At this year's Sundance Film Festival, although a large number of famous filmmakers in memory fell into Simon's sight, apart from attending a few premieres and chatting with the Wachowski brothers at a film festival theme party in the evening, Simon Didn't have much contact with the other people.
Whether it is Christopher Nolan or Doug Liman, they are still just rookies at the moment.
The results of overthrowing the seedlings and encouraging their growth are often not very good.
Just like Jon Favreau, a very important reason why this grassroots filmmaker from the bottom of Hollywood can become one of the core creators of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is that he has been in this circle for more than ten years and has long-term experience. Panggun has accumulated profound film skills, and sufficient experience allows Jon Favreau to be able to work with ease whether he is a director, actor, screenwriter, or producer.
Not only Jon Favreau, but also at this Sundance Film Festival, people like Christopher Nolan, Doug Liman and even Ben Affleck and Matt Damon actually started from the bottom one step at a time. Climb up, so you are familiar with all aspects of film production, and the foundation is solid enough, so you can last longer in the film industry.
The Wachowski brothers are a counterexample.
In the past, after the Wachowski brothers completed their debut film "The Matrix", their second film "The Matrix" became very popular.
It is undeniable that "The Matrix" is classic and great, but there is no doubt that the quality of the last two parts of the "Matrix" trilogy has declined seriously. A large part of the reason for this is that after the success of the first part, the Wachowski brothers had no control over the project. The amount of control increased dramatically, but the two men's filmmaking abilities did not improve as quickly.
After the "Matrix" series, the brothers began to rest on their laurels directly.
Daenerys Entertainment won the distribution rights to "The Matrix" directed by the Wachowski brothers. At the same time, it also bought the "The Matrix" script that the two had completed.
However, Simon has no plans to start this project in the short term, nor does he think about handing it over to others.
At the party in the evening, the topic that Simon personally discussed with the two people was the arrangements after "Shocking Flowers". While promising that the brothers could personally direct the "The Matrix" series and giving them a sufficient budget, Simon's requirement was that they must direct at least one more low-cost film to gain experience. He also planned to arrange for the two to join the upcoming "Days of Independence" as deputy assistants. director in order to become familiar with the process of making a blockbuster movie.
Continue to complete a movie and participate in a big project, and two or three years will pass.
As long as they are willing, this time is enough for the brothers to get to the next level. Especially participating in "Days of Independence" not only allows the two to become familiar with the production process of blockbusters, but also allows them to learn other people's film styles.
After this is the right time to start the Matrix series.
Moreover, after the end of the "Matrix" series, with a certain amount of accumulation, the Wachowski brothers may not be directly relegated to resting on their laurels.
In addition to the Wachowski brothers, Simon made arrangements for several others.
After expressing recognition for the short film "Ant Ridge", Highgate Pictures provided Christopher Nolan with the opportunity to produce a feature film. Simon personally arranged for the British temporary production company to include and produce films such as "Four Weddings and a Funeral" in the previous two years. The Dingming Films team was responsible for following up, and Nolan also came up with a script for a new project called "Following."
This is already a typical Nolan style interlocking suspense story.
The story tells the story of Bill, a writer who likes to stalk others in search of inspiration, and meets a thief named Cobb. Driven by curiosity, Bill begins to team up with Cobb to break into strangers' homes to explore other people's privacy. In the process, Bill meets a thief named Cobb. The woman fell in love with the other party. The woman said that she was the mistress of the gangster and wanted to get rid of the other party's control, but the gangster had her private photos in his hands.
Bill, who fell in love, used Professor Cobb's theft skills to break into the gang boss's house.
Nothing came of it.
Bill soon discovered that he had been deceived, and the woman led him into the gang boss's house, just to make him a scapegoat for another theft.
After realizing this, Bill voluntarily surrendered to the police.
It certainly doesn't end there.
After Bill surrendered, the police began an investigation and found that the woman was dead and Cobb had disappeared. Bill was again suspected of murder.
It turns out that all of this is a trick done by the gang boss behind the scenes, because it is not that the gang boss holds the secret of his mistress, but the opposite is true. So the boss sent his subordinate Cobb to seduce his mistress. The woman who listened to Cobb's lies worked with him to set a trap for the writer Bill, in order to find a scapegoat so that Cobb could escape from a theft case.
After succeeding, Cobb killed the woman, Bill became the scapegoat, and the boss got away completely.
This is the story line that Simon drew from the script of Nolan's "The Following". Nolan, who is still a newcomer at the moment, not only set up such an interlocking story, but also planned to use dislocation techniques such as multi-line narrative and flashback interludes.
