Chapter 1202: The posture when saying that is so cool!

After returning to Mountain Cherry Garden, Naoki Nagayama chatted with Akina about the re-shooting situation while teasing little Xia Hua on the carpet.

He specifically highlighted Momoe Yamaguchi's ease during her performance:

"Momoe-san is very talented... Even though she hasn't performed in seven or eight years, she is still very natural playing a wife who is giving her husband the cold shoulder..."

"Actually, I feel it's very likely that Tomokazu-san and Momoe-san often give each other the cold shoulder at home..."

"Unlike me, I only know how to dote on Akina~"

"Mm-hmm..."

On the other side, Akina nodded in agreement, distracted.

She was currently lounging on the sofa like a royal consort, her eyes glued to the manuscript in her hands, the corners of her mouth slightly raised, and one foot twitching from time to time with the plot; she was thoroughly engrossed in the novel.

The manuscript was the novel version of "Full House" that Naoki Nagayama had just written during this period.

Since "Jurassic Park," adapting scripts into novels had already become second nature to Naoki Nagayama.

"......"

What should he do if Mom is obsessed with reading a novel and ignores him?

Naoki Nagayama and little Xia Hua on the sofa exchanged a look, silently reaching a consensus... and then Naoki Nagayama quietly sent little Xia Hua to Akina's feet, letting the little one take a bite of Akina's ankle...

For some reason, when doing bad things, this pair of father and daughter were unexpectedly in sync; little Xia Hua also cooperated very well, not making a sound before biting~

"Ah..."

Akina was startled and finally came back to her senses... Little Xia Hua had absolutely no offensive power when biting; at most, it was just slobbery.

"Naoki-san!"

Akina glared at Naoki Nagayama, picked up little Xia Hua, and wiped the saliva off her mouth.

"How can you teach her to bite people? You're going to teach Hua-chan bad habits!"

"....... Wasn't it you, Akina, who let Hua-chan bite first?"

"This... this is different!"

"How is it different?"

"......"

"Hahaha, alright, I won't do it next time~"

Looking at Akina's huffy expression, Naoki Nagayama wisely chose to stop while he was ahead, otherwise, the next thing to be bitten might be Akina herself.

"Ring-a-ling~"

While Akina was lecturing her daughter, the phone next to the living room suddenly rang.

Naoki Nagayama took the opportunity to escape and picked up the phone:

"Moxi Moxi, this is Mountain Cherry Garden..."

"Naoki-san... this is Kuniharu Morikawa..."

The voice of his old friend Kuniharu Morikawa came through the phone, followed by warm pleasantries.

"How have you been lately? Is everything alright?"

"Haha, of course, everything is fine..." Naoki Nagayama nodded. "How about you, Kuniharu-san? How have you been lately?"

"Hahaha, thanks to you, everything is going smoothly..."

After chatting for a while, Kuniharu Morikawa finally got to the point:

"Naoki-san... the year is already half over... how is the new book coming along?"

This question was asked both aggrievedly and cautiously... There was no helping it; Shogakukan currently had no way to restrict Naoki Nagayama, and even trying to exert a little pressure was impossible.

When Naoki Nagayama wrote a book, and what kind of book he wrote, was entirely up to him...

"Ah... the new book, huh..."

Glancing at Akina, who had dived back into the novel, Naoki Nagayama felt that if he were to confiscate the novel from her hands in the next few days, it would definitely intensify domestic conflict...

"Kuniharu-san, I've been busy with the filming of 'Departures' lately..."

"Ah... yes, yes, yes, 'Departures'... but that's a big production! I understand, I understand..."

Kuniharu Morikawa was full of understanding, but he still played the emotional card.

"But Naoki-san... don't forget, you also have numerous fans in the literary world waiting in anticipation... The fans' calls and letters are about to drown the Shogakukan mailroom..."

"At least... leave them with a thought..."

"Roughly... give a rough time, or the direction of the novel, alright?"

"......"

