Hollywood New Century

In the car from Xinghai Entertainment to the airport, Simon reminded: "Martha, in the second half of the year, you will focus on the situation of those publishers, and let me know if there is any news."

"OK!"

"Not only that, but the independent distributors under the blockbuster studios should also pay attention," Simon continued. Who said that these blockbusters would not sell their assets at that time?

"Okay, I will pay attention. I will pay attention to the blockbusters released this year. Generally, independent filmmakers can't bear large losses. Then there will be opportunities," Martha Cosby can think of the opportunity. After all, there are already many examples.

Simon nodded, and another assistant in front, Laura Collins, reminded: "We're at the airport!"

Simon is now on the set of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Martha Cosby watched Simon Parker and Laura Collins enter the airport lobby together before turning back. Obviously they entered the company together to be the boss's assistant. Laura Collins can always follow the boss and always stay behind.

Louisiana is located in the southern part of the United States near the Gulf of Mexico and borders Texas. New Orleans is a seaport city in southern Louisiana.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so bad in 2005 with Hurricane Katrina.

"Laura, isn't the population of the New Orleans area much reduced now?" Simon asked, leaning back in the cabin chair.

"Yes, Louisiana was originally one of the strongholds of the original southern slave owners. The number of black people is very large, second only to Mississippi next door, and the number of African black descendants in the New Orleans area before the hurricane accounted for the total number of black people in the area. The population is about 23, and now many rich whites have left, the number of blacks in the New Orleans area is more than 80%, and other races, the number of whites is very small!" Laura Collins responded.

"How is the law and order now, at least it won't be in anarchy like last year for a certain period of time, right?" Simon has never given up hope for law and order in the United States, especially in places where black people gather in large numbers.

"It's much better. The National Guard was dispatched to maintain it, and the government's successive mobilization of disaster relief materials has eased security a lot. Our studio is not in downtown New Orleans, so it won't have any impact," Laura Collins felt. The boss is less worried about the security on the set.

"Alas, this country is helpless, there are shootings, looting, and all kinds of messy parades every day," Simon continued with a casual look on his face:

"We are fighting outside every day. In this situation at home, those idiots in the White House should really be sent to the gallows!"

"Hee hee, boss, will the Democratic Party be in power in the presidential election next year. Now the three candidates in the Democratic Party have the highest support rate, Hillary has more than half of the support, John Edwards also has 25% support, and the black Senate *** also has more than 20% support. %, next year's presidential primaries, it's up to them who can become the Democratic presidential candidate!" Laura Collins laughed,

"Boss, who do you support?"

"Me? I'm not very interested in this, but according to the current situation, Hillary has the best chance of winning. As for John Edwards, there should be no hope. He is black, he can win almost all black voters. And the support of most other racial voters, and most importantly, *** will make a show," Simon smiled:

"Young and eloquent, you can see the image on the propaganda film and his various slogans at the grassroots level. It's like **** preaching. Those hot voters are his followers!"

"Hillary Clinton has the political resources of Clinton, but does not pay attention to voters at the grassroots level. Don't American voters like to elect people with little qualifications as president?"

"Boss, are you supporting black ***?" Laura Collins said.

"Let's do it, support him when the time comes. Didn't Harvey Weinstein even invite Hillary to the movie premiere? When "No Country for Old Men" is released, we'll invite *** to participate, help. He raised funds for the election. "Although Simon has no interest in who is the president of the United States, this kind of political contribution should still be done. When can business be separated from politics?

Don't say anything else, just to be a member of the MPAA Association is not enough to cross the threshold of politics.

On the outskirts of downtown New Orleans, Simon and director David Fincher are arguing on a location for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."

"Simon, really, we'd better go to Chicago for the location, which is very suitable for the next scene," David Fincher kept talking.

"David, the movie's budget is 150 million US dollars. We have satisfied all the scenes you want to build. New Orleans gave us tax rebates, so we came here to build. If these two shots go to Chicago. , we will spend more than 2 million US dollars," Simon is also tireless,

"If the cost is too high now, can you save the special effects in the later stage?"

"David, there is no difference between New Orleans and Chicago. Anyway, we built them ourselves. They are both port cities. Do you need any location?"

"It's all French architecture here, and it's too deeply influenced by France," David Fincher sighed.

"That's the LC area, and the XC area also has many modern buildings. The legal languages ​​of Louisiana are both English and French, and this area is deeply influenced by French culture," Simon advised.

"Anyway, here and Chicago are both America's Sin City, and there are enough similarities!"

David Fincher had no choice but to leave the office in the end, and Simon shook his head when he looked at the guy's Beiying.

There are too many real shots, and I don’t know how much the scene cost. I still have to go to Chicago to shoot for a month. Isn’t that terrible?

Jim Davidson, one of the producers, said with a smile: "Simon, I told David that it would be good to shoot in the New Orleans area. Anyway, it is a scene in the 1920s and 1930s, and it needs to be rebuilt everywhere!"

"Hehe, the director is like this. He never has much money. Even if he has a budget of 200 million U.S. dollars, he will directly spend it. For 150 million U.S. dollars, Warner Bros. and Paramount will not increase it any more. It cannot be saved in the later stage. New Orleans area The tax refund policy is very important to us," Simon said, taking a sip of the coffee in his hand,

"Director, you still need to limit yourself. If you let yourself go, unless it's a literary drama like James Cameron, it's better to save some money!"

Jim Davidson also echoed and smiled. No producer likes to spend a lot of money on a director!