Birth of an actor

Universal Studios is located between Los Angeles and Burbank, California. It is not only one of the largest film production centers in the world, but also a must-see for tourists visiting Los Angeles since it was opened to the public as a tourist attraction in Hollywood in the 60s. If you are lucky, tourists will not only be able to visit the filming locations of their favorite films, but they may also encounter a few film crews who are filming here.

100 Universal Plaza Avenue, the most central area of ​​the studio, is the office of Universal Pictures.

In the more than 1912 years since the founding of Universal Pictures in 80, countless decisions that have influenced the direction of Hollywood and even the world's movies have been born here.

At this moment, an important meeting related to the 1998 film plan of Universal Pictures is being held in the main conference room. Schneider, head of film production Kathy Swell, and New York distribution head Brian Mulligan, among others, were moderated by Universal president and CEO Ron Meyer.

There are countless film companies, large and small, in Hollywood, and each company has its own way of exercising the "lighting right"—the so-called "lighting right" actually refers to giving a red or green light to the future of a film project— Although Warner Bros. Films and Disney Films claim to be determined by democratic voting within the company, most of the time it is the president who makes decisions alone; Paramount Pictures has a seven-member decision-making group, and most things are collectively voted; Columbia Pictures It is said that the president likes to listen to the suggestions of executive Amy Pascal, and most of her suggestions for film projects will be accepted; Bill Mocanick is a person who likes to listen to other people's opinions, but when they really know what they want, they can also seize the power of life and death of the company at any time.

All executives at Universal know that the real power of the company is in the hands of the president and chairman, Lon Mayer. When Lon Mayer makes up his mind, no one else can stop him, so they are now engaged in a fierce battle. , trying to get the chairman to accept only his own point of view.

At the end of the conference table, William and his agent, Amon Goffman, sat there bored, listening to others desperately displaying their eloquence.

That's right, William.

I want to ask why William can have his own position in the high-level meeting of Universal Pictures?

Because he received an invitation from Universal Pictures Chairman Ron Meyer.

"Isn't William Bradley the star of the film? This new favorite in Hollywood, I've never met him before. Tomorrow's meeting invites her to come too. Stacey, I want to see it with my own eyes." This young man with a strong limelight." Lon Meyer said this to Ms. Stacy Schneider, the general manager of Universal Pictures' Los Angeles area yesterday, and then Stacy Schneider notified William to attend the meeting.

——It is worth mentioning that William is the only person in the crew of "Meet Joe Black" who participated in Universal's internal high-level meeting. Even the director Martin Brest did not receive an invitation for this meeting .

This is an invitation that heralds that William's status in the studio's heart has risen again, from an actor who just gets paid to act and is at the mercy of major studios like a puppet, to an actor who can participate in seven major films like Universal. In the professional film production, they have the opportunity to have equal dialogue and even negotiate with the studio.

As for the movie that Long Meyer was talking about, it was "Meet Joe Black".

Yesterday morning, "Meet Joe Black", which completed all the post-production, held a test screening inside Universal, and the results of the test screening were a bit polarized.

Some people think that the movie is so bad that it will definitely wipe out the $9000 million investment, while others think that the movie is so good that it will definitely win both box office and awards.

The demeaning attitude was mainly from Kathy Swell, director of the film production department of Universal Pictures, while the praise was from Stacy Schneider, the head of the Los Angeles region of Universal Pictures. It started to argue endlessly, and finally even alarmed the president and chairman of the board, Lon Meyer.

After learning of the completely different evaluations of "Meet Joe Black" by Casey Swell and Stacy Schneider, Ron Meyer also had to be cautious, and specially convened this high-level meeting to decide the disposition of the film The method - "Meet Joe Black" has an investment of 9000 million U.S. dollars. It is not only the highest-invested non-special effects film in Hollywood history, but also Universal's highest-invested film this year. The success of "Meet Joe Black" depends a lot. To a certain extent, it also represents whether Universal Pictures can keep its career map in Hollywood in 1998.

"So, one of you believes that the movie needs to be re-edited or even re-shot, while the other insists that the movie is so perfect that you don't need to cut it?" After putting down his hands to stop the quarrel that filled the room, Lon Meyer stood behind the long oval table, watching ask everyone.

Kathy Swell straightened up. "If you go to see the film, Mr. Meyer, you'll know how bad it is. We spent $9000 million and made three hours of Don't Know—"

Lon Meyer stopped Kathy Swell with his eyes and said: "If I have to watch every movie before I can make a decision, what use do I need you for? Do you have something to eat?"

Although Lon Meyer's tone was very calm, the entire meeting room immediately fell silent, especially Kathy Swell, the head of Universal's New York distribution department, was flushed from the neck up.

