[Ye Wei is a feminist - Author: Lena Duham.]

The longer a female filmmaker follows Ye Wei, the more she will be spoiled and lost, naively thinking that the entire industry will be like that, and there will be no ugly things such as sexism and ageism, until you leave him to go on your own.

I'm talking about myself. In 2006, because the crew of "Winter's Bones" specially recruited feminist female members, I began to cooperate with Ye Wei.

There is no need to say much about his many achievements, but his attitude towards women needs to be detailed.

Probably no one could have imagined that I could sit with him and talk and laugh with a little production assistant at the time, and he would really take your opinions seriously. Although I was two years older than him, it was a rare thing on a well-organized set.

I learned this later. When I first left him, I was confidently eager to apply what I had learned from this master and my own talents. Reality has given me a basin of cold water, whether it is in Hollywood or in the independent film industry, whether you want to be a director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer, art director...... is still an actor, the discrimination and even persecution of women are real, but they don't exist around Ye Wei.

Nowadays people say that I am one of the representative women of feminism, how much influence I have, how many girls are waiting for me to speak about this matter:

The incident stemmed from the conflict between Ye Wei and Taylor Swift on Twitter, first Swift praised Ye Wei's new movie, but Ye Wei's response was ridiculed: "Calm down, I don't want to be written as a bad album by you." Swift responded with a foul word.

Countless Swift supporters began to attack Ye Wei, accusing him of being a playboy, an eternal bad boy, and having no reason to mock a female singer who also relied on her own talent and hard work to achieve success.

Things are inflamed by Lord joining, and the talented teenage singer laughs at Swift. Compared with her feminist status, people pay more attention to her as Ye Wei's number one fan. Swift's supporters scolded her and her Asian boyfriend, James Law, with disgusting racial rhetoric, and Lord's supporters scolded Swift and her ex-boyfriend with equally disgusting slurs.

At the same time, from a private contradiction, it has become a duel between male power and women's rights. Ye Wei was pushed to the opposite side of women's rights, and many people who were dissatisfied with men's rights and him took the opportunity to make fun of him, while the groups that had long been resentful of women's rights and Taylor Swift took the opportunity to use him as a banner to bombard him indiscriminately.

People are forcing you to take sides on social networks, either to support Ye Wei or Taylor Swift, there is no third camp to choose from.

Ye Wei is a bole, a mentor, an idol, a collaborator, a good friend, an ex-boyfriend, and a fiancé, but if they openly support Ye Wei, they will be accused of betraying women's rights.

But you have to take sides, or the media will say for you what you didn't even say.

The most influential girls had to take a stand first, Elizabeth Olsen said: "It's fun to watch a group of strong, strong and rough women besiege a hunk man. Emma Roberts said, "Trembling with fear! I mean Ye Wei is an anti-feminist? You made a huge mistake. ”

All of them were attacked, and in this case, humor, reason, sensibility, and explanation were no longer useful, and all the originally neutral and sober views were ridiculed and distorted.

Especially after Modie Semington made her statements, she rarely spoke on social networks, and this time she claimed: "I don't understand extreme feminists, they still want men to have children. This attitude to life will not be happy in the whole life. "She has been violently attacked for this, with her religious beliefs (LDS) being the most attacked, and people have even said that she supports polygamy.

It became a complete farce.

This incident really drives me crazy, because Ye Wei and Taylor Swift are good friends of mine, Ye Wei is my mentor, and I know that this is not the case.

I didn't speak for the first time, waiting for Ye Wei's treatment. I expected him to take it seriously and publish a long article to end this farce, after all, it was he who lost his grace in the first place.

It's just that VIY seems to think it's not a big deal, and he may still be smirking, tweeting: "Guys, calm down, I just don't like Taylor Swift because her songs are getting harder and harder." If this can make her write a good song, come to me. (Picture of a crying baby covering his ears). ”

I was a little disappointed by his attitude, but I knew that he really just didn't like Swift's new songs in recent years, and it wasn't disrespectful to women or patriarchal. In fact, in my opinion, he is a feminist.

I want to tell you an incident from the past, which is why Jennifer Lawrence, another person who was forced to stand in line, said: "No matter what Ye Wei said, he definitely didn't mean to offend women." I'm a feminist, but don't think I'm attacking him, I've learned so much from him. ”

It was the first day of filming of "Winter's Bone", and it had not been filmed for an hour.

Director Ye Wei and Jennifer Lawrence, who played the heroine "Rui", had a difference of opinion because of a scene, although I was just a rookie on the set at that time, I also understood how fast and abrupt this disagreement was.

At that time, Ye Wei, who was 18 years and 8 months old, was the youngest Oscar nominee for Best Director, a genius that filmmakers of the same age could only look up to, and Jennifer Lawrence, who was 16 years and 2 months old, was a freshman who starred in film and television for the first time.

