Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1056 Fixed pay or dividends
On the recessed square in the middle of the new CAA building, Gene Hackman parked the car with a flick.

Gene Hackman drives a Toyota Celica GT4 165 road race car.Like Paul Newman, he is also a semi-professional racing enthusiast. He once drove this car and participated in the low-level competition of the Dynaton Endurance Race.

The headlights of the GT4 turned half a circle and were retracted into the engine cover of the compartment.Hackman was in a bad mood. His "Mississippi is Burning" missed the best director and best actor, and the box office did not have a second rebound as expected.The lack of awards also made sales in overseas markets and the video market weak.

This made the leading actor, who gave up most of his salary due to the low budget and instead took the movie share, a big financial failure.Originally, with his strength, he could get a salary slightly lower than the 400 million US dollars of Hollywood's top leading actors, but now he only got 50 US dollars in advance.

His Hawaiian-Japanese girlfriend, Arakawa, is a woman who spends money like water.Pianos, parties, high-end clothing and all kinds of enjoyment are indispensable.Gene Hackman already owed her something, and the 30-year age difference between the two decided not to have children. This made Arakawa feel no guilt for spending Hackman's money, and he didn't dare to say anything more.

The tight financial situation forced Gene Hackman to take on a lot of movies, and he also sold the house he designed and renovated.Because of his reputation as an actor and villain in Superman movies, the architect magazine also praised him, and put several of his architectural works into the introduction of the magazine.

So for the time being, the price of selling the house is enough for him and his girlfriend to live a luxurious life, but obviously there will be problems when the inventory is sold out.

"Gene..." Ovitz stood in the office to greet the disgruntled client.

"Michael Let's make a long story short. Is there anything else you want to say about my termination of the contract with you?"

After Hackman was snatched away by his younger brother Dustin Hoffman, he had already contacted William Morris, planning to buy out the contract and switch to an agency that could contribute to his awards public relations.

"Are you really unwilling to continue working with me? Gene? We have always been very considerate to you..."

"You fuckin'," Gene Hackman stood up and was about to hit him.No matter how thoughtful he is usually, a backstab on Oscar is nothing.

"Okay, let's not talk about that... I hope we can be friends if we are not client brokers... Let's talk about something else today"

Ovitz was unimpressed, he is Steve Seagal's aikido apprentice, black belt!In a real fight, the old man Hackman is definitely not his opponent.

"I can't think of anything else to talk about. Get your secretary to prepare the papers as soon as possible."

"I think there are still some, why don't you talk about the filming rights of 'Silence of the Lambs' in your hand..." Ovitz raised his hand and asked the secretary to prepare the contract termination documents, while telling Gene Hackman what he wanted things to talk about.

"Don't even think about it, it's a director's work I gave myself, and I will star in it myself. You must know that Hollywood is still a place where works speak for themselves..."

"Hey..." Ovitz laughed, work, work has a fart.It's business acumen that competes in this business.

"Jin, apart from this Oscar, we have nothing unpleasant. The award voting is not something I can control. I did favor Dustin, but I just voted for him personally...

This deal is actually good for you too.We all know that making a movie, directing a movie, and starring in a movie are not the same thing.Being a producer means that you are responsible for the profit and loss of the film yourself. Why not just be a leading actor?Don't participate in production, don't participate in dividends, only get a fixed salary, this is my last piece of advice to you. "

This paragraph just hit Gene Hackman's mind.If you insist on only getting a fixed salary, then you won't be reduced to the point of selling a house.This XXX Ovitz must have known his predicament.

"Silence of the Lambs" is fully involved, and its own company needs to invest, and the negotiated publisher Orion will jointly bear the cost of filming and publicity.I still want to be a director. If I fail, it will not be a problem of not getting the full salary and dividends. I may also lose my old capital for many years. The few investors I have found recently are not willing to invest in this film. Movie.

"Who do you want to sell to? Who to direct?" Gene Hackman has only one idea, can't give it to Ovitz and Dustin Hoffman, Barry Levinson, everyone else can discuss, " I'm going to talk to the buyer..."

"Of course no problem. You just met him at the Oscar party..." Ovitz said Ronald's name unhurriedly. This director, who also did not win an Oscar, had a much more stable mind. .Still young people are easy to satisfy...

……

Meanwhile, Ronald went to the house of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore to discuss with him about starring in "Look Who Speaks."

