Leon immediately saw through Robbie's thoughts and changed the subject at the right time. "Let's talk about movies. How is the filming of The Wolf of Wall Street going? Is there any hope of seeing you on the big screen this year?"
"No chance this year. At this rate, it's unknown if we can even wrap up by next year." Robbie sighed. "Jho Low always has some wild ideas. The script has been changed beyond recognition; it's completely different from the original."
For shooting a movie, time is money.
Just like building a skyscraper, the longer the construction period drags on, the more budget is wasted.
This is why major film studios love Spielberg so much; he truly demonstrated what the speed of industrialized film production looks like.
Unless one reaches the height of James Cameron, any director extending the filming schedule will drive investors crazy.
Leon smiled and said, "That doesn't sound like Martin Scorsese's style; he is a director who pursues efficiency."
"Director Scorsese doesn't have the final say; everything on set is up to Low." Robbie spread her hands. "He is the investor, and he has more money than he can spend."
Scorsese gets paid anyway. Since the investor doesn't care about the cost, he naturally can't be bothered to manage it.
He even found time to shoot another artistic masterpiece, Hugo. This project was greenlit almost at the same time as The Wolf of Wall Street, but it is already close to wrapping up.
In the past, Leon didn't understand the film industry, but now as a well-known producer, he knows the hidden tricks very well.
The major expenditure of The Wolf of Wall Street is Leonardo DiCaprio's salary; he took $25 million for this film.
In addition, there is a 5% share of the gross box office.
Unlike a small production like Straight Outta Compton, for such a blockbuster, 5% of the gross box office is already a very high sharing ratio.
Only top superstars like Tom Cruise and Will Smith are qualified to negotiate such conditions.
More commonly, the share is from net profit, calculated after deducting production costs, promotion, and theater splits.
But because studios always invent various items to reimburse costs, there is a "black hole" in Hollywood accounting.
Many movies "never make a profit" on the books, making it impossible for most actors to cash in on the share in their contracts.
Schwarzenegger got a fixed salary of $29.5 million in Terminator 3, but didn't get a cent of the box office share.
Robbie sighed. "My pay is not even one-fiftieth of his. Jonah Hill only took $60,000 because he wanted to work with Scorsese."
Leon almost laughed out loud hearing this. Jonah Hill is a famous actor after all. If he knew this production would drag on for years, he would probably be green with regret.
Maggie also regretted it. When salary was mentioned, she gritted her teeth beside them. "If only we had met Mr. Leon earlier..."
Due to her success in her music career, Robbie's asking price has skyrocketed more than tenfold.
But unfortunately, the contracts actors sign with studios are one-off deals.
The salaries of all other actors in The Wolf of Wall Street combined are less than half of DiCaprio's, and this is a business war movie without any intense big scenes.
So where did the budget as high as $70 million go?
And this is just a temporary budget. If the movie hasn't wrapped by this time next year, the budget will be increased to $100 million, which is enough to make a superhero movie.
Leon could figure out where the problem lay with his toes. Although Jho Low is rich, he is extremely mysterious. No one in Hollywood knows where he got such amazing wealth.
If anyone said this money was clean, even ghosts wouldn't believe it.
He continued to ask: "What about the progress of Skyfall? I am a fan of this series. I am very curious about your performance in this movie."
"The crew was originally a bit tight on funds, but Heineken joined the sponsorship and solved this problem." Robbie said, "We just need to follow their request and switch the shots of Bond drinking martinis to drinking beer. It can hit theaters as early as the summer season next year."
"Heineken?" Leon was slightly stunned, completely unable to understand if Columbia Pictures (Sony) had lost their minds to make such a stupid decision.
007 has a history of nearly fifty years on the big screen. Martinis, black suits, and Aston Martins are indispensable elements of Bond and important parts of the audience's memory.
First, they replaced the classic black-haired Bond image, and then they subverted the classic elements in the movie. If this continues, Bond might have to switch to drinking Japanese sake in the future.
If it doesn't flop, who will?
But Robbie's next sentence slapped Leon in the face. "No choice, they gave too much... Heineken sponsored $45 million."
"How much?" Leon's body shook, with an incredible expression on his face.
How can a product placement as simple as can be worth so much money?
This also proves from the side how strong the money-absorbing ability of super IPs is. However, even so, the previous work of the 007 series, Quantum of Solace, actually lost money.
It is enough to show that the management of Columbia Pictures is completely a group of worms.
