Hollywood Domination Chapter 250: Pass the torch
Sidney actually let her speak first!
Whether it was on the scene or in front of the TV, many insiders were shocked by Sidney Pollack's actions-this fact is even better than "Michael Clayton" winning the best picture It is even more surprising. After all, the best picture is actually a matter of choosing one of three, or even one of two. "Atonement" and "Juno" are obviously just accompanying runners. It is hard to say how much competition there is for "There Will Be Blood" It is not so difficult to understand that "Michael Clayton" won in the end when the style of "No Country for Old Men" is obviously biased towards black and gloomy. And Sidney Pollack, a major producer, gave up the first chance to speak to Jennifer Jefferson. The probability of this is far less than one in five, or even less than one percent. Not too much.
Don't look at the producer's job as easy and lucrative, but it doesn't mean that there is no competition within the industry, and even a film's producer will have internal disputes: Generally speaking, when reporting awards , the Best Picture column does not report more than three producers, and usually two. So how to determine these three places is a lot to say. ——The director often has to take one. If there are enough big names, such as "No Country for Old Men", the Coen Brothers will take two places. And when "Chicago" won the best film, the two producers who actually won the trophy had nothing to do with Rob. This is also because this is Rob's first film, and he has almost nothing in this regard. The right to speak.
Tony Gilroy is in a similar situation to Rob in this regard, and this is his first movie, so although his name is in the producer column, he is not the same as George Clooney, Steve Like Vin Soderbergh, neither was one of the three producers to declare for the award. This doesn't mean they haven't done the job of a producer, it just means they've fallen short in the power struggle. ——Although there is no explanation in a few words, for those who are knowledgeable, they can see what these three places represent at a glance.
Sidney Pollack, the star of this movie, although he may not have done much actual trivial work, but the most basic connection between investors and directors, including the big trend of the movie, the main actors The solicitation was done by him, so there is no problem for him to be named the first at all. Of course, this is also a Hollywood practice. Big producers can get a lot of money by calling. Can also be ranked first.
Kerry Orent, this should be the production director who is really in charge of trivial matters, and also the representative of Warner, the largest investor. For those who know more about the inside story, Kerry's name is very frequently linked to Warner Together, this is enough to show his attributes, and being able to get this spot also shows that he has a deep background in Warner, so he was not blacked out by the executives in charge of Warner's docking.
Jennifer Jefferson, she is probably not in charge of the film at all, after all, she was originally an executive producer in the credits list of imdb - this position is for related parties, actors, directors What we prepared was only because Jennifer funded and participated in the role, and because of her strong background, she was awarded the title of producer in the later stage of the movie, and now she has blocked the third place abruptly, or it may be the film producer. Originally only intending to apply for Sidney and Kerry, she insisted on participating and asked for a chance to be on stage. After all, she is only Ottie this year, and her chances of winning the award are very slim. As the hero of the film, it is not surprising that she wants this opportunity, and it is even less surprising that Warner followed her wishes, Steven Soderbergh He is George Clooney's best friend. After George quits, he will also fade out. These two people will definitely not be able to compete with Jennifer in this film, and "Michael Clayton" has sold over 100 million dollars worldwide. For an Austrian film, this achievement is too eye-catching, coupled with the subsequent copyright, it is a huge profit, and even for those who hate Jennifer Jefferson, it is difficult to say that the profit of this film Size has little to do with her.
However, when Sidney Pollack pulled Jennifer to the microphone, people almost instinctively changed their minds immediately: Although the Oscars did not expressly stipulate that the winners must speak according to their positions, but in the workplace Unspoken rules are common rules all over the world. At this moment, whoever speaks first will be the big producer of "Michael Clayton", or to put it bluntly, whoever is the key person who really won this award! As for the remaining two people, the sharing is nothing more than some marginal halos. Since then, everyone in the industry knows who should be attributed to the success of this film.