This cautious tone made Naoki Nagayama feel pitiful listening to it, so he didn't hide it anymore:

"Actually, regarding the new book, I already have an outline, and I've written a portion... The story is roughly about the interesting interactions between a big star and a small author..."

"I've already chosen the name too; it's called 'Full House'..."

"Oh?! Honto?!"

Kuniharu Morikawa on the other end of the receiver suddenly became excited.

"'Full House'?! Just hearing the name sounds very romantic! Has Naoki-san returned to the familiar track of romance novels?!"

"Oh my, now I can rest easy!"

Come to think of it, after "Tokyo Love Story," Naoki Nagayama had actually written science fiction novels as he pleased, which had made him, the editor, break into a cold sweat at the time... Authors who flop after changing genres are countless!

Although facts later proved that "Jurassic Park" was also excellent, the public's main impression of Naoki Nagayama as an author was still in the realm of romance novels. With this return, who knows how many book fans will cheer.

"Naoki-san... roughly when will you be able to produce the first draft?"

Kuniharu Morikawa's tone seemed somewhat light.

"When will you come to Shogakukan to sit for a while? Or I can come to Mountain Cherry Garden to pick it up, it's the same!"

"Ah... this... chotto matte..."

Naoki Nagayama covered the receiver and leaned over to Akina to ask,

"Akina... when will you be able to finish reading it?"

"......"

Akina was silent for a moment, subconsciously looked at the remaining manuscript, and compared it with her own reading speed.

"Probably another week..."

People in this era reading novels didn't have the speed of reading hundreds of thousands of words a day like in the information age, and plus Akina still needed to work, take care of little Xia Hua, etc., so the free time she had to read was very little...

"That's fine..." Naoki Nagayama said into the receiver, "Kuniharu-san, in about another week, I'll be able to give you the first draft..."

"Is that so?! That's great!"

Kuniharu Morikawa was full of joy; he really hadn't expected it to be so soon!

"Then I look forward to Naoki-san's 'Full House'!"

"Hai..."

After hanging up the phone, Kuniharu Morikawa happily packed up his things, preparing to get off work.

When he ran into Editor-in-Chief Toshi Matsui in the lobby, Editor-in-Chief Toshi Matsui looked at him with some surprise:

"Director Morikawa, what good thing did you run into? So happy?"

"Ah... Editor-in-Chief Matsui, you're getting off work too..."

Kuniharu Morikawa's face broke into a smile.

"I've received an excellent novel!"

"? Oh, is that so? What's the name?"

"'Full House'!"

"What's it about?"

"I don't know..."

"Ah?" Toshi Matsui was stunned for a moment. "You haven't read it yet?"

"It hasn't been sent over yet!"

"....... What about the outline?"

"There's no outline either!"

"......"

And you call that an excellent novel?! You spent all this time and only have a name?!

"It's Naoki-san's new work!!"

"Ah... it's Naoki-san... then there's no problem!"

Yes, a famous author only needs to put out a name, and an editor can be happy enough to praise it!

The arrival of the rainy season often starts with a single rain, and then this rain just drizzles on without stopping.

Amidst the continuous drizzle, the flow of people on the bustling commercial street became sparse; on the usually noisy roads, the sound of car horns couldn't travel very far.

All of Tokyo seemed to have been pressed with a pause button; life and work suddenly slowed down quite a bit~

However, those indoor jobs still hadn't stopped; for example, in the official residence of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, all the proposals put forward by the members of the House of Representatives and government functional departments gathered on the Speaker's desk!

"Budget increase...", "Cost increase, additional budget...", "Price increase, expand budget...", "......"

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Kenzaburo Hara, flipped through the proposals of the various members; most of them were requests for budget increases and appropriations...

"These guys, besides asking for budgets and appropriations, is there nothing else?!"

Kenzaburo Hara threw the document aside with a slap, speechless at the requests made by his fellow members.