They argued for a while, and Ye Wei said, "Whatever you want, just act as I say." Lawrence was so reluctant that her face flushed and she said, "I-under-protest." ”

The senior members on the set burst into laughter, even Gia Coppola was smiling, and rookies like me, Britt Marling, etc., didn't know whether to laugh or not.

You don't need to understand the culture on the set to understand the ridiculous side of that sentence. Lawrence did not have the slightest capital to under-protest against Ye Wei (reservations, extremely unhappy, opposition, protest), and she may even be kicked out of the crew on the same day, and the actor of "Rui" became another person.

I later learned that there was another layer of ridiculousness about this, and that what Lawrence said coincided with a convention that had been circulating on the set for many years:

In the case of insufficient lighting or other certain risks, the director of photography insists on shooting, and the director of photography will mark the scene "Under-Protest" before shooting, so as not to blame the producer for something wrong. This self-protection also extends to other departments, such as the scene reporter and the director, who are arguing over the issue of overstepping the axis, and will also use "Under-Protest" to avoid responsibility.

Jennifer Lawrence, a 16-year-old fresh girl actor, faced her boss, Bole, director, and film genius Ye Wei when filming a scene that seemed to be the most ordinary, and she was very disobedient: "I-under-protest." ”

That kind of laughter is no less than any joke in "Declining Sisters", so many people laugh not because they look down on her, but because she inadvertently staged a burlesque show.

This was the biggest joke of the crew of "Winter's Bones" during the entire filming period, the kind of pistachios that were used every lunch. And it can accompany Lawrence's entire acting career, and it can be circulated at that time, so that she is labeled arrogant and stupid. Little did we know at the time that this sentence could have buried Lawrence's later illustrious career.

Besides, those laughter were really quite harsh, and a few people could barely stop laughing, which was a very serious blow to the self-confidence of a new actor.

Just when I didn't know whether to laugh or not, I noticed that Ye Wei didn't laugh. Not only did he not laugh, his face became ugly, but he was not looking at Lawrence, he glanced at everyone around him who was laughing, and his fierce gaze stopped laughing.

"Isn't it funny?" he said. The first sentence is calm, and the latter sentence he is like a roaring lion: "Isn't it funny!?"

The whole set was overwhelmed by his yelling, including Jennifer Lawrence, who was stubborn but had no idea what was going on.

Ye Wei pulled Lawrence and said loudly to all of us (these are his exact words, I remember clearly): "This girl, she has the heart of an excellent actress, she is fighting with me for control of 'Rui', this is what a good actor should do and must do! What are you laughing at? You fucking bastards who don't know how to act, you want to laugh and laugh, but I tell you, this girl is going to win the Oscar, and her acceptance speech will be like this: Thank you to those who used to laugh at me!" Now you can shut up and get out of here with your admiration, because I don't care!"

Everyone didn't dare to speak, and at that time I didn't know how precious this was, but I already understood Ye Wei's respect for women.

"Jenny, I've changed my mind, and this scene will be filmed according to what you said. Ye Wei then said to Lawrence, "You will do it." ”

Lawrence's face was flushed, and she tried to hold back her tears, but she cried quietly. Her emotions can't act, and so do others, and the crew had to rest for half an hour less than an hour before the film was started.

Ye Wei and Lawrence walked aside and talked alone for a long time. I don't know what they said, but when it came time to shoot again, Lawrence was better than before.

Out of respect for VIY, the oldest member of the crew was not dissatisfied, and after that time, no matter what happened, no one dared to laugh at the professionalism of Jennifer Lawrence, or any of the actors and crew members in the crew.

"Winter's Bones" has a lot of legendary rumors on the set, and this one thing, I think, best illustrates Bai Yewei. Although he has a playboy notoriety, he is really a person who will fully respect, trust, and reuse women, and by public standards, he is a feminist.

Now I don't know how this farce will end, more and more girls have taken sides, I just want to appeal to everyone to be calm, rational and objective. This internal strife only made the enemy see a joke: "Girls are always like in high school, divided into different gangs, and fight every day, because one boy can make a mess." ”

I know girls suffer from sexism in their lives, but things will only be better if we are more united in this face. 】

※※

The time entered August, and the summer of 2006 came to the end of summer.

"Pirates of the Caribbean: The Coffin" is unstoppable in theaters, with the global box office heading straight for $1 billion, and the 70 million budget "Banshee in the Water" broke 40 million box office in three weeks after its release, which was the first fiasco after Shyamalan's fame, and Warner Bros. Pictures was pitted.

Ye Wei's attention remains high, but his movie has not yet arrived.

