hollywood melon man

Chapter 96 Spending money like water

The filming is still going on. The live-action filming of "Iron Armor" is not complicated, nor is it difficult, and there will be no dangerous scenes.

It's not like when "Speed" was being filmed, there were bombs going on every day, which made third-party insurance companies wary, for fear that something would happen to the crew and they would have to pay out.

From the start of filming in August, until October, the crew announced the completion of filming.

During the wrapping party, Bruce Willis spoke specifically to Gilbert Jr.: "Actually, at the beginning, when I starred in this movie, it was a bit."

"What about now, Bruce..."

Bruce Willis and Little Gilbert toasted: "Now, I have no doubt that the film will do well."

"Thank you, the film is a joint effort of everyone." Little Gilbert said politely.

After Bruce Willis walked away, Charlize Theron also came over to talk: "Little Gilbert, I went to see a kung fu movie based on your recommendation.

Some of the shots were quite interesting and quite good.

The big-nosed Asian actor on our crew is also a Kung Fu movie actor, right? "

"Yes, his style of kung fu comedy is very popular," Gilbert Jr. said.

"I finally understand why you are interested in kung fu movies." Charlize Theron held lemonade. She is not yet 21 years old and cannot drink.

In fact, at such a private party, even if she drinks and smokes marijuana, it will be fine. But she held back in order to impress Gilbert.

Charlize Theron always feels that little Gilbert is hinting at her. Could it be that little Gilbert plans to make a kung fu movie?

Charlize Theron doesn’t know, but that doesn’t stop her from making preparations in advance.

No matter how much Charlize Theron thought about it, she would never have imagined that the movie that little Gilbert wanted to make was not a kung fu movie in the traditional sense, or a genre movie with kung fu elements.

However, it is still a bit early to mention this project, and "Iron Armor" has not even been completed yet!
  After the wrapping party, the crew announced its official disbandment, but little Gilbert's work was not over. He still had more important post-production work to do.

In the movie "Iron Fist", the most important scene is the robot boxing match.

If this part is not done well, then the film will be an ordinary drama at best.

Therefore, little Gilbert cannot be careless and must personally keep an eye on the post-production process.

Special effects production has already begun since the film project was approved. When the live-action shooting of the film is over, the special effects production work is only half completed.

"Director Gilbert, this is the effect we created, what do you think?"

At the Industrial Light and Magic Studio, little Gilbert saw several pre-completed clips.

There is a gap compared to a few decades ago, but in today's era, it is real enough.

Even from little Gilbert's point of view, apart from a little distortion, there are no major problems in other aspects.

So little Gilbert nodded with satisfaction and said: "Very good, the effect is very good."

Industrial Light and Magic special effects supervisor Wilson was happy to introduce the current production situation to Gilbert: "For this movie, we used a lot of the latest developed technologies.

Multiple scaled-down models were produced and shot using optical motion capture, as well as the latest virtual shooting technology. "

Every new technology introduced by Wilson is the latest technology of Industrial Light and Magic, and it is used in film production for the first time.

These brand-new technologies ensure the success of the movie "Iron Armor" to the greatest extent.

In a way, the movie "Iron Fist" can actually be said to be a verification film of the latest technology of Industrial Light and Magic.

Of course, new technology is not cheap, and most of the production funds for the film were spent on it, which resulted in saving on other aspects of the film's filming.

Fortunately, there are no big scenes in the film, and the special effects did not disappoint little Gilbert.

"Iron Armor" is not just a simple movie, but also the crystallization of cutting-edge technology display.

Because "Speed" is a global hit, the value of embedded advertising such as the watch worn by the male protagonist Jack, the outfit worn by the female protagonist Anne, leather shoes, and sunglasses has increased.

Thanks to the movie, sales of these products increased throughout the third and fourth quarters of 1993.

This has made advertisers and brands more deeply aware of the terrifying benefits of advertising embedded in a Hollywood commercial movie.

The watch produced by Hamilton was sold out immediately after the movie was broadcast, and the factory had to rush to work.

It also co-branded with the movie "Speed" and launched a commemorative watch. The price was high, but it was still snapped up by enthusiastic fans.

Such enthusiastic market response made Hamilton smile. They also kept their promise, directly awarding the film's creator five million US dollars, and separately awarding Gilbert Jr. one million US dollars.

After all, without him, there would be no story like "Speed ​​of Life and Death".

Of course, watch co-branded peripherals are also part of the film's revenue. Warner and Disney made direct money this summer with "Speed", and the profit statements made the stock prices of both companies start to rise.

Hamilton also plans to launch a couple model. I heard that Disney and Warner are preparing to promote "Speed ​​2", so they plan to invite Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock as spokespersons.

Of course, they did not let go of Little Gilbert, a very famous young director. The endorsement of one of their youth concept watches was given to Little Gilbert's agent Sheena Boone.

This endorsement contract can be seen as a reward for little Gilbert. After all, it seems that it is rare for a director to accept advertising endorsements.

But in fact, Hamilton is not at a loss because Gilbert Jr. is different from ordinary directors.

Generally speaking, directors are basically behind the scenes and not active in front of the stage.

And to be honest, many directors are not good-looking enough, and one can even describe these directors as grotesque.

But little Gilbert is different. He has received a lot of media attention and discussion among fans. He is no worse looking than those Hollywood male stars. He is simply the perfect spokesperson.

With this unexpected surprise, of course little Gilbert would not refuse and asked Sheena Boone to negotiate better terms. The conditions were similar, so I happily accepted the endorsement.

