After Bao Yuan'er acquired Fang Ke's stock, Lin Chaoyang did not return to Xiangjiang immediately, but came to Huacheng Publishing House.
He came to Huacheng Publishing House not for his own business, but to help Tao Yushu check out the development of "The King of Manga".
The bimonthly magazine "King of Manga" is nominally founded by Huacheng Publishing House, but it cannot do without the full support of Yulang Organization.
However, Huacheng Publishing House has put a lot of effort into this first comic publication in China. For example, they spent a lot of effort to recruit Hong Siwen, the deputy editor-in-chief of "Weekend" Pictorial, from Lingnan Fine Arts Publishing House.
"Weekend" pictorial was one of the most well-known publications in Guangzhou in the 1980s. The comic strip stories it serialized were very popular, with sales of one million copies in a single issue.
As the deputy editor-in-chief of the "Weekend" pictorial, Hong Siwen is in the prime of life and may become the editor-in-chief in a few years.
Lin Chaoyang asked Li Shifei how they poached people, and Li Shifei said that they solved the housing problem for Hong Siwen.
Lin Chaoyang couldn't help but secretly sigh, it's so easy to recruit talents these days, just provide them with housing.
When I thought about it later, I realized that this idea was wrong.
It might be simpler in later generations. This is a house in Guangzhou!
Nowadays, the main form of comics in China is comic strips. When Hong Siwen came to Huacheng Publishing House, it took him a while to get used to it before he understood the so-called "comics" they wanted to create.
In order to allow editors to better understand the difference between comics and comic strips, Huacheng Publishing House and Yulang Agency jointly held a 45-day editing training course in September.
After the New Year, the two companies will continue to jointly organize cartoonist training courses, and the instructors will be senior cartoon editors and authors under Yulang Organization.
Cartoonists cannot be trained in a day or two. This training course is not for ordinary comic book lovers, but for editors and authors who already have the skills to draw comic strips.
Anyone who is interested in comic creation can sign up and learn for free.
"In the second half of next year, I plan to hold a training class for ordinary comic book lovers.
First, we will hold a "Prize-based Call for Papers" event on "King of Comics" to screen potential comics authors from amateur submissions and strive to cultivate China's first batch of comic talents.
If conditions permit, we will conduct this training course for at least two or three years.
After Hong Siwen introduced the current situation of "The King of Comics" to Lin Chaoyang, he also talked about his ideas on cultivating comic talents.
Lin Chaoyang couldn't help but scratch his head. Hong Siwen's thinking was very clear. This was indeed an effective method.
It seems that the magazine has developed well since its establishment, which gave him a lot of confidence.
"Manga King" released its first issue on November 5, two months ago. The first issue had an initial print run of 30,000 copies and was snapped up by enthusiastic readers as soon as it went on the market.
In the past ten years, Xiangjiang comics have been widely circulated among comic book lovers in Guangzhou and have already cultivated a group of comic readers.
"King of Manga" has been advertised for more than a month before its release. These comic readers have been looking forward to it for a long time.
After the first printing was sold out, Huacheng Publishing House urgently printed an additional 50,000 copies.
The first issue of "Manga King" sold 80,000 copies, not because it could only sell 80,000 copies, but because it was a semi-monthly magazine.
The interval between each listing is only half a month.
When the second issue was released and launched, Huacheng Publishing House became much bolder this time, and the first printing was 100,000 copies.
Still can't satisfy the enthusiastic readers.
In the fourth issue on December 20, which was the last issue in 1988, the sales of "Manga King" successfully exceeded 300,000 copies.
In just two months, a comic magazine with a sales volume of 300,000 copies was created from scratch, which is undoubtedly a huge success for Huacheng Publishing House.
Moreover, looking at the momentum of "Manga King", this sales volume is far from its limit.
Because until now, the distribution of "Manhua King" has only covered a few provinces in southern China.
"This is a great idea. I never thought you could achieve such great results in such a short period of time."
Lin Chaoyang congratulated.
