1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 432 The First Curator

The story of filming Journey to the West can be traced back to 78.

That year, Japanese TV broadcast a TV series adapted from the famous Chinese novel "Journey to the West".

In this drama, the images of Tang Monk and his three disciples were completely subverted, or in the words of later generations, they were "magically changed".

Let’s not talk about anything else, just talk about Tang Monk. The Japanese actually came up with the unique idea of ​​creating a female Tang Monk!
In short, many of the top figures in the domestic film and television industry were very indignant after watching the Japanese version of "Journey to the West". They believed that such a Chinese classic should not be ruined beyond recognition by foreigners.

Therefore, in order to enable the public to correctly understand the four great Chinese classics, and with Wang Fulin's proposal to CCTV, domestic film and television departments began planning to remake the four great classics.

The first two projects confirmed are: "Dream of Red Mansions" and "Journey to the West".

In 1981, the then deputy director of CCTV convened an important conference, and almost all of the first generation of directors trained in China attended.

At the meeting, in addition to announcing that Wang Fulin would direct "Dream of the Red Chamber", the filming rights for the drama version of "Journey to the West" were also decided.

In the end, director Yang Jie took over the filming task and became the chief director of "Journey to the West".

CCTV allocated 300 million yuan jointly for "Dream of Red Mansions" and "Journey to the West".

Well, the 300 million is shared by two TV series.

"300 million, this is a big task!" Jiang Xian exclaimed.

Yang Jie's lover Wang Chongqiu snorted coldly, "It sounds like a lot, but if you calculate carefully, the materials and items needed to set up the interior scenes for filming a TV series are extremely expensive.

There are also travel expenses for location shooting and ticket fees for some attractions, which are huge expenses for the crew.

300 million may seem like a lot, but we didn’t have enough money to spend. The entire crew only had one camera, so we had to shoot the close-ups and long shots of the same scene repeatedly, and the actors had to perform the same content several times.”

Yang Jie clapped her hands angrily, "We couldn't just travel around. We even tried to save as much as possible on food. The crew only had a budget of 5 cents per person for each meal. When we were filming in Guangdong, the prices there were very high. We asked five crew members to eat dumplings at yuan a portion, but each person only had four or five dumplings in his mouth."

"."

Jiang Xian listened to the couple's complaints for a long time before he asked in confusion: "I understand everything, but why did you come to me?"

"Ugh."

Yang Jie sighed again, "The investigation is over. Although nothing was found, the station won't approve money for us anymore. They said it was all given to Dream of the Red Chamber.

This time, I am not afraid of you laughing at me. I am here to beg for alms."

"Begging for alms?"

Jiang Xian was stunned, "I don't have any money here."

He did earn a lot of royalties, but filming "Journey to the West" would cost millions, which he could not afford.

"You misunderstood."

Yang Jie said, "Don't you have a magazine called People's Digest? We would like to ask you to help publish an advertisement to attract some investment for our Journey to the West crew."

"I see."

Jiang Xian understood that Yang Jie wanted him to advertise for her but didn't want to pay him.

For their poor crew, it is difficult to come up with even a penny nowadays.

Given the current value of People's Digest, an advertisement in it would cost at least 3 yuan, even if it is not as much as the 1 yuan of China Youth Daily.

For Yang Jie, this 1 yuan is almost the production cost of one-third of an episode.

"We visited all the publications and newspapers, big and small, in Beijing, and wrote to all the ones we could. Some of them agreed, and some rejected us," said Wang Chongqiu.

"See if you can." Yang Jie looked at Jiang Xian expectantly.

"to make."

Jiang Xian agreed. He did remember that there was such a filming stage for "Journey to the West". In the end, it was the deputy director of production Li Hongchang who found the money and he contacted the 11th Engineering Bureau of the Ministry of Railways.

The director of the 300th Engineering Bureau was a fan of Journey to the West. He readily invested million yuan in the TV series, which allowed the filming of the TV series to be completed. Therefore, in the list of recording units at the end of the film, "The th Engineering Bureau of the Ministry of Railways" can be clearly seen.

The 11th Bureau also became the only construction company in the country to have won the Feitian Award.

"Now CCTV won't approve the money for you, and you have to raise the money yourself. In that case, can you not give the copyright to CCTV in the future?" Jiang Xian asked.

“I asked the station about this question.”

Yang Jie said: "It's very difficult to communicate with the station. Deputy Director Ruan Ruolin said that we are from CCTV, so of course the film will belong to CCTV. I didn't ask him about it. Anyway, as long as we can find the money, we can continue to shoot. This is more important than copyright."

