Huayu Entertainment 1995 started with hijacking.

Chapter 117 It’s not that simple

Wu Yuchen walked to the plane gate, nodded to the two flight attendants who gave him bright smiles, and looked at the family of three blocking his way:
"Lele, you're going to be a citizen of the Ugly Country from now on! Aren't you happy?!"

"Happy!" The child also had a big smile on his face.

Behind Wu Yuchen, there were several people who hadn't even gotten off the plane yet, and they started talking:

"The air in America is fresher than back home!"

Thanks for the invitation. I'm currently in America, just got off the plane, and there's a group of shepherds around me...

In fact, Wu Yuchen was used to it. These kinds of things are very common these days. Ten years ago, there was an incident where an entire performance troupe of "Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy" was stranded in the United States and refused to return. It was not an isolated case, so let's not mention it.

Sony is headquartered in New York, but Columbia Pictures is located in Los Angeles.

Wu Yuchen hadn't been waiting long in the Columbia Pictures meeting room when a white man in a polo shirt, with gray hair, entered. He looked to be in his forties, was burly, and very enthusiastic, extending his hand proactively.

"Wu, welcome to Hollywood!"

"Mr. Franklin, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

Wu Yuchen shook hands with him and smiled, seemingly in a good mood, at least not appearing difficult to communicate with.

“From now on, just call me Jeff. You know what? You really surprised me. Even in Hollywood, I rarely see directors as young as you. You're younger than I imagined. Even Spielberg at your age isn't nearly as good as you!”

"Jeff, thank you for the compliment. Actually, I think so too~" Wu Yuchen said jokingly.

Jeff paused for a moment, then burst into laughter:

"Wu, you're really different from any other Chinese person I've met. I like you, you interesting guy!"

Wu Yuchen had spoken with Jeff several times on the phone before he arrived, but this was their first formal meeting. After a few pleasantries, the two started talking about the preparations for the film.

"I've found three suitable filming locations based on your requirements, but you'll need to come and see them for yourself. I also need your detailed requirements for the set design. The public audition announcement has already been sent out, and the open auditions have begun."

Jeff paused for a moment, then asked:

"Wu, according to your script, the father in the 60s should be a character around 30 years old, but you're asking for an actor who's at least 40?"

Wu Yuchen nodded, and then explained:
"Jeff, although the father in the 60s is indeed 30 years old according to the script, we can't actually find a 30-year-old actor."

This film incorporates many elements, including the father-son relationship. It's crucial that the audience distinguish between the father and son; having a 30-year-old actor play the father of an actor in his twenties or thirties would prevent the stereotype of the father figure from being firmly established.

Jeff immediately understood what Wu Yuchen meant: "What you said makes a lot of sense!"

Jeff's eyes lit up immediately, and he said to Wu Yuchen, "Wu, would you like to increase our film's success rate?"

“Of course, no director would disagree.” Wu Yuchen didn’t know why Jeff was asking this.

"There are many truly big-name male actors over 40, and I want to try extending offers to them. You know, in Hollywood, the best way to increase a film's success rate is to find stars who can guarantee box office success!"

“Jeff, our budget is only 2500 million. How can we invite big-name stars? Even if we do, we don’t have enough funds to film it.”

"Oh no, Wu, you're not quite clear on how Hollywood works. Although the committee initially only gave us 2500 million, if we can get an A-list star and use that to negotiate with the committee, there's a high chance they'll increase our budget, especially since we're only in the preparation stage right now!"

After listening, Wu Yuchen understood that the filming budget wasn't fixed; if you could get big-name stars on board, the company would be willing to give you more money.

"I'd like to invite Tom Hanks, is that okay?" Wu Yuchen joked.

After Forrest Gump, Tom Hanks was basically a legend. His acting skills are beyond question, and his age is just right. Which director wouldn't want to work with him?

"Of course! I'll send him the script right away. Not just Tom Hanks, but also Bruce Willis, Mel Gibson, Pierce Brosnan, I want to give them all a try!"

Wu Yuchen opened his mouth, looking at Jeff's slightly excited expression, not realizing that this guy was so ambitious.

Mel Gibson's Braveheart grossed $2.1 million worldwide two years ago, and he also has the Lethal Weapon series;
Bruce Willis's Die Hard series, along with 12 Monkeys and the upcoming Fifth Element;
Pierce Brosnan, the male lead of the James Bond series, needs no further introduction.

The men he mentioned are all currently top-tier A-list male stars in Hollywood, and they are all in their forties, which is a suitable age.

"Jeff, it's up to you then!" Wu Yuchen laughed. If he could really bring in big stars, he would be happy to see it happen, as any one of them could significantly boost box office appeal.

