The legal procedures for the merger and acquisition of Taurus Palace have been completed, and the placement of Utsui Ken and Miura Tomokazu has been completed. It is already mid-September.
But it is a pity that although Ning Weimin himself is quite high-spirited about the current situation, he is very happy that he got appointments with the agents of several famous actors.
But except for Matsumoto Keiko who firmly believed in his move, other people at Fog Studio and Matsumoto Office felt completely opposite about the current situation.
Everyone only saw that Ning Weimin was desperately borrowing money and spending a lot of money on behalf of Matsumoto Keiko. However, the actual problem of the company being oppressed and attacked by foreign enemies has not been solved at all, and it has always been passively beaten.
In particular, the resignation of Yasuko Sawaguchi, one of the leading actors in the cast of "Black Leather Notepad" who played Namiko, caused a lot of resentment among the staff of Kiri Studio and Matsumoto Office. of blow.
For this matter, Toho Entertainment made a special call to Wu Studio to explain that everything was done by the Burning System.
Sawaguchi Yasuko, who insisted on going her own way, even paid 30 million yen to terminate the contract with Toho Entertainment, but there was nothing they could do.
Following this, some tabloids published the news that Yasuko Sawaguchi signed a contract with Ikuo Shufang Entertainment Agency.
You know, there is a high probability that Yasuko Sawaguchi’s termination fee was paid by Ikuo Shufang.
So Ning Weimin, for the sake of Dongbao being a film studio, didn’t even ask for liquidated damages from the actors, but only got back the film salary and signing bonus.
No matter how you think about this matter, it is really cowardly.
In addition, the key is that there has not been much growth in operating income, which is the most worrying thing.
Yes, even though the movie "Li Xianglan" was a huge success, the video tape and the music album were also huge sellers.
Fog Studio has recovered nearly 2.2 billion yen through this movie, and it has already made a lot of money.
But because the movie was released from theaters half a year ago, the popularity of the movie has inevitably gradually dissipated, resulting in a simultaneous decrease in subsequent revenue.
Currently, Fog Studios and Matsumoto Office are still receiving income. Except for Matsumoto Keiko, who can immediately receive about 20 million yen in advertising endorsement fees for Pierre Cardin and Tannomiya Restaurant on a quarterly basis, the rest is not worth it. Mention it.
Regarding the copyright fees for the "Li Xianglan" video tape and music album, we can only receive three to four million yen per month now, and it will only become less and less. There is nothing we can expect at all.
The "Dream of Red Mansions" TV series music tape jointly published by Ning Weimin and Jinniushan has been growing due to the expansion of "Dream of Red Mansions" fans.
But after all, it is a niche hobby, and the sales volume is not growing very fast. It can only bring about two million yen in profit every month.
And even this money, because of the Taurus Palace Mergers and acquisitions will no longer exist.
According to Ning Weimin's request, the business of introducing Chinese music albums in the future will be all handled by Taurus Palace, with Minoru Funaki in charge. Naturally, future profits will fall on Taurus Palace's account.
In short, with this amount of income, it will be enough to pay the staff of Fog Film Studio and Matsumoto Office, which is better than nothing.
So as a financial supervisor, from the perspective of Mitsuru Watanabe, the current situation of Kiri Film Studio and Matsumoto Office is quite bad. They are completely unable to make ends meet and are sitting on nothing.
Ning Weimin was particularly active in the matter of loans.
As a result, the only thing that continues to grow on the account every day is the increasingly heavy debt burden and more and more loan interest that needs to be paid to the bank on a monthly basis.
Just looking at the asset accounts of Fog Studios and Matsumoto Office, they have reached a debt ratio of approximately 300%.
The monthly interest alone is 50 million yen, which greatly exceeds the income.
Whether it is a studio or an entertainment agency, this is an extreme case that is unheard of, and it can make people sad to death.
So no one is more panicked than Mitsuru Watanabe. He comes to work every day with trepidation. He is afraid that Ning Weimin will mortgage something again, so he goes to the bank to add a new loan.
Of course, it’s not that he doesn’t believe in Ning Wei’s ability to make money for the people.
