Movie Master

Pushing open the office door in front of him, Lance found that there seemed to be a lot more people in the room than expected, which made Lance's footsteps pause slightly, without hiding the doubt and surprise in his eyes.

Brad Gray greeted him with a smile on his face, You are still on time as always. Brad skillfully gave Lance a hug, then turned to look at the three people behind him, Our meeting today Several distinguished guests are welcome to join our discussion. Accompanied by Brad's words, the three people who were originally sitting on the sofa peacefully and indifferently stood up one after another, with decent smiles on their faces, their gazes To Lance.

This is Wade-Russell, Tom's agent. Wade was a man in his mid-forties, with dark brown hair heavily gelled and combed back meticulously, his face With a polite smile, it seems that every angle has been carefully designed, showing five teeth no more, no less, like a mask.

Standing next to him is a hale and hearty old man with gray hair but still full of energy, with a kind smile on his face, which is very easy to make people like, This is Peter-Giuliano (Peter-Giuliano) , the producer, he will take over my job and work with you in the crew to complete the shooting of the movie.

The wrinkles in the corners of Peter's eyes and forehead were piled up because of his bright smile, and his hoarse voice was full of the magnetism of years of smoking, Haha, I can't wait to get into work. When Shirley and I mentioned this project, I After reading the script, it was rejected, and the previous version of the script was really disappointing.

Peter nodded and agreed to come out again after reading your script. The woman standing at the innermost came out and succinctly extended her right hand. She was neat and capable in a black suit. It is fully displayed, there is no clear smile on her face, but she has a heroic posture. It is just a gesture of reaching out and speaking, but it directly makes people feel the charm of a heroine in her. This is the head of Paramount Pictures, Shirley Lansing. Obviously, Peter and I have a consensus that your script is really eye-catching.

In just two sentences, Shirley took the initiative.

Peter is a senior producer who has been in Hollywood for 20 years. He has produced works such as Ghostbusters, Four Hundred Years of Vampire Surprise, Four Brothers, and Francis Ford Coppola , Barry-Levinson (Barry-Levinson), Robin-Williams, Dustin-Hoffman and others have good friendships. However, since Deep Sea Mystery in 1998, he has not published any works for six years.

It can be said that a producer like Peter, with enough qualifications, enough experience, and enough connections, is definitely a formidable opponent. As soon as Shirley came up, she used Peter's name to praise Lance, and the subtext undoubtedly showed their active status.

After such a battle, such a meeting, and such an opening, Langston immediately felt tremendous pressure.

Today's meeting is to discuss the final version of the script of Murder with a Borrowed Knife. If there are no accidents, we can then focus on the preparation of the crew, the selection of actors, and the arrangement of the shooting location. Lance originally thought that Brad was the only one, and the appearance of the other three people was already an accident. Now the postures of the three people are so mysterious that people can't figure out the situation.

Recently, Lance is more or less aware of the chain reaction of the great success of The Day After Tomorrow. But even so, Lance doesn't think that the project of Murder with a Borrowed Knife is worthy of Shirley's own participation... Even with Tom's joining, this is only a project with a budget of 60 million. So, what is the reason for Shirley to attend this meeting?

Lance raised his head and looked at Brad. Brad had a calm expression on his face, as if everything was normal, and he couldn't see any information at all. Brad noticed Lance's gaze, turned his head to look over, showed a polite smile, and motioned for Lance to take a seat. However, this ordinary sight made Lance catch a trace of abnormality: Brad's eyes flickered slightly, as if to give him another hint, but there was no further content. In the blink of an eye, Brad He turned around and motioned for everyone to sit down.

Although it was just a flash, Lance was very sure that he was not dazzled.

Lance suddenly remembered one thing: Paramount is in troubled times at this time.

When the eight major film companies discussed the cannon fodder for the first week of summer, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, and Universal Pictures can be said to be brothers and sisters. Paramount has not made it into the North American year-end box office rankings for three consecutive years. In the past three years, Paramount's highest-grossing work was Tomb Raider launched in 2001. The investment of 80 million was only exchanged for 130 million North American box office. It is obvious that he is already standing on the edge of a cliff.

