Japanese Entertainment: From special effects actor to action superstar

Chapter 594 Film Production Capabilities
The script still needs some minor adjustments, and Gu Ming is thinking about the casting.

Since it's not a film primarily released in Japan, the actors naturally have to be foreigners.

It's quite a coincidence... he knows a foreigner.

As for the villains, of course they have to be Americans; it's impossible to have Americans fighting Asians—that's such an incorrect idea.

"We could add some characters, like Dan, who practices Wing Chun. He doesn't need a lot of screen time; the focus should be on his identity. Just make it clear that he's Asian, specifically from China. This character doesn't need to be a villain; he can be a positive character who guides the protagonist to learn karate. He only needs to appear in a few scenes to be finished."

"As for the lead actor, Jean-Claude Van Damme looks too old and doesn't look like an American student... He's more suited to playing a villain."

Gu Ming scratched his head.

Can't be a student? It doesn't seem like it's impossible, since the setting doesn't necessarily have to be in a school.

However, Gu Ming himself rejected this plan.

The story of Dragon Boys is set in a school because this era was the peak of the unique culture of American high school students: driving around in a rented car or a beat-up car bought by parents for a few hundred dollars, picking up girls, fighting, having parties, and having lavish parties...

Although it's rather chaotic, it's a true reflection of contemporary American high school life; otherwise, it would lose a lot of its meaning.

Gu Ming raised his hand and secretly drew a circle.

There is currently a shortage of lead actors; a suitable candidate cannot be found to play the American high school student.

The original "Dragon Boy" was filmed with an Italian actor. Gu Ming considered that Italian actor as a tentative role, which could be used or not, since there could be other candidates for the role.

The film chose this role because the actor was of Italian nationality but was born in the United States. Due to his limited English and physical appearance, he was simply made to appear as Italian.

With everything settled, Gu Ming took the script and prepared to go to Sony.

Submitting directly to Columbia Pictures isn't impossible, but it's too time-consuming. By the time Columbia decides to approve the project, the original "Dragon Boy" would probably already be finished. In comparison, going through higher-level channels would be faster.

Sony, a giant multinational corporation, has an extremely wide range of business projects. Gu Ming finally met with the person in charge of Sony International in the reception room.

"York Yamashita, producer at Sony's international audio-visual division, never expected to have the opportunity to collaborate with Furuya-kun."

He wasn't a high-ranking producer, nor was he a department head. However, considering that Sony doesn't currently have a film business, it's only natural that they would have a meeting of this caliber.

The man with the neat crew cut looked Gu Ming up and down, then suddenly spoke up: "Mr. Gu, forgive my bluntness, but I don't understand why Sony, which doesn't have a film business, would suddenly want to talk to us about scripts."

"I just heard some interesting rumors." Gu Ming knew the reason, of course, but he wouldn't say it.

He put down the folder in his hand and pushed it forward.

"What do you think of this script?"

York glanced at it briefly, first puzzled, then shocked.

Well, you...

Who has a Japanese family that wears yukata when they go out?

"A gardener? A Japanese gardener? Wearing a headband and yukata when going out? Practicing karate? An American learning karate from a Japanese person? Oh my god! Mr. Furuya, this story is a bit too much!"

Gu Ming leaned back on the sofa and spread his hands.

"It's a bit unbelievable, but I think foreigners would like this kind of story."

“If it’s for foreigners, then it’s different.”

York closed his eyes and thought quickly. It was indeed similar to the scene he had imagined. This thing would be quite exaggerated for the Japanese, but just right for foreigners.

Foreigners don't care about the chrysanthemum and the sword, or about forbearance! If you're Japanese, just wear a yukata! I won't know you're Japanese if you don't! All Asians look the same!

York closed the script, his expression instantly turning serious.

"Furuya-kun, I don't know where you heard this news from, and of course, it doesn't matter. But right now, Sony does need a script to convince certain people that Sony has the capability to select good scripts and execute them in film production. However, I don't have the authority to handle projects at this level. I can discuss this with a higher-level manager, and I will inform Furuya-kun when that time comes."

Gu Ming responded, but then pressed, "What about the timeframe?" "That's hard to say, but I guarantee I'll give Gu-kun the most timely updates within a week, regardless of success or failure. If you don't mind, I'll take this."

Gu Ming nodded.

Of course I'll take it; the purpose of a script is for people to see.

As for where York will take the script, only he himself knows.

……

……

Just as Gu Ming thought, even though Sony has not yet completed the acquisition of Columbia Pictures, the plan has been underway for a long time. The two sides have been in contact more than once, and have also discussed their intentions with Coca-Cola.

Columbia Pictures has long been involved in product placement with Coca-Cola, requiring Coca-Cola-related elements to appear in the films. While Columbia Pictures doesn't consider this a big deal, they wouldn't mind if they could find a different sponsor.

Sony and Columbia Records have a long history of cooperation. They first made contact in the 1960s. In 1982, on the recommendation of Norio Ohga, then president of Sony, Sony partnered with CBS Records to establish a CD manufacturing plant in the United States to produce and supply CDs.

The investment is $3500 million.

Well, as mentioned before, Industrial Light & Magic only cost eight million US dollars to establish... This one factory is equivalent to four Industrial Light & Magics.

This was a good start to the partnership, as the factory quickly became profitable. CBS is a world-class record company, with top-notch music library, distribution capabilities, and production capabilities. Sony also already held a significant stake, so there was no possibility of losses.

Sony then began a long-term relationship with Columbia and revealed its intention to acquire Columbia on more than one occasion.

Of course, this proposal was never approved. Columbia believed it deserved a higher price, and Coca-Cola's willingness to sell was unclear.

When the acquisition deal was finally reached, Sony offered a price of up to $3.4 billion, plus an additional $1.6 billion of Columbia's external debt, making the acquisition deal a total of $5 billion.

At the time, the yen-dollar exchange rate was 80:1, which was at a high point, meaning that Sony spent approximately 400 billion yen.

Four hundred billion yen is enough to buy the entire Kadokawa Haruki family and make them sex slaves.

Of course, this acquisition plan didn't use all cash; there were some compensation clauses. Even so, it was still a considerable price.

—Later, Sony did the math and realized that by the time they decided to sell Columbia, they had lost billions, barely making any money and even incurring a loss. But that's another story, and it's irrelevant to this book.

More important than the acquisition at present is that Sony has not proven its ability to select and sell films overseas before, and its capabilities are unknown.

A company that can make good hardware and sell good music may not be able to make good movies.

Besides, Sony's mobile phones and computers don't actually sell very well... even the Japanese themselves don't use them.

But now, things are different.

When you're sleepy, a pillow is delivered to you, and a ready-made script is right in your hand!

York stood outside the office door, his hands gripping the file folder, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. Even though he knew this behavior seemed a bit too nervous, he couldn't help but wipe the sweat away.

"You're fine, you're in control."

York took a deep breath.

If he recommends this script and it gets approved, and the film starts production, it will be a huge achievement for him.

Regardless of how well the movie performs at the box office, if it doesn't sell well, that's the production and distribution company's problem, not his.

In such a big company, who wouldn't want to advance further? At the very least, they should find a position within the department.

York's breath hitched for a moment the moment his secretary opened the door.

Because the person in the room was definitely not an ordinary person.

(End of this chapter)