One weekend night after temporarily repelling IBM's attack, Yang Xinxin sat on the sofa with an envelope in her hand, and said, "Brother, your invitation." ”

Zhang Lexing took it and saw that it was actually written by Lucas, inviting him to his farm to attend a party next weekend, but did not disclose the content of the party. Zhang Lexing was a little hesitant, "Sister Xin, have you decided that I should go?"

"It's okay, you don't have to worry about the company, just go ahead. I guess it's a movie meetup, maybe it will help you. ”

……

A week later, Mr. Zhang and a bodyguard traveled to Skywalker Farm, about 110 kilometers east of Nicosio, Calif., about 110 kilometers from San Jose, where Lucas worked and where he lived. Skywalker Farm covers 4,700 acres (roughly 19 square kilometers) and Lucas spent more than $100 million on the land, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Skywalker Farm is also home to the headquarters of Lucas' entire business, including the 3,000-acre Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic, Skywalker Sound, and Lucas's Art, which works in the game development industry. It's not the first time that Zhang Lexing has come to Skywalker Farm, after investing in Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound, he has visited several times under the leadership of Lucas, but he hasn't had time to come back in the past two years. The car drove on a somewhat bumpy country road, heading towards the gate of Skywalker Farm, Zhang Lexing looked out through the car window, and the scenery around the farm was unchanged along the way.

The car stopped at the gate of the farm, Zhang Lexing took out his invitation letter and handed it to the doorman, the doorman looked at it carefully, looked at the car again, and then returned the invitation to Zhang Lexing, turned around and pressed the button, and the gate of the farm slowly opened.

The car drove along the road on the farm, and after a few turns, it walked for more than ten minutes until it came to a sparkling man-made lake at the end of the road, and a two-story villa stood on the shores of the lake, which Lucas usually used to entertain friends or hold parties. Behind the villa is a parking lot, when Zhang Lexing came, there were more than ten cars parked inside, found a vacant space to park the car, Zhang Lexing got out of the car and walked to the villa.

As soon as he turned the corner, Zhang Lexing met Lucas who came over, and before anyone arrived, his hearty voice came first: "Aha, Zhang, you are finally here, I am so happy to see you." When you didn't come, we were still worried. ”

Lucas did not have a good relationship with Zhang Lexing at first, and even remained wary of Zhang Lexing. However, over the years, Lucas found that Zhang Lexing had really fulfilled his original promise, and did not dictate to his beloved companies such as ILM, nor did he try to annex his company, so the relationship between the two gradually improved, and Lucas also fulfilled his promise and sent ILM technicians to support Zhang Lexing's computer animation production company in Hong Kong. In addition, Lucas sometimes invites Zhang Lexing when he holds private parties, such as this time.

Seeing Lucas coming to greet him in person, Zhang Lexing said with a smile: "George, I'm also very happy to see you." By the way, I'm not late, am I?"

"It's not too late, it's the right time. Lucas shook his finger and continued, "Come, introduce a few friends to you." ”

The two walked towards the crowd who were attending a party in the vestibule of the villa, and a middle-aged man with glasses and a somewhat gray hair greeted them: "George, where have you been, we were talking about you just now." ”

Lucas strode forward and hugged the visitor: "I just went to pick up a friend. ”

"Is that the one behind you?"

"This is my partner Zhang Lexing, thanks to him all these years, otherwise I don't know if I can persevere. After Lucas introduced the visitor, he turned to Zhang Lexing and said: "Zhang, this is my old friend Steven Spielberg, who worked together during the filming of "Holy War". ”

Hearing this, Zhang Lexing was shocked and said, "Mr. Spielberg, I especially like your "E.T Aliens". ”

Spielberg shrugged his shoulders and smiled at Lucas, "George, it looks like I've met my own fans." ”

Lucas also smiled: "Steven, the first thing Zhang said to me back then was almost like this. ”

Zhang Lexing smiled embarrassedly: "Mr. Spielberg, let you laugh." ”

"It's okay, it's also an honor to meet people who like their films. By the way, you can call me Steven. ”

"Steven, nice to meet you. ”

"Zhang, I've heard George talk about you before, but I didn't expect you to be so young. ”

The three of them looked at each other and smiled, and continued to walk into the crowd together. As he walked, Lucas introduced Zhang Lexing.

"Robert Zemeckis, a great director, filmed the Back to the Future series, and the latest third installment was only released in May......"

"These two are Ed Katemoore and John Lasseter from Pixar, and we were still working together a few years ago, but unfortunately ......"

"This is Richard Dreyfuss, who has previously starred in my American Paintings, and also played in Steve's Jaws......"

"This is Mark Hamill. Zhang, do you think he is familiar...... That's right, it's Luke, Luke Skywalker......"

"Our cinematographer, Alan Hume, helped me shoot Star Wars 6, and he did a lot of 007 films before......"

