Chapter 89 89. Frozen starts

China, the Oscars are over, but the discussion about "Hero" has just begun.

People in China's entertainment industry expressed their condolences to "Hero".

Lu Chuan: "Actually, it doesn't matter whether or not a film wins an award. The award is related to the operation behind the scenes, especially a commercial award like the Oscar. The media may have been too optimistic before, thinking that the theme of peace in Hero fits the current events and thus had high hopes for it, but the same is true for Germany's Capernaum."

Zhou Xiaowen: "Winning an award is a matter of luck, especially for foreign awards, which are largely accidental. I once participated in a Spanish film festival as a judge. Shortly after the movie started, the judge on my left snored softly, while the chairman of the selection committee snored loudly. As a result, this Spanish film actually won the grand prize."

"Of course the Oscars are definitely much better, as their judges are all members of the Academy, but in general, whether a movie wins an award is a matter of luck. If it wins, it's nothing, but if it doesn't, you don't have to worry too much."

Wang Xingdong: "Marching to Oscar is like conquering a mountain. Even though only one person can capture the flag in the end, being able to reach the foot of the mountain is already a success."

"There are so many movies in the world. It's quite good that Hero was nominated for an Oscar. There are too few Chinese movies that can go abroad. I admire Director Zhang very much for being able to show Chinese culture and language to the world through a movie. Regardless of whether he wins an award or not, Zhang Yimou is already a hero.

In complete contrast to those in the industry are the general public, who almost unanimously criticized the film for its confusing plot and said it deserved not to win any awards.

And everyone can see that Zhang Yimou desperately desires an Oscar. Besides, what kind of hero would he be if he didn't win the award?

In 2003, the Chinese public was not as ideologically awakened as it would be 20 years later, and winning and losing and gold medals were still the mainstream concerns.

Especially after Ang Lee won the award for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" on the island, everyone had high hopes for Zhang Yimou. The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment, and the greater the disappointment, the harsher the criticism.

Unlike China, which is full of insults, Hollywood is much more lively, with the entertainment section almost dominated by the Oscars.

Adrien Brody won the title in one battle and kissed Halle Berry passionately.

"The Pianist" became the biggest winner, winning Best Actor, Best Director and Best Picture.

Nicole Kidman finally won the title and made anti-war remarks.

Eric Cooper played the hero to save the beauty on the red carpet and took a photo with Nicole Kidman at Vanity Fair. The handsome man and beautiful woman looked like Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman back then.

The reporter also interviewed Tom Cruise, who congratulated his ex-wife on the award and expressed his gratitude for Eric's actions.

"The Lord of the Rings" won technical awards and a bunch of nominations, and Peter Jackson even told dirty jokes during an interview.

"Chicago" was a complete failure, winning four technical awards and a best supporting actress award, but missing out on the best picture award.

Before the Oscars, there were only two strong contenders for Best Picture: "Chicago" and "The Pianist."

Surprisingly, the Polanski sexual assault case, which had been dormant for many years, was heated up again, and a large number of media began to report his scandals. Even though the victim at that time said that he would not pursue the matter, believing that art should be separated from character, it was of no avail.

It goes without saying where this method of throwing dirty water came from. Everyone in the industry knows that it was Harvey Weinstein, because this scene is too similar to the situation faced in "Saving Private Ryan".

At the 71st Academy Awards, "Saving Private Ryan" was the favorite to win an award. Also, shortly before the Oscars were about to be held, the media broke a lot of negative news, such as veterans criticizing the war scenes for being too fake and the movie for ignoring the soldiers who died.

The result was that "Shakespeare in Love" was a huge surprise and Gwyneth Paltrow was crowned the queen of the screen.

But this time the measure failed, and the media gave an analysis of the reasons and inside reports.

First of all, the US-Iraq War had a huge impact, and the whole world was paying attention to this war. The anti-war theme of "The Pianist" ultimately defeated the public relations behind "Chicago".

Secondly, "Chicago" encountered a sniper attack. Analysts originally predicted that the box office of "Chicago" would at least exceed 300 million US dollars, and the screening time would at least last until after the Oscars ceremony.

But the sudden entry of "Sharknado" and "Saw" caused the box office of "Chicago" to be cut in half.

The film was forced to be taken down more than a month earlier than originally scheduled, even though Miramax negotiated with the theaters several times and the Weinstein brothers personally came out to persuade them.

Cinemas have to consider profits. When profits are too low, not to mention the Weinstein brothers, even Disney’s face will be in jeopardy.

