"Mr. Levi, the hotel you are staying in has been prepared according to the American style of residence you are used to. Please forgive me for the hasty and poor preparation... If you have any special requirements, you can contact the hotel staff, or you can tell me directly."
Sitting in the hotel, looking at the interior decoration, Levi nodded slightly; he turned around and looked at the Japanese who had been chasing after him. He said gently, "Mr. Yamada, you don't have to be so polite; I'm an adult, and I still have a translator; if I really need anything, I can do it myself."
"Sorry, I don't have any contempt. If my behavior is inappropriate, please forgive me..."
"Mr. Yamada, you don't have to be so polite. I am not a difficult person to get along with. When I was in the United States, many people in the Columbia company and I have dealt with each other before; you are all in the same company; they should have told you this, right?"
Yamada had an embarrassed smile on his face, "Your easy-going shouldn't be a reason for us to be casual..."
"I don't think there's anything wrong with this." Levi stretched out his hand to signal Yamada to sit down, "Mr. Yamada, please sit down. I still have something to ask you."
Now that he has come to Japan, Levi naturally wants to find someone familiar with the local area. Help him introduce people from the Japanese film industry, game industry, and manga industry. He is unfamiliar with this place, so he has to rely on local talents to complete these tasks.
Levi had no acquaintances in Japan, but Columbia Corporation in the United States is a company under Sony. It would be the best way to contact people in Japan through Columbia.
And after coming to Japan, the arrangement of Sony can also be said to be very good - the food, accommodation, and recreational activities are all well-organized. However, they have been procrastinating and not showing enough help at work, which also dissatisfied Levi.
"If Mr. Levi has any questions, please feel free to ask. Whether it is food or travel, we have made sufficient arrangements."
"Those can be put aside for a while... When I came to Japan, the most important thing was to value Japanese culture and the film industry. I am a director, so it is better to focus on my own job. Isn't it?" Levi shook his head; what he paid attention to is still business.
His words made Yamada stiffen, and he smiled again and said, "Mr. Levi seems very interested in Japanese culture and movies. Do you have any opinions on Japanese movies?
If you want to meet a person in the film industry, I can arrange it. We still have contacts with several film companies in Japan. We can also talk to directors like Takeshi Kitano. Of course. If you appreciate, We can also invite any actor."
Levi just shook his head at such a question: He was here for business, not in the mood to fool around. And, compared to those directors and actors, he's focused on something else - there's no way Columbia doesn't know that he was talking nonsense to themselves.
"There is no need to meet the characters in the Japanese film industry. In recent years, Japan has been far inferior to the era of Akira Kurosawa. Some people say this is because the Japanese people's thinking is exhausted. I don't think so.
The Japanese manga industry is recognized by the whole world. The game industry is still developing. As for the movie industry, I believe modern movies require more technological content.
Even in Hollywood, when shooting some movies, we still lack support. Other places in Hollywood are unwilling to vigorously develop film technology, so naturally, they cannot make good movies, which is caused by the gap in technology. Before the technology of other countries develops to a certain level, only Hollywood can shoot these things..."
Yamada was silent. He didn't really want to talk about this issue, but Levi has been leading the topic in this direction. He found it difficult to divert the conversation no matter how he spoke, so he could only shut up.
"The main reason I came to Japan is to acquire some good scripts. I hope your company can help me contact game companies and cartoonists and consider acquiring the rights to adapt American movies of their works. I think this matter is not very difficult for Sony, is it?"
Seeing that he did not speak, Levi also picked up the topic: The Japanese are super respectful on the surface, but if you want them to cooperate, you can't do it without telling the truth.
"Mr. Levi, you said that you are very interested in some games and comics produced in Japan and think that they can be adapted into excellent movies. In fact, Sony has realized this for a long time. It's just that Sony has been worried about things for a long time.
