From 2000 to 2004, James Winn knew that Hollywood's celebrity path is difficult to walk, and the director's path is even more difficult.

Not to mention how bad the situation of the director who is so talented but has no chance, even if he, a long-standing director, lacks good opportunities to go further.

The Saw that he led brought him a series of high profits to Lionsgate, but Lionsgate limited him to the Saw series.

Since "Saw 2", Lionsgate Pictures has stated that as long as he participates in the production of another "Saw", he will support him in filming new works. As a result, "Saw" has now been filmed with the sixth part, and Lionsgate Pictures' promise has not been fulfilled.

During this period, the investment he filmed "Dead Silence" was still attracted by other companies.

Perhaps it was because "Dead Silence" was not very successful, which made Lionsgate Pictures worry.

The short checks were finally lost. James Win thoroughly understood one thing. Lionsgate Pictures was just squeezing his surplus value and had no intention of supporting him in filming new works.

So, he made a decision just after the New Year, and after fulfilling his last contract with Lionsgate Pictures, he completely bid farewell to Lionsgate Pictures.

For new works, you still need to find new and sincere collaborators.

At a party, he told his friend Justin Lin about his ideas, and then Justin Lin solemnly recommended Matthew to him, one of which made James Win particularly moved: Matthew treats Chinese directors and white directors.

As an outsider, James Win has no place to complain about how many unfair treatment he has encountered over the years.

If there is a relatively fair platform, his ideas can become actual movies, which is much more important than other aspects.

Justin Lin collaborated with Matthew in a movie, and he had a tangible feeling in this regard, and what he said would definitely not be wrong.

Moreover, James Winn has also contacted Matthew, and had previously asked someone to contact Daniel Wu, everything was told to Justin Lin.

Looking at Matthew opposite, James Winn neither felt the strange gazes that Hollywood often saw when people like them, nor did he noticed deliberate approaching, as if Matthew was sitting with him, just like he was sitting with other Chinese in Chinatown and chatting with other Chinese.

It seems that their appearance does not differ so much, just like their same kind of people.

"Matthew, I plan to get out of the Saw series."

Just now, Justin Lin had already opened for him before leaving, so James Win stopped talking nonsense, "I'm going to shoot a new horror movie."

Matthew nodded, "This idea is very correct. A director stays in one series for a long time and will only limit his own development."

James Wen smiled, "I think so too." He pondered for a moment and said, "But Lionsgate does not support me, so I plan to end my cooperation with Lionsgate after this year's "Saw 6" is released."

"Have you ever had a new idea?" Matthew asked directly.

"Yeah." James Win said directly, "I plan to change my mind."

Then he specifically said, "I don't want to continue shooting murder movies like "Saw". Do you still remember the topic we talked about last time?"

After his reminder, Matthew remembered that the two talked about the topic of East-West horror culture. James Winn said that he wanted to properly integrate the supernatural horror of the Eastern style into traditional Western horror movies.

Seeing Matthew nodding slightly, James Win continued, "The horror of the Eastern way has given me a new idea, and Ray Warner and I turned this idea into a script."

Speaking of this, he took out a very thin script from his bag and pushed it to Matthew, "This one is more orthodox in terms of pattern than the film I made before."

Matthew opened the script and read it quickly. The script was very thin, it should be just the first draft, but only fifty or sixty pages, with concise content. Even if he browsed it at a glance, he understood the main plot: the family happily moved to a new house and suddenly encountered a strange spirit attack.

Such a haunted house plot seems to have no new ideas worth paying attention to when watching it horizontally.

However, Matthew never caught a cold about creative movies.

Innovation may indeed bring unexpected gains, but for commercial movies, it is more likely to lose money. There are too many similar lessons in Hollywood.

Seeing Matthew finishing the script, James Wen said again, "I want to make a classic Western horror movie that appropriately integrates the advantages of the East, and there will not be too many Eastern elements."

Matthew nodded slightly. This is the most exclusive film and media market in North America, no doubt about it.

James Wenneng thinks this, which means that this is a director who understands the market, not a fool who thinks that he can sell well in North America by bringing classic European or Eastern movies over.

It is actually not easy for an outside Hollywood director to be moderate in this regard.

