American Entertainment: Starting with playing the role of Little Beaver

Chapter 20 Drawing the Sword
Isabella certainly knew she was exceptionally talented.

Again--

Once Warner Bros. had budgeted $2.5 million for Harry Potter 1, no one would risk ruining the project by pushing it forward.

If the producer, the original author, and the director dare to use her, it proves that she definitely meets the project's requirements.

and so……

Other media outlets launched a fierce attack?
Then let's each rely on our own abilities to speak for ourselves.

We'll make a good show, and you'll get beaten up.

What's the big deal?
A few days after talking with the director, Isabella received her second paycheck for a film.

It remains at £64054.

Because filming for Harry Potter 1 is already more than halfway complete.

Yes, according to director Chris Columbus's shooting schedule, if all goes well, the crew at Leavesdon Studios will disband at the end of March. This does not mean that "The Sorcerer's Stone" will be finished in six months. After March, the crew will continue to operate, but will only shoot some fragmented scenes in a miniature form. The official wrap-up will be around July.

The "disbandment" on the shooting schedule means that all the big scenes in the movie have been filmed and not many people are needed anymore.

Labor costs are very high in Europe and America.

Save what you should save and spend what you should spend.

Hollywood's accounts are notoriously shady, but if an A+ level project with a total investment of over 200 million is ruined, the investors will go crazy.

Isabella had little objection to this arrangement, and of course, she had no right to object.

She receives a paycheck per episode, not an hourly wage, so whether the production crew disbands or not doesn't affect her income.

Furthermore, Warner Bros.' subsidies for her mother were calculated based on the total number of filming days. As long as director Columbus did not announce the end of filming, she might be called back for reshoots. During this period, Warner Bros. had to provide subsidies to Vivian, who was always on standby.

So……

Just focus on doing your job well.

On set, everyone worked smoothly and methodically under Columbus's guidance.

Off-set, January 18th was the third day after Isabella received her paycheck, which was also her older sister Catherine's birthday.

Although she had a shoot that day and was busy until 5 p.m., when it was already dark, Isabella still rushed home with her mother to bring her older sister a cake she had ordered in advance and wish her a happy birthday.

It wasn't that she didn't want to buy other gifts, but rather that Catherine had warned her during her mother's birthday celebration not to waste money on her own birthday, or she would beat her up. Isabella couldn't beat her, so she had no choice but to give in.

Compared to previous years, my mom's and older sister's birthdays this year were rather simple, but no one seemed to care.

After celebrating her older sister's birthday, Isabella had all the important things on her plate.

Just as she was fully immersed in her work, trying to neatly wrap up the mess in HP, hey, some good news came.

Just as Columbus said, there's slander from the outside world? Don't worry, Warner Bros. will handle it.

After holding back for the Christmas holiday, Warner finally took down the media outlets that published negative news.

It was only then that Isabella realized that going against giants was common in the entertainment industry in Europe and America. This was not to say that other media outlets were not afraid of a behemoth like Warner, but rather that all the denigration in the market was a clear indication that Warner should hurry up and send money.

Are you promoting a new project?

Then hurry up and give me some writing fee!
That way I can cheer you on!

As long as the money is right, I'd be willing to do anything, not just slap myself in the face, but even eat the critical articles I posted before!

cough.

What kind of integrity do commercial media outlets have?
Isn't it all about taking things out of context and creating division?
Do not believe?

Just watch the BBC.

In the past, Hollywood moguls would choose to pay money to avoid trouble when faced with such situations.

But today...

Warner chose to strike hard.

There's no way around it; the Harry Potter IP is just too outstanding.

So good that Warner has a million ways to destroy and slander them.

For example, in early February, Warner and Coca-Cola officially announced their collaboration.

The two parties reached a strategic cooperation agreement, under which Coca-Cola will acquire the fast-moving consumer goods franchise rights for the first two films of the Harry Potter series for US$150 million. This means that all footage from the films "The Sorcerer's Stone" and "The Chamber of Secrets" can appear on all Coca-Cola products and in all advertising, including but not limited to soft drink bottles and cans, juice drinks, various advertisements, and the sides of delivery trucks.

And the scope is all over the world.

The $7500 million franchise fee for a single film is already the second highest in film history!

As for who is number one in the world?
"Star Wars".

They sold for 80 million back in 1.

Although HP is still slightly behind SW, Coca-Cola's fate has completely silenced the dissenting voices in the market.

The movie hasn't even been released yet, and the sequel hasn't even started filming, but Coca-Cola has already shelled out real money to buy the franchise rights. When capital is willing to pour 150 million dollars into an expectation, can you really say Warner Bros.' casting was problematic?
Ah--

Idiot—

Coca-Cola knows better than you writers what consumers actually like!

To be honest, Isabella was instantly happy after hearing the news.

