Hollywood Domination Chapter 227: China this line

"Yes, it was indeed an unfortunate accident. You are right, Monroe's two miscarriages have hurt her a lot..." Jenny changed her position on the sofa, responding to the opposite Angie, a middle-aged woman - this is Arthur's more optimistic director candidate. She is a female director who is famous for shooting female subjects. Compared with Salvi, Angie's qualifications are better. In the past ten years, I have made three art films, all of which are based on women's self-discovery and re-understanding. They fit the theme of "Monroe". Jenny has seen her works, and Angie's several films also It can be clearly seen that her thinking and maturity, including the subject of Marilyn, she does have ideas. This is also a director with great potential and talent, but like all art film directors, he is underappreciated and waiting for his own opportunity.

Actually, this can also show how small the British film industry is. After ten years of career change, she is indeed talented, but Angie only has three works-although art films are not so profitable in all parts of the world. Directors of art films often have a poor comparison with their peers, but in Hollywood, they can try to take some more commercial films to maintain their cutting-edge exploration, while in the UK, there are only a few commercial films every year. The impact from Hollywood commercial films was too violent, which directly led to Angie and Salvi trying to find opportunities from Americans to try to transform. If they don’t have the luck to deliver the opportunity to their door, and they don’t have the connections and courage to go to Hollywood, then Their talents may be buried here. And this mechanism has also led to the flow of the best film and television talents in the entire English-speaking world to Hollywood. Even cultural circles with similar languages ​​such as French and Spanish all aim to break into Hollywood. If you have the hope of making a film, if you stay in your home country, you will have to wait for the most vigorous years of creativity and creativity. It takes a few years to make a film, and the speed of progress cannot be compared with that of your peers. The result of being buried.

Angie's personality is more lively and outgoing than Salvi's, and he is not the sensitive and withdrawn type. With Arthur playing the side drum, the conversation must have progressed smoothly. It can be heard that Angie's mental journey towards Monroe is even closer. Interested, she wanted to make "My Week with Monroe" a mode with mostly dialogue scenes, so that Colin, who was not deeply involved in the world, but smart and well-educated, looked back on her bleak past through conversations with Marilyn time and time again. Half a lifetime, discussing the various problems that Monroe encountered on the road to stardom, interspersed with the process of Monroe filming "You Long Xi Feng" in this dialogue, so that the two lines spiral forward, and introduce Monroe and Arthur M. Le's relationship, and even combined the relationship between Colin and his love with the first day when Monroe and Miller broke up--the extramarital affair, and used an artistic perspective to look forward to and hint at Monroe's future, ending with this.

This is also a very valuable idea. If it were not for the time limit, Jenny would also like to talk to Angie for a while, but it is a pity that she will participate in the copyright promotion meeting later, so the conversation only lasted two Unfortunately, it was stopped when they were young. Angie and her agent left the hotel room first, while Arthur stayed and exchanged a few words with Jenny.

"I heard from Salvi that you had a great conversation." Arthur and Jenny shook hands again, then smiled and asked about the meeting between Salvi and Jenny, "If it's not really impossible, I will accompany him to meet you, I have been worried that his shyness will become an obstacle to meeting you."

Although he is concerned about Salvi, in Jenny's feeling, Arthur should think that Salvi is Angie's biggest opponent, or he is "spying on the enemy's situation" for Angie. She looked at Arthur amusedly, "Don't worry, Angie and I had the same conversation. But, Arthur, if you are so optimistic about Angie, why do you still recommend Salvi?"

Arthur also knew that his true intentions had been seen through, he scratched his head, and said frankly with some embarrassment, "Salvi is indeed very talented, but he is still young, and it is too early for him to become famous. It might not be a good thing to say, personally, I am more inclined to Angie, she has waited long enough."

Jenny can also feel Arthur's sincere emotions—his sympathy and appreciation for Angie are very contagious. Jenny can also feel Angie's anguish of being underappreciated and the pain of waiting for the right time, and is inspired. The urge to help her, but this emotional surge was only for a moment, and she quickly regained her composure: after all, she is a producer, not a philanthropist.

