The morning in Los Angeles was bright and sunny, and in a medium-sized conference room at the DreamWorks headquarters, everyone was already having a heated discussion on the theme of the meeting.
There were several people attending the meeting today. Gary Goetzman, the CPE project supervisor of the main producer Playtone, and Hanks also joined the meeting by phone; Jeff Mai, the director of the production department of DreamWorks, and the director of the distribution department Te Leigh Price, representing Spielberg's assistant Bao, and several secretarial staff.
With so many big names gathered together, it can be said that they attach great importance to the project of "Little Miss Sunshine", which is nicknamed "Jimmy" internally.
The reason for this nickname comes from "Jimmy the Genius", a 2011 cartoon. The protagonist Jimmy is extremely smart at a young age and makes scientific and technological inventions to save the earth. Here, Jimmy is of course the project's first producer and director Ye Wei, and Jimmy's mechanical dog Gothe is the second producer Peter Heller.
Soon after the meeting started, the conference table was very clearly divided into three factions. The number faction headed by Goetzman, and Jeff Smyi were also in this faction. The two big bosses of the producer both believed that using numbers was not the best, but they The most suitable and stable; the film faction composed of Ye Wei, Price, and Heller felt that if they could do the best, why not do it? With the current fantasy cast, it is not a big deal to jointly invest an additional 1 million.
Regardless of whether there is additional investment or not, and whether the film is used or not, the shooting period cannot be changed. Hanks has to work on "The Da Vinci Code" that will start shooting immediately, and Roberts will not like to go beyond the agreed 9 weeks. Also In all aspects of the schedule and promotion date, more than one day in 9 weeks will not work.
The other is the centrist, Hanks. He listens quietly and doesn¡¯t speak much, but his attitude is crucial, and he tends to the film school
Spielberg's assistant Bao had no objection and would report based on the circumstances of the meeting.
From the beginning when everyone expressed their opinions, the voices of both groups gradually became louder. No one is a bad guy. They all hope that the project can succeed, but they have different ideas about the problem. What is power? Power means being able to make the final decision and resolve these production differences.
"What we are talking about here is a safe range of capabilities. We should stay within the range, rather than risk going out, even if the ground in front of us seems to be full of gold.
As soon as Gozman finished speaking, Ye Wei's voice from the opposite side came up again: "Image metaphor, so doesn't all the differences lie in how big my scope is? Can I do it well?"
Ye Wei paused, and the conference room fell into silence. There was only the slight sound of turning documents and papers. He glanced at the people around the conference table, including Gotzman, who was blushing because of the noise, Smail, and Price, who nodded silently. A silent telephone.
He continued loudly: "Everyone here, there are a few points that no one denies. First, film is a better choice now. No matter what aspect, it is the best choice; second, jointly add an additional one million budget." It¡¯s not a big deal, it¡¯s acceptable to all parties; three, if the director was an experienced director with film shooting, this meeting wouldn¡¯t even exist. All the problem is that I, Ye Wei, a 6-year-old Boy, can you do that, Gary?"
"Yes, kid, this is not against you personally." Goetzman became more and more angry and spread his hands, "Everyone here, no one questions your professional ability, otherwise there would be no such meeting. "
Everyone nodded silently, Hanks also said "Yes", and Goetzman added: "The problem is that we must have a line. We cannot endlessly raise the requirements for you and increase your difficulty. This is not against you. , every project must be like this, do a calm, rational and serious risk management, we are making a movie, not playing a gambling game."
"I agree." Jeff Mai said. He became a KPY figure in a large company in his thirties. This top Stanford student is not a gambler. "The project is already very dangerous now."
Danger? Ye Wei smiled politely, but he laughed out loud if he was not polite. Am I the Texas Chainsaw Massacre? Suddenly an idea came to me, so clear
As he thought, he said: "I completely understand, and I have always been grateful for everyone's trust in me, but gentlemen, this trust does not come out of thin air. This is how things are in the world. To win the trust of others, you have to give something. Gary , Jeff, I have to come up with something this time so that you will feel that you are not in danger. This boy can do it.
¡°In fact, Ye Wei himself knows the answer, and everyone in the conference room also knows that whether you have the ability to speak with facts, your works are the greatest power.
Why there is "Jimmy"? It's because of "Dance of Angels" and "Wedding Day is Coming".
??Gotzman was silent, Smail was silent, and it was Price who was the instigator who said: "Weige, just shoot something with film and prove that you can shoot it."
"That's not okay. It's not okay to just shoot something." Goetzman said immediately. In the end, he was really annoyed by these office politicians. "We never thought that the problem was technical. Weige was not a photographer; the problem was that On the shooting schedule, the problem of time cannot be solved. Once it arises,Who will be responsible for the chain reaction? "
Ye Wei touched his chin and raised his palm, "I'll organize it for you. There will be a time problem when using film. First, the progress cannot be completed in one day, then the schedule starts to become chaotic, and then the material is deleted, the quality deteriorates, and everything is over. This is Your concerns, right?" Gozman and Simai nodded, Ye Wei grinned: "It's a matter of time, it's a matter of time"
Thinking about the idea that the freshman had come up with, he said: "Everyone knows about "Saw", it's very popular recently."
Everyone should be, how could it not know that such a large business miracle, more than 660,000 North American box office, the global box office exceeded 100 million, it is only 200,000 production costs
Ye Wei continued: "I don't know if it's true or not. Anyway, its publicity said that after it was officially launched, it only took 6 days to prepare and 18 days to shoot. It didn't say anything about post-production. Counting it, it only took 18 days." Like? And it's a film exploitation film, I remember it was shot on Panavision, is there any time issue if James Wan directs it?"
"What do you mean?" No matter what faction they were from, everyone was confused.
The so-called exploitation film (ItatPIhm) is not the same as a CULT film or a low-cost B-level film. An exploitation film is a type of exploitation based on a theme. For example, "Wedding Day" is a spoof of exploitation, and "Saw" is a bloody horror exploitation. This type of film has a common feature: low cost and short production cycle, making it a hotbed of CHLT films and commercial miracles.
"I mean, I won't shoot anything casually, and I won't be casual when it comes to movies."
Ye Wei narrowed his eyes and looked around the crowd, "If there is one guy, from the time the script is finalized and the production is started, the pre-production, shooting, and post-production combined will take two days, which is half of the time of "Saw", not much. One day, many days, he made a film exploitation film above the standard. What do you think of it?
Yes, that guy will be my little beauty in the sun. The preparatory work was ahead of schedule. I had plenty of time, so I spent 2 days and paid all my own money to shoot an exploitation feature film on film to prove it to everyone. This guy can do it¡±
There was dead silence in the conference room, and everyone was dumbfounded. Gotzman opened his mouth, wanting to say calm down, but what he said was: "Are you crazy?"