American Entertainment: Starting with playing the role of Little Beaver

Chapter 75 The Princess's Dementor

"Oh—Harry—so Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban to find you?"

On the Hogwarts Express.

Ron, sitting by the window, stared at Harry in astonishment.

“Yeah—”

Ron’s question received a brief answer.

Harry's certainty was hard for Ron to accept, but Hermione spoke up at that moment, shaking her head slightly, "But they'll catch Black, won't they? Everyone's looking for him, he can't escape."

“Of course.” Ron nodded in agreement.

At the same time, a hint of worry appeared on his face. "But no one has ever been able to escape from Azkaban before, and he's a vicious madman, so... Harry, you have to be careful..."

"Thank you, Ron. I will."

Harry nodded, indicating that he understood.

In the instant he paused, Chris Columbus also shouted and clapped.

"Okay——Cut——Good——Excellent——"

"Daniel, Rupert, Isa, you guys take a break. Next, we're going to film the scene where the train stops—"

"Lighting team, get ready to control the lights; props team, give the Dementors a final check—"

"I hope we can finish filming the entire Dementor's first appearance tonight, because this railway will only be closed for us until tomorrow—"

Columbus's direction instantly kept the Azkaban crew busy.

The original trio, along with David Thewlis, who played Professor Lupin, gave up their roles.

Guided by the staff, the four of them successively entered the makeup van to touch up their makeup.

The date is April 10, 2003.

After spending three days filming the Black Lake scene in the movie, the entire crew moved to Glenfinnan Viaduct to film the scene where the Iron Triangle (the main characters) travel to Hogwarts in their third year and encounter Dementors on the train.

Theoretically, this scene could have been filmed in a studio, because the darkness effect described in the book could have been created using computer-generated special effects—the rain got heavier and heavier, the car windows turned a watery gray, and eventually it went black.

However, regardless of the era, live-action shooting is always cheaper than using special effects.

Furthermore, the realism of live-action filming is something that special effects can never match.

Therefore, closing the road for filming became inevitable.

So, the crew immediately put the Hogwarts Express on an elevated track. The backward scenery during the ride was the real world. Although it wasn't raining outside, the crew could lie on the roof and sprinkle water. The gray world was an art of color. They simply took a gray mask that cost a few pounds and stuck it on the window, and the special effects that would otherwise take several days to render on the computer came out instantly.

Moreover, the Dementors that are about to appear are also puppet props. Their manipulation method is exactly the same as that of a puppet show, and the techniques they use are even derived from Master Yoda in Star Wars more than 20 years ago.

"So you'll be using wires to control it to move forward and raise its arms later?"

Radish was very curious about the densely packed tracks.

"Of course~"

The prop master from Industrial Light & Magic tugged on the rope in his hand.

Immediately afterwards, the Dementor, which was as tall as the ceiling and wore a tattered black cloak, began to move from right to left.

The next second, his hand loosened slightly.

The Dementor then returned to his side.

"Oh—this thing seems amazing—"

Egg Girl had never seen this thing before and thought it was very interesting.

I asked a staff member for a zipline, pulled hard, and lo and behold, the Dementors raised their hands.

With another pull, lo and behold, the Dementor's hand was stuck on the roof of the car.

This situation piqued Radish's interest as well; he wanted to cross a zipline, and after pulling it...

Good guy!
With each pull and release, the Dementor's skeletal hand, like a fan, frantically flapped.

If you were to put your face or butt against it, there would probably be a "slap slap slap" sound on the train.

The two were having a great time, while Isabella, who was leaning against the side with her arms around him, chuckled and shook her head.

"Daniel, is it fun?"

"Hmm."

"But I have some bad news for you: you won't find it fun for long."

"What? Why?"

Eggplant, who was squatting on the ground playing with Dementors, turned her head in confusion.

Radish also looked over with a curious expression.

Isabella laughed and said, "Because you'll be drained dry by it. After the Dementors appear, Harry will feel a bone-chilling cold envelop him, seeping into his skin, invading his chest, and entering his heart..."

