Nico Powers came back to report that the situation in Songzhu Film is worrying. With such news, the group of people at DreamWorks were anxious. Although I was mentally prepared for this, I was still unwilling to accept it.

However, if you are unwilling to give up, the matter still needs to be handled. To this day, the company's total assets have reached nearly 40 million US dollars. In addition, the influence of Songzhu Film in the entire Asia cannot be underestimated. The principle of justice that the film company adheres to has won the recognition and love of people from all over the world, including the citizens of Japan. Therefore, whether in terms of economic benefits or influence, it is impossible to abandon Songzhu Film. But if you don't think of a way, Songzhu Film will probably be attacked by the right-wing forces of Japan sooner or later.

For DreamWorks, the importance of pine and bamboo films is obvious, so it is impossible not to save them.

And the question now is, how to save it?

When I said that the pine and bamboo films were not suitable, the group of people started to scream.

"Boss, you don't do it in Japan, where do you do it?" Stiller asked with his eyes wide open.

"There are naturally other places besides Japan." I became fascinated by my eyes, then lit a cigarette, thought carefully for a while, and turned to Nico. Bowers and said, "Bowers, what do you think if you transfer the pine bamboo film to Hong Kong?"

"Transfer to Hong Kong?!" Nico Powers was a little unbelievable that the situation was very chaotic, and it would be sooner or later for those right-wing elements to come to power. If the Songzhu Film was not transferred as soon as possible, you know more than me what the consequences would happen."

"But the boss, Songzhu Film is a Japanese film company after all. If you leave Japan and move to Hong Kong, it will definitely bring a lot of unchanging to the company. At least, the filming and personnel selection are all facing difficulties. Besides, the films produced must return to Japan." Nico Powers raised a difficult question.

I didn't expect this problem.

"Bowers. Your question is very good. If Songzhu Film is transferred to Hong Kong, there will definitely be difficulties. After all, Hong Kong is not Japan. A Japanese film company leaves Japan, it will definitely be like plants and trees leaving the land. However, although the filming and other businesses of film companies are affected, it will not make the film unable to be filmed. The film company has taken root in Hong Kong, and the crew can still shoot in Japan. The films shot can also be transported to Japan through various channels. This is better than staying in Japan at the headquarters of Songzhu Film and worrying about being afraid all day long. Moreover, this is the only way at present." My words made Nico Powers have to nod.

"Actually, I'm still worried. What's most worrying is whether the outstanding talents in Songzhu Film will follow the film company to Hong Kong." I let out a long sigh.

A film company can have no venues. It doesn’t matter if the equipment is short, but talents cannot be left out. For a film company, excellent talents are equal to the soul of the film company. Without the soul, the film company’s hardware is powerful and it is destined to have no future.

The reason why Matsutake Movie has developed to this current situation is, on the one hand, it has a great relationship with the company's strong financial support. On the other hand, it is also the most important aspect, because Matsutake Movie has a group of Japanese film talents led by Yasujiro Ozu, Kenji Mizuguchi, Daisuke Ito. These people are all masters in the history of Japanese films and even the history of world films. Their movies are works of art and daggers stabbing into the darkness!

If Songzhu Film was moved to Hong Kong, would these people choose to leave their hometowns and follow them?

I don't think so. Ozu and Mizuguchi are all very attached to Japanese culture. It is basically very likely to let them leave the land they love to go to Hong Kong. If they are not in Hong Kong, the Songzhu Film will almost just transfer an empty shell. This result is not what I want, and it is obviously futile.

"Boss, you're right. It's really unlikely that the people in the company will be transferred to Hong Kong." As the boss of Songzhu Film, Nico Powers, is very familiar with the company's situation.

"It depends on your methods. No matter what method you use, you have to get them to Hong Kong with the company." I patted Nico Powers on the shoulder, which gave him a difficult task.

"By the way, Galaxy Film Company is developing very well now. I think the theme of the movies you shoot should be relaxed." I changed the topic.

When talking about Galaxy Films, Nico Powers' face suddenly showed a relaxed expression.

