Hollywood Director 1992.

Chapter 357 Liv Tyler?

Jingle Bell!
The phone on the desk rang. It was Woody Allen, the director and leading actor of "Mighty Aphrodisiac," calling.

Woody Allen was also not satisfied with the box office performance of "Mighty Aphrodisiac" and asked Harvey to be bolder and increase the promotion of the film and expand the scale of film screenings. This movie is of extremely high quality and should not have only this box office, and it should not be worse than that crappy movie "Paranormal Activity 2".

"Woody, I also hope that 'Non-Powerful Aphrodisiac' can sell more tickets, but the first week's box office data is not good, and it is certain to lose money. Blindly expanding the scale of publicity and promotion, although it can make the box office data look better, it will also cause the company to lose more money. Doing this is not cost-effective."

Harvey persuaded patiently.

"Why don't you think of other ways? As long as that damn Paranormal Activity 2 sells less, our movie box office performance will naturally increase."

Woody Allen said bluntly.

"I have thought about doing this, but I guess the publicity and promotion departments of the film industry are well-funded and very good at hype. Miramax's power alone cannot affect the box office performance of this movie."

Harvey said helplessly.

"Damn it! That damn Guess What film company only sends rubbish to theaters. In the 1940s and 1950s, such movies were not even worthy of being shown."

Woody Allen said angrily.

Hearing him cursing like that, Harvey's eyes lit up. He could tell that Woody Allen was also very unhappy with Guess What?

Woody Allen is a film master with extensive connections in Hollywood. He is also a representative figure of literary and artistic films among Jewish directors, and his influence is no less than that of Spielberg.

If he is willing to join in and help deal with Guess Pictures and Link, many things will be much easier in the future.

Harvey immediately echoed Woody Allen's remarks and cursed Guess What Films and Link.

It said that the rise of Guess What Pictures has seriously disrupted the inherent order of Hollywood and the art of film, allowing bad films to flourish, making good films unable to make money, and leaving excellent filmmakers homeless.

Harvey also mentioned that the rise of Guess What Pictures not only destroyed the film market, but also caused great losses to the Jewish community, and they were losing Hollywood.

He plans to unite with other members of his tribe to eliminate this threat and hopes that director Woody Allen can help.

Woody Allen thought about it and agreed to help contact acquaintances, but he hoped that Miramax would continue to promote "Non-Powerful Aphrodisiac" and would not let the film's box office performance be too shabby.

Harvey agreed with a smile.

"Woody agreed to help too?"

Bob asked excitedly, leaning over his desk.

"Yeah, guess what, the more hits the studio's movies make, the more filmmakers they offend and the more enemies they make, which is good news for us."

Harvey chuckled, picked up the phone and called Ron Mayer of Universal Pictures, Barry Dylan of 20th Century Fox, Michael Eisner and Michael Ovitz of Disney, and the Jewish executives of Paramount and Warner Bros. Pictures.

There is a rule in the seven major Hollywood film studios that if the person in power behind the film company is Jewish, the company's president will be a non-Jew. If the person in power behind the company is not Jewish, they will often choose a Jewish president to manage the company in order to achieve a certain balance.

For example, Sumner Redstone, the boss behind Paramount Pictures, is a third-generation Jewish immigrant. President Shirley Lansing is not Jewish, but she needs to follow Redstone's arrangements in company management.

The parent company of 1984th Century Fox is News Corporation, and the president of News Corporation is media tycoon Murdoch, who is not Jewish. After acquiring Fox Film in , he immediately poached Jewish manager Barry Dylan from Paramount Pictures to serve as the head of the film company.

The same thing happened in the beginning with Disney. The Walt Disney brothers, the founders of Disney, were not Jewish, and it was rumored that they were hostile to this group of people.

After Walt Disney died in 1966, members of the Disney family took over the majority of Disney shares.

It was not until the 1970s that Disney suffered serious losses in competition with several other film and television companies, and they were forced to hire Jewish manager Michael Eisner to manage the company.