"Sid Gannis, a producer at Lucasfilm, has previously been president of Paramount and vice president of marketing distribution at Columbia Pictures......

"This is Harrison Ford, who played my Star Wars, and the Dr. Jones from Steve's Jihad......"

"John Williams, the master of movie dubbing, was introduced by Steve at the beginning, and the dubbing in "Star Wars" is thanks to him......"

"James Cameron, the director I worked with last year, was very happy with the computer-generated images that our ILM helped him use in 'The Abyss', most prominently the liquid alien organism in the shape of an irregular wriggling cylindrical snake......

……

Under Lucas's introduction, Zhang Lexing got to know many people in the film industry. Although it is not a friendship, but with Lucas and Spielberg accompanying the two big directors all the way, Zhang Lexing's identity has aroused the interest of many people. However, these people Zhang Lexing has not heard much, and the most familiar is Harrison Ford, but the two who are most interested in Pixar. At that time, Zhang Lexing actually knew that Lucas sold the animation production department of ILM to Jobs, but at that time he thought it was an ordinary animation production department, and this time he heard Ed and John talk about it only to find out that Lucas's $5 million sale was actually the future famous Pixar, which made Zhang Lexing have a feeling of "hating to meet when he is not married".

"Two, it's a pity that you were one step late back then, otherwise you would ......," Zhang Lexing said regretfully.

"Well, yes. Ed Katemoore sighed: "If only it hadn't been sold." ”

"What's wrong, could it be that Pixar has a problem now?"

"It's not just a problem, I don't know if I can hold on to it...... John Lasseter said of Pixar's current situation with a frustrated face.

After listening to the two of them, Zhang Lexing knew that Pixar was now at the end of the mountain. After Jobs acquired the animation production division of Industrial Light & Magic, he did not interfere with Pixar's specific operation at first, and Pixar's business at that time was to sell computer hardware for animation production, and its main customer was Disney. But then Jobs found that this was too slow to make money, so he tried to transform Pixar from a hardware company to a software company that made a living by selling software and advertising, although Pixar's animation production team won many awards during this period, but it failed to bring Pixar more income. Pixar has not made a profit since the day of Jobs' acquisition, and the estimated loss this year is as high as $8 million, and Jobs' patience has gradually run out. Ed and John also heard that Jobs was planning to perform major surgery on the company, and it was likely that there would be mass layoffs to reduce expenses, and even the possibility of selling the company.

"Alas, if it hadn't been sold back then, it might not have been so difficult now. Ed Katemoore sighed again: "I really envy those brothers from before." ”

Zhang Lexing knows that Pixar's difficulties will not last long, and once he catches the Disney Express train next year, he will soon turn over. But now is a very good opportunity for himself, so he left two business cards for Ed and John, asking them to contact in time if they have a situation, I believe that with the current situation of Pixar, if Jobs wants to get rid of it, the asking price should not be high.

Bidding farewell to Ed and John, Zhang Lexing followed Lucas and Spielberg to continue walking. After walking for a while, Lucas stopped, and two people appeared in front of Zhang Lexing. One was about fifty years old, wearing a black beanie, and his face had many signs of age. The other was about twenty years old, with long brown hair and a white waist-cinching gown, full of youthful vibes.

"Zhang, this is my old friend Francis Coppola, next to her daughter Sofia Coppola. Lucas began to introduce the two parties: "Francis, this is my partner Zhang Lexing. ”

Zhang Lexing kept a smile and shook hands with Francis Coppola and his daughter, but he wondered in his heart: "Francis Coppola, it seems to be very familiar, but I can't remember who it is?"

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration flashed in his mind, and Zhang Lexing remembered who was in front of him: "I believe in friendship, and I am willing to express my friendship first." ”

"Life is so beautiful...... "Francis Coppola smiled: "Ha, I didn't expect to meet my fans here, I'm so lucky." "The Godfather 3" has finished filming, do you want me to help you get a ticket for the premiere?"

Zhang Lexing said politely: "That's really my honor." ”

……

Leaving Coppola's father and daughter, Zhang Lexing found a young man standing alone in the corner with a wine glass, looking at the crowd around him, with a hint of melancholy in his eyes. The young man's appearance looked familiar, and Zhang Lexing felt that he should have seen him often for a certain period of time, but his impression was that the figure was more mature than the one in front of him.

"George, who is that young man?"

"The one in the corner?"

"Yes, that's it. ”

"Oh, it's Francis' nephew, Nicholas King Coppola, but he doesn't like to be called Coppola, so if you want to say hello to him, you'd better call him Cage. ”

"Nicolas Cage?"

"Yes, a good young man, still a little immature, but already has some style of his own. ”

Nicolas Cage is one of the Hollywood stars that Zhang Lexing is more familiar with, and he has seen many films starring him, but he never knew that he was actually related to the great director Francis Coppola who filmed the "Godfather" series, and it seems that this trip was really not in vain.

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