The Parameter executive in charge of Doomsday is called Zeby Doyle.
He made an appointment with Lu Yanhe to meet directly at Parameter's company.
Lu Yanhe and Chen Ziyan wanted to let more people know that they were discussing this project with Parameter, so they readily accepted the proposal.
Parameter is indeed a veteran film company.
The entire company building is grand, modern, clean and orderly. Movie posters can be seen everywhere in the building, as well as various trophies placed in decorative cabinets.
This is the foundation of a film company.
Lu Yanhe still felt quite emotional.
A company that can achieve what Parameter has achieved, has worked in an industry for hundreds of years and has become a leader. Its accumulation is so profound that no emerging company can replace it.
In China, we often see that a film company that was very popular five years ago suddenly disappears five years later, or is replaced in the industry by other box office upstarts.
However, overseas, in the time and space from which Lu Yanhe traveled, even though A24 and Lionsgate have been in the limelight for many years, and even though there are many new companies such as Apple and Netflix that have just entered the film industry but are very powerful, the status of the Big Six is still unbreakable and cannot be shaken.
The so-called company's foundation means that it has profound foundation in awards, market, industrial chain and other aspects, which cannot be affected by the good results of others in one or two years.
To be honest, domestic film companies, as long as they are private, are basically upstarts in a slightly longer time dimension. If nothing goes wrong and the two brothers manage things well, perhaps they can build up such an atmosphere with a few more years of accumulation. Unfortunately, in an era of industry transformation and box office surge, they ran into trouble.
Lu Yanhe's mood at this moment is that Linghe does not have to become bigger and stronger, but it must be done well and must always be on the table. As long as it exists long enough, it will eventually become bigger and stronger. Just accumulate slowly and there is no need to rush.
Zeby Doyle welcomed Lu Yanhe very warmly.
"I must say that I'm pleasantly surprised to learn that you're interested in this project." Zebe Doyle expressed his admiration and respect for Lu Yanhe in a slightly exaggerated tone and body language. "I must say that your performance in The Mist is absolutely worthy of an Oscar. Unfortunately, because it's a horror film, it hasn't been taken seriously."
"you flatter me."
"In fact, I am planning to develop a film like The Mist that focuses on real racial discrimination and difficulties, of course, in a non-realistic way." Zerby said, "I recently saw a very good script."
Far away.
Lu Yanhe and Chen Ziyan looked at each other.
Chen Ziyan received the signal and spoke.
"Mr. Doyle—"
"Please call me Zerby," said Zerby Doyle.
Chen Ziyan smiled, "Okay, Zebi, you know, actually we came to Los Angeles this time to contact another movie."
Zebe Doyle was a little surprised, "Oh?"
He expressed surprise that he had not heard the news.
"Then, Yan He wanted to find Lu Nei to cooperate with him because he had written a script. He met with him and chatted, and happened to learn about this project." Chen Ziyan smiled slightly, "'Doomsday' is a science fiction film that Yan He has never filmed before."
"Lunet has always been a first-rate director of science fiction films," said Zebe Doyle. "This time, we found a good story."
"What kind of story does Doomsday tell?" Chen Ziyan asked, "We only know the general theme."
"A scientist received a letter from himself one year from now. If the current situation is not changed quickly, the Earth will be destroyed by an alien civilization in one year."
The character of this scientist is an American.
Zeby Doyle said, "In addition to this scientist, there is also an Asian protagonist in the movie. He is the key figure in the alien civilization's attack on the earth. At first, the scientists thought that this Asian was colluding with the alien civilization. Later, they found out that the research this Asian was doing would threaten the alien civilization hundreds of years later. In order to eliminate the threat, the alien civilization would go back a year and directly destroy the earth. After the two of them learned the truth, they traveled through time and space to save the earth from destruction."
It sounds like... a very conventional science fiction movie, and it sounds like the themes and scenes involved are very grand.
Chen Ziyan asked: "So has this Asian role been chosen yet?"
Zebe Doyle said: "We have a few actors we are approaching, but nothing has been finalised yet."