"I'll think about it," she told Arthur, "I'll call you as soon as I have a result, but I have to go now, Arthur, keep in touch..."

On the way to the copyright promotion meeting, Jenny has been quite taciturn. She absently browsed the bustling crowds on both sides of the waterway. Calm in the cabin.

"What are you thinking?" Cesare asked, "By the way, Chris and I are likely to have dinner with Ang Lee tonight, he is very interested in Ann's work, so I guess, we will The troops are divided into two groups."

Jenny is scheduled to audition a couple of Colin's cast members tonight, so there's definitely no time for this social dinner. She exhaled and nodded, but did not answer Cesare's words. The latter raised his eyebrows at her in doubt, "what?"

"It's just...I'm already missing Wellington." Jenny sighed, and said honestly, "Don't laugh at me—don't say I've suddenly become weak, but it's true, it's just—I don't You know, Cesare, I may be used to putting on a smiling face in a short period of time, forcing myself to seem congenial to the other party, but I still can't get used to getting from this group of hungry, hungry for success—and It is true that everyone deserves to be successful, choose one, and shut out the rest."

She didn't know how to describe the feeling in her heart, "It's like you pick only one waif in the door on a snowy day and brutally starve the rest-if you know what I mean, it makes me I feel cruel."

"It's not easy for anyone to lay off their own staff for the first time, you just need to get used to it, you are not God, you are not family, it's the simplest working relationship, it's not necessary Too much sentimentality." Cesare snorted and said, he glanced at Jenny, "Don't let Arthur's warmth card sway your judgment, Jefferson, this is just a simple trap that you should have learned to see through earlier."

I don't know why, but when he said this, Jenny felt more relaxed, she smiled and said, "Oh, I'm sorry to disappoint you again, Chesa, but this is women, we are sometimes very Emotional."

Cesare gave her a raised eyebrow, they were all quiet for a while, and then Cesare said, "So, between Angie and Salvi, you still prefer Salvi? "

They have met almost all the director candidates, but they haven't talked about the final choice. Now, Cesare has directly ruled out other candidates besides the two, and Jenny has no intention of denying it. "From the perspective of qualifications, Angie seems to be more suitable...what do you think."

"Both are very talented," Cesare said, and he pondered for a moment, "but I suggest you choose Salvi - the main character of this film is Monroe, and the actress is always directed by the man. It is more beautiful in the lens, and for Monroe, this is even more important.”

"Are you sexist?" Jenny asked with a suppressed smile, but quickly raised her hand and returned to seriousness, "Yes, I understand what you mean, of course actresses can also be seen in female directors' shots. It's beautiful, but that kind of beauty often lacks a bit of sexual tension, and that kind of sexiness is crucial to Monroe."

In fact, she has been unable to choose between Angie and Salvi, and it is also because she cannot feel the spark with Angie. It does not mean that she and Salvi have that kind of sexual tension, or that Angie is not She is a good director, her idea is worthless, but her thinking is more similar to that of Salvi, and she has a faint feeling that Salvi should be better at capturing the sensual side of Monroe, which is exactly what Angie wanted. Where it is lacking.

But on the other hand, Angie has the ability to turn her ideas into reality, which can be confirmed from the films she has made, and it is undoubtedly quite risky to choose Salvi, who has no feature film at all. Well, if Salvi ends up getting out of control and **** up the film's storytelling, even if it's beautiful, it won't save the project.

"I have to think again," Jenny said, "I still have time to think again, ah, are we there? Tell me again, what are we going to do?"

She couldn't help sighing again, and suddenly felt a deep sense of exhaustion: she had had enough of such high-intensity social activities, she missed Wellington and the set, Jenny had never found herself like this Love acting - at this moment, she fully understands how Daniel Day-Lewis feels, she is attending a global film event, but all she wants to do is get away from it all and return to the world of film Go, she doesn't know what she's doing here, what's the point of these things, people like her for her acting, but all they do is try to keep her out of acting.

