The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 783

Compared to "The Hunger Games" and "Twilight," the upcoming "Fast Five" was undoubtedly a genuine top-tier commercial project.

After Bearded Jack and director Justin Lin had requested a budget increase to solve some problems, Matthew and David Ellison discussed the matter and agreed to raise the production budget from $150 million to $170 million.

"The cast and crew preparations are on schedule, and everything is going according to plan."

In a conference room at Disney Studios, during a meeting with the cast and creators, director Justin Lin calmly stated, "The filming locations are split into three main areas: Disney Studios in Burbank, the Southern California desert, and Rio de Janeiro."

He glanced at Matthew and, seeing no signal from him, continued, "Filming will begin in mid-January. The shoot is scheduled to last three to three and a half months, and we plan to wrap up principal photography by June at the latest."

Hearing this, David Ellison quietly asked Matthew, "Does that work with your schedule?"

Matthew gave a slight nod. "Justin created the shooting schedule with my availability in mind."

After the New Year, he was scheduled to shoot at least two films: "Fast Five" and "G.I. Joe 2."

Due to the turmoil surrounding the change of director between Paramount Pictures and Hasbro, pre-production for "G.I. Joe 2" was moving much slower than "Fast Five," and Stephen Sommers was planning to start filming only in the second half of next year.

Justin Lin added, "Disney Studios has slated the film for a May 2011 release. The exact date hasn't been set, but there are a few options: the first weekend of summer, mid-May, or Memorial Day.""Is a summer season opener possible?" David Ellison asked.

Bearded Jack replied, "It's difficult. Walt Disney is about to complete its acquisition of Marvel Entertainment, and Marvel wants to release 'Captain America' on the first weekend of summer. Unless 'Captain America' falls behind in post-production or promotion, it will be very hard for us to get that slot."

Matthew thought for a moment, then said, "Alright, if the film is released in May, make sure to remind Disney that it's best not to schedule another major commercial film for the same weekend."

"I'll contact Disney," Bearded Jack said.

From the actors' side, Tyrese Gibson unexpectedly interjected, "Don't schedule it for late June. 'Transformers 3' comes out then, and that's a competitive film."

"Not compared to us," Paul Walker laughed. "Are you worried we can't beat the robots?"

Tyrese Gibson shook his head and said seriously, "If two movies I'm in go head-to-head, which one am I supposed to be a spy for?"

Everyone in the conference room couldn't help but laugh.

The laughter didn't last long and quickly died down as Justin Lin continued, "Matthew, I'm going to need a lot of girls in swimsuits for the crowd scenes."

"Just cast them." Matthew was a little surprised. After all, Hollywood never had a shortage of beautiful women. How could you have drag racing without them?

Justin Lin, however, was ambitious. "Can we get in touch with Victoria's Secret?" He saw Matthew's confusion and explained, "I've come up with a scene, a high-end beach party with swimsuits. If the Victoria's Secret Angels make a group appearance, it would also help with publicity."

Matthew looked at David Ellison, who whispered, "It's your call."

He rarely interfered in the film's affairs and operated on a single principle: whatever Matthew conceived and executed was the right move.

"I'll try to get in touch," Matthew made a quick decision. "But I can't guarantee they'll cooperate with us."

It came down to a question of cost, and if the other party asked for too high a price, he would definitely not agree.

He would leave the matter of contacting them to Helen; two of the recently chosen Victoria's Secret spokesmodels were clients of the Angel Agency themselves.

It seemed Victoria's Secret had its own swimwear line. What if they gave them a chance to walk a runway?

Thinking about this, Matthew said slowly, "Justin, Jack, maybe you could add a swimwear runway show to that beach party scene."

Bearded Jack was an experienced producer. As soon as he heard this, he understood Matthew's meaning and immediately said, "That's a good idea. With the influence of this franchise, it shouldn't be hard to attract them."

Matthew nodded slightly and asked, "How are the commercial sponsorship negotiations going?"

"The negotiations are almost complete." Bearded Jack opened the work log in front of him and elaborated, "Regarding vehicles, Mercedes-Benz is still our main sponsor. In addition, Dodge will continue to work with us, and Lamborghini is in negotiations with us."

He lowered his gaze. "Besides providing the cars, we stand to earn about $10 million in advertising fees from these three automotive sponsors."

Bearded Jack continued, "Then there are Rolex and Armani. Matthew, your two sponsors will provide $1.5 million each for the film's advertising."

He cleared his throat. "Furthermore, the film will feature nine other brands, such as Burger King, Coca-Cola, and Budweiser, with a total advertising value of $13 million."

"Jack, how are the negotiations with the manufacturers across the Pacific going?" Matthew knew from the world premiere of "Fast & Furious 4" that there were manufacturers over there who had been in contact with the crew. "How many have confirmed their investment intentions?"

Bearded Jack replied immediately, "Right now, there are five: a dairy company, a men's ready-to-wear brand, a smart SUV brand, a soft drink company... Oh, and a computer brand that sponsors the 'Transformers' movies."

He looked at his notebook again. "These five companies have serious sponsorship intentions, and the team is still negotiating with them. If all goes well, we could get a total of over $20 million in advertising sponsorships from them."

"Finalize the negotiations before filming begins." Matthew was very pleased with this amount. "Don't let it interfere with the crew's regular work."

The film hadn't even started shooting yet, and the prospect of recouping $40 million through advertising sponsorships would undoubtedly ease the financial pressure on him and David Ellison considerably.

Matthew added a reminder, "When it comes to the product placement, you need to coordinate with the cast and crew. Handle it carefully."

All five brands had been vetted by the production team and, of course, they wouldn't be doing any overly crude product placements.

They had to check if the brand was well-known and a leader in its industry, if the company possessed comparable promotional strength and marketing vision, and if the brand's image aligned with the movie's concept and overall tone.

These were the three principles Matthew followed when selecting brands for product placement.

When Matthew had been involved in advertising on the other side of the Pacific this year, he had contacted some brands and advertising agencies there, and in fact, most product placements followed a similar practice.

Product placements for many films weren't handled by specialized agencies, but by regular advertising firms. The ad agencies only needed to draw up a plan, and from there, it was a tug-of-war with the film's cast and crew over where and for how long the product would be featured. Naturally, the cast and crew wanted the placement to be as short as possible, while the advertisers definitely wanted it to be as long as possible.

Major brands had their own advertising departments that could plan placements directly, leaving the film's producers in a passive role when it came to developing the advertising.

Of course, this was generally true for smaller productions and films.

The situation naturally changed when you moved to a major production with a big-name director.

For a major film like "Fast Five," the production team had no shortage of potential advertising sponsors.

The meeting lasted a full hour and a half. Afterward, all the main actors joined the production team for rehearsals and some necessary stunt training.

The meeting ended, and Matthew was about to leave when David Ellison called out to him, clearly wanting to discuss something with him.