"This is no problem. In fact, this year the company's senior management has formulated dozens of shooting plans, and there is no problem in the expansion of the subject matter." Nico Powers was full of confidence.

"Then I'll feel at ease. Bowles, just go and do it with peace of mind." I turned around with a smile.

Nico Powers did not stay in Los Angeles for many days. After completing his mission, he rushed back to Japan without stopping. What was waiting for him would be an extremely difficult task.

In the first few days in April, Griffith and Stiller and I led the Gladiator crew to shoot some small films in Los Angeles. These scenes are very trivial, and some are empty.

Griffith and others thought that in the first few days of the movie, I would first get the crew together, and after the crew got on the normal track, I would start shooting those big scenes.

After a few days, I was very satisfied with the crew. Especially the actor, Gary Cooper, who was the starring actor, won praise for his personality in front of the camera, and the most surprising thing was Ronald Reagan, a guy who had never acted in a movie and had no experience in actors, conquered everyone with his efforts and talent, including Griffith, who had previously doubted his abilities.

"Boss, you're pretty good at it. Ronald will definitely become a Hollywood star in the future." Griffith said this to me, his tone was very certain.

"He has a potential, not just a Hollywood star." I smiled with the guide.

After a few days of grinding and grinding in Los Angeles, the crew moved to Canada according to the original plan.

At the beginning of the movie, it was a war scene between the Roman army and the Germans. In this series of scenes, many clues of the story began to unfold. This is the first important part of the entire movie of "Gladiator", which accounts for one-sixth of the film's length, and its importance is self-evident.

The scene was filmed. I chose to be in a mountainous area near Toronto. The geographical environment here is almost exactly the same as in Europe. The peaks and vast forests on my face made me very satisfied. In order to choose this outdoor scene, Stiller drove a plane to almost run the entire southern part of Canada.

This place is not far from London City, the location where "Brave Heart", so the people in the crew, including me, are in a very good mood. The local government is very supportive of our filming work. The local mayor personally directed the people to separate a forest as I asked and isolated it from the surrounding forests. In this forest, a tragic war will break out, not only bloody battles, but also overwhelming fires. So after the movie is finished, this forest may become a piece of ashes.

"The forest disappears and will grow out of the ashes in a few years." When I told the local mayor that this forest would be destroyed in the movie, the mayor was very free and easy.

Actually, he was right. The forests here are covered with the sky and just a sensation of rain can make them come out from the ground again.

In addition to supporting the crew on the outdoor site, the local government also provided us with great assistance in other aspects. They not only helped the crew build some outdoor site, but also solicited local people to act as extras, and those local people are very supportive of our shooting work.

In this way, after continuous preparation, the film finally officially started.

In an instant, the originally quiet forest became a battlefield with constant shouts. Gary Cooper, Ronald Reagan, Mubini and others put on ancient Roman costumes, turned into generals and emperors, and more ordinary people became Roman soldiers, or German barbarians. Roman flags fluttered over the forest, and horns echoed in the woodland. Battles took place on the forest peaceful ground, with swords and swords, blood splattering, and fires covered the sky. The originally beautiful woodland immediately turned into a hell of death.

In addition to the shooting of war dramas, another part of the local dramas is literary dramas. These dramas are mainly completed by Gary Cooper, Ronald Reagan, Mubini and Katherine Hepburn.

The Roman Emperor O'Learydos fought the last crusade war he led in the twilight years, which was the last battle against the German barbarians. During the battle, his brave and warlike general Maximus led his soldiers to a great victory. He was upright and loved and respected by the soldiers. He was attracted by O'Learydos, and the old emperor decided to pass the throne to him.

On the other side, when Maximus led the Roman army to victory, Oleridos's son, Cammodos, who was originally the crown prince, also came to the battlefield with his sister Monia. Cammodos knew that his father had not had much time, so he came to the battlefield, obviously to take over his father's throne.

The old emperor O'Learydos knew his son very well, and knew that his son was very jealous and extremely greedy for power. O'Learydos, who had fought for his whole life, believed that he had brought honor to the Romans, but also death. He was a little tired of it. He hoped that his successor was a peaceful man who could bring peace to the Romans.