Some media outlets think I'm not good enough?

It's ok.

Coca-Cola thinks that's enough for me.

Of course, Coca-Cola isn't a philanthropist. They won't spend money without seeing the full film. So, the collaboration between Warner Bros. and Coca-Cola is currently just an expectation. Coca-Cola will decide whether to execute the contract after watching the rough cut of "The Sorcerer's Stone," and the latest the deadline is September 2001.

But that's not important. Even if the outcome is uncertain, the media can't continue to criticize.

Attacking Warner and attacking both Warner and Coca-Cola are two different things.

Therefore, after realizing that the situation had changed, everyone wanted to downplay the issue, but unfortunately, Warner Bros. did not give them the opportunity.

He struck again, making no attempt to hide his mockery of the group's idiocy—

In mid-February, Warner and Hasbro held a joint press conference.

At the press conference, Warner Bros. stated that they have officially licensed the film IP of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" to Hasbro. In the future, Hasbro can produce merchandise related to the film, such as figurines, puzzles, and candy.

Upon hearing this news, all the media outlets that had criticized Isabella fell silent.

When all sorts of capital have already boarded the table, ready to gamble big on HP, why don't you media outlets try picking a fight again?
I guarantee you'll die if you try.

If that's all there is to it, then Warner Bros. has still given its competitors some face, only making them too afraid to speak up.

But anyone familiar with tech giants knows that their favorite thing to do is to wipe them out completely.

So, on March 2, 2001, Warner Bros. released the first trailer for Harry Potter 1.

Although the 30-second trailer didn't reveal much of the plot, and the only character officially appearing was Harry Potter, and because Warner Bros. forbade the young actors from giving media interviews, there was no outside feedback, but...

Warner's subsequent actions revealed the true power of capital to everyone.

Along with releasing the first trailer, Warner Bros. also revealed their collaboration with Mattel, which they had reached as early as last year.

Last year, with the official character photos finalized, Warner Bros. licensed the images of the six characters—the Iron Triangle, Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and Snape—to Mattel, allowing them to create action figures, or 1/6 scale action figures.

The kind that's 30 centimeters tall.

Barbie is Mattel's IP; they're the best at making these kinds of things.

With toy development having begun as early as last year, and mold making completed before November of last year, Warner had accumulated a large stock of goods over the past few months.

Therefore, on the day the trailer was released, Warner Bros. also started selling toys.

then……

"Oh, Aunt Annie, you mean Hermione is the best-selling doll right now?"

On March 19, in the last few days before the production crew disbanded, Law Lin moved into the crew's residence with her daughter.

The scenes before the group disbanded were all action sequences.

Rowling's daughter is very curious about how the scenes in her mother's book where the trio fights the big dog were filmed.

So Rowling brought her daughter to play.

At the same time, she also brought news about toy sales.

"Yeah~ right now, your Hermione is the best-selling action figure. Jessica likes it too, because—"

Rowling drawled out her voice.

"She's pretty~"

Jessica, sitting next to her, gave a very enthusiastic shout.

At the same time, the little girl waved the doll in her hand, saying, "Sister Isha~ your doll is the prettiest of all!"

Yes, right now she's holding Hermione's toy.

Seemingly wanting to prove her point, the little girl handed over the doll.

She smiled and thanked them, then took the doll. The exquisite craftsmanship made Isabella quite fond of it.

Mattel's dolls are very realistic. Although the facial lines are a bit stiff and can't quite capture her beauty—well, that sounds a bit narcissistic, but in the realm of action figures, this mold is already exceptionally well-made.

The other accessories are also exquisite: Hermione is a top student, so Mattel made two books for the toy, and the book covers are not printed, but engraved; Hermione loves to study, so Mattel gave the toy a quill pen that can be inserted into a pen holder and held in the hand; needless to say, the Gryffindor school uniform is exactly the same as the costume.

Even if Isabella hadn't asked, she could guess that Hermione's dolls were made with Barbie's quality control standards.

And when Hermione's toy uses her own face...

Who dares to say that excellent modeling is a debuff in HP?
Who dares!
hum~
"How much is this set?"

Isabella was delighted and returned the toy to Jessica, while also casting a curious glance at Rowling.

"99 pounds."

"How much???"

Isabella doubted her ears.

Rowling laughed and said, "You heard me right, it's £99 in our country, but $149 in the United States."

Isabella was stunned!
Hermione Granger action figure can sell for a hundred dollars?!

Oh my God!

Why doesn't Warner just rob people?!
But the next second, she felt that something was wrong.

"Aunt Annie, you just said that Hermione sells the most?"

"Yes." "So how many copies did Warner sell?"

"Warner Bros. prepared 300,000 copies of the first batch, which sold out in less than two weeks. This prompted them to ask Mattel to restock. Next up were Harry and Dumbledore, who each sold around 250,000 copies and were close to needing restocking."

