When Levy said the idea of buying a special effects company, Theron was really surprised: she knew very well that this kind of thing was not a money-making thing.

"Special effects company ......" After a short silence, Theron still spoke first, "Nick, do you know how much it costs to maintain a special effects company, a special effects company that can be used?" ”

Theron's problem is realistic, because she knows that the special effects company is, to put it bluntly, a problem of burning money.

How many special effects companies are there in Hollywood? The answer is easy to find: more than 200. So how much money can be made in these special effects companies? The answer is also easy to find, less than 20.

The number of special effects companies in Hollywood is not small, but unfortunately, there are not many special effects companies that can really make money. People look at Hollywood's special effects at a very high level, and the special effects are very good, but what makes people feel sad is that most of Hollywood's movie special effects are all made by the six major Hollywood companies, and the other special effects companies basically lose money.

"If you buy a special effects company and develop it to the point where it can be used to make movie special effects, then it means that you can't invest less than 20 million yuan a year." Theron still has a general understanding of this, although she doesn't know the details, but she knows the general investment and characteristics of these companies, "The special effects technology is updated very quickly, and it takes a large amount of investment to be able to keep the technology at the most advanced level." 20 million is not a small number, it can even be said to be a big investment - 20 million a year, just for your needs to shoot this movie? Is it really necessary? ”

Theron's face was full of incomprehension: the special effects company is too money-burning, even if the mystery company now relies on the TV series, the annual income has reached 300 million, but 20 million a year is still not a small number. Levy's first film was filmed, and "Eavesdropping Storm" was unanimously acclaimed, and there were no special effects, but it still received good reviews. In Theron's opinion, Levy's next few years of shooting this kind of film will be enough to ensure that he will continue to produce good works, and it is too extravagant to buy a special effects company for one of his films.

If it is a director of a commercial blockbuster, it is understandable to do this, after all, it is to make money. But Levi is not a commercial blockbuster director, so why bother?

Her attitude was obvious, but seeing the look on Levy's face, she also knew that she probably couldn't persuade him.

"I think it's very useful to have my own special effects company. First, with my own special effects company, I don't have to be controlled by others on special effects issues, which leads to some regrets, and second, with my own special effects company, I can naturally invest in some research that I want to do. ”

Levy replied.

"I still don't think it's necessary." Theron muttered, "If you want to make a movie, wouldn't you just go to ILM or digital?" Their plates are big, their technology is good, and they can definitely make the special effects that we need to shoot the film. When you become more famous, it's okay to take a stake in their company, why do you have to do it yourself. ”

Levy smiled and didn't argue with her. Theron is just an actor after all, and some things don't look long enough, so naturally there is no way to argue with her.

Of course, it is not impossible to invest in the industrial light and magic and the digital field, these large companies are also relatively short of money, and the digital field in memory also went bankrupt in the end, although the industrial light and magic is not bad, but it is not as beautiful as people imagine. However, investing in these large companies can easily cause a problem, that is, when you want to shoot a blockbuster, these large companies owned by others cannot go all out to support you, because you need a lot of special effects, and the arrangements of these companies conflict with your own requirements, so you must find other companies from elsewhere to cooperate. Use special effects from different companies to shoot a movie - In the film industry, it's not uncommon for a film to have multiple special effects companies work together to do all the work.

When different companies work together to shoot movies, the level of special effects is prone to different levels, which is very problematic. In Levy's memories of his previous life, a new version of Journey to the West was filmed, and five special effects companies were used in one go, and the result was that some places were very good-looking, and some places were not good-looking. The spell effect made in the good place is like a movie, and the water and fire attack are all extremely exciting, while the bad place, the green cow essence with the flavor of agriculture and the Transformers version of Wukong, no matter how you look at it, it makes people feel that this is a big drama that combines the elements of time-traveling......

If you have your own company, the results will be very different. Your own company can be responsible for the general framework, and the details are distributed to other film companies, and the most difficult part is to find a large company, so that the overall level of special effects can be controlled by yourself - of course, the amount of money spent will be much more, but the purpose of the special effects department is to make movies, not to make money and save money, and throw this money into it to win a special effects company that can be used at any time, nothing is not worth it.

Levy knows what the place special effects movies will have on the screen after this year. In just ten years, the development of special effects movies has basically replaced the status of traditional action movies and has become the most money-attracting thing in Hollywood. Of course, Levy didn't shoot movies to make money, but what if Levy wanted to express his ideas through special effects in his films? What if Levy wanted to make a sci-fi film in the future, or if he wanted to make some big-picture movies? It's always good to have a special effects company.

Moreover, if you have your own special effects company, you can also order the special effects company to strengthen its research in the areas you need. For example, Weta Digital is owned by Peter Jackson, who developed the Massive program, which allows a large number of independent characters to move autonomously according to the rules, which is very helpful for his large-scale films, and the digital field established by James Cameron is to use Nuke technology to better produce static and dynamic picture effects, and there is a better technology for the sci-fi scenes that Cameron movies have always liked to pursue.

Only the special effects company established by oneself can better serve one's own films, which no one can deny. For example, Peter Jackson is good at big scenes, but he is not good at training actors' acting skills, he directed the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and after the trilogy, he didn't get any nominations for actors. Such directing characteristics decided that his company would definitely not work on the facial capture system, because it was not necessary. If you have your own company, then you can let the company develop according to the characteristics you need, and you can have special effects that are more helpful for your own shooting, which is tempting for any director.

If this is tempting, and you don't care about the money, why care?

Of course, the investment of 20 million a year is indeed relatively high...... Peter Jackson's Weta Digital came out with the investment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the consumption of such things in the digital realm was too great, forcing Cameron to not even afford it and withdraw from it. The cost of 20 million a year is not a small number, but now it is 97 years, even if it is a top commercial blockbuster director, directing a commercial film, he will not have such a big income.

But fortunately, Levy was not an ordinary director.

"I think there's a way around that." After thinking about it, Levi opened his mouth again, "Special effects companies spend a lot of money because of technological innovation, and because it's hard to find enough jobs to make money. If I could find a job for my special effects company, wouldn't that solve all the problems? ”

In addition to directing, Levy is also the owner of a production company. If it were someone else, it would be difficult to encounter such a situation, but for Levy, it would not be difficult to find a job......

"Get a job for the special effects company?" Theron repeated, "After the special effects company is founded, I don't want to catch up with the top level in two or three years. If you don't have a top level, you don't have a top contract to take...... Where do you go to find work? ”

"I'll just make it myself." Levy immediately spoke.

"Make it yourself? Nick, when did you become a commercial film director? Would you write a script like that? ”

Theron was a little worried, she didn't want to see Levy turn into a director who only knew how to make money.

"Why should I write my own script? Won't I buy the script? Besides, why do I have to be a director? Won't I get a director and be a producer myself? ”

Levy's answer made Theron a little more relaxed. It's true that there aren't so many bad effects when you are a producer. It's just that Theron still has some concerns.

"Do you know what kind of movie scripts you need to find to be able to use your special effects company on the one hand, and make money on the other? Commercial blockbusters are very money-burning, your company is not big, and it is easy to lose all if one is smashed. ”

"You don't have to worry about this, I've thought about it for a while." Levy smiled even more proudly this time, "If nothing else, the script of a commercial movie...... Marvel is struggling financially right now, but it's selling their adaptation rights at a low price. ”