"Ms. Schneider, as long as we don't put fake snow directly on the lawn?"
Shirley Schneider saw that Eric seemed to have thought of something, with a confident look on his face, a trace of hesitation flashed in his expression, but he quickly said: "Yes, you can lay it on the side of the road, but absolutely not on the lawn. .And the fake snow laid on both sides of the road must be properly cleaned up after the filming is done.”
When Eric was talking, he kept staring at the woman in front of him. Seeing the flashing struggle in the other's eyes, he became more certain about some guesses in his heart. If the other party was purely for environmental protection, then he proposed a feasible solution. Solution, this woman will not show any hesitation.
Although he understood this in his heart, Eric still said to the other party with a deliberative tone: "Okay, then, if we put a layer of plastic sheet on the lawn, and then spread fake snow on it, it will be no problem, right? "
Shirley Schneider froze in surprise, then nodded slightly unwillingly and said, "I think... maybe... it's okay."
"Then let's do this." After Eric finished speaking, he ignored the woman. He winked at Jeffrey, and the two of them walked a little further away before Eric said to Jeffrey: "Jeffrey, the scene in Central Park is suspended, let everyone get ready for the next scene , My next scene should be the scene where Kevin escapes from the Plaza Hotel and is just caught by two stupid thieves in the back alley, let someone set up the scene there, we can’t stop shooting in the afternoon.”
Jeffrey also saw something unusual from Shirley Schneider's expression just now, and said to Eric: "Eric, the US headquarters of News Corporation is in New York. They must have deep connections locally. Would you like to contact Murdoch?"
"If something small happens, go to Murdoch for help. It will make him think of us, not to mention, Murdoch is not a philanthropist." Eric shook his head, and continued: "And, "Home Alone 2 "It also involves the interests of Fox Films, if we fail to resolve this matter in the end, Fox will definitely take the initiative, and there is absolutely no need for us to take the initiative to send favors."
Jeffrey smiled. Said: "It's still your thoughtfulness, then I'll send someone to buy plastic film. However, I don't think it will take long, we don't need to change the scene at all."
Eric pointed to those men and women lying on the lawn in disorder and said: "With these people here today, we don't even think about filming well. I'm worried that they will deliberately create conflicts, just like the one that happened when I didn't come. It's the same thing, once something happens, it will be even more troublesome to solve it. So let's change the scene temporarily, right. Did a reporter from the media come here just now?"
Jeffrey didn't expect why Eric would ask such a question, thought for a while and said: "There seem to be a few. But they just took some photos from a distance, and after being driven away by our staff, they left obediently. "
"It seems that the trouble has just begun." Eric muttered, and said to Jeffrey: "You make arrangements first, and then go back to the hotel with me. I think you have more important things to do this afternoon."
"Okay then." Jeffrey nodded, and hurried to carry out what Eric had told him.
After Jeffrey left, Eric asked the staff for a camera, took some photos of the protesters lying on the lawn, and asked Allen to print them immediately.
After nearly an hour, Jeffrey returned to the hotel where the crew stayed, and Eric handed him a stack of photos.
"What is this for?" Jeffrey picked it up and looked it up suspiciously, then raised his head and asked.
"Just in case," Eric said: "Didn't you find out that the purpose of this so-called environmental protection organization's sudden appearance is not pure. We have also filmed a few scenes on some roads with vegetation before, but we didn't see it." Seeing these people. But this last week, we filmed scenes in Central Park, and they showed up."
When Jeffrey heard Eric's words, he quickly understood that it was obvious that someone wanted to delay the filming progress of "Home Alone 2", and, compared to intervening at the beginning, it appeared at this most critical moment The trouble is even greater.
Central Park has a very important position in the minds of New Yorkers, so if today's film crew resisted by environmental organizations, and people with ulterior motives randomly fabricated facts and deliberately exaggerated the raw materials of artificial snow, Qishui Magnesium sulfate is harmful to the vegetation in Central Park. Then, under the public protest, the filming of Central Park will definitely face greater resistance. Even the New York City Government has to give a reasonable Before the plan, he directly intervened to stop the filming of "Home Alone 2".
