hollywood melon man

Chapter 267 The Birth of "District "
Before accompanying Charlize Theron to South Africa, a new director Christopher Nolan, whom Gilbert had always wanted to meet, finally arrived.

Since the last time he noticed Nolan at the Sundance Film Festival, little Gilbert quickly forgot about Nolan because he was too busy with work.

Nolan was also struggling. After attending the Sundance Film Festival, he continued to stay in Hollywood to pursue opportunities.

But there are so many directors looking for opportunities in Hollywood that he is not the only one left. He took the script "Memory Fragments" written by himself and his brother everywhere to find investors, but hit a wall everywhere.

After some efforts to invest were fruitless, Nolan was reminded by his wife Emma that there was another Hollywood big shot who was interested in him.

The great Hollywood director Gilbert Landrini, who is the same age as himself and only one month older.

So after some hesitation, Nolan finally stepped through the door of Cantaloupe Studio.

For little Gilbert, who was eager for talents, he was naturally very happy that Nolan could find him, so he received him warmly.

This was the first time that the two parties met, but once they met, it was like friends meeting again, and they immediately found many topics to talk about.

Nolan graduated from the University of London, majoring in English Literature. In fact, he has nothing to do with the directing industry.

After chatting about these growing experiences and chores, little Gilbert asked: "Chris, do you have any short films or other works? I want to see them."

He believes that the popularity of "Oppenheimer" is due to the fact that there are too many European and American movies about monsters and monsters. After all, the Little Black Mermaid has appeared, and there is also a black version of Juliet.

Little Gilbert had seen this short film in his previous life, and he paid close attention to Nolan as a director.

Of course, sometimes Nolan is too confident and the films he makes have many flaws. For example, he went to see the much-hyped "Oppenheimer" with a few friends.

Little Gilbert has seen it. Although the technique is very immature, the narrative rhythm and scheduling already have Nolan's own style.

Little Gilbert immediately arranged for the screening room to prepare. In the screening room, he watched this three-minute short film called "Ant Ridge".

Afterwards, friends commented that the film was not as exciting as "Inception" and "Interstellar" and was boring. I didn't understand why so many fans praised it.

Therefore, many viewers in Europe and the United States are using this behavior to support "Oppenheimer" to protest this kind of correctness imposed on them, and tell Hollywood not to pollute their eyes.

However, the market determines the box office. In the Chinese market, biopics like "Oppenheimer" are indeed not very popular. But "Oppenheimer" has created good box office results in the global film market.

Although this short film is very short, it is an infinite loop story. It is quite exciting to watch, and it has the flavor of Nolan himself.

One film critic has an interesting point of view on this.

In fact, as a director, Gilbert Jr. can understand Nolan's creative ideas.

The film "Following" that he screened at the Sundance Film Festival was shot by him and his friends in college for $6,000.

His path to directorial enlightenment began when he was seven years old when he used his father's Super 8 camera to shoot his own toy soldiers.

Mulan, is she black? It feels even more outrageous than Juliet being black.

Before little Gilbert was reborn, he heard that because he was dissatisfied with the fairy sister's version of "Mulan," Disney planned to restart "Mulan" and cast a black actor to play Mulan.

In the Hollywood that later became magical, Nolan can be said to be one of the few normal Hollywood directors.

As a result, except for him, all the friends fell asleep within half an hour of watching in the cinema, and the explosion did not wake them up.

When he heard the news, little Gilbert was speechless for a long time.

"Of course, I brought it." Nolan was overjoyed and was willing to watch the short film, which proved that little Gilbert had this interest.

But unfortunately, unless things go to the other extreme and cause a backlash, this situation will continue.

Fortunately, he was reborn before seeing the movie, otherwise it would be an insult to see Mulan like this.

Now that he is reborn, other companies cannot control him. If he becomes a shareholder of Disney and Warner, he must control the two film companies in a normal way and not become obsessed.

After watching Nolan's short film, little Gilbert was very satisfied.

"I heard you are looking for investment everywhere?" Little Gilbert asked.

Nolan took out another script: "This is a script that Jonathan and I wrote together. It's called "Memento." It's a suspense film."

After Little Gilbert briefly read the script, he handed it back to Nolan and said, "Send me a plan, Chris."

Nolan was delighted: "Have you decided to invest?"

"I like this script, it's not bad." Little Gilbert nodded and said, "Melon Studio will invest in this movie."

Nolan was overjoyed. He didn't expect to get the opportunity he had always dreamed of, just after chatting with little Gilbert for a long time.

This gave Nolan a feeling that he would die for his confidant. To use a popular Internet saying in his previous life, that means he understands me!
Nolan was very proactive. After getting the promise, he immediately went back to make preparations. In less than a week, he submitted a complete plan, as well as manuscripts, shot design outlines and other things. As a film studio solely owned by Gilbert Jr., the review procedures of Melon Studios are not as complicated as those of large companies.