"Bruce, the remuneration you asked for is too high. Columbia doesn't have a lot of production budget, and my company doesn't have much cash. Can you change the payment method?"

According to Ronald's request, Amy Hecklin contacted Bruce Willis, who became popular because of "Die Hard", but the other party's agent quoted a sky-high price of 800 million.That's 200 million more than what he made in "Die Hard."

And "Look Who's Talking" is a small-budget comedy, the prepared production budget will not exceed 1000 million, and the salary will not exceed 500 million.The two sides couldn't reach an agreement, so things took a turn and came back to Ronald.

Ronald had to do it himself. He brought a lot of baby products and a jade Buddha bought in Chinatown, all of which were given to Demi and his wife.

"I'm sorry, my agent is taking care of my affairs now, I don't interfere much now..." Although Bruce Willis is grateful to Ronald, business is business, and favors are favors. Things have finally risen up, and after the drop, the movie will also be quoted accordingly.

"Bruce, you see my daughter is smiling and saying hello to Ronald..." Seeing her husband speak directly, Demi Moore came over to interrupt with her daughter in her arms.

"Lovely child", Ronald looked at their daughter, who had the typical big eyes of a white child, fair skin, but the chin was a bit too square.Fortunately, wearing the gentle Jade Buddha around her neck softened some of the hard lines on her face.

With such an interruption, the three of them had fun around the little girl for a while.Everyone's attitude softened.

"Ronald, what do you mean by other payment methods? I heard that you make a lot of money..." Bruce Willis' TV series Blue Moonlight Detective Agency has decided to end, and more of his energy will be transferred to movies come up.

"What do you think I rely on to make money?" Ronald was moved when he saw Bruce Willis asking this question.

Bruce Willis was not paid much on TV, and only accumulated fans.What really made him a lot of money was Goldberg, the president of 600th Century Fox, who appointed his first-line male stars a salary of [-] million.

Now that he has received many invitations for "Die Hard" movies, he is hesitating whether to go all the way on the road of this ordinary action star.If you don't stereotype action actors and continue to pursue comedies and dramas, it is impossible to get the salary figures for action movies, so you are in a dilemma.

He is at the stage of just becoming a rich man, and he is barely on the threshold of being particularly rich, so he is very interested in making money.

"Um, I don't think it's the director's salary..." Bruce Willis scratched his bald head.

"It depends on the dividends of the blockbuster movies, Bruce. I'm not saying that this movie will definitely be a blockbuster and make you a lot of money, but it is indeed an opportunity..." Ronald talked about some basic concepts of profit sharing.

Bruce Willis half understood, but Demi Moore's eyes sparkled beside him.

"Listen, Ronald, I love doing light comedy like this, but I also have a family responsibility. The lead shoot is taking too long, and I have to have more time for the next film...so... ..."

Bruce Willis didn't want to think too much, what was more on his mind was how to take advantage of the current favorable situation and take more short-term projects to make guest appearances to earn money for milk powder.As for the main character, that's something to consider carefully.So I still declined.

"What if I change the role for you?" Ronald turned his head and went to Willis himself, mainly to let his fame bring Amy Heklein along with him in the announcement.In fact, it may not be limited to the protagonist, the taxi driver.

And, for this single-mom rom-com, John Travolta's good looks are far better than Willis's ability to lure female audiences into movie theaters.

"Are there any male characters in this script?" Bruce Willis was confused, and he opened the script again.

"You don't need to appear on the scene, you just need to dub. I asked them to pay you according to the same sharing conditions, and you will receive the fixed salary according to the guest appearance. When shooting, you only need to dub for less than a week, and it will not affect you. level of remuneration."

Ronald said more and more smoothly, if the movie is a hit, then Bruce Willis can get an income commensurate with his coffee position.If the movie is not a blockbuster, then a cameo and a little less money will not affect his salary level in the mainstream movie market.

Moreover, Daydream can still print his name in the most prominent position on the poster to attract male audiences.

"Is there such a good thing?" Bruce Willis thought about it, he didn't lose anyway, so he immediately agreed, and only waited for the brokers and lawyers of both parties to complete the details of the contract.

Bruce Willis went to call his agent, and Demi took the opportunity to approach Ronald and asked, "Ronald, when will you give me a chance?"

"Huh? I thought you and Bruce were living happily..." Ronald was a little confused.

"You..." Demi smiled like a former lover, and slapped Ronald on the arm lightly, "I mean, is there a chance for me to be the heroine? I don't want to That's how being a housewife..."

