On Duoduo's birthday, after the morning outing, Ye Wei sent Duoduo home, and then went to West Hollywood for an invited lunch, Jason Reitman.

Jason Reitman, 29, is the eldest son of famous Jewish filmmaker Ivan Reitman. Big Reitman is an important member of the new Hollywood wave, producing and directing masterpieces "Ghostbusters", as well as "Dragon Brother and Mouse", "Six Days and Seven Nights", etc., he is still active in the film industry, but this year's "My Super Ex-Girlfriend" directed by the average results.

And little Reitman became a father earlier this year, and his Asian wife, screenwriter Michelle Lee, gave birth to a daughter, Josie. He grew up on the set, playing tricks in his father's movies and doing some assistant work. But after graduating from high school, he wanted to become a doctor, so he transferred to USC for English/creative writing before attending Skidmore College, where he became a filmmaker.

Ye Wei and Reitman's acquaintance is nothing special, Reitman studied at Harvard-Westlake in middle school, he studied at a time when boys' and girls' schools had just merged, and the principal, Tom Hednat, was not that old. When it comes to the principal, both of them will sigh. It's not that Reitman is mischievous, he is said to have been a movie nerd loser at school at the time, but he is now a sign of the school, a talented director who has not been expelled.

Reitman became famous later than Ye Wei, he started shooting TV commercials after graduating from college, and his feature film debut "Thank You for Smoking", which was adapted from the novel of the same name, premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 05 and was praised for being bought and distributed by Fox Searchlight. This R-rated comedy with a production fee of 6.5 million was released in March this year, and received 24.79 million North American box office in 26 weeks, and the global box office has exceeded 30 million, with 86% freshness and 87% favorite.

29 years old is still a very young age for a film director, and with Reitman's talent and connections, there is no doubt that a new director star is rising rapidly.

The friendship between the two is not much iron, and they haven't played together a few times, but they are very eye-catching. Ye Wei looked at Reitman, this guy is still a pure non-Hollywood independent filmmaker, "Thank You for Smoking" is great, saying "Your daughter is a dog", he also knows what it means. Letman looked at Ye Wei, how to see how he liked it.

And in this industry, even if you don't take the initiative to form a gang, you will be divided by others, and the two have a common camp is the Harvard-Westlake gang, such as Spielberg's stepdaughter Jessica Capshaw, Gyllenhaal sisters and brothers, etc., so they are naturally friends. He was expelled but it was okay, the Ye Wei Award at the HW Film Festival was still there, and Reitman was a guest this year.

Regardless, Reitman is busy with a new project for a feature film called Juno.

"Juno" is a typical indie film project with a difficult birth.

It all started with screenwriter Diablo Coty, a 28-year-old woman who grew up in a harmonious middle-class family, graduated from a Catholic school, worked as an office clerk, had a stable job, had a husband and a family, and wrote a popular blog in her spare time. But this kind of life was too boring for her, and on a whim, at the age of 23, she participated in an amateur striptease performance competition, and after many years of depression, she was liberated, and since then she has been out of control. With her husband's support, she worked as a stripper for a year and continued to blog and write books about the industry.

Among her readers was producer Manson Novik ("Sleepy Hollow," "Red-Eye Flight"), who advised her to stop striptease and write a screenplay. Later, Coty wrote "Juno" based on her high school experience and the controversial subject of teenage pregnancy.

Novik recommended the script to his friend Reitman, who felt that "if I don't shoot it, I'll regret it for the rest of my life", and filmed! At that time, "Thank You for Smoking" had not yet been released, so the ambitious two could not find any money. And it is easier to finance by finding a famous director, and Novik once wanted to find Jon Ball to take over (48 years old, Martin Ball's son, a famous film editor, who has been producing and directing in recent years), but Reitman put down all his work and almost turned against his old friend for this director's mic.

Letman is Reitman, but the problem of money continues to plague "Juno", and the production has to be postponed again and again.

Mainstream studios are not interested in it, and independent studios are scared away, why?

There have always been very few pregnancy-themed movies, and only 11 have been released since the 80s, 7 of which ended in a loss, and the success of star comedies such as Steve Martin's "The New Father-in-law 2" and Hugh Grant's "September Pregnant" was all in 1995.