After that, Hamilton sponsored "Iron Fist", and the male protagonist Charlie and the young male protagonist Max both wore Hamilton's watches.

Of course, since it is a science fiction movie, advertising investment from some technology and electronic product companies is inevitable.

Computers, mobile phones, headphones and other electronic product companies are flooding in with advertising placements.

There are various advertising sponsorships, each worth as much as five million US dollars.

And these ad implanters also promise bonuses if the film performs well.

Not only that, in terms of peripheral linkage, the film can also collect licensing fees through peripheral effects, such as Charlie's sunglasses and watch of the same style, Max's headphones, and a concept version of a co-branded computer.

But the basis of all this is that the film can be popular during the summer season.

After the battle with the animal protection organization, the name of the movie "Iron Fist" has become well-known across the United States. Sponsors believe that the film will definitely do well in the summer season next summer.

It is worth mentioning that because Gilbert Jr. is a shareholder of Apple, Apple wants to embed its latest electronic products into the film.

But after seeing the actual product, Gilbert Jr. felt that the design was too old-fashioned and did not fit the positioning of the new era, so he suggested that Apple design new products.

After all, I am an Apple shareholder, so it would not be good to refuse directly.

For this matter, Apple's new president even made a special trip to the set to visit Gilbert Jr. Gilbert Jr. still said the same thing: "Invite Mr. Jobs back and everything will be easier to negotiate."

It’s hard to get to the position of president. Although the company is about to go bankrupt, you can still struggle for a while. How can you give up?
  As a result, the two parties broke up unhappy. When Apple's president returned, he scolded Gilbert Jr. at a high-level meeting for disregarding the company's interests and suggested that the board of directors initiate an acquisition of Gilbert Jr.'s equity.

But the problem is, most of the board members are now thinking about running away and getting out of the quagmire of Apple. How can they still be in the mood to take the shares in the hands of little Gilbert?
  Apple matters aside, little Gilbert still has a lot to do in post-production.

As mentioned before, the design and production of special effects and model production began long before the filming of the film started. After the filming of the film was completed, the work was only half completed.

Among them, some of the difficulties are how to design a robot that conforms to industrial aesthetics and avoid being too similar to existing designs on the market.

Art director Serena Hafey and the art team, as well as the model engineers from Industrial Light and Magic, gave full play to their imagination.

At the same time, it should take into account the realizability and functionality of the appearance, and it can also express human emotions to a certain extent. This was the request that Gilbert made to the art team and Industrial Light and Magic.

Of course, they have done a great job in completing these tasks, designing each life-size robot model to be more realistic than the last.

Except that it is not as flexible and highly intelligent as in the movie, it is already the pinnacle of current robot design.

The two producers, Charles Rowan and Kane Waxman, marveled at the more than twenty lifelike robot models.

"Charles, these robots can be made into toy models!" Kane Waxman suddenly thought of promoting the film on peripherals.

"Indeed," Charles Roven agreed: "If this movie is a big hit, I think it won't be much weaker than "Jurassic Park" in terms of peripherals.

If nothing else, at least my son would like a robot model set. "

The two producers began to mentally calculate how much the film could do in the surrounding area and how much profit their company could gain.

Although Melon Studios and other small investors have also invested in films, their profits are limited to box office, video and TV rights, and peripheral short-term profits.

Movie peripheral products are more core revenue than video tapes and TV copyrights, and giants will not share them easily with the outside world.

Spielberg can get 2.5% of the peripheral product income, plus the salary, video and TV rights income, he took away million US dollars from "Jurassic Park".

But the revenue received by the distributor, Universal Pictures, was several times that of Spielberg.

The key is that this is not the end. You must know that Spielberg is getting short-term profits, while Universal Pictures is getting long-term profits.

Whether it is ten years or twenty years, as long as "Jurassic Park" can still generate profits, Universal Pictures will always make money.

In fact, this is one of the reasons why Spielberg was immediately besieged by Hollywood giants after establishing DreamWorks.

Hollywood giants are naturally exclusive and compete and cooperate with each other. Once a new player wants to enter, they share the same hatred and deal with the new player together.

Before little Gilbert entered the Hollywood film industry, he also wanted to become a super rich man, control media capital, and rule Hollywood like what is written in online novels.

But after actually entering and getting to know the industry deeply, little Gilbert realized that he had taken everything for granted.

For the characters in the novel, the author can give them wisdom.

But in reality, except for a few people, most of them are in Hollywood and media capital circles, and each one is smarter than the last.

Before his rebirth, little Gilbert was, at best, a little director who called you all popular teachers. He had never been in contact with the top circles and knew nothing about capital games.

The only thing we know is that Apple's market value will rise, Microsoft and Cisco's stocks are valuable, and Amazon and Google will be established.

He had no idea or understanding of the specific events and processes, so it was inevitable that he would make investment behaviors that looked like a fool to others.

Because he didn't understand it, he could only look for familiar names to invest. This was the biggest insurance in Little Gilbert's eyes.

Of course, people learn as they grow.

At the very least, the current decline in Apple's stock tells Gilbert Jr. that he can wait until Steve Jobs returns to Apple before investing again.

After learning his lesson, Gilbert Jr. became much more cautious in his investment actions.

These are all chores outside of movies. When he returns to the field of movies, little Gilbert is still very confident.

The success of three consecutive movies allowed little Gilbert to exercise his abilities and his self-confidence.

(End of this chapter)