Chapter 395: A Favor

Chapter 395: Chapter 395: A Favor

The Facebook casting campaign for Twilight remained high in popularity, the director and male lead for Taken were on the verge of signing, and the casting for Brokeback Mountain was steadily progressing under the guidance of Ang Lee.

Irene was finally able to devote her energy to Transformers 1.

In the Paramount boardroom, the core members were already seated around the long conference table.

Lamb Williams, the director of the Marketing Department at Paramount, was dressed in a sharp dark gray suit, his head lowered as he flipped through some documents.

Seeing Irene enter, he immediately stood up to greet her warmly.

"Irene, you are finally here. The pre-production of Transformers is waiting for you, our core director, to give the final nod. We have already preliminarily organized the casting list and location scouting proposals."

Irene nodded with a smile and took her seat at the head of the table next to Lamb, her gaze sweeping over the folders on the table.

"You have all worked hard during this time. I just got the project at Echo Pictures straightened out and rushed over here without stopping. Today, the main goal is to finalize the two major tasks of casting and location selection, so that the subsequent special effects and shooting plans can keep up."

The meeting officially began, and Lamb spoke first.

"The core story of Transformers revolves around the conflict between Optimus Prime and Megatron on the planet Cybertron. Although the human characters are not the absolute leads, they are the key to connecting the audience with the world of robots."

"We have screened three core human characters: the male lead Sam Witwicky, a high school student who is slightly timid yet righteous at heart, and the accidental possessor of the AllSpark; the lead actress Mikaela Banes, independent, daring, and proficient in mechanics, who gets drawn into the crisis along with Sam; and Captain William Lennox of the U.S. Army Special Forces, calm and wise, the core combat force of the human camp against the Decepticons."

"According to Hollywood conventions, the casting of leads for big-budget commercial films is always a focal point of multi-party games, with investors, producers, and directors all having their own considerations."

"Paramount has already preliminarily screened a batch of candidates, covering different tiers from newcomers to mid-career actors, and I would like to hear your opinion."

Lamb’s words were layered with hidden meaning.

He knew clearly that while Irene, as the director, had natural authority over character portrayal, Paramount, as the main investor, also hoped to control market orientation through the choice of leads.

The struggle for casting rights was essentially a division of the film’s core interests, and any slight carelessness could trigger cooperation disagreements.

Irene had already calculated this in her heart.

The core appeal of Transformers lay in the shocking duels of the robots and the special effects presentation; the role of the human leads was more of a "vehicle for immersion," and Paramount was indeed more experienced than Echo Pictures in market forecasting for commercial films and the star power of the leads.

Instead of wasting energy on power struggles over the casting of the leads, it was better to focus her energy on roles that could better reflect the director’s style, while at the same time doing Paramount a favor.

"Lamb, regarding the characters of Sam and Mikaela, I have decided to hand over the final decision-making power entirely to Paramount."

Irene’s words surprised everyone present, and a flash of pleasant surprise crossed Lamb’s eyes.

"However, I have one small request: the actors must pass an audition test, especially for the chemistry of their scenes together. Although there is not much human screen time in Transformers, the emotional connection must be authentic, or it will pull the audience out of the experience."

"Furthermore, the salary must be kept within a reasonable range; we need to invest more funds into the special effects production, which is the core competitiveness of this film."

Lamb nodded in immediate agreement.

"No problem! We will follow the Hollywood casting process, first screening qualified actors through the actors’ union, organizing more than three rounds of auditions, and having the casting team, producers, and the director’s representatives jointly evaluate them to finally select the most suitable candidates."

His favorability toward Irene increased significantly; this young director was not only talented but also deeply understood industry rules, knowing how to make concessions on key issues, which both avoided unnecessary disputes and demonstrated respect for the partners—she could be called "tactful."

It should be known that the casting rights for leads in big-budget commercial films have always been the focus of contention between directors and producers; Irene’s active concession undoubtedly laid a good foundation for the subsequent cooperation between the two sides.

After resolving the issue of the lead casting, Irene changed the subject.

"However, for the role of Captain William Lennox, the Special Forces captain, I would like to personally designate the actor."

She paused and said the name she had in mind: "Hilary Swank."

"Hilary Swank?" Lamb was a bit surprised. "She is an Oscar-winning actress, and her acting skills are unquestionable, but most of the films she has acted in before are art-house films and female-themed movies. She has never starred in an action film, let alone played a military role. Can the audience accept that?"

"That is exactly the reason why I chose her," Irene said confidently. "Hilary’s acting skill is the greatest guarantee. The toughness and explosive power she displayed in Million Dollar Baby are highly consistent with the personality traits of Captain Lennox."

"Moreover, having an Oscar-winning actress play a military role in a big-budget commercial film is a topic of conversation in itself, which can attract more art-house film audiences into the theaters."

She added: "I became close friends with Hilary after working together on Million Dollar Baby, and I know her plasticity. She can put in extreme effort for a role. As long as she goes through a period of military training, she can fully master the capability and decisiveness of Captain Lennox."

"Furthermore, having her play this role can also improve the acting texture of the film and avoid the common problem of big-budget commercial films being ’heavy on special effects, light on acting’."

Several Paramount executives discussed in low voices for a few moments and quickly reached a consensus.

One executive said: "Irene, we agree with your proposal. The addition of Hilary Swank will indeed add quite a bit of weight to the film, and since you took the initiative to give up the casting rights for the male and female leads, we have no reason to oppose this small request."

Irene felt relieved in her heart; she knew that this decision not only won a good opportunity for her friend to transform, but also won more initiative for herself in the creation of the film.

During the meeting break, she immediately called Hilary to inform her of the news.

Hilary on the other end of the line could not hide her excitement.

"Really? Irene, thank you so much! I have wanted to try an action film for a long time, but I just have not had a suitable opportunity. The role of a Special Forces captain sounds so cool, I definitely will not let you down!"

After hanging up the phone, the meeting continued, and the focus shifted to the selection of shooting locations.

Lamb opened the projection screen, showing a few locations that had been preliminarily screened.

"Transformers is adapted from a classic animated series. If we want the audience to resonate with it, immersion is key."

"The shooting locations must be scenes that the audience is familiar with, so that the plot of a robot invasion can appear realistic and credible."

He pointed to the Los Angeles area on the map.

"We plan to set the main shooting base in Los Angeles and the surrounding areas."

"There are bustling city streets, suburban residential areas, and industrial warehouses here, which can meet the needs of different scenes in the film."

"Moreover, the film shooting support facilities in Los Angeles are perfect, and applying for shooting permits is relatively convenient, which meets our shooting schedule requirements."