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"This is Mr. Isao Takai from Japan Toho Co., Ltd., Jennifer. Toho is responsible for the distribution of "The Fifth Sally" in Japan. Toho is responsible for the overseas copyright of "Michael Clayton" Also very interested."

"Hay, Miss Jefferson, I finally have the opportunity to meet you in Venice. I was looking forward to meeting you two years ago..."

"Ah, Miss Jefferson, I've always been your fan..."

"Jennifer, I didn't expect us to meet in Venice, you really should have come to our reception last night—"

Among the three major film festivals in Europe, the Venice Film Festival has always been recognized as the film festival with the highest artistic quality and the lowest commercial quality. , Cannes Film Festival have gradually distanced themselves, perhaps because of this, the current chairman Mark Muller has always spared no effort to enhance the commerciality of the Venice Film Festival. In addition to being optimistic about the vast market of emerging China, the fifth generation, In addition to the sixth-generation director's blue eyes, he also pays great attention to the copyright trade fair of the Venice Film Festival and the degree of connection with Hollywood. The Venice Film Festival, which used to be the world of Europe and Asia, gradually opened its arms to Hollywood, and this is the last film festival during his tenure. The old Muller simply went all out and selected a large number of Hollywood films.

The effect of doing so is also immediate. With the arrival of Hollywood movie stars, journalists and film producers also flock to the copyright fair, which has laid a good foundation for the prosperity of the copyright fair. And he also "does nothing" and invites popular movie stars such as Jennifer and Cate Blanchett, directors with strong commerciality such as John Woo and Johnnie To to come forward to the trade fair platform, and even the chairman of the jury Zhang Yimou, members The presence of Fossen Ozpatt and others in person made the trade fair lively. In addition to the promotional booths of various films in the exhibition that were crowded with film producers, many practitioners also rushed to the reception venue in the center of the exhibition. Talk to the movie stars and directors they usually like and admire very much. In this regard, their mood is actually no different from that of ordinary movie fans. Of course, in order to sell copyrights, most of these big names who brought their own films to the exhibition also greeted people with smiles, and did their best to help film producers recover their costs and make profits.

This kind of international exhibition is also very distinctive. Most of the exhibitors have translators with them. Baba's English is difficult for greetings and communication - the existence of a large number of translators also makes the exhibition much more crowded than the exhibitions of domestic film festivals such as the Sundance Film Festival.

This kind of crowding can sometimes become a problem. At the beginning, Jenny was accompanied by Cesare, Mary and the interpreter, but later, Cesare and the interpreter did not know where they were scattered. The last one to get lost was Mary, and she was stuck in a corner, bombed by the Japanese, Koreans, and even Cate Blanchett in turn, either to exchange pleasantries or reminisce about the old days, and she couldn't escape to find someone. As a result, when Mark Muller, the chairman of the Venice Film Festival, came to greet her, the two could only communicate through the translator next to Mueller. The translator's English had a strong Italian accent, and Jenny could hardly understand it. , I had no choice but to show a smiling face, and while trying to save the atmosphere of the conversation, I prayed in my heart that such an inefficient call would not affect the journey of "Michael Clayton" in Venice.

"Ah, it's Miss Jefferson—" Just as Jenny was about to find Mary and leave early, someone shouted in surprise, followed by the Chinese she was very familiar with, "Ms. Zhang, she's here! Come, come, come to you—"

After staying in the western world for a long time, I suddenly heard this Chinese with a slight local accent. It would be a lie to say that Jenny didn’t feel any emotion. It's easy to explain, she never revealed that she can speak Chinese, and of course she didn't mention her understanding of the mainland. In some past exchanges with Chinese Americans, she has never spoken Chinese, so even if she is facing compatriots in her previous life, she still has to speak English with them...