"You heard right~ In fact, the executives of Columbia Pictures originally planned to replace Aston Martin with a more powerful sponsor, but Director Sam Mendes refused. This would destroy the sentiment of the entire series."
"Sentiment? Maybe the price just wasn't right." Leon curled his lips.
If he were to make this movie, as long as the sponsor paid enough, James Bond would have to drive an excavator to save the world.
"You haven't changed; your head is full of dollars." Robbie spread her hands and then stood up. "Then I'll go first. See you next Saturday."
"Leaving so soon? Don't want to have a drink together?" Leon asked.
He was very relieved that the other party was not affected by the breakup storm, but this was far from enough.
He absolutely cannot let the other party become too estranged from him. There are too many enemies in the industry staring at the three female generals of Apocalypse Music. If he shows a slight flaw, villains like Braun will take advantage of it.
"Another day. It won't be too late after the show is recorded on Saturday. My plane is about to be late. I have another show in Seattle tonight."
"Okay."
Leon stood up to see Robbie off. Watching Robbie get into the car, he turned to leave.
Suddenly he was stopped by the other party.
"Leon."
"What's up?" He looked back, and the window of the business van slowly rolled down.
"Nothing, I wish you all the best." Robbie tilted her head, curving the corners of her mouth to reveal her signature "Barbie smile."
"Thanks, you too."
---
At eight o'clock the next morning, Leon's first stop was to inspect the renovation progress of the company's new building.
"Change the skin color, double the efficiency." Since replacing the black workers with Mexicans, the progress of the renovation was indeed more than twice as fast.
After the demolition work was completed, the whole building looked brand new.
Leon handed a cigarette to the designer as usual. "According to the current progress, when can the hard decoration work be completed?"
"At least fifty days."
"That long?"
The designer quickly explained: "No choice, this building is a thirty-year-old building. The previous plumbing and electrical layout has many unreasonable places in today's view, and the layout of a record company and a hotel are completely two different things..."
Leon nodded, fairly satisfied with this explanation, but still didn't forget his capitalist nature to remind: "According to the contract we signed, this place must meet the delivery standards in three months. If it cannot be completed on time, you know... I enforce fines more strictly than the police issuing tickets."
When speaking, he looked like a cruel slave owner.
In order to pursue the best effect, he spent a lot of money to hire a renovation company well-known in New York.
Record companies and other office places look no different in decoration; the problem lies in the recording studio.
Closed recording rooms must meet soundproofing conditions. The better the soundproofing effect, the higher the technical difficulty.
This renovation company has undertaken many similar projects, such as the renovation of Fox TV studios, the refurbishment of Columbia Records recording studios, etc.
The company boss patted his chest and promised Leon: "Even if terrorists hijack a plane and crash outside, standing in the recording studio, I guarantee you won't hear anything..."
This sentence finally moved Leon, and the two sides signed a contract worth $3.8 million. The contracting scope was limited to soft and hard decoration, excluding equipment.
Calculated down, the cost per square foot exceeds $100. At first, he found it a bit hard to accept, but considering the land under his feet is New York.
The wages of construction workers here are the highest in the US, and even in the world, they are in the top tier, and the cost of materials is also ridiculously high.
In addition to these hard costs, New York City's building codes also have quite strict safety and environmental standards, and the expenditure on compliance costs is also a considerable expense.
Considering all the above factors, Leon still gritted his teeth and signed his name on the contract.
"Knowing how to make money means knowing how to spend it... Think about the parking lot of Roc Nation full of sports cars; I think you can consider it too." Phil suggested with a wretched expression.
"What's the point of doing that? Buying cars is the stupidest investment."
"No no no! You are wrong to think so!" Phil wagged his finger. "This is the face of a company. Guess what those young people with musical dreams will think when they see these sports cars?"
"What will they think?"
"Joining this company makes money faster than robbing!"
"How are you drunk before even drinking?" Leon waved his hand and rejected the old geezer's nonsensical suggestion; he just wanted to drive supercars for free.
But now he holds a large amount of idle funds. Even if the funding for the second half of The Rap of America recording is tight, investing another ten million is not a problem at all.
Money kept in the pocket will not appreciate, and it is easy to be "robbed" by the tax department.
"Maybe I should buy another house..." On the way leaving the new company headquarters, Leon kept pondering how to allocate the funds on hand in the most reasonable way.
Half an hour later, he took Phil and Bonnie to Lion's Den Media.
