For "Juno", Ye Wei is very selfish, and Reitman, who has no absolute confidence, wants to trick him, but with such a good script, he can't wait to buy the entire project.

$6.5 million is a lot of money, but it's a small cost to make a film movie, and Reitman and they all get paid, that's part of the budget.

If it fails, Reitman won't be out of the game, and rookie screenwriter Coty and Novik will be demoted back to associate producer, or make video films, and the careers of all the main creators will be dealt a very hard blow. They gambled on their future to do this project, and they should take money to protect their future.

In fact, as long as you turn a corner and switch to digital shooting, 6.5 million can become abundant, instead of thinking about what brand and model to use as the color negative now. Lehman Man gave him a production plan to use Kodak's Vision2-200T-5217 and Vision2-Expression-500T-5229. Of course, of course, these are all good negatives, high sensitivity, fine particles, and can shoot real and detailed colors, which will make the audience very comfortable to watch.

But is it necessary to be expensive and cumbersome, especially in the case of a shortage of funds?

He's made four films with a digital camera, and he doesn't miss 35mm film. There is not much difference, and it is not filming "Heavenly Day", the light and texture are enough, and the color can be adjusted in the later stage.

W'sB doesn't even bother to do this, first, because it has a low budget and doesn't have the money to do so much, second, time is running out, and it is almost ready to be released, and third, its picture style is cold and rough, and the light and shadow colors have been controlled as much as possible on the set during shooting, and the material has reached the desired tone, which is good without color grading. That is, I had to adjust a few night scenes that were difficult to control and some shots that could not be taken because of the season, and the feeling of winter coming.

To be honest, Ye Wei doesn't know when his next film movie will be, and whether it will be there? Now is the transition period between film and digital, and digital technology is getting better and better, and if this continues, Kodak will sooner or later discontinue Vision, Vision2, Eastman-EXR and other negative films, a matter of time.

If he strongly advised Reitman to switch to digital filming and explain the benefits, do's and don'ts, etc., maybe it would solve their budget dilemma, but then he wouldn't need his money. He didn't do that, film was better than film, and Reitman hadn't made short films with a digital camera, but he was more fond of Panavision, so he was given the opportunity to join.

It's not that I'm so eager to join is not thinking about making money, "Juno" plans to go the way of becoming famous at film festivals and buying out deals with distributors, how much money can it make even if it succeeds, and it's not to turn it into a VIY movie, it's already been said that if he injects money, he can be a co-producer, don't interfere with the director's creation, and have nothing to do, even if there is an Oscar nomination for Best Picture, he won't be signed as the producer of the top three contributions, he can participate in the top three, but then he is really busy.

Early in the hotel suite, Ye Wei called Reitman, and the other party said, "Notify me as soon as you have a decision, anytime", it was only four o'clock in the morning in Los Angeles, I hope not to disturb Josie's baby.

Reitman is not a member of the project's production team, in addition to concentrating on creation, he is a director, and he really can't be a producer anymore, otherwise once the film is finished, he will break a basket of eggs, and only being a director can shirk that the production is not good. Every film fails at the expense of one or two people, and "Carrie" sacrifices poor Kimberly Pearce.

But in fact, Reitman is one of the two founders of the project and is also responsible for the contact with him at this stage.

"Jason, I've read the script, it's funny, but it's too dangerous, who's stupid enough to make a teenage pregnancy movie? I don't know what you guys think, it's a crazy gamble! But I'm a person who is very interested in crazy things, and your talent, Judd Apatow's talent, gives me a reason to bet. So I paid 3.5 million, made up a budget of 10 million, and made up 10 million to shoot this script, how is it enough?"

Before Ye Wei's words fell, he heard Reitman's soft cry on the other end of the phone. He knew he was doing it like Steve Bing, and that's what he had to do. Because Reitman personally invested money to fill the vacancy is completely financially problematic, but he just doesn't want to lose his own money. He can't be too ugly in his appearance, and he deliberately doesn't have much confidence in it, so as not to kick him out instead.

But Reitman thinks it's too much money: "A budget of 10 million will make it difficult to sell the film, but Ge, we have another 1 million to 1.5 million is enough." ”

"Is it enough to shoot in Minneapolis? Is it enough to shoot for 9 weeks?" Ye Wei refuted, "8 million is enough to make this project go smoothly, and 10 million can realize your best plan at the beginning!"

In the distribution part of the planning book, it is said that the Fox searchlight, which successfully released "Thank You for Smoking", has paid attention to Reitman's new work, and the two sides are striving for a second cooperation, but it is very good to sell 10 million at a cost of 8 million, and 10 million has to be sold to 12 million. They have been tossing for so long, and their initial spirit has long been gone.

"We're going to think about releasing ......," Reitman said.

"If it's a good movie, distribution is definitely not a problem. At the price of 15 million, we have to consider whether to sell or not. Ye Wei showed a contradictory grasp, and laughed: "I mean, don't you look at "Half Nielsen" and sell very well now? If no mainstream film company dares to buy it out at a high price, we can cooperate with Lionsgate, and we can also cooperate with IFC and other independent distributors, and divide the distribution, what are you afraid of?" Man, it's all about your confidence, it's not a bank loan, and you don't have pre-sale rights, the return cycle of the financing contract is long, it's good to take a ride at the end of next year, but it's not necessarily, we can even participate in Sundance in '08, get a jury prize, and see if any studios are interested?"

Reitman really doesn't have his frivolity, "Investors don't like us to think in an optimistic direction. ”

Ye Wei smiled: "No, you know, investors love it to death, what they don't like is that they can't daydream feverishly." What I really don't like is the next investor, because your previous failures proved that it was just bragging, exposing the essence of the production, there was no plan, it was all gambling. Dude, we know what's going on, why do you seem to bet on this, you don't have more confidence than I do?"

