Made in Hollywood

This is a market that attaches great importance to copyright, but many people's copyright awareness is not as high as rumored, including some academy judges. In the past, the pirated leaks of Oscar movies in the past were all related to the judges' copyright awareness. It does matter, in Duke's view, this time is probably no exception.

Most typically, the Oscar judges are not alone. They have relatives, friends, neighbors and colleagues. If these people saw the relevant DVDs in their homes and asked to lend them, I believe many of them would not refuse.

They don't understand that what they're doing is 'theft', they're lending DVDs to their neighbors, and the neighbor's kids might put the resource online...

Once the DVD leaves their hands, they have no idea what's going to happen next.

After all, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a relatively loose system, not a tight organization like the FBI or the CIA.

It is no exaggeration to say that every year when the awards season comes, it is the time when the resources of the most popular movies in the awards season will flow out in advance. When many movies start to be released in a small range in North America in the middle and late December, the DVDScreener versions of the movies are already flying all over the Internet. .

Although a considerable number of people in the circle do not think that a person who will watch pirated movies is someone who is willing to buy tickets to go to the movies, and those who plan to watch pirated movies are probably not people who would pay to watch movies in the first place, but this will affect everyone. The actual income of the film is an indisputable fact.

This phenomenon has been happening for many years, but neither the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nor the MPAA has come up with a good solution.

"Actually, there is no good solution..."

On the driving car, Duke and Scarlett, who was sitting next to him, talked about this matter, "Unless most of the judges of the academy can walk into the theater on their own initiative."

Scarlett pouted, "But it's obviously impossible."

I want the judges of the academy to cast their votes responsibly. The difficulty was too great, let alone Duke and Scarlett, even the executive committee of the academy knew that it was impossible to do this.

Just like Duke, while mailing the DVDScreener version of "Gravity", he also held two large pull-up sessions. Many college judges were invited, but quite a few of them did not show up. Among other things, age alone is a difficult problem to solve. After all, some judges are too old, and no one can expect them to spend so much time and money. energy to participate in such an event.

"By the way. I just read a message in the newspaper."

Seemingly thinking of something, Scarlett reminded Duke, "Recently, many media have been hyping the news that Natalie Portman is pregnant."

She couldn't help admiring, "She's really smart!"

Duke patted Scarlett's hand lightly, "Smart people may not have the last laugh."

News about Natalie Portman's pregnancy. It was passed on to him a long time ago, and Duke also remembered the Natalie Portman who once stepped onto the Oscar stage and won the Best Actress statuette. At that time, he was just doing it for his favorite movie star. I was happy after winning the Oscar, but I didn't think about the pregnancy behind it at all. There may also be a well-thought-out PR plan.

Even now, Duke has to sigh with emotion. This is definitely a killer feature for Oscar.

Frankly speaking, the movie "Black Swan" and Natalie Portman's role as a schizophrenic are very good, especially in line with the mainstream aesthetic of the academy. Coupled with the extra points that a pregnant woman will inevitably bring, even Duke felt that Natalie Portman should really be the number one favorite for Best Actress in this year's Oscars.

The number one favorite may not be able to win the award. There are too many factors that affect the final Oscar award.

But Duke still admires Natalie Portman very much. She is too good at using her mind, identity and all available situations.

The car drove into Beverly Hills, and Duke reminded Scarlett, "We'll be there soon."

Scarlett opened the makeup mirror on the roof of the car to see if she needed to touch up her makeup.

The two of them are going to participate in a video conference, which has nothing to do with "Gravity", but a video conference organized by the Weinstein brothers for "The King's Speech". The news about this film has been raging recently. There is so much news about online piracy, and it's not hard for someone like Duke to see that Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein obviously wanted to use it to build momentum for the film after they saw the piracy happening.

The negative effects of online piracy cannot be completely eliminated. Using these industry-focused news to hype "The King's Speech" so that the film becomes more famous and further attracts the attention of the judges is also a very clever propaganda technique.

Duke accepted the invitation of Harvey Weinstein. He joined the Oscar game this year. The other party naturally wanted to test it in some aspects, although the relationship between Duke and the core judges of the academy can only be described as mediocre. , but he is also a representative of a major force in Hollywood, and no one can ignore his weight.

