Chapter 913: I Love Natasha

'What does the production company of an eye-catching, hugely popular director and producer like Duke Rosenberg actually look like?' Sitting in the reception lounge of Duke Studio, Gao Fangfang could not help but wonder. She had barely overcome her jet lag before eagerly contacting Warner Brothers to arrange this tour and interview.

Despite coming from National Television across the Pacific, Gao Fangfang was a smart woman. She knew this was America; her personal status and the network behind her carried little weight here. Even after a rather long wait, she remained patient and intensely curious.

After all, she was about to tour Duke Studio and interview the world's top director, Duke Rosenberg.

The famous Hollywood director had every right and the capital to keep any media outlet or journalist waiting. Gao Fangfang knew perfectly well that Warner Greater China Region had pushed for this exclusive interview mainly to leverage her network's influence to promote Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which was already in post-production.

A knock sounded at the lounge door. A tall brunette pushed it open and walked in, smiling as she extended a hand. "Hello, Miss Gao. I am Duke's assistant, Tina Fey."

Even though the woman introduced herself as just an assistant, Gao Fangfang immediately stood up and gave her hand a firm shake. "Hello, Tina. May I call you that?"

Gao Fangfang had studied in Los Angeles—otherwise, she would not have landed this assignment—and possessed a solid understanding of Hollywood. She had done enough homework before arriving to know that anyone who treated this tall, beautiful woman as just a simple assistant had to be out of their mind.

She knew exactly where Tina Fey stood within Duke Rosenberg's organization. It was fair to say that Duke's massive success had directly forged his assistant into one of Hollywood's top power players.

Tina Fey stepped back slightly, creating a polite distance. "I will be taking you on a tour of Duke Studio now, Miss Gao."

Although Time Warner had acquired Duke Studio long ago, the facility still retained every trace of Duke's influence, and many of its major initiatives were still handed over to him for final decisions.

"Thank you," Gao Fangfang said politely. She and her cameraman followed Tina Fey out of the lounge.

She knew very well that a director of Duke Rosenberg's caliber would never personally play tour guide for a reporter. Sending Tina Fey already showed plenty of sincerity and respect.

Gao Fangfang also knew that with less than six months until the North American and global premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, director Duke Rosenberg was undoubtedly seizing every minute for the film's post-production.

A massive film like Star Wars: The Force Awakens would be packed with visual effects shots, and there was plenty of detailed work left to do on the narrative front.

Passing by an open-plan office, Gao Fangfang caught sight of Duke Rosenberg. The director was discussing work with several people and looked incredibly busy.

Gao Fangfang took a few extra glances. She didn't sense any tension from him as he stood alongside his current partner, Charles Roven, giving instructions to the staff.

'What does the production company founded by Duke Rosenberg, an eye-catching and widely popular director and producer, actually look like?'

As the tour and her cameraman's filming progressed, Gao Fangfang began to form a general impression.

Many similar Hollywood production companies chose to set up in standalone villas or office buildings near the soundstages, but not Duke Studio. It sat near Burbank in an indescribable, solitary building just a few blocks from the Warner Building.

Perhaps this was to make coordinating with Warner Brothers more convenient. Or maybe a younger Duke Rosenberg simply enjoyed jokes and pranks—painted on the building's exterior was "National Typewriter Company," a completely fictional business.

Walking inside the film company, Gao Fangfang saw traces of Duke Rosenberg everywhere. The long corridor walls were pinned with all kinds of posters, including a vintage American football flyer bearing his photo.

"This is from one of Duke's high school games," Tina Fey chimed in at just the right moment. "In this game, Duke scored the first sixty-yard touchdown in the history of Mountain High School. It's one of his most memorable moments from those years."

Gao Fangfang knew that Duke owned an American football team, so she asked, "Is he very skilled at the sport?"

Hearing this, Tina Fey shrugged. "He's decent enough at the amateur level, but compared to the pros..."

She shook her head.

Seeing the gesture, Gao Fangfang understood perfectly. She didn't press the subject, turning her attention back to the posters lining the hallway.

