Chapter 563： Expensive

"It's been a long time." Ronan and Jessica Felton hugged gently, then took a step back, looked at her carefully, and said, "Jesse, your complexion looks healthier."

Jessica Felton helplessly: "You just say I'm going black."

Ronan simply said, "It's really black."

Jessica Felton is a typical Latin hybrid. Originally, her skin color was close to wheat, but now she has more sun exposure, and she has a tendency to change her chocolate color.

Although it has turned black, Jessica Felton is still the most beautiful in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" crew.

How many women can have the proportions and appearance of Jessica Alba, and the spectacular peaks of Salma Hayek?

The crew resumed filming at this time, and Jessica Felton greeted Ronan: "Let's talk to another place."

Ronan followed her to the nearby studio office, turned on the air conditioner, and finally the heat in the air was blocked outside the door.

Jessica Felton poured Ronan a glass of water and asked, "What did you say to Depp?"

Ronan took the water glass and said, "Tell him to be a good captain."

"That's it?" Jessica Felton didn't believe it.

"That's it." Ronan shrugged: "You have told him everything that should be said. I don't need to say more."

He gave Jessica Felton a thumbs up: "Jesse, you did a great job."

Jessica Felton shook his head: "I can't afford it. Ronan, to be honest, apart from what I am doing now, I have no good way with Johnny Depp."

Ronan picked up the water glass and said before drinking, "Same, it's me, there is no other good way."

Is it really torn apart with Johnny Depp? Then change to another actor or something? The other series do not matter, but Captain Jack Sparrow, apart from Johnny Depp, fans probably won't recognize other actors.

Unless you use a stand-in plus post-production special effects, then the production cost will increase a lot and can only be used as a last resort.

Jessica Felton sighed, and said: "It's not easy for producers, and it's even harder for sequel producers. It's really difficult for each line of business."

Ronan laughed: "The "Pirates of the Caribbean" series has its own peculiarities. The strategy you use is very good. For people like Johnny Depp, you have to play and coax."

Jessica Felton said: "Will you have to make a sequel when the trilogy is finished?"

"Not in a short time." Ronan thought about it and said: "Before 2010, this series will not be shot again. It needs to be sealed for a period of time to avoid aesthetic fatigue."

Jessica Felton nodded slightly: "This way I can do my job better."

Ronan simply said: "If you continue to shoot, Johnny Depp will really become the biggest problem for the crew. The impact of "The Curse of the Black Pearl", you know, Captain Jack Sparrow has become a global hit. After the two sequels are released, as long as there is no major accident, Johnny Depp will directly equate with Captain Jack Sparrow."

Jessica Felton understood Ronan's meaning: "The Curse of the Black Pearl" made Johnny Depp into the ranks of Hollywood's first-line stars. These two films are successful. For the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series, he will It's a superstar... this terrible character and professionalism is a headache to think about."

Ronan smiled: "So, let's wait a few more years, who knows what Johnny Depp will develop in the future."

Once Captain Jack Sparrow made Johnny Depp, but he also limited Johnny Depp.

The two chatted about Johnny Depp. Jessica Felton’s topic turned to her current job, saying: "It is estimated that the crew will leave Baja California and go to the Caribbean as soon as the middle of next month. Shooting location."

Ronan asked, "How are your preparations?"

Jessica Felton took out a thick plan and said: "This is a plan based on the information provided by the staff at the front station."

Ronan waved his hand directly: "You can simply say it."

Jessica Felton organized the language slightly and said: "I had a meeting with Gore and two other associate producers to study. The filming plan must consider the logistics. This time I want to go to more islands and need to use More ships, it looks like a road movie is about to be made, but the road is replaced by water."

Ronan nodded slightly, and Jessica Felton continued: "The first stop in the Caribbean is Dominica. The local political situation is relatively stable and the location suits the shooting requirements, but the hardware facilities are slightly worse. The crew has nearly a thousand cast members. The staff may need to be distributed in hundreds of hotels to live in. I have done statistics, and only 150 drivers are needed to transport the entire class every day. In addition, I want to control the financial expenditure of the crew and disperse the shooting at the same time. The team also needs 40 logistics support and procurement staff."

Not to mention anything else, only eating and drinking must be coordinated. People who do not have certain organizational skills cannot do this job at all.