The early withdrawal of the film naturally led to a further reduction in its influence. The Oscar jury has more than 6,000 judges spread all over the world, and not all of them will buy into Harvey Weinstein's tactics.

How would the jury, who could not see the film, choose? Of course, The Pianist had the upper hand.

Anyway, the failure of "Chicago" has added to the feud between MGM and the Weinstein brothers.

In Beverly Hills, a black car stopped on the side of the road, and Charles got out of the car with his intern Tony.

Both of them were carrying filming equipment, and their professions were self-evident. They were reporters from the Los Angeles Times, and they came specifically to stake out Nicole Kidman.

As an experienced entertainment reporter, Charles looked around and pointed to a place and said, "Go there. This is a good location. Everything that happens at the gate will not escape our eyes."

Tony, my younger brother, obediently moved the equipment over, but when he got closer he found a camera hidden behind the tree.

"Kid! What are you doing? That's my spot!"

Not far away, West, who is also an entertainment reporter, ran over while eating a hamburger.

Tony looked back and Charles immediately came up to negotiate: "Brother, I'm Charles Wesson from the Los Angeles Times. You should have heard of my name in this industry. Nicole Kidman is my old client. This is my regular location. You're stepping on the line!"

West finished his hamburger in a few bites and stood in front of the machine without giving in. "Don't give me that. I don't know anything about Charles Wesson. I only know that I came to this position first. If you want it, you should have come earlier."

"Young man, I don't like your tone. It seems that you are a newcomer and don't know the rules of this industry. But if you want to advance in your career, you'd better listen to my advice."

"What! Are you threatening me? Nicole Kidman's photo is worth more than $300 now. If you want it, give me the money or get out of my territory!"

"Boy, you wanna fight?"

"Old man, you are looking for trouble. If you start to fight, I will beat you so hard that you will lose your mind!"

The two sides cursed at each other for a few minutes, becoming more and more angry. They were just waiting for the other side to make the first move so that they could blackmail them.

But all journalists are smart. They can scold people, but they are absolutely not the first to attack.

Just then, Tony, the younger brother, pointed at the door and shouted, "It's coming out! It's coming out!"

The two of them got into the mood instantly, picked up their cameras and started taking pictures crazily.

"Tony, drive quickly and catch up with her!"

"Okay, but didn't you say Nicole Kidman's car was a Rolls-Royce? Why did it come out in a Lamborghini?"

"Never mind that. All these big stars have a bunch of luxury cars."

“That’s right.”

Seeing Charles chasing the Lamborghini further and further away, West, who was left alone, couldn't help but feel annoyed. He was still too young and could not do this job alone. Unfortunately, it was too late to catch up now.

He sighed and was thinking about whether to stay here or go and stalk other stars when he saw a Rolls-Royce drive out of the gate.

West was stunned for a moment, then looked in the direction the Lamborghini left, and he suddenly felt ecstatic.

“Hahahaha. I’m going to post it. I’m going to post it. This message is worth at least $2,000.”

West turned the steering wheel and stepped on the accelerator to catch up with the Rolls-Royce.

After talking with Spielberg that night, things were basically settled.

Subsequently, the relevant departments of MGM and DreamWorks began to coordinate and draft the specific details of the contract, which was then reviewed by the legal department to ensure that no traps that would be disadvantageous to either party would occur.

It was Thursday morning, and Eric received a call from Spielberg. The three giants of DreamWorks would come to MGM together in the morning to complete the final step of the process.

At 9:30 in the morning, a Buick commercial vehicle stopped in front of the MGM building.

Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen got out of the car.

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The three of them have different positions in DreamWorks. For example, Spielberg is best at live-action movies.

Jeffrey Katzenberg served as the executive director of Disney. He focused on animated films and was hailed as an animation wizard. He led the production of well-known works such as "The Little Mermaid", "Beauty and the Beast" and "Aladdin".

David Geffen focuses on music. The rapid rise of famous bands or musicians such as the Eagles, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, and Guns N' Roses are all inseparable from him.

In 2003, the full English name of DreamWorks was Dreamworks SKG. S stands for Spielberg, K stands for Katzenberg, and G stands for Geffen.

Seeing the three people, the etiquette lady and Volvo, who had been waiting in front of the building, came out to greet them and led them into the meeting room.

To show respect, Cooper and his son both attended today's signing ceremony. With the arrival of the Big Three, the two sides met and shook hands.

Just like a state visit, everything has been agreed upon in private and the signature is just a formality.

