Become famous another day.

Lu Yanhe actually wanted to know what Wu Yang of the Jose-Jacques Film Festival was thinking.

Where does Wu Yang decide to take the Jose-Jacques Film Festival?

But at this time, he had to restrain himself and ignore it.

He must put himself in the right position in this matter. He was only responsible for matchmaking at the beginning, but he had to stay out of it because his identity did not allow him to play a deeply involved role in the process.

Otherwise, if the Joseph-Holstein Film Festival is really held in China, if he is present too often, it will easily make others think that his position on the film festival is biased.

Then the favorable situation in which he is now being sought after by major top film festivals will be destroyed.

Hollywood and the Oscars' favor to him may not continue.

No one wants to "raise a tiger to cause trouble".
-
This month, in addition to Lu Yanhe entering the second phase of filming for "Godless", Lu Yanhe also started shooting another movie this month.

He wrote the screenplay for Fly Paper.

This film has been directed by Wan Qingqing as the person in charge of Linghe in North America.

This is also the first Hollywood film produced by Linghe.

The level of attention this film has received is far greater than what was initially expected.

The "Lu Yanhe effect" brought about by "Home Alone" and "Buried" has made the value of his scripts soar in Hollywood, and has also made the movies adapted from his scripts a priority in major media.

No one can say that "Fly Paper" won't be the next movie to make a small profit with a big return.

In fact, with the box office success of "Home Alone" and "Buried", Hollywood has launched several similar projects that aim to make a big profit with a small investment.

I just don’t know what kind of results these projects will achieve in the end.
-
Lu Yanhe did not originally intend to focus his work in Hollywood, but, in reality, his presence is basically no weaker than those stars who focus on Hollywood.

The film crew of "Godless" is currently the most watched and anticipated project in Hollywood.

There are many paparazzi outside the set taking pictures every day.

This also means that Lu Yanhe would be photographed from time to time, and then appear in various tabloids and media, making him "active" in front of everyone from time to time.

Lu Yanhe is actually not very adaptable to this kind of rhythm.

He is not photographed so frequently even in China.

There are no paparazzi in China who specialize in taking photos of celebrities when they travel (they can make money just by taking a few travel photos).

But others told him that all Hollywood stars were like this, without exception.

Lu Yanhe was not used to it, but he could only accept it for now.

What surprised Lu Yanhe even more was that the crew of "Godless" could be said to have the best management among all the crews he had ever participated in.

The reason why Lu Yanhe felt this way was because he was very efficient in filming "Godless".

Basically, every day from the time he arrived at the set to the time he left, there was almost no wasted time there, no need to wait, and rarely said that a scene was messed up due to some objective factors and needed to be reshot. When Lu Yanhe was filming before, he often encountered technical problems such as a prop goof, the lens was out of focus, and coordination errors. Every time such a problem occurred, it needed to be reshot.

During the filming of "Godless", Lu Yanhe would usually have a half-day or a full-day break after three or four days of shooting.

In the past, Lu Yanhe would never have dared to think that a major supporting actor like him could take a break in the middle of filming.

This kind of crew management model is truly leading in the industry.

That’s why it is necessary for people to work in the top project team. There are really many things to learn.

If the top crew management model is used to coordinate a crew, the cost can actually be greatly reduced. Just like Feng Xiaogang's "Sunny Flowers", it can be filmed with a cost of 20 million yuan.

But this is something that only a top director team of Feng Xiaogang's level can do.

Compressing the number of days required to shoot a movie by even one-third can save a lot of costs.

But "Sunny Flower" is different from "Godless". The crew of "Sunny Flower" is still a small-scale crew, which is relatively easier to control. It is not easy for a large-scale production crew like "Godless" with hundreds of people to be so well organized.

After filming Wolf Warrior 2, Wu Jing said that for the same movie, due to the difference in industrial level, the cost of making his movie is several times that of Hollywood, which is very wasteful. But this waste cannot be avoided because no one knows how to avoid it.

