"Brother Cohen?" Lan Li was a little surprised, they had only met twice. Once in Berlin, once at the Oscars, and both times we met with only a few words, not to mention friends, not even nodding friends.

After carefully recalling their two brief encounters, Lan Li vaguely caught some clues, so he asked, "Joel, or Ethan?"

"What's the difference?" "Andy and the Coen brothers weren't too familiar to know why.

The Weinstein brothers, when people talk about Harvey, are the more high-profile ones, but when it comes to the Coen brothers, the two brothers are more like a whole, bundled, "but it should be Joel." ”

"Oh. Lan Li sighed lightly, Joel was the one with a grumpy and impulsive personality, and shook his head with a chuckle, "Well, I don't know." If it was Ethan, I thought they would have a work that they would want to talk to me about, but if you think about it, it's not possible, they can talk to you directly. "There's no need to hide it.

"My first reaction was the same. However, he did not mention it. Andy nodded in the affirmative, "I snooped around, and there was no news in the industry, neither Paramount nor Focus. So, it shouldn't be an invitation to a new work, and I wonder when you became so familiar with them, and you called twice. ”

The Coen brothers are big names in the independent film industry, and their influence in the industry is undeniable. When they first started, they were a small independent company that invested in production, Twentieth Century Fox was in charge of distribution, and throughout the '80s, and after they made a name for themselves, there was a lot of competition for the distribution rights.

Over the past few years, the Coen brothers' four films, divided between Paramount and Focus Pictures, have gradually formed a stable partnership. So, to inquire about the latest developments of the Coen brothers, Andy took the lead in inquiring about these two companies, but unfortunately, he found nothing.

Focus Pictures is a leader in the independent field, owned by Universal Pictures, and the Coen brothers have understandably worked with them for a long time, but why would they prefer a top company like Paramount to work with the Weinstein brothers?

In fact, in the years after the turn of the millennium, the Coen brothers worked with the Weinstein brothers twice. One side is the leader of independent films, and the other side is an important driving force behind independent films, and the cooperation between the two sides can definitely be called a strong combination.

At the time, the Coen brothers' work was financed and produced by a small independent company, while the Weinstein brothers, who were still working at Disney's Miramax Films, took over the distribution. It stands to reason that this should be a "one plus one is greater than two" cooperation, but in fact it is a complete disaster.

After working together twice, they parted ways.

It is rumored in the industry that the cooperation between the two pairs of brothers is very unpleasant, especially the strong Harvey and Joel, who have repeatedly clashed and even almost got into a fight. Although these rumors have never been accurately implemented by the parties, they are not surprising to those in the industry.

Because Harvey Weinstein is a well-known "scissorhands" in the industry.

As a producer, Harvey's goals have never changed, the Oscars are the only priority, and in order to impact the Oscars, Harvey will directly intervene in the post-editing and production work of directors and editors.

In fact, it is a big taboo in the industry for producers to meddle in the editing work.

For production companies, in order to ensure the quality of the finished product, they have a firm grip on the final editing rights, and only a few top directors can enjoy the privilege of final editing rights, and some small directors do not even have the first cut rights of the first version, but even so, the producers do not directly interfere with the editing, but hire editors they trust to do all the work.

The American Editors Guild has extremely strict rules on the distribution of functions for post-editing work.

However, Harvey completely ignored all the relevant regulations, repeatedly interfered with the work of the director and editor, and even edited the work beyond recognition. If the director doesn't agree, Harvey will even pick the lock on the door of the editing room, and then hire another editor to complete the editing according to his own ideas, at the expense of tearing up his face with the director.

For this reason, Harvey won the title of "Scissorhands", and at the same time, he was complained about and excluded by countless directors.

However, why is Harvey's status in the industry still getting higher and higher? First, Harvey's toughness is aimed at the target, those small directors who are not obscure are the main victims, and the powerful big directors know how to measure proportions; second, Harvey's public relations ability in the industry has nothing to say, and with his vicious vision and accurate positioning, he has created the era of the awards season.

Character is one thing, but strength is another.

The most famous example is Guillermo del Toro, a close friend of Alfonso Cuarón.