Before the video conference started, Duke and the Weinstein brothers had a brief conversation. Now is not the time to talk in-depth. The meaning of the brothers’ temptation is obvious, and some things are not difficult to guess, Harvey Wayne Stan and Bob Weinstein want to see which awards Duke is planning to compete for. The Jewish brothers are definitely well-informed figures in Hollywood. They know that Duke himself is not very interested in Oscars. Reaching an agreement on some aspects is beneficial to both parties.

After making an appointment with the Weinstein brothers to talk about the movie, Duke walked into the hotel's specially prepared screening room with Scarlett on his arm to watch "The King's Speech".

In the previous Oscar registration, Warner Bros. declared the best picture for the three films "Inception", "Gravity" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", only in terms of subject matter or content of the film , "The King's Speech" obviously has the temperament of the best picture.

It is no secret that Oscar favors inspirational films. The theme of "The King's Speech" is destined to be a work that will be popular with Oscars. Movies about the serious subjects of the British royal family often gain good reputation and win various awards. From "Elizabeth This is the case from "The Queen" to "The Queen". Even "Elizabeth 2: The Golden Age", which has a poor reputation, can still win the best costume design award at the Oscars to support the facade.

The production level of "The King's Speech" itself is absolutely excellent. It is a typical Weinstein Oscar assembly line work. Coupled with the good impression of "The Queen" in the hearts of the academy judges, it has become the best picture in this year's Oscar. Popularity is a natural thing.

In a way, this is also a regular movie, but a regular movie has an advantage in the awards season.

Just like a good movie is not necessarily a big hit, a good movie may not be recognized by an Oscar.

The most typical ones are "Forrest Gump" and "The Shawshank Redemption". Even now, many people think that without "Forrest Gump", "The Shawshank Redemption" will definitely become the biggest Oscar of that year. winner.

There is no doubt that "The Shawshank Redemption" is a good movie, but without "Forrest Gump", it would not be the winner of that Oscar, even if it is thrown into the "Shakespeare in Love" session, "The Shawshank Redemption" will still be Oscar's companion.

Just like the theme of "The King's Speech", it will naturally be favored by Oscars, and the prison theme of "Shawshank's Redemption" has never been the type that the academy really likes.

What's more, there are too many factors that can affect the results of Oscar awards, and sometimes the weight of the movie itself is so light that it can be ignored.

For example, in the last Oscar, James Cameron and "Avatar" lost completely to Catherine Bigelow and "The Hurt Locker", which was a typical political victory.

In recent years, the influence of politics on the Oscars has become more and more obvious. Politics has never been far away from Hollywood, and "The King's Speech" is also a typical political film. The protagonist in the film is the current owner of Buckingham Palace. stuttering father.

I don’t know if it’s due to public relations, or the fake news released by the Weinstein brothers. Recently, some media have also reported that Queen Elizabeth II likes the film "The King's Speech" very much...

"I did send a copy to Buckingham Palace..."

In a lounge, Harvey Weinstein said to Duke seemingly frankly, "It is said that the Queen herself has seen the film and nodded her approval."

Duke is very clear that it doesn't really matter whether the Queen herself likes the film or not. Queen Elizabeth II is silent most of the time, and the film reflects a past event that his father is most proud of. Buckingham Palace will not easily refute this point of view.

Duke lightly tapped the armrest of the sofa, and said to Harvey Weinstein on the left, "I also think this movie is very good."

"Really?" Harvey Weinstein showed a slightly surprised expression just right, "There are not many films that can be approved by you."

"Harvey..." Duke didn't bother to go around in circles with him, and asked directly, "Which awards are you planning for "The King's Speech"?"

Harvey Weinstein put away his smile and said seriously, "Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, these are the three most important awards!"

He was able to invite Duke, because he had figured out what Duke wanted. There was no major conflict of interest between the two parties, otherwise this meeting would only be reduced to a joke.

Duke was silent for a while, Harvey Weinstein thought for a while, and asked tentatively, "On the Internet, your "Inception" is very popular."

"Oh?" Duke turned his head and raised his eyebrows slightly. Harvey Weinstein said again, "The storyline of "Inception" is unparalleled."

"Stop kidding, Harvey." Duke couldn't help shaking his head, "We all know that Oscar has never been interested in a good story." (To be continued~^~)

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