The Best Entertainment Era

After roughly browsing the script, Ronan has already confirmed that this is a movie he has seen before, called Eavesdropping Storm. Because of the slow pace of the film and the heavy gray theme, I couldn't hold on to it and gave up after watching less than a third of it for the first time.

I watched it twice in succession, but I didn't really finish it once, probably because I really didn't like it. I always read the beginning and didn't want to read the end.

In the end, I dragged and fast-forwarded all the way, and watched the ending.

The movie roughly tells the story of an East German secret police eavesdropper who turns from an eavesdropper to a protector in the process of eavesdropping on an artist.

If I remember correctly, this film won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

As for whether the director is Florian Donasma, Ronan has no impression at all.

Seeing Ronan close the script, Tony Koch asked directly: Is the script good?

Ronan smiled: The theme is very profound, and there are profound cultural connotations behind the plot.

Hearing this, Florian Donasma was overjoyed. Is this a recognition of his script?

Tony Koch has known Ronan for many years and is also an old friend. Knowing the elements of his choice of movies, he immediately said: Is it worth it?

The theme is profound and connotative. It may be popular in Europe, but it is basically useless in Hollywood.

Ronan looked at Florian Donasma: Have you ever thought about how much money is needed to make this film?

Florian Donasma immediately replied: Two million euros... As soon as he said the words, he thought of the rejections of those German companies before, and quickly changed his words: Two million dollars is enough.

Ronan nodded slightly, and put the script aside. The production budget is not high, especially for the current Relativity Entertainment.

If a film like this had a budget of $10 million, he would say no without hesitation.

Because the type and theme of the film are determined, even if it is produced by Hollywood, even if it is produced, the market is extremely limited.

Anyone with a little knowledge of the film market can easily see this.

And the film will not have a big market in North America,

This film is estimated to be more popular in Europe.

East and West Germany, as well as the Berlin Wall, were world-class hot issues back then, but that was more than ten years ago. Given the forgetfulness of Americans and their indifference to overseas countries, the number of people interested in this kind of film may be very limited.

It might be better if there is something to be gained at the Oscars.

Ronan speculated based on the actual experience of operating films in the past few years. If this film can win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film like it did before, maybe the North American box office is expected to hit 10 million U.S. dollars?

It also depends on luck.

Then there is the overseas market.

Audiences in Europe may be more interested. With several European awards, it is estimated that the box office in Europe will be higher than that in North America.

And the income from the offline market...

$2 million is worth a shot.

Ronan knew very well that he must be cautious when investing tens of millions of dollars in such a typical literary film, but with 2 million dollars, with the strength of Theory of Relativity Entertainment, he can definitely try it.

But the quality of the director is also a problem.

The script is well written. Ronan finished thinking, and said to Florian Donasma: But screenwriting and directing are two professions. You don't have past film works as a reference for director ability.

Florian Donasma hurriedly said: Mr. Anderson, please believe me, I have mature and comprehensive considerations for this film!

Ronan thought for a while and said, Mr. Donasma, I can buy your script first...

Florian Donasma was a little anxious. He wrote this script because he wanted to be a director.

What is the future of being a screenwriter? A screenwriter who doesn't want to be a producer and director has never been a qualified screenwriter.

If this script is bought by a Hollywood company and brought back to the United States, will the director still have his turn to compete?

Directors in Hollywood who are waiting for an opportunity, and directors who suit their script style, may be able to catch a lot of them!

Florian Donnasma made a decisive decision and said, Mr. Anderson, I can personally gather people to shoot a short film of about ten minutes. After you watch the short film, you can decide whether I can be the director. Is that okay? ?”

This kind of visual short film can better reflect the real level of a director than the shooting and production plan. After a little consideration, Ronan said, Yes. Mr. Donasma, you can go to Los Angeles next month, where there are more With complete facilities, it is easier to recruit manpower.”

Florian Donnasma made up his mind: Okay! I'm going to Los Angeles right now.

Ronan called Connie and asked her to lead Florian Donasma to deal with the follow-up matters. Although 2 million US dollars is nothing to Relativity Entertainment, no one's money is blown by the wind. To get invested, you have to demonstrate your worth.

How? Tony Koch said, Ronan, I have another valuable film project for you.

Ronan said directly: Its value may not be as high as one-tenth of Resident Evil.

It's not the same type, Tony Koch said.