Stacy Schneider glanced at Kathy Swell triumphantly, and said with a smile: "Meeting Joe Black is a work of art, and a work of art needs to be savored rather than gobbled up, so don't take this Movies on par with your favorite R-rated commercials, Swaer."

Stacy Schneider is not only the producer of "Meet Joe Black", but also the biggest contributor behind the completion of the film project, so she will never allow anyone to slander the film, especially competitors within the company.

"Tell me what's great about this movie, and why Swell's allegations are wrong," Ron Meyer told Stacey Schneider.

"The picture is beautiful, the music is great, the lines are like poetry, Will and Anton's acting skills are great, unlike those dazzling special effects movies, this movie needs people to calm down and savor it carefully, just like Famous paintings."

Lon Meyer looked at Stacie Schneider and said, "You know what I hear from you? I hear this movie won't please most audiences, and we'll lose money nine times out of ten."

Stacey Schneider was dumbfounded, while Kathy Swell smiled gloatingly.

Ron Meyer stood with a sweeping view of the room when a young man caught his attention - the only one listening to Ron Meyer while the others in the room were busy with silence or intrigue He nodded slightly while speaking, as if giving affirmation and approval, and this person should not have echoed Ron Meyer's words, because he is the star of the movie "Meet Joe Black".

William Bradley, one of the most unignorable Hollywood actors born in the 70s, is very interesting both as a movie actor and as an ordinary person, and the job he dared to create at the age of 20 belongs to The ambition of his own film company reminded Lon Meyer of himself when he was young. He originally planned to invite the other party to have afternoon tea after the meeting, but now, Lon Meyer suddenly expressed this to William Brandley. I am very interested in what is thinking in my heart at this moment.

"Will? Tell me your opinion." Lon Meyer said suddenly, "You are the leading actor, and you have seen the test screening. You must have your own opinion on the film."

Before William could speak, someone in the conference room objected, "He's just an actor—" But a look from Lon Meyer shut the man up.

William's eyes flicked over everyone's faces, and finally said: "In my opinion, a three-hour movie is a bit too long."

William's words caused an uproar in the meeting room, not to mention the sudden shock in Stacy Schneider's eyes, even Amon Goffman gasped in surprise, and then kept bumping William's body with his elbow. arm.

But William still decided to go on with his own ideas: "The film tells three different story lines, but the real climax is only concentrated in the last three to 10 minutes, and the first two and a half hours are foreshadowing, and the style is too inconsistent. Yes, although the pictures, music and lines are very beautiful and worthy of appreciation, but I think the audience does not have the patience to wait for two and a half hours when sitting in the cinema. This may be detrimental to the box office of the film. After all, the audience It's very easy to wait for the climax until you're exhausted."

In fact, after watching the trial screening yesterday, William didn't feel very good. I don't know if the post-editing editor for "Meet Joe Black" is the same person who edited "Scent of a Woman"—two The movies are all produced by Universal, and judging from the director’s habit of always using the same editor, it is very likely that it is the same editor—in short, this editor probably wants to copy "Scent of a Woman" It was successful, so "Meet Joe Black" was cut exactly according to the template of this movie.And he was completely wrong.

Although "Scent of a Woman" and "Meeting Joe Black" both have two male protagonists as the story line of the year-end friendship, they are completely two movies with different themes, different stories, and different characters, and the latter's story Even more mysterious and complex, and even a little religious, the editor copied the editing technique of "Scent of a Woman" to "Meet Joe Black", and made the film, which is characterized by excitement and intensity, a full three Hours, one hour longer than "Scent of a Woman", not only makes the first half of the movie look redundant, several story lines do not distinguish between primary and secondary, and even consume too much of the audience's expectations, waiting for the final climax When the scene came, they had already lost that excitement.

William told all the thoughts in his heart, and added a suggestion at the end: "There is nothing wrong with the lens of the movie, but the editor's idea is completely wrong. Thinking about the three hours of the screening, I still don't know So what is it talking about, is it love, is it friendship, or is it human beings' fear of death? The shipwreck scene in "Titanic" where the passenger ship hits an iceberg and then sinks lasts for an hour and a half, plus a complete bloody triangle Love, and the wonderful scenes of countless supporting roles, dare to make the film last more than three hours. To be honest, I don't think "Meet Joe Black" will be the second "Titanic". If the film can be re-edited, the duration will be shortened. Around two hours, that's the best option. Of course, that's just my opinion."

His words made the entire meeting room sink.

Amon Goffman looked anxiously at everyone's facial expressions, he was very worried that William's words would directly offend more than half of the people in the room.

