From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

Whoosh, whoosh, the wind swirled in the car, but no one spoke.

Everyone was lost in their own thoughts, trying to digest the information, then, Eric stealthily raised his head to size up Anson through the rearview mirror.

Unexpectedly, he was caught by Anson.

Anson, "What's wrong?"

Eric shook his head, revealing an awkward smile, "Nothing, I just simply feel that you are more suitable for the role of producer than both of us, seemingly complex things become simple in your hands."

The smile at the corner of Anson's mouth lifted slightly—

In his previous life, he had worked in various industries and tried different odd jobs, including film crews, knowing how to organize a framework and ideas from chaos, and how to solve problems according to priority, gradually becoming a habit, but he didn't expect it to come in handy now.

Indeed, as the saying goes, every road we walk shapes who we are now.

Eric chuckled twice, "I agree."

After a pause.

Eric realized that his words were too vague, so he added, "I agree with your suggestion, I have no problem with it."

After speaking, Eric was finally able to relax, took a bite of the burger, and revealed a satisfied expression, "Hmm, not bad!"

But Macky still seemed a little tense.

Macky quickly glanced at the rearview mirror, "Anson, can you guarantee it?"

Anson thought about it seriously, "No, I can't."

Macky: … …

Anson chuckled, "Macky, we are no longer innocent children, this is Hollywood, even things written in black and white can be overturned, so-called trust is just empty words."

"But, what should we do?"

"Trust your own judgment, go collide and try."

"Macky, I can't make promises, because this is also my first time as a producer, for God's sake, I'm not even twenty years old, okay?"

Pfft.

Eric choked.

"But, I found the script, I found you, and I sincerely hope to produce this work, to see it on the big screen."

"I thought my performance so far was the best promise."

"If you need it, of course, I can draw you a big cake now, hey, 100% no problem, but when you encounter problems next time, you will be disappointed, angry, and feel betrayed, which is not conducive to cooperation."

"So, I choose to be honest."

"Macky, I don't have to make this film, but I chose this film, it's that simple."

The words finally ended.

Macky couldn't help but raise his eyes again and glanced at the rearview mirror, revealing a sarcastic smile, "So, should we feel honored?"

Eric was a little anxious, "Macky!"

Here we go again, this guy's arrogance and prejudice are acting up again.

Anson didn't mind, his smile was even bigger, "Of course."

He actually admitted it just like that.

Eric was stunned.

Macky was also stunned, he looked at the rearview mirror for the third time, and immediately saw Anson's confident smile and bright eyes, and involuntarily, a smile also climbed onto his lips, "Indeed, it is our honor."

Eric: ? ? ?

What kind of ninety-degree U-turn drift is this?

Macky ignored Eric, "Then, I'll leave it to you next. Anson, I sincerely hope to produce a classic masterpiece, I have that confidence, and I am ready, just need a little help."

Anson gently raised his chin, "In that case, it will be my honor then."

Between the exchange of gazes, they finally found a tacit understanding.

Although the process was a bit difficult and bumpy, it was finally developing in the right direction, and Anson, Eric, and Macky completed their initial run-in.

Subsequent matters, everything went smoothly—

A ten million US dollar production cost, New Line Cinema does not interfere with the film's creation, Macky and Eric serve as directors, and also have the final editing rights; but New Line Cinema has the right to suggest, they will conduct internal screenings, Macky and Eric need to refer to the opinions, and then the two sides will have in-depth discussions.

And the final decision-making power?

Held in the hands of Anson and New Line Cinema, they need to convince each other and reach a consensus, this is New Line Cinema's bottom line, there is no room for negotiation.

20% box office split, of which Anson gets 10%, and Eric and Macky split 10% equally; correspondingly, none of the three people have additional salaries, the director, screenwriter, and male lead's fees are all saved and used as production costs.

There were some twists and turns, and some disagreements, but in the end, they reached a consensus, and "The Butterfly Effect" and New Line Cinema finally completed the signing.

Everything was faster than expected.

DreamWorks was one step late.

Steven Spielberg called Anson after he found out—

He didn't blame Anson, and didn't think that DreamWorks was a better choice, after all, New Line Cinema's distribution channels are an important advantage, which DreamWorks does not have; and DreamWorks itself is now short of cash, not necessarily more suitable than New Line Cinema.

Steven just gave Anson some advice, and told Anson that if he encountered any problems, he could call him at any time, and he would see if he could help.

This made Anson a little moved—

They had only collaborated on one work, a purely working relationship, but Steven was not stingy with his friendship, opening the door to a whole new world for Anson in the Vanity Fair.

After that, Tom Hanks also called to ask Anson if he needed any help.

"Being a producer is not as difficult as you think, the key is not to pretend to understand when you don't, you should trust the professionalism and authority of each position."

Tom chatted with Anson eloquently, which did give Anson a lot of inspiration.

It wasn't until now that Anson slowly had a sense of reality, that he was about to take an important step, going further on the basis of being an actor.

However, becoming a producer is not to gain more power or earn more income—of course, this is also very important; but the key is to win more say for the actors, allowing actors to make more challenges.

Soon, the film production entered the next step, a step that Anson couldn't help with—

On the one hand, Eric and Macky began to choose locations for filming the film.

Obviously, they can't film in big cities like Los Angeles or New York, the expensive cost is a problem that cannot be ignored, and the scheduling arrangement needs to depend on other people's expressions is another problem.

Fortunately, "The Butterfly Effect" story itself does not have strict requirements for the city, the two directors only need to find a suitable city.

Their first stop was Atlanta.

The reason is very simple, the state of Georgia, in order to boost the economy, they have formulated some policies, such as tax cuts, such as convenient procedures for renting streets or buildings for filming, etc., the requirement is that the crew needs to hire local staff, which can save a lot of costs, welcoming film crews to work in Georgia.

But now, everything is in the initial stage, and the internal operation of Georgia is still being explored, and it is uncertain how the implementation will be, it is not uncommon for them to say one thing and do another, so the two directors still need to go and investigate in person.

On the other hand, the crew officially began casting work in Hollywood.

In the previous life, "The Butterfly Effect" had a series of actors, and Anson also had an impression; but these actors' later careers failed to open up the situation, they were not famous names.

Moreover, since this is now a brand new project, Anson believes that choosing brand new actors is not a bad thing.

So, he didn't deliberately pursue the original cast, but left it to fate.