I am Hollywood

[Chapter 1014: Are You Going for the Oscar Too?]

Early in the morning, the three of them sat together on the cliffside terrace of a villa atop a hill, enjoying breakfast. The summer in Los Angeles was not too hot, but the morning hours were the only time suitable for soaking up a little sun.

Elisabeth munched on her salad, excitedly mentioning her recent work, saying, "I found Julia a script! It's a biopic about a female lawyer who secures hundreds of millions in civil damages for her client. It's the largest civil settlement in U.S. history!"

Hearing Elisabeth's words, Eric suddenly remembered something and looked up. "Erin Brockovich?"

Elisabeth's expression was one of surprise. "How did you know?"

Julia, who sat quietly next to Eric, also looked over curiously.

In 1993, Erin Brockovich represented the residents of Hinkley, California, in a lawsuit against Pacific Gas and Electric Company, accusing it of improperly discharging heavy metal contaminants that caused cancer among many of the town's residents. They sought $300 billion in damages. A broke female lawyer suing a corporate giant initially seemed like a joke to many.

However, after three years of relentless effort, in 1996, Pacific Gas and Electric ultimately lost the case, paying out $333 million to the residents. Although the settlement amount fell drastically compared to their initial demand, it remained the largest civil settlement in federal history.

"I happened to see a report about Erin Brockovich two years ago," Eric replied casually. Although the suit had been intentionally kept low-key by PG&E, any observant person could have easily found many news articles about it. "So, you're planning to have Julia go for the Oscar?"

Elisabeth didn't doubt Eric's words and nodded. "Yeah, the Academy voters love this kind of film, and we have the Weinstein brothers helping us."

Even though Julia had won the Oscar for Best Actress for portraying Erin Brockovich in the biopic Erin Brockovich, Eric couldn't remember what other nominations or awards the film had received.

Thinking it over, Eric stated, "Ultimately, the topic of environmental pollution doesn't spark profound social impact in North America. So, I think the film will likely only earn a Best Actress nod; winning any other award seems less likely. Of course, with Julia in it, the box office should be fine."

Compared to some developing countries, the environmental protection system in North America was quite advanced. Cases of companies maliciously polluting the environment were rare; mostly, there were accidental environmental mishaps. Living in such a societal environment, issues of pollution weren't as heated or significant as racial issues.

"Not necessarily," Elisabeth countered. "The role has a lot of room for development. At least Julia has a very strong chance of winning Best Actress. If she wins that little golden statue, you won't have any control over her money any longer. We still have a hefty sum to pay on that Boeing we ordered."

Eric chuckled and nodded. "Sure, but I've turned that money into Firefly Group stocks. You guys need cash, so you could use those stocks as collateral. It'd be a waste to sell them outright."

To motivate Julia not to slack off, Eric had taken the $30 million she received after selling her stake in TG Films and exchanged it for stocks in Firefly Group during its restructuring after acquiring ABC Group.

Naturally, Eric wouldn't be pocketing that little amount of money from Julia. Over the years, he had nearly forgotten about it, and that stock remained under Julia's name, simply held in trust by Firefly Investments. By now, that stock had likely tripled in value and was worth at least $100 million based on current market valuation.

Because of the anticipation around Firefly Group's growth and the sizable dividends it provided each year, very few investors were willing to sell their shares after acquiring ABC Group. In recent years, the ownership distribution among shareholders of Firefly Group had remained mostly unchanged.

Elisabeth was well aware of how sought-after Firefly Group's stock was. "We'll use it as collateral then; we'll have Boeing collect the remaining amount from you."

"Uh, how much do you still owe?"

With a sly smile, Elisabeth replied, "We only paid a $10 million deposit."

"Alright," Eric readily agreed, then casually added, "You can discuss this with Drew. She's my little accountant."

"Hmph, you really lack sincerity."

Eric didn't mind. Elisabeth was very headstrong and wouldn't let him stump up the money. Over the last few years, the two women had built their investments in foreign exchange and tech stocks under his guidance, so paying for a Boeing 747 was quite manageable.