The two then talked about a few other roles, which didn't require finding any big stars; a normal public audition would suffice.

……

Upon arriving in America, Wu Yuchen had quite a few things to handle. After parting ways with producer Jeff, he went to a nearby coffee shop. A man in his thirties saw Wu Yuchen and stood up to greet him.
"I think you must be Wu, the Best Director at Berlin! Welcome to Hollywood! I'm sure you'll achieve even greater success here! I'm Carl Murphy from CAA. You can tell me any requests you have, and I'll do my best to help you fulfill them!"

In Hollywood, you can't do without an agent. Even a minor actor with only a bit part needs an agent.

CAA naturally welcomes Wu Yuchen, a director who has won the Best Director award at the Berlin Film Festival and already has a successful film like "Run Lola Run".

Wu Yuchen shook hands with him and sat down:
"Karl, can I use you for any kind of service?"

“Of course, absolutely! CAA will do everything in its power to protect our clients’ privacy, so you don’t need to worry about it at all,” Cal Murphy explained.

Wu Yuchen nodded and asked him to find him a reliable financial broker so he could open a new account.

Last year, he bought over 300 million yuan worth of Yahoo shares, which have now grown to a market value of 700 million yuan. He now has nearly 3000 million yuan and plans to use another 1000 million yuan to buy more Yahoo shares, and another 1500 million yuan to buy other tech stocks in a new account, such as Cisco and Microsoft. He will keep the remaining 500 million yuan as a reserve fund.

Afterwards, Wu Yuchen talked to Carl about "Frequency," since he was new to Hollywood and needed to learn more from Carl about many aspects of the project.

When Carl heard from Wu Yuchen that Jeff was going to invite a big-name celebrity, he didn't show much joy. After thinking for a moment, he said:
“Wu, if we can invite a big-name celebrity, it would certainly be a good thing for ‘Frequency of the Black Hole’, but it might not be so for you.”

"Huh? What do you mean?" Wu Yuchen asked in surprise.

Instead of answering directly, Carl asked, "Wu, are you aware that there's a small group of directors who have been staying in the independent film scene and are unwilling to enter the commercial film industry?"

Wu Yuchen nodded. Indeed, there are such people who only want to make art films, or rather, films they want to make. "Some directors are capable of making mainstream commercial films, but they enjoy the sense of control they have in independent films, where most producers serve the director."

However, if you're collaborating with the top eight studios to make a mainstream commercial film, you have to follow the company's instructions, be controlled by the producer, and if the crew has big-name actors, you have to appease them and might even be oppressed by them.

Upon hearing this, Wu Yuchen understood what the other party meant.

Carl meant that if a big-name actor is brought in, the situation on set will be reversed, and the actor will likely have the most say rather than the creator. Even if the actor asks you to change the script or plot, the production company will default to siding with the big-name actor.

“Karl, continue,” Wu Yuchen said, frowning.

“Wu, you need to understand that you and Jeff are different. Jeff is the representative of the production company, so his position is already secure. Being able to invite big stars is beneficial to him. But it's different for you. Your power on the set will be greatly reduced.”

If you can accept that, then it would be best to find a big star. The appeal of a big star is unparalleled in terms of box office. As long as the box office is successful, everyone will be happy, and your first shot in Hollywood will also be a success.

My biggest fear is that a difficult A-list star will arrive, and I, a newcomer to Hollywood, will clash with them and be kicked out of the crew—this isn't unprecedented.

Clearly, in Carl's view, Wu Yuchen comes from the Berlin Film Festival and is considered an art-house film director, which may give him a rebellious and uncontrollable personality. Naturally, he gave Wu Yuchen a heads-up first, since Hollywood is different from other places.

Wu Yuchen had subconsciously overlooked this issue before, since the entire crew revolved around him when filming movies, and he was the undisputed leader on set. Now, after Karl brought it up, he realized that this was indeed the case; there's no such thing as the director being the most powerful in Hollywood.

This reminded him of Wu Baige's experience.

Wu Baige's peak was when her directorial debut, "Mission: Impossible 2," grossed $5 million worldwide. However, it's widely known that the "Mission: Impossible" series is essentially a Tom Cruise project, and he has the final say in it.

Wu Baige had a dispute with Tom Cruise during filming. Wu Baige brought her own people to the crew, including a cinematographer. Then, on one occasion, this cinematographer made Cruise look darker in a shot, and after seeing it, Cruise immediately told Wu Baige to fire him.

Wu Baige was naturally unwilling, since this was one of his men after all, and Wu Baige had always had the demeanor of a leader, wanting to protect his underlings, so he and Tom stood apart there.

