hunt hollywood

Simon reached out to grab the woman's face and kissed it, and suddenly turned serious: "It's useless to please me, I'm very tired this afternoon, and I won't do anything tonight."

Sophia gave someone a blank look, leaned over again, and the two kissed again.

Set off again early the next morning.

At Milan Malpensa International Airport, Simon bid farewell to Sofia who came to see him off, boarded the gangway, and just entered the Boeing 767 cabin when a crescent-eyed woman whom he had just met at the reception last night greeted him.

"Oh, Simon, it feels like a dream. I may be crazy. We just met last night, and today we are going to the United States with you, and it is my first time going to the United States. I am not even proficient in English."

Alexandra Martinis said so in Italian, but she had already naturally held Simon's arm, and couldn't help but look around.

This was also the first time for her to take a private jet. She did not expect that it was such a luxurious Boeing 767, and the man beside her made Martinis feel like a dream.

Simon Westeros.

No matter what happens next, this is a past event that will be enough to write down in my memoir in the future, if there is a memoir.

That's why last night when the man asked for an invitation, she agreed without even thinking about it.

The 33-year-old Alexandra Martinis is married to a descendant of a French aristocrat with a small fortune. However, compared with Simon Westeros, her husband is barely decent His family has absolutely nothing to show for it.

The reason why she married each other a few years ago was that Martinis hoped that her husband's family related to the French film and television industry could help her develop her career, but unfortunately she miscalculated. Until now she is a small star who is barely in the third tier in France.

So, when I met Simon last night, when this man expressed interest in her, he was decisive and desperate.

After all, once missed, such an opportunity may never come again.

All in all, it was an elopement.

Taking the woman to the living room in the middle of the cabin, Simon motioned for her to sit down on the leather chair near the porthole, and sat next to him. A Victorian maid came over to help Alexandra fasten her seat belt.

Simon himself also put on the seat belt skillfully, and said to the confused woman beside him: "There may be some bumps during takeoff, and we can move freely after it stabilizes."

Alexandra nodded quickly.

She didn't know this, and thought that private jets didn't need to have any restrictions. Fortunately, she didn't make a fool of herself by asking indiscriminately just now.

After the waitress fastened her seat belt and left, Simon saw the cautious look of the woman beside him, and asked with a smile, "Ali, have you had breakfast?"

Alexandra wanted to nod subconsciously, but said honestly, "Not yet."

Didn't sleep all night last night.

After dawn, she was busy packing up again, and when the car Simon sent came to pick her up, she rushed over immediately, without even thinking about eating.

Simon said: "It's okay to skip breakfast. I'll let them prepare it later."

"Thanks, Simon, you are very considerate."

Girl A came over at this time, holding a stack of materials in her hand, handed some of the newspapers to Simon, and sat down opposite her.

Simon took the newspaper, saw that Alexandra was a little embarrassed by Miss A's indifference, and helped to introduce: "This is A, my assistant."

Alexandra took the initiative to reach out, and changed to English that was obviously not very proficient: "Hello, A, I'm Alexandra Martinis, you can call me Ali."

Girl A did not disrespect someone face to face, and shook hands with Alexandra.

The maid who helped to fasten the seat belt just came over again, confirmed with Simon, and then notified the crew to prepare for takeoff.

While chatting casually with Alexandra, Simon picked up the newspaper that Girl A handed over. This is a French "Western", the national daily with the largest circulation in France. Girl A has already marked it. This newspaper The unimportant but conspicuous current affairs page is a commentary on the Rwandan government's announcement yesterday that it found new evidence of French military involvement in the massacre.

Take a good stand.

The article severely criticized the Rwandan government's accusation as completely groundless slander, and it was a deliberate smear act under the control of some anti-French forces.

The newspaper did not specify which side the so-called 'anti-French forces' were.

A post-it note was posted next to this report, explaining that although "Western News" claims to be neutral, it is actually the mouthpiece of the French government. Simon immediately understood that it was probably like a certain super newspaper in China.

Then there was the French leftist Le Humanité.

Compared with "Western", which deliberately put articles related to events on the lower page, "Humanite" directly put the headlines on the front page, briefly recalling the Rwandan massacre that shocked the world two years ago. At the same time, the article strongly urged France to The government set up a special investigation team to investigate members of the French military who may have been involved in the massacre that year.