"Hey..." Ronald really didn't expect Demi to have such ambitions.After many female stars become mothers, they will take a break from acting for a while, such as the former Debra Winger.

"Don't worry, my body is recovering very well, I think I'm still in better shape than before..." Demi tied up her top, her waist was a little thicker than before, but her bust was also a size bigger.

"It doesn't matter if it's an action movie...Is there a female version of John McClane? I can play it too..." Demi Moore thought that Ronald thought that his postpartum ability had declined, so she gave him a blank look, and then said There was a forehand flip on the floor. "

"Oh My God, be careful..." Ronald was taken aback, and quickly reached out to support Demi, "I will keep it in my heart."

Actresses who fight like this are rare in Hollywood.

Three days later, the crew of "Look Who's Talking" had signed Bruce Willis, and Amy Heckling had persuaded John Travolta to play the male lead taxi driver as she wished.

CAA also wanted to make this project a package project, and Ronald agreed to this condition in order to unite more people into his camp.Anyway, it's Amy Hekleen's first time directing a romantic comedy, and it's not a bad thing to have more familiarity.

Of course, CAA can't take all the benefits. Ronald also recruited some other people who have worked with him many times, such as his old partner Olympia Dukakis, and asked her to play the child's grandmother.

And the movie's biggest star, Bruce Willis, is the voice of Mickey, the child in the womb of the heroine Molly.The most peculiar thing about this movie is that it has the perspective of an unborn fetus who acts as a lot of narrators.Willis only received an advance fee of 50 yuan, and the rest was converted into a share of the film's profits.Let the production budget of the entire movie be less than 800 million.

……

"Mr. Hackman..." Finally, Ronald had time to receive Gene Hackman, who wanted to sell the production rights of the movie "The Silence of the Lambs".

"Ronald, I remember the last time you came to Santa Fe, you were very interested in this movie..." Hackman still had the airs of an older star.

"Yes, that's your old friend, Robert Duvall led the line..." Ronald had an average impression of this guy. He had excellent acting skills, but his understanding of the production industry was superficial.

"How to say, I want to sell the production rights of this movie. I have done a lot of deep thinking recently. I should not be stereotyped in this type of psychopathic bad guy. I need to make some breakthroughs..."

"Hehe...", Ronald knew in his heart that this old guy was getting cold feet, and he said that he should not be stereotyped. You have already been stereotyped, okay?I didn't see that even Superman's psychologically twisted cartoon villain Luthor immediately approached you to play.

"I can have many choices, but I just want to sell it to you, I don't want to sell it to a Jew, I don't want a marionette manipulated by Ovitz to take over the film, after all, the novel itself is of high quality, and I also Huge sums of money were invested in adapting the script..."

"Careful..." Ronald heard the other party's intention to recover all the investment.Of course, this is not a problem. In order to get the movie that appeared in his dream, Ronald doesn't care about the small money.

"Who was the writer who changed the script?" Ronald asked.

"Ted Tully, I hired him at the end of fucking '[-], Orion and myself, splitting the pre-production effort, and that's when he started working..."

Ronald smiled and patiently listened to the other party's nagging.In the end, they agreed to pay all Hackman's initial investment costs, as well as half of the copyright fee, plus a top-up fee, and obtained half of the production rights and investment share from Gene Hackman.

The production rights of this film have a long history. Originally, the production rights of the novel "The Silence of the Lambs" were in the hands of the Neapolitan Dino De Laurentiis.He is the producer of another film "Red Dragon" with Hannibal as the protagonist in the early stage.

"Red Dragon" failed at the box office, and he was severely damaged in the stock market crash. The company was facing bankruptcy, so he exchanged the distribution rights of their previous films in Italy with Orion Films, and exchanged the production rights of the sequel to Orion for free. .

But Orion itself, is also suffering financial difficulties.They didn't have enough investment, and it happened that Hackman took a fancy to the script and wanted to direct and act on his own, so he sold half of the power and investment quota to Hackman.

Both parties need to find external investors to fill the investment quota for this movie... The estimated total amount is 800 to [-] million U.S. dollars—a medium-sized production that Orion is best at.

After learning about the transfer, Mike McDavoy, one of the founders of Orion, also met with Ronald. It is great news that such a successful director of a commercial film bought the copyright.It seems that Ronald's desire for Oscar is not diminished, and he wants to be nominated for the best director for the third time...

(End of this chapter)