Simon looked at the situation in front of him and was a little confused as to why the first production meeting of "The Butterfly Effect" fell into such an awkward tit-for-tat situation.

However, considering the attitudes of David Giller and Brian De Palma in their words, Simon is not too worried about the progress of the matter. These two Hollywood celebrities who also have no shortage of voice obviously have the same feelings as him.

position.

After confirming this, Simon felt relieved and could not help but secretly begin to analyze the situation in front of him.

Hollywood also has a very complex power structure. But usually, it is very simple to determine a person's authority in Hollywood. You only need to look at his affiliation, that is, to which level of Hollywood the person is responsible.

From David Giller's words just now, Simon realized that the other party should be directly responsible to Fox Film President Ronald Goldberg and was not under the control of Fox Vice President Peter Sanders.

It can be said that they are of the same level.

Even, from the momentum of the exchange between the two, Simon noticed that David Giller clearly had the upper hand.

Since he was going to collaborate on the "Butterfly Effect" project, Simon naturally did some homework in advance.

David Giller, who is in his fifties this year, is the producer of Fox's "Alien 2", which is currently being released. Simon knows this very well. So, combined with the deliberate contrast in David Giller's words just now, Simon realized,

Peter Sanders is likely to have something to do with Fox's summer box-office failure "Space Station."

With a budget of 18 million U.S. dollars, and the highest quality schedule in early June, the box office was only a little over 9 million. This is not an ordinary setback.

Things turned out exactly as Simon expected.

Following David Giller's last words, Peter Sanders' face suddenly became a little ugly, and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly, and then he said: "David, I am only doing this for the company's 10 million

Investing in U.S. dollars is responsible and does not mean to target anyone.”

David Giller felt that Peter Sanders' momentum had softened, and he stopped chasing after him, saying: "Of course, this is your responsibility. But, Peter, all you need to ensure is that the film investment is used

The right place, not to dictate the content of the movie, that's my job and Brian's job."

Peter Sanders felt the non-negotiable strength in David Giller's tone. He hesitated for a moment and then shrugged: "Well, I hope you don't screw up this movie."

The seizure of power failed.

Simon secretly came to this conclusion in his mind, glanced at Peter Sanders again, and realized at the same time that this was a guy who was very good at bullying the weak and afraid of taking advantage of the situation.

Peter Saunders's attempt to seize the creative control of "The Butterfly Effect" was blocked by David Giller, and the subsequent meeting was obviously much more normal.

However, even so, David Giller and Brian De Palma still put forward a lot of opinions on the script revision.

David Giller's opinions mainly focused on the title of the movie and the ending of the story, which are similar to the content of the memo just now.

As a producer who needs to consider the future commercial prospects of the film, David Giller also hopes that the film can have a more popular name. At the same time, David also hopes that Simon can rewrite a gentler ending instead of ending with a male character.

The protagonist strangles himself in the mother's womb.

This is undoubtedly a return to the ending of the original version.

Brian De Palma's opinion was that he hoped to compress the protagonist's childhood scenes to less than 20 minutes to prevent this part from being too lengthy.

Compared with the initial memorandum, which was almost random, the opinions of both of them at this time were very professional. Although Simon did not completely agree with it, he also dealt with it very seriously.

The three main creators were discussing as if no one was around, but Peter Sanders, who was left alone, did not leave. He still stayed in the conference room, occasionally interjecting a few words. It was not until lunch that Peter Sanders stood up to leave.

, and said that he had other work in the afternoon and would not rush over again.

In the internal restaurant of Fox Studios, after several contacts, David Giller and Brian De Palma both had a good impression of Simon, a promising young man. After ordering lunch, David Giller even took the initiative to

Revealed some not-so-secret inside information to Simon.

It turns out that "Space Station", which failed miserably at the box office in the summer, was the project that Peter Sanders brokered. Fox not only gave the film a high-spec production budget of 18 million U.S. dollars, but also the best movie schedule. Fox Film President Ronald

Goldberg also personally named executive producer.

All of this is because of the heroine of "Space Station", named Kate Capshaw, Steven Spielberg's fiancée.

After hearing this, Simon immediately understood what Fox was doing.

In the original time and space, it is no exaggeration to say that in the last thirty years of the 20th century, Hollywood was almost dominated by Spielberg.

With the great success of films such as "Jaws", "ET", "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "Jurassic Park", Spielberg is completely admired by Hollywood stars. Although Spielberg

Berg belongs to the direct line of directors owned by Warner, Universal and Paramount, but outside of these three companies, every other company is also trying every possible means to establish relations with Spielberg.

In addition to "Space Station", Simon also recently read in "The Hollywood Reporter" that Disney has just approved an animated and live-action combination film with Spielberg's Amblin Pictures called "Who Framed"

Roger Rabbit.

In order to become a member of the 'Spielberg camp', Disney set a budget of up to US$45 million for this film. You know, in the 1980s, the budget costs of Hollywood's big-budget movies were generally controlled within US$20 million.

Only movies related to Spielberg can easily break through this heavy budget restriction, and even increase the average budget cost several times.

In the restaurant, I noticed the faint envy and fascination on Simon's face, and the two middle-aged men, both in their forties and fifties, looked at each other and smiled.

Every year in Hollywood, countless young people dream of becoming the second Spielberg, but only a few of them can achieve anything in the end.

But the young man in front of him has already attracted a lot of attention in less than two months after entering Hollywood. Coupled with Simon's undoubted talent, David Giller and Brian De Palma

They all realized that Simon would definitely be able to make a career in Hollywood in the future.

Therefore, the two Hollywood celebrities, who were now middle-aged and successful, did not mind giving this young man a hand.