"World of Foul Words", which took one day to make, is an experimental film and will not be released to the market, except for those film critics and media people who receive DVDs, and ordinary audiences will not have the opportunity to see it for the time being. If you want to watch VIY movies this year, you still have to wait for those three feature films.

The release version of "Lovely Bones" has not yet been completed in August, beyond the original plan of a month, and Ye Wei is very picky.

It's not because of the production of special effects, although the special effects haven't been done yet.

There are two main types of movie special effects, 3D special effects and post-production special effects, the former uses 3D technology to produce related scenes, models and effects, and the latter is synthesized through real scenes, photo materials and materials rendered by 3D software. Virtual builds and real-life simulations can be time-consuming, and it's not surprising that a special effects blockbuster takes a year or two to do it.

TLB's special effects are not difficult to make, and ILM's animators do the most mundane compositing work, and the most time-consuming is to do a good job of rendering.

In the special effects link, Ye Wei of course also participated, providing the animators with his and the artist's imagination and intentions, as well as art design, selection schemes, etc.

In the past month, ILM has already made the preliminary special effects shots, and it still needs more time to render and perfect. Ye Wei finished the final cut with these images with fake special effects, and then ADR, audio, soundtrack and other links.

The soundtrack is 53-year-old Jenn Kezmelik, the first collaboration between the two. Kezmelik was the winner of the 2005 Academy Award for Best Original Score ("Finding Neverland"), but he didn't take on many jobs, and since winning has only been credited with two Polish feature films, "Never Lived" and "A Girl Like Me". TLB impressed him not with the reward, but with the original story, which is also the style he is good at, warmth, sadness, and literature.

Ye Wei has only one request for him: don't be afraid of excessive sadness, and step on the accelerator of the soundtrack with your heart!

These preceding or simultaneous works were combined into a public release.

It was Thursday, August 10th, more than a week late, but fortunately it was still on budget.

When all the special effects shots are officially completed, those images will be replaced in the past, and then the public version will be officially put into copying.

But this in-house preview has already made some big names eager to watch. It's not Spielberg, he said that he won't see it until the official version, anyway, the production power is in Ye Wei's place. But Paramount President Gail Berman was very nervous.

Last year, Viacom Group experienced a major upheaval, splitting CBS Group and New Viacom, with former MTV channel president Tom Froston as president of New Viacom, and last May Fromton poached Gail Berman from the FOX network as president of Paramount.

Gail Berman, 50, is one of Hollywood's most powerful women, and the influential TV show "American Idol" is her brainchild.

Friston, Berman, and Paramount CEO Brad Gray are in positions because they understand young audiences. Under their leadership, Paramount became younger, more cutting-edge, and better performers, laying the foundation for confidence in the acquisition of DreamWorks.

Despite the collapse of DreamWorks, Fleiston and others knew that it was through the power of independent filmmakers that Paramount could be revived. In the past, Paramount was sticking to the old Hollywood routine and going into decline, and the production power of DreamWorks + the distribution power of Viacom Group equaled success.

So after the acquisition, DreamWorks personnel were actively absorbed, and in the end, Paramount laid off more employees than DreamWorks. Paramount has also begun to actively participate in independent film market acquisitions such as the Sundance Film Festival, as well as actively cooperate with independent filmmakers and independent film companies.

Spielberg was the biggest takeaway, and he was also implicated in Amperin Entertainment, the Catherine-Kennedys.

Ye Wei is a gain that cannot be ignored, Paramount originally hoped that he would direct "Fantasy Elf Incident Book", but he was given the middle finger and had to switch to another cooperation.

Fromton, of course, they won't die carrying this genius boy, not to mention Shyamalan, VIY is Spielberg Jr., which is the future. He scolded Hollywood, what do they matter, maybe in a few years they will go to another big group, a big studio, or open their own independent company. Paramount's position is temporary, and the friendship between Lao Si and Ye Wei is long-lasting.

The temper of an artist, an independent filmmaker, is something that managers must enjoy, provided that they are able to make money. If you can't make money three times, the whole industry will be kicked away.

Gail Berman has one of his main responsibilities, which is to select films and plan projects that are more popular with young people and box office.

She values "Lovely Bones" and Ye Wei, and hopes that this is a film that will win both box office and awards. Clint Eastwood's "Flags of the Fathers," Bill Condon's "Dream Girl," and Ye Wei's TLB are the ones Paramount relied on for the 06-07 awards season.

But hope comes to hope, it still depends on the quality of the film and the reputation of the screening, which will affect Paramount's investment in its publicity and distribution.

On the afternoon of Friday the 11th, an in-house screening of TLB was held in a medium-sized screening room at Paramount's headquarters on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood.