Simon still had no intention of encouraging the project. This time he only gave Nolan a budget of US$3 million and asked to modify the script.
Simon liked the interlocking story, but the multi-threaded narrative and flashback interludes, which are usually the tropes newcomers have to resort to when they have limited resources, were dispensed with. Therefore, Simon's requirement is to remove those mysterious and dislocation techniques without changing the suspense of the story, and ultimately reach a level that can surprise the audience without resorting to tricks.
This is actually the best way to hone a director's storytelling skills.
There is also a storyline.
Nolan's original idea was to continue to use his private time and help from friends to make "The Following" into an ultra-low-cost experimental film after "Ant Ridge", so he did not consider the story concept. In the end, the villain BOSS behind the scenes became the biggest winner.
Now that I have received the investment, I definitely can’t do this again.
Simon does not insist that the good guys must defeat the bad guys, but the ending must not be that the hero who is the audience's substitute becomes a scapegoat.
In addition to Nolan's "The Following," Doug Liman and Jon Favreau have also received new film contracts with Daenerys Entertainment. The budgets given are not high, but they all have considerable Creative freedom.
After a day's work, Simon returned to the hilltop villa southeast of Park City. It was already past ten o'clock in the evening.
There is no party tonight, the villa is still brightly lit.
The women who stayed here last night are still there, and they haven't rested. They are scattered around the villa in twos and threes, obviously waiting for Simon.
Everyone's favorite living room on the east side of the villa hall is still occupied by four big goblins, chatting and watching TV, looking very leisurely.
Simon, who had taken off his coat and was dressed casually, came here, stopped Cindy Crawford and others from getting up to say hello, and came to sit on the side of the couch occupied by Carla Bruni and Cindy Crawford. Next to me is a certain male-eating demon.
Just as she sat down, Girl A came in, handed a document to Simon, poured the man some coffee, and then left quietly.
The document is about the results of the Golden Globe Awards ceremony that just ended tonight in Los Angeles.
Simon opened the document, and a faint fragrance was already approaching. He glanced at Carla Bruni who was leaning over and asked with a smile: "Isn't the focus of your career in Europe? Why are you here in the United States?"
Carla Bruni's right leg was crossed casually on her left leg, and her body naturally began to lean to the left. When she touched Simon, she also laughed and said: "I'm here to please Gray, otherwise it will be difficult to get it in the future. Work. Of course, you, the big boss behind the scenes, have to curry favor even more."
This statement is half-joking and half-truth.
After taking charge of Elite last year, Grace has been consolidating the power of the model agency industry giant. Many executives from the John Casablanca era who were unwilling to let go were kicked out, and the results were very significant. An article in "VOGUE" magazine at the end of last year has begun to call Grace the new queen of the modeling agency field, higher than John Casablanca's original title of model godfather.
Grace now deserves it.
Backed by the support of the Westeros system, Grace not only personally grabbed Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Claudia Schiffer and other top clients from Elite. , and also successfully reformed Elite's structure. Even people who are not familiar with the model agency industry know how difficult it is to innovate a company that is already too big to survive.
Grace managed to do just that.
Elite is now a model similar to Hollywood CAA.
This is also the result of Simon's personal promotion.
In order to help Grace carry out structural reforms, Simon also introduced Michael Ovitz to the other party. For Simon's sake, Ovitz spared no effort in guiding Grace, and the two companies also established some cooperative relationships.
Therefore, under continuous operations, now Elite, because all customer contracts have been transferred from a single agent to the company, no matter who leaves in the future, even Grace herself, will no longer be able to be like other model agencies. Take away a large number of customers.
It seems that power is dispersed, but the reality is that as long as Grace does not leave Elite, she will be the well-deserved queen of this modeling agency giant.
Because as the president of Elite, she has absolute power, including deciding to hire or fire any Elite agent or model. If other agents want to do so, they need Grace's approval, which is newer than Grace. It is more secure to temporarily hold a large number of model contracts in one's hands when retracting power, and it will not cause a strong backlash from other agents under the company.
The new contract adds many restrictive clauses, increases the default amount, and makes it significantly more difficult for models to change jobs.
After the integration is completed, Grace's status in the model agency industry is exactly the same as that of Michael Ovitz, who has been the number one person in Hollywood's power list for many years in the original time and space.
It's a pity that the former Michael Ovitz made a wrong choice. He voluntarily gave up his power and wanted to go further. However, he lost everything in vain. Later, when he wanted to return to the agency industry, he found that even he himself could not shake CAA. status, can only retire sadly.
