Chapter 479 Looking for Friends

"...I think everyone is going too far. I played "Carol" and many people were concerned about my sexual orientation. Then when I play a martial arts movie, why don't you care whether I can fly or not?"

"I'm still speechless. As an actor, when I see a good role, I take the role. I think my performance is okay. Why do you care about my sexuality?"

At the airport, Gong Li was stopped by a group of media and asked questions that made her feel helpless...

"In acting, the most important thing is to find resonance with the character. I did check a lot of information and did research. Sandy Powell, the costume designer of our crew, knows these things very well and gave me a lot of help. But acting is, after all, Showing other people's experiences is not my true role..."

"I am very willing to play roles beyond my experience..."

"Thanks to Xudong, Hollywood believed that the audience would not be interested in a female-led small and medium-budget film, which meant that there would be no market for the film "Carol". It was he who persuaded Christine to produce it together. "Carol"..."

"Director Todd Haynes was not interested in "Carol" at first. He felt that these stories were often unsatisfactory because there were various external forces that broke up love... But in "Carol" written by Xudong, he made the story When it comes to love itself, Todd likes this genre very much... From the beginning, we hoped that this would be a movie suitable for everyone to watch, and that audiences regardless of age, gender, or sexual orientation could be touched."

"Domestic release...it shouldn't be easy to handle, the rating is R..."

"It depends on how they do it..."

"What's your next plan? Keep making movies, "The Golden Jacket" hasn't been finished yet!"

After saying this, under the protection of the staff, Gong Li got in the car and left the airport...

By the way, Shen Xudong did not return to China, he went to the United States!

Want to find a partner.

…

Nowadays, domestic producers are generally people from XXX Film Studio or their parents are from the film industry. They have rich connections and sophisticated production skills. They are basically both producers and producers.

For the time being, a producer-centered system is unlikely!

Our film system has made directors themselves very famous due to historical reasons.

Investors are more willing to trust a director than a producer.

Actors prefer to work with directors rather than producers.

Screenwriters prefer to communicate with directors rather than producers.

At this time, if we deliberately imitate the Hollywood system and blindly pursue the so-called producer-centered system before having a clear purpose, then the system will often fail to be established, and instead it will increase the number of disputes, and even lead to the result of laymen guiding experts.

Shen Xudong also knew this situation.

Therefore, even if "Carol" wins the award, the industry may admire his vision, but the outside world will think that he is just unlucky!

After all, he is only a screenwriter and producer. It is generally believed that the success of a movie depends on the director and actors.

Shen Xudong wants to speak loudly in the circle, unless he is willing to be a director...

Gong Li also suggested to him that day, "You can be a director"...

Shen Xudong is unwilling...

He wants to be a big producer!

The so-called big producers in China are mostly moviegoers, and at most they are just people who provide money, such as Zhang Weiping and Huang Zhongjun. If they invest in one movie a year or two, they consider themselves big producers and have to compete with Hollywood. It’s time to build a Chinese movie aircraft carrier...

Pointless!

Is the producer-centered system perfect?

Definitely not. After the success of "Superman", a number of Warner's producers and directors had great differences. After that, they directly changed the director to a more obedient one. As a result, they jumped from 2 to 4.

After Tim Burton's two Batman films achieved good box office reputations, the producers disliked his work style and directly replaced him. Then the superhero movie "Batman and Robin" was born. .

Shen Xudong doesn't need to worry about this, he has a plug-in!

His idea is: Since "Carol" is not enough, let's make a few more!

"Juno", "The Fault in Our Stars", "The Twilight Saga"...

Why are they all American movies?

Nonsense, only by earning money can you become famous in the country...

…

As the relationship between independent films and Oscars gets closer and closer, major Hollywood studios have begun to set their sights on independent films.

In 2003, Warner established its own independent film company; in 2005, Sony acquired the independent film label United Artists; Paramount and Universal have also followed suit in recent years and have their own affiliated independent film subsidiaries.

Currently, there are several truly independent film companies in North America, including Lionsgate Pictures, Focus Features, Overture Films, Magnolia Pictures, Lakeshore Pictures, and of course Weinstein Pictures.

Except for Focus and Weinstein Pictures, they basically rely on R-rated horror films to become famous.

It's normal, because if independent film companies want to develop, they can only do some subjects that big companies disdain.

Horror movies are the way to go…

Shen Xudong first met with the head of Lionsgate Pictures, Michael Burns...

To be honest, it's quite surprising that Michael Burns, the head of Lionsgate Films, actually met with a Chinese person?

He didn't know that the story of "Little Miss Sunshine" had spread throughout Hollywood...

Harvey picked up a hot-selling project for nothing and only paid $1.8 million!

However, Michael Burns clearly has little interest in "Juno".

It's normal, not to mention that Lionsgate rarely makes other genres. Even if they are willing to make it, it is difficult for a movie like "Juno" that is neither cult nor literary to find a fixed audience...

Generally few companies are willing to do it!

North American film genres are very mature. Before a production company makes a film, the most important thing is to classify it and estimate the box office of the genre...