Jessica Felton rubbed her forehead and said: "The crew also selected Ikzumas and Grand Bahama for filming. There are few hotels and restaurants in some areas, and infrastructure is also very scarce. Going out on location is not like being in a studio. You need to take into account all aspects. If you want a film to be filmed smoothly, a large crew needs more cumbersome and comprehensive logistics support."

This position is really training people. Although the preparations are handled by their respective professional teams, they still have to be summarized in Jessica Felton, and the production team led by her will coordinate and make decisions.

Last week, the logistics team submitted a report on the crew’s diet in Dominica.

During the filming, they will prepare three meals a day for 500 to 800 people according to the working conditions of the day. It is estimated that breakfast alone will require 1,000 to 1,500 eggs, 100 to 160 pounds of bacon, 80 loaves of bread, 50 pounds of sausages, and more than 10 boxes. Fruits and so on.

Except for those locally produced in Dominica, all food needs to be shipped from the United States to the local area.

Without sitting in this position, it is difficult to imagine the workload and expenditure of such a huge crew.

Why did the Johnny Depp incident make Jessica Felton take it so seriously, not to mention the preparation and expenditures for filming, the catering expenses consumed by the crew for a day is a rather terrifying expenditure.

In the past, when Jessica Felton was just a simple editor, seeing the production costs of tens of millions of dollars or even hundreds of millions of dollars announced by some film companies, it felt incredible. Influenced by some Internet opinions, I thought that There may be a lot of water, or even money laundering.

But from the beginning of the post-production producer, this view has been quickly reversed. The expenditure of a slightly larger crew is like flowing water. Perhaps the actual expenditure of some films is different from the public figures, but the difference will not be particularly large. For a medium-sized crew, hundreds of people are too normal.

Not to mention anything else, the expenditure on food, clothing, housing and transportation alone is quite huge.

Put it on the shooting, if you don't control it, it's like a bottomless pit.

Jessica Felton has carefully studied the actual expenditure of "The Curse of the Black Pearl", and the property involved is quite amazing.

The crew used more than 6,000 one-way air tickets for transportation; nearly 300 mobile phones were used in Rosario; at most, 200 walkie-talkies were used to coordinate shooting at the same time; 550 boxes of clothing for shooting; 360 barrels of smoke generating materials; sound effects department More than 6,000 batteries of various colors were used; more than 300,000 feet of rope; the total length of film used for shooting even reached 218 miles.

This shows where the budget of more than 100 million US dollars was spent.

Ronan heard Jessica Felton's simple description and said: "Jesse, your role is changing very quickly."

Jessica Felton believes in her work: "It's a bit difficult, but it's not too difficult for me."

Ronan didn't ask anything else, and said directly: "I'll rest assured that this crew is handed over to you. I hope that one day, I can see a female producer who is more successful than Catherine Kennedy."

"I won't let you down." Jessica Felton drank and asked instead: "How long do you plan to stay in Baja California this time?"

Ronan said, "I will leave tomorrow."

Jessica Felton frowned slightly: "Are you in such a hurry?"

Ronan smiled and said: "There is still a lot of work in Los Angeles. My Pacific Film Foundation has to settle with a few investors, and there are new investors to join. Sophia Coppola's "Lost in Tokyo" is hitting. Oscar, I also want to give this film a platform in due course. The most important thing is that Relativity Entertainment is about to start a large-scale acquisition involving hundreds of millions of dollars in funds. Some occasions require my personal presence."

Upon hearing the last sentence, Jessica Felton became interested: "A purchase of hundreds of millions of dollars?"

Ronan nodded slightly.

Jessica Felton asked: "Is it convenient to reveal a little?"

Ronan has enough trust in her said before that he still warned: "Now the plan has not been made public, don't spread it out. Robert Iger has made a plan to acquire Artisan Pictures."

"Artisan Pictures?" Jessica Felton wondered: "This company has developed in general in recent years..."

Ronan reminded: "The film library. Artisan Pictures has a film library that Relativity Entertainment does not possess. According to the latest data from Robert Iger’s latest survey, it has the copyrights of nearly 7,000 films, including "First Blood", Famous films such as "Terminator", "Total Memories" and "Instinct"."

Knowing these films, Jessica Felton held up a water glass and gave Ronan a gesture: "I wish the Relativity Entertainment success."

Ronan raised his water glass and responded: "Thank you."

After several months of side evaluations and secret investigations, after the New Year, Robert Iger is ready to make formal contact with Artisan Pictures, and is the first to send people to contact some shareholders.