Chen Ziyan nodded and said, "We heard that Chen Pinhe has already signed a contract with you. If that's the case, we won't waste our time."
Zebe Doyle was stunned for a moment before saying, "Of course not, but we did include Chen Pinhe among the actors we are considering. We don't know many Chinese actors, and there are even fewer who are well-known and influential all over the world. Doomsday is a huge production, and we hope to find an actor whose fame and influence can match this movie and who can be compared with the leading actor Tom Felton."
Tom Felton is a popular actor in Hollywood. He has won the Oscar for Best Actor. Of course, in fact, he is not the kind of actor known for his acting skills. The movie that won the award was more of a result of "play sponsor". He is really popular. The North American box office of the movies he starred in is not less than 60 million, regardless of the production cost.
When Chen Ziyan and Lu Yanhe heard the name Tom Felton, they both showed surprise.
If there are a few people in Hollywood who are actors standing at the top of the pyramid, such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Cruise in another world, and Victoria Justice at her peak, then Tom Felton's position in this world's Hollywood is just below this level.
It’s not the TOP among the TOPs, but it’s also the TOP.
From the leading actor, we can see how much importance Parameter attaches to "Doomsday".
Lu Yanhe and Chen Ziyan both realized one thing at the same moment.
They missed this guy before.
-
The leading actor generally does not have as much say as the director - especially in the film industry.
However, this is not the case for a very small number of actors.
Tom Felton is one of these people.
Doesn't Tom Field have any objection to a character who has so many rival scenes with him in a movie like this and can even be called the "dual male lead"?
Lu Yanhe didn't believe it.
He judges others by himself. When he acts, he takes his co-actors very seriously.
Because acting is not a one-man show, it requires two people to complement each other.
For ordinary actors, the drama is performed by themselves; for good actors, the drama is given by others. Drama is a reaction and a stimulation, not a self-righteous performance.
Later, Zebe Doyle did mention the issue of salary.
The gist of it is that the production cost of this movie was very high, and there might not be much room in the budget for salary, so the biggest chunk of the money went to Tom Felton.
Chen Ziyan said without hesitation: "Zeby, let's ask Darren to talk to you about these things later. Darren Wilson is in charge of Yan He's actor agency business in the United States. We came here today just to learn more about this project first."
Don't respond.
Today we are either here to negotiate or to “delay time”.
Today we have discussed the pay and what to do next.
-
"You want to contact Tom Felton?" Darren Wilson was a little confused and didn't understand why Lu Yanhe and Chen Ziyan suddenly had such a request.
Lu Yanhe nodded: "We have something we want to meet and talk with him about."
Darren Wilson said: "If Tom Felton is not filming, if he is not on vacation abroad, he basically stays at home, rarely goes out, and it is difficult to see others."
Lu Yanhe asked: "Do you have his email address? Or cell phone number?"
"Of course there is." Darren nodded, "But do you want to contact him directly?"
"It would be better if you could help me to ask him out."
"I can only say that I can give it a try, but he may not come out. He has a bit of a weird temper and is not someone that people can easily get close to." Darren shrugged. "All superstars have their own temper."
Lu Yanhe nodded, "Then try to make an appointment for me. If you can't make an appointment, give me his email and phone number, and I will try it myself."
"Okay." Darren nodded, and then said, "By the way, did you just meet Zeby Doyle from Parameter?"
"Yes." Lu Yanhe nodded, "You are really well-informed."
"This is Los Angeles. I'm a broker. If I can't get this information, then I'm failing in my job." Darren said, "Why didn't you tell me in advance when you were going to meet Parameter?"
"Because we are not here to discuss participating in this movie." Lu Yanhe said, "Darren, besides whether to act in a certain movie, I have some things of my own to do. These things may appear to be that I have bypassed you to contact some film companies, but that is not the same thing. As for my acting career, you are my agent, and every contract will not bypass you, you can rest assured about this."
Darren asked: "I know you are a screenwriter and write scripts-"
"Oh, the acting career I mentioned also includes screenwriter, director, and so on." Lu Yanhe said, "I'm going to be frank with you. I haven't known you for long, and we are just partners. So, I can't trust you with some of my personal matters. I can tell you everything. Let's just maintain the current cooperation, okay?"