Ronan nodded: For this film to be successful, it's not enough to shoot it well. It also needs to follow the route of winning awards.

Resident Evil can be serialized, and friends have various offline peripherals. This film called Eavesdropping Storm is difficult to operate as a sequel, and the offline market only has discs and broadcast copyrights.

And without heavyweight awards, it is impossible for this kind of film to have a good commercial market.

There is no harm in this. The Embassy Pictures is also constantly groping for awards. In the future distribution work, business and art must be grasped with both hands, and both hands must be hard.

After chatting with Tony Koch about his mother, Ronan remembered one thing. It seems that in the later Hong Kong films, there were also wiretapping themes. A rare film with vitality.

The awarding of Eavesdropping Storm is a matter of future, but the awarding action of Lost in Translation is in full swing. Compared with Oscar, which has a large number of judges, the selection of the Cannes Film Festival is more affected by personal opinions.

Even, the power of the chairman of the jury can strongly promote a certain film to win.

When Quentin Tarantino served as the jury member of the Cannes Film Festival and the chairman of the Venice Film Festival jury, he successively made actions against all opinions. Among the beneficiaries was Sophia who had a few legs with Quentin. Coppola.

The chairman of the jury this year is Patrice Jaap, a name that is quite unfamiliar to Ronan. The Embassy Films has never had any dealings with him before, and it is impossible to talk about human relationships.

Not long after Lost in Translation was released, the team of the Embassy Pictures came to a conclusion that Patrice Jaap appreciated films with profound social significance, and was not interested in romantic sketches and the like.

Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation, strictly speaking, has a typical love sketch style.

Patrice Jaap even appreciated an American film called Elephant.

This film tells about a serious school shooting incident in the United States in the late 1990s, a typical tragedy.

Just as Americans like movies that expose the scars of other countries, French filmmakers, as representatives of European movies, actually especially appreciate movies that uncover the scars of the United States.

These two countries have never dealt with it very well.

Not to mention the opposition in the film.

The famous Roman Polanski lives in France, and the French have never been wanted by the US Department of Justice.

Faced with the reality, Embassy Pictures voluntarily gave up the Palme d'Or, which had a very low chance of winning, and set its goals on the jury award, best director award and best actress award.

The media's public relations work has never stopped.

Lost in Translation takes longer to create atmosphere and observe than to tell story. But you won't mind: Sofia Coppola quietly maintains a depressing tone, there will never be a second film like this , unless genetics intervenes.

Ronan, accompanied by Tony Koch, traveled to Berlin to see the latest Koch Films, before returning to Cannes for the closing ceremony and awards ceremony.

The influence of the embassy film industry in France is far less than that of the Oscars. Coupled with the influence of the chairman of the jury, Lost in Translation did not win many awards.

As expected, Palme d'Or became the bag of Elephant.

There are rumors that some of the judges headed by Spielberg did not have a good sense of Elephant, but Patrice Jaap, as the chairman of the jury, vigorously promoted this film to win.

Elephant director Gus Ventsen also won the best director award.

Best Actress went to Canadian Mary Josh Crozier.

Ronan has never heard of this actress for two lifetimes.

It can only be said that the selection of the Cannes Film Festival is not friendly to Hollywood movies.

Fortunately, Lost in Translation also gained something.

Thanks to the efforts of Embassy Pictures, Sofia Coppola's romantic comedy won the Grand Jury Prize.

This is also a heavyweight award for Cannes films.

There is a Cannes Film Festival jury award, which is also conducive to the operation of the awards behind Lost in Translation.

Due to its participation in the Cannes Film Festival, it is impossible for Lost in Translation to participate in the competition units of Berlin and Venice. The next heavyweight award will have to wait until the Toronto Film Festival in September.

On the plane back to Los Angeles, Scarlett Johansson sat with Ronan.

You are still young. Ronan casually said comforting words: There will be opportunities in the future.

Scarlett Johansson said: I think the French discriminate against Americans, especially in movies.

Ronan said: They have always looked down on Hollywood movies, which is normal.

Scarlett Johansson asked directly: Do I have any hope of getting an Oscar nomination?

Ronan thought for a while and said, I'll let the embassy film industry declare for you. I can't guarantee whether you can get nominated.

Scarlett Johansson leaned close to Ronan's ear: There are still some things about me that you haven't tried yet.