The corridor leading to the conference room was lined with a poster of Speed signed by Keanu Reeves, a poster of The Rock signed by Nicolas Cage, a poster of Saving Private Ryan signed by Tom Hanks, a poster of Chicago signed by Naomi Watts, a poster of The Matrix signed by Charlize Theron, a poster of Daylight signed by Gerard Butler, and a poster of The Lord of the Rings trilogy signed by Viggo Mortensen...

It was essentially a massive showcase of Duke Rosenberg's filmography.

Passing through the long corridor, Gao Fangfang followed Tina Fey into a newly renovated screening room dedicated to reviewing submitted scripts. Hanging right in the center of the room was a massively enlarged poster of a drawing done by a child in a notebook. It depicted the famous Marvel character Natasha Romanoff, with a childish scrawl beside it that read: "I love Natasha, she is beautiful and smart."

Tina Fey spoke up to explain. "The artist behind this drawing is Duke's goddaughter, Suri Cruise."

Gao Fangfang nodded. This little girl named Suri Cruise was obviously the daughter of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.

"I'd like to ask a question," Gao Fangfang said. Clearly uninterested in the drawing, she kept her eyes glued to the staff members flipping through scripts. "How does a typical Hollywood company like Duke Studio review scripts? Or rather, when a project reaches a film company, what kind of review process is considered proper and efficient enough to ensure good scripts don't slip through the cracks?"

This was an incredibly tedious question to answer, and Tina Fey was not about to give an overly detailed explanation. After a brief thought, she offered a broad overview.

"The strict gatekeeping by the Editorial Department is ultimately motivated by a need to lower the company's investment risks," Tina Fey said simply. "They painstakingly evaluate and review scripts from the audience's perspective and mindset. They consider everything comprehensively—the choice of subject matter, the quality of the dialogue, the visual potential, and the originality of the story. The Editorial Department has to be more professional, more dedicated, and more responsible than any other department."

Tina Fey left her answer at that. As a veteran in the industry, she knew very well that even with such strict methods and systems in place, reliably picking out excellent scripts and projects remained incredibly difficult.

While the people collecting the scripts genuinely wanted to filter out good, developable stories, the reality was that almost everything died in the initial selection phase.

Most Hollywood projects rarely evolved from solicited scripts. The chances of a blind submission eventually becoming a movie were abysmally low; calling it sifting gold from sand was no exaggeration.

Afterward, Tina Fey led Gao Fangfang into Duke Studio's exhibition hall. The shelves in the room were lined with memorabilia and models from Duke's previous film and television works.

No matter where Gao Fangfang looked, she could spot an interesting little prop or two, and the tour constantly yielded new surprises. For instance, she found a wax hair removal machine stamped with a palm-sized "Neo" logo; the note next to it stated that it had been used by Keanu Reeves during the filming of The Matrix.

Duke Studio wasn't massive in scale. By Gao Fangfang's rough estimate, it had only about a hundred employees. What intrigued her the most, however, was that the company employed a group of full-time artisans. Their work wasn't just machine-printing fun themed T-shirts; they crafted a wide variety of props through 3D printing and manual fabrication.

Tina Fey told her that this helped them quickly get their hands on what they wanted during the creative phase, allowing them to determine whether a concept was viable.

To further illustrate her point, Tina Fey walked over to a cabinet and pulled out two grapnel guns used in Batman. One was printed in-house at a cost of only three dollars. Serving as a model, it had been tweaked and adjusted until they finally produced the second one—the actual prop used in the film, crafted from resin and metal at a cost of about eight hundred dollars.

Gao Fangfang noticed many editing suites here, as well as a state-of-the-art sixty-seat mini theater.

"Though it's used a bit less frequently now," Tina Fey said, looking around the empty theater as she recalled busier days. "Duke emphasizes constantly correcting problems during the production process. It reflects the passion for filmmaking he's had since childhood—using every available resource to achieve the best result."

After following Tina Fey on a full lap around Duke Studio, Gao Fangfang and her cameraman returned to the initial reception lounge, where an assistant promptly served them coffee and black tea.

Once the assistant left, Tina Fey checked her watch. "Please wait a moment. Duke's work should be just about finished. I'll go take a look."

Gao Fangfang immediately rallied all her energy, readying herself for the exclusive interview.