Hong Siwen said: "Thanks to the support of Yulang Organization. We conducted a reader survey in the last issue and received hundreds of feedbacks. More than 90% of our readers were attracted by "Dragon and Tiger Gate" and "Heroes of China".
This work attracted me.”
When "Manga King" was first launched, 80% of the pages were occupied by comics from the Yulang Organization, and the remaining few pages were still published in more traditional comic strips.
"Everything has a development process. As long as you can maintain this development momentum and cultivate a fixed audience, it will only be a matter of time before you produce excellent content in the future.
Once the audience is cultivated, it will not only be beneficial to "Manhua King" and Huacheng Publishing House, but also the benefits to Yulang Organization are obvious.
According to the current development speed of "Manga King", it is highly likely that the sales of a single issue will exceed one million copies within a year, which means a readership of one million or more.
At that time, it will also be the day of harvest for Yulang Organization.
After learning about the situation of "The King of Manga", Lin Chaoyang's purpose of this trip was completed. Li Shifei invited him to dinner and asked about the new book.
"It's been a year and a half since I finished writing "The Great Era", and there's been no news about your new book."
"I'm writing, I'm writing." Lin Chaoyang said.
Li Shifei suddenly became excited after hearing this, "Have you written it? What story is it telling?"
Lin Chaoyang briefly told him the story of the new book, and Li Shifei nodded frequently, "This story has a good intention! It is inherently literary and ideological!"
His words are suspected of being an overt and covert satire of "The Great Era". This novel has sold 2.2 million copies since its publication in the mainland and has been welcomed by many readers. However, it has been criticized for its "popular content".
After traveling from Shenzhen to Guangzhou for more than a week, Lin Chaoyang returned to Xiangjiang.
In the blink of an eye, it is already the middle of New Year's Day, and Lam Pictures' "Chicken and Duck Talk" has been in theaters for 23 days, and its cumulative box office has officially exceeded HK$30 million.
In recent days, with the continuous release of new films, "Uncle Zombie" and "Red Lips", which were released almost at the same time as "Chicken Talk", have been released.
The single-day box office of "Chicken and Duck Talk" has also dropped to less than 400,000 Hong Kong dollars. If nothing else happens, the movie will complete its mission by the end of this week.
Before "Chicken Talk" was released, Lam Pictures' next film "Eight Liang Gold" had already hit the big screen.
This movie was created by Wanting Cheung, who directed "An Autumn Fairy Tale". The heroine remains the same, Sylvia Chang, but the male lead has changed from Sammo Hung to Tony Leung Ka Fai.
"Eight Liang of Gold" is one of Zhang Wanting's "Immigration Trilogy". It tells the story of Monkey, played by Tony Leung Ka Fai, who left his hometown of Shantou and smuggled to the United States during the flood of humanity.
After many years in the United States, he couldn't bear the pain of homesickness and decided to return home. He borrowed eight taels of gold (gold watches, gold keys) from his friends, and bought many things to prepare for returning home in fine clothes. However, he encountered a series of setbacks on the way back home.
Zhang Wanting is somewhat similar to Xu Anhua in that she pays close attention to reality. If she wants to make a movie like "Eight Liang Gold", she is destined to be unable to achieve high box office.
She herself knows this situation. The investment in this movie is not high, only 5 million, and the actors' remuneration accounts for more than half.
With limited funds, Lin found Pearl Film Studio and asked Pearl Film Studio to co-produce the film. The film was shot in the mainland, saving a lot of money.
In the past two years, the salaries of Hong Kong film actors have been rising steadily. No matter what others think, Tony Leung's performance is worthy of his salary.
For this movie, he specially gained 30 pounds because the male protagonist in the movie was called a monkey when he was young.
As a result, people become overworked and obese in middle age.
After "Eight Liang Gold" was released, it did not sweep the theaters like many commercial films of Lam Pictures, which made other film companies heave a sigh of relief.
One week after the movie was released, "Eight Liang Gold" quietly hit a box office of 4.27 million.
This number is certainly nothing for a commercial film with a big cast and big investment, but for "Eight Liang Gold", a literary film with an investment of only HK$5 million, it is already very successful.
