These days, Levi has been thinking about his new movie and which heroine should be used. In order to find a good enough actress to play the role of Emily, Levi searched a lot. But he has never given much thought to Winona Ryder.
He didn't think about her, not because the actor wasn't suitable enough, but, in Levi's memory, she should be an actor who had gone downhill by now.
Winona Ryder is quite a unique female actress. She became famous very early and started acting in movies when she was a teenager. It can be said that she was born as a child star because she starred in many good movies in her early years. Her performance was amazing, and she was already famous at a young age. She is good-looking, talented, and has an influential father in the creative world. She has everything in the entertainment industry. Among the actresses born in the 70s, she is the first girl to become famous, and she also has a boyfriend like Johnny Depp; she has been nominated for two Oscars in her early 20s and can be said to be a complete winner in life.
However, the road of Winona Ryder after 1995 has not been particularly smooth.
First, Depp broke up with her. Unlike ordinary celebrities who blame each other after they fall in love, they all claim to be responsible for their breakup. Levi doesn't know the truth, but what is certain is that their four-year relationship has greatly impacted both of them—and it is hardly a positive impact.
While love is not going well, her career is also in crisis. Because she is getting older and can no longer play the role of a pure girl, she is also trying to transform, but she has made three bad films in a row, making her regarded as a poison at the box office. Her films have never been very popular, but word of mouth was not bad, but three consecutive bad movies, neither word-of-mouth nor box office, also brought her career into a trough. Of course, these are just the beginning of her tragedy. In Levi's memory, her future experience can be said to be so bad that, in the end, she was even considered mentally ill.
But now, it seems that she has no problem: at least at this stage, she still knows how to choose movies and how to find movies for herself to star in.
"Winona's agent saw the movie's script, and she thought it was very suitable for her, so she gave it to her. Winona's opinion is that she likes this movie very much, so she decided to invest and will come to star. She liked this script very much, so she decided to take help from Columbia."
Bruce explained to Levi, "The investment in making a movie may be a lot of money for others, but for Winona, in front of the famous star, it's just a small amount. Although her salary is not too high, she has a good image, many endorsement contracts, and high advertising costs. She doesn't care if she spends tens of millions for her transformation. Even she suggested that she be the producer, she will be in charge of the production, and you can be the director."
It turned out that it was Winona herself who paid for it; Levi understood: In order to complete the transformation of stars, many are doing this kind of thing: let their agency find a suitable script and find excellent opportunities for themselves, and once they find this kind of movie that is good for their image, they would rather spend their own money to make this movie.
For celebrities, after making a literary film, how much money they can make at the box office is not a particularly important issue. Anyway, once the film is finished and the image of the actors is good, there will be a lot of advertisements. The endorsement fee for high-end products has never been high. After Theron finished filming The Lives of Others, she immediately got Dior's endorsement advertisement after the film was released. An endorsement is a yearly income of 1 million. There are quite a few stars who are also accustomed to filming literary movies, building their own image, and then acting as endorsers in various advertisements. For example, George Clooney and Angelina Jolie are such actors.
Winona has always been more inclined to shoot literary and artistic movies, so she wants to shoot this movie. Of course, Bruce said that her salary is not particularly high, and Levi just laughed it off: Now her salary is at the level of 13 million, which may be lower than Julia Roberts, but there are not many actresses who can compare with her. With her income, she really doesn't care about spending her own money to shoot movies.
How Winona found Columbia Pictures and how Columbia contacted Levi through Bruce, Levi didn't know. Still, he also knew that Winona might also have entrusted Bruce: Winona's mother is Jewish, and she herself is considered Jewish. In this place of Hollywood, the same origin can be related.
However, no matter how she contacted him, he could think about it in this direction since Bruce had brought it up.
In all fairness, Winona Ryder is indeed a good candidate for Amelie to shoot the American version in this time period.
First, although this actor has various problems, some of which even involve the spiritual level, it is undeniable that she is really beautiful. The kind of 360-degree in front of the camera with no dead angle and no problem with how to shoot looks is rare. Some people are top beauties from certain angles but not necessarily from other angles. For example, Miranda Kerr, in Levi's memory, whenever she takes pictures, always keeps her head down and her face sideways - because this angle can well cover up her lack of face shape.