The article also criticized the current President Chirac's series of military policies, especially the nuclear test program that has been restarted since he took office last year.

After taking office in June 1995, the French government suddenly announced the resumption of nuclear testing. From September 6 to January 1995, in less than half a year, the French army intensively carried out nuclear tests in the French New Corydonia Islands in the South Pacific. Six consecutive nuclear tests. "Humanite" criticized Chirac's move as possibly provoking a new round of nuclear arms race and bringing the entire human race into an unknown and dangerous situation.

Looking at several other newspapers, the attitudes and positions are basically half to half.

If it is not overwhelming, you can actually imagine the pressure of public opinion that the French government is facing at this time. After all, the crime of participating in the massacre, just like Germany, once it is labeled, it will not get rid of the stain for dozens or hundreds of years, and it will even become a crime. original sin.

Because Chirac, a right-wing politician, came to power, the already disharmonious US-French relations became tense again.

Although Simon's use of Rwanda to attack France was out of personal grievances, it actually coincided with the general trend. This matter would not end with just an article in the "New York Times" yesterday, but until the French government gave Simon an explanation in private.

Or, there may be no confession, but confrontation with each other.

Simon didn't have any scruples about it either.

At that time, the Westeros system will lose some business in France at most, and it will be difficult to determine what France will lose.

A quick glance at a few newspapers showed that the Boeing 767 also took off and stabilized at high altitude.

Simon called a waitress and asked her to take Alexandra to have breakfast, and by the way, he could have a look around in the cabin.Apparently understanding that Simon wanted to discuss work matters with his assistant, Alexandra obediently followed the waitress and left.

Only Simon was left, and then Miss A reported some things that Simon needed to know.

Today it's mostly about movies.

"News came from Los Angeles that Golden Harvest rejected our cooperation plan for "Police Story 4" and switched to Disney. Disney offered a 28% share of the North American box office, which is 5 points more than the share plan we gave. Moreover, he is willing to make more concessions in terms of publicity and follow-up channels. Danny’s last attempt to retain was ineffective yesterday, so he could only send a restriction letter to Golden Harvest, requesting that the film not use the script ideas that the two parties had discussed in the past, let alone criticize The "Rush Hour" series has a parody."

Needless to say, the "Police Story" series.

According to common sense, after the success of the "Rush Hour" series, Jack Cheng should focus his work on Hollywood.However, "Police Story 4" is a cooperative project promised to the old club before the filming of "Rush Hour". With the relationship between Jack Cheng and Golden Harvest, of course we can't break our promise.

After "Rush Hour" exploded in North America, Golden Harvest, which has been trying to break into Hollywood for so many years, of course will not let go of this opportunity. It reworks the already completed script and plans to make "Police Story 4" a hit Hollywood again. International films.

To put it simply, it is to add overseas characters and related story lines, and shoot overseas.

Similar to "Red Fan District".

For the re-planning of the project, first of all, of course, is to choose a Hollywood partner. Daenerys Entertainment's New World Pictures team, which has been working happily with Daenerys Entertainment several times before, is naturally the first choice, and New World Pictures has also responded positively.

However, because of the success of "Rush Hour", Golden Harvest's confidence has been greatly increased, and it has begun to try to fight for more benefits. Especially recently, there have been negative examples such as "Black Man", and Golden Harvest has become more determined.

At least this time, it is impossible to sell off the copyright anyway.

After the re-planning of the project, the box office expectation of the New World Pictures team for "Police Story 4" is relatively optimistic and only about 5000 million U.S. dollars. After all, the project itself has some defects that cannot be fully integrated into Hollywood. Based on the popularity of "Rush Hour".

All in all, it is impossible for New World Pictures to give too outrageous conditions.As a result, it was snatched away by other studios who were eyeing Hollywood, and finally went to Disney.

Overseas films are released in North America. If the producer asks for a share, it is usually only a dozen points, and it is rare to exceed 20%. The standard 55%, and the distribution share charged is generally higher than the Hollywood average.

Although "Police Story 4" is a special project, Golden Harvest does not intend to let outsiders intervene in investment. New World Pictures only does distribution. It is quite generous to offer 23% of the pure share when it promises to announce and distribute all packages. After all, this is a film with a clear Hong Kong film gene, and the risk is not small.