“In the story, Harry would enter a state of extreme terror, but now…”

"You've ruined it."

"Imagine a guy who can salute you and slap you appears in front of you saying he's going to drain you dry. Would your first reaction be to laugh? Or would you feel terrified? Hmm?"

Isabella uses nasal sounds.

Daniel stopped giggling at the quick, light response.

The thought of possibly bursting out laughing when I see the Dementors later is unbearable.

He immediately felt that the filming could not continue.

Columbus, also leaning against the railing, was exasperated. "Isa—" he shouted, "Stop causing trouble, okay? Our time is really limited! Why do you have to remind Daniel when he clearly didn't notice the problem?"

"Hee hee~"

The little beaver was amused after being yelled at by the director.

He made a face at Columbus and winked at Daniel, who was still looking bewildered.

Then she slipped into the lounge.
She went off to be beautiful on her own.

As she disappeared, Daniel realized what was happening, "Oh—Isa—you're so mean—"

That's right~
Miss Beaver is up to no good!
Filmmaking is actually a very spontaneous process.

As long as the final result is largely the same as what everyone wants, the creative team doesn't care how they film it.

For example, there's a scene in the movie "Vampire Kiss" where Nicolas Cage eats a cockroach.

To make Nicolas Cage's performance more realistic, the director tricked him into eating a real cockroach. That scene is considered one of the most cost-effective special effects in film history, because the disgusting feeling after eating a cockroach is something that couldn't be achieved even with two million dollars.

For example, the explosion in "The Fifth Element" is the scene where the arms dealer's calm underling is scared out of his wits.

Like the director of "Vampire Kiss," to make the contrast between the two actors' states more realistic, Luc Besson told Gary Oldman, who played the arms dealer, that the upcoming explosion would be a super-large one, and to prepare him mentally. Then, he told the actor playing the henchman that the next explosion would just be a little firework, and he could just act it out casually. When the actors received different information, the contrast in their performances caused by the huge explosion emerged, and the actor playing the henchman was genuinely frightened.

As the saying goes, even the best acting skills can't portray reality.

So instead of getting bogged down in things that can't be explained, it's better to focus on improving your status and let the scripts be written for you.

Whether it's *The Fifth Element* or *Vampire Kiss*, the whispers and gossip on set during filming were all aimed at achieving a better effect. But what about now? Daniel wasn't out of character! Isabella insisted on pulling him out of character? This is truly—

Fifteen minutes later, when Columbus returned to the filming compartment, he glared at the little girl.

The little girl playfully stuck out her tongue.

It's so much more fun staying on set!
However, before she could enjoy her happiness for long, Columbus said, "Isa, I will keep everything that is about to happen in my mind. If the filming of Dementors goes on schedule, I will call Rowling."

"They said you were causing trouble on set."

"..."

Isabella's face darkened.

He glanced at Columbus and said, "Chris, you're disgusting."

"Ok?"

"I was just joking around, trying to liven things up on set, and you're already trying to tattle on me?"

"Who snitched on you? I was just stating the facts."

Columbus shrugged.

"Can't I tell Rowling if you don't perform well? If I cover up your mistakes, wouldn't I be harming you?"

"..."

The little beaver was immediately deflated by those very reasonable words.

At this moment, she was like ripe rice in a field, listless and without energy.

Perhaps they know they are in the wrong at this moment?

Upon discovering that Columbus's attitude was unusually firm, the little girl immediately turned her attention to Daniel.

However, before she could even speak, Daniel had already anticipated her move—

"Isa, don't worry, I'll definitely keep making mistakes."

"I've known you for so many years, and I've never seen you get scolded before."

“Yes, yes, I’ve never seen it either…” Radish nodded in agreement.

"..." The little beaver pouted.

Speechless and choked.

The playful conversation made the staff around them laugh non-stop.

Although everyone was determined to teach the arrogant little beaver a lesson, they instantly became serious once the preparation call and the clapperboard sounded.