Ultimately, he had to back down; the cinematographer was fired, and he became a puppet on set. It's rumored that Wu Baige wanted to quit twice, and Zhang Jiazhen specifically came over to comfort him: "Finishing filming is a victory!"

It's easy to imagine how unsatisfactory Wu Baige's filming was. Later, when she returned to China and gave an interview, she talked about the Hollywood big shots she had worked with, complaining that Tom Cruise was the most troublesome among them.

At that time, Wu Baige had already directed "Face/Off" and had officially entered the ranks of first-tier directors in Hollywood. She was completely dominated by Tom Cruise. So, wouldn't Wu Yuchen, a newcomer to Hollywood, be even more miserable?

Of course, Wu Baige's suffering was not in vain in the end, as she was carried by Tom Cruise to become a director with a global box office of 500 million.

At this moment, Wu Yuchen was thinking about what he would do if he encountered a similar situation of being bullied by actors in "Frequency of the Black Hole".
He's not unaware of when to compromise, but if things escalate to the point where you have to keep rewriting the script, completely altering the story to highlight individual actors, then a major conflict is inevitable.

Wu Yuchen then said, "Karl, I have an agreement with the production company that I must be the director, and they cannot replace me."

"If you really fall out with the production company, it's simple: just find another director to direct the film, and then credit your name on the credits."

"Of course, this is just the worst-case scenario. Not all big-name celebrities are difficult to work with. And big-name celebrities aren't easy to hire either," Carl said, shrugging.

Wu Yuchen smiled after hearing this: "Yes, that's a bit of an overreaction. These people might not be interested in my small project."

However, from this conversation, Wu Yuchen also realized that Hollywood was not so simple and had all sorts of intricacies.

And now that he's said that, I really don't have any expectations for any big-name stars. If they just follow the script well, it's highly likely to be a box office success. I wouldn't say it'll gross over 100 million, but doubling it to 50 million shouldn't be a problem. But having a big star on the show will introduce a lot of unexpected variables.

As Wu Yuchen thought to himself, he began to feel a bit more favorably toward his new agent. At least the agent genuinely cared about him, unlike some agents who would try to entice him with promises of working with big names.

Wu Yuchen's heart skipped a beat, and he said, "Carl, if you have any suitable actors, you can recommend them to 'Frequency,' and I will consider it. But they must be suitable; this is my first Hollywood movie."

Karl's face lit up with joy upon hearing this: "Of course, I know what's important!"

……

"I need to build two identical room scenes, but with differences in the details of the layout and furnishings. One should be from the 60s, and the other from the 90s, understand?"

Wu Yuchen was giving instructions to the staff on set when Jeff and the assistant director came over.

"Director, the auditions can start tomorrow."

This assistant director is actually the casting director of the production team, a role that many netizens envy because he can influence the fate of many young actors.

The casting director's workflow involves listing various requirements based on the director's needs, and then sending them to the Screen Actors Guild and various talent agencies.

The Actors Guild will routinely issue a notice asking actors to register themselves.

The major talent agencies, mainly CAA, UTA, and WME, will actively recommend qualified actors within their companies to apply.

Then the casting director will compile a list based on this, highlighting the outstanding characteristics of each person.

For major roles and important supporting roles, the casting director doesn't actually have the final say; they can only provide the list to the director and producer. However, for minor roles, most directors don't even get involved. This is where the casting director's power lies—they can use this power to make deals with many unknown, beautiful actresses.

Wu Yuchen nodded upon hearing this, then asked producer Jeff:
"Jeff, how did your contact go?"

Jeff, who had always been very nice to him and seemed like a good guy, was now becoming wary of Wu Yuchen. He knew that Jeff might not necessarily stand by him when it mattered most.

Jeff shook his head:

"Tom Hanks is preparing for Spielberg's 'Saving Private Ryan,' Bruce Willis will be joining the cast of Michael Bay's 'Armageddon' next month, Pierce has already joined the cast of 'Tomorrow Never Dies,' and Mel Gibson is asking for a $007 million salary. What an egomaniac!"

"Oh, that's a real pity!" Wu Yuchen said, though his words didn't reflect his true feelings. He actually thought it best to avoid so many variables and to have control of the production team himself.

"Hehe, Wu, this is the norm in Hollywood. Every top A-list star has dozens of offers. It's normal if they can't get any. Our preparations can't stop. Just follow the audition process."

Jeff was very open-minded and even offered Wu Yuchen some words of advice.

Wu Yuchen nodded, then asked, "Jeff, how are the applications from the police station and the fire department coming along?"

"The police station has approved our filming application. The fire department still needs to discuss our filming location and procedures with us. They will only cooperate if our requirements are met, but there shouldn't be any problems. Don't worry, we have experience with these things."

(End of this chapter)