Matthew looked at James Win and said, "Continue."

With his encouragement, James Wen said, "The movie I made is a bit similar to "The Haunted House", "The Innocence" and "The Exorcist".

He thought about it, "The Exorcist was shot in a very imaginative way, it was shot like a documentary, and it made it really horrifying. I really wanted to shoot a movie like this, and do it in a controlled but documentary way."

"Will this have a sense of reality?" Matthew understood the meaning behind James Win.

James Wen nodded vigorously and further said, "In my opinion, it is very difficult to shoot such a movie, which is much more difficult than making a movie that is terrifyingly quick to edit in form."

Speaking of this, he took out a binding book that was thicker than the script and pushed it over, "This is my plan."

Matthew took it, looked through the outline roughly, then frowned and asked, "The production budget is only 1.5 million US dollars?"

"Yes." James Win would certainly not say things that were high and worried that no one would invest, and said with a smile, "$1.5 million is enough."

Matthew roughly flipped through the plan, then gently tapped the armrest of the chair and fell into thinking.

There is no doubt that James Winn has brought Lionsgate a gold mine with a stable source of profit every year.

In this regard, James Win's value is not low.

But "Dead Silence" is a relatively commercially failed horror film, which is an undeniable fact.

Perhaps it was because this film did not achieve the expected results that the current situation occurred between James Win and Lionsgate.

Matthew's fingers hit the armrests of the chairs slower and slower, and he gradually made a decision. Since there was once a horror universe that had something to do with the director of the "Saw" series, it should be the right decision to pull James Win into his own camp?

Last time he had a deep conversation with James Win, he was indeed a very thoughtful horror film director.

If you have ideas, you may not succeed, but if you don’t have ideas, you will not even have the possibility of success.

Besides, this is an experiment, and it is an experiment with only one and a half million US dollars.

One million and a half million dollars are very high for ordinary people, but they are less than one-tenth of his salary. Even if they fail, they will have no effect on him. Then you just give up James Win and no longer cooperate with him.

But what if you achieve success like "Saw"? How much does "Saw" cost? How much box office will it be? How many videotapes and DVDs were sold later? How much is the revenue from the TV copyright fee?

Small and medium-sized film companies composed of large film companies and even shareholders have strict project approval and review systems. The project preparation of a movie is never used to take a script to CEO or other executives. Those who think the script is good can directly make the decision.

But Studio 13 is different. Although there is David Ellison, the second shareholder, after cross-holding with Sky Dance, the film business is his one-man show.

Small companies also have the flexibility of small companies.

Matthew thought about it and made up his mind.

"James, I'll follow this project." He rarely makes investment decisions so casually, mainly because the films he invested in in the past are not as small as that. "Studio No. 13 will invest in this project."

"Well, Matthew, I can't sign the contract immediately..." James Wen was relieved first, then smiled embarrassedly, "I have a contract with Lionsgate Pictures and can't shoot other films for the time being. The contract will not end until "Saw 6" is released."

Matthew asked directly, "When?"

James Win quickly replied, "It will be released before Halloween this year."

"Okay!" Matthew made the decision and would not hesitate anymore, "I'll wait for you."

This is very serious, and James Winn instantly felt that Matthew attached great importance to his project.

Since Matthew has taken the attitude of paying great attention to director James Win, he doesn't care to deepen it. "James, I can guarantee two things in your project to work with No. 13."

He raised a finger and said, "First, you are the director and producer. You have absolute power over this project. No one, including me, will interfere in your shooting and production."

Then, Matthew raised his second finger, "Second, I have a long-term and stable partnership with Walt Disney and Warner Bros. I can push your video into the distribution channels of the six major companies!"

As soon as these two points are said, James Wen Zhi feels that he has found the right person, and the director has less constraints as a producer. The distribution channels of the six major companies can help future films to get more theaters.

Afterwards, the two chatted for a long time, and seemed particularly speculative. They didn't prepare to say goodbye until they got off work in the afternoon.

"James, will I invite you and Justin to have supper?" Matthew invited.

"Sorry, Matthew." James Winn smiled embarrassedly again, "I have something tonight. Ray Warner made an appointment with a friend. I want to go there. I agreed two days ago."
Chapter completed!