In the spacious living room of the hotel suite, Wayne sat on the sofa and looked at Nina next to him. Obviously, the assistant also remembered what happened back then. Surprise flashed in the eyes of the two of them, and no one thought that the little girl of the year would meet in the east.
No, it should be said that I didn't expect that ceciliag would come over from Xiangjiang.
Wayne reached out to grab the cigarette on the coffee table and asked casually, "Are you an actor now?"
"That's right."
Ceciliag nodded, her ponytail dangling with her movements. If you look at her appearance, she does have the talent to become an actor. At least this face is fully qualified for the role of a vase in the movie.
"I'm here this time, I just want to say thank you."
It has been many years. If this girl hadn't come to her door, Wayne would have forgotten that small incident.
He carefully observed the girl again, and had to sigh at the wonder of fate. One of the little girls back then turned out to be a Hong Kong movie star, and the one that made him feel the most special. As long as he thought of the future fate of this girl, he secretly shook his head in his heart.
In fact, if those bad things were put in Hollywood, they would not be considered unforgivable things at all. If the public opinion is well guided, it is very possible that she will be portrayed as a sympathetic victim.
"Nina, give her a business card."
Waving to Miss Assistant, Wayne gave a low voice. After speaking, he looked at the freshly dressed girl sitting across from him and said with a smile: "It's rare, to use this term, since you still remember what happened in the past, it means that we have fate, if you have any difficulties, you can make this call."
Ceciliag took the business card curiously and looked at it. This business card was very different from what she knew. There was no title, no introduction, and even a simple white card with an English name and a string of simple number.
"Or the next time you go to Los Angeles, you can call me, and I'll treat you to dinner."
Looking at the girl who was curiously fiddling with the business card, even though he knew that this girl was very difficult, he still said, "Put it away, but don't spread this call out. This is my personal call, okay?"
"Yes, I won't spread it out."
Ceciliag resisted the secret joy in her heart and nodded like a chicken pecking at rice. Knowing that it was getting late, she took the initiative to get up and say goodbye. "If you have time, can I treat you to a meal?"
"Next time."
Wayne also got up and shook hands with the girl again. "My schedule here is very tight, and I will leave in three days at most."
Looking at the back of the girl leaving the hotel suite, he was also turning his head hard, recalling the photos he had seen before, and constantly comparing it with the deity who is not yet twenty years old.
I have to say that this girl is a typical oriental woman on the outside, but has a western character on the inside. As for whether the other party would pull out his business card to make a phone call after he left, he never doubted it at all. Since she can come from Xiangjiang not far away, the natural purpose is not just to say thank you.
As Wayne had guessed, the first thing ceciliag did when he returned to his residence was to take out the business card with only the name and number, and watch it repeatedly with a smile on his face.
After that, he even picked up the phone and dialed it. "I saw him, yes, things went better than we thought, I got his personal business card..."
Perhaps Wayne and Warner Bros. are more concerned with the dc series of movies, and even the mass base of Warner Bros. movies here. One thing can be guaranteed, that is, they have no intention of making a lot of money at the box office of "The Flash" here.
As long as people who are sober know that the size of the commercial market here is still in the earliest stage of development, they actually value the potential in the future. After all, this is a market with a potential audience of more than one billion, and they are willing to wait patiently and slowly. .
But if you want to find someone who is more concerned about the box office numbers of "The Flash" in the East, it is undoubtedly the Big Mac, the head of China Film, which was established in the past two years.
The day after the premiere of "The Flash", Zuo Shanti came to the office early. China Film, which was originally the publisher, wanted to hold a reception according to the other party's habits after the premiere, but due to some special reasons, the reception was shelved.
With the release experience of "Batman: The Dark Knight" the previous year, and the record-breaking viewing frenzy of "Titanic", his expectations for "The Flash" this year are undoubtedly higher.
For Zuo Shantu, his first task is to develop his own film market. If you want to develop the market, the premise is that the audience can enter the theater willingly, in order to stimulate the progress of all related industries.
And he made a customized plan, thinking it was the best development route. On the one hand, he vigorously introduced Hollywood commercial films to stimulate the enthusiasm for watching movies in the market on his own side, on the other hand, he tried to find ways to shoot commercial films on his own side.