Darren was silent for a while, nodded, and said, "Since you said so."
Lu Yanhe: "Maybe what I said just now makes you feel uncomfortable, but I hope you understand that I don't mean to offend you on purpose. In fact, I am very satisfied with my cooperation with you so far, but I believe that a deeper level of trust between people requires time and adjustment."
Darren: "Okay, but anyway, since this is Hollywood, as your agent, if I don't know your whereabouts, I need to hear from others which film company or person you are in contact with. This will make others think that there is a gap in the cooperation between you and me, which is not a good thing for us."
"I will communicate with you more in the future."
-
After finishing his phone call with Darren Wilson, Lu Yanhe thought about it and felt that Darren’s dissatisfaction actually made sense.
Regardless of whether their cooperation with each other has just started or not, there is not enough trust yet.
In the eyes of others, especially in Hollywood, if Darren Wilson does not even know the public whereabouts of his clients in advance, it will indeed make others question his control over his clients.
Although Darren Wilson actually has no control over him, if everyone forms such an impression, it will be detrimental to Darren Wilson's work in Hollywood.
Lu Yanhe came back to his senses and sent a message to Chen Ziyan, telling him that he had finished the call and was waiting for Darren's reply.
Chen Ziyan agreed.
She added: I'm going to meet an agent later.
Lu Yanhe was stunned and asked: Who?
Chen Ziyan: Robin Galbraith from CAA is a very famous agent. I want to talk to her and sign Jiang Jun’s overseas agency business to her.
Lu Yanhe was a little surprised and asked: Signed with CAA?
Chen Ziyan: Yes, since your contract has already been signed with William Moss, in this case, it is most appropriate to let Jiang Jun sign with CAA. Otherwise, your and Jiang Jun’s resources will conflict within William Moss.
Lu Yanhe: Will Darren have any objection to this?
After dealing with Darren several times, he felt that Darren was not the kind of person who could figure things out on his own and do his own work.
Chen Ziyan: Jiang Jun’s domestic agent is Lu Qingzhen, not me. I am not responsible for Jiang Jun’s business. Darren has no right to object to this matter. Moreover, he should also be clear that we can’t put all our eggs in his basket.
Chen Ziyan said: I also took a fancy to the Maxine self-produced drama by Wang Jiaqi and Chen Pinhe.
Lu Yanhe silently sent a "thumbs-up" emoticon.
Chen Ziyan: We have been in Los Angeles for so many days and have caused so much trouble. I think Chen Pinhe should have reacted no matter what. Maybe we will meet him or his wife, Zhang Yuezhen, in Los Angeles in the next two days. You have to be mentally prepared.
Lu Yanhe looked at the message sent by Chen Ziyan and suddenly didn't know how to reply. Was he mentally prepared?
In the past two days, when he thought about targeting Chen Pinhe, he was busy with these things as if he had been injected with chicken blood. In fact, he had not seriously thought about how he would react if Chen Pinhe appeared in front of him after this incident happened.
No matter how many assumptions you make, they are meaningless.
At this moment, Lu Yanhe found that his heart was empty and he felt inexplicably at a loss.
He didn't know why he felt so helpless.
However, even with such unexpected emotions, unlike in the past, this time he did not have the slightest doubt whether what he did was wrong.
In this matter, wrong is also right.
Lu Yanhe firmly believes this.
There can be no so-called relief.
There is no such thing as letting go.
anger.
Remember the most primal anger.
Just like in "Phoenix Tower", even though you know the outcome will be death, you still have to stab the sword; just like in "Burning Fire", no matter how complicated the feelings are towards the enemy who killed his father, and no matter how much struggle you have, you still have to kill him.
Lu Yanhe had never expected that at this moment, what emerged in his mind were these two plays and the emotions of the characters in these two plays.
No play is performed in vain, and no character's emotions will pass through his body without leaving any impact.
-
As a result, there was no news from Tom Felton yet, but there was some movement on the script of "Buried".
