Exciting 1979!

Chapter 110 Script Competition (2500 monthly tickets plus more)

After entering 1980, Wei Ming soon received another sum of royalties, the reprint fee for "Erniu".

Tianjin's Baihua Literature and Art Publishing House has launched a new publication called "Novel Monthly", which is published once a month and specializes in reprinting excellent novels, mainly medium and short stories.

The inaugural issue included works such as Jiang Zilong's "Liberation", Wang Meng's "Cousin", Feng Jicai's "Carved Pipe", Lin Jinlan's "Question Mark", and Wei Ming's "Er Niu".

This is also the first payment Wei Ming received after the new regulations on royalties were released.

The National Press and Publication Administration has just announced a new standard for manuscript fees, restoring the level before 66 years ago. The manuscript fee has been increased to 3 to 10 yuan per thousand words, while the translation fee is 2 to 7 yuan per thousand words. At the same time, the fee for manuscripts based on print run has been restored!
Because the overall standard of royalties has increased a lot, even though it was just a reprint, the novel "Erniu" still brought Wei Ming 120 yuan in royalties!
It can be predicted that with the increase of Wei Ming's popularity, the improvement of the standard of royalties, and the restoration of the remuneration based on the number of copies printed, Wei Ming's income from royalties will increase significantly.

Now, Wei Ming has two manuscripts in front of him, each with a title. After he finishes writing the one on the left, he can submit it to People's Literature to earn money, but after he finishes writing the one on the right, he may get nothing.

However, Wei Ming finally chose the latter and began to create a foreign story.

When I arrived at the Nanmengang dormitory at noon, a man suddenly appeared from nowhere and said, "Hello, are you the writer Wei Ming?"

A young man who looked somewhat simple, and Wei Ming felt that he looked familiar.

"It's me. Who are you?"

The other party smiled and said, "Hello, I am Liang Xiaosheng, an editor in the literature department of Beijing Film Studio. I am here to give you the royalties for the script of The Shepherd."

"Oh, hello, Editor Liang." No wonder Wei Ming felt familiar with him. It turned out that he was the author of "The World" and a representative figure of the famous educated youth literature. His main material was the educated youth of the Production and Construction Corps, and all his works were based on his own experiences in those years.

"Why bother you to make a trip?" Wei Ming glanced at the number. It wasn't high, the lowest standard of three yuan per thousand words. This was normal. This thing didn't have much sales, it was just a loss.

"That's my duty. In addition to the royalties, I would also like to ask on behalf of Director Jiang whether Writer Wei is willing to hand over this script to our Beijing Film Studio for filming." Liang Xiaosheng asked.

"Ah!" Wei Ming pretended to be surprised and said, "This is really difficult. This is what happened. Director Xie Jin from Shanghai Film Studio called me and asked me to change the script. I thought he wanted to film this story, so I worked overtime to finish the script. But he hasn't contacted me since then. Why don't I ask him?"

"Did Director Xie choose it first?" Liang Xiaosheng asked in surprise. "But I heard that Shanghai Film Studio is preparing a new film by Director Xie. It seems to be called "Red Azalea in the Wind and Rain."

"What, is this true?"

Seeing Wei Ming getting anxious, Liang Xiaosheng said hurriedly: "It may be a misunderstanding, you should contact him."

"Okay, okay," Wei Ming asked again, "If it's your Beijing Film Studio that's going to shoot it, who are you going to let shoot it?"

Liang Xiaosheng said: "The directors who are interested in this script are mainly Director Chen Huaiai and Director Xie Tian."

Wei Ming nodded, but actually he was shaking his head in his heart. The abilities of these two could not be compared with Director Xie Jin.

Don’t really think that "Farewell My Concubine" was directed by Kai Ge’s father. Just listen to the popular internet memes.

If it was Ling Zifeng, one of the four handsome men of Beijing Film Academy, Wei Ming would still consider it. Among the three handsome men alive, he is the only one who can take pictures well. He is the grandfather of Yao Dazui's ex-husband Haosao Ge.

Uncle Ping'an had Xie Jin's office phone number, so Wei Ming went to the convenience store to call him and explained the situation.

"What? Beijing Film Studio is also going to shoot it?" Xie Jin was anxious. "And writer Wei, how did you send it to Film Creation? I meant New Film Works."

"Huh? That must be Director Wei's mistake in delivering the message."

Xie Jin asked again: "Did the Beijing Film Studio say who will shoot it?"

Wei Ming scratched his head and said honestly, "I don't remember clearly, it seems to be a person with the surname Ling."

"Ah!" Xie Jin looked as if he was facing a formidable enemy. Who else could the last name Ling be? It must be Director Ling Zifeng, one of the four great marshals!
Ling Zifeng has more experience than him, having started making movies in the 40s. Everyone knows "Red Flag". If he wanted to make this movie, Beijing Film Studio would definitely mobilize its maximum resources.

Xie Jin originally wanted to put "The Shepherd" aside first, but who could have thought that Wei Ming's script was written so quickly, and was submitted to "Film Creation", and was even noticed by director Ling Zifeng!

"Don't agree to them yet." Xie Jin said.

"Okay, but the editor said he'll come tomorrow, and it looks like he's determined to win."