Warner Bros. is undoubtedly the best partner. This Hollywood movie giant not only opened a branch in Beijing many years ago, but also has a very good relationship with it.
What's even more rare is that this company is very aware of the sophistication here, and is willing to vigorously promote its own ace movie series before the market develops. This is something that no other Hollywood film company has ever seen.
For example, in the large-scale release of "The Flash" this time, except for Wayne Greenberg, no other Hollywood filmmakers of the same level have ever been here. The world's top film masters like this are willing to fly over and participate in activities again and again, only this one has no semicolon.
After the previous year's "Batman: The Dark Knight", it was a preliminary verification of the effect of commercial films, especially "Party A and B", which was followed by "Party A and B". The results are not comparable to Hollywood blockbusters, but it also proves the correctness of his development plan.
In fact, the frequent introduction of major Hollywood commercial films has brought him a lot of pressure. The biggest criticism is from some local film directors.
Nowadays, film directors basically belong to their respective film studios. Whether it is the Magic Capital Studio, the Chunchang Studio, or even the Beijing Film Studio, there has been no end to his criticism of his introduction of Hollywood blockbusters.
But Zuoshan understands better than anyone that if you want to develop the local film industry, you can't just rely on those "winning" films. The reason is very simple. Those "artistic" films can indeed win international awards frequently, but they cannot attract audiences to the theater.
Not to mention, most of the so-called "award winning" films are privately brought out to participate in the exhibition. If the content of the filming is strictly checked, 90% of it can be classified as a banned film, let alone a large-scale release.
Since taking this position, he has never been afraid of criticism. There is no way out. He strongly supported Feng Pants in the filming of "Party A and Party B", and even did not hesitate to end up in person to help pull investment, in order to show a local example.
Precisely, "Party A and Party B" is also very promising. With a production cost of only 4 million RMB, it has won a box office of more than 36 million RMB in this land where marketization is just budding.
And this is only the data that can be checked on the surface. Everyone knows that the cinema market is in chaos now. There are many mountains in various provinces. The actual box office figures of Party B are definitely much higher than they appear on the surface.
However, seeing that a year has passed, most local film directors do not realize the way out for commercial films. He is still shooting "banned films" in his own way, and commercial films that stimulate the development of the entire market still have a low status in their eyes, which makes him feel a little depressed.
"Leader, probably its statistics are out."
Just as Zuoshan was holding a teacup and looking out of the office window, there was a knock on the office door. The secretary walked in respectfully and put down a few sheets of printer paper on the desk.
Today's eastern market has only just started. The box office statistics are all reported by the theaters, and then they are collected by special personnel. Fortunately, it finally came. He put down the big tea jar and looked down at the statistics. Start to pick up slowly and unconsciously.
"4.55 million RMB! It sold for 4.55 million in one night, very good..."
Although this number is definitely biased, it is high enough for this market. After reporting to the cinemas that screened "The Flash", the final statistics showed that from the beginning to the end of the premiere last night, the total box office of "The Flash" in the country was about 4.55 million RMB.
And at the back of the statistical report, a very noteworthy point is also marked, that is, the attendance rate of "The Flash" last night, each game averaged more than 80%!
"Since this morning, all the theaters in the capital showing "The Flash" have been queuing up to buy tickets. The theaters are also making emergency adjustments. The latest news is that all the theaters in Beijing are showing "The Flash". All the theaters have raised the rate of this film to more than 85%!"
Seeing that the leader was in a good mood, the secretary reported the information he had learned in a low voice. "If you look at the current trend, the filming rate of "The Flash" in all theaters across the country will exceed initial expectations."
"very good."
Zashantu nodded with satisfaction, just when the secretary thought the report was over and turned to leave, the leader's instructions sounded again behind him. "I heard that Wayne Greenberg has a very tight schedule this time, help me make an appointment with him, and I want to talk to him before he leaves."
"OK."
In fact, Wayne doesn't really want to contact these executives, because it is difficult to avoid the sensitive area of politics, whether it is a so-called small talk or not, with these people.
