American Entertainment: Starting with playing the role of Little Beaver

Chapter 135 The New Year's Gift is Great!

Ok.

Miss Beaver is being a bit presumptuous.

Steven Spielberg and George Lucas were in the UK because post-production on the third Star Wars prequel, Revenge of the Sith, was complete, and they came to London to review the finished film.

If all goes well, then Lucasfilm can hand the film over to distributor Fox.

The other party takes it for rating, and then it's shown all over the world.

what?
Someone asked why the later stages of Revenge of the Sith were done in the UK?
This question is very simple!

Because Industrial Light & Magic's branch is in the UK!

As mentioned earlier, the rules and regulations in Hollywood were what Lucas hated most. Therefore, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, after conflicts with various associations, Lucas set an example for the later tax evader by withdrawing from the groups.

This choice infuriated the major associations in Hollywood, who wanted to teach this disobedient young man a lesson. So they all announced that their members were not allowed to participate in Lucas's project, or they would be severely punished.

This is a 'soft ban'.

Because the major Hollywood associations only said that their members were 'not allowed to participate' in Lucas's projects, they didn't say 'prohibited'.

The goal of the various associations was actually to get Lucas to admit his mistake.

After all, he had already directed "A New Hope" and "The Empire Strikes Back" at that time.

He is a benchmark figure in the American film industry.

But Lucas couldn't care less about these associations.

After learning that he had been 'soft-blacklisted', he immediately started looking through the rules and regulations in Hollywood.

When he discovered that decades ago, when the film industry was just born, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) stipulated that if a film's American production level was below a certain threshold, it could not be released simultaneously on a large scale in North America, Lucas decisively pushed his film productions to the global market.

Lucas moved the entire studio production team outside of North America, and then he presented Return of the Jedi, which was filmed and produced globally, to the North American theatrical alliance, asking if his film could be released simultaneously on a large scale in North America.

North American theater chains said yes without even thinking about it.

This made the major Hollywood associations a laughing stock.

Because they failed to block Lucas, and Lucas even turned the tables on them.

Because they went to great lengths to obstruct Lucas.

When Return of the Jedi was first conceived, Spielberg was the guy who most wanted to make the film.

But major Hollywood associations wouldn't allow him to make the film and threatened him by withholding it from North America.

This infuriated Spielberg.

In order to save his film, Spielberg had no choice but to abandon Return of the Jedi.

The movie that was blocked was called "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial".

Yes.

Hollywood's major associations have blocked a movie that should never be blocked.

When "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" exploded in popularity and became the highest-grossing film in history, and "Return of the Jedi" earned more money in a year than any of the associations had ever made before, these two became the grandfathers of all the major associations.

The association must do whatever they say.

Not convinced?

Let's form our own association then.

Anyway, everyone in the world knows that if we follow us, we'll have plenty of meat to eat.

Although they won the struggle, the two did not stop their efforts to globalize the film industry; on the contrary, they went further and further down this path.

Because the beauty of the earth is not limited to North America alone.

Because Lucas's filming and special effects studios built outside North America couldn't possibly be abandoned because of a struggle.

Furthermore, given the close, familial relationship between Britain and the United States, during the struggle between the two countries, Lucas directly adopted international London as a secondary base for his film studio, moving many of his significant assets there. Therefore…

To put it simply, Industrial Light & Magic in London is actually Lucasfilm's current production headquarters, while the headquarters in San Francisco is really just a research lab. They don't have an office in Los Angeles.

They think Hollywood is too smelly and smoky.

"Oh~ Chris~ you still owe me a present~"

After half an hour.

In the café in Leavesden.

After a brief chat with the two, I learned the real reason for their visit to England.

Isabella immediately turned her gaze to Chris Columbus.

Columbus understood what she meant and shook his head, both amused and exasperated.

The two old men, unaware of the riddle they were speaking of, asked out of curiosity.

Then Isabella said, "In previous years, we would exchange New Year's gifts with Chris."

“This year, I gave Chris a New Year’s present, but he didn’t give me one.”

"At first, everyone in the crew said he wanted to give me a surprise."

"I think so too."

"With your arrival, I even feel like I guessed right."

"Because... I like Jurassic Park and Star Wars..."

"So, if Chris invites you all to England so I can meet you, wow~ that would be a real surprise~"

"But you came here for 'Revenge of the Sith'? Visiting the set was just a side trip?"

"Oh~ then I personally think that this kind of encounter can't be called a 'surprise'."

"Because compared to 'by chance,' it just doesn't seem sincere at all."

The little girl shook her head and recounted her 'grudge' against Columbus.

The bizarre 'contradiction' made the two of them burst into laughter—

"Oh—Chris, are you treating our visit to the set as a New Year's gift for Isa?"