"Just drag him along when he comes, Comrade Wei Ming. Believe me, only I can capture the soul of this movie." Xie Jin said confidently.

After hanging up the phone, Xie Jin immediately asked someone to get the latest issue of "Film Creation" and read the script of "The Shepherd" from the beginning.

After reading it, he felt it was incredible. Was Wei Ming really only 18 years old, or had it been adjusted by the editor of Film Creation before publication?

The format is very standard and rigorous, the scenes are clearly arranged, and the inner drama is just right, it's like it was written by an experienced screenwriter who has been around for decades, as if he already has a complete picture in his mind.

It’s really not easy to shoot a script like this!
Xie Jin paced back and forth in the office. His heart had completely tilted towards "The Shepherd". As for "Legend of Tianyun Mountain", it was currently being revised by the screenwriter of Shanghai Film Studio.

After confirming this idea, he immediately pushed open the door to the office of Deputy Factory Director Shi Fangyu.

"Director Shi, I've decided to shoot The Shepherd first." "Ah, why did you change your mind? Didn't we agree to shoot Legend of Tianyun Mountain first?"

"No, if we don't shoot now, the Beijing Film Studio will snatch it away."

Director Shi immediately became serious: "What?! Sit down, sit down and talk..."

~
On the other hand, Liang Xiaosheng returned to the Beijing Film Studio and told Xie Jin that he had long been interested in "The Shepherd".

Chen Huaiai was a little depressed. He was a member of the second creative group of Beijing Film Studio. After director Cui Wei passed away, he actually became the leader of the second creative group.

However, his ability has always been questioned because he has not produced many feature films, and most of them were co-directed with others, such as "Little Soldier Zhang Ga" and "Hai Xia", while the ones he directed independently were all opera films.

Last year, the factory brought him together with Xie Tieli from the fourth creative group to collaborate on a film called "The Great River Flows Through". It seemed that they intended to let Xie Tieli take on the responsibility of the second creative group, but he was unwilling to do so.

He heard about Wei Ming's name and "The Shepherd" from his son Kai Ge. He also happened to hear that the author had written the script and submitted it to the Beijing Film Studio. After reading the script, he felt that he had done it again. The script was written so carefully, he could just shoot it according to the instructions!
He wanted to prove his ability through this movie, but he didn't expect that there was someone else competing with him, Xie Tian.

Now, Xie Jin from Shanghai Film Studio has also emerged. Although Xie Jin is younger, his directing skills are recognized as strong.

Fortunately, Director Wang Yang still supports me.

"Our Beijing Film Studio is not worse than the Shanghai Film Studio, but Xie Jin is really amazing. How about this, you should cooperate with Tieli."

Although Chen Huaiai was unwilling, he was also afraid that he would lose to Xie Jin, so he thought about it and nodded: "Okay."

Director Wang Yang took out an envelope from a drawer, which contained group photos and photos: "Writer Wei and I are old acquaintances. So, I will call Peking University, and he should give me this favor."

Old Wang also laughed when he said this. When he first received this photo, he never thought that he would need Wei Ming.

However, this call did not lead to Wei Ming's arrival. The person said that he had gone out early in the morning and had not returned yet.

Wang Yang had no choice but to explain the situation and asked Wei Ming to come to Beijing Film Studio to discuss the adaptation.

On the other hand, Director Xie Jin was also afraid that things would get more complicated if he was too far away, so he bought a train ticket to Yanjing that day to prepare for a meeting with Wei Ming.

I have collaborated with many screenwriters and authors, but Wei Ming is the first one to have such a high status as him.

While lying on the sleeper berth on the train, Xie Jin couldn't help but smile bitterly.

~
Because Chen Huaikai told this story after he got home, and his son was also present at the time.

So soon, in the classroom of the directing department of the Film Academy.

"Do you know how popular Wei Ming's The Shepherd is now? Beijing Film Academy and Shanghai Film Academy are about to fight over this script!"

“No way!” The students were shocked. The novel was indeed well-written, but could it be better than those old classics?

Tian Zhuangzhuang said slowly: "Kai Ge, that's an exaggeration."

"I'm not exaggerating. My dad is so anxious right now, and he's determined to win the Shanghai Film Academy as well."

Li Shaohong: "I really like this novel. Kaige, if your father is filming it, can we go to the crew to help with odd jobs?"

Hu Mei also said: "Yes, count me in."

Chen Kaige seemed to think that the film was already in his father's pocket: "Of course, it's fine, as long as you don't ask for wages."

Zhang Yimou was also among them at that time, so the rumor quickly spread to the photography department.

"Chang Wei, let me tell you, I know a friend who is really amazing..."

Then even the art department knew about it.

Liu Rulong in the dormitory moved his ears, wait, I seem to hear my brother showing off!
~
At this time, his brother had just returned from Chaoyang, with donkey meat and bread dough hanging on the cart, and it was snowing.

This time he did not go through the south gate, but entered the school directly from the west gate and returned to Shaoyuan.

"Melinda, look what I brought you!"

"This is... Donkey Fire?!"

……

(Sorry, this chapter is not enough for 3000, but it does not affect my request for monthly votes. Please, I will write another chapter later~)

(End of this chapter)