When the 125-minute feature film was screened, the soft ending music sounded, and there was silence in the screening room, except for a slight choking sound, and everyone's eyes were not very comfortable.

Berman and Ye Wei sat in the middle of the front row, she looked at the young man next to her who was in tears, her eyes were moist when she was 50 years old.

This also interferes with her judgment, she can't say whether it will work or not, the overall look is too sad and melancholy! Even if the ending starts to make the audience's mood start to improve a few minutes, it is still so sad, this is a heartbreaking movie to watch. This is still a preview of the unfinished special effects.

"Wei Ge ......" Berman looked at Ye Wei, thinking about how he could persuade him: "Are you sure that such an ordinary audience can stand it?"

Ye Wei wiped his tears, shook his head and said, "I don't know." What the market will react to, no one here knows, I only know that the original readers and viewers are definitely not going to watch comedy, they know what will happen, and theoretically they will accept this. ”

Berman was also skeptical: "The original book is not so ...... Like tear gas, and the readership audience is only a small part, the movie has a larger market. ”

"Gail, I understand your duty, and you want to persuade me to make it as commercial as possible. ”

Ye Weiha smiled, looking at the ending credits scrolling on the screen in front of him, tears were still flowing: "Seriously, I don't care what ordinary viewers think." This is not a commercial film in the first place, the target audience is not the people who watch "Spider-Man", "Harry Potter" or "The Fantasy Elf Storybook", they don't like to watch it, then don't watch it, this movie is not made for them, but for those who cry after watching it like I am. ”

"I'm worried that even the audience won't be able to stand it. Berman sighed.

"Who knows. Ye Wei leaned back in his chair and exhaled a long breath.

It has been a full year since August 2005, when Julia Roberts asked to join the TLB adaptation rights competition. For filmmaking, a year is not a long time, but for youth, it is so long, too long.

He smiled and said, "I don't know if it's art, it must be my emotional journey." No matter how it looks, whether it sells or not, whether it can hit the awards season, that's what it looks like. You can not like it, but I won't change it, so it's an independent film, it's what it is, my Lovely Bones. ”

Berman nodded helplessly, and could only advertise it as "the saddest movie of the year", she said: "I will write you my post-viewing advice and email it to you." ”

"Okay. Ye Wei understood why, it didn't matter, "If it is defined as a failure, the responsibility lies entirely with me." ”

It's time to focus on the last movie of the year, "Winter's Bones".

But for the rest of the month, after arranging things, he will go around the world. After being busy for so long, it's time to take a break.

※※

There will be circles, gangs, and camps in any industry and everywhere. Films are simply divided into: mainstream and non-mainstream, commercial and artistic, Hollywood and independent films.

The media has a public opinion about this: VIY started as an independent, Tom Hanks knew him, and he was Spielberg's protégé. His frighteningly high box office returns, but he rebelled against business, saying "Hollywood is dead", and did the same, pursuing art, a banner of the independent camp, but not isolated from the mainstream.

The New York Times described him as "the leader of Hollywood's new generation of rebels," a claim that was recently confirmed by the recent World of Foul Language.

is different from the "playboy" said by the gossip media, and now when it comes to movies, the industry's public opinion of Ye Wei is an amphibious personality, arrogance, frivolity, and cult genius.

It depends on where he wants to live and whether he is willing to use his talents in business.

There are not many independent filmmakers who can be called "talented", and they all have this kind of amphibious ability.

For example, 46-year-old Richard Linklater, "Urban Ronin", "Young and Frivolous", "Half-dreaming and half-awake life", "Love Before Dawn", "Love at Sunset", "Love" ...... An innumerable independent classic, once synonymous with rebellious youth. When he made a commercial film for Paramount, "Rock and Roll School" in 2003 had a budget of 35 million, 1. 3.1 billion global box office, 92% freshness and 64% favoritism.

But when fans and filmmakers talk about this talker, they will not say that "Rock School" is his masterpiece, and the most talked about is the "Love In" two-part series, although their global box office combined is 21.52 million. When talking about him, they will give him a thumbs up.

This is the charm of independent filmmakers, and Ye Wei also has such charm.

Artists like it, or want to work with them. Keanu Reeves and the two have collaborated this year, but the evaluation of "Blind Spot Walker", which was released on July 7, is only medium to high, with 69% freshness and 74% favoritism, and more than 5 million North American box office.

Linklater's filming speed is not slow or fast, he has made 12 films in 16 years, but "Boyhood", which has been filming for 4 years, does not know when it will be filmed.

Ye Wei makes films very fast, not counting experimental films, he has made 5 films in 3 years, and maybe 6 films in 3 years in the end.

