Entertainment 2000: Supporting female stars will bring you a hundredfold return

Chapter 138 Director Tang is creating at high speed (please subscribe)
Early in the morning, the sun was shining brightly in Los Angeles in April, but the temperature was not high.

Tang Wen, wearing swimming trunks, dived into the clear swimming pool.

hiss--

The cold water gave me goose bumps all over my arms.

After slowly adapting to the temperature, he began to swim flexibly in the water like a nimble mermaid.

It's so cold now.

Swimming in winter is even more inconvenient.

Change house, this swimming pool is too small, I want a heated swimming pool.

A few months ago, when I first bought the house, I thought everything about it was great.

Now I'm starting to dislike it.

It’s so fast that she goes from being a sweet girl to Mrs. Niu.

I climbed out of the swimming pool, took a shower, went to the restaurant, read the newspaper and started eating.

The chef is of Chinese descent and is good at making Cantonese-style breakfast.

Tang Wen particularly likes the exquisite shrimp dumplings with a slightly crispy skin, and the radish cake with a fresh and salty taste is also good...

a new day.

There has been no progress in the negotiations for "Pirates of the Caribbean".

After leaving the golf course that day, I never heard from Disney again.

It seems that the other party is planning to leave him alone.

Tang Wen thought about it and wrote a soft article in English, a book review of "Pirates of the Caribbean".

Send the article to Sun Chao.

Let him organize people and promote this novel.

Speaking of writing a book.

in the country, "The Devotion of Suspect X" and "Ghost Blows Out the Light" have become very popular.

There is absolutely no problem in saying that Tang Wen is a best-selling author.

But in America, he has no fame in the literary world.

Everyone knows him as just a horror film director.

At the moment, Miranda Kerr is not here.

The other women weren’t around.

The crew of "Saw 2 and 3" was not well prepared.

"The Butterfly Effect" is being promoted.

An English album is in the works.

It is precisely when we have free time that we should give the American people a little literary shock.

Think briefly.

Tang Wen typed a line of words on the blank document on the screen:

Five People You Meet in Heaven

This is a novella written by American columnist Mitch Albom in 03.

The inspiration came from the stories his uncle told him when he was a child.

As soon as the book was published, it immediately topped the North American bestseller list.

It became the only novel that could compete with The Da Vinci Code on the bestseller list in 2003.

This year is the beginning of 02.

This story was created in 03, and the original author has not started writing yet.

Just a vague, half-baked idea.

In that case, then - take it!
The keyboard sounds:
The protagonist Eddie is an amusement park maintenance worker.

When the story begins, he is already in his 80s and is near death.

All his life, he has been doing monotonous and meaningless work, which makes him feel that his life seems worthless, and he can't help but feel complaining and unwilling in his heart.

Until he met the five people waiting for him in heaven.

The first person was a truck driver who died of a heart attack due to being frightened when trying to avoid Eddie in the middle of the road.

But he didn't blame Eddie at all.

And tell him, “Strangers are just the family you haven’t met!”

Eddie felt an intoxicating warmth...

After typing this line on the screen, Tang Wen couldn't help but take a deep breath.

浓！
Too strong.

The flavor of American chicken soup hits you through the screen.

"Ice coffee, Americano."

Tang Wen picked up the pager and gave instructions to the kitchen staff.

The chicken soup is too strong, so I have to drink something bitter to counteract it.

A few minutes later, the housekeeper came in with a tray of food.

In addition to coffee, there are also some snacks.

After drinking the bitter coffee, he continued writing...

This book translated into Chinese has nearly 8 words.

There are a few more words in English, but not much more.

After only one day, Tang Wen had already copied... and created half of it.

The next day, at night.

With the crisp sound of the keyboard, he typed the last line:

"Each of us affects another person, and that person affects the next person...all the stories become one story."

write here.

The masterpiece with a Douban score of 8.7 was completed.

Tang Wen looked at the starry sky outside the window, feeling quite emotional.

After thinking for a while, he switched the input method and wrote another concluding line in Chinese:
All encounters in the world are reunions after a long absence.

Only in Chinese, no English translation.

Anyone who is curious can check it out themselves.

After finishing writing, he nodded with satisfaction.

I thought shamelessly: sublimated!
Don’t think that I only wrote one sentence, the rest were copied.

But this sentence is the finishing touch...

Checked it again.

I sent the manuscript to Robert, firstly so that he could contact booksellers, and secondly so that he could find North American celebrities to write a recommendation for my book.

In the morning, Tang Wen's morning exercise had not yet finished.

The community guard notified that someone came to visit.

The person who came was Robert.

"That's great! Don! You're awesome!"

He strode over, and Tang Wen quickly wrapped a bath towel around his waist.