According to this box office trend, this movie can even make a profit relying on local box office.
This situation makes many movies have to lament the magic of Lin's Pictures!
The weekly press conference was over, and the employees in the distribution department breathed a sigh of relief. The distribution of the new film went smoothly, and the boss seemed to be in a good mood.
Lin's Pictures' current business scope covers the entire upstream and downstream of the film industry, with numerous holding subsidiaries and departments. The competitive environment within the company has also become fierce, and employees have to work harder than before.
""The Trickster" will be released next month. This is the company's key project in February, so everyone must work harder!"
"yes!"
After Tao Yushu finished speaking, there was a sound of agreement in the conference room, and then everyone stood up and left.
"Mr. Tao, Director Qi is here."
"Um."
Tao Yushu stood up and returned to the office. Qi Wenjie, who was sitting on his chair, immediately stood up and said, "Mr. Tao!"
"Sit down!" Tao Yushu waved his hand and asked directly without any polite greetings: "How are the sales of this issue?"
"The response has been very good. Sales have returned to 100,000 copies. It looks like it is expected to break the new record of "Yokulang Comics"."
Tao Yushu nodded, "It seems that the direction is right. The simplification of work types and plots is the biggest reason why Yulang Agency's current work sales and influence have encountered bottlenecks. Diversified creations can not only effectively break through this bottleneck, but also can
Take advantage of your competitors."
When she said this, her eyes were placed on Qi Wenjie with deep meaning, making Qi Wenjie immediately feel a huge pressure.
He avoided Tao Yushu's eyes, lowered his head slightly, and showed a trace of shame on his face.
"I'm really sorry, Mr. Tao, it's all our fault!"
The atmosphere in the office became silent. Without waiting for Tao Yushu's comfort, Qi Wenjie became increasingly nervous.
He didn't dare to raise his eyes to look directly at Tao Yushu.
Although only a few seconds had passed, Qi Wenjie felt as if the days were passing by like years.
"There is no need to discuss whether you have neglected your duty or not. The important thing is to do the next thing well.
Wenjie, don’t let me down."
Tao Yushu's tone was not harsh, but there was an extraordinarily majestic tone in Qi Wenjie's ears that made him dare not ignore it.
After making a solemn statement, he left Tao Yushu's office.
The first time he left the office, Qi Wenjie took out a long, deep breath. The feeling of being tortured by his boss was really uncomfortable.
Qi Wenjie was Huang Yulang's neighbor when he was a child. Later, under the influence of Huang Yulang, he embarked on the path of comics.
He also became Huang Yulang’s founding disciple.
He was responsible for three or four drafts and covers of works such as "Dragon Tiger Gate" and "Drunken Master". Later, he began to be responsible for the comic publications of Yulang Agency. He is considered one of the core members of the content department of Yulang Agency.
In May of this year, Huang Yulang, who had been kicked out of the Yulang organization, returned to the world and founded the Jade Dynasty. His first comic book "Yiyongmen" was very popular, and the single volume achieved sales of 120,000 copies as soon as it was launched.
Later, Huang Yulang obtained the authorization from Jin Yong to adapt Jin Yong's classic martial arts novel "The Eight Parts of the Dragon" into a comic book.
In just six months, Jade Dynasty released two comics in succession, both of which were extremely popular.
Such changes caught Yulang Organization off guard, and the sales of many of its comic strips and comic publications were affected to varying degrees.
Under such circumstances, Qi Wenjie, as one of the heads of the content department of Yulang Agency, naturally had to endure torture from his boss.
In fact, he had to endure not only torture, but also suspicion.
Because he and Huang Yulang have a master-disciple relationship, Huang Yulang even recruited him this year when he founded the Jade Dynasty.
But at that time, Qi Wenjie had already received Tao Yushu's promise that he would get the company's 600,000 stock options in July, so Huang Yulang's recruitment was unsuccessful.
The Yulang Organization, which has formed a substantial monopoly in the Hong Kong comics industry, cannot effectively suppress the fledgling competitor Jade Dynasty, which would make any boss angry.
