From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

Lucas pushed the project proposals and scripts in front of him towards Anson.

"We're just starting out in Hollywood, and we don't have many channels for collecting scripts and projects. Our network is also limited. Those producers don't believe in our strength. Even if they have projects, their limited choices will definitely be those top companies, not us."

"So, we still face some difficulties."

Difficulties?

Anson casually flipped through the mountain of projects in front of him. A quick glance showed there were at least thirty, if not fifty. He looked at Lucas, puzzled, "Not us, are you sure?"

Lucas said, "But Forest Films has Anson-Wood."

During the filming of "Walk the Line," Anson was completely immersed in his role, oblivious to everything else. But judging from the gossip and commotion within the crew, the success of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" was enviable. All of Hollywood inevitably focused their attention on Anson.

The most direct and sensitive positions for observing Hollywood trends are debated. Some say it's the top producers in the industry, others think it's the makeup rooms where makeup artists and stylists gather, and some believe it's the staff exchanging information during breaks on the set.

Actually, none of those are correct.

The real front line is Wall Street—

As the saying goes, observing the movement of money can accurately grasp the context of things.

In terms of traffic, Anson is undoubtedly the number one in Hollywood, unmatched by anyone.

The box office appeal, the twenty-million-dollar club, the pretty-boy label—the internal and external disputes and tug-of-wars in Hollywood simply never stopped. The sudden rise of Johnny Depp and Anson-Wood's sweeping dominance seemed to require a competition.

Especially those stubborn, arrogant, and rude academic old fogeys, each clinging to the past glory of Hollywood, refusing to integrate into the trends of the times, and using tinted glasses of arrogance and prejudice to condescendingly examine the film industry. Discrimination against pretty boys and idols will probably continue for some time.

However, on Wall Street, capital had already sensitively sniffed out the trend—

The mouth may not admit it, but the body is honest.

Unlike Hollywood, Wall Street doesn't look at the work, the strength, or the label. They don't care about acting skills, idol status, commercial films, or artistic pursuits. The only thing that matters is numbers.

And not just any random numbers, but profit numbers.

Just look at the profit numbers. This isn't some Goldbach's conjecture mathematical problem. Wall Street has already taken the lead in making judgments and launching offensives.

Without even going back too far, the profit numbers of "The Butterfly Effect," "Elephant," and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" are enough to blow minds.

"How about finding Anson-Wood for this project?"

"Anson-Wood, why isn't his name on the actor shortlist?"

"Ah, Anson, let's go with him, I think he's suitable."

In fact, during the investment-seeking phase of a film project, the script isn't really important. Even without a script, it's fine. Those producers and investors may not have the patience to listen to the entire script's concept and plot. All they need is a concept, a setting, and the actors for that setting—

They can use the actor's image to depict the entire project's positioning and blueprint.

Here, the perfect candidate in the film project's concept is particularly important.

What's important isn't whether they can actually get these actors to join, but the attractiveness of these actors to investors. So, on the male lead list, fill it with Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt as much as possible; the same goes for the female lead list, Nicole Kidman, Halle Berry, Charlize Theron—let your imagination run wild.

In 99% of cases, the candidate actors on this list will not become the final cast of the film, but this list can become a stepping stone for the film to attract investment.

Historically, the most interesting and unique situation came from Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs."

This film was Quentin's first directorial work in his career. Although he had previously worked as a screenwriter, directing was a first. In order to attract investment, he listed an outrageously absurd list of actors.

But miraculously, after getting the investment, Quentin actually used his silver tongue to persuade the actors on the list to join the debut work of an unknown new director.

In the end, more than half of the actors in "Reservoir Dogs" were Quentin's first choice, and the other half were basically second choices, creating a dream lineup and launching Quentin's Hollywood debut with a bang.

And now, a storm is brewing on Wall Street—

Anson has officially become the most attractive and influential headliner, replacing Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Cruise, and rewriting the Hollywood map.

Even Wall Street elites, who have no interest in movies and whose only concern about Hollywood is profit numbers, all know the name Anson-Wood without exception. Starting with capital, Anson's influence on Hollywood is penetrating in all directions.

Johnny Depp?

Of course, Johnny Depp is also attractive, but he's not even on the same level as Anson.

It is precisely because of this that even though Forest Films is just a brand new player in Hollywood, scripts and projects are flocking to Forest Films.

One or two people emphasize, their projects are tailor-made for Anson.

Either successfully attract investment from Forest Films, or enter Anson's vision and grab Anson's attention, and then they can confidently use Anson's name to find other producers and investors, which is a guaranteed win-win.

However, the liveliness of Forest Films is still dwarfed by Edgar's.

The reason is simple and straightforward.

Those projects invested in Forest Films, a new Hollywood player, more or less carry some speculative ideas—

Currently, no one has figured out the route and style of Forest Films. The posture of taking advantage of "Walk the Line" to enter the game makes people confused. Lucas's existence as Anson's brother naturally creates a kind of "hobby nature" illusion.

But Edgar is different.

As Anson's agent, Edgar's every move completely revolves around Anson. When Anson is working or on vacation, Edgar is still wandering around Hollywood, looking for candidates for Anson's next work.

If a project sincerely hopes to impress Anson to join, Edgar is the best entry point.

Naturally, over the past period of time, Edgar has become the hottest big shot in all of Hollywood, truly busy to the point of not touching the ground.

In Lucas's words, "Half of Hollywood's scripts and projects should have passed through Edgar's hands, at least once."