Chapter 508: Just Say What You Want to Say

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ps: This is Chapter 507, I accidentally typed the wrong chapter number.

"Aren't you planning to attend this year's Golden Globe Awards?" Watching The Hollywood Reporter's analysis of the nominees for the 50th Golden Globe Awards, Elizabeth sat at the dining table with her long legs crossed, a little gloating. asked.

There are no technical awards at the Golden Globe Awards, but Eric's "Tornado" last year only has the strength to win awards in terms of sound and special effects.

"Let's look at the mood," Eric pushed aside the newspaper he had read, picked up the milk in front of him and slowly drank it.

Although "Tornado" did not receive any nominations, the Golden Globe Awards dinner still sent an invitation letter to Eric, but Eric has not yet decided whether to go or not. He has to abide by the rules of the awards ceremony, and with his current influence, he must be 'taken care' of by the camera very frequently, and smirking for two hours with the atmosphere of the scene is actually very tiring.

Elizabeth also knew that Eric's attitude towards the Golden Globes and Oscars was not too enthusiastic. She put down the "Hollywood Reporter" and casually took another copy from the newspaper that Eric was at hand and opened it, while reading the headlines in the entertainment section. , while asking: "Then you really don't plan to fight for the Oscars in the future?"

"Spielberg has become a first-line director from 1975's "Jaws", but until now, after so many nominations, those old men don't (willing to give him a golden man for best director, since they are holding it, so do I There's no need to post it on purpose."

"Speaking of which, Spielberg will definitely be able to get the golden statue in "Schindler's List" this time, right?"

"Of course. His biggest competitor this year is Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven. But Unforgiven is a Western. And Schindler's List is a biopic, not to mention the story of the year. The history of the Jewish Holocaust, with the influence of Jews in Hollywood, in any case "Unforgiven" is no match for "Schindler's List". The reason why "Ben-Hur" was able to set the record for the number of Oscar nominations and awards back then was mainly because Or is it just praising the Jews," Eric said, and suddenly stopped: "Hello. Liz, is your family Jewish?"

Elizabeth bent her mouth and shook her head jokingly: "No, so whatever you want to say, just say it, I won't expose your racism."

Eric breathed a sigh of relief, and after a moment of self-reflection, he still hadn't fully integrated into this world, and was a little too casual about the topic of race. Americans are very sensitive to racial discrimination, and even legislated specifically for this, and now it's only okay for two people's private occasions. If you are in a public place, or you are just doing a Jew across from you. Some of his words just now will definitely arouse suspicion and disgust in the other party.

Although Americans like to laugh at themselves very much, the ridicule involving race is a minefield that will explode if you are not careful. Compared with the disadvantaged black people, the reaction of Jews to racial discrimination will be more intense. Mel. Gibson's unfortunate experience can illustrate this point.

Elizabeth saw that Eric was suddenly quiet and stopped talking about what happened just now. Compared with Eric, Elizabeth, who has lived in the United States for many years, is like ordinary Americans, and rarely brings up the topic of race.

Americans have always been silent about racism.

After a leisurely breakfast, Elizabeth saw that Eric was not in a hurry to go to work, so she brought up another piece of news she had just read in the newspaper: "The contract for sale signed by Paramount and Viacom. The contract was declared void by the Los Angeles Superior Court, and he also made his first offer, $7.8 billion.

That's so much more than you bought Disney last year, so the deal will be over soon, right? "

"No, the global box office total of Hollywood movies rose by a full 15% last year, and the next few years will certainly maintain a similar high growth rate. If I hadn't won Disney last year with a high premium, the $6.5 billion this year would certainly also be Can't get it. Although Martin Davis is not very good at running a film company, as a shrewd businessman, he can definitely see that since Paramount can't keep it, the longer the deal drags on him more beneficial.”

Listening to Eric's words, Elizabeth suddenly remembered what happened last year, and said, "When you were filming "Jurassic Park" last year, didn't Martin Davis go to Kauai? Why didn't you go to Kauai? Mix it up with this matter, didn't Redstone bring you a lot of trouble when you bought Disney?"

"This is a very interesting topic," Eric laughed. "For example, you are racing on the track with a group of other people, and if you are already ahead, you will stop and set some for the opponent who is behind. Obstacles, or continue to run and throw your opponents farther?"

"Of course, keep running," Elizabeth said without hesitation. "But I feel that these are two different things. You definitely won't benefit by stopping and setting obstacles for your opponent, but working with Paramount is definitely different."

"In the Japanese acquisitions of Columbia and Universal, Firefly cooperated with them because in that case, both Columbia and Universal would give a higher share, but Firefly itself was not strong enough at that time. But now if I have a good idea, I can use Firefly's own channels to absorb all the benefits. There is no need to give Paramount a part of the benefits just to set up a little obstacle for Viacom. , the Japanese are outsiders, not too familiar with the operation mechanism of Hollywood. Seeing that the film company's film sales have boosted the stock price, they can only pay honestly. Viacom is different. I have been involved in Hollywood before, and I am very familiar with the rules of the game.”

After Eric finished speaking, he smiled when he saw Elizabeth's thoughtful look, got up and cleaned up the tableware briefly, and asked, "I'll go to Playa Vista later, how about you?"

Elizabeth came back to her senses and said, "I'll go back to Beverly Hills first."

...

The digital realm special effects center at Firefly Studios.

Although a large number of model special effects were used in the shooting of "Jurassic Park", the special effects engineers in the digital field have never given up the research and development of computer CG special effects technology. After nearly a year of technical research. The dinosaur footage that needs to be produced using digital special effects has reached a level that is difficult to distinguish between true and false.