In this case, there is no hypocritical gentlemanly demeanor, and the big producer wants to be the first to speak, so this matter can be viewed in two layers. On the first layer, Sidney Pollack is obviously Supporting Jennifer Jefferson, because Jennifer is a latecomer, this can be felt by recalling the order of the news. When she joined, in fact, more than half of the work of the major producers had been completed; the second layer , Jennifer Jefferson must have played a great role at the production level, allowing Sidney to see her potential. Ni, I won't do that either...
It seems that the rumors in the industry, even the stories mentioned in some interviews with Daniel, are not needed for publicity. The crew really relied on Jennifer to invite the great Buddha of Daniel Day-Lewis...
Jerry Bruckheimer, Scott Rudin, Katherine Kennedy... These gold medal producers are either on the scene, or in front of the TV, or have watched the whole show, or some They just turned on the TV absently, but at this moment, they all squinted their eyes and looked at Jennifer Jefferson with a new look—of course, they were very familiar with her before today, this A girl is like a walking human-shaped money printing machine. She has never missed a movie, and it explodes wherever she goes. However, before that, even the people who are most optimistic about her did not expect that she was only 27 years old In the past 7 years, she has already had such excellent production ability, and she has even been appreciated by Sidney Pollack, a great director and producer, and she is a bit like being appointed by him as his successor...
Leonardo is a big star who became famous very early. Where was he when he debuted for 7 years? "Total Love" and "Romeo and Juliet" have just been released, and the blockbuster "Titanic" is still in production. Even after "Titanic" exploded 7 years ago, he in 2004 has just gotten Thanks to Martin Scorsese, he began to be named producer in blockbuster films, but even so, everyone can be sure that he has never really done the work of a producer, at least until now, he has not yet this ability. And what about Jennifer Jefferson? She became popular in "Pirates of the Caribbean" in 2003, and now, 5 years later, she is already the producer of the Otti film...
It's not that Leonardo's pace is too slow, but that Jennifer Jefferson is walking too fast! So much so that people can only compare Leonardo with her—if there is no special reason, such as self-financing, the theme is a female film, female stars even rarely have the opportunity to be named as a producer, and Jennifer Jay What about Fossen? After she became famous, except for "Pirates of the Caribbean", she almost always had the title of producer, rather than a dry executive producer. This girl's ambition, ability and background have been fully revealed from this point of view, but people are too lax, until today she stands on the Oscar stage and presents herself as one of the major producers of "Michael Clayton" , and even when the identity of the chief producer was revealed, they suddenly realized that they still underestimated her!
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"Sidney——" At this moment, of course, Jenny couldn't care less about guessing the thoughts of the bystanders. The time for receiving the award was very limited, and she couldn't allow her to think too much, so she could only act according to her instinct. She left took off the microphone, not letting his voice be heard in front of the public, and even begged and said to Sidney Pollack with some unease, "You don't have to—"
Sidney shook his head, and Jenny could tell that he was not reluctant, "Don't waste your time, Jennifer, you deserve it."
Kerry Orlent on the side also echoed without any psychological burden, "j.j, go, it'sok."——Anyway, he has to be the third child, and he can go on stage to receive the award. It made him very satisfied, which meant that his qualifications had reached a new level.
Although this is the last grand prize, the time for speeches should be relaxed, but there is no room for three people to chatter on the stage and be polite. Jenny barely suppressed her excitement, turned around and stood in front of the microphone, She looked at the dark heads of people under the stage, as well as the camera equipment that was dispatched back and forth-the well-dressed staff in front of and behind the stage, and her mind suddenly fell into a brief blank: Compared with the last time she stood in front of the stage, this time She was even more prepared. When she won the best supporting actress last time, she didn't even prepare for the acceptance speech. Today, when "Michael Clayton" is likely to win the best movie, She'd gotten Judy to write her an acceptance speech anyway...but now, when she was shoved in front of Sidney, that decent acceptance speech seemed to be overwhelmed by the surging emotion in her. As if gone, has disappeared without a trace, she can't even remember a single word.