The old emperor first told Maximus that he would pass it to him. Then he told Kamurdos the news.

When he heard that his father had shattered his dream as saying to Maximus, Kamurdos strangled his father to death in his arms, and then he declared his ascension to the throne. Naturally, the upright Maximus could not be loyal to Kamurdos. Kamurdos sent someone to arrest Maximus and asked someone to escort him to the distance to execute him.

Maximus was lucky that he killed the soldiers who were escorting him while he was escorted and ran away.

This is the plot that happened in the first outdoor location. It sounds simple, but it is quite complicated to shoot. For the crew, there are many difficulties. But there are two most troublesome aspects.

The first is the scene related to the war. Such scenes are also the most troublesome problem for all those who shoot movies of this type. When the scene is big, the person who is shooting must have the ability to schedule orgasm scenes, and so many people have to follow the overall arrangements to engage in a massive war, charge, melee, group fight, single fight, and various shots interspersed together. Various scenes are used alternately, and even large lifts and aircraft are used to take aerial photos. The difficulty can be imagined.

For us, shooting such scenes is obviously quite experienced. These experiences have been accumulated from filming such as "Brave Heart" and "Dancing with Wolves". In addition, Griffith himself has experienced this for decades, so despite encountering endless problems, it was still quite smooth overall.

However, many things happened during the shooting process. Because the forest is too large, the terrain is complex, and the local climate changes rapidly, danger arises when shooting some shots. In the film, there are quite a few scenes of fighting in the fire. It is said that water and fire are ruthless. Once the fire is lit, it is quite difficult to control, especially in this place, strong winds are often blowing, and the fire takes advantage of the wind and burns suddenly, which is difficult to control.

Although the crew and local governments had anticipated this problem before the filming and isolated the forest from the surrounding trees, many fires still occurred. During the fire, many people who acted as extras were burned. During a fire, some of the crew's equipment was also turned into ashes, and some of the cameras forced Stiller to call the DreamWorks headquarters to transport some equipment and cameras.

During the filming process, it is common for actors to be injured. Among the injured people, Gary Cooper Maximus, who starred in the film, is a general like a war god in the whole movie. He not only commands thousands of troops, but also fights with the enemy in person. In order to reflect the real scene, the weapons used by the actors are real, which increases the danger. During the filming process, Gary Cooper and some extras were injured under the weapons. When Gary Cooper was filming the cavalry charge, he also carefully fell off the horse and broke his arm. This brought huge difficulties to the crew. But fortunately, after receiving treatment, Gary Cooper could barely film the film, but did not fall completely.

In addition to the war scenes, there are also great filming difficulties, including the local literary drama between Gary Cooper, Ronald Reagan, Mubini and Catherine Hepburn. Compared with the vast and fierce war scenes, literary drama may be easier for directors and shooters, but it is a big challenge for actors.

Among these four people, Mubini is a powerful assault actor, and he doesn't have to worry about it at all. Catherine Hepburn doesn't need to give any more instructions, but Gary Cooper and Ronald Reagan have signed a contract, so when acting in the opposite scene, the cooperation between the four people will sometimes break, and at this time, it needs to be reshooted over and over again.

Fortunately, they have a high level of understanding. After repeated shooting several times, they can basically understand what I mean, and I am very satisfied with the filming of the local scene.

The war drama of "Gladiator" was filmed from early April to mid-April. For nearly half a month, the entire crew was like a clockwork engine tightly running, running at full speed. In order to save time in shooting, the crew implemented three teams of shooting at the same time. In addition to me, Griffith and Stiller each led a shooting team to shoot independently. After the shooting every day, the film was immediately washed out, and then the three of them gathered together to summarize. If they were satisfied with the film, they would stay. If they were not satisfied, they would shoot again the next day.

This shooting method is the original creation of DreamWorks, which greatly saves shooting time and provides convenient conditions for future editing work.

And in the past half a month, some news has continued to spread to the crew.

The first news is about the plane tycoon Howard Hughes. Now, in Hollywood, his title is the boss of the New Line Film Company. Not long after the New Line Film Company was established, their boss almost died.

