
Ermitai is now a contractor in his early years. He only became his own boss this year. He took over the formwork project of a commercial housing development, which is carpentry, his old profession.
As the two chatted, Ermatai noticed something was wrong with Lin Chaoyang's expression and asked, "What's wrong?"
Lin Chaoyang asked him: "The community where you work is called Tianjing Garden?"
"Yeah, what's wrong?" Ermatai asked in confusion.
"It's nothing. This is a good name, and it sounds promising."
"Really?" Ermitai recited "Sky View Garden" twice. No matter how he recited it, it felt ordinary, but he did not dare to question Lin Chaoyang's aesthetics. "It sounds pretty good."
"How did you get this job?" Lin Chaoyang asked curiously.
"I know their general manager."
Lin Chaoyang couldn't help but glance at Ermatai in surprise, "How do we know him?"
"When I first came to Shenzhen, I was thrown into the fire depot of Sungang North Station to work as a laborer. That buddy worked as a technician on the project, and that's how we met.
However, he was transferred away two months after I arrived. I heard that he was transferred to some unit in the province, and he suddenly became a big shot. At that time, it was spread at our construction site for a while.
At the beginning of this year, Ah Fangfei forced me to do some small projects. It happened that his company sold a land for 2000 yuan.
The sky-high price of 10,000 yuan was in the news, and I found out that he is now the general manager of a state-owned unit——"
After listening to Ermatai's story, Lin Chaoyang patted his shoulder and said, "I think this company is good. Let's work hard with them from now on."
Ermatai nodded seriously.
I stayed at Ermitai's house for two hours and had a meal together in the evening.
Before leaving the next day, Lin Chaoyang called Ermaitai and withdrew 100,000 yuan for him.
"Take advantage of this opportunity to develop well. This money is lent to you by me. Don't be in a hurry to pay it back."
In the past, Er Miantai had no ambitions, and Lin Chaoyang would not go out of his way to change him. Now that he has the motivation to move forward, Lin Chaoyang will definitely help him if he can.
"How can I use so much!"
It is true that Ermatai is now a contractor, but he is engaged in labor subcontracting. He is only responsible for the smallest sub-projects in a huge construction project. The total contract value is only tens of thousands of yuan. I have never seen it before.
So much money.
"You have to look at the problem from a development perspective. What you do in business is capital turnover. It's not bad for you to have more money." Lin Chaoyang gave him some advice.
Ermatai didn't want to be polite anymore, "Okay, then I won't be polite to you anymore."
Lin Chaoyang patted his shoulder and said, "Come on!"
"Um."
It was already evening after crossing the border from Shenzhen to Xiangjiang. After arriving home, Lin Chaoyang pulled his son and daughter over and kissed and hugged him. Dongdong struggled to run away to play with toys before he stayed with him for even a minute.
Yan Yan was still in his arms obediently, and asked in a sweet voice, "Where is daddy?"
"Dad is in Yanjing these days. Does Yan Yan miss him?"
Yan Yan thought about it seriously and then said, "I thought about it!"
Lin Chaoyang couldn't help but kiss her snow-white and delicate face again, "She is such a good girl for dad!"
Then she pretended to nudge Yan Yan's waist with her nose, and she immediately burst out into crisp laughter, "Giggle, giggle - Daddy's tickled! Daddy's tickled!"
Lin Chaoyang gently held his innocent and lovely daughter, with a happy smile on his face.
Looking across the living room, he saw a "maggot" working on the ground, playing with a toy police car and making a "vivo" sound simulating a siren.
"Don't move! Put your hands up!"
My daughter is indeed a considerate little cotton-padded jacket, something suddenly came to Lin Chaoyang's mind.
After returning to Xiangjiang, Lin Chaoyang relaxed for a few days and then started writing the script of "Little Shoes". He was thinking about sending the script back to Yanjing when Zhang Yimou came to Xiangjiang.
His new film has been confirmed to be co-produced by Lin's Pictures and West Film Studio. After discussing this last time, Zhang Yimou went home to rest for a few days before arriving in Hong Kong.
During this time, Tao Yushu had someone contact Li Bihua and obtained the rights to adapt her novel "Qin Terracotta Warriors".
That morning, Lin Chaoyang took Zhang Yimou and made an appointment to meet Li Bihua in a cafe in Kowloon.
Li Bihua can be regarded as a model for young people to become famous in Hong Kong literary circles. When she was in middle school, she submitted articles to newspapers and periodicals because of her hobby of writing.
After graduating from high school, he worked as a screenwriter for TVB and Hong Kong Radio TV series, and successively wrote "Seven Women"
"Big Dipper" and several other TV scripts.
In 1980, she entered the film industry by chance and collaborated with Fang Yuping, one of the representative directors of Hong Kong's new wave films, in "Father and Son", and became famous in the film industry.
In the following years, she flourished as a novelist and screenwriter, writing "Farewell My Concubine" and "Rouge Button"
"Under the Lion Rock" and "Green Snake" are a series of works with great repercussions, many of which have been adapted.
She became a well-known female writer in the Hong Kong literary circle and was often compared to Yi Shu.
Unlike Yi Shu, who always likes to pretend that she is a "beautiful writer", Li Bihua has always lived in seclusion. Except for those who have collaborated with her, few readers have seen her true face in Lushan. Lin Chaoyang saw her for the first time today. She is petite.
, with shoulder-length straight hair.
Wearing a white top, blue jeans, and no makeup on her face, it wouldn't be inappropriate to say that she is a junior high school student.
After the greetings, Li Bihua politely chatted with Zhang Yimou for a few words, and then looked at Lin Chaoyang with burning eyes,
She said she had read all Lin Chaoyang's novels,
"Thank you." Lin Chaoyang said politely.