"You can afford to lose, a few of us really can't afford to lose. Reitman, who was debunked, smiled helplessly and sighed, "This is Manson Nowik's first time participating in a screen film project as a producer, and he is still the first producer, you also know the rules of the game, if you can't sell it, you can't make money, no matter how good the filming is, the production will be a failure." It is our "Wedding Time is Coming". ”

"I understand, but I don't support it. Ye Wei smiled and said, "Sometimes you have to bet all the money to win glory and wealth, and if you lose, you have nothing." That's how I came over, the movie isn't just like that, ask Kevin Smith to go, ask Peter Jackson, George Lucas, ask you old man, ask yourself, win or lose, there's no middle line. ”

Reitman chuckled a few times, hiding his attitude.

He doesn't say that Ye Wei also knows that Reitman is a director, and he makes independent literary films, he makes movies well, has a good reputation, and has awards and honors is a success, and he will not sacrifice him if he makes money or not, so he doesn't make films, and it is the producers who are worried about the high budget, and no director hates money.

But how can I say this, divide and conquer, if I don't stir up the fire in Reitman's heart and burn it, how can he support the 10 million budget?

Ye Wei continued to lobby: "Brother Jason, think about it, take 10 million and shoot slowly, there is no producer who is annoying and shouting, 'If you don't cut some shots, we won't have the money to finish filming this-'." Are Minneapolis the same as Vancouver? The architecture of the high school is different, and do you want the supporting characters to speak with a Minnesota accent or a Californian accent, you might as well change the background of the story to Vancouver when you go to Vancouver to shoot, otherwise the Canadian scenery, the California accent, and the Minnesota story location will be a disaster. ”

Because Vancouver is adjacent to California, the accent is similar. This may not be a big deal for the audience, but for directors who pursue art, this is a big deal.

"It's as funny as if you were in twelfth grade in middle school. Ye Wei's words paused, "But if it's a budget of 10 million, how much more can you do?"

This matter is reversed, before it was Reitman who pulled him into the gang, and now it is he who pulls Reitman to ask for more money. 1.5 million and 3.5 million, 18% and 35% of the project shares give him co-producer power, casting matters are different, and what he wants is to make sure that both Juno and Leah are cast by his descendants, provided that Reitman is also satisfied.

Ye Wei knew that it was necessary to declare: "And let me tell you, no matter how much I invest, I will not dictate your work, and I will write this into the contract." ”

"Weige, we all need a production meeting. Reitman changed his tone a little, money + guarantee, he couldn't be unimpressed.

Of course, the meeting is needed, Ye Wei should be good, and said: "I have to start working on the post-production of "Winter Bones" tomorrow, everyone had better be cool." Yes, you asked the right person about the candidates, I have a lot of excellent girl actor friends here waiting to act in a good movie. Haha, maybe I can also be your casting director, I recommend people to audition, and it's up to you to decide who wins the role. ”

Although he was half-joking, he was actually saying his requirements to participate in the casting.

What the director can't accept is the airborne final candidate, and the recommended audition is nothing. Of course, he understands the importance of the right candidate, this is their future project, and if his request is not reasonable, they will definitely prefer a budget of 6.5 million to his money.

"Your selection advice is important, and I asked you for this. Reitman emphasized that it was a suggestion, "The situation is that Juno, Alan Page is under consideration, Leah, we don't have a candidate yet. "He's saying that Juno can't and won't be partial, and Leah can listen to you.

"Cool, I'll communicate first, who wants to, the list is ready, I'll talk about it at the meeting. ”

The phone call in the morning talked about this, if 3.5 million doesn't work, 1.5 million will also join, since he read this script, he is a little impatient.

Who do you recommend to audition for Juno? Alan Peggy is very good, Liz is also great, he wants to help Nina win the role the most, but when I read the script, the "Juno" in my mind is Liz, probably because her belly will be like pregnancy, she is not so petite but not tall, not so ordinary but also pleasing to the eye, humor, personality, quirky.

Jennifer is ok, she has her style. Saoirse Ronan is too young to be suitable, Anna Sophia is a little too sweet, Emma? she has the right appearance, but Julia must have screamed like a ghost when she heard about it: "Don't hurt Emma!"

He would still recommend Emma to audition, but if Peggy was willing to act, it would be difficult for Emma to win, and it would be difficult for anyone of Peggy's size to win. There is also a Juno Temple named Juno, 17 years old, the daughter of British documentary director Julian Temple, who just started to develop her acting career this year, participated in the VIY draft, performed well, and her appearance and temperament are similar to Peggy.

On the flight to Dallas, Ye Wei thought about it again and again, as far as he was concerned, it seemed that except for Lily, all of these people could play Juno, and they all had the confidence to lead well.

Liz can play with her agility, Jennifer can play with her toughness, the least difficult, Emma can play with her playfulness, Anna has her sunshine, Temple has her personality, the difficulty is medium, Nina can also play with Nina's liveliness, the most difficult, because she is too beautiful, and she can't use her acting skills to match her appearance to create Juno beyond the script.

But if Nina acts, and has good grades......

Selfishness is selfishness, Ye Wei knows that Nina is not the most suitable candidate, and how can she win Liz, Jennifer, and even Peggy? But Nina is really a good fit for Leah, a tall and beautiful girlfriend.

It's good that Nina can't play Juno to play Leah, and it has made a breakthrough in her career and opened up the image outside of horror films. So I won't recommend this role to anyone, leaving Nina to guarantee that she can play this movie that is likely to be phenomenal.

And Juno, who has limited free time, has to focus on helping Liz and Jennifer, who have the most capital to defeat Peggy, who is still considering.