The Mexican director, who entered Hollywood in the mid-90s, even earlier than his other two fellow countrymen, because his interests and strengths were in monster movies, which were at the height of monster movies, so Guillmour's "variant DNA" in charge of writing the script was appreciated by the Weinstein brothers, who signed a contract under the name of Miramax Films to invest in production.

In 1997, after the filming of the film was completed, Harvey was so dissatisfied with Gilmour's edited version that he took a tough stance and even locked Gilmour out of the editing room, and Harvey completed the editing himself - amateur level.

Gilmour is a gentle, friendly director, but he always maintains a childish heart under his strong body, so he later shoots a charming fairy tale such as "Pan's Labyrinth".

Later, after the release of "Mutant DNA", there were a flood of bad reviews. Harvey immediately chose to give up this work, without any hesitation, and went directly into the cold palace, and Gilmour, who was still a newcomer at that time, fell into the dilemma of calling the sky and the earth, and his career was almost buried.

Although Gilmour in 1997 was only a small director, James Cameron admired his talent very much, and the two had a good personal relationship.

At the Oscars that year, the "Titanic" swept thousands of troops and reached the top strongly, and the "Shakespeare Love History", which created the awards season and the college's public relations, had to wait a year before it appeared on the stage of history, and Harvey was still consolidating his career foundation step by step.

Backstage at the awards ceremony, Harvey approached James and bragged about his respect for artistic creation and appreciation for independent artists, hoping to work with James. Furious, James mentioned Gilmour, and the two of them tore their faces backstage and fought-

James almost picked up the little golden figure in his hand and smashed Harvey's head. The staff at the scene pulled away the two people in time, signaling them that Oscar was still on the live broadcast and not to make trouble, which curbed a riot.

One will be successful, and ten thousand bones will wither.

Everyone is praising the Weinstein brothers for creating an era, but behind their success, there are countless corpses of art creators who will buy the distribution rights of at least 30 works a year in order to impact the awards season, and at most 50 or 60 films, but only three or less will enter the sprint stage of the awards season.

The Coen brothers, who have a strong personality, full of confidence and high prestige, not only did not fall behind in their cooperation with the Weinstein brothers, but also faintly gained the upper hand. Even if there is no personal certification by the parties involved, the tragedy of the scene is predictable.

The conversation returns to the Coen brothers, and since there is no news from Paramount and Focus, their purpose in finding Lan Li is stuck in a labyrinth.

"Maybe they invited me to the Sundance Film Festival next year. Lan Li said the most reliable guess.

The Coen brothers will definitely return to the Sundance Film Festival every year to promote independent films, and Lan Li is the most outstanding actor in independent films among the younger generation in the past two years, which will undoubtedly increase the attention of young people to Sundance.

Andy's palm patted his belly again, and he couldn't help but nod slightly, confirming this speculation.

For actors, the festival is not only a platform for self-presentation, but also a stage for advancement – Robert Redford is the initiator of the Sundance Film Festival, through which Robert's strong network is showcased and Robert's position in the industry is promoted.

In the same way, members of the jury of the three major European film festivals. As long as you can be invited, in addition to glory and attention, industry contacts and peer recognition, the harvest is also invisible on the surface.

"Of course, it's also possible that they just want to invite me to the party. Lan Li added, which made Andy chuckle, "Then what did you do in the end, my contact information was given to them?"

"Yes. Andy nodded, pushed away the first time, and finally gave Roy's contact information, after all, the Coen brothers seem to be just strangers, Lan Li's personal contact information should not be leaked casually, and work matters can be communicated through Andy, but the second time he did not refuse.

"I'll check it out again. Andy felt that Sundance's statement was more reliable. The Coen brothers have always done their best for the Sundance Film Festival. "Also, the promotional itinerary for the film has come down, and the Almeida Theater has also confirmed it, there is no problem, I will miss the performance for two whole weeks, this time the premiere, who will attend, you explain to Nathan, and then make a guest list and send it to me. ”

"No problem. Lan Li simply nodded neatly in agreement.

"Edge of Tomorrow" is about to be released, and Lan Li must miss two weeks of performances at the Almeida Theater to return to North America to promote it.