Before that, Lu Yanhe took the script of "Buried Alive" and asked Muken Sorge to help him find a suitable director and producer in Hollywood to see if they were interested in the project.
I contacted several people before, but none of them were suitable.
Mu Ken suddenly contacted Lu Yanhe and said that a producer from Parameter was very interested in the script.
When he asked who it was again, Lu Yanhe was shocked.
Why such a coincidence?
It turned out to be Zeby Doyle from Parameter, whom I had just met.
"Zebby?"
Muken was also surprised.
"You know him?"
"I just met with him for another film project."
"Oh!" Muken said, "That guy is pretty good. You contacted him about the movie project "Doomsday", right?"
"Yes."
“It’s a big project, but I heard that Tom Felton seems to be leaving the project,” Muken said. “If you are interested in this project because of Tom, maybe you should find out more about it.”
"Well, okay." Lu Yanhe said, "But, Zebi already knows me, why didn't he tell me about this script?"
"The script you gave me was signed with the three letters LYH. How did he know that you wrote it?"
Lu Yanhe: "..."
-
Lu Yanhe didn't expect that he would meet Zeby Doyle again so soon.
Neither apparently had Zebe Doyle.
His face was filled with an incredulous smile.
"It turns out that you wrote the script for Buried Alive. It's incredible. It's completely different from Love Letter."
Lu Yanhe smiled and said: "As a screenwriter, just like as an actor, the themes, subjects and characters I create are all very different."
"I really like the story of Buried, especially the way it is told," said Zeby Doyle. "This script is a typical story of how a small investment can achieve great results."
"Of course, this was also my main consideration when I wrote this story. I used a story that anyone could afford to film to reduce the difficulty of filming, so that Hollywood film companies would know that I am a screenwriter who is very good at writing scripts."
Lu Yanhe shrugged his shoulders. "Who would have thought that in the end you would only know LYH but didn't know it was me."
Zebe Doyle laughs.
“This is really an unexpected surprise.”
"But, Lu, although Buried Alive is a good story, I hope it can be revised a little more."
Zebe Doyle said.
Lu Yanhe showed a puzzled look.
"Revise?"
-
Most of the autumn in Yuming is one with high skies, vast lands, clear skies and fresh air.
The autumn sky is so bright and clear that it makes people feel relaxed and happy.
For people living in Yuming, this is the most comfortable time of the year.
Li Zhibai was wearing a very large fisherman's hat - this fisherman's hat almost covered half of his face.
As long as he lowers his head, it would be basically difficult to recognize him unless you walk close to him.
He was carrying a plastic bag containing a bottle of sparkling water and a croissant from a convenience store.
After the filming of "The Legend of Sword and Fairy" was completed, he had a rare day without work, and the sun was shining brightly, so he wanted to go to a nearby park, find a tree, a piece of grass to lie down, and relax himself for a few hours.
Lying down is the action he is best at and what he likes the most.
Halfway through, the phone suddenly rang.
Li Zhibai picked up the phone and was stunned when he saw the caller was "Lu Yanhe".
"Aren't you in Los Angeles? At this hour...what time is it there?"
"In the evening." Lu Yanhe said, "We just finished dinner. Are you free now?"
"Are you free? What's the matter?" Li Zhibai asked.
Lu Yanhe said, "I have a movie script here. I originally planned to make it into an English movie and find European and American actors to act in it. It's Buried Alive, the one I told you about before."
"Oh, I know." Li Zhibai asked, "What's wrong?"
"Parameter was attracted by the script, or more precisely, by the creativity of the script. However, they wanted to take advantage of the popularity of The Mist and make it a movie starring a Chinese American. They wanted to create a theme of a Chinese American being buried alive, with racial discrimination as the backdrop, and still use the horror thriller style," said Lu Yanhe.
Li Zhibai was stunned and asked, "Are you planning to ask me to act?"
"They wanted me to act in the film at first," Lu Yanhe said, "but my schedule for next year is all booked, so I can't act. Of course, the main reason is a more realistic consideration. This film is not suitable for my current market positioning in Hollywood. However, I have my own reasons for wanting Parameter to make this film." Lu Yanhe said, "The specific reasons are very complicated, mainly to reach a conditional exchange with Parameter."