"Mr. Zhang." Seeing a young man in his thirties pulling a middle-aged man with a thin face and an unremarkable appearance from the crowd, Jenny, who was about to turn around and leave, also stopped She walked forward a few steps in surprise, held Zhang Yimou's hand, half unconsciously, half intuitively said back in Chinese, "I didn't expect you to come too."

At this moment, both Zhang Yimou and the young man were obviously stunned, and Jenny also realized her mistake, but she hesitated for a while, and continued to say, "I rarely practice this Language, I hope my pronunciation is standard enough—"

"Your pronunciation is very standard." Director Zhang quickly came back to his senses, and he replied a sentence of Mandarin in a correct manner, and his tone was deliberately slowed down to take care of Jenny's "hearing problem". Showing the demeanor of an international director, he shook hands with Jenny, "But we were all very surprised because we didn't know you could speak Chinese before."

Jenny is not in a hurry to leave now, she pulls Director Zhang and the young people, and explains as she walks, "Because the level is not very good, so there is no 'show off' at the opening reception—"

"No, no, no, you're very good," the young man said hastily. He looked at Jenny like a dream, as if he saw an almighty superman. "Ah, I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Xiaohan from China Film Import and Export Corporation——I've always been your fan!"

The three of them quickly found a relatively secluded corner, and Jenny also flirted with Director Zhang who showed his face at the opening ceremony and then left first, "I'm here in Venice this time, I really want to see you It was Mr. Zhang who arrived, and I have been your fan since "Raise the Red Lantern", and I have never missed "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers."

No one doesn't like to be praised, and no one doesn't like to be praised so thoughtfully in Chinese by the Oscar queen. Director Zhang's cheeks also flushed slightly. Also your fan——"

"You're being too polite." Jenny laughed, and Director Zhang said at the same time, "I'm definitely not being polite. Xiao Han, you can prove it. I only saw your performance last night."

"Yes, yes, I can prove that Teacher Zhang called me in the middle of the night and woke me up, and took your disc of "The Fifth Sally" to watch." Xiao Han was already excited His cheeks were flushed, and he couldn't stop confiding, "I'm really ashamed of you, we bought the copyright of this film, but it has been unable to be released, and the radio and television can't get through, but now Mr. Zhang If you read it, it will be fine—"

Director Zhang touched Xiao Han to stop his 'nonsense', and Jenny couldn't help but smile: What's wrong with this, "The Fifth Sally" was bought out to China Film Corporation , It's not that they didn't give money.

However, Xiao Han's words actually exposed the reason why she continued to speak Chinese. Now in 2007, the mainland film market is basically a barren land for Hollywood. What a terrible explosive growth can be ushered in. Except for the United States, there are only a handful of countries that can provide films with a box office of more than 100 million or even 200 million overseas. Hollywood has traditionally had the largest box office overseas, and the box office of imported films is also There are very few over 100 million dollars, but in 2014, "Transformers 4" directly stole 300 million US dollars at the box office in the mainland, which is already more than the mainland... It is up to which company can win in this fertile market. In addition to the quality of the film itself, there is one more important thing about Laotilao - that is a word with Chinese characteristics: guanxi.

Yes, in China, whether an imported film can pass the review, whether it can be deleted, and how it can be scheduled are very flexible. The most typical incident is "Titanic". The reason why this blockbuster film can be imported In China, and without abridged screening, people all over the country saw Ruth's **** body and that euphemistic bed scene. In an era when folk customs were still very conservative, audiences could see shots that they couldn't even see in movie theaters in 2014. Since the Chinese film market began to recover, the scheduling of imported films has been an eternal battle for foreign manufacturers. The competition is whether your company’s relationship can survive the domestic films released at the same time. . The word relationship is very mysterious to foreigners, and there are many accidental factors. For example, Nicolas Cage has released a lot of films in China. It is said that this is because someone in the General Administration is his fan. As for Jenny's previous doubts, the fact that "Pirate 2" can be released simultaneously in China seems to have been answered: "The Fifth Sally" may not be able to be released because of the sensitive subject matter, but Xiao Han must be in "Pirate 2" played a very strong subjective initiative, so it was promoted to avoid harmony and was successfully released. Otherwise, maybe it really has to wait for Disney to start buying land in Shanghai before it can establish a relationship. "Pirate 3" to strive for release.