Moreover, if there is not enough profit to drive, why would New World Pictures give you the resources, wouldn't it be better to release its own films?After all, the annual movie schedule and movie resources are limited.

Disney's share ratio seems to be only 5 points higher than that of New World Pictures, but it has made some concessions in terms of publicity and follow-up channels. Even according to the optimistic box office expectation of 5000 million US dollars, there is basically no profit, unless The film was as successful as Rush Hour.

It's just that this kind of probability cannot be said to be absolute, but it is not much higher than the possibility of a certain country's men's football team entering the World Cup.

After the female assistant finished speaking, she looked at Simon.

Simon just nodded to show he knew.

The current state of Disney controlled by Vivendi is similar to that of Sony at the beginning. They are eager to create a situation and launch some high-quality projects, so they don't care so much about profits.

The end is actually predictable.

Seeing that her boss didn't intend to fight any more, girl A continued: "In China, after we sent out the invitation, several Chinese directors responded positively. This is the plan proposed by several directors including Zhang and Chen."

After the launch of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", with the recent success of "Black Man", in order to praise Jeter Lee, Simon plans to simultaneously create several other Chinese films in ancient costumes, including martial arts, war, and fantasy, so he asked the Chinese Some famous directors issued invitations, the core of which is to showcase Chinese culture while catering to the tastes of Western audiences.

Moreover, the planned investment of US$1500 million to US$3000 million is only moderate in Hollywood, so the risk is controllable, but in China, it is an absolutely sky-high investment in this era.Just like "The Opium War" that Director Xie is currently producing, with an investment of 1 million yuan, equivalent to less than 1500 million US dollars, it has already attracted the attention of the whole country.

Of course, Simon is not doing good deeds. Investing in these projects can be said to have multiple purposes.

First of all, it is for making money, and secondly, it can further close the relationship with the Chinese government.Then, these big-budget movies can activate the Chinese film market on the one hand, and on the other hand can alleviate the Chinese film industry’s rebound against the invasion of Hollywood movies.

On the other hand, it can be regarded as a little selfishness of Simon.

Such a large-scale investment can also maximize the use of China's film and television resources. Needless to say, good mountains and rivers can also be used to pull out several divisions of troops to shoot large-scale war movies with shocking scenes. Similar images are very precious. And it can still be used in these years. After the new century, no matter whether it is the East or the West, it will gradually disappear, and only special effects can be used.

Because of "Black Man", Simon's first goal is actually "Hero".

When the movie was first released in China, it was criticized a lot, but it was absolutely successful at the box office.

Moreover, ten or twenty years later, when domestic audiences encountered a large number of bad movies, they discovered how well-made and sincere the blockbusters that were shot to open up the Western market at the beginning of the century were. While the camera and camera images are perfect, even the storyline is actually quite memorable.

The former "Hero" was created by Lao Mouzi after the success of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", and there is no shadow yet.

Simon looked through the ideas provided by several Chinese directors. They were all pretty good ideas, but "Hero" was safer, after all, it had already been proven successful, so he planned to provide some ideas himself and let Lao Mouzi perfect them. Simon is conservative, but he is taking China into consideration.

Daenerys Entertainment can afford to fail, but if the China-specific project fails, many goals will be missed.

While watching the plans of several Chinese directors, Simon signaled Alison to continue.

Girl A went on to say: "Also, in the UK, the tentative name film team has negotiated with Guy Ritchie and Peter Catanneu respectively on "Two Smoking Barrels" and "Six Heroes of Light Pigs". The cooperation agreement and the right to adapt "BJ's Diary" are still being negotiated, but only the last few details are left, so the problem is not too big."

Simon's first stop on this trip to Europe is England.

Some time before departure, Simon asked Daenerys Entertainment UK Branch to collect various popular books or movie scripts here, and finally personally selected "Two Smoking Barrels", "Six Heroes of Light Pigs" and " BJ's Birth Diary" three projects.

In fact, they have already paid attention to it.

During the Sundance Film Festival at the beginning of this year, because of the early discovery of Nolan, Simon also thought of Guy Ritchie, but he has always been used to making certain things more logical, so he chose this trip to Europe. opportunity.

The former "Two Smoking Barrels" was only released in 1998, and the script is now complete.