What am I awesome about?
It's such a private matter, and you don't feel inferior when you know it. Why are you so excited?
"Calm down, you haven't slept all night?"

Tang Wen looked at him suspiciously: Robert is already middle-aged, it is absolutely impossible for him to fight all night.

“You wrote an amazing book!”

"Oh, you are talking about novels." Tang Wen breathed a sigh of relief: Hey, that doesn't matter.

Robert said excitedly: “The Five People You Meet in Heaven, what a great title and subject matter!
How on earth did you come up with that?

Tang! Your talent is so enviable! "

Tang Wen smiled faintly: "How to write? Just use your hands!"

Robert was choked, his excitement frozen on his face, like a drake with its neck tightened.

After being stunned for a while, he shook his head and praised Tang Wen: "Son of B!"

At the breakfast table.

Robert kept praising Tang Wen's book.

You can see that he really likes it.

After just one night of watching, I can even recite the golden sentences in it:
“Each of us is in your life for a reason.

You may not know it at the time, but this is the reason why heaven exists.

To make people understand their life on Earth.”

"Don! I love this story! Let's make it into a movie!"

Ah this.

Tang Wen put down his chopsticks and said, "Hey, buddy, wake up. This book has to be published first, and then we'll see how it goes."

Originally, this novel was very popular, so it was inevitable that it would be adapted.

Unfortunately, the adapted movie, although highly authentic, didn’t make much at the box office and didn’t seem to win any awards.

In Tang Wen's opinion, this kind of movie will definitely go for awards.

If it wins an award, even if it's just a nomination, and then releases the film, maybe it can reap some box office revenue.

“I made an appointment with the people at Random House before I came here, and they were definitely interested.”

"Okay. I won't accompany you. I have to continue my creation."

"What? You just finished such an excellent work. You don't need to rest. Your inspiration won't run out?"

Tang Wen shook his head. It was really funny. No one would run out of ideas when copying books.

"You don't understand the genius. The story is all here."

He raised his finger and pointed at his temple and said casually.

Robert was speechless again.

It seemed as if he was injured by an invisible force.

Before I finished my breakfast, a member of the security team walked in from outside with a few books in his hands.

"Sir, you asked for the Declaration of Independence."

Tang Wen looked at it and ordered, "Take it to the study."

The housekeeper quickly took it and walked into the inner room.

Robert was surprised and confused: "Declaration of Independence, you want to be an American?"

Tang Wen frowned: Who are you scolding?
You're the one who wants to be American, your whole family is, oh, you are.

Forget it.

“This is material for my new book.”

"The Declaration of Independence as material?" Robert said in disbelief.

The Declaration of Independence is actually the document in which the United States declares its independence.

It has far-reaching influence and significance in American history and even in world history. But can it be used as material for writing a novel?

How can it be?

Robert didn't understand and didn't want to ask.

The main reason is that I don’t want to give Tang Wen another chance to pretend.

"When you finish writing, show it to me."

"no problem."

After Robert left, Tang Wen returned to the study and casually flipped through the Declaration of Independence.

He bought this book just to deceive others.

Put the book aside, turn on the computer and start working:

National Treasure

It’s not the famous historical reality show in China.

It's a movie.

Starring Nicolas Zhaosi Cage.

The story is about:
The protagonist Ben Gates is an adventurer who loves archaeology.

When he was a child, his grandfather told him a shocking secret.

The founding fathers of the United States buried a huge fortune somewhere as a war reserve.

The secret of the treasure is hidden in the Declaration of Independence...

So he started looking for treasure.

At the same time, the villain also appeared.

The two sides compete, and the protagonist finally wins, gaining fame and fortune.

In a word, it's thrilling, gimmicky and very Hollywood.

It is also the last glory of actor Nicolas Cage.

The first "National Treasure" grossed $3.5 million.

The second film grossed 4.8 million worldwide.

This series was produced by Disney in its previous life.

It is said that a third part is planned, but it has not been released until 2024.

Since the end of the second film, Nicolas Cage's acting career has begun to go downhill.

His extravagant spending and bad personal habits led him to owe a large amount of debt.

Being chased by the IRS and creditors.

In the end, he had to take any movie just to pay off his debts.

As a result, within two years, his reputation was completely ruined.

Large film companies will basically not use him anymore.

At present, Tang Wen wants to restore the plot of the movie "National Treasure" into a novel.

There is nothing ready-made to copy.

The writing speed has slowed down a lot.

After much thought, he decided to just write the script first.

By the way, sort out the story, characters, and main line from beginning to end before starting to write the book.

In this way, the typing speed is greatly improved.

Three days passed in a flash.

That evening, Tang Wen had not yet finished writing his first part, National Treasure.