"Juno" is a typical example of unclear positioning...

The plot is just one sentence: What should a 16-year-old girl do if she gets pregnant unexpectedly?

If the scale was larger, Lionsgate might have done it - they did "Irrevocable", "Fahrenheit 9/11"...

Shen Xudong doesn't care, if they don't do it, they won't do it!

It’s not without gain. Shen Xudong has negotiated with Lions Gate about the production, distribution and profit sharing of “The Purge”...

After just one look at the script concept, Lionsgate decided to make...

"Human Purge Plan" is a typical setting movie - "Killing Night: During the 12 hours from 19:00 on March 21 to 7:00 on March 22 every year, any illegal behavior, including murder, is allowed in the United States: through a fixed annual Killing Night releases the people’s desire for violence in exchange for a year of stability.”

This setting is enough to attract a large number of audiences to watch the movie in the theater!

Yes, the story is retarded, but who cares?

Concentrate the story in a small setting and a few million dollars can do it.

It is definitely a movie with commercial prospects, Lionsgate won it directly...

Before leaving, Michael Burns suggested that Shen Xudong find Joseph Drake...

…

Joseph Drake, a famous Hollywood producer.

He had a good relationship with Michael Burns.

Lionsgate was founded in 1997. At first, it was not favored by people and had no films to shoot. It made a living by manufacturing shooting equipment.

After that, he participated in "Buffalo 66", "Misery", "Gods and Beasts", etc., and each one suffered losses. It wasn't until "American Psycho" in 2000 that he made a small profit.

"American Psycho" is produced by Joseph Drake.

Later, I also made the "American version of the Grudge" trilogy, but the production company was changed to Columbia...

Most American producers have regular cooperative companies and co-directors, such as Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, both of whom are high-level executives at Lucasfilm and have good relationships with Spielberg and Lucas. , so there are "Star Wars" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark" series...

Will Shen Xudong listen to Michael Burns?

Besides, he was going to meet Roger Birnbaum and Scott Rudin...

Well, he changed his mind - instead of looking for a production company, he directly looked for a discerning producer to work with!

Roger Birnbaum, Jackie Chan's noble man, Jackie Chan starred in 9 Hollywood movies as a Chinese in the United States. Among them, "Rush Hour" made him join the $20 million club. Roger Birnbaum was responsible for 5 movies, namely "Rush Hour", "Rush Hour 2", "Rush Hour 3", "Shanghai Noon 2: Shanghai Knights", and "Shanghai Noon".

Additionally, Roger Birnbaum is the producer of Memoirs of a Geisha!

Scott Rudin is also famous.

Shen Xudong knew that he had done "The Truman Show", "The Social Network", "The Grand Budapest Hotel", "No Country for Old Men", "There Will Be Blood", "The Hours"...

Yes, Rudin is also a producer who is taking the route of competing for the Olympics!

So, his relationship with the Weinstein brothers is self-evident!

In fact, the feud between Rudin and the Weinstein brothers began in the last century. Rudin is a gold medal producer under Paramount, and the Weinstein brothers are relying on Mira- Max is the one calling the shots in Hollywood.

The two parties worked together, but finally broke off due to the Oscar award...

In 2005, the Harvey brothers left Miramax, which they had founded, and founded the Weinstein Pictures, named after themselves.

Rudin, on the other hand, turned around and defected to Disney due to the resignation of Durgen and Lansing, his benefactors at Paramount for many years. Coincidentally, his new role at Disney is as head of Miramax.

"The King's Speech" produced by the Weinstein brothers relied on its strong public relations skills to defeat Rudin's Facebook legend "The Social Network" to win the Oscar for best picture.

The confrontation between the two parties over the ownership and control of the movies "The Hours" and "The Reader" has attracted worldwide attention due to reports by the gossip media.

In Hollywood, there are only a handful of producers who dare to confront the Weinstein brothers, and Rudin is undoubtedly the most eye-catching.

Shen Xudong visited one by one...

Of course, there are rewards. The reason why New Line spent a huge amount of money to buy "Taken" is Roger Birnbaum's opinion. He plans to follow the same example of the year and release "Red Zone" and "Tom Yum Goong", which will be released in September. …

"Red Zone" has a box office of US$32.39 million in North America, and "Tom Yum Goong" has a box office of US$12.04 million...

He feels that "Taken" also has such potential!

When he learned that Shen Xudong was preparing to produce "Hurricane Rescue 2", he wanted to invest...

Of course, Shen Xudong did not directly agree - Xudong is also looking forward to the North American box office of "The Rescue"...

The specific investment ratio, profit sharing, etc. will be discussed after "Hurricane Rescue" is released!

The meeting with Scott Rudin was a bit awkward. He was quite optimistic about "Juno", but... he wanted to spend money to buy out the script...

Shen Xudong could not agree!

I originally wanted to meet Joseph Drake, but I ran out of time...

It's already mid-June - "Crazy Stone" is about to be released, and he has to return to China to support the show.