There are only two issues, one is that the technology is immature, these stories cannot be fully portrayed and instead lose their essence, and the other is that many of these stories have unique Japanese culture. It is difficult for Americans to understand the cultural connotation of the film, and they will turn it into an American film, not a Japanese story."
Now that the purpose has been stated, Yamada has not concealed it. This time, he also directly expressed his attitude: he was not talking on behalf of himself but on behalf of Sony behind it.
In fact, the adaptation rights Levi wants to acquire are not all under the name of Sony, but after all, Sony is a big Japanese company and has great influence in Japan.
Moreover, there is another American film company under the name of Sony, Columbia, one of the Hollywood giants. They are giants with great influence on both sides. Anyone who wants to come to Japan to buy scripts has to say hello to Sony.
If we say that Disney's confidence lies in the animation film market and that they can hire six physics and mathematics teams for animation, then a large part of Columbia's confidence also comes from this private land in Japan.
Of course, the relationship between Columbia and Levi is pretty good, and they don't mind if Levi buys the copyright — anyway, Levi's company doesn't care about the distribution; they can discuss it with Levi, Levi shoots, they distribute the movie, they can still make money.
It's just that Columbia has been losing money crazily over the years, spending a lot of money to buy Japanese works and sending them to the United States to be adapted into movies. Not to mention losing money, if it has a negative impact on Japanese culture, it will affect their sales of records and games. All have associated losses.
They worry about cultural and technical issues, and these worries are not without reason. They needed better assurances from Levi that the movie wouldn't lose money.
Such a requirement was a bit harsh, but the result was not unexpected to Levi: this was Sony's turf, and it was a wonder they didn't want more. As long as they're willing to talk, everything will be fine.
"I understand your thoughts very well," although Sony's words were obviously evasive, Levi immediately agreed.
After all, Columbia is a giant-level company, and Sony is a giant and wants to do business in Japan. You can't break your face with them, "Cultural differences are the biggest hidden dangers that make it difficult for movies to capture the original flavor. Sometimes, a little difference can make people feel that there is a big difference. Reservation and forbearance are different from Westerners' aggressiveness and courage to explore. Different cultures are indeed likely to have problems, and I understand this..."
In fact, Levi does not think that the Japanese are wrong in doing this: they did not blindly please American culture, but it is something that Levi appreciates quite a bit.
He didn't want to cooperate because of this kind of worry. Still, Levi didn't think it was necessary: Compared with those scenes in some Japanese manga, the computer technology is indeed substandard, not to mention now, even ten years later, it will be very difficult.
It is difficult to show some scenes - the level of technology that requires scientific research can never catch up with imagination-based comics, which is inevitable.
And when it comes to Japanese culture... Cultural differences exist at any time, which is inevitable. Even if time passes, can cultural differences be smoothed out?
These things will always exist; the key is how to make the movie acceptable.
Levi's words surprised Yamada; he didn't expect that Levi was so easy to talk to: he came for these things; how could he give up so easily?
"I also thought that if I was asked to shoot Japanese culture, it might be challenging to shoot outstanding works. Therefore, I also thought about another way out: this time, I came to Japan; besides wanting to acquire Japanese scripts, I also hope to invite excellent directors to develop in the United States.
My Enigma company is not large but can still provide space for one or two directors to develop. If Japanese and American directors have more exchanges, if we can understand each other's cultures better and make Hollywood familiar with Japan, then it's not impossible to use American technology to shoot Japanese-style movies."
Levi's words made Yamada raise his head in astonishment. Introducing Japanese directors to Hollywood - such conditions were beyond Yamada's expectations.
Foreigners can't photograph Japanese culture now, so how about the Japanese? After letting the cultures of both sides fully understand the integration, is it feasible to shoot movies?
What Levi proposed is the most feasible method, and it is also a method that Colombia must consider.
*****
Thanks and kudos for my patreons
Cherif Doghri
Scott DePaepe
MMMCMXCIX, or 3,999
Britanna
Mandy G
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