It's not just for actors, this offline recruitment information has attracted a lot of attention recently: "Bones of Winter" recruits female practitioners of feminists, and positions cover the entire crew.

Filmmakers are curious, why? In Ye Weideng's announcement on the blog: "Girls, "Winter's Bones" needs as many feminist women as possible, because this film is not a family, not a man, it is a film of women with feminist consciousness." Join us!"

It's like another draft for behind-the-scenes, and naturally it's another one-time response.

Even in addition to those women who are not used to seeing VIY's flowery image and ignore it, there are still a large number of female independent filmmakers who submit resumes and an article with an opinion on women's rights, waiting for the crew's reply.

※※

Why do you like to make independent films?

Freedom, control, but not all.

Ye Wei has thought about it, there is also because of the fear of losing the pursuit of art and self, the loss of life is another thing; there is also a kind of arrogance, not relying on the so-called advantages of large studios, making independent films and still achieving great success, which proves his talent even more; there is also temporary satisfaction in terms of money and material; and there is not wanting to waste his youth in a movie that will say "how did I make such a stupid thing back then" in retrospect.

Now the only thing that can satisfy yourself is independent films.

After "Exorcism Video" and "Rough Talk World", 100% independent films were finally produced again, and it was the first time that an independent literary feature film was produced with a regular crew and a long cycle.

The budget of 3 million is all up to himself, he doesn't think about any business at all, he doesn't have any shackles, he just shoots his own ideas, this feeling is simply refreshing.

"Bones of Winter" is regarded as a creative opportunity to completely release his ability and pursuit of independent art at this stage, for the first time.

It's not started yet, just think about it, it's refreshing!

He really has absolute control, and he is the only one on the screenwriting team.

Both W'sB and TLB started in August last year, and after a year of ups and downs, revisions, and adaptations, the script was completed again and again, and then changed again and again. He knows that there will be revisions until the start of planning in September, and even before filming starts in October.

But what to say has long been determined, and what has been changed is how to say it better.

W'sB was published on August 7 by Little Brown and received critical acclaim. Ye Wei was asked by many friends who had read this book, this is a feminist novel, right? and even asked him to ask the original author, Daniel Woodrier.

Ye Wei didn't ask, adapting a movie is a kind of re-creation, no matter what the original author thinks, whether it is a feminist novel or not, you can have different ideas.

Making W'sB the most direct and pure feminist film, things will be the simplest, easier to adapt, easier to shoot, easier to perform, easier to enjoy, this story can definitely make an excellent film about feminist awakening and growth.

But that's not what really impressed W'sB, it's the combination of femininity and softness.

Ye Wei has always supported feminism, but not radical feminism, which is essentially no different from crazy masculinism - they both believe that a certain gender (usually their own gender) is superior.

So he loves strong and independent girls, but never dates radicals and doesn't even want to look at them more.

He has talked to many girls about women's rights, and there are not many girls who are really peaceful and confident in this matter, most of them are one of several typical ones: one scolds men more than once, one tells women's grievances, one has no opinions, one is just a banner, in the final analysis, it is just a righteous and awe-inspiring reason to achieve the goal, one is to change from the exploited to the exploiter, and the other is not interested, thinking about how to please men and have a sense of superiority in front of other women.

The three recent ex-girlfriends, during their relationship, Ye Wei also talked to them about women's rights.

Nina's stupid girl is the kind of person who is the most unthinkable, she smiled and said: "I don't know, I'm a girl, of course I support women's rights!" But she didn't know much, he pretended to be serious and said, his attitude changed, and he lost his temper when he found out that he was fooled.

Amy is the calm and confident kind, and she doesn't like radicals either: "I grew up in a single-parent family and always longed for a complete family, and I understood that men and women are equally important. Equality between men and women is not about achieving another unequal society in which women's rights are higher than men's. ”

He likes her mentality and yearns for her family, but he has not completely given up his ideals and career, and pursues the self-worth she wants to pursue. What a model for women.

But he loved Lily's opinions, and loved everything about her, and she said at the time: "I think girls should be able to swing swords, and they can wear makeup and dance." We can't lose the beauty of women just because we want women's rights, and we can't forget that wielding a sword is also a woman's beauty. Now that she's wielding her sword, he's stabbed all over his body.

Ye Wei thinks that women who are both rigid and soft are the women who can best represent women.

"Rui" is like this, W'sB is like this, feminist awakening and growth are only on the surface, the inner is a kind of sword wielding and beauty, life makes Rui have to wield a sword, but beauty is Rui's natural dream and desire as a woman, and the two have become a kind of sword-wielding beauty from confrontation.

This is actually obvious in the original book, Rui wore a skirt at the beginning, and she has been wearing skirts, and she wants to wear beautiful skirts. It wasn't until she was beaten by a group of women on a trip to find her father, and she was beaten to the point that she was almost disfigured and died, and then she switched to wearing pants.

