Huayu: Director started with art films

Chapter 345 356 [Italian-American group in Hollywood, Chinese architect I.M. Pei]

"You're right, Forrest Gump is the biggest winner."

Monica watched as the crew of "Forrest Gump" went on stage to accept the Best Picture award, completely extinguishing the last bit of hope in her heart that "The Shawshank Redemption" would win the grand prize.

"What a shame! Shawshank is such a good movie, this must be a shady plot!"

She sighed and expressed her dissatisfaction for "The Shawshank Redemption". It was obviously a very good movie, so why didn't it even win an award?
Yes, not a single prize, not even a consolation prize!
There were seven nominations, ranging from Best Picture to Best Actor, but none of them.

"Monica."

Li Yishu looked at Monica who didn't understand the nature of the Oscars, smiled and said, "You're right, this is indeed a shady deal. I originally wanted to do some public relations for "Shawshank" this year. I can't say anything else, but it shouldn't be a big problem to win the Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Editing awards."

"Then why not give it a try?"

"There's no need for that. The Shawshank Redemption failed at the box office, so there's little point in doing the Oscars publicity."

"But there are also videotapes, VCDs, posters, and behind-the-scenes editions...all these peripherals can be sold. If it wins an award, won't it attract more audiences to buy it?"

After working at Arts Entertainment Group for more than a year, Monica has become familiar with the entire process of Hollywood revenue. She has participated in it more or less from release to peripheral activities.

It is also clear that for Hollywood film companies today, box office revenue only accounts for about 40% of the films, and the remaining 60% is basically all on peripheral products such as videotapes, VCDs, and posters.

"Unless it's a big prize, these small prizes are meaningless." Li Yishu shook her head and said, "Rather than taking these small prizes, it's better not to do any public relations for any prize. Wait a few years, and the audience will gradually understand Shawshank, and someone will speak up for him."

Awards such as Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Editing are really dispensable. The most they can do is allow screenwriters and post-production editors to win an Oscar and increase their remuneration for future participation in other films.

But it did not bring much improvement to the film itself. Li Yishu was not sure whether "The Shawshank Redemption" had won these small awards in the previous life, but one thing was certain: it was better not to win.

If you don't take it, this movie will truly become a classic in the future.

The reason is simple, seven nominations show the quality of the film, and the fact that it didn't win any awards means there must be something fishy going on.

The current Oscars are the highest award in the American film industry. No one questions whether it is unfair, but Li Yishu knows that the Oscars will be ruined by Harvey in the future.

After it’s become too much, the public will be surprised to find that the Academy Awards are not a fair and just award.

"The Shawshank Redemption" is a classic that has been buried by humans.

It’s like the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards that are collectively recognized by the general public and filmmakers today are different from the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards recognized by the organizers 20 years later.

The former is recognized by everyone, but the latter is only recognized by the organizers and judges.

Monica is very smart. She couldn't see through him before, but after Li Yishu's advice, she immediately understood what he meant.

She nodded, but did not talk about this topic anymore. She took a sip of red wine, watched the Oscar ceremony gradually coming to an end on TV, and said hesitantly: "Dear..."

"what happened?"

"Well...Martin Scorsese, the director of Casino, wants to invite you to his housewarming party the day after tomorrow."

“Martin Scorsese?”

Li Yishu raised his eyebrows. He had an impression of this director. He later starred in "Gangs of New York", "The Departed" and "The Wolf of Wall Street". He has collaborated with Leo many times and is known as the godfather of American gangster movies.

"You know him?"

"Well, we know each other."

Monica thought for a moment, then said, "Honey, you should know that Hollywood likes to form gangs. There's the Australian gang, and the British gang..."

Monica is Italian. When she was not famous, naturally no one came to her. But as she supervised and produced many hit movies and served as the production director of Arts Entertainment Group, her name naturally appeared in the eyes of some Italians and Italian Americans making a living in Hollywood.