And the 2001 high school teenage pregnancy story of the campus youth comedy "Sweetheart and Hot Girls" is the biggest shadow of "Juno", such a template movie, too miserable. 27 million budget, 2,150 theater openings, 5 weeks of hastily painting a total of 13.21 million box office (16.98 million worldwide), word-of-mouth evaluation is a mess, 28% freshness, 42% favorite, the new line lost a lot of money, and the female director Franceni McDougall, who made such a fiasco in her feature film debut, was demoted to a video film director ("Ice Sweetheart" in '05, "Cow Beauty" in '06) , failed to turn over), screenwriter Mandy Nelson was eliminated from the industry, and several female lead actors with good prospects at the time, Mara Sokolov, Mary Shelton, Melissa George, all had star luck declining, burying the future.

This is what happens when it comes to topics such as pregnancy of high school girls, abortion or non-abortion, and children raising themselves or being adopted.

But Roger Ebert gave a three-star rating saying, "It's lively, bold and playful." Ye Wei also thinks it's not so bad, it's just that something like SS movie reviews happened. This also means that even if "Juno" is well made, it is controversial enough to ruin it and make it nothing but a puddle of pregnant women's vomit.

So the situation is like "Little Sunshine Beauty" again, the project is tossed and turned, John Malkovich joins, Jim Miller joins, the production team is getting bigger and bigger, but the budget has not increased much, and it can't be filmed. It's a project that even a professional wrongdoer like Steve Bean wouldn't dare to invest in.

So "Juno" naturally became a well-known controversial project in the industry, and everyone seemed to have a good idea when they read the script, but if it was not good, it would be over.

In 2005, "Juno" was on the top 10 of Hollywood's "script blacklist". -- The "blacklist" began last year and was created by producer Franklin Leonard to make it easier for the industry to screen and read good scripts for filming. The blacklist starts with a group of producers and studio executives who list what they think is the top 10 best scripts of the year, and then vote on the top 10 after reading. This new thing has attracted a lot of attention in the industry.

Most of the scripts on the blacklist are "good scripts with problems", and it depends on who dares to throw money into it to try whether it is real gold or.

The turning point happened after the release of "Thank You for Smoking", Reitman had the name of a young talent, and "Juno" had money, but ...... No matter how hard you work now, you only have a budget of 6.5 million, and you have to benefit from Jennifer Garner's salary cut. This budget can't achieve the shooting plan, unless the filming location Minneapolis is moved to Vancouver, Canada, only 6 weeks and 30 working days, and some special expensive scenes that require weather cooperation can be modified, and the set props can be used cheap, fake and not expensive, real.

Even if it is stretched like this, it may not be possible, it is good that there are no accidents, once there are a few days missing because of something, it is equivalent to a few scenes less.

If there are two or three million more, the crew will undoubtedly be able to shoot more calmly and pursue quality. Can Ivan Reitman get these millions? Of course he can. But how many times can you get it? Producers use other people's money to gamble, and independent producers find acquaintances and popular outsiders.

Reitman wants to pit Ye Wei, although it is a high probability that "Juno" will lose all his money in the end, and he can't make a lot of money, but for the sake of independent films!

The problem with "Juno" is not only the money, but also the actors, to be precise, the girl actors.

The failure of this nine-life movie has little impact on Jennifer Garner, and it is just a common thing for stars to help independent literary films. The lamentation for "Juno" and her best friend "Leah", Mara Sokolov is not far away, and whoever wants to play these two roles must first weigh whether he can afford to fail.

2004's "Hail Maria" (97% freshness, 87% favorability, 3 million budget, 6.52 million/12.59 million box office, then 22-year-old Caterina Sandino Moreno, nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress on her screen debut)? It cannot be used as a reference for Juno.

This creates a situation in which promising teenage actors simply can't take the risk of playing it, and even if they do, the agency managers will strongly discourage it. However, these people are the most talented people, and the 17-year-old star of "Cow Beauty" Alison Michaka can act, and many people can, but what can they perform?

