Chapter 11: You are the director
"Are you sure you want to do this, Leah?"
Putting down his coffee cup, George Lucas broke the quiet atmosphere of the cafe with, "This is too risky!"
"I'm Duke's mother."
"I know how realistic Hollywood is," Leah Rosenberg said slowly, sipping her coffee. "If I don't help him, who else in the world will help him?"
She raised her eyes and looked at George Lucas, her black eyes were as calm as water, "I'm just doing what a mother will do."
"After you called me last night, I carefully studied the script."
After seeing his friend's firm attitude, George Lucas quickly regained his composure and said. "If the movie wants to produce the effect of the script, it will definitely require an investment of tens of millions of dollars. I watched Duke's video and he really has a lot of ideas. The fast and sharp editing is also very characteristic, but he is inexperienced!"
"George, give me an exact figure." Leah Rosenberg directly ignored George Lucas' last words, "How much money he will need in your estimation?"
George Lucas carefully observed his friend for a while before saying slowly, "If it's produced by Lucasfilm, the special effects will be completely handed over to Industrial Light and Magic. I estimate it will cost around 12 million US dollars. It can be done, but Duke is a rookie so the number is bound to increase to at least $15 million."
"I'm going to mortgage two properties one in Santa Monica and San Francisco as soon as possible." Leah had this idea when she first saw the script, and after weeks of deliberation, she made up her mind. At this time, she seemed to be Talking about trivial matters, "With some of my savings, I have no problem getting together $10 million, and I'll figure out what to do for the rest."
"Leah, you're taking a big gamble!" George Lucas reminded her.
"George, think back twenty years..."
Leah's eyes finally revealed a light as she said to George, "Think back twenty years to when we started our business. Do you remember the situation when shooting "Star Wars"? Ninety percent of people in Hollywood were saying you were a fool, and All the film critics in North America are scolding you for making rubbish, so what happened?"
Leah's eyes finally revealed a light as she said to George, "George, think back twenty years in the past to when we started our business. Do you remember the situation when shooting "Star Wars"? Ninety percent of people in Hollywood were saying you were a fool, and All the film critics in North America are scolding you for making trash, so what happened?"
Hearing his best friend mention his favorite thing, George Lucas couldn't help but smile, took a sip of coffee and said, "You have so much confidence in Duke?"
"no confidence."
Leah Rosenberg's words almost made George Lucas spit out his coffee. "But as a mother, I am willing to create a chance for him to succeed, even if he fails. I will just lose two properties and some money. I can bear this loss."
Seeing George Lucas nodding slowly, her voice gradually lowered, "George, we have known each other for 30 years, and I have never asked you to help me with anything, the production and distribution of the film..."
"These are all handed over to Lucas film."
Now that Leah has decided to take on most of the investment and said such solemn words, George Lucas is no longer persuaded her. He thought for a while, and said: "If they know I am interested in this script, those film funds are sure to pay for the rest of the investment..
It's easy for Hollywood bigwigs to do things like borrowing chickens to lay eggs and selling human feelings.
After reaching an agreement on the general direction, the two discussed some specific aspects. It was not until half a day later that they left the caf separately.
Duke didn't know anything about his mother's decision. Although he never gave up hope, he also clearly realized that the opportunity would not appear in a short time, and he had to find a suitable job to support himself.
He started contacting an assistant director of the "Captain Hook" crew. After Spielberg's crew experienced a financial crisis that led to a shutdown, but they finally got the investment needed and started filming in Universal Studios again. Duke wants to return to the crew to work, even if just as a temporary worker doing chores. It is a rare learning opportunity to be able to watch Hollywood's fastest film maker at work.
Most importantly, he must have a certain source of income, if he want to slowly wait and look for opportunities.
Duke thought about asking his mother to invest, but ultimately decided against it.
There is no mother who owes her children that much money in this world, and Mrs. Leah has also expressed that she is not optimistic about the script. He can't ask for more.
Even if his mother is willing to invest, without the support of a film company, it doesn't really matter much.
Forming a huge crew without the support of the film company is a complex problem. If the film is made, the distribution and release is also a huge problem.
In this huge industry, the distribution company is always at the top of the food chain. Duke would not be nave to think that the distribution company would spend millions of funds for the film just because he signed a contract with them. He would be foolish to think that the other party would make announcements and then share one-third or even half of the profits with him. The executives of the publishing company are not idiots.
Don't forget, he's a complete rookie, and no distribution company would invest such a large amount of money in a work of a rookie director, they're not in the philanthropic business!
Therefore, he needs the support of the production company or a well-known producers. And if the producer of the film is a large production company like Lucas film, some problems will be solved easily.