After becoming the president of Disney, Michael Eisner diluted the Disney family's shares through a series of reforms, acquisitions and financing, transferring a large number of shares to himself and the Jewish consortium behind him, in order to increase his and the Jewish consortium's control over Disney.

Including the acquisition of Miramax Films, it is also an important measure to further dilute non-Jewish shares within Disney.

The conflict within Disney’s board of directors is actually a conflict between capital and population.

Eisner persuaded Ovitz to join Disney in order to use his connections to expand the influence of his own clan.

Conservatives within Disney also hoped to use Ovitz to fight Eisner, considering that his stance on population was not obvious.

The situation is similar at Warner Bros. Pictures and Universal Pictures, and the same is true for Columbia Pictures.

Although Sony is the boss behind Columbia Pictures, Japan currently relies on the United States in all fields. If Columbia Pictures wants to gain a foothold in Hollywood, it cannot ignore the landlord's words.

Also because the Jewish consortium is powerful in Hollywood, Harvey took the initiative to contact Longmeyer and others, hoping that they would join forces to deal with Guess What Pictures.

If everyone can join hands to deal with Guess What Pictures and Link, we can win in less than a year.

After the collapse of Guess What Pictures, as the leader, his status in Hollywood naturally rose, and he had a great chance to step on Link and ascend to the throne of the King of Hollywood.

This is also his purpose.

But there were two things that worried him.

The first is that the relationship between the Jewish consortiums is not very harmonious, and there are conflicts in interests and ideologies. It is not easy to get them to unite and join forces to deal with Link.

Secondly, the shareholders behind Guess What Pictures, such as Pioneer Capital and Blackden Investment, also belong to the sphere of influence of the Jewish consortium. It is very difficult to persuade them to give up their interests and join forces to bring down Guess What Pictures, the golden goose that lays golden eggs.

But in order to gain more power, Harvey had to summon up the courage to explain the pros and cons and let them see the crisis of their own clan in Hollywood, so that they could unite and join forces to defeat Guess Pictures and Link.

"Harvey, you said it very well, and your ideas are forward-looking. However, Michael has mentioned these points before, which is one of the reasons why we are willing to join hands with him to suppress Guess What? Films."

Ron Meyer said on the phone, "We know that Link has destroyed the established order of Hollywood, and we also know that he is eroding the interests of our community. We also know that we cannot allow Guess What to do to continue to grow. However, what we need is not a reminder, but a solution.

Do you have a reasonable solution to the situation where Guess Pictures' movies continue to be popular and grab the world's box office market?"

Harvey couldn't help but frown when he heard this. "We have strength in numbers. As long as we join hands to monopolize the market, it won't be difficult to defeat Guess What Movies."

"We have tried the method you mentioned many times and have failed many times. This also shows that this method does not work, including hyping up Link's scandal. I hope you have a more constructive method."

Langmeyer said.

Harvey thought for a moment and said, "I'm talking about true unity. The seven major film studios should stop fighting among themselves and unite to defeat Guess What?. As long as we can do this, it won't be difficult to defeat Guess What?."

"We can't do this, and we must not do this. Because the seven major studios don't really belong to us, the audiences don't belong to us, and we don't have an overwhelming advantage in the Hollywood film industry. If we dare to do this, even if we succeed, we will be hostile to all groups. That's when we will truly lose Hollywood."

Langmeyer said.

Harvey frowned when he heard this, and felt that his method was too extreme and ill-considered.

“Harvey, you can clearly see the harm of Guess What Pictures and take the initiative to contact everyone to deal with Guess What and Link. This is very good, but you must be cautious and not impatient when dealing with Guess What Pictures.

Last summer and winter vacations, and this summer vacation, our seven major film studios joined forces to deal with Guess What? Films, but we suffered successive failures. Do you think the reason for the failure was Michael Ovitz's incompetence, or that our seven major film studios were not united?