In this era of economic take-off and everything looking up, spending money became the national policy of Japan, and the corruption and waste within were all covered up by the constantly rising property market, stock market, and GDP~

However, when flipping to the next proposal, Kenzaburo Hara raised an eyebrow:

"Oh? Member salary increase... Hmm, indeed, the members' annual allowance is too low; it can't even compare to workers..."

When it came to this proposal that concerned himself, Kenzaburo Hara showed a sense of compassion and decided to speed up the delivery of this proposal to the deliberation committee.

After signing off on his opinion, Kenzaburo Hara looked at the drizzle outside the window, rested for a while, and then continued to look at the next proposal...

"Hmm... 'Proposal for the Protection of Labor Rights in the Film Industry'... The proposer is... Minister of Education, Masajuro Shiokawa."

Kenzaburo Hara flipped through the personnel attached to the proposal with some surprise.

"Vice Minister of Education - Sadanaga Kiba, Commissioner for Cultural Affairs - Tateyoshi Kurita, former Minister of Education Yoshiro Mori... Yasuko Ikenobo, Atsuko Toyama......"

Kenzaburo Hara actually knew all these officials from the Ministry of Education. Judging from the list of attached personnel, the entire Ministry of Education had already formed a unified opinion and were all supporting this proposal.

But afterwards, there were also attached signatures from various social celebrities, as well as members of the Socialist Party, which made Kenzaburo Hara somewhat surprised.

"Chairman of the Tokyo Film Industry Association - Xiu-yi Yin-tang... The establishment of the Tokyo Film Industry Association itself had the support of the Ministry of Education... But when did they also have contact with the Socialist Party?!"

The Socialist Party of this era still belonged to the largest opposition party, and its influence in the political arena was not small!

"Could it be that this Xiu-yi Yin-tang wants to enter politics?!"

Opening the "Proposal for the Protection of Labor Rights in the Film Industry" and browsing through it, it was indeed that set of protecting human rights and protecting the rights and interests of practitioners; it was thoroughly left-wing thinking.

But in this day and age, the public just happened to buy into this set; relying on this political philosophy, the influence of the Socialist Party could even pose a threat to the Liberal Democratic Party!

In recent years, Japan's film industry had also been developing vigorously and might very well become one of the country's pillar industries in the future. Plus, the Cabinet had already passed it, so Kenzaburo Hara didn't intend to block it early on...

"Let the deliberation committee deliberate first... see the feedback..."

Kenzaburo Hara also knew in his heart that the committee deliberation would definitely pass... After all, this kind of proposal concerning an industry required holding a hearing to listen to the opinions and suggestions of industry experts, industry associations, and practitioner representatives.

But currently, the chairman of the Tokyo Film Industry Association was on the joint signature list, and it was another bill for the protection of practitioner rights...

If the referee, the coach, and the athlete are all one family, then how can they lose?!

Only when the deliberation committee passes it and it goes to the Diet for a vote will the vote of the House of Representatives and the House of Councillors take place; that will be the truly important moment!

It just depends on whether this proposal will get the approval of the majority of members~

"Ah-choo~~"

Smelling the cool air carrying dampness, Xiu-yi Yin-tang couldn't help but sneeze, and his whole person became spirited.

He hurried a few steps out of the car and walked into the Tree Friend building.

"Xiu-yi-san, good afternoon!"

Jia-hua Xing greeted him enthusiastically.

"Haven't you been resting well lately? The dark circles under your eyes are very serious!"

"Sigh... there's no helping it..." Xiu-yi Yin-tang shook his head while walking towards the elevator. "Too much socializing..."

Treating guests to drinks at night, he had finally managed to handle two Socialist Party members, which was how he finally got on the Socialist Party's big boat, and his proposal was finally sent to the desk of the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

He could finally relax a little bit for now~

"Are Otomo-san and Naoki-san in the company?"

"Neither of them are..."

"..... Alright then~"

There was no one he wanted to chat with... Xiu-yi Yin-tang could only dejectedly come to his office.

