Chapter 64: What business should the company do in the future?
"Zhou Xiao, if you continue to mess around like this, I think you'd better find someone else for this company." Uncle Inoue had finally had enough and said he was going to wash his hands of it.
"Wait, Uncle Ikebe, it's not going to cost that much. You don't need to rush this, let's get the film crew together first and then you can take care of it later. The average salary on the mainland isn't high, and at first, you won't even need to bring them to Tokyo. I'll write a few adapted and original songs for them, and then you can apply for a composer teacher with Being Company to go to Beijing, Shanghai, or Guangzhou to recruit people. For each instrument, recruit a few people, around 10 in total, who have good folk music skills and also look good. Then bring these people to the big city, find a decent recording studio to record an album, and then find a few local photographers to take a few photos and send them back. In Japan, find a stylist to do styling, and then directly shoot it on the mainland. The costumes are simple, China is like that, although it's not traditional, but foreigners only recognize cheongsam."
"Look, how's that? This plan isn't bad, right? Once the record is made, the members can take a temporary break. Later, when the record comes out, after some hype, if it becomes popular, that would be best. Even if it doesn't become popular, the total investment will only be a few million at most, which is quite cost-effective." said Zhou Xiao.
"Alright, since you've thought it through so thoroughly, I won't say anything else. Let's wait until you bring out the score first, and for now, let's talk about the movie. What do you want to film?" Uncle Inoue asked.
"A One-Liter of Tears", do you know it? Zhou Xiao asked.
"A One-Liter of Tears"? Sounds familiar... Mr. Inoue hesitated a bit.
Zhou Xiao took out the book she had been carrying with her: "I bought this at a second-hand store, it was published in '86 and sold 2.6 million copies back then, which is not bad, but it didn't get much attention."
Inoue picked up the book and then remembered something about "A Liter of Tears".
"One Litre of Tears" is a diary written by a girl named Aya Kito, who was diagnosed with spinocerebellar degeneration at the age of 15 and fought against her illness for ten years until she passed away at the age of 25.
In the previous life experienced by Zhou Xiao, "A Litre of Tears" was published in 1986, and Aya Kito passed away in 1988. Perhaps because Aya Kito was still alive when the book was published, it caused a considerable stir but did not move the entire nation of Japan. The real reason this story was brought up again was the release of the movie version of "A Litre of Tears" in 2004. After the movie, Aya Kito's diary from '86, her mother's diary from '89, and many re-published books became popular, giving birth to the later versions starring Erika Sawajiri and Ryo Nishikido, which is considered a classic and officially left its mark in Japanese history.
"So... this is what you want to take a picture of?" Uncle Inoue asked.
"That's right, the director can find someone familiar with the business, doesn't need to be too great. For the actors, a 20-year-old girl who looks more and more miserable is fine. Other actors, including the mother of the second female lead, require some acting skills. The rest, such as doctors and the heroine's classmates, can just find ordinary actors."
"In that case, it seems like the budget for actors is still okay, what about the set?"
"Mainly three places are needed, a school, a hospital and an ordinary residence, which need to be rented. Additionally, a car with several years of age also needs to be rented."
"It's not like that, it's not like that," said Uncle Inoue.
"Oh? Why?" Zhou Xiaonan muttered to herself.
"These three indoor scenes actually don't need to rent existing ones, just find a TV station or film company's studio and you can use it. Moreover, such ordinary places are always set up in the studio all year round, which doesn't cost much money at all. Later on, just supplement some outdoor scenes and that's it."
"So that's cheap?" Yes, in this aspect it is actually very cheap. The backdrop is cheap and there are only a few main cast members so it won't cost much money. What's really expensive is the labor of other people.
"Any other manpower?"
"The photographer is the most important, hiring a professional and good photographer doesn't cost much more than a second-rate director you asked for. Since you don't have experience, other staff members should also be experienced ones. I heard that when you released your single before, you did everything by yourself. If this time you can do well with others, you will probably learn a lot."
"That's right, can't attend a professional directing school, if you want to do something, then can only learn like this." Zhou Xiao nodded and said.
"But... if that's all there is to it, I won't accept your invitation." Mr. Inoue said suddenly.
"Huh? Why? Wasn't it going well?" Zhou Xiao asked.
"This is also considered a good conversation? You spend over 100 million yen, make a movie, find some folk music in China, and then you think both will make money? No, no, no, even electronic games don't have such an exaggerated way of playing," said Uncle Inoue.
"Why did you tell me so seriously just now?" Zhou Xiao asked.
"I'm telling you this seriously, I want to let you know that these things can be done, 100 million yen is barely enough, but what about after it's done? Haven't you thought about what to do if it doesn't sell well?! That's 100 million yen we're talking about, if used carefully, it's enough to live a stable life for a lifetime!" said Uncle Inoue.
"Peaceful and stable? Now that we're here, now that we're in this line of work, how can it be peaceful and stable?" said Zhou Xiao.
"Even so... even so you can be more careful, don't spend all the money at once."
"It won't work if we don't do it now. If we wait any longer, it will be too late. I'm running out of time, so I have to be this aggressive." said Zhou Xiao.
"In that case, I refuse!" said Uncle Inoue.
"After thinking for almost two minutes, Zhou Xiao raised her head and asked: 'What exactly do I need to do to make you believe me and try it with me once?'"
Inoue wanted to say something, but the words didn't come out. He actually wanted to persuade Zhou Xiao again, but looking at Zhou's serious expression, he must have understood the boy's seriousness at this moment, so he could only say: "You singing and composing is very good, no doubt about it, but that can only represent your talent in this area, which is amazing. So, if you can prove to me that you also have the same talent in other areas besides music, maybe I can try to believe you."
"Anything else?"
"Really, can you do it?"
"Got it!" Zhou Xiao said.
"What aspect?"
"Not yet!"
"Are you playing me?"
"Of course not, I really can, even if I haven't thought it through yet, I'll definitely be able to!" said Zhou Xiao.
"Alright then, I'll be waiting!" said Uncle Inoue finally.
After parting with Uncle Inoue, Zhou Xiao returned home to plan his recent itinerary. First of all, he had to get the adaptation rights for "A Liter of Tears". The copyright might no longer be in the hands of Mokoto Aya's mother, so what Zhou Xiao needed to get was the TV movie adaptation rights. When the time came, even if he didn't film a TV series, selling it would still bring in a lot of money.
Next is setting up a company, of course, before setting up a company, he first needs to make Uncle Inoue believe that he really has the ability to create miracles.
Turning stones into gold is something Zhou Xiao can't do, and things that take effect slowly, requiring a period of time to show results, are also not something Zhou Xiao can accomplish, because time is already very tight.
"Hmm... what to do is good." He snuggled in bed, the TV remote control constantly switching channels, his mind rummaging through the contents of the hard drive.
The sound on the TV was constantly being converted, making it disjointed and intermittent, but Zhou Xiao hadn't really been paying attention to what was on TV anyway. His mind had been racing with thoughts until finally, after the remote control stopped moving, a complete sentence came out of the TV's speaker.
P.S., Today there might be only two updates, three consecutive days of 3 updates is too tiring.