I tell you, no, it's because the opponent is too strong. Guess what, the movie studios are too strong. If the seven major studios join forces to fight Miramax, New Line Cinema, or even one of the seven major studios, who do you think can resist it?"

Longmeyer asked in a deep voice.

Harvey was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized.

He once saw Michael Ovitz team up with Paramount Pictures and mobilize many artists under CAA to promote "The Trap", but it failed in the end. Like many people, he thought that Michael Ovitz was incompetent and had a good hand but didn't know how to play it.

Later, Michael Ovitz teamed up with Seven Pictures many times to snipe Guess What Pictures' movies during the summer and winter vacations, but they all failed in the end.

Like everyone else, he mocked Michael Ovitz's incompetence and ridiculed the disunity of the Big Seven studios.

Now that I think about it, that’s not actually the case.

The seven major film studios joined forces to deal with Guess What Pictures during the summer vacation, and the intensity of the suppression was not low.

If it were Miramax or any of the seven major film studios, they would suffer serious losses or even bankruptcy in the crackdown.

In the end, the reason why the seven major studios failed was not that they were too weak together, but that the movies of Guess What Pictures were too powerful.

For example, during this year's summer vacation, the Big Seven studios competed with Guess What? Pictures. Although they failed to defeat Guess What? Pictures in the end, independent production companies such as Miramax Films all suffered. All the movies they released during the summer vacation suffered losses, and none of them made a profit.

This also shows that the competition between the Big Seven and Guess Pictures is terribly intense.

Harvey figured this out, feeling secretly ashamed, "Lang, I understand, thank you for your advice."

"It doesn't matter. Bringing down Guess What Movies is the goal of all of us. No one wants to see their box office revenue being taken away by Guess What Movies. Just don't be hasty and reckless in the struggle. You need to use more strategies."

Langmeyer further explained their plan. Now was not a good time to deal with Guess What Pictures. They had to wait until Guess What Pictures encountered setbacks in its development and became weak before launching a sneak attack. At that time, it would surely be a fatal blow.

Harvey asked what would happen if Guess What went smoothly in the next few years without any setbacks? By then, Guess What would become the No. 1 overlord in Hollywood, and they would have no way to deal with it?
Langmeyer told him not to worry, as the capital consortium was also striving to control Guess What Pictures. As long as they got the majority of shares, no matter how well Guess What Pictures developed, it would help everyone make money.

Harvey asked what would happen if Link was unwilling to hand over Guess What Pictures to the Jewish consortium for control?
Longmeyer snorted and said Link would be willing.

Harvey nodded and said he looked forward to seeing Guess What Films controlled by his own people. After hanging up the phone, Harvey still frowned.

Although Ron Mayer vowed that the Jewish consortium was confident that it would be able to control Guess What?, this would be a long process, perhaps five years, perhaps ten years, just like Michael Eisner's treatment of Disney, who spent twenty years but still did not have complete control of Disney.

In the future, the Jewish consortium may be able to acquire Guess What Pictures, but it will take a long time and Miramax Films cannot wait.

Except for "The Butterfly Effect", all the other movies Miramax participated in producing this year suffered losses, which made its parent company Disney very dissatisfied.

If Miramax fails to make money in the film market in the next three years, it is very likely to be completely acquired by its parent company like Castle Rock Pictures, and he and Bob will be kicked out of the company's management by Disney.

This matter concerns the survival of the company and the height of his career, and must be taken seriously.

But Link is worth billions, and guess what, the film industry is strong, so what should they do to defeat such an opponent?
-
In its second week of release, "Paranormal Activity 2" earned $3239 million in 2992 theaters in North America, retaining the title of weekly box office champion.

The second place was MGM's newly released comedy film "Get Shorty," which took in $1673 million in 2270 theaters in its first week.

The third place is "Flash", which earned 837 million US dollars this week and a cumulative box office of 1562 million US dollars.

Fourth place: "The Hunt", with $562 million, and a total of $1277 million in two weeks.

