Huayu: From an ordinary person to a happy director

Chapter 52 Visiting DreamWorks

Shi Lei felt that his words were not convincing enough, so he continued to deceive him: "The Purge is not only a thriller, but also explores all aspects of human nature under the shell of horror and horror, giving us a new understanding of good, evil, violence, and unity in their original state."

Ray Warner suddenly understood and said with a smile: "It turns out that The Purge has such a profound meaning. After hearing what you said, I think this film can win an award."

If Shi Lei didn't explain, he would think this film was a thriller. Even he thought so, not to mention those viewers who were only focused on watching the film and rarely thought about it.

The experience of the family in the film will not make the audience feel anti-violence, but will make them angry, angry at the wife's softness and the child's ignorance. Some people may use this to teach their children and wives not to be soft-hearted.

Perhaps film critics who dig deeper can see it, but this film is a thriller, and there are very few film critics willing to dig deeper, so the effect of Shi Lei's anti-violence or something is hard to describe...

But Shi Lei is the boss, and with such a good implication, of course he supports it.

If he doesn't get some support, his first directorial project will be ruined.

"Yes, that's it." Shi Lei nodded with satisfaction.

"Boss, how much does this movie cost?" Ray Warner asked the question that concerned him most.

"The cost is 300 million US dollars. This will be a series. The first part mainly takes place in a house, and then it will slowly expand to streets, districts, and the entire city. The larger the scope, the higher the investment." At this point, Shi Lei patted Ray Warner on the shoulder and said solemnly: "So you have to shoot the first part well, according to my storyboard script, and make it thrilling."

Finally, the emphasis on thriller is to prevent Ray Warner from really treating the film as an anti-violence film. It is normal for different directors to shoot the same script in different styles.

Ray Warner was stunned, looked at Shi Lei with a complicated expression, and replied: "Boss, I know how to shoot it!"

It turns out that the boss doesn't take anti-violence seriously.

After launching two low-cost projects, Shi Lei looked at the $1500 million in the account and began to think about how to spend the money.

The first thought is of course to start new film projects. He has many profitable scripts.

But the most urgent task is to solve a problem!
On the third day, Shi Lei boarded a plane to Glendale, California.

At the headquarters of DreamWorks Animation, Shi Lei met a manager of DreamWorks Animation.

DreamWorks Animation was established in 2004 by spinning off the animation division of DreamWorks Studios and was listed on NASDAQ in the same year.

The company is engaged in animation production, such as animated films, TV shows and short films. Well-known works include: "Shrek the Monsters" series, "Madagascar" series, "Kung Fu Panda" series, as well as "How to Train Your Dragon" and "Crazy Croods". The latest work is "The Villain League".
The purpose of his trip was "Kung Fu Panda".

The reception manager of DreamWorks Animation asked Shi Lei, "I wonder what Director Shi is here for at DreamWorks Animation?"

"I wrote an animated film script and would like to cooperate with DreamWorks to produce it together." Shi Lei directly stated his purpose.

He had already applied for the copyright to the Kung Fu Panda script, but even if DreamWorks Animation didn’t have the previous script, it might still be able to come up with a new one.

For example, there are countless Monkey King animated films in China.

At this time, DreamWorks Animation had just become independent, and projects similar to "Kung Fu Panda" had not yet been launched.

The manager looked at Shi Lei in surprise and refused, "Sorry, we at DreamWorks have our own animation projects and will not accept any external projects for the time being."

The company has just become independent, and its focus is to establish itself through its own works rather than taking on external production projects.

And DreamWorks Animation is really busy right now.

In addition to the upcoming release of Shrek the Monsters 2, Shark Tale, Madagascar, and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit are in urgent production, and Outside the Fence and Wanderings in Mouse Country are in preparation. There is no extra energy to work with Shi Lei. "This animation is a task assigned by my country Film Group Corporation. Can you call someone who can take charge?" Shi Lei bluffed directly.

"China Film?" The manager pondered for a moment, and finally remembered what company China Film was. He hurriedly said to Shi Lei, "Wait a minute, I'll go get someone."

Half an hour later, a bald white man walked in accompanied by the manager.

The bald white man who just came in greeted Shi Lei enthusiastically, "Director Shi, hello, my name is Jeffrey Katzenberg, I'm the CEO of DreamWorks Animation. I like Chinese culture very much, and I'm glad to meet you."

Shi Lei was also a little shocked. He knew that a senior executive would come, but he didn't expect it to be the CEO.

He smiled and said, "Nice to meet you, too."

"This time I'm here with a mission from China Film. Here's the script, would you like to take a look?" Shi Lei handed over the script directly.

"Okay, let me take a look first." Jeffrey took the script and looked through it carefully.

As a CEO, he has a unique strategic vision. China has a population of more than one billion, which is a huge market. He wants to develop this market. He has explored China's film market and naturally knows the position of China Film Group in China.

He took China Film Group's requirements very seriously.

Three hours later, Jeffrey had read the entire script and part of the storyboard.

He looked up at Shi Lei and said loudly: "In fact, I had a similar idea in my mind. I didn't expect that it coincided with yours."

Speaking of China, he thought of Kung Fu. As a Kung Fu animation, the carrier naturally cannot be a robot, it can only be humans and animals. In order to sell well worldwide, it is risky to use humans in the animation, so the first choice is animals. China's national treasure, the panda, immediately occupied his mind.

The animation "Kung Fu Panda" appeared in his mind.

However, DreamWorks had just become independent at that time and was in a mess, so he had no chance to realize his idea.

Unexpectedly, China had similar ideas to his. This was very normal. What he could think of, China could certainly think of. It was just that China did not have the ability to produce such animations before. Now that China has joined the WTO, and Hollywood is moving in while China is also moving out. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is an example. It is normal for China to find someone to produce "Kung Fu Panda".

"Director Shi, I'll be honest. According to your storyboard, the animals need to have fur, which takes a lot of time to produce in animation. It will take at least two years to complete the entire animation. We at DreamWorks have the ability to produce Kung Fu Panda, but we don't have the time. Our DreamWorks animation schedule is fully booked."

"Of course, if you can wait two years before starting the project, we at DreamWorks are willing to cooperate with you, Huaxia."

"Two years is too long. I need to go back and report." Shi Lei shook his head without giving a clear answer.

“I hope we can work together next time.”

Shi Lei shook hands with Jeffrey and left.

The purpose of his trip was certainly not to cooperate with DreamWorks Animation, and he didn't have that much money. He came here to tell DreamWorks that China was planning to produce "Kung Fu Panda".

After his visit, DreamWorks would not risk making a film with the same theme, "Kung Fu Panda". When it comes to Kung Fu, they have no confidence that they can beat China.

DreamWorks will not take any risks on the additional $1.3 million in production costs, nor is there any need to take any risks. With DreamWorks' strength, it is entirely possible to produce other animations with a higher success rate.

The purpose of his trip was to prevent DreamWorks from launching similar projects.

At least there won’t be an animation that’s very similar to Kung Fu Panda.

(End of this chapter)