Chapter 76: Ah Ye's Mother
Kimura Takuya's entire career as an artist has only done two big things, and these two big things are not that he starred in a TV drama with an average viewership of 30%, nor is it that his songs sold several million copies. One of the two things was when he led Johnny's artists to demand a raise. Japan's entertainment industry seems to be operating normally, but there is also blood and tears behind the scenes. Just look at Tsuyoshi Domoto from Genji, who eventually parted ways with Johnny's due to salary issues. Before Kimura demanded a raise from Johnny's, his monthly salary was only 150,000 yen, which is really unreasonable considering that the average monthly salary of Japanese workers is already 300,000 yen.
Kimura, who couldn't stand the situation, finally got the benefits he deserved with Johnny's artists, and in the second year, he ranked 11th on Japan's tax list for entertainers. It is estimated that his income was as high as 270 million yen that year, which is a huge difference compared to his previous annual salary of 180,000 yen over the past 12 months.
To get this, Kimura had to pay a great price. Since 98, he has been in a state of being semi-banned by Johnny's. He can still take on TV dramas and release music albums, but don't expect Johnny's to give him any resources. The entire Japanese media will be keeping a close eye on him, and he can't afford to make any mistakes, or else he'll be wildly reported on. Even the greats have been reported on for plastic surgery, body odor, and other purely malicious rumors. And the magazines that report such news are actually companies that have always had a very close relationship with Johnny's.
Last year in '99, Kimura had to bring bodyguards when going out, and the scandal with Ito Karina was so overhyped that it annoyed all of Japan. This state has not been lifted even now, and it's already very difficult for him to release a single that can top the MS charts.
In this state, apart from his family and AP, the only one who occasionally helps him is Iijima Sanji, who has a deep understanding of him.
Replace anyone, at this time or perhaps will slightly converge, after the event to say, but Niub person has his own Niub place, half-enclosed state of Kimura he... got married! Suddenly announced marriage on concert! Can you imagine what kind of reaction Okita would have when hearing such news? Hahaha! Fortunately, the old man's body is good, otherwise it's possible to get a heart attack directly!
In this situation, Kimura was undoubtedly frozen out by the agency, and in 2001, he had very few opportunities to appear on TV or radio shows outside of his own programs and dramas' CDs. However, Kimura managed to pull through, not only did he survive but also starred in "Hero" which still maintained a high rating of over 30%, proving his strength as the king of Japanese dramas.
In that case, even if Zhou Xiao's new single is good, it probably won't get noticed, so he has already decided to focus on filming with the crew during the time of Kimura's wedding, and only release his single after Kimura's event ends, which would be the best timing for the movie's release.
However, for such a big thing as Kimura's, Zhou Xiao would not be absent. What he needs to do is very simple: after Kimura announced his marriage, the Japanese entertainment circle was in a state of panic, everyone thought that **AP was finished, Kimura was finished, and it was definitely going to be completely sealed off. At this time, every person who lent them a helping hand would be deeply remembered and extremely grateful.
And all Zhou Xiao had to do was very simple, that is, after the incident occurred, still under pressure, hand over "The World's Only Flower" to them!
After staying in the room for a whole week, Zhou Xiao finally went out and met with Uncle Inoue. The two took the Shinkansen to Toyohashi City in Aichi Prefecture, which is also the hometown of Mokotoya, where her parents and family live.
The day before, Inoue had already contacted Matsumoto's mother as a representative of AZX and she agreed to sit down and talk about the adaptation rights, which led to Zhou Xiao's trip.
It was Ayayo's mother and sister who came together, after more than a decade of settling down, their lives had also become much more stable, but when mentioning Ayayo, there was still a hint of sadness on their faces.
"I didn't expect it was you who came to talk to us." Yaya's mom smiled and said to Zhou Xiao.
"Her story is the most memorable book from my childhood, so now that I have money, the first thing I want to do is tell her story to people all over the country." Zhou Xiao said sincerely.
His words are not entirely true, but at first when watching Japanese dramas, it was really tear-jerking, so he can still say such things with ease.
"But..." Ya's mother trailed off, and Zhou Xiao knew exactly what she meant. He pulled out a script and another magazine: "This is the script I wrote, and I really want to make this movie. You also know that I made some money from that song, and in addition, this week's Weekly Spring has my first published mystery novel."
Ya's mother was also surprised. Generally speaking, making a movie is not a wise thing to do before getting the adaptation rights, because how can he be sure that he will get the adaptation rights? If the negotiations fail in the end, won't all the preparations for the movie be in vain?
"So, what are your thoughts on compensation?" Zhou Xiao asked.
100 million yen is not a small amount, but when invested in a film, it's just an ordinary or even somewhat strained number. So, during production, Zhou Xiao would naturally try to save as much of the budget as possible. This film is still focused on emotions rather than grand scenes, so if they're frugal with their spending, it should be possible to make it work.
"Excuse me... You're investing in the filming, but it's not just a movie, right? Then why do you also need the TV drama adaptation rights and the book royalties?" Yaya's sister asked.
"Let me say this. The investment for this movie will only be that of a regular art film, so I'm sure you both understand the expected box office results. This movie can't be compared to those famous masterpieces, but that doesn't mean it won't become well-known. Not many young people today remember Aya's story, and we have an obligation to let them know about this strong girl who lived a life like that. So, the next question is, our initial investment of funds may not be recovered. You see, when a movie is made, due to various reasons such as distribution, the production company can only get one-third of the box office revenue, which is already a good number. If the final investment for this movie is 100 million yen, then the box office needs to reach 300 million yen in order for us to recover our costs."
"This is undoubtedly a bit difficult, so in this regard, we will propose to have some other income as compensation, among which the most important are TV drama adaptation rights and book royalties."
Zhou Xiao continued: "In terms of TV drama adaptation, Ah Ya's story, I think it's more suitable for a TV series compared to a movie. It can tell the story in more detail and add more plot twists, so I'll start working on the script soon. As long as the movie quality is good, we'll help promote the TV drama adaptation rights, letting more people know about Ah Ya."
"Alright, I understand." Ya's mother nodded.
After the signing intention is set, the specific contract part does not need to be managed by Zhou Xiao, and the final contract will not be settled in one or two days. However, preparations for the movie can already begin.
Zhou Xiao and Inoue Daichi returned to Tokyo, and the next day they started preparing for the movie in a hurry. As for the formation of the crew, Inoue Daichi was in charge of it, and the most important thing was to find a director for the movie.
In terms of actor selection, the director's opinion is very important, and more importantly, Zhou Xiao also needs to choose a mentor for his own film directing path.