Usually it's after little Gilbert makes a decision that he makes the investment, as is the case with "Rush Hour" and "Good Will Hunting."

And because of the huge sales of these two films, little Gilbert was praised for his vision in investing in movies, so no one thought that little Gilbert was arbitrary.

Moreover, he is the boss, and Xianggua Studio has no other shareholders, so he does not need to be responsible to the shareholders.

After little Gilbert made the decision, preparations for "Memento" began immediately. Nolan asked for an investment of $5 million to complete the film.

Nolan found Guy Pearce and Katie-Anne Moss, who lost her role as Trittiny, to star in "Memento."

This is just a low-budget film, not worthy of little Gilbert's effort.

The reason why I pay attention personally is because of Nolan. From the perspective of his previous life, Nolan also has great potential for cultivation, which is worthy of little Gilbert's attention.

After talking to Nolan, Gilbert Jr. went to South Africa with Charlize Theron as a vacation.

Charlize Theron was born in Benoni, Gauteng Province, South Africa, but this time the two went not to Charlize Theron's hometown, but to Johannesburg, the capital of Gauteng Province and the largest city in Southern Africa.

Johannesburg is located in the highlands of the upper reaches of the Vaal River in northeastern South Africa. One day in 1886, a white man named George Harrison was walking on a farm north of Johannesburg and tripped over a stone outcropping, which was a gold nugget.

As a result, gold prospectors from all over the world came here to hunt for gold.

As the number of gold diggers increased, the area became a densely populated settlement. Originally a prospecting station, it developed into a city with the discovery and mining of gold mines.

It is located in the center of the world's largest gold mining area and South Africa's economic hub. There are more than 240 gold mines within a 60-kilometer area nearby. It has been attracting gold prospectors for more than years.

When mentioning Africa, the first impression that comes to many people's minds are words such as poverty, famine, and frequent wars.

But when he arrived in Johannesburg, little Gilbert discovered that it was actually no different from Los Angeles or New York. The city may be smaller than Los Angeles, but it is definitely a modern and international metropolis.

However, Charlize Theron told Little Gilbert that this is just a superficial appearance. Johannesburg has the largest slum in Africa, where millions of poor people gather.

The demographic composition of South Africa is very complex. White South Africans occupy the upper class, and Charlize Theron belongs to the upper class.

The millions of civilians in the slums are basically black South Africans. South Africa is also one of the few countries that blatantly implements apartheid, and has been criticized by the media for this.

Soweto, 27 kilometers from the city center, is the largest black segregated community in Johannesburg.

In 1976, South Africa committed the horrific Soweto massacre here, which shocked the world.

And Charlize Theron went to this place to do some charity work.

Regarding this, little Gilbert commented: "Since you have done it all, why bother pretending? Who would believe this hypocrisy?"

Charlize Theron responded with a wry smile: "There are still many human rights activists who oppose it, and I also hope to contribute my share."

Unlike little Gilbert who is not apolitical, Charlize Theron is an active political participant. She and Scarlett Johansson are the two people who like to discuss politics most at Melon Manor.

In the words of Charlize Theron, she hopes to use her identity to bridge racial conflicts and make some contributions to her hometown.

Little Gilbert couldn't refute this. He was the same, using his identity to make some contributions to his hometown in his previous life.

However, when he heard that Charlize Theron wanted to adopt several black children and planned to make him an adoptive father, little Gilbert firmly refused.

Although he is not discriminating against black people, he has absolutely no interest in raising a black child who is not related to him by blood.

Little Gilbert also advised Charlize Theron not to do this, otherwise it will cause some unexpected trouble. Charlize Theron was obedient and gave up her idea.

When he went to the slums with Charlize Theron, he saw the dirty and messy environment in the slums and the extremely chaotic security. Little Gilbert suddenly thought of a movie.

This movie was shot in South Africa. It is a science fiction film with great ideological connotation, "District 9".

Many contents in "District 9" are actually allusions to the conditions in the slums of South Africa. After reading it at the time, I was shocked.

Little Gilbert has been looking forward to the "District 10" that the director said, but after so many years, "District 10" has never been seen.

Perhaps if there is an opportunity in the future, little Gilbert can try to shoot "District 9". Even if he doesn't shoot it, he can save it and find a director to complete it.

Nolan, who recently joined the studio, is fine. After all, he may have to steal several projects from him in the future, so it is not unfeasible to compensate him for several other projects.

But these things will be discussed in the future. After spending a two-week vacation in South Africa, visiting the gold mine ruins, and walking around the Cape of Good Hope, little Gilbert returned to North America.

The casting process for "The Lord of the Rings" has officially begun. Little Gilbert, who has finished his vacation, will now devote himself to this huge project.

(End of this chapter)