Levi didn't expect that Winona had already thought about these things before coming here. What surprised him even more was that the actor she found was Christian Bale; of course, Levi had heard of this actor.
"His girlfriend Sandra is my personal assistant." Winona also explained how they met, "We met when we were filming 'Little Women' together. He is a very good actor, works hard in filming, and is a very nice person."
Winona opened the door and pointed to the party outside with a bit of pride and shrewdness. Outside the door, her team of assistants was still standing there, and Bale's girlfriend was among those people.
What Winona said surprised Levi a bit, but it was really unpredictable. Bale and Winona still had a friendship. But that's definitely not a bad thing. Letting Bale play the leading role in this movie would be appropriate.
The male protagonist in this movie is not required to be exceptionally handsome but to have strong personal characteristics. Bale is very expressive when acting and can play various people with outstanding characteristics. It is absolutely possible to let him play the leading actor.
Moreover, Levi also thought of another thing: Bale, an actor, has a very prominent feature: he is the kind of golden supporting role; when acting, it is easy to highlight the people who perform with him and actors of similar level. When co-starring, it is easy to make other people's roles more prominent. Levi has seen this kind of characteristic in Nicolas Cage - whether it is changing his face or bravely entering the deadly island, he has this issue, and Bale is similar. In Levi's memory, this is the ability to bring the clown to life with such acting characteristics. It's no wonder that Winona asked him to play with her.
But regardless of whether Winona has selfish intentions or not, in short, she has indeed considered a lot for the movie.
"Since you have thought about the film in detail, I am relieved." Levi nodded. The rest of the matter can be discussed in detail, but those are not what needs to be done today, "I may be busy during the day, so please leave everything to me regarding this matter. Alexander will be responsible for the film's share and investment."
"Then I'll let Jason talk to him." Winona nodded as well, and she also didn't want to talk about money. Although she is not an actor who treats money like dirt, as a star, she doesn't like to discuss money issues very much.
On the other hand, this temper also made Levi appreciate: the actors needed for this movie should be a little naive.
"Since it's all been discussed, I still have a question: We hope to mention Winona and the protagonist who received your new movie in the publicity - is this possible?" Since there were no other questions after that, Jason spoke again.
Others can have no problems, but he can't. Jason could see that Winona and Levi had negotiated and settled the matter this way, and he was slightly dissatisfied. As an agent, he still hoped that he could talk about the money first and then the cooperation so that the actors and directors could finalize the partnership. It would be much more troublesome for him to talk about work.
Therefore, he also wants to try it out immediately to see what Levi's attitude towards this movie is: Now that the shooting of the movie has been discussed and decided, Winona also needs to use new publicity for packaging herself up. Having made several bad films in a row, Winona is now in deep trouble. If she can announce her cooperation with a popular Oscar director at this time, it will be good news for her image.
Levi can understand this, and he also knows that as a star, it is difficult to say that she is very at ease every time she cooperates with a big director. He has worked with Spacey before, but he does not value money very much, nor does he care about personal image very much. An actor like Winona is different from Spacey. If he wants to cooperate with her, just talking about a simple salary is impossible. He needs to give her more confidence.
"Of course, you can announce it to the public and use this publicity. Not only can you publicize it like this, but I will also publicize it like this."
This situation made Levi make a decision immediately. After saying this, he had already opened the door and walked out. He walked to the middle of the party, stopped the music, and said loudly, "Guys, I have something here to announce. I think some of us already know. I'm working on a new movie and am delighted to have Miss Winona Ryder in the lead role. I believe she can perform well in this movie and perform a classic role. I also hope there are still people in our crew who can continue cooperating with me. Because it is very pleasant to cooperate with you, and I cherish our cooperation very much."
After saying this, he scanned the crowd, and Levi also saw people's excitement and a little discussion in the crowd. He knew that announcing the shooting of the next film in the days when the film was just released was a bit too rushed in the eyes of many people: Levi is a director and not a commercial film director, and as such, too hasty filming is not a good thing.
Levi knew that he needed to talk to them about other things.
"Guys, we made 20 million on this movie - I know you all worked hard enough for this movie, each of us worked hard, so I'll take 10 million dollars out of it as a bonus for everyone!"
After Levi finished speaking, the entire venue was silent. Everyone looked back at Levi, and everyone felt incredible about his decision.
A film with an investment of only 20 million dollars, after earning 40 million dollars, immediately handed out 10 million dollars as a bonus?
This sentence changed the investment from 20 million to 30 million. In this world, there is such a boss?
"Long live, Levi!"
After a brief silence, a violent roar erupted directly in the venue. Levi's words doubled their income. Compared with box office sales and word-of-mouth praise, this is the most worthy of celebration.
"10 million, he is really willing." Jason, who was standing next to Winona, was also muttering with laughter at this time. There was a slight look of reluctance on his face, but at the same time, he also had some admiration for Levi.
Of course, Jason knew very well that taking out 10 million in one go to reward the entire crew would have a great effect on the crew. After a film with a total investment of only 20 million, the amount of bonuses reach half of the investment after it is successful. As long as this kind of producer's work style is spread, people will definitely praise his generosity. He is willing to give one-third of a movie's income to others, and this person is making a movie for the first time, and a small director who doesn't invest much himself has such courage, which is definitely called generosity.
Jason understood Levi's thoughts: With such a reputation if you make a movie in the future, are you afraid that the crew will not work hard? Work for a generous boss, get a good movie, and get a big bonus—who wouldn't like this kind of thing?
Jason has heard about the deeds of some other directors, and he knows that as a great director, he has his own way of establishing authority. Rumor has it that when James Cameron was filming Alien, because the requirements were too strict and the crew rioted, he had to speak to appease them, but when the filming was over, he immediately called everyone together and told me loudly: I will be a great director, and you are doomed to be worthless. For tyrants, what they need is obedience, not respect.
But Levi's method is different. He just acts as a boy who spreads money. This time, if he spreads the money, everyone will be willing to work with him next time.
From the collaborator's point of view, Jason felt sorry for Levi. But after thinking about it, Levi is so willing to spend money, which is of great benefit to the production of his own movie. Even if he knew in his heart that such an approach was for himself, Jason was also very satisfied in his heart: being able to take out 10 million US dollars as a bonus, even if it was a show, was very convincing.
Jason knew that Levi was not short of money. Although the income from TV series was not as crazy as that of movies, it was pretty stable. He was sure that Levi was definitely not short of money.
In the beginning, Jason worried whether Levi would be a stingy person - he had seen many directors with great personalities. When some people made movies, they used their relatives as accountants and actors' food must be the cheapest standard, and they have done too much for money. He doesn't have much confidence in working with such a director.
But now it seems that he doesn't have to worry about it.
His relaxed expression also fell into Levi's eyes.
After the success of the film, rewarding the actors is something that many film companies will do. But this time, what Levi did was raise the reward funds very high. It can be said that Winona Ryder came at the right time. She witnessed what he did. After this time, his reputation will be established quickly. He spent 10 million to buy a good reputation, which can make more people enjoy working with him. This deal is definitely worth it!
*****
Thanks and kudos for my patreons
Cherif Doghri
Adam LV
Danny York
Scott DePaepe
Dario Cameruccio
MMMCMXCIX, or 3,999
The Main Man.
You can read advanced chapters on my Patreon account: https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.