Chapter 255

While Akiwara Yuto was creating "Rashomon," Takuto Utsumi, as an independent producer and director, began to get busy.

He now had Akiwara Yuto's capital support and creative support, so he was not panicked at all; he even used the banner of the other party being a famous writer to start "pulling strings" outside.

After returning to the apartment he rented, he immediately made several calls to investors he knew.

"Hello, is this President Mizuta? This is Takuto Utsumi."

"There was a small problem with the joint filming, and I wanted to inform you."

"We didn't fail; in fact, I have already obtained the authorization for one of Akiwara-sensei's works."

"You want to add more investment? No, no, no, we hope you reduce some investment!"

"Please understand, sorry, sorry!"

With Akiwara Yuto's capital guarantee, his courage had grown, and he began to screen out a batch of "unqualified" investors.

Those who are of no help to the filming, cut them!

Those whose capital cannot be guaranteed to be in place, cut them!

Those who don't give much money but like to point fingers, cut them!

After doing this for half a day, he felt extremely relieved. You must know that at the time, in order to gain these people's trust, he had run his legs off and his mouth dry!

He didn't expect that a few words from Akiwara Yuto would easily solve more than half of the funding problem!

After cutting off the unqualified people, he called the "cooperative" film company again and successfully got the crew's staff and equipment—of course, the kind that requires payment.

Facing his request, the relevant company person in charge immediately agreed happily.

After all, the economy is in a downturn now, and not all film companies have films to shoot.

For some companies, they are eager for someone to "pay" to borrow their employees and equipment.

Having settled the equipment and staff, he used his channels to hurriedly release the "word" in the industry—Akiwara Yuto's work urgently needs two suitable "acting-type" male actors to participate.

Now that "Akiwara Yuto's" reputation is at its peak, he doesn't believe that those actors who have never had a chance to get ahead won't be interested after hearing this name!

Not to mention, even first and second-tier actors will come to audition!

While Takuto Utsumi was busy, the screenwriter Yongshan Yiren, through Akiwara Yuto's connections, visited a police officer at a local police station in Hokkaido.

The purpose of his visit this time was to perfect the work "Memories of Murder." For example, in the crime plot part, he wanted to see if it could be closer to reality.

This point was also approved by Akiwara Yuto; after all, according to the experience of his past life, this film's ability to become a big hit is inseparable from its fit with current events.

So he also entrusted the connections in the First Investigation Division he knew because of the assassination incident to find the person in charge of the serial rape and murder case in Kanagawa County at that time.

"Is this Mr. Yongshan? If you have any questions, please feel free to ask," a middle-aged man in a police uniform said to Yongshan Yiren with a polite attitude.

The reason for his polite attitude was naturally inseparable from the relationship with his superiors and the Metropolitan Police Department.

Yongshan Yiren was a bit reserved, but he still asked, "Can you tell me about the serial murder case in Kanagawa in '91?"

The middle-aged man was stunned; he didn't expect to be asked these things, and asked back, "Are you a reporter?"

Seeing that the other party misunderstood, Yongshan Yiren explained his intention, saying he was just planning to adapt it based on this event and put it on the movie screen.

The middle-aged man was silent for a long time, then let out a long sigh, "I understand, then let me start telling you."

"The earliest case was in 1984, which happened in a farmland in Shimamaki Village. At that time, the victim was a young woman returning home from working abroad. When she died, she was on a barren mountain, with stockings wrapped around her neck and foreign objects in her lower body. At that time, we went to investigate her interpersonal relationships and found that basically none of them had a motive for the crime."

"And half a year later, the same case was discovered in another nearby village. The victim was strangled with stockings and was clearly severely violated."

"Later, more than a dozen cases occurred one after another, basically several every year."

"The victims basically all had traces of being cut by knives on their bodies, and their sensitive parts were severely damaged, and their ages ranged from teenagers to sixty or seventy years old."

After hearing all this, Yongshan Yiren, who was originally a bit timid, became angry and even forgot his idea of just wanting to refer to materials to write a script: "For such a long time, can you police really not find anyone?"