Amélie is a movie that has a lot of rotating shots that need to be shot from different angles, and it is really important that the actors can see from any role.
Moreover, Emily in this movie is a very individual person, and Winona Ryder is closer to this character in terms of temperament. Although she has always been a beautiful girl in front of the screen, some rumors say that she has a very rebellious side, and maybe her temperament is also suitable.
Moreover, apart from the problem of appearance and temperament, there is another reason: her acting skills are also considered excellent. Of course, she still has a gap compared to the top actors, and she still can't do it freely, but her acting skills are still very good. In Levi's memory, when the movie "Black Swan" was released, although Winona's role as the former queen was very short and she was no longer young, she completely suppressed Natalie Portman, the protagonist's daughter character in terms of aura. After all, she is an old actress who has been acting for over ten years. In terms of pure acting skills, she can still perform well.
If she is used to act in this movie, then his movie can perform exceptionally well, provided that she can perform well. He doesn't know if she can use this movie to turn around, but he can definitely use her to make a good movie.
Just something to ponder.
"If Winona wants to make this movie, she can come to my movie audition directly... I'm not particularly eager to hand over the production rights of the movie to others, and the investment is not much. I still prefer to invest in it directly."
Levi still couldn't agree to give the movie to the actors.
"If you invest, when are you going to shoot? Your last film has been prepared since the beginning of the year, and it was not released until December. This film is considered to have a complex script. When are you going to start shooting? Are you planning to wait until after the Oscars if you're going to do it?" Bruce shrugged, "She wants to start early."
"Does she want to start building the studio now? Is she crazy?"
"Winona doesn't want to wait. If you are a director, you can be regarded as diligent if you shoot one movie a year, and you can be called a workaholic if you dare to produce three movies in three consecutive years. But Winona is a star, and a star needs to have a lot of exposure. There is no advertising fee or endorsement contract to accept if there is no exposure. She has already hit the market for three movies in a row, and the commercial value has dropped drastically. If there is no good work, she can only live by hype and gossip." In fact, hype gossip is also can earn exposure. There's nothing wrong with that - Levi said to himself. It's just that he also knows that Winona Ryder has always been known as a beautiful woman by the outside world. Once she starts to hype the scandal, she is consuming her own popularity. Such days will not last long.
"Actually, your script is not a script that can make money. How about producing it for her?"
"What I want is not money, but power. Bruce, I can't give the power of production to actors. How to use the lens, I have the final say. It is impossible for the actor or her agency to have the final say. in my movie."
Once an actor or a big company is the producer of a film, the director has no right to edit it himself. Compared with the editing by the film company, it is still for the sake of selling money, and the actor's editing is purely for himself. It is impossible for Levi to agree with this idea.
"Let's discuss it with her. If she is willing, let her audition. The film's producer must be me, but other things can be discussed if she passes the interview." Bruce wanted to say something else and opened his mouth several times but still didn't speak. He has been in the movie circle for a long time, and he also knows that some things are easy to discuss with people in this circle, while some things cannot be discussed at all.
It is enough to be able to make such a concession.
"I'll talk to Columbia and Winona. But you'd better think about it. Her suggestion is still very good."
Bruce's words confirmed Levi's conjecture. Sure enough, he and Winona Ryder are also connected. Since he is willing to contact himself for her, he let him go. This is Levi's party, and Levi has to greet other people.
However, about an hour later, Bruce found Levi again with some anxiety, "Nick, I have already contacted Winona, and she wants to talk to you." "Then let's talk about it." Levi was puzzled, "what are you in a hurry for?"
"No, you didn't understand: she said she was going to talk now. She didn't want to wait; she is right outside the door."
*****
Thanks and kudos for my patreons
Cherif Doghri
Adam LV
Danny York
Scott DePaepe
Dario Cameruccio
MMMCMXCIX, or 3,999
The Main Man.
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