1980 My Literary Era.

Chapter 310 A Good Pen Club Cannot Be Ruined

"Untouchable" performed well after it was staged off-Broadway. After accumulating word-of-mouth during this period, some operating companies invited "Untouchable" to perform on Broadway.

On the Broadway stage, the production chain of theater performances is very strict. From auditions, previews to premieres, every excellent play has to go through this process, and gradually matures in the process of continuous polishing.

Now, "Untouchable" has survived the most difficult stage, and its premiere has received good response and word-of-mouth. Once it enters Broadway, what awaits it will be a weekly fixed box office, tour and authorized production plan.

Broadway's operating model is centered on the producer. The producer supports two companies, one is the investor, and the other is the copyright controller.

The early stage of drama production is the investment period. During this period, you can only get in and out, and all you spend is the investor's money.

When it comes to the operation stage, that is, the performance stage, the cost of each performance must be deducted from the box office revenue, and the investment cost must be covered as soon as possible.

After the investment cost is fully recovered, it is when the producer, investor, and copyright controller share the profits. Broadway's general sharing ratio is 2:4:4.

The play "Untouchable" is a bit special because it was brought to the United States by Arthur Miller.

Few investors are willing to touch the re-production of such a drama from China, so when Arthur Miller produced this drama, he also invested part of his own money, and the investment amounted to 30% of the investment in the entire drama.

In addition, there is another question about Lin Weimin's share.

"The Untouchable" is Lin Weimin's work, but Arthur Miller needs to go through some manipulations to bring it to the United States.

Lin Weimin is Chinese, and it is impossible to directly participate in the performance sharing, so the copyright of "Untouchable" was handed over to Arthur Miller after the two negotiated at the beginning. He has a copyright agency company in his hand, so Arthur Miller also became the so-called copyright controller, and then Arthur Miller paid Lin Weimin the manuscript fee through this copyright agency company.

The pure copyright agency fee is not expensive, but the operation of "Untouchable" is also handed over to Arthur Miller's copyright agency company, so part of the income in this area should also be shared with Arthur Miller.

All in all, in the final profit sharing of "Untouchable", Arthur Miller's sharing ratio reached an astonishing 50%, and the investor's sharing ratio was 28%. The resulting profit share is 22%.

Of course, this profit share is finally paid in the form of royalties.

Arthur Miller specially calculated an account for Lin Weimin in the letter. If "Untouchable" enters Broadway, "Untouchable" can have a fixed number of performances every year, that is, the weekly fixed performances of the season, and the total box office of each performance If the income can reach 8 meters, the final net profit may be between 1 and 2 meters.

That is to say, for each performance, the box office share that Lin Weimin can get can reach about 4000 to [-] meters.

This estimate was summed up by Arthur Miller based on his many years of career. If "Untouchable" enters Broadway and hits the street, then these words will be ignored.Another possibility is that the drama is popular, even if it is a small one, Lin Weimin's income is likely to be several times higher than this.

Because at that time, not only will the box office of the show be high, but the corresponding number of performances will also increase, including tours, authorized productions, and so on.

When Lin Weimin read the letter and saw this, he couldn't help showing a smile on the corner of his mouth.

Not bad, not bad, I just donated a sum of manuscript fees, and another one will come.

And this one is a lot bigger!
On Broadway, Big Brother is a musical, and drama is just a younger brother, but even so, as long as "Untouchable" can gain a firm foothold on Broadway, it can at least provide Lin Weimin with an income of more than 20 million dollars a year.

If it can be a big hit, it will be a million-meter knife.

Lin Weimin didn't think so far, it's good now.

Lin Weimin was not dissatisfied with Arthur Miller's exaggerated 50% share.

Comrade Lao Mi was so busy, he contributed both money and effort, so 50% is really not much.

Lin Weimin is very clear that without Arthur Miller's name, the possibility of "Untouchable" being successful in the United States is almost zero.

This has nothing to do with the quality of the work. Broadway is an extremely commercialized place, and only a master like Arthur Miller can successfully operate a play from China.

Lin Weimin can get more than one-fifth of the overall box office profit by sitting in the country and doing nothing. What is there to be dissatisfied with?
At the end of the letter, Arthur Miller was clichéd and invited Lin Weimin to the United States again.

According to him, if "Untouchable" can really gain a firm foothold on Broadway, then Lin Weimin will get rid of the "nobody" situation and can go to Broadway to show his skills.

"I want to introduce a genius to the drama world of America! Lin, I am looking forward to your arrival all the time in America!"

At the end of the letter was a passionate sentence, which made Lin Weimin feel very comfortable.

Putting down the letter with a smile, Lin Weimin began to look through other things in the package.

There are more than ten photos, all of which are foreigners, not only the performance of the actors on the stage, but also the photos of the audience.

From the photos, Lin Weimin can see that the theater is a small theater with hundreds of people, and the attendance rate is at least [-]% to [-]%. This ratio is not low, especially since "Untouchable" is a new drama.

Among a bunch of photos, there was a group photo of Arthur Miller and many actors, which made Lin Weimin couldn't help but smile knowingly.

At this time, a sense of accomplishment rose in his heart, not because of how much money the play made, but because of the sense of accomplishment brought about by his works being able to take root on the other side of the ocean, and at the same time, he was also mixed with some gratitude to Comrade Lao Mi .

After looking at the photos, there is also a poster of the performance. Lin Weimin thinks this thing is very commemorative and can be hung in the study.

Among the items sent by Arthur Miller, the stack of newspapers and magazines is the most insignificant.

Lin Weimin was in China, and he didn't have any personal experience of the sound of the blowing on the other side of the ocean. On the contrary, it was not as real as the reports, attention and discussions received on the donation a few days ago.

