One Hundred and Twenty-Five-Lucky Among Misfortunes
The next day at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Manhattan, in a small conference room on the seventeenth floor, no matter how lively the media hype outside was, Zack Snyder still bit the bullet and invited two people from the city government.
Now that something like this has happened, Wayne no longer expects the film to be shot quietly. All he can do is quickly find a way to deal with these two people and quickly finish filming the scenes in New York.
The two people from the city government sat down without saying a word. The leader was a middle-aged Jewish man with a particularly conspicuous aquiline nose. However, these two people obviously did not want to continue talking, as if they were just going through the motions.
Wayne looked at the middle-aged man and after confirming that he was capable of making decisions, he asked: "Mr. Feinstein, according to the contract we reached before, the city government has no reason to overturn everything."
This is New York, and even the city government itself may not be able to count how many crews from Hollywood are shooting on location every week. Their plan is generally that as long as they do not deliberately disrupt social order, they will actively cooperate with the crew in filming.
"We will not overturn the previous contract." Saul Feinstein did not expose Wayne's pretense. "Of course you can continue filming, but the plans for large-scale road closures in the city center need to be revised."
After he finished speaking, he shook his head and looked at the great director opposite. If he wasn't also Jewish, he wouldn't even bother to mention this.
"Continue shooting..."
The other party is also clearly shirking responsibility. Of course they can continue filming, but without the cooperation of the New York City Government, all those big scenes that require road closures will be ruined!
"Joker" is more of a comic book movie than a crime drama. The last shots required are all large-scale scenes in the city center!
Zack Snyder saw Wayne frown, turned around and said, "Mr. Feinstein, according to the agreement I negotiated with you last month, the contract clearly states the obligations of both parties. The city government must... …”
"Zach!"
While thinking and observing the other person's face, Wayne immediately interrupted his assistant director when he heard this. He was trying to act stupid, and Zack Snyder was a little more angry.
Hearing these words as well, Saul Feinstein obviously didn't take them to heart, and his tone was as calm as ever. "Mr. Schneider, the signed contract will remain unchanged. You can continue to shoot in New York. However, due to security issues, the New York Police Department is very busy with tasks, so it cannot help you close the road."
Although he called Zack Snyder's name, the middle-aged Jewish politician never took his eyes off Wayne for a second.
After thinking for a moment with a frown, Wayne decided to get straight to the point. This was a threshold that he couldn't cross directly. "Mr. Feinstein, let's get straight to the point, what went into the city's decision, and I want to know the main reasons."
Only then did the middle-aged man smile. Saul Feinstein also said happily: "Let me tell you this, if you are a small crew and a small director, no matter how the media reports this matter, we will not care. But you and your crew have suffered The attention is too much, you understand?”
"Huh?" Even though he had already guessed something, he still pointed at himself. "So it has a lot to do with me?"
"Kid, it has a lot to do with it!" Saul Feinstein stopped pretending to be stupid and looked at the young and overly young director. "Don't underestimate your influence. Both of your films aroused a movie-going craze among young people in New York. When "Get Out" was released, there were even young people queuing up in some theaters. Traffic is blocked outside the theater, your influence is indeed great..."
This made him nod speechlessly. Wayne knew that what he said was true. When "Get Out" was released, it indeed caused a trend among young people.
Not to mention young people in the city of New York, even young African-Americans in communities of color started partying and went to theaters to watch movies.
"Because of your influence in certain areas." Saul Feinstein also had a helpless smile on his face. "The city government is unwilling to get involved in certain scandals. Many people are dissatisfied with government departments themselves. Coupled with the media's bottomless hype, a large number of them will think that the government is helping a "problem" company. …”
No need for him to finish. Wayne already understood what he meant. This is what politicians are like. If there is even the slightest risk, they will immediately withdraw their hands and will never allow themselves to be attacked.
After hearing what the other party said, Wayne shrugged and said that it had nothing to do with him.
"I know that even if the arrested assistant director's actions have nothing to do with the crew, they can't stop the media from continuing to hype. However, I still have to say something here, Mr. Feinstein, Karen Voss Everything he did was his personal behavior."
Seeing that Wayne has said everything here, Saul Feinstein is no longer beating around the bush. "According to the section of road you plan to shoot, it is only two streets away from the busiest Fifth Avenue in New York. This location is simply too sensitive and it is impossible not to attract attention from the public and reporters."
He shook his head and continued: "Director Greenberg, for government departments, stability is more important than anything else!"
His subtext is very clear. Politicians work for stability, and you, Wayne Greenberg, are so famous that it is difficult for reporters and the public to ignore you.
This is the consequence of Karen, the assistant director. Wayne didn't even need to read this morning's newspaper to know that because the police wanted to investigate the crew's contraband problem, he would be dubbed a drug den.
Those politicians, including Saul Feinstein, are not willing to let the media say that they are related to the drug den crew. This is not a big deal for Hollywood star directors, but a big deal for politicians.
"This is the situation, Director Greenberg." Saul Feinstein didn't hide it at all. They were not afraid of Wayne using the contract to make trouble. Unless Warner Bros. no longer shoots in New York, they would be crazy to do that.
"So we hope you can carefully consider your plan to shoot on location in New York. Because this time it may cause you losses, I can personally give you a favor promise. If you come to New York to shoot a movie in the future, you will definitely have a lot of conveniences! "
The words had reached this point, almost forcing Wayne into a dead end, leaving him with no solution for a while. At this time, Wayne's mind was spinning rapidly, wondering if there was any alternative plan.
But it is almost impossible. If we give up the location that has been inspected, we can only go back to Los Angeles to set up the scene for shooting. But now it is too late to set up the scene. This should be done in the early preparations!
At this time, Wayne even thought of the possibility of ignoring the city government and forcing himself to film on location according to the contract.
Based on the terms stated in the contract, the city government has absolutely no right to prevent the crew from normal filming, but no one knows whether there will be any problems. Without coordination from the city government, there is no support from the police department.
Especially for scenes that require road closures, no matter how fast the shooting progress is, it cannot be completed in one and a half days. The crew who are subject to various restrictions will obviously become unable to move forward.
After rejecting the idea in his mind, Wayne shook his head in frustration and said tentatively: "If I agree to the New York City Government's suggestion, I will not go to that damn sensitive street to shoot, and go back to the slum where I first went. I arrange the filming myself, can you provide help to the crew?”
"Hmm, interesting suggestion..." Saul Feinstein raised his hand and scratched his chin gently, lost in thought, he wanted to figure out how feasible this would be.
This was Wayne's last resort, otherwise he would have rushed back to Los Angeles immediately to shoot with more crazy green cloth, and all the backgrounds would be synthesized with CG in the later stage.
The cost of doing this now is very high. Although computers have long been used in film production by Industrial Light and Magic, before 2000, anything related to special effects was too expensive to kill.
"You can't go filming right away. You have to wait until the media calms down a bit in the past two days." Saul Feinstein unexpectedly agreed, which gave Wayne an unreal feeling, and he had already begun to feel it in his heart. Choose another plan!
Now there are two options, either return to Los Angeles immediately, shoot interior scenes, and have the staff work overtime to set up the scene, but you will definitely miss the Super Bowl.
The second option is to stay in New York, spend a lot of money to decorate the streets in Brooklyn, shoot the exterior shots and leave immediately. It is possible to complete it before Christmas, but it will require additional expenses.