My Hong Kong Island Filmmaker

Chapter 1022 Casting
PS: Ask for a recommendation ticket!Ask for a monthly pass!
On a hot summer day, Santa Barbara Manor, under the awning on the terrace facing the sea.

Wu Xiaozu was wearing a white vest on his upper body, showing off his sharp muscles. He was holding a bottle of Corona dripping with frost in his hand. There was a grill in front of him, and he was leisurely flipping over the beef with tongs.

"Add more black pepper."

Cheng Long exposed his chest and wore a flowered shirt with a smile to help, and touched him with a beer, "Male No. [-] is sure about that beautiful boy?"

"Do you have an idea?"

Wu Xiaozu stood by the oven, turned sideways, with a smile on his face, glanced at Leonardo DiCaprio who was chatting with Harvey not far away, and picked up a piece of meat Pass it to Cheng Long, "Taste how it tastes——"

"It tastes good. Is it too tender?"

"Did you say steak or Leo?"

Wu Xiaozu wiped the sweat off his face with a towel, ""Detective Chinatown" is a work released in North America after all. The investment is 600 million US dollars. The movie needs a white man to attract attention, and Leo has the potential to become a young idol star . Harvey also thought he was a good fit for the role."

In this era, the investment cost of "Detective Chinatown" is relatively large among independent film productions.In this era, the mainstream A-level productions in Hollywood are only tens of millions of dollars.

In the first two years, the production cost of "Terminator 1" was only 640 million.Three years later, "Speed" produced by Hollywood studios only cost 2800 million US dollars.This year, Kashen's "Terminator 2" became the first film in North America with an investment of over [-] million.

The total production cost of "Detective Chinatown" exceeded 600 million, not including the post-production costs.For Hollywood movies, the highest proportion of marketing costs to the total cost is 40%, and the lowest is 24%.This does not include the cost of physical copies, the production of audiovisual products and their transportation.

So, the show could end up costing more than $800 million.

It's really not a small investment.

Fortunately, some companies have very complete financing channels.The vest of Touchstone Films can also be put on the agenda smoothly. Under Zhang Jiazhen's operation, the financing is relatively smooth.

Wu Xiaozu himself naturally entered into the film as a director, enjoying 'income sharing', not 'profit sharing'.

You know, under the operation of Hollywood's damn and dodgy accounting system, some movies that were originally profitable can also become loss-making.For example, in the financial report of "Harry Potter 5" in later generations, the film still lost 1.67 million US dollars two years after the film was released, making profit sharing an empty talk.Many investors lost the bottom line...

Hollywood has never been so friendly to outsiders.

This is why Wu Xiaozu started with independent film production.At the same time, it is also because of the bastard Harvey Weinstein.

"Harvey~~" Cheng Long nodded, "Okay, do as the Romans do."

He scratched his head and shook his head, "I'm really fed up with the Hollywood production model. It's like a puppet, and you have to listen to people's orders every time you look at it. Fortunately, you have Azu..."

The last time he was in Hollywood filming "Great Dragon", he was dissatisfied with the environment, and finally broke up with the main creator. He returned to Hong Kong to film "Police Story".

This time, he held his breath.

"Step by step, since we want to come to other people's territory to find food, we must follow their rules." Wu Xiaozu smiled and patted Uncle Long on the shoulder, "Practice English well. At least you won't be a Puppet, you still need to be responsible for the action of the whole play."

"No problem. Let those ghosts see what we can do." Cheng Long smiled.

If it wasn't for Wu Xiaozu's initiative to invite him, he really might not return to Hollywood so soon.

It was only out of trust in Wu Xiaozu that he lowered his pay and chose to cooperate.

He himself really wants to enter Hollywood and prove himself here.

"For the first time to test the water, we have to slowly adapt to this market."

Wu Xiaozu didn't feel that directing small productions was cheap, and at the same time he was adapting to this brand new system step by step.That's why we chose the theme of 'Chinatown'.At least in this subject matter, he still has a certain degree of 'comfort'.

He didn't want to make a big fall when he first set foot in Hollywood, that didn't fit Zu Ge's personality.

Outsiders would naturally drop their ranks in Hollywood, and even though he was a double gold medalist at Cannes, he was no exception.After all, he has not proven himself in the North American market.If it weren't for his own sound financing channels, the financing of the first film might have stumped many people.

In comparison, he is undoubtedly much luckier than many rookies.

As for saying...

Why not invest your own money?This is too layman.

Not to mention that he has not yet adapted to the North American market and audience, he is a niche director here, and he is starting from scratch.Even on Hong Kong Island, [-] has always adhered to the principle of spending other people's money.

Movies are gambling. You can only say that you have a good chance of winning, but you cannot say that you will definitely win. The directors of "Actors Please Take Your Place 2" also remake previous successful works, and there are also original works to learn from, but can they really shoot exactly the same?
Besides, even if you have a big chance of winning, you have to learn to share.

Giants such as Warner, Universal, and Sony also have good projects, and they also share investment costs.

"Brother Long, although the cost in North America is not high, at least it will meet our wishes, isn't it? You can also show your characteristics and let those ghosts see our action design."

For action design, Hong Kong Island is world-class in this era.

"Uh..." Hearing this, Cheng Long gave up the idea of ​​finding a well-known star to cooperate with.

A slightly well-known celebrity seems to be not qualified to let others play a supporting role for him and direct him, right?

Even if he brought funds into the group.

That's right, Uncle Long also brought money into the team... Golden Harvest will also invest in this drama.

Originally, he thought that Tom Cruise's height matched him quite well, but he is now the number one shortest star idol in Hollywood, and he is not qualified.Looking at it this way, Leonardo, a handsome boy, actually meets the requirements of the script.

"Where's the villain?"

"Harvey recommended a black man."

Wu Xiaozu said slowly: "At the same time, I also selected several actors from the actor's union. After all, he is the producer of this drama."

If this sentence is placed in later generations, it is absolutely politically incorrect.

How can Black Lives Matter be a villain?

But in the 80s and 90s, this was a normal operation. Asians, blacks, and Latinos were all synonymous with villains.If there is a movie with a black protagonist at this time, you don't have to count on the box office at all.

The market dictates the decision.

In this era, black people are indeed not a mainstream audience group, and Asians have no sense of existence.

So Cheng Long's role as the first protagonist is also an adventure in itself.

Before that, no one had ever been successful in the commercial market except Bruce Lee.Zunlong?Sorry, there are also marginalized actor symbols in the North American mainstream market.

Cheng Long didn't say anything when he heard Wu Xiaozu's words.

Producer.

On Hong Kong Island, the producer does not directly intervene in the filming of the crew.But it's different in North America... Here is a producer-centered system, and the producers really have the right to speak.This is why Wu Xiaozu also asked to be a producer.

Fortunately, this is still an independent film, not a mainstream commercial film.Wu Xiaozu can slowly adapt to a certain extent, and can control his own voice to a certain extent.

"Old Wu—"

At this moment, a convertible car drove in, followed by another car.

Sitting in the convertible, Chen Kai waved to Wu Xiaozu, and at the same time whispered a few words to Chen Chong who was driving next to him, his face full of complacency.

Chen Chong's eyes lit up when he saw Wu Xiaozu... Especially when he noticed Harvey Weinstein and others in the field, he took a deep breath.

　I really want to be the stronger of the two, but I can't help but kill the enemy with my heart.For my physical and mental health, my wife firmly does not allow me to sit for a long time...

　　I went to the hospital today to take a film...and some cold compresses were prescribed...my waist is different from that of the young woman with back pain in the Northeast.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)