Chapter 1027 The Second Bombing
If the mental shock that the first decision just brought to Akira Okamoto and Mitsuru Watanabe was basically equivalent to a mortar shell that can pull out the machine gun position.
Then the second decision comes from the mouth of Keiko Matsumoto, and its power is equivalent to the explosive pack that can pull out a bunker.
"Ah! Matsumoto-san wants to invest his own money in making movies? Isn't this too risky?"
The first person to voice his doubts this time was Mitsuru Watanabe who intended to object.
The reason why he didn't agree was purely because of concerns about investment risks. After all, making movies costs money.
Although Keiko Matsumoto is a successful movie actor, it is true, and she has extremely high talent in acting and enviable appearance conditions.
But it is another matter for her to control, shoot and operate a movie with her own personal abilities.
That is a more complex and larger project that requires a highly professional team.
Watanabe Mitsuru is obviously not optimistic about Matsumoto Keiko's decision, and feels that the current conditions of the firm are obviously insufficient.
Both experience and talent are shortcomings, and financial capabilities are even more inadequate. If you try your best, you will most likely end up in trouble.
“Although I understand your urgent need for work. But now the taste of the audience is becoming increasingly difficult to grasp. This year, the operating conditions of Toho, Toei and Shochiku Pictures are not ideal. Ah. In the first few years, small studios often closed down. Even studios like Mifune Studios, which had a lot of background and could bring together many famous directors and actors, competed with the big studios for the limelight. Fell. If the box office is not satisfactory and your investment cannot be recovered, then...then..."
Watanabe Mitsuru originally wanted to mention the loan Matsumoto Keiko made from the villa.
But suddenly he realized that Ning Weimin was present, so he controlled his tongue in time.
He is a mature and prudent person, and he is extremely professional.
Based on the fact that the two were only discussing marriage, he was not sure whether Ning Weimin fully understood Matsumoto Keiko's financial situation.
Of course the proprietor should keep financial secrets.
But unlike him, Matsumoto Keiko's idea of investing in movies made Okamoto Akira very excited.
Just like Okamoto Akira and Watanabe Mitsuru complained privately today, their work is very different.
What matters most to Akira Okamoto is not financial gains and losses, nor is it the lack of money that makes him want to quit.
But since Keiko Matsumoto had no chance to participate in the show, there was no hope of a comeback and no future.
Now Keiko Matsumoto wants to invest in making films by himself, which undoubtedly gives him new hope.
As long as Matsumoto Keiko can continue to release works, she can maintain her fame. As long as she is famous, she will still have opportunities.
If possible, Okamoto Akira doesn't want to bear the infamy of abandoning his old master and face the guilt in his heart just to be alone.
At this time, I was naturally very moved.
So instead, he supported Matsumoto Keiko and took the initiative to do Watabe Mitsuru's ideological work.
"No, I think it's worth trying. After all, Matsumoto-san is in such a difficult situation now. He is deeply involved in public opinion, abandoned by advertisers and abandoned by TV stations. In addition, some people's Deliberately targeted. Let alone the outside world, it is unlikely that Matsumoto-san will get a performance opportunity within Shochiku Pictures that matches his status as an actress. So why don't we give it a try and at least give it a try? There is also the possibility to impress people. For both Matsumoto-san and us, no matter how bad it is, it is better than doing nothing and waiting in vain."
"Watanabe? Jun, I know what you are worried about. Yes, the film market is becoming more and more competitive, but you have to think about it. There is no doubt about Matsumoto-san’s acting skills and personal charm. Nowadays, her popularity has declined and she has suffered a major blow, but there are still many viewers who are willing to spend money to buy tickets and go to the theater for her. Moreover, when shooting a movie, the salary and equipment are huge. If these two aspects can be solved with favors, the production will be better. The cost has been reduced by at least half. Among other things, Matsumoto-san’s salary can offset a large part of the investment cost, which greatly reduces the risk.”
“Also, after all, we still have Shochiku. Thanks to Matsumoto-san’s connections and the reputation of Shochiku’s theaters, they should be able to provide us with good conditions for the production. Renting equipment will also be a problem, right? The same can be said for costumes and props. ——There are as many makeup artists and prop artists as you need. It is much easier to hire an experienced director and a famous actor to work with, even if you lack experience in coordinating and running a film, after all, we can still hire one. With the help of experienced people, you won’t be as confused and helpless as a real amateur.”