After all, Ning Weimin used a trick to buy Matsumoto Keiko Matsumoto Keiko's two-person studio, Kurosawa Akira and Mifune Toshiro, using borrowed money to invest in the stock market.
Watabe Mitsuru was so impressed by this move that he even followed Ning Weimin to buy some stocks and made a small fortune.
In addition, it’s not that he doesn’t believe in Ning Weimin’s character.
Just look at the film library that Ning Weimin bought from Europe, the shares of the French Yves Saint Laurent Company, and the shares of Taurus Records, all of which are recorded in the name of Matsumoto Keiko.
He knew how much Ning Weimin loved his wife and treated Matsumoto Keiko completely sincerely.
But the problem is that Watanabe Mitsuru's heart capacity is limited.
This time Ning Weimin loaned tens of billions of yen to Matsumoto Keiko, and the amount of funds hoarded was really scary.
The pressure was all on Japan's accounts, but Mitsuru Watanabe was not told how to earn back the interest on these funds. He was only asked to wait patiently and wait.
As for those overseas assets, Mitsuru Watanabe has no control over them.
So this game is simply too exciting for Mitsuru Watanabe.
He couldn't help but worry that Ning Weimin would stumble and encounter some accident that he couldn't control, causing him to lose everything.
So, now he is nervous and depressed every day, and he is increasingly doubting whether he is still qualified for his current position.
It is estimated that if he spends the first half of the year in this fear of the future, he will definitely suffer from mental illness.
It is also possible that he lost his life directly because he could not bear the suffering.
Who should I complain to then?
Therefore, there is only one way to relieve his fearful pain, which is to at least let him see that Wu Studio's work is back on track, and there is at least hope that these loans can be paid off, so that he can live a solid life again.
As for the director of Kiri Studio, Akira Okamoto, and the director of "Black Leather Notepad", Yoshitaro Nomura, they are similar to Mitsuru Watanabe. Now they are also worried about the poor situation of Kiri Studio. With.
The cast issue of the "Black Leather Notepad" crew has still not been resolved, which has become the most difficult problem facing them.
Obviously, the announcement of re-recruitment of roles has been issued for a long time, but apart from Shochiku Pictures sending a few actors who are not very famous to apply, and a few newcomers who dream of being actors but lack acting experience, find their own. Apart from the self-recommendations, no one came to audition.
They all know that under this situation, even if it takes another year, it will be impossible to find a suitable actor.
So can they not be worried?
The two of them were almost too worried to eat or sleep.
But it doesn't matter. The good thing is that Ning Weimin knows better than anyone else the reasons for this situation.
Although he has been letting things develop out of control and seems to have no ability to fight back, that is because he is a person who likes to make decisions later. He cannot do everything according to the rhythm of his opponent. As the opponent wants.
The real counterattack cannot be launched until his side is ready.
Besides, there are some things that he really doesn't care about.
For example, those who followed Ikuo Suho's instructions and attacked Fog Studios all day long and spread nonsense.
The harder those people brag for Zhou Fangyuxiong now, the more painful the slap in the face will be in the future.
Also, Sawaguchi Yasuko’s “little buck-toothed” guy can just leave if he wants, and Ning Weimin really doesn’t care.
This idiot, incited by Ikuo Suho, went so far as to offend Toho Entertainment in order to resign.
Does this mean you really don’t take the “Big Five” seriously, or do you despise your own longevity?
I'm afraid he doesn't need to take action in this matter. In the future, Dongbao will have to find an opportunity to deal with this white-eyed wolf who dares to betray him.
Still want to be famous?
Just wait and eat the shit.
But on the contrary, many unexpected situations require him to make arrangements one by one.
For example, accepting Ken Utsui and Yuka Miura. Also, after acquiring Taurus Palace, how to integrate the business of Taurus Palace and arrange Teresa Teng’s treatment well?
Because if you want to fight against the outside world, you must first calm down the inside. Only by having a stable rear area can Ning Weimin concentrate on dealing with external enemies.
No, now that he has almost done everything he needs to do, it is time for him to personally troubleshoot the difficulties of restarting "Black Leather Notepad".
On September 17, 1987, Ning Weimin held a production meeting at Matsumoto Office in the name of Matsumoto Keiko to discuss issues related to the casting of the "Black Leather Notepad" crew.