Taking his time finishing breakfast, Eric returned to the previous topic. "So, who are you thinking of directing that script?"

"We're in talks with Martin Scorsese. You know him; he's quite skilled at using a documentary-style realism to tackle real-life themes."

"Martin's not the right fit," Eric shook his head. "What you just said is true, but Martin's films have a strong third-person perspective. Since it's Julia's solo performance, the film should lean towards a first-person viewpoint. You might want to consider Steven Soderbergh."

"The director of Sex, Lies, and Videotape?" Elisabeth asked in response, then added, "It seems he hasn't had any standout work since."

Eric explained, "Winning the Palme d'Or for his first feature is a testament to Soderbergh's talent. Plus, he's not as high-profile as Martin; a slightly lesser-known director can give Julia more room to showcase her talent. If you let Martin direct, it would just be another typical Martin Scorsese film. He often gets nominated, but the Academy doesn't really favor him."

Elisabeth was somewhat swayed. She had respect for Eric's insight into films. "Then I'll have Harvey reach out to Soderbergh and see what he thinks. By the way, Harvey was the one who helped him back then with Sex, Lies, and Videotape, or he wouldn't have won the Palme d'Or."

After finishing breakfast, Eric said his goodbyes to the two women and headed to the Firefly Studios for work.

...

That day, the auditions for Spider-Man continued, but they were focused only on supporting roles, so Eric didn't need to be directly involved.

As for the several actresses confirmed yesterday for the role of Gwen Stacy, the production team still had to analyze their audition tapes and other information in detail. The latter stages of that process were quite tedious, and the final round of smaller auditions would take at least another week or two.

After spending an hour discussing post-production for Iron Man with Joss Whedon, Eric dove into the Gravity soundstage.

...

Since the plan to shoot Gravity was finalized last year, preparations had been underway for almost a year, and filming was set to begin next week.

The only change in the plan was that Eric realized if he wanted to manage the entire crew flexibly and keep track of all the details during filming, he couldn't serve as the cinematographer himself. This role would ultimately fall to his long-time collaborator, Nicole Frank.

Eric's ambition to sweep the Oscars would have to be temporarily adjusted, regrettably starting with the more challenging categories such as Best Picture and Best Director.

On the Gravity soundstage, Nicole Frank was demonstrating a complex shot she had just set up.

After working on multiple films, Nicole had become one of the best cinematographers in Hollywood. In many ways, a cinematographer was similar to a sniper; aside from basic talent, superb snipers were trained and honed by the experience, and cinematographers required the same.

Once Eric decided to abandon the idea of being the cinematographer, he detailed his shooting concepts to Nicole. Upon hearing Eric's thoughts, Nicole felt a spark of excitement she hadn't experienced in quite a while.

For the past few months, Nicole had focused on exploring shooting techniques for Gravity. Her skill in operating the two high-precision robotic arms from KUKA was on par with that of engineers in automotive assembly plants. In fact, she might have surpassed them because those engineers typically only set fixed running procedures, while Nicole had to maneuver two robots to create a myriad of movements based on the shot requirements.

Inside the backdrop light box, an arm fitted with a professional 35mm camera approached another spinning robotic arm holding a dummy, rapidly reaching speeds of up to 50 feet per second.

However, the relative distance between the camera and the target was only about ten feet, so the actual movement time was merely a fleeting moment. In the blink of an eye, the camera whirred to a stop just one centimeter away from the glass shield of the dummy's helmet. This scene startled the other crew members on set who realized that if they were in the dummy's position and saw a cold metal arm bearing a ten-kilogram camera coming toward their face, even fainting on the spot might be a real possibility.

Nearby, at the control desk, Nicole skillfully repeated the previous motion with the robot using a remote PDA. After doing so five times in a row, she turned to Eric, who had been fixated on a monitor, and said, "What do you think? The accuracy of KUKA's machine is already at the millimeter level. I've added two additional safety measures to ensure absolute safety."