No longer wearing a skirt meant that she had failed, and of course her original goal of "finding her father" had also failed, and she was completely defeated by life. But she was defeated, and in the end, it was the women who took her to her father's body, and she sawed off an arm with her own hands.

Rui who is looking for her father is a girl who seeks the blessing of male power, and those women are instructed by men to beat her as women living under male power, and when Rui's feminism awakens (no longer wears skirts), the women who live under male power take her to find her father's body, she is equivalent to killing her father's saw bones is a kind of seizure of male power.

But does women's rights mean becoming men? No. Rui cried twice, once in the middle of the story when she cried bitterly at her mother, and she couldn't hold it anymore, and once at the end, she cried bitterly with her uncle who was going to die in tears. Both times showed her feminine side.

Rui's father is dead, and Uncle Tears is also going to die, although the house is saved, but there is no male power and only a women's house, is it really good?

In the last few lines of the original book, the characters talk about Woodrier's attitude, and Rui's two younger brothers ask her, "Are you leaving?" I don't have you two on my shoulders, I'm going to get lost. "Feminism without the pressure of male power is a lost femininity, and vice versa.

With all this, how can it be made into the simplest feminist film?

Because it's easier to win awards?

So Ye Wei must be loyal to the original work, Rui has to go from wearing a skirt to not wearing a skirt, Rui has to have two younger brothers, one represents her father and one represents her uncle.

It's another story about her two younger brothers, her education, her love and her fear of them.

Making an independent film is so exciting, Ye Wei feels that he doesn't even want to travel, it's just an illusion, who doesn't love to travel?

On the night of Monday, August 14, he will set off, maybe just himself, maybe two people.

That day, the first month of the cooling-off period of the second year of the IA relationship, that girl, will she show up? He scolded Hollywood, what do they matter, maybe in a few years they will go to another big group, a big studio, or open their own independent company. Paramount's position is temporary, and the friendship between Lao Si and Ye Wei is long-lasting.

The temper of an artist, an independent filmmaker, is something that managers must enjoy, provided that they are able to make money. If you can't make money three times, the whole industry will be kicked away.

Gail Berman has one of his main responsibilities, which is to select films and plan projects that are more popular with young people and box office.

She values "Lovely Bones" and Ye Wei, and hopes that this is a film that will win both box office and awards. Clint Eastwood's "Flags of the Fathers," Bill Condon's "Dream Girl," and Ye Wei's TLB are the ones Paramount relied on for the 06-07 awards season.

But hope comes to hope, it still depends on the quality of the film and the reputation of the screening, which will affect Paramount's investment in its publicity and distribution.

On the afternoon of Friday the 11th, an in-house screening of TLB was held in a medium-sized screening room at Paramount's headquarters on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood.

When the 125-minute feature film was screened, the soft ending music sounded, and there was silence in the screening room, except for a slight choking sound, and everyone's eyes were not very comfortable.

Berman and Ye Wei sat in the middle of the front row, she looked at the young man next to her who was in tears, her eyes were moist when she was 50 years old.

This also interferes with her judgment, she can't say whether it will work or not, the overall look is too sad and melancholy! Even if the ending starts to make the audience's mood start to improve a few minutes, it is still so sad, this is a heartbreaking movie to watch. This is still a preview of the unfinished special effects.

"Wei Ge ......" Berman looked at Ye Wei, thinking about how he could persuade him: "Are you sure that such an ordinary audience can stand it?"

Ye Wei wiped his tears, shook his head and said, "I don't know." What the market will react to, no one here knows, I only know that the original readers and viewers are definitely not going to watch comedy, they know what will happen, and theoretically they will accept this. ”

Berman was also skeptical: "The original book is not so ...... Like tear gas, and the readership audience is only a small part, the movie has a larger market. ”

"Gail, I understand your duty, and you want to persuade me to make it as commercial as possible. ”

Ye Weiha smiled, looking at the ending credits scrolling on the screen in front of him, tears were still flowing: "Seriously, I don't care what ordinary viewers think." This is not a commercial film in the first place, the target audience is not the people who watch "Spider-Man", "Harry Potter" or "The Fantasy Elf Storybook", they don't like to watch it, then don't watch it, this movie is not made for them, but for those who cry after watching it like I am. ”

"I'm worried that even the audience won't be able to stand it. Berman sighed.

"Who knows. Ye Wei leaned back in his chair and exhaled a long breath.

It has been a full year since August 2005, when Julia Roberts asked to join the TLB adaptation rights competition. For filmmaking, a year is not a long time, but for youth, it is so long, too long.