It is against this background that Brad entered Paramount. If Lance remembers correctly, Paramount's management completed the power transfer later this year-Brad replaced Shirley, became the new CEO of Paramount. This decision caused an uproar, not only because Brad is only forty-five years old this year, which is too young, but also because he has no previous experience in managing large companies, which caused a heated discussion.

Then, the significance of Shirley's appearance here is worth pondering. On the one hand, Shirley is obviously unwilling to surrender easily, so she must effectively contain Brad without harming Paramount's interests; This project maintains two important figures, one is Tom Cruise and the other is Lance.

Naturally, Tom didn't need to say anything. Judging from the current situation, Tom's agent, Wade, seemed to be on Shirley's side. As for Lance, he is a potential stock, representing the future, and is also likely to become an emerging force that grows up with Brad. Shirley wouldn't want to see Lance and Brad get too close.

If Lance is right, it's clear that today's meeting was anything but easy.

The chaotic thoughts were fleeting, and Lance calmly walked to the reception table and looked at everyone's positions. Shirley and Peter sat side by side on a three-seater sofa, and Wade sat alone on the opposite one. On the sofa, Brad hadn't taken a seat yet. He stood beside a double sofa on the right, but his eyes fell on Lance. On the surface, as the host, he naturally had to wait for the guests to sit down before sitting down. , but Lance knew that things were not that simple.

Lance's head was turning, but his footsteps didn't stop. He walked to the side, dragged the boss chair next to him, and sat down in the open space near the door. In this way, Shirley and Peter are on his left, Wade and he are sitting across the coffee table facing each other, and Brad is standing on his right.

Murder with a Borrowing Knife will be co-operated by Chaos Pictures and Paramount Pictures, but Lance does not think that he should participate in Paramount's internal power struggle. Eligibility - Maybe in the future, but not now. Now he is just a small director who has filmed two films, and his cooperation with big companies is always trying to survive. Being involved in power struggles only makes him more embarrassed.

This is not self-deprecation, but self-knowledge, and accurate judgment is also one of the necessary conditions for success. Compared with the power struggle, Lance's attention must be focused on the work of Murder with a Borrowing Knife.

Lance's seemingly unremarkable seating fell into everyone's eyes, and everyone thought about it.

Brad's eyes flickered slightly, and the corners of his mouth loosened slightly—in the eyes of many people, in the confrontation between him and Shirley, it was no need to think deeply about choosing Shirley, after all, Shirley is now Pella. Meng is the head of the family, but Lance's decision is intriguing. Brad quickly concealed his inner emotions, sat down himself, and said, Lance, we have all read your script, this is a huge surprise, it is far from the original version Far, you basically revised the entire script.

Murder with a borrowed knife is always the main purpose today, and Brad's words immediately attracted everyone's attention.

Lance drew the corners of his mouth confidently, and shook his head slightly, No, you can't say that. The reason why you think the whole script has been revised is because I reset the dialogue according to the characters' personalities, that's all .But in fact, the framework of the whole story has been preserved.”

Oh? This is a new way of saying it. I always thought that the so-called script is composed of dialogues, isn't it? It was Peter who spoke, with a curious expression on his face, as if he was seriously discussing with Lance generally. But those wise eyes locked on Lance motionlessly, and that gentle smile disintegrated people's defenses invisibly.

But Lance was still unhurried. Even in the face of such battles and such pressure, he still showed a smile, elegant and gentlemanly, and said unhurriedly, Mr. Giuliano, you must be talking to me. Just kidding. After speaking, Lance laughed softly, and then looked at Shirley, Wade and Brad, The real script, the dialogue can only be said to be flesh and blood, but there is no body, no skeleton, no Soul, that's not really a script, is it?

Everyone laughed lightly, and the whole office seemed peaceful and harmonious.

Lance closed the corners of his mouth slightly, and then explained, However, I did reset and modify the characters' personalities, and made changes to the structure of the second half of the script. Si has been busy for several months and devoted countless efforts, which is also the source of his confidence.

No matter what Shirley and Brad are competing with, Lance can be sure that he has absolute confidence in his script!