"That's different."

Jiang Xian said, "If others invest in it but can't even get the copyright in the end, how can that work? You should pay more attention to the copyright issue and discuss it with the station."

"."

Yang Jie looked up at him. What he said did make sense, but she didn't know why Jiang Xian cared so much about this.
After thinking about it, Yang Jie still couldn't figure it out, so she guessed that he was just kind-hearted.

After leaving a copy and discussing the advertisement, the couple stood up, expressed their gratitude and said goodbye.

"I really don't know how to thank you. If you're willing, you can come and play a fairy in the movie." Yang Jie said.

Jiang Xian smiled.

"Let's talk about it later."

Fairy? Is there a fairy as handsome as him? !
I sent Yang Jie and her husband to the gate and happened to run into Zhu Lin coming back from the set.

When Yang Jie caught a glimpse of Zhu Lin, her eyes immediately lit up.

"Hey, this is Comrade Zhu Lin!"

I am prettier in person than in the photo!

She looked at Zhu Lin's face out of professional habit.

She has a typical oval face and a particularly full forehead, which is very much in line with Yang Jie's aesthetic.

In addition, her eyes are as bright as apricots, and her facial features are matched just right. She looks like a mature woman, yet innocent and cute.

It has both the gentle charm of a woman and the playfulness of a little girl.

"White Bone Demon?"

"No, no."

Yang Jie was delighted to see the prey, and countless characters flashed through her mind, including Princess Iron Fan, Princess Halloween, Spider Spirit, Mouse Spirit, the Queen of the Kingdom of Women, and the Jade Rabbit Spirit.
Oh, there is always one suitable for Zhu Lin to play.

"Let me introduce them." Jiang Xian's throat moved slightly, and he was ecstatic, thinking that this was a historic meeting. "This is Director Yang Jie from CCTV TV Drama Production Center, and this is her lover, Comrade Wang Chongqiu."

"Comrade Yang Jie, Comrade Wang Chongqiu, hello." Zhu Lin greeted them gracefully.

Yang Jie is a face control and cannot tolerate ugly female characters in her plays. This is her pursuit of classical aesthetics.

When he saw Zhu Lin, he grinned at her like a pervert.

"I heard that you participated in Dream of Red Mansions?"

"Yes, but it's a small part and it's almost over."

"Do you want to act in Journey to the West?"

"Journey to the West?"

Zhu Lin was stunned for a moment. The first things that flashed through her mind were some mountain goblins and wild monsters, and she felt a little confused.

What role should I play?
But he was still very polite.

"If Director Yang thinks highly of me, I'd be willing to give it a try."

"Okay, okay." Yang Jie sat on the back seat of Wang Chongqiu's bicycle and walked away, looking back every few steps.

Jiang Xian introduced Zhu Lin to the details of the "Journey to the West" crew.

"Qin Keqing's role is small anyway. After filming is finished, why don't you go and act in Journey to the West?"

"I'm going to act in Journey to the West?" Zhu Lin blinked, "I still want to rest for a while and take good care of Nian Nian."

"The characters there don't have much screen time, and they can't play four masters and apprentices. The general characters only have one episode of screen time."

"Let's look back later."

In the blink of an eye, it was the end of December 1984. Five years had passed since the National Congress of Writers and Artists. A new session of the National Congress was held in Beijing, with about 12 delegates attending.

Jiang Xianzi was among them and attended the meeting as a representative of Beijing writers.

The main task of this Writers' Congress is to elect Comrade Ba Jin to succeed Comrade Mao Dun as the new chairman of the Chinese Writers Association.

Another thing is the re-planning of the leadership team of the China Writers Association.

Literary giants such as Ding Ling, Feng Mu, Ai Qing, Liu Baiyu, Sha Ting, Guang Weiran, Chen Huangmei and He Jingzhi were elected as vice-chairmen.

Comrade Wang Meng, who was always in love with Jiang Xian, finally took a new step and was elected as the new vice chairman.

Jiang Xian was subsequently elected as one of the 236 members of the fourth board of directors.

After the leadership team was formed, the next thing to do was to discuss the work of the Writers Association. Jiang Xian, the deputy editor-in-chief of People's Literature, was finally brought to the meeting for a formal discussion.

"I agree."

The Xichun faction has not yet expressed its position, but several people who lean towards the left have taken the lead. "Comrade Jiang Xian is young, but he has strong working ability, high ideological awareness, unites comrades, has correct thoughts, and is active in work."

"I have no objection to him being the deputy editor-in-chief."