He felt that these police were trash! No matter how you look for it, how could one person be allowed to remain at large like this!

The middle-aged man looked at Yongshan Yiren's angry expression and did not refute, just stared at Yongshan Yiren silently, making him feel a bit creeped out.

It wasn't until a while later that the middle-aged man said in a calm tone, "We also really want to bring the murderer to justice. My colleagues have collapsed from overwork and even become paralyzed, my superiors were removed from their positions because of ineffective work, and I myself almost divorced my wife because of my busy work."

"But there's no way, the murderer is killing randomly, and we can't find any usable interpersonal relationships. We have already screened all the single male residents in Hokkaido, and basically none of them fit the relevant character profile."

After hearing this defense, Yongshan Yiren could only accept it helplessly. After all, he was not a case-handling officer and did not know their hardships.

However, he still raised a question, "Why only search for single male residents?"

The middle-aged man asked back, "If they really had a wife, why would they still do such a thing?"

He hesitated for a moment, then added, "Besides this, we also suspect that someone is following the trend to commit crimes."

Hearing the term "following the trend to commit crimes," Yongshan Yiren shivered subconsciously. If this were really the case, the nature of the case would be too vile!

He thought about it and could only skip this topic.

In the continuous dialogue, he began to understand this Hokkaido serial murder case more and more and knew how to further adapt the script for "Memories of Murder."

Out of a kind of anger and a sense of social responsibility, he decided to write this script well.

At the end of June, the production department of Toei Film Corporation held a routine meeting. And the theme of this meeting was closely related to Akiwara Yuto.

A slightly chubby man with a round face stood up and said in a serious tone, "According to our understanding, after Akiwara Yuto's negotiations with other companies failed, he contacted an independent producer named Takuto Utsumi and prepared to hand over the work to the other party to shoot."

Hearing this content, the people below the stage discussed it one after another.

After all, in their view, this meant the failure of their own company to obtain the copyright.

The president sitting in the main seat looked at the round-faced man and said, "That is to say, the copyright of 'Suspect X' has nothing to do with us?"

The round-faced man shook his head and said, "Not really, what Akiwara Yuto authorized to him is a work called 'Memories of Murder,' which is said to have not been published yet."

"Not published yet!"

The president was speechless, and the others also revealed expressions of astonishment.

They wanted the copyright of "Suspect X" because this work had already been published and had gained a reader base of millions, which could ensure good box office results.

But a work that hasn't been published won't have any reader support when it's filmed, right?

The round-faced man added, "Not only that, it is said that Akiwara Yuto also invested 100 million yen as the production cost of this film."

After finishing this sentence, his expression even carried a hint of sarcasm.

"It seems that this Akiwara-sensei is unwilling to not get a share of the box office, and is trying to get a piece of the pie in the film market himself."

After hearing this explanation, everyone, including the president, laughed.

They indeed had a reason to laugh; an outsider was actually trying to enter the field they were most familiar with and even invested in an independent producer to shoot a film himself.

This is undoubtedly a sucker!

In the film industry, such suckers are not rare every year, and they basically all pay a tuition fee and then honestly withdraw.

Although Akiwara Yuto is a famous writer, they don't think there is any exception.

"President," the round-faced man suppressed his laughter and continued, "I heard that the crew of this work is recruiting actors, should we...?"

After saying this, he made a gesture.

As a big company, as long as they let out a little wind, they can make that independent producer suffer.

The president shook his head and smiled, "No need to do that. For things destined to fail, let's not get involved. When this work's box office is bleak, we can go and comfort Akiwara-sensei properly."

The round-faced man bowed slightly to show he understood, but in his heart, he was more confident about winning the copyright of "Suspect X."

When this work's box office fails, it is estimated that the market will be even less optimistic about Akiwara Yuto's works.

By that time, if he comes forward to talk again, perhaps he will only need to pay a lower price!

Akiwara-sensei, I hope your work can "sell well"!