Robert and Tang Wen's personal lawyer came to visit with two strangers.

"Please take a seat. Mr. Tang is currently working on his work. You will need to wait for a moment."

Creating again?

The eyes of the people sitting down all lit up.

Robert invited everyone to have tea: "Tang is a genius, different from ordinary people. In China, he is already a best-selling author."

The lawyer also chimed in: "Pirates of the Caribbean is currently negotiating a film partnership with Disney. Once the deal is concluded, it will be a great boost to the sales of the novel of the same name."

The other two strangers, a man and a woman, were from Random House.

Random House is a large publishing group.

This is for them to hear.

After a while, it was six o'clock in the afternoon and Tang Wen walked out of the study on time.

After several days of negotiations, "Five People You Meet in Heaven" has reached a cooperation intention with Random House.

Today is the signing time agreed upon by both parties.

Tang Wen picked up the contract and flipped through it quickly.

It's not that he doesn't trust lawyers, it's just his habit.

His mental strength was strong enough that he could read very quickly and remember almost everything he read.

A contract is such an important thing, so of course I have to go through it personally.

"no problem."

To ensure maximum benefits, the contract is a tiered royalty contract.

That is, if less than 30 copies are sold within two years, Tang Wen will get 7%.

50 copies, 8%.

……

The highest is 150 million copies, 15%.

15%, which is almost the same as the salary of top writers in North America.

For top writers, the amount can be negotiated to 20%, depending on the specific situation.

For example, JK Rowling.

Tang Wen needs to sell 2 million copies within two years to get 150%.

But he had faith in the book.

In the previous life, "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" was on the bestseller list within two months of its release.

The North American best-selling lists these days are not as watery as they would be 10 years later.

A few years after the book "Paradise" was released, it sold 800 million copies worldwide.

Selling 150 million copies in two years is no problem.

"Clap clap clap"

Tang Wen put down his pen, and two Random House staff members led the applause.

"We will advance you part of the royalties!"

"Now, let's have a drink together, shall we?"

Americans also have the habit of drinking celebratory wine. Just as Tang Wen was about to ask someone to get some wine from the wine cabinet, he saw a female staff member from Random House take out a bottle of champagne from her bag.

Well, come prepared.

Adhering to the principle of Chinese hospitality.

Tang Wen made some polite remarks and invited them to stay for dinner.

The Americans agreed without hesitation.

He had no choice but to order the kitchen to make steak and a few Chinese dishes that Americans liked.

Sweet and sour pork with pineapple, Kung Pao chicken... these revised dishes with a stronger sweet taste have won the praise of several Americans.

Tang Wen and his Chinese lawyer smiled at each other: Poor foreigners, they have never tasted any good food...

In the past few days, overseas coders have been working hard to post.

Two "Pirates of the Caribbean" books, sales increased.

The first batch of tens of thousands of copies has been on sale for some time.

Sales have increased recently and more printing is needed.

The publisher of these two books is also Random House.

Out of trust in Tang Wen, they directly printed an additional 10 copies.

Wait until "National Treasure" is finished.

Tang Wen was not in a hurry to send it out.

Manuscripts and scripts are simply registered for copyright.

Started working on the "Saw 2 and 3" crew.

The male lead, the mastermind behind the scenes "Jigsaw".

Looking for an elderly person.

Tang Wen thought of the original actor, Tobin Bell, a minor actor who often played killers and criminals.

"Find this person and sign a long-term contract."

"Okay, how about five?" Robert's heart was already dark.

It is impossible for any actor with a little fame to agree to a contract for five films at once.

But young actors usually don’t get many roles and even have to rely on part-time jobs to support themselves.

Faced with the contract for five films, I don't feel exploited, I just feel that the opportunity has come and the pie has fallen on my head.

Tang Wen: "Ten! Sign a contract with him for ten!"

In his previous life, Tobin starred in about 10 Saw movies.

"O.F**k! Don, no actor would agree to that."

Tang Wen certainly understood this: "Sign five films first, and in subsequent contracts, set a limit on the pay. It can't increase too much in the future."

"That's no problem."

The other party is in a very bad situation and has no negotiating power.

During the days when Tang Wen was in seclusion writing a book, Robert had already assembled the crew.

The male lead has been signed and the crew is basically formed.

With filming about to begin, Tang Wen realized that he was short of an actress.

As the director and first producer, Director Tang was unhappy.

They came to the home of the female lead Naomi overnight and gave her a beating...

"What about that Ke'er?"

"Who?"

Naomi was so shocked by the sudden, violent and high-speed teaching methods that she couldn't think.

Tang Wen became even more angry:
"So you don't remember"

"You don't remember"

"do not remember"

"... "

(End of this chapter)