Meiyu: I don’t care about the cost when making movies

Chapter 121 Wayne’s Rules

"The production cost of "The Dark Side" is about US$1400 million. Once the production is completed, a new production fund of US$4200 million will be available."

"Even if all this money is invested in the filming of "Resident Evil 1 and 2", it will only just meet the needs, so we still have to continue to work on both projects and film "Mean Girls" first."

"As for the funds after selling the copyright of "The Dark Side", in addition to leaving the publicity and distribution funds for "The Bourne Supremacy" and allocating part to Marvel for copyright repurchase, the rest can be used for investment. .”

“But who should the producers of ‘Mean Girls’ be looking for?”

"Serra's current work focus still needs to be on company operations. It is too tiring to run the company on a daily basis and take care of the filming of "The Dark Side" at the same time."

After thinking for a moment, Wayne picked up his phone and dialed Sera's number.

"Hey Sierra, are you busy? I have something to ask your opinion about. Who do you think is better between Melanie Sloan and Nancy Meyers as a producer on Mean Girls? Is it more suitable? Or do you have a more suitable candidate?"

After the call was connected, Wayne didn't say much and asked straight to the point.

"Mean Girls is just a small-budget movie with a production budget of 1300 million. Both Melanie Sloan and Nancy Meyers are capable enough." After thinking for a moment, Serra gave her own suggestion.

"Melanie Sloan has more experience and qualifications as a producer, while Nancy Meyers has better results. From this perspective, I am more optimistic about Nancy Meyers."

"However, the producer needs to supervise and ensure the smooth operation of the entire crew, especially the use of funds."

"Nancy Meyers is already the director of this film. If she is also the producer, she will lose part of her role in financial supervision. After all, the director is responsible for 'spending money.'"

"According to my past experience, for projects where the director is also the producer, the production cost can easily exceed the budget."

"In addition, one person's energy is limited. The work of a producer still takes a lot of time and energy, and letting Nancy Meyers take on the role will undoubtedly divert her energy from directing."

"So all things considered, I would recommend Melanie Sloan."

In fact, there are two points that Serra has not mentioned. The first is the relationship between Wayne and Scarlett Johansson, and the second is that Melanie Sloan is Jewish.

Although today's Hollywood is not as exaggerated as it was 20 years ago, most of it is already occupied by Jews.It would be easier and less troublesome in many cases if the producer was Jewish.

"What about in terms of long-term cooperation?"

Wayne pondered for a moment and asked again, and his question also made Sierra slightly startled, and then she showed a thoughtful expression.

"Wayne, you seem to have a high opinion of Nancy Meyers?"

"That's right," Wayne nodded and admitted frankly: "Both her writing and directing abilities are very powerful in my opinion, so I hope that Hemera Pictures can maintain long-term cooperation with her, or even directly persuade her She joins the company.”

After thinking for a while, Sera said: "It should be no problem to establish long-term cooperation with her, but it may be difficult to convince her to join the company. With her qualifications and reputation, if she is interested in joining the company, she will not wait until now. She could even start a small production company of her own.”

"Then the producer of "Mean Girls" should choose Melanie Sloan." Wayne didn't hesitate anymore and immediately chose Melanie Sloan.

Sera smiled when she heard this and said: "I think it's better for you to convey this decision through Scarlett~" "Uh"

With Wayne's thick skin, he couldn't help but have a look of embarrassment on his face at this time, after all, Sierra was his mother-in-law.

"In addition, I will try to contact Nancy Meyers to see if I can convince her. I heard that her second daughter, Holly Meyers, also seems to want to develop into an actress. Maybe we can start from Let’s start with this.”

"Then it's up to you," Wayne said.

"By the way, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you for the producer job of the next movie "Taken". As for the company's operations, I can leave them to Mia then. You can take care of her more during this time. "

Sierra on the other end of the phone was stunned again when she heard this, and it took two seconds to come back to her senses, with a smile of relief appearing on her lips unconsciously.

Obviously, Wayne was telling her again that no matter how many women he had, Mia would be the one with the highest status.

"Okay, I understand. It just so happens that I can take this opportunity to go to France for a vacation."

"Well, remember to bring more bodyguards. To be honest, the security there is really terrible. It's even worse than downtown Los Angeles."

"."

After chatting for a while, Wayne took the initiative to invite Sierra to have dinner with him and Mia tonight, and then hung up the phone and called Scarlett.

"Ah, honey, what are you talking about? You want to ask Melanie to be the producer of "Mean Girls"? Of course there is no problem, I swear, she will be extremely happy when she hears this news!"

After Wayne told Scarlett about this, Scarlett's funny voice suddenly came from the other end of the phone.

But what she said was not an exaggeration.

Although Melanie Sloan's experience and qualifications are slightly stronger than those of Serra, they are still limited. The two of them are at the same level. The films they serve as producers are basically low-budget films with an investment of no more than 1000 million. Therefore, "Mean Girls" with a budget of more than 1300 million US dollars is definitely a good opportunity for Melanie Sloan today.

"But you should have heard of Hemera Films' rules, right?"

"Of course!"

Scarlett nodded without hesitation, and the so-called 'Wayne's rules' came to mind.

You can give a higher salary, but try not to give a share of the box office.This is actually the rule of many powerful production companies, including the Big Seven.

It's just that even a person with the size of the Big Seven will be appropriately relaxed when facing first-line directors and first-line actors. For example, an actor of Ben Stiller's level will be relaxed when facing the Big Seven. At this time, you can appropriately ask for a little box office share.

If it is a sequel to a series of movies, the box office share will be even greater.

For example, Cheng Long only received a salary of 1 million US dollars for "Rush Hour 500", but because he only signed a contract at the time, not a series, when filming "Rush Hour 2", he directly The lion opened his mouth and asked for a super high salary of 1500 million US dollars plus 15% of the box office share.

(End of this chapter)