Woody Allen's art film "Mighty Aphrodisiac" took in $287 million in 125 theaters this week, with a two-week cumulative box office of $201 million, ranking only seventh, slightly lower than "Sense and Sensibility," which has been released for eight weeks.

"Paranormal Activity 2" achieved consecutive weekly box office championships, with a cumulative box office of 7059 million US dollars in North America.

The ratio of production cost to box office revenue reached 23 times, making it undoubtedly a box office dark horse in the autumn season.

The media analyzed that there are three reasons why this movie is so popular: first, the first movie in this series is so famous, with a global box office of more than 6 million US dollars, and it also pioneered the "pseudo-documentary" and became a phenomenal movie, which also led to the high popularity of the second movie when it was released;

Second, when promoting the film, Guess What Pictures invested more than 2 million US dollars to allow Paranormal Activity to be shown in more than theaters at the same time, which was a larger scale than several blockbusters released during the summer vacation.
The third point is that October is a low season, and there are not many commercial blockbusters released during the same period, so the competitiveness is not strong. At the same time, the second film is more refined in production and is a high-quality thriller film.

The magazine "Complete Cinema" commented on the huge sales of "Paranormal Activity 2", saying that it was a movie that made the seven major film studios feel desperate.

During the summer vacation, the seven major film studios jointly launched a number of commercial blockbusters, resulting in the box office performance of "The Butterfly Effect", "The Shawshank Redemption" and "To Die at Any Cost" under Guess Pictures being lower than expected, especially "The Butterfly Effect", which became the second-to-last movie directed by Link in terms of box office performance.

If it hadn't been suppressed, the film's North American box office would have been expected to be over $2 million.

By the autumn season, the films released by the seven major film studios were lacking in momentum. Guess What Pictures took advantage of the empty market and released two films, "Sense and Sensibility" and "Paranormal Activity 2".

Last week, the film sold more than 3 million in North America thanks to its good reputation, with a profit ratio of more than times.

The latter sold more than 70 million in two weeks, and the North American box office easily exceeded 100 million.

Faced with this situation, the Big Seven studios were powerless even if they wanted to grab the box office. They could only watch Guess Pictures become more and more powerful and watch Link make a lot of money in the box office market.

At the end of the article, "Complete Cinema" magazine fanned the flames, saying that the seven major film studios are facing the most severe situation in history. If this disadvantage cannot be reversed in the next five years, at least two of the seven will be on the verge of bankruptcy.

The Business Daily also reported that the strong rise of Guess What Pictures has led to intensified competition and internal competition in the film industry, and the pressure on employees is greater than in the past few years. The number of people who have been laid off due to operational problems of film companies has increased by 4.1% over the same period, and this figure has a tendency to expand.

In addition, the famous director Woody Allen recently chatted with "Seinfeld" producer Larry David about the current state of American films while participating in an ABC TV talk show.

Director Allen expressed his disappointment with current American films, saying that almost all films are made for the sake of money. In order to chase high box office, film companies cater to the market without any bottom line, please the audience, and make many popcorn-style movies.

Although these films achieved box office success, they neglected the most valuable qualities of film, such as artistry, education, and sociality, and became vulgar, childish, and shallow.

This practice is corroding the foundation of film art. If no changes are made, American films will decline and will be overtaken by European films that adhere to artistry.

"Director Allen, the bad movie you're talking about is Paranormal Activity 2, the box office champion this week?"

The host laughed.

Director Woody Allen shrugged his shoulders. "I haven't seen Paranormal Activity 2, but I've heard from several reliable film critics that this movie is not worth wasting my time. And the bad movies I mentioned are not just Paranormal Activity 2, but commercial movies of this type that have no artistic value at all."

"Haha, Director Link probably won't be too happy to hear this comment."

laughs producer Larry David.