Gravity contained numerous shots where actors quickly darted toward other targets or where targets rapidly approached the actors.

With a camera weighing over ten kilograms and a broad metallic arm moving at a relative speed of 50 feet per second, if it got out of control, Eric didn't even want to think about the consequences. There was no room for error -- not even once.

After a moment's hesitation, Eric said, "Let's make sure it brushes past at an angle as much as possible; if it can't avoid it, we'll try shooting it in slow motion."

Shooting in slow motion slowed down the film speed by several times, thus reducing the relative movement speed while still creating a dynamic effect during normal screenings. Slowing down increased the safety factor.

"Eric, that definitely makes it safer, but if it's a close-up, the actor's facial expressions might give things away too easily," Nicole pointed out.

Eric thought for a moment and replied, "In that case, we'll shoot separate close-ups of the expressions. We can't take that risk."

"That being said, we wouldn't need slow-motion shooting; we could just use a dummy," Nicole insisted.

Eric shook his head. "Using a dummy is still too dangerous."

...

As they were discussing, they heard the sound of high heels clicking nearby. Everyone turned to see Nicole Kidman, dressed in a black knee-length dress and carrying a bag, elegantly walking towards Eric.

After greeting everyone, she casually embraced Eric and then looked around at the shooting props. With a hint of sorrow in her tone, she remarked, "It all looks so impressive, yet you didn't ask me to act."

Eric smiled and gestured for Nicole to sit in the chair next to him, clicked the mouse to replay the recent shot, and then playfully pointed at the nearby arm. "Do you dare to act?"

Nicole set her bag down on the expansive control desk, sat beside Eric, watched the replay on the screen, and looked at the robotic arm nearby. "That's too dangerous! If it hits, it could be fatal. Why would you shoot such a risky scene? Plus, it's not just a dummy; if it were me, I'd instinctively duck, and you wouldn't get the shot you had just now."

Nicole Frank interjected, "You wouldn't be able to get away; the actor's whole body would be secured in a rig, and they'd only be able to move their limbs."

"Well, why not design a mechanism that allows the actor to dodge during moments of danger?" Nicole suggested.

Nicole Frank responded, "These machines are extremely precise and can't be moved arbitrarily. We did consider using bulletproof glass for the helmet, but if it were really hit, the protective effect wouldn't be significant."

Nicole thought about the previous shot and realized that even if the visor glass didn't shatter, the outcome could still be terrible -- potentially even fatal for the actor. She couldn't help but stand up and look around, suddenly pointing at the sliding track beneath that robotic arm outside the light box. "Why not equip that machine with a sliding track? If a collision occurs, even if the actor can't move, that machine could simply slide back."

Eric was about to mention that the interior space was too small for that, but he suddenly had an epiphany. He stood up, embraced Nicole at the waist, and kissed her emphatically on the lips. "You're really my little treasure."

Even though Nicole didn't hide her relationship with Eric, she still flushed a bit and shyly pushed him away when he suddenly kissed her in front of everyone in the soundstage.

Nicole Frank realized they had been trapped in the mindset of a cinematographer and director, while Nicole Kidman approached the issue from an actor's perspective, easily solving the problem that had troubled them for some time.

The space inside that light box was indeed limited, but if an accident happened, even a backward movement of just twenty to thirty centimeters would be enough for the multi-safety mechanisms of the robot to effect an emergency stop.

Having figured that out, Eric felt completely at ease and said to Nicole Frank, "Alright, let's wrap it for the morning. Let's bring in the props master this afternoon and discuss it."

After all, if perfection could be achieved, Eric wouldn't want to resort to special effects.

...

After finishing up the day's matters, Eric said goodbye to everyone and took Nicole Kidman to the restaurant for lunch.

A few minutes later, in the luxurious restaurant on the large ship, noticing the script Nicole Kidman handed over, Eric exclaimed in surprise, "Are you going for the Oscar too?"

*****

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