"Wow," there was silence for two seconds, and after she collected her thoughts, Jenny almost instinctively said a little joke, "Honestly speaking, when I took away two trophies on this stage two years ago, I never expected to be on stage to accept the award in such a short period of time, so if I am incoherent now, don't laugh at me, because I am not like Joel Coen and Ethan Coen just now, who are still in the audience. I kept holding an inscription card and muttering."
Her words aroused laughter in the audience. Although the Coen Brothers were not present and went to the backstage for an interview after the best movie results came out, all the crew members of "No Country for Old Men" laughed happily : Jenny's words are also a compliment in addition to being humorous, referring to the Coen Brothers' great confidence in this award.
"There are so many people I have to thank for this, Daniel, thank you for trusting me," Jenny continued, "Oh sorry, I should have thanked the Academy first - thank you for this award."
The laughter grew louder, the applause of good intentions rang out, and people could see that: Jennifer Jefferson was really unprepared, and this time, perhaps moved by Sidney Pollack, she had some Emotional.
"Then Daniel, thank you for giving us a chance. When I went to Scotland to meet you, I just wanted to try my best and leave no regrets. It was you who made this happen today." Speaking of where, "It feels even better to see you win an award than to win an award myself. Of course, it would be great if the two happened at the same time, but it's also very good now."
Amidst the roar of laughter, she continued, "And Tom Wilkinson, your performance is outstanding, Tony Gilroy, your talented director made this happen, George Clooney, thank you Support and love, Steven Soderbergh, Anthony Minghella, James Holt, thank you, and the staff of Time Warner, Smoke House and Big Dream, my agent Cesare, pr Judy, Jim, Mary, I’m sorry that I really can’t think of too many names now, maybe I’m really the same as what the media reported, and I need to go to a mental hospital to fix my head.”
Her nature cannot be said to be very funny, and most of the small humor in front of the media was arranged in advance. Tonight, she performed exceptionally well, and she laughed again and again, and Jenny laughed a few times, and then turned serious. "And most importantly, Sidney Pollack."
She looked back at Sidney, the old man smiled and waved his hands, looking a little shy, Jenny continued, "I don't know how to express my thanks to you, Sidney, you are so Supporting me in every way - **** I don't know what to say, without you there would be no 'Michael Crichton' today, not even a new movie I'm working on, Sidney, very Thank you."
She left the microphone and hugged Sidney tightly, then turned around again. She looked at the thousands of smiling faces off the stage. At this moment, Jenny felt a sense of accomplishment like a mountain roaring and a tsunami—— Happiness, her indescribable feeling, filled her heart to the brim, and made her feel warm and sore at the same time—at this moment, she felt her connection with the world, just like that day in the middle of the night The big dream, the infinite expansion of the connection she felt during the communication with Cesare, all the sacrifices were rewarded in this instant, and all the melancholy, hesitation, and wandering disappeared without a trace——
“Finally, I would like to say that being an actress is not easy, being a female producer is the same, being a celebrity is a lot of unimaginable burdens, my career has had many painful side effects , like I just said, people pay too much attention to your private life, the film making process is full of pain, but the film itself compensates for everything, when we make good movies, when our efforts are recognized, our Movies change the world, even a little bit—and all the pain is worth it.” She held back her tears and held up the statuette, “Movies changed everything about me, and I think I am very lucky to be chosen! Thank you everyone!"
Amid the thunderous applause from the audience, she stepped aside, trying to suppress her emotions, everything became blurred in tears, Daniel, Tom and Tony walked up to her and hugged her, Sidney and Terry's speech, amid the thanks and cheers of all crew members, the ceremony came to an end, and the crew went to the backstage for interviews, and of course there was the afterparty held by "Vanity Fair"——
"Sidney," when Jenny came to her senses, they were already standing near the photo board, waiting for the "No Country for Old Men" group photo to end, and she didn't even know that she said it in the interview just now What - at this moment, Jenny didn't care, she seized the gap and said earnestly to Sidney Pollack, "I really don't know what to say -"
She was very aware of how much sacrifice Sidney had made just now. Her speech was the first one, occupying most of the time. The speeches of Sidney and Kerry became less attractive in comparison. It's eye-catching, and what he did was not only ceding the home court to her, but it can even be said that he ceded the position of the number one hero in the production of "Michael Clayton" to Jenny.