But when the busy two days passed, before boarding the plane, he sat with Zuo Shanlu in the private room of the Capital Hotel. After a simple chat, the topic between the two inevitably came to the movie.
"Mr. Greenberg."
Zuo Shantuo held a wine glass and asked in a tentative tone: "Without considering the film industry system, what do you think are the major differences between Hollywood films and the current films in the East?"
In fact, Zuo Shanti himself can give countless answers to this question. Even if you ask domestic filmmakers, they will not hesitate to say countless 1234. However, he wanted to hear more from outsiders, especially the one around him, who was definitely one of the most qualified Hollywood filmmakers to talk about this topic.
Hearing this question, Wayne squinted his eyes subconsciously, but did not open his mouth. First, he slowly took out a cigarette and lit it. With this effort, he thought about what to say.
"Like you said, aside from the foundation of the film industry, I personally think that the essence of film is to tell a story."
He didn't talk much about the production method or the capital operation process of Hollywood movies, but instead chose a direction that basically would not be criticized or wrong. "Since you want to tell a good story, you first need a logically rigorous and attractive script."
In addition to Zuo Shan and the secretary, there was also a manager of the Warner Bros. branch and Nina, Wayne's personal assistant. Everyone at the scene did not expect that he actually talked about the script.
"To give a typical example, whether in a movie or in a TV series, to show that a person's economic conditions are not good, the screenwriter usually arranges a plot, that is, the person has no money in his pocket when he checks out, or There is money but not enough, no matter what you want to buy, the end result is not being able to pay.”
Following Wayne's description, several people on the table nodded secretly at the same time, and similar images flashed in their heads. It seems that this is the case, whether it is TV or TV series, such a bridge can be said to be indispensable.
Of course, to put it bluntly, the screenwriter hopes to show the protagonist's poverty through similar scene arrangements. This is the most common, worst street method, and it's normal.
"Is there anything wrong?"
The Chinese manager of the Warner Bros. branch asked doubtfully, "Director Greenberg, isn't this a very common practice?"
"Yes, very common."
Wayne spit out a large wad of cigarettes, placed his hands on the table in front of him, and turned to look at his personal assistant. "Nina, tell me, what kind of person can you be so that you don't know how much money you have? Or, what kind of person can you go out without bringing money and have to wait until you check out to find out that you don't have any money? ?"
"A billionaire like you."
The assistant lady was not polite, and said directly: "You are such a billionaire who doesn't know how much money you have, so you go out without money, because you don't need to know the price of goods at all, it means nothing to you group of people! "
The woman's words made the other three men in the private room stunned for a moment. There are no fools here, and they all reacted immediately. The scriptwriters are just making up such scenes.
"The Point Guard Is Here"
"Only rich people who have so much money that they can't even count them don't know how much money they have." Nina continued, with a hint of indescribable ridicule in her tone.
"For example, my credit card limit is only $5,000, and I don't have more than 50 yuan in cash in my bag. So, I will never walk into a luxury store, ask for things I can't afford, and embarrass myself... ..."
That's the way it is. The screenwriter who can write this kind of plot is completely self-righteous. In many movies and TV series in the East, in order to show the poverty of the protagonist, the first choice is to use this most common bridge.
"These are just my personal opinions." Wayne tapped the table with his cigarette fingers, and after attracting everyone's attention, he shrugged and continued: "There are many differences between Oriental movies and Hollywood movies, so much that they can be said overnight. It's hard to say, but, in my opinion, the first thing we need to understand is the difference between the two screenwriters.
How important the script is to a movie, I certainly don't need to say more. From my point of view, it is possible to talk about the process of writing screenplays in Hollywood. In a general sense, there is no single-person script in Hollywood. Even if it is a single person's idea, it will eventually be written by a professional team.
The advantages and disadvantages of doing this are obvious. A whole screenwriter team creates, which means that each individual screenwriter only needs to deal with what he is best at. Some people are good at writing about emotions, some people are good at writing about conspiracies, some people are good at writing about conflicts, and so on.
This is the mainstream screenwriting model for Hollywood commercialization. Of course, the process is definitely more complicated than I said. Many people call this the assembly line, and think that it has completely lost the pursuit of film art. It is not wrong to say that, because from the time the screenwriter team wrote the script, it has inevitably become a part of the Hollywood film assembly line, and art. Not at all involved.