In just half an hour, when the names of several people were announced one by one, the law in black and white came into effect, and MGM and DreamWorks Animation Department officially formed a strategic partnership.

The two parties signed a contract to produce five animated feature films, with DreamWorks giving the studio a 10% investment share in each.

If DreamWorks does not participate in the investment, then MGM will own the entire film and DreamWorks will only play a production role.

This partnership does not mean that DreamWorks will sell its animation department to MGM, but that it will give top priority to MGM's projects. Other work can still be taken, but the premise is that it will not affect MGM's projects.

"Jeffrey, regarding the project of Frozen, the character design has been basically completed, but the script and scene design will take some time. You can proceed with the pre-production. At that time, MGM will provide a complete script so that DreamWorks can get started better."

Katzenberg nodded slightly, then suggested, "Steven has already told me about this movie, which is adapted from Andersen's fairy tale The Snow Queen. It will be made in full 3D. That's no problem. DreamWorks can do it."

"But I also have a suggestion, which is that I hope DreamWorks can participate in the script creation process. I have no other intentions. After all, we will also invest 10%, and we all hope to do a good job in the first work."

Katzenberg was more tactful in his words, but Eric could understand what he was worried about.

He said with a smile: "Jeffrey, you don't have to be like this. I like to speak directly so that we can communicate better."

"I understand what you mean. You're worried that MGM will be like Disney and can't get rid of its old habits and old models, right?"

"Yes, among all the animated films produced by MGM in recent years, only Pink Panther is relatively outstanding, but it also imitates the style of Tom and Jerry and Drew."

"But I can tell you very clearly that this is not the era of Kerkorian. Young people will use young thinking to tell a story from the past. Frozen will only follow the trend and will not go backwards."

Why did Eric say that? Because Disney's operations in the animation field in recent years have provided a living negative example to the entire industry.

Since the rise of DreamWorks and Pixar, especially after the birth of "Toy Story", the first 3D animated feature film, the entire industry has undergone a major reshuffle and officially entered the 3D era from the 2D era.

So what did Disney do? Yes, it went against the tide and not only still refused to use 3D, but also said that the animated characters made with computer special effects were pitiful.

At the same time, Disney still uses the same old storytelling methods from decades ago, but the audience is no longer the same as it was back then.

The new generation of audiences simply don't buy into the whole thing about princes and princesses and family gossip. Being trendy isn't about using a few new memes or buzzwords.

As a result, "Cinderella 2" was a terrible flop, and "Treasure Planet" was also a terrible flop. Disney is like an old man, trying hard to learn new memes from young people.

He thinks it's very fashionable, but young people think it's out of place. If you don't fail, who will?

DreamWorks is naturally worried that MGM will not be able to change its mindset, and that the release of the movie would be like dragging itself down.

The two sides talked until noon, and then had lunch in the MGM cafeteria. If he hadn't seen all the bosses there, he would definitely have rushed up to Spielberg to ask for his autograph and take a photo.

"Steven, try this, you will love it." Eric said, pointing to the sweet and sour pork tenderloin.

Ever since he traveled through time, he sent someone to Chinatown to invite a chef in his 50s, offering him a high salary of $20,000 to specialize in Chinese cuisine.

And it’s not the American version of Chinese cuisine. After getting used to the flavors from the other side of the strait, he really can’t like the American version.

When the chef first arrived, MGM employees saw that their boss liked it and naturally wanted to try it too. However, they were used to the American version and were not used to authentic Chinese cuisine.

But as time went by, after a few months, the chef became more and more popular and successfully won back everyone's taste.

Now he serves two or even three times as much food as when he first arrived, but the high salary of $20,000 still makes this middle-aged man very happy.

After lunch, Cooper and his son sent the three giants of DreamWorks out.

As a result, as soon as they walked out of the door and took a few steps, a large number of reporters suddenly rushed out from the surrounding corners, flowers, behind trees, and trash cans and surrounded them.

Just when everyone thought the reporter was going to ask about the collaboration between MGM and DreamWorks and take the opportunity to advertise "Frozen".

The paparazzi had already put the microphone in Eric's face, almost putting it in his mouth.

"Mr. Cooper, are you and Nicole Kidman dating?"

My colleague's wife was diagnosed with cancer, so he took a leave of absence. Now I am the only one in the office. I am much busier than before, but I will still update as usual. Generally speaking, I will update once on weekdays and twice on weekends, and I will update more depending on the situation.

(End of this chapter)