This is also why when Guo Fan was filming "The Wandering Earth 2", he specially invited several college students to take notes on the set. This was to ensure that when everyone was busy, someone could make comprehensive records, learn lessons, summarize experiences, and provide rich first-hand information for further optimizing crew management later.

Lu Yanhe actually really wanted to get to know the management of the "Godless" crew and learn how they operated.

These are the experiences accumulated and optimized by Green Valley Company through decades of film shooting.
-
Originally, Lu Yanhe wanted to visit the crew of "Fly Paper", but the filming location of "Fly Paper" and "Godless" were not in the same place.

However, from the preparation and operation of this project, Wan Qingqing's ability to get things done was evident.

This project encountered frequent problems, and there were new problems to be solved almost every day. However, Wan Qingqing basically never asked Linghe headquarters for help, and solved them all on her own.

However, when there was a severe shortage of manpower, Wan Qingqing directly spoke to the company and called Song Jiang over to help.

Two people are starting a film project from scratch, a project that is growing bigger and getting more and more attention. You can imagine the pressure they are under.

Chen Ziyan said to Lu Yanhe: "After finishing the project "Fly Paper", Wan Qingqing can really stand on her own."

Lu Yanhe said: "In fact, she has already started to stand on her own."

Chen Ziyan nodded.

"After the Fly Paper project is completed and released, she will definitely be targeted by other film companies." Chen Ziyan asked, "Have you thought about her future arrangements?"

Lu Yanhe said, "She is actually the head of Linghe in North America. After the Fly Paper project is completed, she will be officially given this position and her salary will be increased by 50%. What do you think?"

"A 50% raise?" Chen Ziyan was a little surprised. "Her previous salary was already quite high. Aren't you going to wait until the box office of Fly Paper comes out before giving her this?"

"Wait until the box office of Fly Paper comes out before paying. Other companies would have already poached him, right?"

"That's for sure, but even so, we are still the most competitive." Chen Ziyan said, "The contract she signed with Linghe originally had a one-year non-compete agreement after becoming a regular employee. Under normal circumstances, if Linghe could give her a platform and a high salary, she would not choose to leave."

"First, in my mind, the box office of Fly Paper will not be bad. Second, I prefer to give it early rather than late. Giving it late is hindsight, while giving it early is a wise eye for talent." Lu Yanhe said, "Third, Linghe has so many projects to cooperate with Hollywood companies in North America, and she has fully proved that she has such ability. What's the point of waiting? Anyway, she is already in charge of North America, isn't she?"

Chen Ziyan said, "No, what I mean is, if you raise her salary so much before Fly Paper becomes a box office success, then if Fly Paper becomes a box office hit, will you not make any statement? You have to know one thing, in ancient times, some generals were not given any more titles by the emperor in the end, so you should leave some room for yourself."

Lu Yanhe thought about it and felt that what Chen Ziyan said made sense.

"Sister Zi Yan, what do you think is the best thing for us to do after we finish filming Fly Paper?"

Chen Ziyan said: "Less, 20% first, a promotion and salary increase, generally this number is more appropriate, and when Fly Paper is released, if it achieves good results, then you can give her another increase based on the box office results, company revenue, etc., such as 10%, or 20%, but not too much. The reason why it should not be too much is that you cannot let her have the illusion that she can get a salary increase for every successful movie, otherwise it will make it difficult to do the follow-up. When the movie she produces is successful for the first time, she will be rewarded with a salary increase. For subsequent projects, she will directly follow market practices. As a producer, she can get priority to obtain an incentive-based priority investment share. At the same time, based on the production process and box office performance of each movie, Linghe will reward her in the form of a year-end bonus."

Lu Yanhe nodded.

He said, “I know, let’s do it.”

Chen Ziyan: "Compared to a fixed income, for someone like Wan Qingqing who is going to become a local lord and help Linghe conquer the world, it is more appropriate to motivate her with a floating income. Moreover, you have to support and praise her, but you can't give her too much at once, otherwise it will easily lead to a big gap between the previous and the next, and it will also affect the relationship between you and her, which is a taboo."