"It's okay. I talked to Link once at the Venice Film Festival. He is a very talented director, but he cares too much about money when making movies, which wastes his talent. It's a pity. If because of my criticism, he pays more attention to the artistic quality of the film instead of its commerciality when making a movie, even if he blames me in his heart, I think this is a meaningful criticism."

Woody Allen said this with a sincere expression.

clap clap clap!
The host and director Allen's fans in the audience applauded enthusiastically.

"boring!"

The crew of "The English Patient" in Florence, Italy, during a break in filming, Link received a reminder from Liu Xiaoli, so he found this interview program and watched it. He turned off the TV and walked out without finishing it.

"Link, Director Allen criticized you for focusing too much on box office results while neglecting the artistic quality of the film. Aren't you angry?"

Juliette Binoche caught up with him and smiled with a bit of evil humor.

“Am I that type of director in your mind?”

"of course not."

Juliette Binoche said without hesitation.

If Link was that type of director, he would never be able to make such high-level and interesting films as "Seven" and "The Butterfly Effect".

Also, when filming "The English Patient", Link was very professional, rigorous, and even a little harsh.

In order to get the actors to give better performances, he would use various methods to train the actors and guide them to get deeper into the roles. As long as the actors' performances did not meet his requirements, he would never shout "pass".

Sometimes he would shoot a scene over 20 times, from morning to night. Lead actresses Kristin Scott Thomas, Aamir Khan, Colin Firth and others were driven to collapse by him and thought he was a scary person.

Juliette Binoche was also overshadowed by him in several scenes during the filming, but fortunately she has good acting skills and strong mental qualities, and she finally gritted her teeth and got through it.

Looking back, she had to admit that Link's directing skills were very high. He always managed to put the right amount of pressure on the scenes, which benefited her greatly in her performance.

So no matter what others think of Link, in her heart he is a great director.

“Why are you angry if I’m not that kind of director?”

Link shrugged.

"it seems to be like this."

Juliette Binoche smiled slightly and looked at Link's calm expression. She suddenly felt that Sophie Marceau had a good vision. She could choose Link, a talented, capable and interesting man among countless men. In this respect, she was much better than her. None of her three boyfriends in the past was one tenth as interesting as Link.

But she soon changed her mind.

When they arrived at the set, two beautiful girls came towards them.

One is Angelina Jolie with sexy red lips, who is wearing a white short T-shirt, revealing her slim waist, and dark grey ripped skinny jeans. She looks young, beautiful and full of energy. She is one of Link's girlfriends. After seeing Link, she flew into his arms and gave him a passionate French kiss.

The other was the young girl Liv Tyler, about eighteen or nineteen years old, wearing a blue dress, with long brown curly hair, tall figure, fair skin, and a pure and refined temperament. At this moment, she was standing behind Julie, looking at Link with admiration on her face.

Juliette Binoche was speechless. During the filming, Link's girlfriends came to visit one after another. The filming lasted nearly two months, but not all of his girlfriends had come.

This guy is too fickle.

"Angela, Liv, why are you here together?"

Link asked as he let go of Angelina Jolie.

"Liv came to Italy to film a movie, Bernardo Bertolucci's new movie "Stealing Beauty". I have nothing to do at home recently, so I came here with Liv."

Angelina Jolie laughed.

"Link, don't you want to see me?"

Liv Tyler asked, blinking her bright eyes.

"No Liv, it's nice to see you here."

Link smiled gently, hugged the blushing Liv Tyler, and asked the two of them to sit on the set first, and he would welcome them after the filming was finished.

Julie and Liv Tyler told him to go and film and not to worry about them. The scenery here was nice and they planned to take a walk around and come find him later.

Link returned to the set to film, shooting every shot carefully, without being disrupted by the arrival of Julie and Liv Tyler.

The crew got off work at around 6pm, and Link took Julie and Liv Tyler back to the hotel to eat and rest.

Because they drank some Italian white wine, the atmosphere of the three people's dinner was very good. With Julie's help, they stayed together that night.

(End of this chapter)