Tao Yushu was not that angry, after all, she was also the investor behind Jade Dynasty.
The war between the Yulang Agency and the Yuhuang Dynasty is equivalent to her left hand fighting her right hand.
However, the stiffness, inflexibility and slowness typical of large companies that Yulang Organization displayed in the competition still made her unhappy. If the boss was unhappy, Qi Wenjie and other migrant workers would naturally suffer.
In recent months, their content department submitted more than a dozen comic topics, but all of them were killed by the boss.
The reason is that there is serious homogeneity.
Tao Yushu directly hired three screenwriters and added several more screenwriters. His vigorous and resolute methods alerted everyone in the Yulang organization.
A group of people were replaced in the screenwriting department, and creativity immediately increased.
The newly proposed topic "Legend of the Emperor" has been highly recognized by the boss. This month, the first chapter of "Legend of the Emperor" was serialized in "Yulang Comics", bringing the magazine's sales, which had been stagnant for three months, back to a peak.
"Yulang Comics" is the leading comic magazine of Yulang Organization. It is published biweekly every Friday. Its previous peak sales have always exceeded 100,000 copies.
The success of "Legend of the Emperor" made Qi Wenjie feel a little less stressed, but he still couldn't completely let go.
The reason is very simple. The success of "Legend of the Emperor" has little to do with the senior staff in the content department of Yulang Agency. It is all the result of the new screenwriter Huang Yi.
Qi Wenjie inexplicably missed the days when he followed his master to conquer the world. If he had followed his master -
This thought only came to his mind, and then was silenced by himself.
The pressure is a bit greater now, but the salary, bonuses, and options are much higher than before.
"Brother David!" his little screenwriter came over.
Qi Wenjie said "hmm" and asked, "What's the matter?"
"We have written a summary of the comic topic that the boss mentioned before. You can take a look at it."
Qi Wenjie took the notebook with an extremely serious expression.
It’s okay if he doesn’t take it seriously. This is a topic chosen by the boss.
The synopsis of the script is not long, less than 3,000 words in total. The overall story line is very clear. The world view and skill system are borrowed from "The Legend of Shushan Swordsman" by Huanzhu Louzhu, and even the name is borrowed from "The Legend of Sword and Fairy".
.
"Yeah, not bad."
Qi Wenjie said this, but he had no idea at all.
The comics produced by Yulang Agency have always focused on conflicts, with a masculine and majestic style.
The style of "Legend of Sword and Fairy" emphasizes the word "love", and the painting style is naturally fresh and smooth. First of all, this is a big problem for painters who are used to painting the image of "rough men".
test.
What he is even more uncertain about is the response to this comic after it is released. In the hormonal comics market in Hong Kong, can such a refreshing work stand out?
Qi Wenjie had a big question mark in his heart, and then he shook his head.
Anyway, this topic was decided by the boss, so it has nothing to do with him if it fails.
After Qi Wenjie left, Tao Yushu left work.
It's halfway through the twelfth lunar month, and according to Yanjing's eating habits, you should eat some hotpot mutton at this time. Lin Chaoyang set up a table tonight and invited a few friends.
When she got home, the ingredients were all ready.
When eating mutton-boiled at home, cutting the mutton is a troublesome task. Nowadays, there are machines that can cut the meat, but Lin Chaoyang still likes the meat cut by himself.
The meat is taken from the upper brain meat from the back of the sheep's neck and both sides of the spine. The meat is first wrapped tightly with coins and placed in the refrigerator to freeze.
The time shouldn't be too long, just the surface of the mutton needs to be frozen.
Take it out and eat it now, then cut it, pull the meat forward, release it back, cut with the top knife, and cut it quickly, the mutton slices will fall into a soft roll on the blade.
"Beautiful!" Li Hanxiang looked at the cut lamb rolls as thin as cicada wings, alternately fat and thin, with a delicate and attractive texture.
I couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
Lin Chaoyang said proudly: "I learned this skill in Dong Laishun, and I have done it countless times.