David Giller slightly stimulated Simon's ambition, and Brian De Palma, who was also sitting opposite Simon, also asked: "Simon, I heard Jonathan say that you plan to make an experimental film, can you?"

Tell me? Maybe David and I can give you some advice."

Simon did not realize that the two middle-aged men in front of him were trying to help each other intentionally or unintentionally. Even if he knew, he would only be grateful for the kindness of the other party. Having been in a similar circle for more than ten years in his previous life, Simon knew very well that in this kind of circle

The importance of personal connections.

"Actually, this is what I wanted to say in the morning meeting," Simon said after hearing Brian De Palma's question and took out the script and storyboards of "Run Lola Run" from the backpack placed on the chair next to him.

He handed the drawings to David Giller and Brian De Palma respectively, and said: "David, and Brian, I don't think we need to change the name of the movie "The Butterfly Effect."

In this incident, due to many media reports, many people have actually noticed the term "butterfly effect". Moreover, the experimental film I plan to make called "Lola Run" can also explain it very vividly.

The concept of the 'Butterfly Effect'. By then, if Fox can provide some media resources to support it, through this movie, the concept of the 'Butterfly Effect' will spread even more widely. In the end, even if some people still don't understand the meaning of this term,

As long as the overall popularity of the movie is activated, this set of words can also become a suspense that attracts audiences into the theater."

Although he was aware of Simon's intention to use Fox to help promote his movie, Simon's remarks, which had unique personal insights into movie marketing, still made David Giller, who had just opened the script of "Run Lola Run", nod slightly.

.Next to David Giller, Brian De Palma was attracted by Simon's extremely professional shot drawings.

Seeing that both of them were interested, Simon naturally shifted the topic to "Run Lola Run" and continued: "About "Run Lola Run", this is an experimental film with a parallel three-part structure. The story is very simple.

, Laura's boyfriend Manny accidentally lost $100,000. In order to prevent her boyfriend from being killed by her boss, Laura must raise $100,000 within 20 minutes and rush to where Manny is. However, I want to use video games

The story is presented in the level-breaking mode. According to the backstory setting of the video game, Lola made three different attempts in the same scenario in order to raise $100,000 and rush to her boyfriend. The results of these three attempts were different.

At the same time, every time Laura runs, it also has a very subtle impact on the lives of some people she meets on the road. These impacts continue to amplify, eventually leading to completely different life directions for these people. This is the butterfly effect."

The script of "Run Lola Run" is not long. Listening to Simon's explanation, David Giller has quickly flipped through the plot of Lola running into the woman pushing the stroller at the first intersection. Brian De Palma

Being attracted by Simon's storyboard drawings, I also did not ignore Simon's explanation. At this time, I raised my head and asked: "Simon, how do you plan to express this 'butterfly effect'?"

"Photo montage," Simon replied simply: "Every time Laura meets a clue character, she can insert a quick photo montage to show the subsequent life direction of these people."

After hearing Simon's explanation, Brian De Palma thought for a moment, and an expression of appreciation gradually appeared on his face. He couldn't help but raise his hand and tap lightly on the table, saying: "What an amazing idea."

Although he had seen this form of expression in the script in advance, David Giller still nodded in agreement and praised it without hesitation: "It's great."

David Giller and Brian De Palma have both been immersed in Hollywood for decades. The longer they stay, the more they realize how difficult it is to innovate in this circle.

.

As Simon continued to explain, the two of them even vaguely felt that if Simon's film was done well, it would definitely become the object of study and imitation by many Hollywood filmmakers in the future.

The waiter in the restaurant had already brought lunch, but none of the three of them had any intention of eating.

After chatting carefully for more than half an hour, David Giller said: "So, Simon, you are saying that you plan to use your "Butterfly Effect" royalties to complete this film?"

Simon nodded and said, "Yes."

David Giller thought for a while and said: "The total remuneration of your contract is US$200,000. After excluding the agent's commission and reserved taxes, there is only a maximum of US$150,000 left. If it is shot with a 16MM camera, maybe

It's enough, but it's such a waste of your script, why not make it a standard 35MM film?"

Simon paused and said: "David, I originally planned to shoot on 35MM film."

David Giller also paused this time and said: "You mean, 150,000 US dollars, shooting on 35MM film? Simon, you have to understand that although it seems that they are just two shooting modes with different specifications, 16MM film and

35MM movies, but they are definitely two completely different production specifications. Your movie also involves a large number of outdoor scenes. Without the support of a complete professional crew, it is very difficult to implement the shooting. So, for 150,000 US dollars,

There was simply no way to finish the movie."

Hearing what David Giller, a well-known Hollywood producer with decades of production experience, said, Simon finally confirmed a doubt that had been lingering in his mind for some time.

The production level of the original version of "Run Lola Run" in all aspects, whether it is pictures, soundtrack, lighting, scenery or even editing, did not have many signs of low-cost movies. Simon originally thought that this might be the result of director Tom Tickle

Due to Wei's genius, the film industry's production costs have always been very flexible.

Moreover, Simon did not know much about the common specifications of German film production.

The 350,000 German marks in my memory were about 180,000 when converted into US dollars. When converted into RMB, that was about 1.5 million to 1.5 million RMB. In 1998, it was definitely more than enough to make a movie.

However, as he has made in-depth preparations for "Run Lola Run" these days, Simon has increasingly felt that the funds he has to complete the film are somewhat stretched, and Simon has even begun to subconsciously simplify the shooting specifications of some scenes.

Now, with David Giller's revelation, Simon finally confirms that he may have misremembered the budget size of "Lola Run".
Chapter completed!