"Ah?" Li Zhibai said in confusion, and then said, "It's no problem for me to act, but will people like me? I'm not well-known overseas."
"This movie is a low-budget movie." Lu Yanhe said apologetically, "So, I called you and I have to make it clear to you. I don't want you to see in some media reports that the reason I didn't act in this movie is because it's a low-budget movie, so I asked you to act in it. If I can act in it, I will definitely act in it - but not because the movie is so good."
"Okay, why are you telling me so much? If you need me to help you act in this movie, of course I can act. Why waste so much time talking?"
"Well, believe me, I won't cheat you." Lu Yanhe said, "Although this is a low-budget movie, the final box office performance will definitely be good. Besides, this is also a one-man show, so you have a lot of room to perform."
"You wrote the script, why do you need to say this?"
Li Zhi smiled a lot.
"Do you know what Lin Suyang told me? As long as it's your script and you want me to act in it, don't ask, just agree." Li Zhibai said, "That's great, I'll have another job this way."
Lu Yanhe: "I'm sorry, this time I asked you to act in this movie because of some of my own things."
"Stop being so fussy." Li Zhibai said to him straightforwardly.
Lu Yanhe smiled.
-
Why didn’t Lu Yanhe act in the script of “Buried Alive” himself?
Putting aside the release date, the main consideration is actually this movie, which is a very typical "low-cost" dark horse.
But the box office ceiling of this dark horse is not high enough. To a certain extent, a movie shot from beginning to end with one person and one shot cannot have a box office revenue of hundreds of millions of dollars.
If Lu Yanhe had not starred in "The Mist", a movie with a global box office of over 2 million, "Buried" would have been a good choice for Lu Yanhe to make his first debut in Hollywood.
However, Lu Yanhe starred in "The Mist", and later starred in big productions such as "Hurricane 2" and "Godless". So at least in the field of commercial films, Lu Yanhe is positioned as a blockbuster.
His acceptance of the role in "Buried" will affect the market's positioning of him.
Li Zhibai had never made a movie in Hollywood, so this movie was a very suitable stepping stone for him.
-
Almost the next day, Variety magazine reported the incident.
Parameter and Chinese actor and screenwriter Lu Yanhe (who has starred in "The Mist", "Love Letter", "Friends", etc., and written "Squid Game" and "Rouge", etc.) are negotiating a cooperation. The former has taken a fancy to a film script created by the latter and is negotiating the specific details of the cooperation. It is reported that this script is a very innovative and bold work.
-
"We have spread the word to Variety in advance, and I guess other film companies will come to you soon." Chen Ziyan said, "If Parameter really wants to get this script, it will definitely increase its bargaining chips further."
"Then tell me, when is the best time for us to reveal our true purpose?" Lu Yanhe asked.
Chen Ziyan said: "Darren had already made the first round of offer before Variety reported it, which was the 10 million US dollars we negotiated at the beginning. I guess Zebby Joyer is scolding us in his office right now for asking for too much. Let him scold for a while. With Buried Alive, he will definitely negotiate with us rationally and calmly."
Lu Yanhe: "Okay, but why is there no news from Tom Felton? Whether he is willing to meet with me or not, isn't this something that can be decided quickly? Why is he dragging his feet and not giving me any news?"
Chen Ziyan: "I don't know the news yet. Darren has called him twice, but he didn't answer. You said before that Muken told you that Tom might withdraw from the "Doomsday" project. Maybe he has some things to deal with."
"If Tom wants to withdraw from the "Doomsday" project, there will be a lot of variables in this project, and it may not even be started," said Lu Yanhe.
For a movie with such a huge investment, if Tom really leaves and Parameter can't find a replacement actor, the most common way to deal with it is to shelve it.
In Hollywood, there are several film projects that are shelved every day due to changes in the leading actors.
The bigger the movie, the more so.
After all, low-budget movies can take risks and try and make mistakes, but blockbusters cannot.
After all, the failure of Doomsday could get Zebe Doyle fired by Parameter. (End of this chapter)