1
His words did not attract the attention he expected. Li Hanxiang took the plate and brought it to the dining table, leaving him with a back view.
At this time, several people gathered around the copper hot pot with blazing charcoal fire and sparks flying into it, and put the mutton sliced ​​as thin as cicada wings into the boiling clear soup.
The bottom of the clear soup pot was bubbling and steaming. When the lamb was put into the pot, the bubbles were suppressed. In just a few seconds, the red meat turned white, and was quickly picked up by a few pairs of chopsticks.
Dip some seasoned sauce into your mouth and gently put it into your mouth. It melts in your mouth, tender and refreshing, and has a mellow taste.
Several people ate with great joy, without caring about Lin Chaoyang's life or death. He waved his knife and cut several plates of mutton before sitting down to enjoy.
Whenever you are full after eating mutton, you have to take a bite of sugar and garlic. It not only harmonizes the taste, but also makes you appetizing.
It makes people excited again.
After five minutes of eating, everyone finally slowed down in taking down their chopsticks and became more interested in chatting.
Li Hanxiang now works as an art consultant at Lin's, and occasionally participates in the investment of a movie. He easily earns three to five million yuan a year, and his life is the most leisurely.
Ti Lung has found his second spring since "A Better Tomorrow" became a hit.
Yue Hua also benefited from "A Better Tomorrow", but he is not as popular as Ti Lung. He concentrates on playing villains in Lam Pictures' films, and he also has constant film appointments.
Xu Guanwen now has higher pursuits and has long since left the category of making money. He has not acted in many movies in the past two years, but his status in the eyes of the audience is getting higher and higher.
The four of them were all directly influenced by Lin Chaoyang and their futures were changed. When they talked about it, they all lamented the magic of fate.
Three years ago, they would never have imagined the current situation.
Compared with them, Cai Lam is not having it so easy. He is Jiahe's right-hand man. Now the competition between Lin and Jiahe is in full swing. Not only does he not follow Lin Chaoyang to get the glory, but he also suffers a lot of pressure.
Everyone has benefits, but he doesn't. Cai Lan feels aggrieved when he talks about it.
"Otherwise, you can also switch jobs to Lin's." Li Hanxiang said jokingly.
Cai Lan laughed and said, "I'm going to lose a lot now. I should have come earlier. How could I become an entrepreneurial veteran?"
Tao Yushu said half-jokingly and half-seriously: "It's not too late, I'll give you a vice president."
Cai Lan was slightly surprised, then laughed and said haha.
The atmosphere at the dinner table became a little subtle. After finishing the meal, Li Hanxiang and others left in a sensible manner, while Cai Lam consciously stayed.
Tao Yushu's face was calm, with a faint smile on his face, "What you just said was not a joke, how about joining our Lin family?"
Cai Lan looked solemn when he heard this, "You Lin family should not be short of people now, right?"
"There is no shortage of people, but there is a shortage of capable people. The company is getting bigger and bigger, and it needs more and more talents.
To tell you the truth, I can’t always focus most of my energy on the movie business.”
Tao Yushu's words were exactly the same as those used to win over Shi Nansheng before. Sure enough, Cai Lan couldn't help but raise his eyebrows when he heard this.
He joined Shaw Brothers in the 1950s. With his outstanding ability, he became the production manager within a few years and gained the trust of the Shaw Brothers boss.
Later, Zou Wenhuai left and founded Jiahe. He also changed jobs and his achievements in Jiahe were equally impressive.
But whether he was in Shaw Brothers or Golden Harvest, Cai Lam was still a wage earner, and he just earned more than the average person.
Tao Yushu said that she would hand over the business of Lin's Pictures in the future. Such a future is indeed very tempting for Cai Lam.
What is the end of being a wage earner?
Working Emperor!
The boss of Lin's Pictures definitely deserves this title.
"I will choose this candidate among several senior executives."
The words Tao Yushu added did not disappoint Cai Lan, but made him feel somewhat reassured.
Now that Tao Yushu really wants to ask him to switch jobs to Lin's and give up his position as general manager, he will not believe that such a good thing is possible.