"..."

Isabella gasped for breath; all she felt she needed was an ambulance.

One doll cost 100 pounds and then 300,000 were sold in two weeks?
MFxxk……

The sales here alone amount to 30 million!
Although everyone knows that this success was boosted by the Harry Potter novels, Warner Bros. was ultimately selling the image license for the movie IP, and Mattel was ultimately using her face. So, if she were ugly—well, let's not even talk about ugly, just a little ordinary—the Hermione action figures wouldn't have sold so well. Therefore…

Could her face alone make Daniel Wu retire from his life of crime?

Oh--

This is absolutely outrageous!
Isabella couldn't hold back any longer and happily shook her little feet.

The fact that Harry Potter fans voted with their feet made her extremely happy.

But not long after, she felt a little disappointed.

Yes, the phenomenal sales of Hermione toys have proven that HP fans can accept her beauty.

But she couldn't reach any of that support!
To put it bluntly, she won't get any money!
That's right. In any entertainment industry around the world, a film salary is a complete buyout of an actor's image, no matter how good they are.

No matter how good an actor is, they can only get a share of the box office revenue.

No matter how much more there is, it will only be additional revenue from subsequent videotape sales or streaming media copyrights.

Want to get a cut of the merchandise sales?

Go wash up and go to bed. Even if Robert Downey Jr. came, it wouldn't work.

The explosive popularity of Iron Man made Disney a fortune in toys, but Downey had absolutely nothing to do with it.

Scarlett Johansson's toys also sell incredibly well, but she only received $2500 million from "Black Widow".

and so……

There are still some minor regrets.

However, on the other hand, fame is what matters in the entertainment industry.

As long as you become famous, the future holds endless possibilities.

And now?
She has already taken a big step ahead of all her peers.

The fans' support rendered all the previous negative comments a joke, and Isabella happily celebrated her eleventh birthday on set. Her birthday is March 19th. However, just a few days after her birthday, with the arrival of March 28th, the main cast disbanded, and her work on "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" essentially came to an end.

She did have some minor shots that weren't filmed, but Chris Columbus scheduled them for May.

In other words, she can have a good rest for the next whole month.

This is actually a pretty good time.

The UK operates on a three-term system, with three holidays each year: a winter break around Christmas, a spring break around Easter, and a summer break spanning the 'hot' season. So, when Isabella's work is finally finished at the end of March...

"Let's go!"

Let's go out and have fun!

Having just finished celebrating her father's death anniversary, Isabella took her older sister and mother, who were on vacation, on a holiday.

The others in the group were in similar situations. Rupert flew to Austria with his family immediately, the young master went skiing in Switzerland, Ginny went to Spain, and as for Daniel? He was in a worse situation, with a lot of work to do.

This is not only because most of the remaining scenes in Harry Potter 1 are his solo performances, but also because Daniel Radcliffe filmed a movie before joining Harry Potter called The Panama Dressmaker, which will be released this April.

The film crew will hold a premiere in London.

At the same time, the production team also sent him an invitation.

Theoretically speaking, after reaching a long-term contract with Warner, Daniel could no longer participate in exposure projects other than HP, because that would be giving traffic to other companies. If Daniel went, everyone would definitely mention HP when introducing him.

But the cast and crew of "The Panama Dressmaker" are impressive. The director is John Boorman, who also directed "Hope and Glory," and the lead actor is Pierce Brosnan. Well, this project was also found for him by Daniel Andrews' mother.

So……

Warner then allowed him to go.

then……

Eggman's first public appearance after acquiring HP garnered him unprecedented attention.

This also troubled him somewhat:
Oh! You wouldn't believe it! When I stepped onto the red carpet, the flashbulbs were as bright as the sun!

The light was so bright I couldn't even open my eyes!

Wow... that feeling is really awful...

When filming on set, we saw each other every day, so it was easy for everyone to communicate.

After filming wrapped and we left the crew, since we didn't see each other every day, we started catching up...

It's actually quite convenient.

When we parted, we added each other on MSN and created a group chat.

If you glance at it when you have nothing to do, you can see the other person's message.

The complaints about staying on March 31st made Isabella, who was enjoying the sunshine on the Apennine Peninsula, laugh. Scrolling down, the happy words of others on vacation and Dan's envious response made her even happier.

Her goofy, big-sister-like behavior also caught Catherine's attention.

As she leaned her head closer to her sister, all sorts of different lives suddenly appeared before her.

Oh, everyone's life is different.

"Isn't that obvious? If everyone lived the same way, what would be the point of this world?"

"Uh...that's true..."

