Chapter 80： No newcomers

In the small conference room on the second floor of the office building of Warner Studios, Ronan convened a meeting of the production team, including the newly added casting director. More than a dozen people attended the meeting.

"Brian." Ronan looked at a location manager in his 30s and asked, "What are your plans for the selection of location?"

Brian, the brown-haired man, said immediately: "I plan to look in downtown Los Angeles first, and then go to the San Francisco Bay Area.

Ronan frowned and asked, "Why?"

Bryan replied: “These places have blocks and buildings that are familiar to the audience. When watching a movie, they will feel intimacy, which is more conducive to being substituted into the movie.”

"You're right." The location manager hired by Ronan has worked as a location searcher for several large production projects before. He has quite a wealth of work experience, but he has worked in large production crews continuously, which has also caused some problems. The thinking is rigid. He reminded: "Brian, what you said is very suitable for large investment and large production projects, but the production cost of "Death is Coming" is only 15 million US dollars!"

Brian scratched his head, his inherent thoughts couldn't change for a while.

Ronan simply said: "We are an independent film, with a limited budget. The location must avoid big cities or economically developed areas."

Brian finally recollected and said, "I see, this can save venue expenses."

"That's right." Ronan emphasized: "Go to the small towns around Los Angeles and find a suitable shooting location. You must not only persuade the other party to accept the inconvenience caused by filming, but also convince the other party to charge as little as possible or even not charge. "

Brian didn't speak, but he heard the boss's working style.

This is his first time as a location manager, and it is inevitable that he will continue his thinking when working for a large crew.

In the face of such a boss who is digging for money, be prepared to persuade people.

But how do you convince people to charge less? The dollar is a true lover of the masses.

Ronan said at this time: "We must convince the venue owner that this movie will be helpful to him after it is released, that he is an important part of the shooting, and that his contribution is an important guarantee for the success of the film."

"Uh..." Brian was taken aback for a moment, and then said, "I understand."

It seems that the boss's work style is a bit different this time.

Ronan hasn't finished saying: "For each location shooting scene, there must be three or four shooting locations as alternatives to avoid accidents!" He knows that the more detailed the preparation, the less trouble shooting will be encountered: "You With your people, record the position of the sun at different times in each venue, the conditions of nearby parking lots, the cooperative attitude of the venue owner, and any other information that may be relevant to the shooting."

Brian determined that the young boss was not easy, and said loudly, "No problem."

Ronan looked at the casting director Jason again and asked, "Has the actor recruitment been released?"

Jason, with a bald head, said: "We posted a job advertisement in the newspaper, and the two major actors' unions left job postings, and we also sent out audition invitations to most of the agencies in the industry."

"Are there any responses?" Ronan asked again.

Jason looked down at his notebook: "Hundreds of actor resumes have been received so far, and seven agencies have responded."

Ronan nodded: "As of February, we will enter the audition stage."

In Los Angeles, a large number of actors who want to become famous are caught. If the time is delayed, the crew will easily receive thousands of actor resumes.

But most of them are people who dream of Hollywood stars. Only a few of them have real acting skills, and those who can perform convincingly on the big screen are even a few of them.

Faced with so many audition candidates, the crew must organize multiple auditions.

This is also the main reason why Ronan hires casting directors.

He has two projects to operate, and he has to take care of the company's operations. He also has to learn to charge. Hiring the casting director's funds will save him a lot of time and reduce unnecessary burden.

What Ronan has to do is to grasp the final round of auditions.

"The age of the main actors should not exceed 22 years old, and the restrictions can be relaxed if the individual conditions are extremely good." Ronan also confessed: "But one thing must be noted. The appearance of the actors must be distinctive, and the male and female protagonists must conform to the public aesthetic."

Jason looked at his notebook again and said, "Toby Maguire and Kirsten Dunst’s agents have expressed interest in the hero and heroine."

Ronan smiled: "It seems that our project is still attractive."

Everyone else laughed too. Toby Maguire and Kirsten Dunst are also among the best of the younger generation.

Ronan is a little curious, Peter Parker and Mary Jane are really coming to his crew?

"Jason, you go talk to their agent." Ronan thought for a while and said, "If Toby Maguire and Kirsten Dunstken accept a salary of less than $500,000, they can directly Participate in the final round of auditions."

He frowned: "How to talk about it, you can grasp it yourself."

Not to mention anything else, star actors can at least bring more media attention to the film, which can be effectively transformed into propaganda power.

Next, I discussed the topics of equipment rental and prop production. Ronan asked the props team and the art team to design a few props or clothing that arouse people's interest.

These are purely commercial considerations.

At the end of the meeting, Ronan left the associate producer Andrew alone.

Andrew is less than forty years old. He is a person who is specially hired to take charge of the daily affairs of the crew. He is not a stranger. When the old Anderson was still alive, he had cooperated with Andrew several times, and Andrew was also engaged in this job.

"How is the contact with advertisers?" Ronan asked.

Andrew shook his head: "It was not very smooth. We sent out advertisement invitations to many manufacturers, but none of them responded."

Ronan was not disappointed either: "It seems that he lacks confidence in us." He pondered for a moment, and said, "Well, if someone finds the crew to advertise, just talk about it."

It is difficult to attract advertisers without a reputable cast lineup or sufficient investment.

"By the way, Andrew There is still something else." Ronan remembered the file he had read yesterday, and said: "The main department of the crew should not hire inexperienced newcomers, no matter how cheap they are, unless they are willing to be Handyman."

Newbies are indeed cheap, but if you look further, it is not difficult to find that the cost of hiring inexperienced crew members is actually higher than hiring professionals.

Newbies who have just entered the industry are still in the learning stage, and their work efficiency is extremely low, which may even cause the crew to get into trouble.

For example, if you don’t know about safety when laying cables on site, there will be safety hazards on the set; if a large soft yarn is not stabilized, it may cause injuries.

A similar situation will take a lot of time and cost.

Then, Ronan went to another office to meet with Mary, and the crew’s finances needed to be handled properly.

"The progress of "Ace Agents" must be accelerated." Mary reminded Ronan: "Otherwise, it will be difficult for me to do the accounting."

Ronan nodded: "I know."

In fact, he has already sent out invitations to several Hollywood brokerage companies that provide packaging services, but unfortunately no response has been received.

The Arabs are supporting actors and the Arabs are the absolute protagonists.

Suddenly, it was a little messy outside, it seemed that someone was scolding.

On this floor, Shahai Entertainment leased only half, and the other half belonged to the "Roseville" crew.

Catherine Heigl finished scolding the crew assistant, walked into the office along the corridor, saw the agent, her stern face immediately melted into a smile: "Dean, why are you here?"

The agent named Dean handed a document to Catherine Heigl, and said: "This crew sent two invitations to the company, a small company, to produce two projects at the same time, it is not easy." He reminded. : "Didn't you know Ronan Anderson?"