Howard Hughes almost lost his life in a shooting. Others may be shocked by this news, but for me, it would be strange if Howard Hughes didn't have such a situation.

While filming "Hell Angel", this guy personally drove the plane to film difficult movements, but the plane fell in the air and exploded violently. Although Howard Hughes himself escaped from the cockpit and saved his life, his body had an extra fracture. It is estimated that it would be impossible to stand up after a few months of rest.

This news made Howard Hughes win great recognition and praise from the people, and also made the movie "Hell Angel" even more eye-catching.

If the first news makes people feel that it is still fun, then the second news will make me unhappy.

During the filming of "Gladiator", Hollywood was extremely lively, and various news flocked to it during the course of the past half month. Some of these news were interesting news. Some were touching, and some were shocking.

Howard Hughes's incident made everyone who heard the news feel very special. In Hollywood, there is really no such person as he has tried his best to make a living for the movie.

After he was flying into the sky to shoot air battles and then fell down and his nose was bruised and his face was broken and his bones were broken, the Los Angeles Times conducted an exclusive interview with him. When the Los Angeles Times was evaluating Howard Hughes in a teasing tone, he didn't forget to get me up.

"When Mr. Hughes first established the New Line Film Company, he claimed that he would aim to dreamworks and Mr. Corleon. Since its establishment, what he did will be fundamentally different from other Hollywood film companies and is in line with DreamWorks. But Mr. Hughes himself seems to think it is not enough. He also learns from Mr. Corleon's enthusiasm for dedication to the movies and strives to do his best."

"When Mr. Corleone was filming the "Crucifixion", he could tie himself to the cross on the hill and ask people to tie explosives under his feet. This time, although Mr. Hughes did not put explosives under his feet, he fell from the sky in a plane, which was not inferior to Mr. Corleone at all."

"Although many of us regret the quality of the planes produced by Mr. Hughes's aircraft company, it is undeniable that Mr. Hughes's spirit has enabled every Hollywood filmmaker to learn. A person who was standing outside of Hollywood a few months ago can be so focused on the movie, why can't we?"

Howard Hughes suffered a lot this time and almost lost his life, but he also gained favor from Americans in mainland China, including Hollywood filmmakers.

This news really makes me feel fun.

But the next news made me unhappy.

In mid-April, just as we finished filming the "Gladiator" war scene, a plane stopped on the set where the crew was located.

This is the latest small aircraft produced by Lockheed Aircraft Company. It can only be seated for seven or eight people, but the speed is the fastest among all aircraft. When I saw this kind of aircraft, Griffith and Stiller became a little nervous.

At this time, such a plane appeared on the crew, which means something big must have happened. As for what big thing, it depends on who it is.

The plane stopped in the open space, and after the hatch opened, several people walked out of it.

Gans, Marskolov, Grant and Coolidge.

These four people appeared, which made me a little confused.

If only Gans and Coolidge were there, it means there must be something wrong with DreamWorks, but Marskolov and Grant also appeared, which means that the matter must be just about DreamWorks.

"Boss, I'm afraid something happened." Griffith obviously saw some clues.

"Not only happened, I'm afraid it's still a big deal." Stiller muttered, and a worried expression appeared on his face.

"Gans, Lao Ma, what happened?" I quickly put down the guide in my hand and walked over with Griffith and Stiller.

"Andre, this is not a place to talk, let's talk inside." Marskolov hugged my shoulder, then pointed to the tent not far away.

There was no smile on his face, but the ground was solemn, iron-like cold and solemn.

Looking at his expression, my heart sank.

Marskolov is not a petty person. Even if something happens, he usually keeps it calmly. I have known him for so long, and I have rarely seen his expression so heavy.

Damn. This time Stiller was accurate. It seems that not only happened, but also a big deal.

I nodded and walked towards the tent with Marskolov. I also looked at the three men following behind Digans, Grant and Coolidge, whose faces were also cloudy.

After entering the tent, everyone sat on the ground and no one spoke. The atmosphere inside the tent suddenly became a little weird.

"Old Ma Grant, Gans, what happened that you were going to come over?" I swallowed and clenched my fists.
To be continued...