Needless to say, financial supervisor Mitsuru Watanabe, producer Akira Okamoto, screenwriter Shinobu Hashimoto, director Yoshitaro Nomura, assistant director and executive director are all people who must be present.
Even the two main actors of this drama, Ken Utsui and Tomokazu Miura, who had just joined Fog Studio, were invited and came here on time to participate in the meeting that day.
But before the meeting started, no one was in the mood to greet each other.
All of them had frowning and solemn expressions, and some even smoked cigarettes and sighed softly.
For no other reason than because this drama carries the hopes of many people, but given the current situation, it is really not optimistic. Everyone feels an invisible pressure.
However, what is absolutely unexpected is that for such an important meeting, a sign saying "No unauthorized persons allowed to enter" was hung outside the door in advance.
The two main characters, Ke Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko, were not only ten minutes late, but they also brought a person who no one expected to appear here - Matsumoto Seicho.
"Sorry, I'm a little late. I kept everyone waiting."
"Oh, sorry, everyone came on time."
See two In the conference room of about ten square meters, all the main members of today's meeting are already here.
Matsumoto Keiko and Ning Weimin quickly apologized to everyone as soon as they came in.
But don’t mention it. Not only do they have good attitudes, but they are also excusable for being late.
Because Seicho Matsumoto, who is over 70 years old, immediately declared on the spot, "Don't be offended, it's me, an old man, who was delayed today. If I hadn't suddenly remembered that I forgot the medicine I must carry with me at home, , I had to go back, we wouldn’t have come so late. I’m sorry, it was my fault that I wasted everyone’s time. I hope you don’t mind.”
In this case, don’t say this. People never dared to be dissatisfied with their bosses, but now they have completely eliminated their grudges for this legitimate reason. Everyone kindly said "it doesn't matter" or "you are too polite."
However, everyone is inevitably curious as to why Matsumoto Seicho appeared here today.
Yes, the drama "Black Leather Notepad" is adapted from Matsumoto Seicho's novel of the same name. It stands to reason that the author is indeed qualified to participate in discussions at the production meeting.
But in that case, usually before the script is finalized, the crew seeks the author's opinion for the adaptation of the script.
The current script was created by Shinobu Hashimoto from beginning to end in accordance with Ning Weimin's requirements.
In order to bring a fresh experience to the readers of the novel, and also to be more relevant to the current social environment where people are obsessed with life, money, money, and bubbles.
According to some suggestions put forward by Ning Weimin, Shinobu Hashimoto made relatively big changes to the final ending.
The script he completed did not follow the original work and gave the heroine Motoko Haraguchi, played by Keiko Matsumoto, the saddest end - the people who had been blackmailed by him got together to take revenge. Not only did they go bankrupt, but they also lost the money in their stomachs. The child is gone too.
But all of them are evil, and no one will end well.
Haraguchi Motoko, who is good at blackmailing others, secretly fell in love with Member of Parliament Yasushima, who had to respect political marriage. As a result, Yasushima's political opponents discovered the clues, and finally exposed their insider trading and criminal evidence. Jingdang went to jail.
But this is not the real ending.
The real ending is that many years later, after being released from prison, Haraguchi Motoko came to a nightclub in Roppongi and tried to rise again here by working as a female publicist with more comfortable skills and experience.
She vowed to return to Ginza and take back her nightclub.
To put it bluntly, what Seicho Matsumoto’s story mainly wants to express is that "uncontrolled greed will eventually leave people with nothing."
The core content of Shinobu Hashimoto's script focuses more on retribution and cause and effect, and the principle of the mantis stalking the cicada before the oriole follows.
As for the final ending design, it is to give more relief to those who like happy endings.
Strictly speaking, the core ideas expressed in the novel and the TV series are no longer the same.
And the casting process has already begun. Under such circumstances, and such an old Matsumoto Seicho is invited here, the first instinct of the crew members is that they need to change the script?
Is it necessary to eliminate many main characters because of the current difficulties in casting?
As a result, everyone looked confused and worried. A shadow of something bad happened unknowingly passed over everyone's face, and they were all afraid that Ning Weimin was about to say something shocking.