Seeing that Cai Lan was silent and silent, Tao Yushu said again:
"Lin's development in Xiangjiang has entered a bottleneck period, and the next step is to develop and intensively cultivate foreign markets.
You ran the Japanese business when you were at Shaw Brothers, and you were exposed to the Wandao business when you were at Golden Harvest. I want to hand over part of the overseas business to you.
In terms of treatment——"
When it came to the highlight, Cai Lan couldn't help but look solemn.
"I will set up a subsidiary Dalu to specialize in Japanese and Korean business. In addition to distribution,
I will inject 30 million Hong Kong dollars into Dalu for co-productions with film producers from both countries.
Investments below 3 million can be decided by you, as long as you report it to the company.
In addition to your annual salary of 300,000 yuan per year, you will receive up to 15% of the subsidiary's dividends based on performance."
Hearing this condition, Cai Lan's heart skipped a beat.
According to Tao Yushu, this subsidiary called Dalu is mainly engaged in overseas business and has considerable autonomy. He is almost equivalent to half the boss.
He didn't expect Tao Yushu to be so courageous, but when he thought about it carefully, it seemed normal. Tao Yushu's reputation as a "girl who scattered wealth" was already well known in the Hong Kong film industry.
"I have to think about it." After a long silence, Cai Lan said.
"No problem, give me a call when you think about it."
Tao Yushu sent Cai Lan away and asked Lin Chaoyang: "Do you think he can come?"
"It will definitely come."
"Why?"
"We give you more money."
Lin Chaoyang's words made Tao Yushu roll his eyes, "I don't know how much money we gave him? But Cai Lan is still well regarded in Jiahe, and he and Zou Wenhuai have known each other for many years."
"Then Boss Zou didn't share his shares!" Lin Chaoyang's smile was a little joking, "Don't worry, Cai Lan sees things very clearly."
Listening to what he said, Tao Yushu also felt that it made sense and didn't dwell on it anymore.
In the next few days, Tao Yushu went to work every day, while Lin Chaoyang stayed at home and wrote a new book.
Because he has to play with his two children at night, Lin Chaoyang’s writing speed for the new book is not very fast, with two to three thousand words a day.
Take a break occasionally.
It has been three months since I started writing, and most of the chapter has been completed. It looks like I won’t be able to finish it even before the end of the year.
Just after the New Year, Lin Chaoyang received the new journal of the Literary Research Society from Kitamura Mihiro, and also received a large royalty settlement.
In the blink of an eye, Lin Chaoyang (Japan) Literature Research Association has been established for two years.
In the past two years, Lin Chaoyang's works have been continuously introduced to Japan, and the membership of Lin Chaoyang (Japan) Literary Research Association has expanded from the original 24 to the current 46.
As the team grows, the influence of the research association is also becoming greater and greater.
In the new issue of the journal sent by Kitamura Mihiro to Lin Chaoyang, there is an article co-authored by Kondo Naoko and Waseda University Faculty of Letters Ikeda Kohei.
The title is "The Evolution of Xu Lingjun's Creative Style in the Mid-to-late 1980s".
The opinion in the article is that living in Hong Kong was an important turning point in Lin Chaoyang's creative career.
Prior to this, Lin Chaoyang's creative style was varied and innovative. He had a broad vision of the world and an ambition to explore national history and culture.
After living in Hong Kong, his creative style gradually eliminated the pursuit of technique.
Instead, he turned his attention to social development, and with microscope-like focus and scalpel-like precision, he completed an in-depth observation and criticism of Hong Kong society.
Xiangjiang is a small and rapidly developing economy. Although it is small, it has all five internal organs. It gathers all kinds of problems in the development of modern society and provides a natural soil for Lin Chaoyang's creation.
"The Truman Show" is Lin Chaoyang's stress response to all kinds of bizarre things in this society when he first arrived in Hong Kong;
"Parasite" is Lin Chaoyang's compassion for this society and people after in-depth observation;
"The Great Era" is about a helpless feeling after fully understanding the operating laws of this society and getting used to its joys and sorrows.
Chapter completed!