He smiled and said, "I don't know if it's art, it must be my emotional journey." No matter how it looks, whether it sells or not, whether it can hit the awards season, that's what it looks like. You can not like it, but I won't change it, so it's an independent film, it's what it is, my Lovely Bones. ”

Berman nodded helplessly, and could only advertise it as "the saddest movie of the year", she said: "I will write you my post-viewing advice and email it to you." ”

"Okay. Ye Wei understood why, it didn't matter, "If it is defined as a failure, the responsibility lies entirely with me." ”

It's time to focus on the last movie of the year, "Winter's Bones".

But for the rest of the month, after arranging things, he will go around the world. After being busy for so long, it's time to take a break.

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There will be circles, gangs, and camps in any industry and everywhere. Films are simply divided into: mainstream and non-mainstream, commercial and artistic, Hollywood and independent films.

The media has a public opinion about this: VIY started as an independent, Tom Hanks knew him, and he was Spielberg's protégé. His frighteningly high box office returns, but he rebelled against business, saying "Hollywood is dead", and did the same, pursuing art, a banner of the independent camp, but not isolated from the mainstream.

The New York Times described him as "the leader of Hollywood's new generation of rebels," a claim that was recently confirmed by the recent World of Foul Language.

is different from the "playboy" said by the gossip media, and now when it comes to movies, the industry's public opinion of Ye Wei is an amphibious personality, arrogance, frivolity, and cult genius.

It depends on where he wants to live and whether he is willing to use his talents in business.

There are not many independent filmmakers who can be called "talented", and they all have this kind of amphibious ability.

For example, 46-year-old Richard Linklater, "Urban Ronin", "Young and Frivolous", "Half-dreaming and half-awake life", "Love Before Dawn", "Love at Sunset", "Love" ...... An innumerable independent classic, once synonymous with rebellious youth. When he made a commercial film for Paramount, "Rock and Roll School" in 2003 had a budget of 35 million, 1. 3.1 billion global box office, 92% freshness and 64% favoritism.

But when fans and filmmakers talk about this talker, they will not say that "Rock School" is his masterpiece, and the most talked about is the "Love In" two-part series, although their global box office combined is 21.52 million. When talking about him, they will give him a thumbs up.

This is the charm of independent filmmakers, and Ye Wei also has such charm.

Artists like it, or want to work with them. Keanu Reeves and the two have collaborated this year, but the evaluation of "Blind Spot Walker", which was released on July 7, is only medium to high, with 69% freshness and 74% favoritism, and more than 5 million North American box office.

Linklater's filming speed is not slow or fast, he has made 12 films in 16 years, but "Boyhood", which has been filming for 4 years, does not know when it will be filmed.

Ye Wei makes films very fast, not counting experimental films, he has made 5 films in 3 years, and maybe 6 films in 3 years in the end.

It's not just for actors, this offline recruitment information has attracted a lot of attention recently: "Bones of Winter" recruits female practitioners of feminists, and positions cover the entire crew.

Filmmakers are curious, why? In Ye Weideng's announcement on the blog: "Girls, "Winter's Bones" needs as many feminist women as possible, because this film is not a family, not a man, it is a film of women with feminist consciousness." Join us!"

It's like another draft for behind-the-scenes, and naturally it's another one-time response.

Even in addition to those women who are not used to seeing VIY's flowery image and ignore it, there are still a large number of female independent filmmakers who submit resumes and an article with an opinion on women's rights, waiting for the crew's reply.

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Why do you like to make independent films?

Freedom, control, but not all.

Ye Wei has thought about it, there is also because of the fear of losing the pursuit of art and self, the loss of life is another thing; there is also a kind of arrogance, not relying on the so-called advantages of large studios, making independent films and still achieving great success, which proves his talent even more; there is also temporary satisfaction in terms of money and material; and there is not wanting to waste his youth in a movie that will say "how did I make such a stupid thing back then" in retrospect.

Now the only thing that can satisfy yourself is independent films.

After "Exorcism Video" and "Rough Talk World", 100% independent films were finally produced again, and it was the first time that an independent literary feature film was produced with a regular crew and a long cycle.

The budget of 3 million is all up to himself, he doesn't think about any business at all, he doesn't have any shackles, he just shoots his own ideas, this feeling is simply refreshing.

"Bones of Winter" is regarded as a creative opportunity to completely release his ability and pursuit of independent art at this stage, for the first time.

It's not started yet, just think about it, it's refreshing!

He really has absolute control, and he is the only one on the screenwriting team.

Both W'sB and TLB started in August last year, and after a year of ups and downs, revisions, and adaptations, the script was completed again and again, and then changed again and again. He knows that there will be revisions until the start of planning in September, and even before filming starts in October.