Lucas shook his head and said, "If that's the case, then I'll have to ask you for an appearance fee!"

"Oh—Chris, you're really thrifty and good at managing a household—"

Spielberg adjusted his glasses and remarked, "Is the cost of living in Britain so high that you have to resort to this kind of money-saving method? Or is your wife too controlling? Hmm?"

The two men's bickering left Columbus shrugging in frustration.

“Steven, George.”

"Don't you all know what New Year's gift I prepared for Isha?"

"You two, don't get me into trouble here!"

"Don't ruin my reputation here!"

As he spoke, Columbus poked the table with his finger.

The tapping sound made the two of them laugh non-stop.

This made Miss Beaver raise her tail and scratch her head with the tip of it.

To be honest, Isabella didn't really care whether Columbus gave her a gift or not. She kept bringing it up not because she wanted an explanation, but simply because she wanted to find some fun in the monotonous filming life.

If she were truly angry, and genuinely felt that Columbus was discriminating against her, she would have already lost her temper.
However, judging from the current situation...

"What are you talking about?" she asked, squinting her eyes in confusion.

Columbus picked up the cup in front of him and took a sip of coffee.

Then he said, "Isa, didn't you hear about a project from me the year before last?"

“Last year, I told you that DreamWorks had a lot of things to do, so the project couldn’t start for the time being.”

"But this year, the DreamWorks issue was resolved, so..."

He glanced at Isabella, noticing the surprise on the little girl's face, then immediately looked at Spielberg. "Did you bring the project proposal? Did you bring the contract? Steven, you can't say no to me now—"

"Oh, Chris, that's a harsh thing to say. How could I possibly say no to you?"

Spielberg glared at Columbus, then snapped his fingers at his assistant with a smile.

Upon receiving instructions from the boss, the other party immediately handed over the briefcase he was carrying.

The next second, Spielberg opened his bag and handed Isabella a document that was half a knuckle thick.

"Isa, I heard you like this project? How about we check it out?"

Although the cover of the document was very simple, just an A4 sheet of paper with some words printed on it.

But at the very top of the list is "The Transformers".

"Oh~~~ Is this a New Year's gift?" The little beaver was delighted.

He looked at Columbus with a smile.

Columbus, however, curled his lip in disgust.

"If you don't think that's acceptable, then just give me an Avada Kedavra to eat."

"It's my fault as her subject—I couldn't guess what Her Highness wanted—alright?"

"Hahahaha—" The sarcastic words made everyone at the table laugh non-stop.

Well, besides the four of them, Isabella's mother Vivian and Michael Barnason were also there.

The little beaver gave Columbus a disdainful look, but before her mother could even scold her, she broke character, grinning at Spielberg and saying, "Then I won't be polite," before deftly flipping open the project proposal.

The contents are as follows:
The production team for "Transformers" is already taking shape.

The producers are Don Murphy and Steven Spielberg.

Don Murphy is a veteran in Hollywood. He directed Oliver Stone's "Natural Born Killers" in 1994 and Johnny Depp's "From Hell" in 2001.

He was also the primary producer of "Transformers".

Or perhaps he was the one who first stirred things up at Hasbro, suggesting they turn the toy IP into a movie, and then Hasbro agreed it was feasible. But that's not important; with Spielberg's involvement, the entire IP was now under his control.

Then, regarding the script, the basic outline of the story was already in place.

Just as Isabella needed, the current Transformers has become a story of 'a girl and her car'.

If I had to describe it, the story would go something like this:

The planet Cybertron was ravaged by the war between the two factions of Transformers. At this time, the Autobots wanted to find the spark that was the source of life on Cybertron to end the war that had lasted for thousands of years, while the Decepticons wanted to use the spark to dominate the universe.

Megatron then found the spark on Earth, but due to an accident, he fell into the Arctic Circle.

Like Captain America, he was frozen in ice.

It's unclear how many years passed, but in any case, the US government discovered Megatron.

Therefore, the US government wanted to study this extraterrestrial life in order to advance human technological development.

However, a new accident occurred. American technicians activated Megatron's coordinate system while studying him, which led the Decepticons to discover Earth. Starscream and other warriors descended to rescue their leader and bring the spark back to Cybertron.

The Decepticons' actions caught the attention of the Autobots, and Bumblebee followed suit, also landing on Earth.

After Bumblebee learned that Megatron was at a US military base, he tried to sneak in and find out what was going on.

However, the US military base was heavily guarded and airtight, which prevented Hornet from finding an opportunity.

Meanwhile, at the base, the daughter of a senior researcher came of age, and the school hoped that all students' parents would attend their children's coming-of-age ceremony to commemorate this once-in-a-lifetime moment.

Although the chief researcher was very busy, he still took leave and left the base to attend his daughter's coming-of-age ceremony at school.

