HWI 221

Hollywood What If Chapter 221

Industrial Light & Magic(ILM), a certain company that were very famous in the industry. To be precise, it was a company that produced special/visual effects for Hollywood movies.

This company was founded by George Lucas. The purpose of this company was actually for the special effects for Star Wars movies. At that time, the special effects in Star Wars were already an amazing achievement. In 1977, it was very hard to replicate. Maybe that is one of the reasons why Star Wars became a blockbuster, a unique blockbuster.

The company's VFX (visual effects) business took off after that. Since then, they have worked on many movies and dominated the industry. Most projects that needed special effects would look for them because their technology was indeed more advanced than others.

Harry Potter franchise.

The Mummy franchise.

The Mission: Impossible franchise.

The Back to the Future franchise.

If listed, these titles could fill an entire newspaper. One thing was for sure, Industrial Light & Magic ruled Hollywood in VFX. That was the truth.

Perhaps only Weta Workshop or Weta Studio could compete with ILM. Weta Workshop was the studio responsible for the special effects in Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, King Kong, and Avatar.

Weta Workshop was also one of the first studios to use motion capture technology. They used it to transform Andy Serkis into Gollum. They also used it to turn the cast of Avatar into blue aliens. The same thing happened in Planet of the Apes.

At the moment, Kazir Grey entered the Industrial Light & Magic studio. Next to him was his assistant, Erica Mendez. He wanted to see the progress on the scenes he had requested.

Some of the scenes in Wanted required special effects. Especially the bullet time, the scenes where the bullets were floating in the air in slow motion. Kazir Grey wanted to make the scenes as realistic as possible.

Industrial Light & Magic was the only place he could turn. Weta Workshop was based in New Zealand, and Kazir didn't have the time to travel there.

The production budget of Wanted was set at $75 million, and 1/3 of that budget would probably go to Industrial Light & Magic to create satisfying special effects.

"Director Grey, good to see you again."

"Jerome."

Kazir shook the man's hand. The person in front of him was Jerome Dawson, the studio head of Industrial Light & Magic.

Kazir Grey and Erica Mendez followed the man, leading them into a large studio where a group of people were editing the trajectories of bullets on their computers.

Frame by frame, they were building the scene. ILM already had a frame animation of the bullet from a long time ago, so they didn't have a hard time replicating it.

"This is our progress for ten days, what do you think?"

Jerome Dawson set up a computer for them to watch. The scene playing on the computer was of a sniper's bullet flying through the air in a cool motion.

"It's not that bad. Let's set up the contract. My lawyer and agent will be at the studio tomorrow."

"That's good to hear, director."

There was no need to delay. Kazir had already chosen to work with ILM. They were the best VFX company for decades to come. He trusted them.

After watching the minute-long scene for the fifth time, Kazir stood up and looked around at the crew. Most of them were using a program whose name he had no idea.

Kazir left the studio and Erica Mendez followed him.

"Sir, is that all? We just spent half an hour here."

"Erica, you have known me for almost four years now. I'm sure you know why."

"Well, you're an introvert and you never leave your office unless it's related to your movies."

"That's right."

The two walked down the hall.

As they walked, Kazir saw two people he recognized. However, he didn't have much interaction with them. One thing was for sure, he respected one of them.

Three people were talking near the exit of the building. One was a stranger to Kazir while the two were known personalities.

"I think, I think I know that girl. Where have I seen her before?"

Erica muttered weakly, wondering.

George Lucas was talking to a middle-aged woman who seemed to be trying to convince him.

Next to the middle-aged woman was a young woman, perhaps an 18-year-old woman.

Kazir knew the young woman, it was Natalie Portman. The woman who won the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance in Black Swan.

Natalie Portman had appeared in many films, but Kazir knew her best as Padme Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, Evey Hammond in V For Vendetta, and Jane Foster in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Anyway, Kazir felt that the conversation between the two adults was not going very well.

"George, why don't you increase Natalie's screen time in the Star Wars sequel? I think she has an important role to play in the trilogy."

'Indeed, Padme Amidala plays an important role. She was the real mother of Luke Skywalker. Aight, no need to spoil people.' Kazir couldn't help but monologue in his mind.

"I understand, Claire, I will try what I can."

George Lucas smiled, not taking her seriously. He had many people who asked him for favors.

The famous director looked away and realized that someone was actually approaching them. Kazir knew it might be awkward, but he wanted to say hello to George Lucas, he just wanted to.

"You're Kazir Grey, right? The director of Taken and The Bourne Identity."

"Yes, Mr. Lucas."

"You can call me George, we are both directors."

"I'm a fan of Star Wars."

"I'm glad to hear that."

The two directors greeted each other, ignoring the middle-aged woman.

However, the middle-aged woman was not angry at all. Instead, she smiled amiably and took out a business card.

"Hello Director Grey, I'm Claire Gilmore. I'm Natalie Portman's agent. I work at CAA."

"Oh, so you're from CAA." Kazir was a little surprised.