The filming schedule of "Home Alone 2" is calculated on a daily basis, and it is now at the last juncture. If it is interrupted and delayed for a few days, then correspondingly, it will affect the whole body, and many things in the original plan have to be put off.
Moreover, it is impossible to modify the script to remove the scene of Central Park, because all the previous filmings have interlocking plots, and there are even many scenes of Kevin running out of the exit of Central Park. Then a lot of the material that was shot before will be scrapped. If reshoots are needed, maybe "Home Alone 2" can only be postponed until Christmas.
The more Jeffrey thought about it, the more worried he became, pinching the photo in his hand and asking Eric: "You said, who is making trouble this time?"
Eric picked up the "Movie Guide" that he just bought next to him, and pointed to the movie schedule listed on the board: "The schedule of "Home Alone 2" is scheduled for November 17, if we postpone it due to some troubles If there is a release date, then it is good for the movies that are released during this time, so we have no idea who is messing up."
Jeffrey picked up the newspaper and looked at it. On November 17 alone, there were seven or eight movies released, including "Lethal Weapon 2", which Warner postponed from the summer to the Thanksgiving schedule in order to avoid the edge of "Dark War". Paramount has a Christmas comedy "Harlem Nightclub," starring Eddie Murphy, followed by Universal's "Back to the Future 2" two days later.
Eric said with a heavy tone: "See, several major film companies have movies released during this period. During Thanksgiving, the total weekly box office is about 100 million U.S. dollars, so if "Home Alone 2" is postponed , these other movies can carve up the box office share of at least 30 million U.S. dollars that originally belonged to "Home Alone 2". The suspicion is also the biggest. But we don’t have the time and energy to entangle this matter, even if it is found out, it will not help us, the only thing we have to do is to do everything we can to finish the movie on time.”
Jeffrey put down the newspaper, thinking that the opponent this time is likely to be giants such as Warner or Universal, so Firefly does not have much power to parry in front of these companies, he hesitated for a moment before saying: "So, Eric, really Don't you need to tell Fox?"
Eric thought for a while, but shook his head again: "Not for now, let's see what's going on tomorrow. I'm sure there will be reports in the newspapers tomorrow that we use artificial snow to damage the Central Park environment."
"So what do I do now?" asked Jeffrey, who hadn't encountered such a thing before.
"Two things," Eric obviously thought about it a long time ago, raised three fingers and said: "First, Central Park is currently managed by the Central Park Preservation Committee. In the name of fireflies, you donate a sum of money to the committee. Um... just 500,000, this will ensure to the greatest extent that if there is a public opinion disturbance, the other party will speak to us."
After saying this, Eric handed those photos to Jeffrey, and said: "Second, that's it, you contact as many local newspapers and media in New York as you can, and disclose the things we encountered protests from environmental protection organizations today. Go out and ask them to help out some reports, focusing on our efforts to maintain the environment of Central Park. Also, we need to find one or two related professionals to explain in detail that magnesium sulfate heptahydrate cannot cause damage to vegetation. hazard, and even the fact that it’s a chemical fertilizer.”
"Eric, is five hundred thousand too much?" Jeffrey asked weakly, after all, he was still a little reluctant to give away such a sum of money for nothing.
Eric covered his forehead and said solemnly: "Jeffrey, you have to understand the current situation, once things change and "Home Alone 2" cannot be completed on time, it is not a matter of losing 500,000 US dollars. Moreover, "Home Alone 2"'s original production budget of 25 million US dollars is expected to have some surplus, so the 500,000 is included in the production cost."
Jeffrey finally nodded: "Okay, I understand. Also, due to the temporary change of the shooting plan, the shooting in the afternoon may be delayed by an hour. After all, it is necessary to communicate with the relevant streets."
"I see. I'll come and arrange it in person later. You can go about your business."
Jeffrey picked up the photos taken by Eric and left in a hurry.
Perhaps it was because of the idea of doing a full set of acting, when shooting in the afternoon, the members of the environmental protection organization followed again. Although he still points out the crew's behavior of laying artificial snow, and even provokes a few words from time to time, he no longer forcibly lies on the ground to prevent the crew from filming like in Central Park.
Eric also issued a stern warning to the crew members at noon, no matter how provocative these people are, they must not conflict with each other, because doing so is tantamount to falling into the trap of the other party. (To be continued..)