"You earned it." Sidney patted Jenny's shoulder reassuringly, maybe seeing Jenny's emotional ups and downs, he became a little serious, "Listen, I'm not doing charity , this film would not have won this award without you and Daniel's performances, we would have lost out to No Country for Old Men, and would not even have won a statuette - without you, there would be no Daniel, this award It belongs to you, there is no doubt about it.”
Kerry also nodded, and even Tony smiled and said, "Of course, Sidney is right, you deserve it."
"No Country for Old Men" left the photo board, and the crew of "Michael Clayton" walked over one after another, but Jenny didn't move. She said, "But, after all, you are a big producer——"
Sidney laughed, "Oh, don't say that—"
He hugged Jenny's shoulders, and while moving towards the photo board, he said in a chatty tone, "I know, you are very touched, and you don't even know how to repay this kindness - I completely understand your feelings, Do you know why?"
Jenny shook her head honestly.
"Because forty years ago, when I first tried to make a movie, I also got help from a lot of seniors," Sidney said, "Frankheimer, Jane Fonda, Barbra Streisand, I started with nothing, John Frankheimer gave me opportunity after opportunity, and I ended up directing, and he never asked for anything - and I I have the same question as you, I don't know how to thank him, you know, now I understand his mood, John doesn't need anything in return, can pave the way for young people, watch him or her put his or her talents Contributing to a cause we all love deeply is the best reward in itself.”
"This is my fourth Oscar," Sidney's voice was ambiguous with the characteristics of the elderly, "I guess this is my last one too, the doctors are talking about my metastases, I can't Going to the party, I have to go home and rest, I've drained my energy from being present tonight, you know what I need, Jennifer? I want you in my movie while we're making this movie In my next work, I want to watch a talented actor burn himself in my camera again, but now, I can no longer think like this, time does not allow me to think like this.”
He shook his head, narrowed his cloudy eyes, and looked at Jenny with a smile—this was the first time Sidney mentioned his physical condition to her. As far as she knew, he had never The matter was not mentioned to the media. "At my last Oscar, it's not me I want to see, this old man with few days leading the show, no, Jennifer, I want to see you, young you, representing the future You, take my place in the halls of cinema. You are a gifted actress, the most gifted actress I have ever seen - and the most ambitious female producer, I would love to see you I want to know where you are going and what kind of movie you can make. I am very curious about it. If I can help you a little bit, I will. For me, It doesn't make any sense anymore, but I know it can help you - so I do it, it's the optimal allocation of resources. No burden, no sacrifice, you don't need to give back, if you want to give back, So give me your movie and show me where you can go, what a great movie you can make, does it touch people? does it go down in history? is it a good movie?"
Sidney suddenly felt a little emotional, his speech speed became faster, and his tone became agitated, "I know, after living in Hollywood for a long time, all this sounds unbelievable, I mean, as a producer After working in the industry for a long time, you will find it hard to believe this, just like I did when I was young. You don't believe that in this industry full of games, calculations, power struggles, money and even blood, who else would do it for the sake of Your talent helps you, without even thinking about asking for something in return—but it’s true: in the end, you’ll find that it’s the movies that matter.”
He sighed. At this moment, Sidney looked older and tired than ever before, yet he was so calm and content.
——he murmured, "In the end you will understand that all you care about is the movie."
"Jennifer—" Judy's voice came from not far away, "Sidney—can you come here?"
Before the photo board, the crew members seemed to have been waiting for a while. Without her and Sidney, the family portrait could not be completed. Sidney extended his hand to Jenny and asked her to support his weak Footsteps, led her to the spotlight.