The lights inside the carriage suddenly went out—

"Oh~~~"

The instinctive scream emerged...

The crew of "Azkaban" started work at nine in the morning and didn't finish watching the train scene at the start of the school year until seven at night. They didn't go over time. Although Isabella caused trouble, Daniel withstood the pressure. He's such a good kid.

Around eight o'clock, the group, who didn't need to clean up the film set, returned to a nearby hotel.

Just as everyone was saying goodnight and preparing to go back to their rooms to rest, as they were going to film scenes of Hagrid's cabin nearby at nine o'clock the next morning, Isabella suddenly noticed two familiar figures appearing in the lobby of her hotel.

One of them is Nathan Bailey.

The other one is Robert Young Dragon Egger.

The two of them sat facing each other, and each of them had another person next to them.

The guy next to Egger was a young man, who looked like his assistant or secretary.

Beside Nathan Bailey was an elderly man who was leaning back on the sofa with his arms crossed. When he saw Isabella looking over, he smiled and nodded.

"This is……"

My mom and older sister also discovered their presence.

"I think...they must have come looking for us..."

Isabella felt she had guessed why they had come.

He stepped forward with a smile.

All four people in the lobby lounge stood up.

Take the initiative to greet someone.

Isabella's poised and confident demeanor prompted the old man beside her to decisively extend his hand and shake Isabella's hand briefly. "Isabella, we've finally met. It's a pleasure to see you. I'm Barry Mayer."

“Oh, Mr. Meyer, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Is there something you and Mr. Egger have come here for? If so… shall we talk somewhere else? This place probably isn’t convenient.”

"Of course, it would be best if it didn't interfere with your rest."

"Uh—to be honest, it's been quite a hassle—"

"Really? Then I'll pay you overtime according to Hollywood rules. Your working hours are four hours a day, and anything overtime is considered overtime. Your salary for 'Azkaban' is six million, and you'll be on set for 180 days, so your hourly wage is about eight thousand three? Overtime is paid at double the rate, so how about we talk for an hour? I'll give you sixteen thousand six."

“Mr. Meyer, you are very good at math, but you have overlooked one thing.”

"what's up?"

“I’ve already worked six hours of overtime today. I get five times the normal pay for working overtime, so if you want to chat with me, you’ll have to pay me 41,500 pounds per hour.”

“No problem, I’ll give you £100,000, and we’ll talk for two hours.”

Barry Mayer winked at Isabella.

Isabella nodded happily, indicating "Okay".

Although it was their first meeting, she could already sense the old man's humor.

Of course, this guy's humor might be fake.

After exchanging greetings, the group went upstairs, where the second floor of the hotel was the reception room.

After settling into the pre-emptively reserved private room, Maye and Aiger got straight to the point, stating their purpose for coming—

"Mrs. Heywood, Miss Catherine, Isaac, we've come here abruptly to discuss a business deal. 'The Voice' is an excellent film, and could even become a great intellectual property, so would you like to further develop it?"

Upon hearing this, the Heywood family exchanged a glance.

Everyone saw a smile in each other's eyes.

This situation puzzled Maye and Egger, and just as they were about to ask a question, Isabella nodded.

"The Voice, right?"

"You want to make a variety show?"

"sure."

"We're fine."

"???"

The sudden words caused the four people on Dihua's side to instinctively frown.

Because before they came, they hadn't told anyone about the inspiration for "The Voice"!
and so……

"Isa, how did you know we wanted to make 'The Voice of America'?"

Nathan Bailey spoke up decisively.

"Oh—because Million Dollar Magazine is having some trouble?"

Isabella knew that Nathan Bailey was asking on behalf of his master, and said with a smile, "We've also heard about the Million Dollar incident. We even talked to Chris about it on the day the verdict was announced."

He said, "Millions has always been a mainstay of ABC, so..."

Isabella looked at Egger. "Bob, if you hadn't come, I might have had to guess what Barry was up to."