In the past few months, there have been many Italian teams that have sent her invitations, but Monica declined them all on the grounds that she was busy with work.

Until recently, Martin Scorsese, a well-known director in Hollywood, and Nicolas Cage and Anne Bancroft personally came to visit her at the Arts Entertainment Group.

These three are highly respected people in the Italian team currently working in Hollywood.

Not to mention Martin and Nicholas who are still active in Hollywood, just Anne Bancroft, an Italian who has been in Hollywood since the 50s, Monica has to meet the three of them even if she doesn't want to.

When they met, the three of them didn't say anything about Italians helping Italians, but talked about the current Hollywood film market, and then talked about the development of their Italian group in Hollywood over the years...

Monica was not as experienced as these three people, but gradually she was persuaded.

Because according to them, we are all Italians or descendants of Italians, and it is normal to help each other.

For example, when casting for a movie, there is no need to overly favor Italians, but you can give people of your own ethnicity a chance, a fair casting opportunity.

The United States is a country of immigrants. Except for the native Indians, all other people are immigrants or descendants of immigrants. They are born to like to stick together for warmth, which also created various ethnic-based groups in the 1950s and 1960s.

Italians, Irish, Russians, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans... and so on.

As they were talking, they mentioned Lee Yi-shu. Martin Scorsese learned that Lee Yi-shu would be coming to Hollywood to hold a movie premiere in a while, so he hoped that Monica could help send out the invitation.

Monica actually wanted to refuse, but then she changed her mind and thought that the other party was a famous Hollywood director and the group might have a chance to cooperate with him in the future, so she agreed to help convey the message, but she did not guarantee that Li Yishu would attend the housewarming party.

After listening to this, Li Yishu looked at Monica and asked, "Do you want me to go, or do you not want to go?"

"Personal feelings aside, I think it's okay to attend. Director Martin is very famous in Hollywood. My dear, you also said before that our group will not be limited to shooting low-budget movies in the future. There's nothing wrong with getting to know more directors."

In any country, famous directors are often guests of honor of major film companies because they can bring them rich returns on their investments.

It was thanks to his ability to make people get rich returns that Lee Yi-su was able to strike several deals with Toho Co., Ltd. in Japan. He also connected with Columbia's then-president Hisao Morishima and filmed his first Hollywood movie.

This is the influence of a great director, which is not limited to business or art. After all, those who can become great directors are basically good at making money, even if they are directors of art films. Hearing this, Li Yishu nodded slightly: "Okay, then go and participate! I have also heard of Martin Scorsese for a long time, and this is a good opportunity to see if I can cooperate with him."

Martin Scorsese is known as the Godfather of gangster movies, not only because he likes to make gangster-themed movies, but also because almost all the gangster-themed movies he shoots make money. Even if they are not a huge hit at the box office, they can bring rich returns to the production company in terms of videotapes and other aspects.

In addition to this, Li Yishu also understands that it is popular to form groups in Hollywood. Monica is Italian, and being able to have good relations with Italian groups is actually beneficial to her and the group. At least in the future, if those famous Italian groups in Hollywood have any good projects, Monica can also participate in the name of the company.

"Thank you, dear. Actually... you don't have to accommodate me."

Monica knew that Li Yishu didn't like to participate in these activities. When she saw that he agreed to attend Martin's housewarming party, she knew it was for her and was deeply moved.

Hearing this, Li Yishu smiled and said, "You are now the group's production director. You can't always be involved in the group's film production. Martin and others are all famous Hollywood directors and actors. This is a good opportunity to expand your network of contacts."

Seeing that she still looked a little embarrassed, Li Yishu smiled evilly and said, "If you really feel indebted, why don't you do this..."

Listen, listen
Monica's lips curled up, "No problem dear."

the next morning.

Monica drove and took Li Yishu to the Los Angeles Arts and Entertainment Group. When Li Yishu and Amy arrived, they found that Amy had been waiting in the office for a long time.