“From my point of view, if we shoot the urban love scenes that Matsumoto-san is best at, the risk is actually close to zero. Yes. The production cost of the film is 200 million yen, which is enough. Tens of millions more yen can be spent on promotion, and the cost can be almost recovered as long as the box office reaches 400 million yen. This goal is not very difficult for Matsumoto-san. Which movie she has participated in has a box office of less than 500 million yen? ”
"Then, we can also make money by selling and renting video tapes, and selling overseas copies. Those are all pure profits. How can we lose money? On the other hand, the benefits we can get from it are probably harder than Matsumoto-san In one year, we will get much more. If the film can maintain a certain level and reach a box office of more than 700 million like most of Matsumoto-san's movies, we will make a lot of money."
" I might as well say frankly that we can actually shoot movies according to this safe model in the future. Even two such movies a year are enough for us. The cycle is short, the investment is small, and the risk is low. It won’t be a problem to make 500 million yen a year. By then, Matsumoto-san will become the absolute queen of urban love. What if we don’t shoot any big river dramas or period dramas? I don’t care.”
“Sometimes I think about it, we really had a hard time in the past. Matsumoto-san has already received enough awards, and we are famous enough. Why should we continue to go around trying to please ourselves for those so-called honors? Since Matsumoto-san is willing to invest in movies, why don’t we be our own bosses? Watabe-kun, doesn’t this relieve your worries?”
In this way, the more Akira Okamoto talked, the more excited he became, the more he talked, the more excited he became, the more he talked, the more satisfied he became, and the more he talked, the more successful he became.
To be honest, even he was surprised today. After thinking about it carefully, he seemed to have discovered that Matsumoto Keiko invested in making his own movie, and the probability of success and the return profit were very high.
And after his detailed explanation, Watanabe Mitsuru had to admit that it seemed to be the case.
In fact, as long as Matsumoto Keiko no longer dwells on those vain things and is willing to give up the so-called artistic pursuit.
As long as she is willing to do what the audience wants and make a love movie that the public loves to see, they can really get a lot of benefits.
To put it bluntly, Akira Okamoto’s method is to use all the existing resources of Matsumoto Keiko to make money in the easiest way.
As long as the audience is still eager to see Matsumoto-san's grace on the screen, they can really just use a sack to go to the bank to pick up money, and casually feed and drink all the people in the office.
Although doing this will definitely overdraw all of Keiko Matsumoto's potential and cap her acting career.
But in this situation, it is the lesser of two evils.
It would be much better than for her to be burdened with a scandal of false accusations and defamation, stay penniless and quietly stay away from the screen, and quietly close her office.
It can be regarded as a last resort, a way out of nowhere.
For this reason, Watanabe Mitsuru couldn't help but change his initial attitude and looked at Matsumoto Keiko with expectant eyes.
"Matsumoto-san? Do you think so too? Do you agree with Okamoto-kun's words? Otherwise... let's try this method?"
Unexpectedly, two right-hand men My mood improved quickly, and I seemed to see the dawn of hope.
The feedback received from Matsumoto Keiko was negative. "Ah, I'm sorry, you seem to have made a mistake. I actually plan to shoot a big-budget movie with an investment of about one billion yen. The theme has almost been decided. It is a biographical movie that can reflect the historical characteristics of wartime. Not long ago, I was approved by Congresswoman Yoshiko Yamaguchi and spent 7 million yen to buy the rights to adapt "My First Half of Life - The Biography of Lee Hyang-ran" written by Congressman Yamaguchi. I will star in the film when I was young. She put her legendary life on the screen, which became famous throughout China during the war. The story of this female star is well known."
"Ten... One billion yen?”
"Matsumoto-san! Are you serious?"
After saying this, Akira Okamoto and Mitsuru Watanabe said almost in unison, showing shock at the same time.
Then, the two quickly fell into depression and bowed their heads in silence.
If nothing else, this number is really astonishing.
One billion yen is equivalent to a huge sum of seven million US dollars.
In this era, even American Hollywood cannot be underestimated. It is considered a relatively large production.
You must know that the production cost of "ET", which destroyed the global box office in 1982, was only about 10 million US dollars.
With this huge sum of money being filmed in Japan, it will be almost difficult to recover the cost unless a movie is produced that can reach the top five at the annual box office.
Needless to say, for Matsumoto Keiko, who has no production experience, this is almost an impossible task, unless a miracle occurs.
However, the two of them could also feel Matsumoto Keiko's persistence and seriousness, and decided that this matter might be irreversible.
After all, seven million yen has been spent. Such a large sum of money to buy the copyright of an autobiography is definitely not just to let it go.
