At Skywalker Manor in the northern suburbs of San Francisco, Yolun Lin meets George Lucas.

"Dear Lin, I have been looking forward to this meeting since I received a call from Mr. Thomas." The 45-year-old Lucas speaks loudly and passionately, and instead of showing the feeling of being physically and mentally exhausted by marital problems, as rumors have been rumored, he gives people a feeling of energy.

Lucas and Lin hugged each other like old friends they hadn't seen each other for a long time, and then Lucas took Lin to visit the manor's collections, many of which were props used in the filming of Star Wars.

"About 15 years ago, when I started working on Star Wars, I was surprised that there wasn't a single ideal film special effects company in the whole of America, so I decided to be the magician myself...... And then what about you? Lam, how did you come up with the idea of setting up a film special effects production company in Hong Kong? According to me, Hong Kong filmmakers prefer to use traditional methods rather than Western ones, because there was a Hong Kong director who had a collaboration in '82 and when I heard that he had failed. ”

The reason why Lucas is extremely interested in Lin Youlun is that in less than 3 years since the establishment of Aurora Special Effects Company, the research results in the use of special effects techniques have been very remarkable. In 1985, Industrial Light & Magic produced the first computer-generated character "Stained Glass Man" in the movie "Young Sherlock Holmes", which was absolutely unique at the time, but in less than half a year, Hong Kong Aurora Special Effects Company developed a similar technique.

In the research and development process of computer special effects technology, a big problem is the choice of research findings. ILM has taken a lot of detours in this regard. However, the Aurora special effects company seems to know where to start from the beginning. Therefore, the pace of catching up with industrial light and magic is getting faster and faster.

Judging from several special effects blockbusters produced in Hong Kong in the past year, Lucas found that the technical strength of Aurora Special Effects Company has faintly caught up with the trend of industrial light and magic, and the news he learned from some special channels is that the research direction of most of the technical projects of Aurora Special Effects Company is formulated by the young man in front of him.

"Technique is an integral part of the storytelling process, and anyone working in filmmaking will encounter the limitations of technique. At this point, I have a very similar past experience with Mr. Lucas, and I wanted to express something in the film. However, I couldn't find a suitable special effects company to help me achieve it, so I finally decided to set up my own special effects company. ”

"Lin, I found that you are really a genius, please believe me to say this is definitely not a compliment, the performance of the Aurora Special Effects Company over the years has completely proved that you have an outstanding vision in this industry." Lucas exclaimed.

"Actually, like Mr. Lucas, I'm not only a film producer, but also a screenwriter. I'm more concerned with how to use special effects to tell the story more perfectly than how to make the special effects. What I do is really imagine what I want. And then say, 'I want something like this,' and then the company's technical engineer will tell me, 'This can't be done.'" Then I would say, 'Okay, then you guys can try to make it,' and luckily we didn't have any major biases in our methodology. Lin Youlun explained.

Lucas and Lin Youlun chatted as they walked, and after entering the living room of the manor and sitting down, the conversation returned to the main topic.

"Lin, I'd love to know why you're so interested in the animation department led by John Lasseter and Joe Larenft? While I admire John and Joe's imagination, I don't think their vision of animation is indicative of the future of animated films. Lucas said very directly.

"My point of view is the opposite of Mr. Lucas, although Disney is now the mainstream representative of animated films, I insist that 3D animation will become the mainstream trend of animated films in the future, mainly carried by good stories, and this type of animated film can definitely glow with strong vitality."

Lucas clasped his hands, listened to Lin Youlun's explanation, and then said, "Do you know what you said, Lin, what you just said is almost exactly the same as what John said when he tried to convince me to give up cutting the animation department, and it seems that you will indeed have a lot of common topics in this regard." ”

"So Mr. Lucas agreed to sell me John Lasseter and Joe Larenft, who are in charge of the animation department?" Lin Youlun asked a little excitedly, but Lucas's answer poured cold water on him.

"Lin, don't worry, you're not the only one who is interested in John's animation department, so you have to convince John in addition to me."

"And when can I meet them?" Hearing that there were other competitors, Lin Youlun immediately realized that this matter had to be resolved as soon as possible, otherwise the longer it dragged on, the more unfavorable it would be for him.