Li Yishu said, "I'm sorry Amy, I was late due to jet lag last night."

Amy looked at Li Yishu's thick dark circles and then at Monica's radiant face. How could she not know that her boss must have been overworked last night?

"It's okay, boss!"

Considering her boss's privacy, Amy took the initiative to change the subject: "This is the box office data of last year's Saw and Scream, as well as Wrong Turn, which was released on Valentine's Day not long ago. It also includes the revenue of our group in the product peripherals sector in the past two years."

After Li Yishu sat down, he took a look at the three reports in his hand and took out "Wrong Turn" first.

This movie was released on February 2th, Valentine's Day in the West, which happened to be the Lantern Festival in China.

The box office data was so-so, with the North American box office barely reaching 2000 million US dollars, but compared to the production cost of more than 200 million, it was definitely a big profit.

However, because there are many movies released during the Valentine's Day period, Amy reached a private agreement with the theater alliance in order to get more screens. The theater's share of the profit for this movie is 10% higher than before.

Seeing this, Li Yishu looked at Amy, waiting for her to give her an explanation.

"Boss, the production cost and scale of Wrong Turn are not optimistic for the Valentine's Day period and other films released during the same period. However, Valentine's Day is one of the most important periods for American horror movies. So after discussing with David from Golden Lion Pictures and other executives, I decided to give up part of the profits to the Community Cinema Alliance with which we have cooperated many times..."

Amy gave a reasonable explanation. It was not only because the movie itself was low-cost and not likely to attract the attention of theaters, but the most important thing was that after the operation of several previous low-cost horror films, including "Final Destination" and "Saw", the videotapes and VCDs sold very well!
All in all, these movies were very popular in the video rental market, and over the past year or so, they brought the company nearly 10 million dollars in profits.

And the American film industry is a very mature market.

There is a fixed process from the release of a movie to the production of videotapes after it is released. The advantage of this is that even an old movie shot fifty years ago can still bring profits to the production company today.

However, how much profit it will make depends on the quality of the film. Just like "The Godfather" 20 years ago, this movie can still bring nearly one million US dollars in profit to Paramount Pictures worldwide every year.

After deducting the costs of various channels, Paramount would definitely receive hundreds of thousands of dollars.

A classic work can bring in a stable income of hundreds of thousands of dollars a year twenty years later. What about ten or a hundred?

Based on her gradual understanding of Hollywood and the recruitment of experienced Hollywood film practitioners, Amy decided to give up 10% of the profits to the community theater alliance with which she had cooperated many times, in order to get more screenings and increase the popularity of "Wrong Turn".

As for losses, there are definitely none. After all, without concessions, it would be difficult for the film to exceed 2000 million US dollars, not to mention the long-term video sales and rental business that will follow.

"Amy, I know you're thinking about the group, but you should do less of this kind of thing in the future."

Li Yishu shook her head and said, "It's not because you take the initiative, but because we are outsiders. Breaking the rules is not what we outsiders should do."

In other words, the relationship between the two sides has been good in recent years, and Li Yishu's company can still make some money in the United States, but this may not be the case in a few years.

After hearing this, Amy nodded slightly, as if thinking about something.

Li Yishu continued to ask, "What other projects are we currently working on?"

“Final Destination 2, and The Hills Have Eyes.”

"All done?"

"It's basically done."

"Then start a new project and send out invitations to the public."

"Good boss."

Amy understood what the boss meant. After nodding her head and agreeing, she remembered something and said, "By the way, boss, do you know I.M. Pei?"

"I.M. Pei? The Chinese architectural master?"

"Yes, his assistant contacted me yesterday and said that Mr. Bei hopes to meet with you, the boss."

"Meet me? Why?"

"It seems like they are trying to invite you, the boss, to attend the 'One Hundred People Meeting'!"

"A hundred people meeting?"

"Yes, I asked someone about it, and it seems to be a group organization targeting Chinese Americans."

(End of this chapter)