Xu Zechen’s "Going North"
Chen Yan’s protagonist
Liang Xiaosheng’s In the World
Since the 10th Mao Dun Prize for Literature was announced, the discussion around the five winning works has never stopped. People are more concerned about whether these works can be put on the screen and let a wider audience read the stories. In recent years, with the upsurge of big IP and traffic drama fading away, the market of realistic film and television dramas is picking up. Will serious literature represented by Mao Prize works become the new IP "toon" in the film and television industry?
Mao Dun’s literature prize-winning works were once rich mines of film and television dramas. The winning works of the 3rd Mao Dun Literature Prize and Ling Li’s Young Emperor were adapted into TV series by Liu Heng, and the 3rd and 4th Mao Awards, Ordinary World and White Deer Plain, were adapted into TV series for broadcast, all of which gained both ratings and word of mouth. Mai Jia’s "plot against" was made into a TV series even before he won the Mao Award. The reporter learned through interviews that at least three of the five novels that won the Mao Dun Literature Award have signed out the film and television copyright and entered the process of film and television adaptation.
Yao Xiaofeng and Xu Zechen have the same view on adaptation.
The novel "Going North" published by Beijing October Literature and Art Publishing House and written by Xu Zechen, a powerful post-1970s writer, has won the Mao Dun Literature Award and the "Five One Projects" Award in succession. "Going North" tells a century-old story between several families on the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal with two clues of history and present. It is not only a big book about "a river", but also a spiritual history about "a nation". As early as 2018, shortly after the publication of "Going North", this book was taken by the Enlightenment Film Industry and the copyright was successfully signed. Zhang Shuwei, the producer of the drama "Going North", told reporters, "This is not a particularly commercial act, but because the director and the original author are highly unified in spirit, which is the biggest feature of this project."
The director of the drama "Going North" is Yao Xiaofeng, who has directed plays such as Little Husband, Tiger Mom and Cat Dad, and Taking Dad to Study Abroad. Zhang Shuwei said that after reading the original novel, Yao Dao liked it very much, and because he and Xu Zechen were both from Jiangsu, they felt very sympathetic, so they made an appointment with Xu Zechen soon. "The director’s vision of this play coincides with xu teacher’s. The director thinks that what attracts him most is the temperament and grand framework of the novel. They have many consistent ideas on the film adaptation of the novel." Zhang Shuwei said, therefore, the whole process of copyright granting is very smooth.
At present, the drama version of "Going North" is in the process of creating the first draft of the script outline. Zhang Shuwei admits that the original novel has a large framework and a long time span, and it is no small challenge to adapt the TV series. In October, she plans to work with the director and screenwriter, and try to invite Xu Zechen to go all the way north along the Grand Canal to visit the places mentioned in the book and sort out her creative ideas. The film version of "Going North" is also in the early stage of preparation.
Chen Yan’s two novels become sought-after IP
Just like Going North, the film and television licenses for The Leading Role by Chen Yan and The World by Liang Xiaosheng were completed a year ago. At present, Chen Yan, who is the party secretary and vice chairman of the Chinese Dramatists Association, is a playwright himself. The TV series of the same name adapted from his modern Shaanxi opera Xijing Story was broadcast at the end of last year, and the response was good. Nowadays, Chen Yan’s two novels, Putting on a Stage and The Leading Role, which are based on the Shaanxi Opera Troupe, have entered the film and television process. The TV series "Dressing Taiwan" is directed by Li Shaofei, written by Ma Xiaoyong and starring Zhang Jiayi and NiNi. It is a TV series with a strong brand of "Shaanxi School". In an interview with reporters, Chen Yan said that "Loading Taiwan" has been finished and entered the post-production. The copyright of the film and TV series of "The protagonist" was signed a year ago and is currently in the stage of script creation. "Novel conversion film and television, is the film and television artists. I certainly hope that the adaptation can respect the original work. " Chen Yan said.
Liang Xiaosheng’s million-word masterpiece "In the World" is known as "fifty years’ life history of China people". As early as the end of last year, Liang Xiaosheng signed the full copyright contract of In the World to a company named Uncultured. According to the company’s official website, the TV series "In the World" will join hands with Tencent Pictures and be directed by in the name of people director Li Lu. Liang Xiaosheng had previously worked as a TV adaptation of his own works "Annual Rings" and "Educated Youth", but he also said in a public lecture that he no longer intervened in the film and television adaptation of "The World", but only participated in the adaptation seminar.
Among the five works that won the Mao Dun Literature Prize this year, the film adaptation of Li Er’s Ying Wu Xiong and Xu Huaizhong’s Leading the Wind is still unclear. The reporter asked Song Qiang, director of the planning department of People’s Literature Publishing House, the publisher of the two books. He said that after winning the prize, someone had come to negotiate the film and television copyright, but it was not clear whether to sell the copyright. As for "Brother Ying Wu", he thinks that this work is relatively large and may not be suitable for adaptation into a TV series.
The adaptation of serious literature to film and television should not be high and low.
Professor Li Shengli, director of the Department of Radio, Television and Literature of China Communication University, believes that taking the adaptation of works such as Massage, White Deer Plain and Ordinary World as an example, we can find that the overall acceptance effect of these Mao Prize works after IP adaptation is both well-received and applauded, but on the whole, Mao Prize works and TV dramas are art categories with similarities and differences, and their main acceptance groups have similarities and differences. "For a long time, there will be a huge gap between the main recipients of TV dramas and the recipients of serious literature. Of course, having excellent serious literary works as the foundation will make a good start for the vigorous development of realistic TV series in China in the future. Without this foundation, it is only possible to create truly excellent TV dramas by an excellent adaptation and creation team. "
Li Shengli said that there is no clear boundary between serious literature and non-serious literature. From the specific works, some serious literary works also have the potential of popular culture, and these works are the easiest to be adapted into excellent TV dramas; Other serious literary works can be adapted by borrowing some points that are suitable for market acceptance, so that it is possible to make a film and television drama that is both good and popular, otherwise, it may become a spring snow with high and low music.
Our reporter grew up.