Yes, in fact, among the big six in Hollywood, Disney’s relationship is still very solid, much better than Sony and Warner, blockbusters can monopolize a good schedule, and will not be squeezed out by domestic films released at the same time and delayed. But for Jenny, if she can give full play to her advantage of being able to speak Chinese and hold a solid Chinese network, then this will of course be extremely beneficial to the development of Dameng. And among the contacts she can get in touch with, which one can compare with Director Zhang? Didn’t you hear what Xiao Han said, since Mr. Zhang has watched "The Fifth Sally" (and agreed, or according to Jenny’s imagination, he believes that it can be released), then with the cooperation of some people, it will definitely not be released. problem.

This is not to say that Director Zhang is a big crocodile in the entertainment industry or a black and evil force. His status can be understood by just looking at it-over the years, as long as he has a new work, he can get it in the mainland. The number of best foreign language films, it can be seen that it is indeed considered as the face of contemporary directors in the leadership. And it is true that he was nominated for the best foreign language film first with his talent, and then relied on the accumulation of works one after another to get to his present position today.

In this position, the characters and levels he can come into contact with are beyond the expectations of foreign companies such as Disney, and the energy of his team within the "system. Many unsatisfactory relationships that are paved with money are just a matter of phone calls for him. If he can gain his favor and build up this relationship, then of course it will benefit endlessly for Dameng. The Twilight Saga may not only be able to enter the door in the form of batches, but can occupy the share quota and be introduced simultaneously. Of course, Jenny doesn't expect to win Director Zhang's support by relying solely on goodwill, but at this point, she is not without benefits that can be exchanged-in short, it is easy to talk about making friends first, and then how to operate afterwards.

Although there is almost no possibility of cooperation between the two, Director Zhang really appreciates Jenny's performance, and it can't be said that Jenny doesn't know him well. Favorable and optimistic, "The next ten years will definitely be China's ten years. I am very looking forward to next year's Olympic Games, especially the opening ceremony directed by you——"

"Then, on behalf of our host—this, on behalf of our hospitable host, I extend an invitation to you," Director Zhang also laughed, and took care to avoid using words that are too literal, lest Jenny can't understand , "Please come and watch our opening ceremony."

"That's great, Mr. Zhang, you are not joking." Jenny immediately settled the matter, "Do you have a phone or email?"

Mr. Zhang’s cell phone is often turned off, and he is not very good at using e-mail, but Xiao Han has it. He also hugged Mr. Zhang’s thigh with a wink, “If it is inconvenient to call, you can contact me through me. That's it, here is my business card, I will write you a private mailbox..."

After setting this appointment, Jenny has no choice but to go, she is already late now. "I'm very sorry, I should have stayed a little longer, but we have something to do - it's too bad we can't talk for a while, I have to go back to New Zealand tomorrow, maybe we can only meet next year, if you really give me If you leave a ticket—"

"Ah, let's go now?" Director Zhang was obviously taken aback, and he also felt a little regretful, "But, this——"

Jenny blinked, not understanding Director Zhang's meaning, but Director Zhang obviously hesitated, looked left and right, and then took a step forward, getting closer than when the two had an intimate conversation before, Said in a low voice, "If you can come, you should come as much as possible!"

After saying this, Director Zhang backed away, greeted Xiao Han who seemed to have heard something, greeted Jenny with a face full of articles, turned around and disappeared into the crowded crowd. Jenny stood there, watching his figure being submerged by the crowd, and her mind was full of distracting thoughts: Although she admired the French party very much, she never thought that she could win the honor of Venice Best Actress, and this award hardly belonged to her in her heart. Americans, but—

Could it be...