Besides, the Japanese are a little different. They don’t just have to spend money to buy copyright.
Especially for authors of literary and artistic works, copyright transactions do not only focus on money, but also on the qualifications of the other party and the concept of adapting their works.
The author needs to understand questions such as "Why do you want to buy this copyright?", "How do you plan to adapt it?"
Only when the author feels that you are consistent with his concept, he will release the copyright to you.
Otherwise, if the original author is unwilling to sell it, even if the publisher is willing to sell it, there is nothing they can do.
So, since Matsumoto Keiko has bought the right to adapt Yamaguchi Yoshiko's memoirs, it means that her sincerity must have been recognized by the author.
If there are no substantive plans and measures, how can it be possible to achieve determination just by relying on certainty?
"Matsumoto-san? I'm sorry, but what do you think? It's too rash for you to use such a large amount of money to make a movie without hesitation? If it fails, you can't take it back. You will regret the cost! Besides, you also know the actual situation of the company. The financial situation is not enough to support such a large-scale shooting plan. It is too risky for us. I can't bear the result of failure. Is it because President Ning is from China that you want to make this movie?"
"It's not that we have to object, but it seems too much. It's unrealistic. Matsumoto-san, a movie like this involves a special historical era, which requires special props and costumes, and requires money for everything. It also requires many actors, so it can never be shot in a studio. , it is inevitable to go out on location, even to go out into the mountains, and to close roads and parks. Please think about it carefully, don’t be impulsive! Yu Huai, you have to make such a historical movie to prove yourself, right?”
Mitsuru Watanabe and Akira Okamoto each thought about it in their minds for a while, and then they couldn't bear to give advice.
Because in their minds, this move is obviously a bad move.
They really couldn't sit idly by and let Matsumoto Keiko step by step towards the abyss and fall into the cliff.
At this time, they even looked at Ning Weimin a little differently.
Whether it is simply to express anger or to suspect that Ning Weimin did not play a good role in it.
Anyway, they all blamed him and felt that he should bear a lot of responsibility for this.
I have to say that they were not wrong about this, and their intuition was very keen.
This matter was what Ning Weimin tried his best to promote.
Not only was he the one who gave Matsumoto Keiko the idea, but it was also the opportunity for him to get to know Yamaguchi Yoshiko through the opening ceremony of Ginza Danguchi that he obtained Li Xianglan’s personal contact number.
Only in this way can we get in touch with the other party again during the holiday, bring Keiko Matsumoto to visit, and negotiate a copyright deal with them.
It's just that Ning Weimin is not as pessimistic as Akira Okamoto and Mitsuru Watabe. He really has his own reasons.
It was a decision made after careful consideration.
The calculation was even smarter than what Okamoto Akira had just calculated. He thought there was no possibility of losing money at all, so he dragged Matsumoto Keiko along with him.
So at this time, seeing Matsumoto Keiko facing the questioning and doubts of her two subordinates, it was a bit difficult to deal with it.
Moreover, the two people looked very worried about him, and he was not willing to sit back and watch Matsumoto Keiko being in trouble.
Simply go ahead and explain yourself.
"I almost understand the confusion you two have. Frankly speaking, your suggestions just now are very pragmatic, and I actually agree with some of them, which shows that you are really considering Qingzi and this firm. I'm not afraid to tell you. In fact, I really want to do what you said. But the problem is that if we don't take any risks, we have enough ability and strength to make better movies. , and also has an audience base. There is no need to worry about cost issues, but it can avenge the past, gain both artistic and financial gains, and make those who laughed at Qingzi regret it and become a joke themselves. So why not? ?"
"What? Ning Sang, are you kidding?"
"Impossible! You actually said there is no risk with such a big investment?"
Okamoto Akira and Watanabe Mitsuru were shouting in unison, and Ning Weimin immediately regained their composure with just a few words.
I started to refresh my view on this matter again.
"Of course, because you have overlooked one thing. Not only do I have sufficient funds, but I also come from China. I tell you responsibly that the funds for the filming are all on me, and I will Solved. Moreover, this movie will be produced as a Sino-Japanese co-production. In order to restore the true history and pursue authenticity, we will not only go to China to shoot the location, but also use a large number of famous actors from mainland China to participate in the performance. It will be released in China. So please have some confidence. This kind of film that reflects on the war and promotes Sino-Japanese friendship will naturally attract the attention and expectations of movie fans in both countries, and will receive strong assistance from China, and it will also easily win awards. .”
(End of this chapter)