"But after you came..."

Isabella looked at Maye and said, "The only thing that could bring you all here is The Voice."

"Because I believe that 'The Voice (Movie)' can be made into 'The Voice (Variety Show)'."

That's right!

A few days ago, when Chris Columbus said that Robert Iger might be attacked by Michael Eisner because of the collapse of "Millions," Isabella's mind immediately popped into "The Voice"!
The reason is simple:
1. The show "The Voice of the World" that she and Columbus created was originally intended to use the elimination-leveling format of talent shows to mask, or rather, to address, the lack of exciting elements in road trip movies. Since "The Voice of the World" already had a huge show, professionals would certainly be able to see its potential for development.

And now, does Robert Iger need variety shows?
Looking at the world from his perspective, isn't this just like having a pillow when you're sleepy?

2. In Isabella's previous life, The Voice was already a successful talent show IP.

Honestly, when Isabella came up with this idea, she did have the idea of ​​creating an IP. This is the real reason why she is so determined to hold onto the creative copyright. If you don't control the IP, your voice in the industry is limited.

The reason she hadn't done it before was simply because she didn't know where to take the first step in producing a variety show.

And now, does Robert Iger need variety shows?
From her perspective, this is like having a pillow when you're sleepy!
So……

They went to this place in both directions!
The two men narrowed their eyes upon hearing Isabella's words.

Almost simultaneously, the two, who were sitting upright with their hands on the table, leaned back at the same time.

He scrutinized the girl opposite him with a critical eye.

Since the filming had just ended, Isabella was still wearing her Hogwarts school uniform.

A white shirt, a gold and red tie, and a black magic robe.

Sitting there, her dimpled smiling face radiates youth and confidence.

That look——

It's hard not to say that she is Hermione Granger.

"Mrs. Haywood."

Barry Mayer shifted his gaze to Vivian. "I personally think the best decision you ever made was allowing Isaacs to star in Harry Potter in the summer of 2000."

"hahahaha~~~Thank you~~~"

Vivian, beaming, accepted Barry Mayer's praise and put her arms around her two daughters. "I've always felt that my children are the best, and of course, I think that's what all mothers feel."

Since Isabella doesn't seem as mature as a 13-year-old—

Um, last month, on March 19th, Isabella celebrated her 13th birthday on set. Now she's 14, or even 15 by the traditional Chinese age reckoning... just kidding! Growing up isn't all that great, being a kid is so much fun!

Therefore, discussions related to "The Voice of China" were immediately brought to the table by both D.E. and Hua.

Since the current "The Voice of China" is not a variety show, the first thing everyone talked about was the concept of the project.

The ideas from both sides, Dihua and others, are as follows:
The format of their upcoming "The Voice" is roughly the same as that in the movie "The Voice".

The three-stage process—city, state, and country—is all included.

However, the national competition format in variety shows differs from that in movies.

Because the film's narrative time is limited, the final scene shows Lily Zeller standing on stage singing a proper song, with judges scoring from below, and the one with the highest score winning.

But variety shows can't do that.

Or perhaps the ending of the movie is actually the beginning of the variety show. All talent shows only start airing at this stage. Therefore, in Disney's concept, during the national competition, they will introduce four well-known singers or songwriters from the music industry as mentors, who will select students from a list of 150 people to form teams.

Then they compete in pairs, and the winner takes all.

On the surface, this is no different from Isabella's previous life's "The Voice".

However, this isn't because Robert Iger was able to foresee the future, nor is it because Disney has a wealth of talented people who predicted Isabella's idea before she even came up with it. Rather, competitive reality shows have existed for a long time, and the mentor-student model wasn't something "The Voice" invented. Similar content can be found in popular shows like "American Idol."

To put it bluntly, the various creative ideas in reality shows have actually been explored by people in the nearly 100 years of television development. The so-called innovation is just copying in a different guise.

What's truly valuable isn't creativity, but a brand that's recognized by the world.