Lu Yanhe felt that Chen Ziyan was really teaching and guiding him step by step.

"Ok, I see."
-
"Lu, you have another work coming up this year to impact the awards season. How come you are so productive?" During the break in the filming of "Godless", Lu Yanhe took a break and called Lune Reese, the director of "Source Code". They were originally talking about "Source Code", but then they talked about "Raise the Red Lantern".

Lu Yanhe asked: "Have you watched this movie?"

"Not yet. I've been too busy lately." Lune Reese said, "There were some problems with the post-production of Doomsday. When I was urgently called back to follow up on the post-production some time ago, even the preparations for Source Code were stopped."

Lu Yanhe: "Ah? Is it a big problem?"

Lune Reese said: "We found a big BUG during editing. We are hesitating about how to remedy it. I am trying to get Parameter to agree to do a reshoot."

Lu Yanhe: "Reshoot? That's going to be quite stressful. It's going to be hard to find the actors' schedules, right?"

Lune Reese said: "Yes, but the rest of the film is well shot, and it would be a pity not to reshoot to fix this BUG."

"If Parameter doesn't reshoot, is there any other way to remedy the situation?"

"If reshoots are not possible, I can only do some technical processing by narrating the film in the background," said Lune Reese. "I can't leave a very obvious bug for people to pick on after the film is released."

Lu Yanhe nodded.

This is true.

“How much will the reshoot cost?”

"It will cost about 500 million and take 4 days to shoot."

"Oh!" Lu Yanhe thought, that's quite a lot.

"The main reason is that the reshoots for Drien are very expensive." Lune Reese sighed.

Big-name Hollywood stars usually include reshoot pay in the contracts they sign with film companies.

After all, for them, it's all paid on a daily basis.

A professional and complete broker system will also ensure that its clients do not suffer any losses.
-
Lu Yanhe thought about it afterwards and wondered whether Parameter would agree to reshoot the film. In fact, it depended on Parameter’s confidence in the movie "Doomsday".

If they were confident enough, they would definitely agree to reshoot. Compared with the hundreds of millions of dollars in box office revenue, the additional investment of 500 million US dollars is completely insignificant.

But if they lack confidence and think that the movie will flop based on the current material, and they are unwilling to invest new costs and want to cut losses in time, then they will not agree to reshoot.

Lu Yanhe is still very concerned about the movie "Doomsday".

First, after all the complicated changes in the middle, he was still listed as a producer in this movie.

Second, the three leading actors in this movie all have a close relationship with him. Drion Dillon's "Hurricane 2" made his second Hollywood film still a global box office hit, especially the significant increase in the proportion of Asian audiences, so that part of the box office success was attributed to Lu Yanhe, which played a crucial role in Lu Yanhe's further foothold in Hollywood and stabilized his salary. Not to mention Jiang Jun and Jiang Yuqian.

Some people are right. Lu Yanhe really hopes to promote some actors to enter the international vision with him. A single tree cannot make a forest. It is almost impossible for one person to change the balance of the whole world. Only by accumulating sand can a tower be built. Jiang Jun is famous all over the world because of the success of "Squid Game". When mentioning the male lead of "Squid Game", many people know him. Jiang Yuqian is not only that, but also very hard to go international. In the past few years, although she has worked hard, she has been thriving in the eyes of outsiders.

If "Doomsday" achieves commercial success, it will be of great help to both of them in their future English films, especially Hollywood films.

So, after thinking about it, Lu Yanhe decided to call Zeby Doyle to see if there was anything he could do.

Zebe Doyle answered the phone immediately.

"Buried" grossed nearly $150 million at the global box office with a production cost of no more than $2 million, making Parameter a fortune. Now Lu Yanhe is the "number one celebrity" at Zeby Doyle's place.