However, Lin Weimin looked through it carefully, and found that the media mainly focused on the New York area where Broadway is located. There were three newspapers and one magazine, which seemed a bit shabby.

But thinking that this is a drama with little investment, it is not easy to get such attention.

The newspaper that Lin Weimin unfolded to read attracted the attention of his colleagues.

"Wei Min, is this still an English newspaper?" Liu Yin asked.

"Well, my play was performed in the United States, and they sent me media reports." Lin Weimin explained.

Everyone immediately cast their attention.

Yao Shuzhi exclaimed, "Have they all been published in American newspapers?"

"It's a regional newspaper, equivalent to the level of "Yanjing Daily."

"That's not enough?" Yao Shuzhi looked at Lin Weimin with strange eyes, "There are too many "People's Daily", and even the "Yanjing Daily" is despised."

The expressions of the colleagues were also a bit teasing, "That's right, you can't look down on the "Yanjing Daily" even if you appear in the newspapers in the United States!"

It's a joke, but Lin Weimin's play was able to be staged in the United States and was reported by the media, which really shocked his colleagues.

In the 80s, China was in the honeymoon period. With all kinds of publicity, America is like a paradise. If a work can gain a foothold there, isn’t it equivalent to being famous all over the world?

Lin Weimin noticed the eagerness in the eyes of these people, and knew that within a day, the news would spread throughout the Guowen Society.A week later, the influence will spread to Yanjing City.

Alas, is this Guowenshe a place for literati like me to stay?
Before leaving get off work in the afternoon, Lin Weimin received a call from Tao Huimin.

Tao Huimin told Lin Weimin the good news on the phone that the filming of "The Beautiful Prisoner" will be finished soon.

"Then when can you come over?"

This is the focus of Lin Weimin's concern.

"I only have a few days off, and I have to go back to the troupe!"

"Don't delay, I'm going to pass by Yanjing anyway. How are you thinking about work?"

Tao Huimin hesitated and said, "I plan to discuss it with my parents after returning to Zhijiang, and there is also a problem with the school."

In addition to being an actress of Xiaobaihua Yue Opera Troupe, Tao Huimin is also a five-year technical secondary school student majoring in opera at Zhijiang Art School. These students were all working part-time at the beginning. They are both actors and students.

She entered school in 82, and graduated in 87.

The school is indeed a problem. For Tao Huimin, there is a trade-off in this matter.

Although there are many advantages to finding a little girlfriend, there are also many disadvantages.

Like, you still have to wait for her to graduate!

After finishing the phone call, Tan Chaoyang teased, "Your girlfriend is coming again?"

"Yes!"

"Pay attention to your body!" Old Qin recalled Lin Weimin's girlfriend came to Yanjing last year, and he couldn't help reminding him kindly when he saw Lin Weimin's face.

You are old and disrespectful!

"Then what, I won't go to the pen meeting this time."

It is now the first ten days of July, and there are less than ten days before the "Contemporary" pen meeting this year, and the venue is still in Yantai.

His girlfriend was coming, and he left again. He missed it perfectly, and once he missed it, it took another half a year.

When Lin Weimin asked for leave, Comrade Lao Tan panicked, "Don't. You've been busy for more than half a month, you have to relax anyway!"

Lin Weimin thought, "Are you afraid that I won't die from exhaustion?"

The old man's conscience was greatly broken, and he wouldn't let me rest when my girlfriend came.

If Lin Weimin didn't go to Yantai, one of Meng Weizai and Qin Chaoyang must be responsible for various tasks during the pen meeting.

In that case, a good pen meeting will be ruined!

At this time, Comrade Lao Tan felt more and more the importance of comrades for the people.

"Our editorial department can't do without you without anyone!"

Facing Comrade Lao Tan's unscrupulous flattery, Lin Weimin was unmoved at all, "No, no, I can't go to the sky, it's been a year since I met this time."

Tan Chaoyang's persuasion for a long time had no effect, and he began to think of crooked ideas.

"Otherwise, bring your girlfriend there together? Think of it as traveling together!"

After Tan Chaoyang finished speaking, he admired his wit.

Lin Weimin was a little moved when he first heard that Yantai is indeed a good tourist destination.

But thinking about it again is wrong, as long as I go to Yantai, I will suffer and suffer.

At that time, wouldn't it be more uncomfortable for the beautiful woman to stay alone in the empty room?

"No!" Lin Weimin firmly refused.

Tan Chaoyang became anxious, and dragged him to Meng Weizai's office, "Old Meng, you have to take care of this kid, it's really embarrassing now!"

Turned into anger from embarrassment, Lao Tan filed a complaint.

"What's the matter?" Meng Weizai asked.

Qin Chaoyang described what happened just now.

After hearing this, Meng Weizai said to Lin Weimin earnestly, "Weimin, you have to proceed from the overall situation..."

As soon as Lin Weimin heard the words, he knew it was not good, his heart changed, and he hurriedly interrupted Meng Weizai's words.

"Leader, you and your girlfriend can only see each other once a year. Tell me, is it easy?" Lin Weimin complained first, and then said: "Didn't Xiao Tong come this year? Old Zhu, Lao He and Xiao Tong, Enough for the PEN."

"Little Tong is still young. He just came to the editorial department and needs to exercise. This pen meeting is the best opportunity!"

"I can't let Xiao Tong miss out on such a crucial training opportunity for my own selfish desires. The most important thing in cultivating ladder-type editorial talents is to give young people opportunities!"

In order to stay in Yanjing, Teacher Lin is already shameless.

At the critical moment, he was relentless in selling his teammates.

Lao Meng and Lao Tan looked at each other, although they knew that this kid was talking nonsense, but after thinking about it, it seemed to make sense.

So do it.

(End of this chapter)