Made in Hollywood

"Have you read the original, Kate?"

Looking back from the white clouds outside the business jet, Duke looked at Cate Blanchett who was sitting opposite, "If you have read it, you will understand what I said Queen Galadriel is one of my favorite characters. ."

Cate Blanchett tidied up the hanging strands of blond hair, with some smiles on her well-defined face, "Of course I have read it. This is a necessary preparation for an actor. However, I still don't understand why you like her. , I think Aragorn and Gandalf are good, even if they are elves, King Elrond is good."

"Galadril has the ability to perceive people's hearts. She is very kind, understanding, and a bit arrogant and headstrong."

Picking up the coffee cup, Duke took a sip, put down the cup, and continued, “She is the leader of the Noldor elves and the last one of them to stay in Middle-earth. Lived the test of the temptation of the Lord of the Rings..."

"Anything else?" Blanchett asked.

Duke said, "She loves all justice and kindness in the world."

Blanchett tilted his head to look at Duke, seeming to be thinking, and then said after a while, "But I don't think this is the main reason you like this character."

"The main reason?" Duke lightly tapped the coffee cup stuck in the card slot with his finger. "Well, I admit, the main reason is that Queen Galadriel is a female elf!"

Duke raised his eyebrows and looked at Blanchett, as if he was saying you are satisfied, but Blanchett laughed slightly, and the crisp laughter made Nancy sitting in front of him turn his head curiously.

However, she then turned her head back. Duke is her most important customer, but he can be happy, these female customers are nothing.

"Conjecture based on some descriptions in the original book. If even the time spent in Amenzhou is counted." Cate Blanchett joked casually, "Queen Galadriel should be about 8,000 years old..."

"It's really a problem." Duke pretended to hold his chin and considered, "When I was writing the first version of the script outline, I thought about pairing her with Gandalf."

"She and Gandalf?" Cate Blanchett's eyes widened. "There is affection between them?"

"No, but the description of some places. It is still easy to associate."

When Duke said so, Blanchett asked quickly, "Where is it? Why didn't I notice when I looked at the original."

Duke put away his joking tone and changed his tone, "In Lothlorien, in the Golden Forest, in the mortal forest, only a few mortals have ever seen the light, the eternal unchanging, dazzling twinkling Galadriel! Galadriel! Your well is famous for its clean water. The stars are shining in the hands of the white jade, and the pure and noble forests. In Lothlorien, in the Golden Forest, in that mortal, it is difficult to understand Beautiful woods..."

After the aria-like recitation ended, Duke looked at Cate Blanchett, "My Majesty the Queen, is it an honor to invite you to a banquet after arriving in Sydney?"

"To the banquet?" Cate Blanchett wondered.

Duke smiled passionately. "Can you know your contact information? I can call you."

After hesitating for a few seconds, Cate Blanchett opened the handbag. From the inside, he took out a business card with only the name and number, and handed it over.

As for the content and time of the banquet, Duke did not say, because such a banquet does not exist now.

The plane arrived in Sydney, walked out of Smith International Airport, Duke first sent away Cate Blanchett. Only after getting in the car to pick him up, Nancy Josephson sat in the same car with him.

"Nancy, I remember a lot of Australian actors working hard in Hollywood."

Hearing Duke’s question, Nancy nodded immediately and replied, "Yes. Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Naomi Watts, Russell Crowe..."

After thinking for a moment, Duke said again, "Before leaving Sydney, call a banquet, um...in the name of hosting the Warner Bros. management, you can also send an invitation to the Australian Gang in Hollywood..."

Nancy Joseph immediately understood, "I understand."

Since Wellington is not too far from New Zealand, the flight did not take much time. After the car arrived at the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, Duke directly met in a reception room and met Doug Walter who was here to investigate.

The person who accompanied Doug Walter and other senior Warner Bros. teams was Zach Schneider, who had arrived here early.

"Zach?"

After sitting down, Duke first looked at his deputy, Zach Schneider is about to become independent.

"I have visited Sydney together with Doug."

Looking at Doug Walter, Zach Schneider went straight to Duke’s habit, “I think the last two episodes should still be shot on the Sydney and Fox studios. As a result, Sydney’s architecture is more in line with the crew’s requirements. Secondly, the Sydney Town Hall assured us that it would provide a section of the highway that was just completed for filming."