As for William, although he was also a little worried about whether his evaluation was too harsh, after all, this is also a movie he starred in, but more, it was a feeling of relief——Lon Meyer asked him what he thought. In just a few seconds, countless thoughts flashed through William's mind. Should he keep silent cautiously, or give a bold suggestion?Although silence is more appropriate, and even if the movie fails, he can't be blamed, but William finally decided to follow his own heart and tell the truth, because in his opinion, this is responsible for his own work.

Lon Meyer first broke the silence in the conference room: "Will, I am amazed by your boldness." Lon Meyer's expression was genuinely surprised, and his curiosity and interest in this young man A few more points.

"Because I don't want the movie I'm starring in to look bad when it's released." William said bluntly: "And if you don't want me to tell the truth, don't let me come to the meeting."

Ron Meyer laughed very heartily, but his laughter startled everyone else. "Emily, arrange a private screening for me. Meet Joe Black, yes, send the film to my office immediately," he said to the secretary beside him.

"If it's convenient, we can have lunch together after I finish watching the movie? My chef is French, and his skills are very good." Lang Meyer asked William as if no one else in the conference room existed.

Under the scrutiny of countless quiet and complicated gazes, William nodded calmly: "Being obedient is worse than respect, Mr. Meyer."

Whether it is the vice chairman or the general manager, all the high-level executives of Universal are in extremely complicated moods: the suggestions of the person in charge of the New York area have all been dismissed, and William Bradley's words actually made the CEO stay in the studio for an afternoon And see the film in person?Production executives probably wouldn't be surprised if they got a call from the CEO this evening with the order to restart post-production on Meet Joe Black.

……

Stacy Schneider gave William a hard look as he left the conference room.

"Actually, I felt the same way about the movie during the screening yesterday." Amon Goffman looked at his client with a completely amazed look: "But I really didn't expect that you would really put yourself Say your opinion, Will, and in such an affirmative tone. Before the film is released, most actors dare not say that they know the market needs better than the film company, and they dare not offend Stacy. A global executive and gold medal producer like Schneider. Wow, Will, you really offended Ms. Schneider to death."

"Ms. Schneider will thank me, Ami, when I help her keep her job," William said with a shrug.

Suddenly thought of something, Amon Goffman's expression was no longer tense: "Lon Meyer seems to like you very much, with him here, we don't need to consider Schneider's mood." After a pause, he was a little Embarrassed, Dai asked with some anticipation: "Will, you wouldn't ask for a private lunch with Meyer, would you? Suppose I could also rub a corner of the table?"

William stared at his agent seriously: "Who are you? Why do you want to occupy Amon Goffman's body? My agent is cunning and mature, and he will never show a shy expression like a girl. return!"

Amon Goffman: "…"

Seeing his agent's expression, William laughed loudly: "Of course you can go to the appointment with me, Amon, because I have never seen you have such a big interest in anyone, although Long Meyer is A gentleman and not a lady."

Amon Goffman waited for William to laugh enough before saying: "You are not an agent, Will, so you may not be able to understand what kind of character Long Meyer is. He is a benchmark in the Hollywood agent world. All new brokers want to know him, be him and surpass him."

William really didn’t expect Armon to react so strongly to the name of Lon Mayer, but considering the career development of Lon Mayer, it’s no wonder that the two largest brokerage companies in Hollywood, WMA (William Morris Agency) company) and CAA (Creative Artist Agency), one is the oldest and the other is currently the largest. Long Meyer worked in the former in the 70s, because he couldn't stand the seniority system of WMA and Michael Ovitz, Several colleagues, including Martin Baum, William Harper and Roland Perkins, resigned together and created CAA.After running CAA for nearly 20 years, Ron Meyer was invited by Universal again to join Universal, a giant film industry, as the president and CEO.It is no exaggeration to say that Lang Meyer's career has reached the pinnacle in the industry, and the pinnacle of the broker's career is almost at this level.

"Including you?" William asked.

"Maybe. It's not just about stars or movies, Will, it's about power." Amon Goffman's expression flashed with fanaticism: "Just like in ordinary society, some people spend a lot of money Buy luxury villas, top-of-the-line sports cars, and expensive clothes, but others directly own the companies that sell and even manufacture these things. In Hollywood, rights are not super-A-list stars with countless contracts and endless salaries. It's not that the agent sells his newcomers to become the protagonists of billion-dollar productions, but no matter what kind of movie you want? Just make one, just one of your thoughts can make the whole Hollywood move , film companies, distribution companies, public TV stations, cable TV stations, all resources can serve your ideas, this right—”

"If you want to know what the real heaven looks like, try to be God." William murmured.

"What?" Amon Goffman asked. After thinking of Willot, he suddenly realized: "Oh, oh shit." Goffman's shock.

When he was still immersed in the halo of WMA senior partner, his boy was already on the road to becoming a god.