Furthermore, on his way home, he specially ordered a sports car for his daughter as a coming-of-age gift. This was because, in his youth, what he wanted most was a sports car.

This unexpected event gave Bumblebee an opportunity.

However, just as he transformed into a supercar, hoping to use this opportunity to find out how to infiltrate the US military base from the research director, Bumblebee, who became a member of the director's family, discovered that the director had many conflicts with his daughter.

First, the supervisor is often busy with work and rarely spends time with his daughter.

This led to his daughter being bullied by her classmates at school, who all felt she was a little weed without a father.

Secondly, the supervisor was an engineering student who didn't pay attention to his appearance.

When he showed up at his daughter's coming-of-age ceremony in a plaid shirt and jeans, she became the laughingstock of her classmates, and he became the source of her humiliation. Ultimately, it stemmed from a lack of communication between the supervisor and his daughter; he simply didn't understand her.

During their past time together, his daughter had tried to whisper secrets to him many times, but the supervisor always used the excuse that he was tired and wanted to rest to break free from his daughter's embrace, which made him completely unable to understand his daughter's preferences.

Therefore, when it came time to give her a coming-of-age gift, his daughter completely lost it. She didn't like sports cars, but…

hmm~
╯ (╯ ▽ ╰) ╭

When the conflict between the daughter and the father became extremely acute, Bumblebee became the emotional mediator for the whole family.

Or perhaps, it's the busiest Cybertronian life form in the entire movie.

On one hand, they need to contact the Autobots and call on their allies to come to Earth and work together to destroy the Decepticons' plot;
On one hand, he has to be a good stay-at-home dad, coax the female lead, and persuade her to reconcile with her father.

In the end, the female protagonist understands her father's hard work, and the father understands his daughter's loneliness. In the end, they join forces to defeat Megatron, the mafia boss in the universe, and bring new peace to Earth.

If one had to describe it, the current Transformers script is actually Spielberg's comfort zone, because this old man is best at using the camera to tell stories about the conflicts between children and fathers, the conflicts between family and career, and the conflicts between growth and maturity.

Uh……

This is actually a reflection of his own life.

His father is very busy with research.

She was so busy that she didn't have time to take care of him, and so busy that she divorced his mother.

Although Isabella could no longer remember what the Transformers movies from her previous life were about.

But when she discovered that the core of the Transformers script she was touching in this life was something Spielberg had filmed countless times, the corners of her mouth involuntarily turned up.

This is happiness—

Because Spielberg has never failed in his area of ​​expertise.

This was an accident—

"So... Steven, uh... may I call you that?"

"of course can."

"Okay, I'd like to know, are you the director of this movie?"

Isabella patted the project proposal in her hand and said with a smile, "This script looks like you wrote it yourself."

"Hahaha~"

Spielberg laughed, raised his eyebrows, and said, "If you play the daughter, okay, I can direct."

“I probably don’t have time,” Isabella shrugged regretfully.

“Oh, me too,” Spielberg said, shrugging. “That’s why I want Michael Bay to direct.”

"You know him, right? Bad Boys, The Rock? They're both great."

Isabella certainly knew Michael Bay; in her past life, he was the director of Transformers.

What she didn't know was...

“Isa, Michael is a really great guy, uh, no… he’s much older than you…”

"Forget it, it's not important."

Spielberg had barely finished speaking when Lucas chimed in, "He was my assistant when he was 15. We were making Indiana Jones back then, and he made a deep impression on us. He was very talented."

"What?"

The sudden information made Isabella frown slightly. "Sorry, George, I don't think I understood what you meant."

"He was already working with you guys on Indiana Jones when he was fifteen?"

"Are you... employing child labor?"

"Oh—no, no—Isha—you misunderstood—"

Miss Beaver's question nearly choked everyone present.

Columbus explained, "Michael is not an ordinary person."

"His cousin is Susan Bay, one of the six founders of the Directors Guild of America's Women's Rights Steering Committee."

“His family was originally in the industry, so Michael was basically playing with cameras all his life from childhood.”

"When he has free time, he goes to various film sets, and... he really likes Star Wars."

“Oh—” Isabella understood.

They're still one of our own.

She admitted that she was unaware of the relationship between Michael Bay and George Lucas.

But it is not important.

As the saying goes, "When one person attains enlightenment, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven."

I succeeded, but the people around me failed?

That would make me look like a complete idiot.

"Okay, so how do we talk?"

Isabella looked around.

Do you have a problem with the director?

Spielberg asked with a smile.

"I believe that professionals can do the most professional things."

“Haha~~~~” Spielberg nodded with a smile and said, “Then let’s talk about the cast? Your Margot Robbie will play the female lead, and for the role of the father, we’d like to invite… Do you have a choice?”