Doug Walter sighed, "I still hope the crew can go to the Warner Movie World on the Gold Coast."

"If I go there, how will the highway be solved?"

This is the first time he has directed a large-scale production film independently. Zach Schneider did not want to see any surprises. "We have contacted Queensland and they refused to provide expressways. The expressways provided by Sydney are not only newly built, but also only charge Symbolic maintenance rental fee."

"Here I want to rent a studio from Fox Studios." Doug Walter still insisted on his opinion. "After the completion of the Warner Movie World Studios, there has been a lack of heavyweight crews..."

The dispute between the two men was obviously not the first time that Duke listened for a while and then raised his hand to interrupt the two.

He beckoned to the side, Tina Fey stood up and handed a large file bag to Doug Walter.

"This is the highway toll that I have calculated." Duke watched him open it, and said as concisely as possible, "If we can't find a suitable highway to shoot in Queensland, we need to build one. This is Tina's special purpose. It is estimated that it will cost about 15 million U.S. dollars to find someone based on Queensland's labor and other costs, while it will only cost 300,000 U.S. dollars to rent in Sydney."

Controlling costs is an important factor that every commercial company must consider. As the controlling shareholder of the Duke Studio and the majority shareholder of Warner Bros., which holds nearly 8% of the shares, Duke certainly cannot ignore this aspect.

"There are taxes." Duke said directly, "Doug, I understand that you want to rely on heavyweight films to start the Warner Film World, but have you ever thought about why Hollywood crews are not willing to go to the cheaper Queensland State, but choose the Fox studio in Sydney?"

Doug Walter put down the file, "Tax benefits."

"New South Wales, where Sydney is located, can provide 12.5% ​​tax concessions for films." Zach Schneider took over, "Queensland only has 4%!"

"So, Doug."

Duke stood up, walked to the side of the map in the reception room, and looked at Queensland on the map of Australia. "The first thing Warner has to do is how to persuade Queensland to give more tax incentives to the crew going to Warner Movie World. If They can provide tax treatment like Sydney, and those of us will definitely go to where the labor costs are cheaper."

Sitting there, Doug Walter was silent for a while, and finally nodded.

Zach Schneider breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't want to fight with Warner Bros.'s senior management as a last resort, and there was news that Jeff Robinoff might be transferred to Time Warner as the group president and take over as Warner Bros. In the ceo position, Doug Walter has the best hope.

Flying from New Zealand to Sydney, Duke is to resolve the differences between Doug Walter and Zach Schneider.

Although Warner Bros. accepted his proposal and agreed to Zach Schneider as the director of the latter two "The Matrix," it certainly wouldn't give him too much say as he delegated power to Duke.

After working together for so many years, the two are also good friends. Zach Schneider is deeply influenced by him. Duke also has confidence in him. Otherwise, he would not give him the last two episodes instead of looking for them. To my brother now.

The total investment for the last two parts of "The Matrix" is up to 250 million US dollars, and will be filmed and produced together.

Doug Walter also disagrees with this point, but he trusts Duke's vision in movies. The dissent is not against Zach Schneider.

"Duke, I think we need to hurry up and finish the second part."

Seemingly anxious, Doug Walter stood up and walked a few steps, "The fans of hackers are crazy. I heard that Warner Bros. will not release the sequel to The Matrix in the next two years. They have gathered thousands of people to besiege Warner. The building, protested to us, and your Duke’s manor was also surrounded. If you were not in Malibu, you would definitely be surrounded by them for their petition."

Turning around, Duke smiled helplessly. The influence of "The Matrix" that he had properly added was far more influential than before, creating a large number of crazy fans.

"The expected value of the sequel has been pushed to a considerable height by the fans." Doug Walter continued, "If we launch a sequel in time, it will definitely trigger a boom in the market and ease the pressure on Warner Bros."

With a light frown, Duke considered for a while, this is indeed an objective situation.

"Doug, I have a suggestion. Doesn't Warner Bros. have an animation studio? We can produce animations that complement the worldview. This can not only solve the needs of fans, but also continue to drive peripheral sales and promote the development of sequels. Propaganda."

Doug Walter thought for a while, and said, "This is a good idea. I will talk to Los Angeles tonight."

The two sides discussed the details again, and today's meeting is over.

As he walked out of the reception room, Duke invited Doug Walter, "I'm going to throw a party..." (to be continued...)

ps: I'm going out today and can only update automatically.