But what to say has long been determined, and what has been changed is how to say it better.

W'sB was published on August 7 by Little Brown and received critical acclaim. Ye Wei was asked by many friends who had read this book, this is a feminist novel, right? and even asked him to ask the original author, Daniel Woodrier.

Ye Wei didn't ask, adapting a movie is a kind of re-creation, no matter what the original author thinks, whether it is a feminist novel or not, you can have different ideas.

Making W'sB the most direct and pure feminist film, things will be the simplest, easier to adapt, easier to shoot, easier to perform, easier to enjoy, this story can definitely make an excellent film about feminist awakening and growth.

But that's not what really impressed W'sB, it's the combination of femininity and softness.

Ye Wei has always supported feminism, but not radical feminism, which is essentially no different from crazy masculinism - they both believe that a certain gender (usually their own gender) is superior.

So he loves strong and independent girls, but never dates radicals and doesn't even want to look at them more.

He has talked to many girls about women's rights, and there are not many girls who are really peaceful and confident in this matter, most of them are one of several typical ones: one scolds men more than once, one tells women's grievances, one has no opinions, one is just a banner, in the final analysis, it is just a righteous and awe-inspiring reason to achieve the goal, one is to change from the exploited to the exploiter, and the other is not interested, thinking about how to please men and have a sense of superiority in front of other women.

The three recent ex-girlfriends, during their relationship, Ye Wei also talked to them about women's rights.

Nina's stupid girl is the kind of person who is the most unthinkable, she smiled and said: "I don't know, I'm a girl, of course I support women's rights!" But she didn't know much, he pretended to be serious and said, his attitude changed, and he lost his temper when he found out that he was fooled.

Amy is the calm and confident kind, and she doesn't like radicals either: "I grew up in a single-parent family and always longed for a complete family, and I understood that men and women are equally important. Equality between men and women is not about achieving another unequal society in which women's rights are higher than men's. ”

He likes her mentality and yearns for her family, but he has not completely given up his ideals and career, and pursues the self-worth she wants to pursue. What a model for women.

But he loved Lily's opinions, and loved everything about her, and she said at the time: "I think girls should be able to swing swords, and they can wear makeup and dance." We can't lose the beauty of women just because we want women's rights, and we can't forget that wielding a sword is also a woman's beauty. Now that she's wielding her sword, he's stabbed all over his body.

Ye Wei thinks that women who are both rigid and soft are the women who can best represent women.

"Rui" is like this, W'sB is like this, feminist awakening and growth are only on the surface, the inner is a kind of sword wielding and beauty, life makes Rui have to wield a sword, but beauty is Rui's natural dream and desire as a woman, and the two have become a kind of sword-wielding beauty from confrontation.

This is actually obvious in the original book, Rui wore a skirt at the beginning, and she has been wearing skirts, and she wants to wear beautiful skirts. It wasn't until she was beaten by a group of women on a trip to find her father, and she was beaten to the point that she was almost disfigured and died, and then she switched to wearing pants.

No longer wearing a skirt meant that she had failed, and of course her original goal of "finding her father" had also failed, and she was completely defeated by life. But she was defeated, and in the end, it was the women who took her to her father's body, and she sawed off an arm with her own hands.

Rui who is looking for her father is a girl who seeks the blessing of male power, and those women are instructed by men to beat her as women living under male power, and when Rui's feminism awakens (no longer wears skirts), the women who live under male power take her to find her father's body, she is equivalent to killing her father's saw bones is a kind of seizure of male power.

But does women's rights mean becoming men? No. Rui cried twice, once in the middle of the story when she cried bitterly at her mother, and she couldn't hold it anymore, and once at the end, she cried bitterly with her uncle who was going to die in tears. Both times showed her feminine side.

Rui's father is dead, and Uncle Tears is also going to die, although the house is saved, but there is no male power and only a women's house, is it really good?

In the last few lines of the original book, the characters talk about Woodrier's attitude, and Rui's two younger brothers ask her, "Are you leaving?" I don't have you two on my shoulders, I'm going to get lost. "Feminism without the pressure of male power is a lost femininity, and vice versa.

With all this, how can it be made into the simplest feminist film?

Because it's easier to win awards?

So Ye Wei must be loyal to the original work, Rui has to go from wearing a skirt to not wearing a skirt, Rui has to have two younger brothers, one represents her father and one represents her uncle.

It's another story about her two younger brothers, her education, her love and her fear of them.

Making an independent film is so exciting, Ye Wei feels that he doesn't even want to travel, it's just an illusion, who doesn't love to travel?

On the night of Monday, August 14, he will set off, maybe just himself, maybe two people.

On that day, the first month of the cooling-off period of the second year of the IA relationship, that girl, will she appear?