"Me? I'd like to invite Tom Cruise? Is that alright?"

"..."

When Transformers became a story about family, career, and growth, it actually only had two main characters: the daughter and the father. Everyone else was a supporting character.

In this way, when the daughter is certain, then the father...

Okay, let's not worry about Isabella.

She has no opinion on who Spielberg chooses.

Of course, it would be best if we could invite Tom Cruise.

Because this means that Transformers is 100% guaranteed to be a success.

It's worth noting that in Isabella's previous life, Tom Cruise was the only actor in the world who didn't star in Marvel movies but whose cumulative box office earnings still ranked among the top ten globally. His face was a global IP.

Furthermore, it was actually quite simple for Spielberg and his team to invite Tom Cruise.

Firstly, the two sides already have a lot of cooperation.

Minority Report and War of the Worlds are films they collaborated on.

Secondly, Tom Cruise was originally a Paramount employee.

Currently, DreamWorks is also partnering with Paramount.

Since Isabella doesn't like to meddle in other people's business, after a few words about her ideal lineup, she changed the subject and continued chatting with the old men about Margot Robbie's contract and her interests, and well...

After a brief exchange, Spielberg formally invited Robbie Jr. to star in "Transformers".

The pay is a fixed salary plus bonuses.

Fixed salary of three million.

The bonuses are activated in a tiered manner:
When the movie's box office reaches 200 million, she will receive a bonus of one million US dollars.
When the total reaches 500 million, the red envelope will expand to 3 million;

If the global box office reaches 700 million US dollars, she will receive one percent of the global box office revenue.
The bonuses for each stage are not cumulative;
As for the salaries for the second and third installments?

We’ll talk about it later.

Yes, three contracts were signed at once.

Then, just like before, Isabella also obtained the position of executive producer by bringing in her own actors for "Transformers". Although she does not have any actual work, she will take one percent of the total revenue as production fees.

Uh……

Don't ask whether this kind of thing complies with business rules. If being "one of our own" doesn't mean sticking together to spend money and scheme for power, then what's the point of being "one of our own"?
Right?

To put it more bluntly, if a project like Transformers is done well, all the profits go to DreamWorks.

If they perform poorly, the money they lose goes to Hasbro.

Spielberg would rather lose money on himself than on anyone else.

So……

Once he was able to enter and leave the Harry Potter set, he couldn't possibly have taken Isabella's share of the cake.

Because he can now prove to the world that the story of him being kicked out of the show by J.K. Rowling was pure nonsense.

The old man cares a lot about his image!
Spielberg and Lucas arrived in Leavesden at 1 p.m. Although there were still a few daytime scenes to be filmed, the filming stopped after their arrival.

Their conversation with the group continued until dinnertime. After having dinner in the Livingston canteen, the two boarded their car to leave the crew. As they departed, Spielberg spoke to Isabella about something else—

"Isa, I know about Disney."

“Robert Iger told me that he needed Pixar, and things couldn’t go wrong there.”

"So, if you need help, you can call me directly."

"Give me one night, and I can assemble a complete team for you."

"As for the equipment..."

"Industrial Light & Magic has a full range of equipment; you can just bring whatever you need from their London headquarters."

"Chris and I have a good relationship. I know about what happened before, so please don't be shy with me."

Isabella smiled.

"Oh, Steven, then I'll thank you in advance!"

In Isabella's view, Spielberg's visit this time was a real gift.

Or perhaps, the New Year's gift Columbus gave her truly delighted her.

Because what she needs most right now isn't finalizing the Transformers project, but rather technical support in animation.

Animation is not easy to do; modeling and rendering both require people and equipment.

And when Spielberg opened the back door for Industrial Light & Magic for her...

To put it bluntly, the technological gap between the Beaver Mouse animation and Pixar has disappeared.

Pixar and Industrial Light & Magic have always swapped patents!
Isabella was very happy with the New Year's gift from Columbus.

The Transformers that fell from the sky thrilled Margot Robbie.

"Oh—Isa—this—this—is it real?"

That night.

Robbie's eyes widened instantly upon seeing the contract Isabella handed him.

Its sparkly appearance is comparable to that of Puss in Boots.

"Of course it's true, Spielberg and Lucas came today, didn't they?"

Isabella said while yawning, "So..."

"Oh, Your Highness, please have some water."

"I'm not thirsty."

"Oh, Your Highness, please have some fruit!"

"I just finished dinner."

"Oh, Your Highness, would you like to take a nice, fragrant bath before bed? I'll run the tub and sprinkle some lavender essential oil from France on it? Then I'll light a stick of sandalwood from Papua New Guinea? And finally... would you like an Australian spa treatment?"

"..."

The little beaver felt comfortable and happily wagged its tail.

(End of this chapter)