After learning of Lu Yanhe's intention, Zeby Doyle said, "We are indeed still considering this matter. The clips produced by "Doomsday" are still of good quality. However, this bug is not serious. Lu Nei actually proposed another way to patch it. Although the effect is a little worse, it can save millions."

Lu Yanhe understood what Zeby Doyle meant.

He asked: "Do you think that using another method, although the effect is a little worse, it does not affect the overall film?"

"Yes." Zeby Doyle said, "To be honest, this BUG is a setting problem, but Lu Nei hopes to supplement it with a plot, and if this plot is supplemented, the length of the movie will be longer."

Lu Yanhe suddenly understood after hearing this.

He heard the subtext of Zebe Doyle.

It's not even just a matter of the $5 million in reshoots; it's also about the final length of the film.

Film companies have very strict requirements regarding the length of films.

Unless you are a great director among great directors, like James Cameron, OK, you have privileges, but normally, a movie is basically required to be controlled within 2 hours.

Conflicts between film directors and studios often arise over editing, with the final length of a film being a major point of contention.

For a movie, if you want to achieve greater commercial success, roughly speaking, the longer the movie is, the fewer screenings it will have. On a deeper level, film companies also ingrained the belief - in fact, this is based on market feedback over the years - that audiences do not have the patience to watch a movie that is too long. Generally speaking, the longer the movie, the worse its commercial performance.

After Lu Yanhe learned that "Doomsday" had such a consideration, he didn't say much.

Zebe Doyle asked: "Lu, are you really not going to write a sequel to Buried?"

"This idea is used once and it's gone. It can't be replicated," Lu Yanhe said. "It's fresh once, but it gets boring after two times."

Zeby Doyle said: "With the success of the previous film, even if the sequel is not as good as the word of mouth, the box office will definitely be good."

Lu Yanhe: "I care about my reputation. I don't want to write a script that will make people accuse me of rehashing old stuff."

Zebe Doyle asked, "Would you sell us the rights to develop a sequel to Buried Alive?"

Lu Yanhe: "...Zebi, are you serious? Do you think a sequel can be made? Can it make money?"

"Yes," said Zebe Doyle. "Even if the cost was raised to 10 million or 20 million, the film would still do well at the box office."

Lu Yanhe could understand it.

However, he himself is not willing to earn this money.

It's just like cutting leeks.

"The hint given at the end of the movie 'Buried' is that the male protagonist is dead. Are you going to resurrect him in the second part?" Lu Yanhe asked.

Zebe Doyle said, "Yes."

"You contacted Li Zhibai? Is Li Zhibai willing to play the second part?" Lu Yanhe asked in surprise.

"Lu, I know he's a good friend of yours, but if we're going to develop a sequel, we need him. He's the only star of Buried Alive, and I hope you can help us convince him to star in the sequel," Zebe Doyle said. "At least don't stop him."

"Zebi, I definitely won't write the script for the sequel myself. If you want to authorize it, it's not impossible. But if my script is authorized to someone else to develop a sequel, I will require the other party to write me a general direction for the adaptation and creation. I can't accept it being changed." Lu Yanhe said, "I have to tell you that this is very troublesome. I am not a person who nods easily. In addition, Li Zhibai is my friend. The success or failure of one or two movies is actually more insignificant than dust between him and me. If the script you come up with is really good and there is a good idea to let the story continue, I will not only not stop him, but even persuade him to continue. But if the script is terrible, even if you are unhappy, I will tell him my opinion. The failure of one or two movies doesn't matter to Parameter, but for a foreign actor like him who has just come to your Hollywood, a failure is enough to ruin his development in Hollywood and all the achievements he has accumulated as a former actor."

There was a long silence on the other end of the line from Zebe Doyle.

Lu Yanhe did not urge him.

He knew that his words were a bit harsh, but he believed in the principle of "speaking the ugly words first".

After a long while, Zebe Doyle finally said, "I understand." (End of this chapter)