Although Catherine was used to her younger sister's aggressive responses, after feeling annoyed, she still ruffled her sister's hair in protest. At the same time, she asked, "The filming of HP will be finished by June at the latest. What are you planning to do next?"

The reason she asked that question was because on the computer screen, in the MSN group chat, Bonnie was saying that her experience with HP made her fall in love with acting, so she asked her mother to help her find projects in the industry. Then, she got a new film contract called "Survival on a Desert Island", and if nothing unexpected happens, she can start filming before July.

Everyone congratulated him.

Then Rupert added that he, like Bonnie, had also fallen in love with acting.

He also asked his family to help him find a new project called "The Fart Astronaut".

Isabella didn't have much to say about these things, because she had no recollection of either project.

As for what my older sister asked me to do next?
"I don't want to do anything."

"Why?"

"Because the work is tiring, and I'm lazy."

Isabelle stretched and yawned.

"hahahaha~"

Catherine laughed non-stop at his blunt words, "Okay, then you should rest well~ until work comes looking for you~"

Catherine's question was just a casual remark after seeing the message, while Isabella...

She didn't just casually reply with a casual remark.

Not to mention that an actor's work and fame are positively correlated, with higher fame leading to more and better work, even if she becomes a big star, at the awkward age of 11, she wouldn't know what other jobs she could do besides endorsements.

This is not only because she has no one behind her and cannot get a custom notebook, but even if she did have someone, what children's program could be better than HP?

Therefore, instead of wasting time with twice the effort for half the result, it's better to get a good rest.

Waiting for Isabella to return to England —

In May, after receiving a call from Columbus, she returned to the film crew and filmed some additional scenes.

In June, as Hermione's scenes wrapped up, Isabella also received her final payment. After taxes, the £300,000 salary brought her a net income of £195865. The taxes were really too much, but there was nothing she could do about it.

Then, she had already withdrawn 40,000 of that money, for daily expenses;
Then she got busy with her own things. She asked her mother to contact the original owner's former piano teacher, who was a professor at the Royal Academy of Music, so that she could continue to study piano with him. On her days off, she would go to the old lady Maggie Smith's place to ask for help and improve herself.

In July, she was supposed to attend Rowling's wedding with the rest of the crew; it was a remarriage based on a free-choice relationship.

However, the wedding, which was supposed to take place in the Galapagos Islands, was forced to be canceled because the media leaked the wedding information.
This is very regrettable;

Furthermore, Rowling was furious because some media outlets published photos of her daughter Jessica while reporting the incident. Violating the privacy of minors is a serious crime in the UK, so Rowling filed a lawsuit. If the case is handled according to procedure, the other party will have to serve a year in prison.
This is also why Isabella and her family can avoid the media: you can take pictures, but if you dare to release them, then we'll go in.
Even though Rowling was quite busy, Isabella still received the script for "The Chamber of Secrets" from her.
Rowling's meaning was clear, and Isabella, being knowledgeable, began to translate it.
After spending more than half a month writing about everyone's differences, old lady Maggie Smith was once again severely criticized—

"Oh, Isa, can't you learn on your own?"

The old lady was a little annoyed looking at the little brat who wouldn't leave her house.

"Oh, Teacher Maggie, I'm so stupid..."

Isabella started to act coquettishly.

"Really? Then I'll have to charge you tuition. I have a phobia of stupidity."

The old lady put on a stern face.

"Huh? I have to pay? I thought my beauty had already paid for me."

Isabella was somewhat surprised.

"..."

The two stared at each other silently for a while, and finally, the old lady, who couldn't say a word, and the sharp-tongued little girl both laughed at the same time.

"Okay, don't ever say I taught you again. I don't have a student as shameless as you."

"hahahaha~"

In August, after a year of study, my mother finally passed the broker's license exam, which means she can legally represent Isabella's business. But, to be honest, she is not qualified to practice.

When it comes to actually doing the work, you still need to hire a lawyer;
But that's not important; it takes time to go from beginner to expert in any industry.
You can't expect a 21-year-old college student with clear eyes to have 22 years of work experience.

Let's wait until September...

A building in New York has been declared unavailable.

The dramatic collision involving James Harden's relative attracted global attention, and the resulting public safety concerns plunged the entertainment industry into a slump. Following the incident, North American box office revenue plummeted by 65% ​​that month, and Disney's theme park revenue dropped by a staggering 71%.

Just when everyone thought the global entertainment industry was about to face a harsh winter...

The British Isles are quite festive as November approaches.

This isn't about Ying being inhuman and praying for her beloved eldest son.

Instead, the global premiere of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" will be held on November 4th.

The location is the Oudian Cinema in Leicester Square, London.
-
　PS: Please refer to the INART version for toy descriptions (as shown in the picture). Please do not search for Mattel's version of the toy from back then. Mattel's toy from back then was just a little black thing and was too... ordinary.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)