Guy Ritchie’s experience is somewhat similar to Quentin’s. He worked as a film projectionist and then started shooting short films and MVs. The script "Two Smoking Barrels" is looking for investment.Historically, Guy Ritchie and his partners spent more than a year just to raise funds for the shooting of "Two Smoking Barrels".The film was released in 1998 and became a blockbuster.

Now, Simon cuts off his beard in advance.

In addition, "Six Heroes of Light Pig" is as famous as "Four Weddings and a Funeral", and "Two Smoking Barrels" is a smash at the box office.This low-budget film about several laid-off workers who found another way to become strippers during the economic depression in England was historically produced at a cost of only 200 million pounds, and it has achieved a box office of more than 2.5 million US dollars worldwide. The mainland is the top box office champion in history.

It is also the debut feature film of director Peter Cattanu. This project, which should have been unknown, entered Simon's vision mainly because Robert Carlyle, the star of "Trainspotting", was purchased by Daenerys Entertainment during Sundance this year. The director of "Six Heroes of Light Pig" found Carlisle with the script, hoping that he could participate in the role. Carlisle liked this story very much, and it happened that "Trainspotting" had established contact with the team under Daenerys Entertainment, so he recommended it.

Taken by Simon again.

The last "BJ's Diary", which has been serialized in a British newspaper since last year, just like "Sex and the City" that Daenerys Entertainment has already produced."BJ's Single Diary" in the original time and space was only released in 2001, with a cost of 2500 million US dollars, and a global box office of 2.8 million US dollars, and it was made into a series of movies.

Now that he has encountered it, Simon will naturally not let it go.

In addition to China and the United Kingdom, on the Italian side, Simon also personally finalized two projects during this trip to Europe, a "Sea Pianist" by Giuseppe Tornatore, and a self-proclaimed project by Roberto Bernini. "Life is Beautiful" written, directed and acted in.

Both are classic films that once enjoyed wide popularity all over the world.

In fact, whether it is the layout of China, the United Kingdom or Italy, it is an important part of Simon's new phase of film strategy designed for Daenerys Entertainment, and, in the past few years, Simon has been laying the groundwork for this.

After the establishment of the Hollywood film structure, Daenerys Entertainment will no longer retain its strength from this year, and the three labels will explode.

Similarly, on a global scale, Simon also plans to fully blossom, invest more resources to support filmmakers in various overseas markets to produce excellent films, provide North America with a variety of film sources, and at the same time, it can be directly distributed in related markets, making profits on the one hand. , On the one hand, it can also reduce the hostility and backlash against Hollywood’s invasion in various overseas markets, and at least reduce the resistance to the release of films produced by Daenerys Entertainment in various overseas markets.

For other individuals or companies, this fully blooming plan is actually very difficult to operate.

After all, no one is omniscient enough to be familiar with the film markets around the world. If you do so blindly, you are more likely to lose your money.With the advantage of being a prophet in two lifetimes, Simon happens to be a very special exception.

Chapter 951 Cruel life

Alessandra Martinis just felt like she had suddenly encountered a love affair in the air.

From Milan to New York, an eight-hour flight, except that the man initially handled some work, and then came over, the two chatted, drank, listened to music, she danced for the man, and the other party used a guitar for her impromptu accompaniment, and then enjoyed A sumptuous lunch, everything is so cozy and natural.

After lunch, we had a little discussion and decided to watch a movie.

Obviously considering her language problem, the man carefully selected an Italian movie, Fellini's "La Dolce Vita".

The gorgeousness and noise that go with the flow.

and disillusionment.

At the end of the three-hour film, the lights were not turned on in the small auditorium in the cabin, only the final subtitles shone with some light. Alexandra, who was snuggling next to Simon, leaned close to the man's ear, almost biting his ear : "I've always been curious, what did that little girl say in the end?"

Dancing women often lack body curves, but Alexandra is an exception. She is so stunner that people can't put it down.

Simon hugged the woman beside him and said, "I remember that in an interview with Fellini, he explained that the girl meant that she was willing to learn typing from Marcelo, which corresponds to the conversation between the male protagonist and the two in the small restaurant."

Alexandra put a small hand on the man's big hand swimming on her body, and shook her head slightly: "I don't understand."

Simon asked, "What do you think the movie is about?"

"I just think it's very lively, probably a criticism of the degenerate life of the upper class."

Simon smiled and shook his head: "It is a very superficial cognitive mode to habitually analyze literary and film works with a class standpoint."