Because of enough time. Eric has not urged the digital field to speed up the production progress. This kind of meticulous attitude has made the post-production work of "Jurassic Park" only 70% completed, and it will take at least two months. time to complete the film.

Eric and Stan Winston checked the progress of the work some time ago, and watched a scene of a Tyrannosaurus rex roaring in the sky several times. Stan Winston's face was full of excitement and pride, even two years ago. , he dared not imagine that one day he would have the opportunity to make such a realistic lens of ancient behemoths.

"Eric, you're really not going to put a Jurassic Park trailer at this year's Super Bowl. I think it's going to surprise the world if this behemoth makes it to the Super Bowl. ?" Stan Winston skillfully operated the computer in front of him, turned his head and asked Eric who was sitting next to him.

Eric was discussing some details of the shots with a special effects artist when he heard Stan Winston ask, and said, "That's why I don't want to release the trailer so early, let the images of dinosaurs be revealed in advance. , the movie will be officially released in the future, and the degree of surprise will definitely be reduced."

"But even if the Super Bowl doesn't show trailers. There's always a trailer for a movie before it's released, right?"

Eric replied confidently: "The propaganda department has made a corresponding plan. When making a trailer in the future, it will be based on Professor Hadmond's explanation. Using appropriate suspense methods, the figure of the dinosaur will appear, but the There will be no full picture.”

"This is indeed a good method. By the way, the later stage of "The Clash of Heaven and Earth" has been completed. Do you want to take a look first?"

"Okay," Eric agreed, and the two walked to another workspace in the digital realm.

After repeated revisions to the script of "The Clash of Heaven and Earth", the scandalous plot was removed, and the depiction of human nature at the time of disaster was added. At the same time, with the strong technical support in the digital field, Roland Emmerich boldly added special effects scenes , This series of changes not only makes the plot of the film more compact, but also the special effects scenes that have been produced are more shocking than the original version in Eric's memory.

"After this summer, Hollywood will completely enter the era of special effects movies," Stan Winston couldn't help but sigh when he found a vacant seat in the rest area of ​​the studio and just sat down.

If "Terminator 2" and "Tornado" in the previous two years were just a glimpse of the huge potential of special effects movies, the two consecutive "Jurassic Park" and "Clash of Earth" this summer will only be able to hit the box office. Great success, then Hollywood will fully realize the huge commercial prospects of special effects movies.

Eric and Roland Emmerich sat down on the other two sides, Eric said with a smile, "In this case, the digital field will definitely expand again."

"Then the studio can't be installed now," Stan Winston pointed to the completed Firefly Studios outside the glass window.

Roland Emmerich said to Eric: "I heard that some of the unused land around was bought by Firefly. Why not build a company campus in the digital field?"

At the beginning, Firefly bought a full 100 hectares of land in Playa Vista, and it took only one third to build Firefly Studios. With the development of Firefly Studios and the surrounding environment, in order to work in the studios Thousands of employees and their families provide a stable living environment, and another third will be used to build the Playa Vista community, which will be leased and sold to these people, and the remaining third will be temporarily used by Firefly. Keep it as a backup.

But while the digital space is sure to expand the company again, Eric is hesitant to build a company campus dedicated to the digital space in Los Angeles. Because the tax rates and labor costs are different in each state in the United States, as one of the states with the strongest economy in the United States, California’s tax rate and labor costs are undoubtedly very high, although it is currently the top special effects company in Hollywood. One, the profitability of the digital field is very strong, but Eric has to think about the era when special effects companies are co-existing in the future. The biggest magic weapon for special effects companies to survive after ten years is to move to other states with low tax rates or even abroad. go.

Eric briefly explained his concerns to Stan Winston. Stan Winston thought for a moment and said, "If this is the case, we'd better be able to make arrangements in advance and choose suitable ones in other states. By establishing a branch in the local area and recruiting employees from the local area to participate in training in Los Angeles, such measures to increase local employment can win us more tax benefits.”

Eric thought for a while, and said, "Don't worry too much. After this summer, let's see how the two movies react."

Roland Emmerich smiled and said, "Eric, don't you have confidence in your "Jurassic Park"? I have seen some scenes, and it can be described as shocking."

"Of course not, I'm just worried about not meeting my original psychological expectations."

Stan Winston was also interested and asked curiously, "What do you think the box office of "Jurassic Park" should be?"

Eric's hands on the table were raised at the same time, and ten fingers were opened towards the two of them.

"One billion dollars?" Stan Winston lowered his voice subconsciously and asked cautiously, Roland Emmerich also showed a surprised expression.

Eric explained: "Yeah, but I'm talking about gross worldwide."

"Even on a global scale," Stan Winston stared at Eric, as if trying to determine if he was crazy: "The highest box office record now is not more than 800 million."

"'et Aliens,' $790 million," echoed Roland Emmerich.

"Since 'et Alien' was able to earn nearly $800 million at the global box office ten years ago, what is impossible for one billion in the world ten years later," Eric said, looking at his expression still a little dull The two of them smiled and said, "How about we make a bet?"

For some reason, hearing Eric's bet, Stan Winston and Roland Emmerich immediately remembered the sensational bet made a few years ago by the 18-year-old boy with Columbia Pictures about "Home Alone", In the end, Colombia lost in a mess, and Colombia's then-Blount Cohen also lost control of Colombia.

After a while, Stan Winston and Roland Emmerich shook their heads in unison: "No gambling."

Eric burst out laughing: "Don't be like this, I haven't bet with anyone for a long time, and I really don't have 100% confidence this time." (To be continued...)

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