If everything goes well, "Juno" will be filmed in February-March next year, and the crew is still looking for two young girls. Auditions to find new people have to spend a sum of money, and it's money. Who is the most familiar girl actor in the industry now? Who has a large number of good seedlings who can recommend and influence them to dare to act? VIY is not the only one, but definitely one of them.

However, Ye Wei is like a shark, they are like a group of fish and shrimp, once he joins, what position will he sit in? How much power will he have? Will he brand "Juno"? This is something that the production team, director, and screenwriter all have to consider. Cooperation is a pleasant thing, but if there is a conflict, the relationship will be ruined.

So Reitman has not used this last trump card, and only recently finally contacted Ye Wei and pulled him into the gang as a co-producer, but sincerely stated that he did not want "Juno" to become a VIY movie because of this, of course, his suggestions will be taken seriously.

One is investment, and the other is candidates. If Ye Weizhen didn't want those "future girls" to take risks, and hoped that he would help them find a few good words, Alan Page was really good, but people were still thinking about it. This 19-year-old girl who became famous with "Hard Fruit Candy" is very popular, this year is the "Phantom Cat" of "X-Men: Last Stand", and next year there will be two protagonists and one supporting role movie. She is not the future, she is the present.

"Weig, we need a Juno!" Reitman said in a tone at the lunch table as if he needed an alien.

"What do you think of Lily Collins?" Ye Wei joked, "Meet, our senior sister, she's about to try acting." ”

"Oh?" Reitman laughed when he thought about it, knowing that he was joking, and also hearing his intimacy, "I know her, and I have seen her at school events. Juno wasn't her type, she was a rebellious, boyish girl, ordinary-looking, like a little wildcat, smart, egoistic, and a little eccentric. ”

Ye Wei has not read the script, this script is not mysterious, it has spread all over Hollywood, and Reitman gave him a copy. It's just that he didn't want to be disturbed by other stories until he finished filming W'sB, so he didn't watch it. But when he heard Reitman say that Alan Page was the ideal candidate, he understood what was going on: "The more ordinary, the better the short girl, stunted out, can highlight the huge heaviness of her belly, right?" ”

Reitman nodded, that's it!

"Jason, when I'm done filming W'sB and read this script, I'll reply to you about my decisions and thoughts on this matter. Ye Wei gave this answer at the lunch table.

They can only wait and get busy, whether "Juno" can start filming smoothly in February next year depends largely on whether Ye Weijia joins or not.

After having had enough of the scattered people in "Ice Age" in the middle of the night today, Ye Wei went back to the suite to rest for a while, suddenly remembered this, got up and found the script of "Juno" and read it. I didn't expect that the more I read, the more energetic I became, and after a few pages, I screamed excitedly, and I read it once and immediately read it a second time...... It's awesome!

Juno, amazing!

Only then did he know what stupid things he had said that day, of course Lily couldn't act it! It's not a tune at all, and it doesn't work to play "Leah", Princess Lily doesn't belong to this kind of "vulgar" movie, and she's the kind of actor who can't hold up a movie with her current acting talent, she can only play herself now, and letting her play Juno would be a catastrophic mess.

But it works! Juno, it works!

This is different from the previous pregnancy movies, one, Juno is too charming, two, Juno's family is too loving, three, it is not like "Sweetheart and Hot Girls" is a school comedy, the whole story takes the "children", especially Juno, seriously, four, it is still Juno, her lines are too classic, she is a "pope in the pool".

"The Pope in the Pool" is a technique described in Blake Snyder's screenwriting book "Save the Cat", published last year, to throw out the must-know information to the audience in a lighthearted and fun way, so that the audience can happily receive the boring. "Little Sunshine Beauty" is like that, and "Juno" is like that, allowing the audience to watch a serious, true, convincing and touching story in a light and fun atmosphere.

Juno's family is an LMS-style loving family, and Juno's parents' humor is almost unique in the history of teen films, which is called cool. The campus part has the atmosphere of "Napoleon the Great", although it is far from that level, it is also called cool.

And the deeper feelings and themes gradually change from hidden to clear, this story is not only about the early pregnancy of young girls, but about the growth anxiety of all teenagers, self-pretending to be smart, that subtle seemingly precocious but actually naïve mentality: seeing that the peers in the school are idiots, inexplicably worship a social person who has no merits except for his age.

