Chapter 346: God-Tier Producer

Chapter 346: Chapter 346: God-Tier Producer

As a top global superstar, Britney brought with her a massive fan following. Her involvement not only brought capital but also elevated Facebook’s influence among the younger demographic to a new level.

Many people in Edward Nelson’s family worked on Wall Street, and his participation also attracted the attention of some old-school investors from the Nelson family.

These two were Irene’s core connections and resources he could not touch for the time being. This realization caused the jealousy he had just suppressed to quietly bubble up again.

"She always manages to pull in so many high-quality resources." Mark’s tone was complex, filled with both envy and unwillingness to accept it.

While he admitted to Irene’s contributions with his mouth, he could not help but wonder in his heart: If it were not for Irene, could he have found the same capital support relying solely on his own technology?

Chen Shiyu did not respond, only smiling and gesturing toward the direction where the exchange staff were walking: "Mark, the bell-ringing ceremony is about to start. We should go over and prepare. Irene specifically instructed that she hopes we can ring the bell together, symbolizing the win-win collaboration between the Facebook founding team and the investors."

Mark nodded and followed Chen Shiyu toward the bell-ringing platform.

Under the spotlight, he looked at the composed and calm Chen Shiyu beside him, then thought of Irene far away on the set in the Bahamas, and the inexplicable emotion in his heart became even more complex.

He was still that genius programmer studying at Harvard, the technical core of Facebook, but Irene had already reached a height he could hardly reach, holding multiple chips of capital, connections, film, and technology.

This gap was like an invisible thorn stuck in his heart. Even he himself had not fully realized that it was actually the budding of jealousy.

At 9:30 AM, the crisp and resonant opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange rang through the hall on time.

The Facebook stock ticker began to scroll on the electronic screen, and the flashes of reporters below the stage went off one after another.

Following Irene’s instructions, he specifically mentioned during an interview: "The cooperation between Future World Pictures and Facebook goes beyond capital. We are jointly creating an immersive entertainment experience, and I believe it will bring surprises to audiences around the world."

These words not only echoed the viral marketing of Saw but also laid the groundwork for subsequent in-depth cooperation between the two parties.

Meanwhile, 3,000 miles away in Los Angeles, Jerry Bruckheimer stood in a 12,000-square-meter Warner Bros. studio, directing workers to build the core scene for the final battle: two massive, 120-meter-long, full-scale ship cabins.

This place was called Soundstage 3 by their crew.

This golden Hollywood producer held the design outline drawn by Irene, checking the details inside the cabin with a furrowed brow: "The pipe layout here is wrong. It needs to be adjusted according to the structure of a real submarine so that the actors’ movements can be natural. Also, the effects for the rotating hull and the full-stage rainfall must start testing tomorrow so that any problems can be adjusted in time." The art director beside him hurriedly made notes, with nearly 200 staff members busy behind him.

When Jerry walked to the operations team, he suddenly asked: "When will the team from Industrial Light & Magic arrive? Irene will bring the crew back in half a month, and we will have to start filming in the studio after just a few days of rest at most. Our filming schedule hasn’t changed, right?"

The assistant hurriedly opened their notebook and replied: "The equipment requested by Industrial Light & Magic has been purchased and is in place, just waiting for them to send people to install it in advance. According to the plan, we will first go to Soundstage 1 to film Captain Jack Sparrow’s solo scenes, followed by the plot of the Black Pearl flipping at World’s End, then Calypso’s transformation, followed by the final showdown between the Flying Dutchman and the Black Pearl, and finally Beckett’s death. There are no other changes for now."

Jerry could not help but nod, "Very good."

As early as a month ago, Jerry had taken Irene’s design plans to visit various studios in Los Angeles.

To avoid the special effects shots in the movie appearing "floaty and suspended," they ultimately decided to abandon full green-screen filming and adopt a "practical set + enhanced special effects" model.

To save time, they not only found three studios to operate simultaneously, placing scenes with lower filming difficulty in Soundstage 1, but also recreated the ship cabins needed for the movie at a 1:1 scale.

The interior was precisely divided into nine areas, including the command cabin, weapons cabin, and engine room. Every instrument panel and every wire was guided by a military consultant, and even the rust on the cabin walls was hand-painted by prop masters, striving to restore the most realistic texture.

"Jerry, this is the latest budget report." The assistant handed over a document, "The construction of the practical cabin sets alone cost 12 million dollars, and with the post-production special effects costs, it has already exceeded the original budget by 15%."

Jerry took the report, scanned it quickly, and waved his hand: "Money is not an issue. What we want is ’realism.’ This is the final battle of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy. The scenes must be realistic and shocking, and we must make the audience feel that it was worth the trip."

He pointed to the hydraulic device being installed, "This device can simulate the tilting and vibration of the hull. When filming the final battle, the actors won’t have to perform against thin air. They can use the most real objective sensations to act out the plot. The special effects team only needs to do enhancement processing based on the practical set, and the visuals will be much more solid and incredibly realistic."

He walked to the center of the cabin and looked up at the giant mechanical arm being hoisted: "The final battle designed by Irene requires the actors to complete close-quarters combat and weapon operation in a bumpy cabin. Without the support of a practical set, these action scenes would only appear empty. What we want to create is a unique visual impact. It must have shocking scenes, and it must also make the audience feel the real tension."

On the other side, Irene flipped through the photos of the practical cabin sets sent by Jerry, a satisfied smile appearing on the corner of her mouth.

Although she initially had doubts about Jerry Bruckheimer’s abilities, now that the collaboration has progressed this far, she has become very impressed with this veteran producer.

To outsiders, Pirates of the Caribbean is a fantasy epic film created single-handedly by Irene, but without Jerry as a strong backing to help her realize the fantasies in her mind one by one, this film could not have been completed so well.

You have to know that the scene design of the third installment is so grand that even 20 years later, it is hard for any film to compare with it. To realize such spectacular scenes, it is not something that can be perfectly achieved just by Irene talking. From practical sets to special effects, if either one is missing, it cannot be done.

Only Jerry could turn the content on paper into reality within the plan. Others might not be clear about Jerry Bruckheimer’s efforts, but as the director, she is the most clear.

No wonder the teams in Hollywood wanting to work with him could circle Santa Monica three times. Such a producer can indeed save a director a lot of worry.