Among them, screenwriter Shinobu Hashimoto and director Yoshitaro Nomura are particularly worried.
Because if that were the case, the chances of the drama going through such a transformation would double. They didn’t want to risk their reputation at the end of the season.
But it is strange enough to say that he and Nomura Youtarou are obviously close friends, but Matsumoto Seicho came to participate in the meeting this time, but did not even say a word to him, just smiled and looked at the strange reactions at the scene, and It's like watching the fun.
As a result, the crew could no longer hold their temper, and Akira Okamoto took the initiative to reveal the scar.
"Matsumoto-san, President Ning, I want to apologize to everyone in public today for the recruitment of actors. Now let me update you on the current situation. We have been recruiting actors again for more than ten days, but unfortunately There were not many people who came to apply for roles, and most of them did not meet our requirements. There were only a few inconsequential small roles. We reluctantly selected a few and made a list, but the missing main roles were still not suitable. Candidates..."
As he spoke, he placed some information documents in the middle of the table, "The main responsibility for this matter's progress is so poor. But even so, I don't think the script can be easily reviewed. For big changes, we should continue to try to find actors from more channels, such as recommendations from people with good connections in the industry..."
Who knew that as soon as he said this, he was cleared by Matsumoto Interrupted.
The old man laughed unabashedly, and then declared in a joking tone, "Okay, okay, don't get me wrong. I'm not here to make any comments on the script. The purpose of my visit today is just to Participate in the casting. Of course, according to Chairman Ning, it is also to help the show create gimmicks and increase the social attention of the show. After all, Wu Studio is my child. At this special time, I can’t just sit back and watch, I should try my best.”
It’s okay if he didn’t say this, but it became even more strange after he said it. Everyone seemed not to understand what he meant.
Because it stands to reason that when it comes to casting for any drama, it is only the responsibility of the crew. There has never been a situation where the original author interfered in such a matter.
For no other reason than because there are cost constraints in filming film and television dramas, how is it possible that every actor must conform to the author's perception.
If this is really done, not only will the cost of the actors be difficult to control, but it may not be recognized by the audience if it is actually filmed.
After all, there are a thousand Hamlets in the hearts of a thousand people. The author and the actor may not necessarily be the image in the audience's mind.
So at this time, everyone focused their attention on the faces of Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko, hoping that they could further explain everything.
However, what everyone never expected was that both of them agreed with Matsumoto Seicho's words on the spot.
"Yes, I have to work hard this time, Mr. Matsumoto. Please be sure to help select the actor who best suits your wishes."
"Yes. I believe that with your approval, this film Only then will the characters of the play be more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and the story will be wonderfully interpreted.”
Fortunately, Ning Weimin also explained it to everyone afterwards, which was a shock to everyone.
"Everyone, I am very aware of the casting difficulties that the crew has faced recently. Faced with the pressure from the Burning Department, those entertainment agencies have ignored us because of fear or wanting to stay out of the matter. demand. Therefore, it is no longer realistic for us to obtain excellent actors in the conventional way."
"Therefore, I now announce that we will no longer consider price when selecting roles. Even if the filming cost doubles from 300 million yen to 600 million yen, or even one billion yen, it doesn't matter, because only those who are already famous and popular will be hired. A famous actor is truly independent and free, and does not need to be afraid of the pressure of the Burning Department, nor can he be controlled by the Burning Department."
"So we invited Mr. Matsumoto here this time. , we need to listen carefully to Mr. Matsumoto’s understanding of the image of each character, and see what the actor who fits the role looks like according to his vision. To put it bluntly, since it is no longer possible to save costs, then we should not consider it. To save money, we might as well use our best to polish this TV series into a masterpiece with famous actors. At least through this method and publicity, it can also make our Fog Studio famous.”
“Of course, Matsumoto. The teacher himself said that he would not be blindly paranoid about the roles, but would only provide his personal opinions for everyone's reference. Therefore, the specific casting method is that everyone present will consider a list, and then write it out and list it on the blackboard. Choose the least controversial role, and discuss other controversial ones slowly. Remember, I say it again, when writing a list of recommended actors, you must forget about the price and only consider the fit with the role." (End of this chapter)