It is based on this that Juno and Mark, the adoptive father, may have developed an unwise feeling, and she despises the immaturity of the child's father, Paulie, who is naïve but a mature adult who is disgusting. In the end, Juno, who was not stupid, saw through it, and there was a reconciliation between her and Paulie. Not only that, but Juno and Vanessa, the adoptive mother, share the same female feelings, as well as the crisis of middle-class families, school bullying, social oppression and other clichés, this script has a very rare depth.

Reitman can shoot well, not that the second generation of stars must be powerful, but it is impossible for him not to consult his old man, Ivan Reitman is a master of funny storytelling, and then look at "Thank You for Smoking", their father and son may have some unique comedy secrets.

The point is that times are different, these controversial topics are dangerous to talk about, and once successful, they are phenomenal and revolutionary, and "Juno" is actually a very impactful heroine of awards season.

There is also a situation, Judd Apato's new film "One Night Big Belly" (Universal Pictures, 30 million budget, Seth Rogen, Katherine Haigel) has been produced and is scheduled to be released on June 1 next year. After the huge success of "Forty-Year-Old Virgin", who despises the talent of "freaks and nerds" who is a fool, this guy aims at young people to play pregnancy comedy, the global investment is so big, and he dares to put it in the hottest month of the summer vacation, just in the second week of "Pirates of the Caribbean 3", what does this mean? The market is coming, "One Night Belly" is of excellent quality, and the investment in publicity and distribution will be very large.

So what's the ideal future for Juno? It's been 11 years since Juno had a decent pregnancy movie in theaters after it was so successful and hugely impacted that people couldn't get enough of it. The market demand is up, and after a while, just when people stop talking about "One Night Belly" and look to other similar movies, the great quality and well-publicized "Juno" is released, what will happen?

These are not mysterious, there is a reason why it can melt to 6.5 million.

Every pitch has a good ending, or a hidden bad ending. The industry generally believes that what awaits "Juno" will be a bad ending, Ye Wei thinks it is a good ending, simple, real, smart, interesting, cool, and a big truck driving in front, how can it be a reappearance of "Sweetheart and Spice Girls"?

It's worth it to make this gamble in the film industry, whether you win or lose, otherwise you will regret it for the rest of your life when it succeeds.

Jason, you're in luck!

In the hotel suite, Ye Wei decided to bring money to join, 3 million 5 million is fine. On the other hand, he is willing to recommend and lobby Juno, Leah to the girls, and even if he loses miserably in the end, he will have a clear conscience.

So who do you recommend? Or rather... Who to help take these two roles?

I don't know why, the first thing that comes to his mind is Nina, if Nina can play Juno...... Maybe her dreams will come true, and she will smile brightly. The market is coming, the quality of "One Night Belly" is excellent, and the investment in publicity and distribution will be very large.

So what's the ideal future for Juno? It's been 11 years since Juno had a decent pregnancy movie in theaters after it was so successful and hugely impacted that people couldn't get enough of it. The market demand is up, and after a while, just when people stop talking about "One Night Belly" and look to other similar movies, the great quality and well-publicized "Juno" is released, what will happen?

These are not mysterious, there is a reason why it can melt to 6.5 million.

Every pitch has a good ending, or a hidden bad ending. The industry generally believes that what awaits "Juno" will be a bad ending, Ye Wei thinks it is a good ending, simple, real, smart, interesting, cool, and a big truck driving in front, how can it be a reappearance of "Sweetheart and Spice Girls"?

It's worth it to make this gamble in the film industry, whether you win or lose, otherwise you will regret it for the rest of your life when it succeeds.

Jason, you're in luck!

In the hotel suite, Ye Wei decided to bring money to join, 3 million 5 million is fine. On the other hand, he is willing to recommend and lobby Juno, Leah to the girls, and even if he loses miserably in the end, he will have a clear conscience.

So who do you recommend? Or rather... Who to help take these two roles?

I don't know why, the first thing that comes to his mind is Nina, if Nina can play Juno...... Maybe her dreams will come true, and she will smile brightly.