"The little Jew in Lin Sheng's "The Great Era" is really well written!"
"When Lin Sheng originally wrote "The Truman Show", how could he come up with the idea of ​​a reality show?"
"Has Lin Sheng been to Europe? I saw your "The Death of Van Gogh" as a very vivid depiction of Europe in the 19th century."
Like a curious baby, Li Bihua kept asking Lin Chaoyang questions, as if she was obsessed with a girl.
After answering for a while, Lin Chaoyang couldn't help but remind him:
"Let's talk about the adaptation of "Terracotta Warriors" first.
Only then did Li Bihua remember the business of today's meeting, and said to Lin Chaoyang and Zhang Yimou: "I will write all the adaptations of my novels. Mrs. Lin has already told you about this, right?"
"As I said, we are very confident about Miss Li's ability as a screenwriter. The reason we came here today is to have you meet with Director Zhang to discuss your ideas for adapting the movie."
These days, Hong Kong filmmakers always feel a sense of superiority and pride when meeting mainland filmmakers, but facing Zhang Yimou, Li Bihua could not bring up such thoughts.
Because sitting in front of her was not only the winner of the Golden Bear Award at the West Berlin Film Festival, but also the Best Actor at the Tokyo Film Festival.
She has met the famous director and the best actor Li Bihua, but this is the first time she has met this strange person who combines the famous director and the best actor.
In terms of personal honors alone, Zhang Yimou's resume beats 100% of practitioners in the Hong Kong film industry.
In the face of absolute strength, any self-feeling sense of superiority will be timid and avoided.
Zhang Yimou has read the novel "Terracotta Warriors" these days and has a lot of ideas in mind. He is currently exchanging his views on the adaptation with Li Bihua.
Li Bihua stared at his face and suddenly said: "Director, please play Meng Tianfang!"
Meng Tianfang is the male protagonist of "Terracotta Warriors".
Zhang Yimou looked puzzled, "I play Meng Tianfang? I'm the director—"
"It doesn't matter, you direct and act!" Li Bihua responded quickly and blocked Zhang Yimou's words.
He looked at Li Bihua blankly, and then looked at Lin Chaoyang, only to see Lin Chaoyang smiling.
"Teacher Chaoyang, you——""
He wanted to ask "Why are you laughing?" but the words turned into "What do you think?"
Lin Chaoyang did not answer his question, but asked Li Bihua, "Why does Ms. Li want Yimou to play Meng Tianfang?"
Li Bihua's expression was natural, "I just think he looks like him."
Like what?
As soon as this idea came into Zhang Yimou's mind, he suddenly realized: What else could it look like? Like Meng Tianfang's terracotta warriors and horses!
Zhang Yimou is from Shaanxi. Although his face is from the past, it has a sharp and serious demeanor. It can be said that it would not be inappropriate for him to play the leading actor Meng Tianfang, who was born in the Terracotta Warriors and Horses.
Zhang Yimou looked at Lin Chaoyang for help, but saw a smile on his face, as if he admired Li Bihua's outstanding vision.
"Ms. Li's eyes are really piercing. I think Yimou is also very suitable for this role!"
Hearing Lin Chaoyang's words, Zhang Yimou's heart sank, but Li Bihua clapped her hands happily with a bright smile, "Heroes see the same thing!"
"Teacher Chaoyang, it's my first time to make a commercial film. It's too easy to get distracted by directing and acting."
Zhang Yimou's voice sounded, with rejection written all over his face.
Lin Chaoyang said to him in a friendly manner: "Don't worry, Yimou. The workload of directing and acting will definitely be a little bigger, but it doesn't matter. I will let Yushu arrange an assistant director for you who can take charge of his own role."
Zhang Yimou had a bad feeling. If he found an assistant director who could take charge of his own role, why would he be needed?
It’s over!
You agreed to direct a commercial film, how did you become an actor?
"I.."
He still wanted to fight for it, but Li Bihua on the side was staring at his face with admiration, which actually made Zhang Yimou feel like he was being targeted by a goblin.
With the dual approval of Lin Chaoyang and Li Bihua, Zhang Yimou had no choice but to take on the role of Meng Tianfang.
After chatting with Li Bihua for a long time, the general direction of the adaptation was determined. In the following time, Li Bihua was responsible for writing the script, while Zhang Yimou went to the crew of Lin's Pictures to inspect and study.
After Zhang Yimou was settled, Lin Chaoyang felt at ease again.
Fast forward to July, news came from Random House, the American publisher of "The Truman Show", that the first royalties from the novel would be settled soon.
The novel signed a publishing contract in August last year and was published in the United States in December.
The movie "The Truman Show" nearly exceeded 10 million US dollars at the box office when it was released in the United States the year before last. It was somewhat influential, and with the blessing of Lin Chaoyang, the winner of the French Renaudeau Literature Prize.
The novel sold 12,000 copies in the first month after its publication, and sales increased steadily for several consecutive months. Sales in June exceeded 23,000 copies, and the cumulative sales in the first half of the year were 92,000 copies.
With this impressive sales volume, "The Truman Show" was successfully featured in the "New York Times" last month
It has been on the best-seller list for 5 consecutive weeks.
However, the ranking is not high, and it has been dangling at the tail of the best-seller list.
In the U.S. book market, more than 100,000 new books are published every year, and the number of existing books is as high as 3 million.
There are very few books that are on the New York Times bestseller list. Among popular science books, the ratio is only 1.1
%.
The situation of novels is much better, but the main works on the list are genre novels, which are the so-called popular novels in China. Pure literary novels only account for 15% of the best-sellers in the fiction category.
Chapter completed!