The advantage is that such a script that is repeatedly polished by teamwork can definitely effectively reduce the flaws I just gave. The logic will be very rigorous. From a normal point of view, it is difficult for the audience to pick out any problems. Because every stage of the script has been polished countless times, otherwise the film company will not be able to get investment. "
Just talking about the script, this may really be the biggest difference between Eastern and Western film and television, not to mention now, even after more than ten or twenty years, the difference in this respect is still huge.
Just like Wayne's previous life, he has always wondered why the stories written by domestic screenwriters are either about love or love. Medical dramas are about doctors falling in love, legal dramas are about lawyers falling in love, and in the end, even youth school dramas are students playing ambiguous.
Zuo Shanti thoughtfully took a sip of the wine in his glass. "I noticed that in the screenwriter column of your works, only your name will always exist..."
"No doubt." Wayne spread his hands and looked at the leader of the oriental film reform. "I will first write the overall framework of the story, and then hand it over to the screenwriting department specially established by Warner Bros. for the dc series. After repeated polishing by the screenwriting team of this department, the script will be handed over to my behind-the-scenes creative team for consideration.
This is the most common screenwriting model in Hollywood, like this "Flash", the finalized script, basically has nothing to do with what I wrote in the first place. This is not bad, at least no matter how the script is changed, it is still under the framework of my theme. Many producers actually only provide an idea, and the rest is entirely up to the screenwriter team. "
These words seem to be common sense in Hollywood, but the shock to Zuoshan is not much at all. In particular, what Wayne said before he left, made him think for a long time in the private room alone.
"Warner Bros. set up the screenwriting department for the dc series. I set the criteria for recruiting screenwriters from the very beginning. Anyone who graduated from a famous school will not be required, and anyone who has a little achievement will not be required. Yes, graduate from a famous school or have some achievements. Screenwriters are born with ideas and creativity.
However, what I need is the kind of middle and low-level screenwriters in Hollywood who can feel at ease with their work by giving them money. As long as they can cooperate to write the script I want, I don’t need them to have any creativity at all. It is economical and practical, and the ready-made model can be used. This is the screenwriting team I really need.
As early as the establishment of the dc screenwriting department, I publicly said it to the first group of members. This is an assembly line factory, and each of you is a very small part of it. Don't have the idea that you can't work without anyone. If anyone feels that their self-esteem has been hurt, or that working here goes against the original intention of your dream of being a screenwriter, you can leave at any time! "
Dinner time was short, and Wayne didn't dare to try the famous liquor on the table. In this exchange, he is actually more inclined to look at this mountain. After all, in his own impression, this has always been the most mysterious film industry boss in the East.
Another point is that the other party will sit in the position of the boss for many years. Warner Bros. and its own films are destined to introduce less in the future, and what schedule and scale of publicity the film can get, UU reading www. uukanshu.com is not a word from the other party until the end?
Faces are all given to each other. As a fake foreigner with an oriental soul in his head, Wayne certainly understands the world and plays a huge role in this land.
After eating this unique Chinese meal, he said goodbye to Miss Lizao early the next morning. After the two made an appointment to meet in Los Angeles again, they boarded the charter flight to New Zealand with Nina and Sergey and other staff. .
That's right, Wayne doesn't care too much about the specific box office of "The Flash" in the East, at least he didn't report too much hope before 2000. Everything he and Warner Bros. are doing now is actually for the future. Base.
So before flying back to North America, he had to go to New Zealand to check the preparations for The Lord of the Rings there. This is destined to be a job that has been calculated over the years, but if nothing else, the recruitment of actors should be started as soon as possible in the next stage, because there is still three months to six months of movement training waiting for the main actors.
"Boss, Nami asked when you will get back to Los Angeles."
After the plane successfully landed in New Zealand, Nina received a urging call from Los Angeles when Wayne and his party had just walked out of the airport and had not seen Peter Jackson and others who were picking up the plane.
"For a week at most, tell Nami to put her heart back in her stomach, I can't possibly miss the premiere of "Charlie's Angels"..."