Even two years ago, Grace never thought that she would be able to have everything she has now. The woman also knew very well why she could obtain this. Without Simon's strong support, the reform of Elite would not be successful at all. In addition, in private Because of her feelings for a certain young man, she did not have the same ambitions as Ovitz. She only planned to stick to her position as president of Elite and carefully help Simon manage the company.
Because of Elite's changes, the Elite European team, which was once almost independent in Europe, was completely controlled by Grace.
The advent of the information age has made this kind of remote control very convenient.
After the reform of Elite, if its customers want to get more jobs, it is inevitable to establish a good relationship with a certain female boss.
On the other hand, the only one who can suppress Grace is Simon himself. Even Apollo Management Company, which nominally holds Elite shares on behalf of her, does not have such power.
Therefore, Carla Bruni is actually right when she says she wants to curry favor with Simon.
As long as she has the support of this man, she will be able to obtain resources far beyond the Elite platform.
Simon did not answer Carla Bruni's words and glanced at the information in his hand while saying: "Actually, you should understand that this professional reform of Elite is good for all of you, just like CAA in Hollywood, Eight A large part of the reason for the substantial increase in star salaries in the 1900s is that CAA, which is an integrated company, has a stronger voice in front of studios."
Carla Bruni rubbed Simon's calf with her toes and moved closer unknowingly: "We know. Speaking of which, Simon, many of Elite's target customers are companies under the Westeros system. Don't worry. Are our salaries rising too high?”
As the woman spoke, she put her arms on Simon's shoulders, and the heat from her words also hit his cheeks.
The other three girls in the living room saw that Carla Bruni was so blatant, and of course they would not be reconciled. Eva Herzgova interrupted at this time: "Kara, do you think Simon will care about the little money we make?"
Daniela Pusteva followed suit: "Yeah, speaking of it, a magazine recently said that Simon's net worth may reach 1 trillion US dollars this year, 1 trillion, it's really hard to imagine."
The two women made a joke and immediately stole the attention.
Cindy Crawford, who was sitting next to Carla Bruni, did not miss this opportunity. She leaned over Carla Bruni's back and took the initiative to bring up another topic: "Simon, this is the Golden Globe Awards. What's the result? We just watched it. It's a pity that Batman Vs. didn't get nominated. Do you think it has a chance to win the Oscar?"
Simon shook his head: "Maybe, but everyone will know soon."
Today is January 21st.
The Oscars have announced that they will announce the nominations for this year’s Oscars on January 29.
Carla Bruni added at this time: "Actually, it's not bad. Didn't "Sense and Sensibility" win the Best Picture Award for Drama? This should be the most valuable award at the Golden Globe Awards. Ha, I also I’ve read this novel by Jane Austen, and maybe I’ll find the movie and watch it when I have time.”
At the just-concluded Golden Globe Awards, Ang Lee's "Sense and Sensibility" produced by Komon Pictures became one of the big winners, successfully winning the Golden Globe Awards for Best Picture and Best Screenplay in the Drama Category.
The 3D animated film "Beauty and the Beast" in the musical comedy category naturally lost.
In addition, a number of nominated films under Daenerys Entertainment also won five other awards including Best Director and Best Actress in a Drama Series, which was considered a big win. Although Simon is not here, there should be a celebration party being held there now, and Ella Deutschman even returned to Los Angeles specifically during the day for this reason.
Living room.
Cindy Crawford heard Carla Bruni's words, her eyes flashed slightly, and she suddenly said: "Simon, I saw that there is also a very good screening room in the villa, and there are so many movie copies, why don't we go see it? Movie, right?”
Compared with this brightly lit living room, in the private screening room of the villa, when the lights dim, there is a lot that can be done.
Simon had already said he would leave tomorrow, and if he didn't seize the opportunity tonight, his trip to Park City would be in vain. Carla Bruni just said that she wanted to curry favor with Simon. This is absolutely true. Elite models with some brains all understand that directly currying favor with Simon Westeros is definitely ten times a hundred times better than currying favor with Grace Spurter.
It's just that most of Elite's customers don't have the opportunity to come into contact with Simon Westeros.
Therefore, when Cindy said this, several other girls agreed.
Simon didn't object. He hurriedly browsed the information in his hand, stood up and hugged Carla Bruni, who had been clinging to him unknowingly, and together they left the living room and turned to the private screening room of the villa.
However, watching a movie must be more lively, so I called the other girls in the villa.
A trippy Sundance night.
In the villa on the southeastern hilltop of Park City, it was a stormy night.