"I have no objection either."

"."

Guang Weiran watched the scene coldly and couldn't help but sigh.

Even now, he still feels sorry for Jiang Xian's choice to run the People's Digest supplement.

He coughed lightly and stated his position as one of the leaders of the Xichun faction:
"I also agree with Comrade Wang Meng's proposal to nominate Comrade Jiang Xian as deputy editor-in-chief of People's Literature. Comrade Jiang Xian has done an excellent job at People's Digest."

"Yes, yes. I heard that it was warmly welcomed by readers as soon as it was published."

He Jingzhi smiled happily. He turned sideways to look at Wang Meng and asked, "How many copies have been issued?"

Wang Meng paused before answering:

"So far, 106 million copies of the first issue have been distributed."

"Look, there are already 106 million copies of the winning number?"

After He Jingzhi realized what was happening, he was immediately dumbfounded.

He thought he had heard it wrong, so he turned to look at Wang Meng and reconfirmed the number.

"106 million copies." Wang Meng said again.

Hiss.

Everyone who reacted couldn't help but gasp.

How long has it been since I heard that Jiang Xian was going to publish this publication?
Half a year?

Less than half a year!

The first issue of People's Digest was published in August 1984, which means that in just four months, the circulation of this magazine exceeded one million!
106 million.

This is 76 more copies than the circulation record of the first issue of Huacheng, which was over 30 copies!

Moreover, this record has not reached its limit and is still being broken.

"Haha." Chen Huangmei smiled.

This Jiang Xian kid is really something. When I promised him to break a million, he really broke a million.

This Volga was not given to this kid in vain.

The others looked at each other in bewilderment.

A circulation of one million is already the circulation level of top literary journals.

The circulation of each issue of People's Literature is just over one million copies.

And "People's Digest" is just a supplement of "People's Literature".

Some people with ulterior motives can’t help but wonder that if this publication can continue to sell well, perhaps one day its circulation will really exceed that of People’s Literature.

If the circulation of the supplement exceeds that of the main publication, that would be a real turn of events.

Of course, Jiang Xian’s matter is only a small part of the Writers’ Congress. There are two other things worth noting at this meeting.

First, with the help of Li Qingquan's "Academic Qualifications Committee", the students of Lu Xun Academy of Literature, as well as the previous students who graduated from Lu Xun Academy, will transfer to Peking University's Chinese Department if they agree, to form a Peking University writers' class. After two years, the members of this writers' class will obtain Peking University's undergraduate degree recognized by the Ministry of Higher Education.

For students who do not want to study for another two years, Lu Xun Academy of Literature will issue a university diploma from Lu Xun Academy of Literature, and the Chinese Writers Association will notify the provincial writers' associations to recognize this academic qualification.

This is undoubtedly great news.

Not long ago, people have been complaining that the educational level of writers in our country is not high enough, and many of them are only in elementary school or junior high school.

Now this problem has finally been solved.

Peking University, a university that symbolizes one of the highest levels of education in China, has opened its doors to writers.

Even Jiang Xian couldn't help but feel excited.

As an old student of the Institute of Literature, he is certainly qualified to transfer to the Peking University's writers' class.

For him, who was a poor student in his previous life, having the opportunity to obtain a degree from Peking University is definitely something to be happy about.

In addition, his wife Zhu Lin is an excellent student with a postgraduate degree.

Sometimes Jiang Xian couldn’t help but wonder, when his daughter grows up, she will ask, “Mom is a graduate student, but where is dad?”

Dad is a junior high school student!

What man can stand this?

Although it was due to the times that Jiang Xian's academic qualifications were alienated, how could one explain this to a child?

In addition to the Peking University incident, the second thing worth noting is that the China Modern Literature Museum is about to be completed.

Conceived by Ba Jin and led by Jiang Xian, with countless comrades following one after another and running back and forth, with their joint efforts, this venue that carries all the literary achievements since the May Fourth Movement is finally going to be built.

It was at this meeting that the China Modern Literature Museum was solemnly announced to be officially established.

The selection of the first director became a topic of discussion again.

Some people recommended Ba Jin, but Ba Jin declined the recommendation on the grounds that he was too old to handle detailed daily affairs.

"How is Comrade Jiang Xian?"

Kong Luosun suggested, "Comrade Jiang Xian has also put a lot of effort into this venue. Whether it is the land or every detail in the venue, Comrade Jiang Xian has made contributions.

I believe that neither the colleagues in the museum nor everyone present here would have any objection to him being the first director."

(End of this chapter)