The office was busy; all staff were staring at computer screens.
Their faces were dull, with heavy dark circles under their eyes; they looked like they hadn't rested for a long time.
Even the usually fawning Sean didn't notice Leon's arrival until the other party walked up to his face.
His body shivered, and he quickly stood up and bowed. "You're here, Boss!"
Leon patted the other party's shoulder, signaling not to be so excited.
The digital master of the premiere episode had been sent to Netflix, and the employees were racing against time to perform post-production proofreading for the remaining programs.
The spirit of "struggle and strive" (hustle) had been carved into the heads of every employee under Sean's long-term brainwashing, burning their lives to turn into fuel for the growth of Leon's account balance.
"Scooter is quite satisfied with the pilot episode." Leon said.
"That's great!"
"He made some requests for the subsequent editing, more [malicious editing], you should understand what I mean."
As an old fox in the media industry, Sean understood the intention of these words instantly.
For a reality show, the quality of editing is often more important than the quality of shooting.
The production team further amplifies the expressiveness of the program through selective editing, splicing audio, adjusting the order of dialogue, and other means.
Deliberately shaping the negative image of a contestant or guest, distorting facts to create dramatic conflicts to attract the audience.
When seeing the explosive scenes of celebrities clashing on TV, the audience often thinks they are eating a big melon (witnessing big drama) and can't help discussing it on the internet.
They thought they ate honey, but actually, they were fed sht by the program team.
Leon continued: "After the program is officially broadcast, I arranged to put Panda on streaming media first to build momentum."
Now King Von's popularity is at its peak. In the first episode, his screen time is almost as much as the host Kardashian.
"Boss, you'd better let that kid King Von keep a low profile recently..." Sean pinched his throat and whispered.
"What did he do now?"
"He has been firing at JAY-Z on social media recently. I'm worried he will really be taken out..."
King Von reaching the top as the champion of this show is a certainty. Even putting aside the rigged black curtain, he has successfully broken out of the circle (gone mainstream) relying on two shooting incidents.
Once shot Diddy (allegedly), once shot by someone sent by JAY-Z.
An unknown small character raged between two big bosses on the East Coast.
Since the gunshot wound on his leg healed, he immediately forgot the pain and tweeted many times to bombard JAY-Z. In addition to daily trash talk, he also exposed a lot of fierce material.
"Black-skinned plantation owner, capitalist alchemist exploiting compatriots! Roc Nation is a wolf's den that you can only enter but not leave. While selling street suffering in lyrics, he targets those poor kids who just changed their lives through the NBA draft. His management philosophy is the street wisdom learned during his drug dealing period!"
"Model couple is just his lie! Every female singer signed to Roc Nation has been slept with. Girls, you have to be careful. Once you enter this company, you not only have to become his money-making machine but also his sex slave!"
The meaning inside and outside the words is one: no matter if you are male or female, entering this company means you are finished.
Such high-level copywriting was certainly not thought of by King Von himself; there must be an expert behind the scenes giving pointers.
JAY-Z's petty moves have been constant, so Leon decided to muddy the waters even more.
Just this morning, Conor McGregor boarded a plane from Dublin to New York. Later, the two sides will officially sign a contract.
Although he is just an unknown small character, Leon has spent a lot of money to bribe the media to hype this matter.
This marks that Leon's tentacles have completely extended into the field of sports agents, launching an all-out confrontation with Roc Nation.
"Don't be too sensitive; I asked him to say that." Leon said.
"I understand... but why?" Sean was full of doubts. Some topics obviously touched JAY-Z's bottom line.
"The more dangerous the time, the better the time to catch big fish." Leon smiled and lit a cigarette.
His inner activity was: If that ngga is fine, that's best. Relying on wave after wave of heat to win the championship in the show, he will soon become a first-line superstar;
If he unfortunately dies on the street, he will definitely become a legend. Anyway, whether King Von is dead or alive, Leon, who owns the copyright of Panda, will never lose.
Just like after Tupac died in a shooting, his works became deified, and Suge Knight, who held part of his copyright, made even more money.
"Okay..." Sean widened his eyes, stunned and not knowing what to say.
Leon played with the championship ring on his finger. "I think the influence of just spraying trash talk on social media is limited. Arrange for him to go on T-Ray's podcast after the program airs. I will hire the most famous gossip reporter in New York to write for him, talking about JAY-Z's scandals from when he wore diapers."