Just like "The Voice," the most valuable thing in this project wasn't Isabella's inspiration.

It's not about Isabella's 'The Voice', but about 'The Voice'.

Diva's concept was quite complete, so Isabella didn't have any ideas about the project process.

Uh……

This doesn't mean that Isabella will ban the "turn around" and "mutual selection" features in "The Voice of China".

These are the soul of "The Voice of China," and Isabella will definitely keep them, but these things will have to be discussed at the end. No normal person would play all their cards at once during negotiations.

Put down the creative notebook and pick up the hastily drafted cooperation agreement between the two parties.

The most realistic distribution of benefits appeared before Isabella—

Disney wants to acquire all rights, or licenses, to The Voice brand in the United States from Isabella, including but not limited to the production and broadcast of the show, and the production and distribution of theme park rides.

The former is simple: it's about creating talent shows.

The latter is simpler; after "Millions" became a hit, quiz games started appearing in Disney parks.

When it comes to IP development, if Disney claims to be second in the world, then no one dares to claim to be number one.

In contrast, Disney exclusively enjoys all the revenue from "The Voice" in North America.

Warner Music acted as an assistant to Disney in producing all projects related to "The Voice," such as providing Disney with the music copyrights needed for the show, hiring well-known judges, and providing prizes for the winner.

The prize for the champion, according to the plan, is a personal album production contract worth tens of millions.

Correspondingly, Warner will acquire the distribution rights and copyrights to all music works related to "The Voice." The songs performed by mentors and contestants on the show will be produced and distributed by Warner. Furthermore, Warner will also own the management contracts of all contestants. In other words, if the show discovers a promising talent, Warner can sign them directly.

If the other party doesn't sign a contract, then we eliminate them.

Since Disney and Warner are both established capital groups that control the means of production, Isabella, as the copyright holder, has very little to do. As long as she is willing to relinquish the North American rights to "The Voice" and cooperate with the show's recording and promotion according to the schedule, such as appearing at the national competition as an initiator or a judge, she can earn a considerable income.

Disney offered her $2000 million for the first season's rights, plus a $1000 million appearance fee.

Total of 3000 million.

The price for the second season and the price for licensing the theme park games will be discussed in the future.

However, if Disney continues to do so, the copyright fee will be no less than 2000 million.

To be honest, Disney has already shown a lot of sincerity.

Because the current "The Voice of China" is not a variety show, although everyone knows it has great potential, no one knows what its future will be like, and Isabella can do nothing about all the production, which is equivalent to making money while lying down.

Then, currently, "American Idol," which has been a reference for Disney, is also an imported project. Its predecessor was the British "Pop Idol." After "Pop Idol" became a huge hit in the UK, it only received $1000 million in copyright fees for its first season in the United States.

The so-called sky-high price of 7000 million only increased in the second quarter.

So, right now, is Disney blindly spending $20 million to buy the one-year usage rights to the eight letters 'The Voice'?

This really shows that Iger wants to win.

And these...

"You're going back today?"

After reading the proposal, Isabella smiled and looked up.

"Uh... it doesn't really matter whether we're at the company or not."

Robert Iger and Barry Mayer exchanged a glance, then laughed and said, "Remote work is so convenient these days. You can solve everything with just one phone call, and we came here on a private jet."

"Okay."

Isabella closed the project schedule in her hand and said, "Then you can stay in England for a few more days."

"The place we are in now is called Glencoe, and the environment here is quite nice."

"Just to... relax?"

“I’m fine.” Barry Mayer understood what Isabella meant.

A business worth tens of millions is already a huge deal; these kinds of things definitely need to be discussed behind closed doors.

"Then goodnight?" Robert Iger chuckled. "Your Highness?"

The sudden address of "princess" brought smiles to the faces of the people in the conference room.

After Isabella returned to her room and closed the door, she hugged her mother and older sister.

He clung to them like a koala, and as they walked toward the living room, he asked, "What do you think about this?"

(End of this chapter)