Lucas looked to the door of the living room, "I think they're here." ”

There were three people walking towards them, all in their thirties, Lin Youlun turned his head to look, and his eyes first fell on the tall man on the far left with a warm smile.

This person has long hair and does not wear glasses, but Lin Youlun still recognizes him at a glance, he is the future "Apple Godfather" Jobs, and the two people who came with Jobs are naturally John and Joe mentioned by Lucas just now, the core figures of the future Pixar Studio.

Lucas introduced Lin and Jobs, and despite being a rival, this did not prevent Jobs from casting a curious eye on Lin and so did Lin.

Thanks to the biographies of Jobs in later generations, Lin Youlun knows a lot about Jobs, although history has undergone some deviations because of his appearance, but Jobs's fate trajectory has not been affected by this, so in this confrontation, Lin Youlun actually has a certain advantage.

Of course, Lin Youlun will not take Jobs in front of him lightly because of this, he came over with John and Qiao today, indicating that before this, the three of them have been in contact and have even reached some kind of consensus, which is not good news for Lin Youlun.

"Mr. Lucas, I'm sorry to disturb your meeting with Mr. Lin, I came here with John and Joe this time, mainly to tell you that I am willing to bid $20 million to buy the animation department led by John and Joe from you." Jobs knew that Lin Youlun was his competitor, and he also directly stated his acquisition plan and offer, obviously he had full confidence in this matter.

Lucas's gaze lingered on John and Joe's faces for a while, and finally landed on Lin Youlun's face.

Lin Youlun raised his hand without saying a word, first stretched out two fingers, thought about it and stretched out another one, although he didn't put this action directly on the table, everyone present could clearly see it.

When Lin Youlun stretched out his third finger, the expression of Jobs, who was sitting opposite, suddenly became solemn. And when Lin Youlun continued to stretch out his fourth finger, Lucas's eyelids on the side also jumped.

Lin Youlun finally stretched out his thumb as well, then put his hand down with a fist, raised his head and looked at Lucas with a smile, "I thought about it seriously just now, and I feel that Mr. Jobs's offer does not really reflect the value of the animation department of Lucasfilm, if it were me, I could consider using $50 million to complete this acquisition." ”

John and Joe looked at each other in surprise, neither of them expected Lin Youlun to give such a high purchase price.

Having heard that Lin Youlun was from Hong Kong, John and Joe didn't even have the idea of seriously engaging with each other, because they didn't want to sell the animation division to foreign investors, and with Jobs' constant lobbying, they had almost already made a decision.

"$50 million, Mr. Lin is sure he's not joking? Or do you really know enough about animated films? Jobs could clearly feel the change in the eyes of John and Joe when they looked at Lin Youlun, and in his opinion, this was a very dangerous signal, so he had to do something.

Lin Youlun picked up the coffee in front of him and looked at Jobs with a smile, "I'm not a computer expert, so in terms of technology, I believe that Mr. Jobs can get rid of me a few streets, but in terms of film production, even in Hollywood now, there are not necessarily many people who dare to say that they are more professional than me." ”

"I can attest to that." Lucas said happily next to him. The Hong Kong special effects blockbuster invested by Lin Youlun has swept away more than $1 billion at the box office in the North American market, otherwise the American media would not have clamored all day long to restrict Hong Kong films from entering the American market.

"What does Mr. Lin think the animated film of the future should look like?" John Lasseter finally couldn't help but ask curiously, he was curious to know what kind of idea of an animated film had in mind for a person who was willing to spend $50 million to buy his entire team.

"In terms of technology, 3D animated films are definitely the trend of the future, and I have no doubt about that. In terms of animation themes, I don't agree with Disney's animation production concept that is purely for the purpose of pleasing children, I believe that animated films should also promote the propositions and values of the adult world, about finding one's own identity, about friendship and family, about adventures and dreams, and about the fate of little people...... A truly good animated film should be one that creates a story for people between the ages of 2 and 92 who love it! ”

All of this is the core idea of a future Pixar studio-animated film, and the words that hit the ears of John Lasseter and Joe Larenft were as shocking as an eight-magnitude earthquake.

At this moment, their opinion of Lin Youlun has changed drastically. (To be continued......)