Regarding the planning of the Tokyo Film Industry Association, Naoki Nagayama and Otomo Yoshimura both gave great support and freedom, allowing Xiu-yi Yin-tang to make many promises in the name of the Tree Friend Group... This made him feel some pressure.

Of course, Naoki Nagayama also shared quite a bit of the work in the film sector; several big projects were almost all being watched by Naoki Nagayama.

However, as the actual person in charge of Tree Friend Films, he still couldn't just brush off the department's work; he was here today to handle the accumulated affairs.

Before long, Masataka Komori knocked on the door and entered the office:

"Xiu-yi-san... these are the follow-up profit-sharing reports for the previous films... The more important one is the box office share for 'Once a Thief'."

"Once a Thief" was released in February and had already been taken off the screens. In the paper era, the specific box office shares from various theater chains and other channels were only calculated in June...

Of course, the box office data for the first week and the first month of release were roughly calculated in advance... It was for film promotion, after all, it wasn't shameful!

"Ah... the box office share is coming in~"

Xiu-yi Yin-tang wiped his face and perked up.

"What was the total box office for 'Once a Thief' again?"

"Total box office 2.2 billion..."

Speaking of the film's results, Masataka Komori's face showed a proud expression. After deducting taxes and the share for the theater chains from the total box office, Tree Friend Films could at least get a share of nearly 1 billion!

For a newly promoted director, this was already a very great achievement!

"Oh? Not bad at all~"

Xiu-yi Yin-tang looked at the details of the share but wasn't too excited; it was really because Tree Friend's previous results were too conspicuous. The global total box office of "Kikujiro" had long since exceeded 10 billion.

The box office of "Ghost" was also still rising, already exceeding 6 billion, and the box office from re-releases every year afterwards wouldn't be small either...

"Xiu-yi-san, next, 'Once a Thief' is also going to be released in the Hong Kong and Taiwan regions... The contract has already been negotiated with the distribution company there."

Masataka Komori continued.

"Ah... right, overseas distribution!"

Xiu-yi Yin-tang suddenly remembered and started searching on the desk... Before long, he found a document.

"Naoki-san said before that we should establish a distribution company in the United States..."

"Uh... isn't it cooperating with a local distribution company?"

"Mm, it's buying shares in a local distribution company... controlling interest, and then it becomes ours!"

Xiu-yi Yin-tang nodded.

"Now that Japanese companies are acquiring American Hollywood film companies, it's already becoming a fashion, so naturally we can too..."

Masataka Komori listened with a confused face... What fashion?

Xiu-yi Yin-tang saw this and explained:

"Just like now, Sony is planning to acquire the American Columbia Pictures; Akio Morita has always dreamed of owning a Hollywood film studio..."

"This..."

Regarding this kind of high-level information, Masataka Komori still didn't understand; this was something Xiu-yi Yin-tang only knew because he often communicated with people in high society nowadays.

Sometimes, the benefits that information asymmetry can bring are not just simple money.

Xiu-yi Yin-tang checked the various options in the analysis report, and he was particularly interested in one of them:

"Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer..."

This old-brand independent film company was currently in a low period, and among them was one of the film companies that Xiu-yi Yin-tang valued even more... United Artists...

MGM merged with United Artists but didn't rise again...

"MGM is one of the eight major Hollywood film companies!" Masataka Komori exclaimed. "Do we have that much money to acquire it now?"

"We don't need to acquire it all!"

Xiu-yi Yin-tang shook his head.

"Becoming a shareholder is enough! We mainly need their brand and channels to enter the American market... As for film production, Tree Friend doesn't lose to anyone!"

"....."

Masataka Komori felt that Xiu-yi Yin-tang's posture when saying that was so cool!

"Mm... however, things like acquiring shares still need to be discussed with Naoki-san..."

Tree Friend's own funds definitely weren't enough, but didn't Naoki-san still have a lot of funds in the American stock market...

The boss's money is the company's money; is there anything wrong with that?!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1203 =====