Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1084 What is the most important thing to start a production company?

"Do you feel used to coming to Hollywood?"

"It was lonely at first, but now it's okay to party a lot."

Diane and Nicole Kidman went to do nail care together, and by the way exchanged some experiences in filming in Hollywood, how to deal with photographers, win over makeup artists and hair stylists and other topics.

Tom Cruise, Nisita, Paula Wagner, and Ronald left their hotel room and went to another executive suite at the Beverly Hills Hilton.It was opened with the name and credit card of a person who has no connection with a few people.It was Richard who opened the door for them. Ronald's bodyguard, Daniel, had thoroughly inspected the room to ensure that there were no eavesdropping devices.

Several Hollywood people with closely related interests can openly talk about some sensitive issues in this room. They must first establish an offensive and defensive alliance to jointly target Ovitz's aggressive methods.

Tom Cruise's Oscar dream has been restrained by Ovitz. He is very looking forward to his new work being born on the Fourth of July. He doesn't want to be deceived last time and not be nominated for Best Actor. .

Ronald is also eager for Oscars. Such a powerful influencer and manipulator of votes is something that all stars and directors do not want to see.

The most important thing for the Nisita-Wagner couple, Richard and others is to break the packaging strategy dominated by Ovitz.In the CAA that he overshadows the sky with one hand, any movie with a star participation needs to listen to the opinion of the tyrant of CAA.

However, as he got older, his personal preference for stars was very out of touch with the realistic taste of Hollywood audiences. A good actor like Jack Nicholson, because he signed the contract relatively late, actually had to wait for Sean Kang People like Nali have a role in the back row, and he doesn't even have a fixed office in the new CAA building.

The younger generation of agents, and old partners like Nisita, who are unlikely to get shares, have a certain amount of resentment towards Ovitz, just because he is able to engage in custom-made film companies and threatens to give everyone a higher salary. Under the premise of bringing higher income, he still resisted not expressing opinions to him.

But the long-term success has given Ovitz some illusions, and he really thinks that he is the most powerful person in Hollywood.Especially at the Oscars last time, he overwhelmed the sky with one hand, and offended the other waves of clients who also signed contracts with CAA and were also nominated, as well as offended their managers.

For a while, everyone was secretly connecting together, hoping to lead customers away at the right time, go to William Morris and ICM, or simply set up their own business.

Of course, this kind of thing is still in the conspiracy stage, and everyone just vaguely felt the undercurrent.Everyone is waiting for the opportunity, and no one wants to be the first to be hit by Ovitz who is still in power.

Tom Cruise, Nisita, Paula Wagner and Ronald are friends with a long history.Their interests are very close to others, not to mention Ronald and Cruise's friendship for many years, and Nisita and Wagner are husband and wife.

So when encountering such a thing, they are the easiest to form an alliance.Coupled with Ronald's best commercial films, there are many opportunities for cooperation with Tom Cruise.Regardless of history or the future, they are the first to reach an offensive and defensive alliance.

We have reached some agreed upon principles.One is that everyone has to communicate in advance when making any decisions, and advance and retreat together.The second is that no matter what measures are taken in the end, Ronald and Cruise will be more bound together.

Paula Wagner hopes that this will happen the most. The value of Tom Cruise is closely related to the movies he makes.If he is still so keen on Oscar, commercial films will be shot less and less, and their value will be lower and lower.Mixing with Ronald, making more movies like Top Gun that made his fans grow rapidly is actually the way to maximize profits.

And Nisita is also happy to see an alliance.Ronald plus Tom Cruise, the two bundled together, is enough to bargain with anyone.Even Ovitz can't take it lightly, otherwise the two leaving William Morris will shake the entire CAA.

After chatting about the secret, Ronald and Cruise went to the hotel's executive lounge for a drink.This kind of thing has to be left to Nisita, Richard, and Wagner for a discussion. Of course, Cruise and Ronald also have to chat in private. There is also the issue of profit distribution between the client and the agent.

"I heard that Paula found you a big studio as a backer?" Ronald said to Tom Cruise with a smile.

"Yes, you can probably guess that Paramount may usher in another reshuffle, and my new film is a stepping stone. Ovitz is so strong, everyone should think about it." Cruise has long since disappeared. No matter how naive an actor is, he studied hard in the movies he participated in, and now he actually has a lot of considerations about his acting career.

"I heard that you are also very close to a big producer?" Cruise also asked Ronald.

"It's not convenient to say now, we will know in a few months. It is a big event that will change Hollywood. Go back and talk to Paula." The matter of Ronald's cooperation with Sony can only hint at the few people he trusts. partner.

"In short, we will have more choices. Choices are always better than monopoly." Tom Cruise clinked glasses with Ronald with a smile. He only drank alcoholic beverages when he was with a good friend like Ronald.

Small talk ensued, as Cruise clearly had a crush on Nicole Kidman, and he and Mimi Rogers had begun the divorce process.However, he has Paula, a big sister-like agent, who has been protecting him, including the prenuptial agreement and a series of wealth divisions, to ensure that there will be no problems like Spielberg.

"Ronald, do you think actors can set up their own production company?" In the end, Tom Cruise couldn't help but asked Ronald a question in his heart, "I also want to set up my own production company." Production companies, but in Hollywood, directors set up independent production companies a lot.”

"Is there any problem with this? In Hollywood in the future, the power of stars will continue to strengthen. Marketing costs are too expensive now. Whether there are stars is related to the life and death of a movie project. Your ability to influence movie box office and audience evaluation now, It’s no problem to set up a production company.”

Ronald thought of Cruise's single-handed efforts to raise the box office of the bad film "Cocktail" to a higher level. Neither the producer nor the bank would let go of such an ability.

"Then what do you think is the most important thing about setting up an independent production company?" Tom Cruise can learn from his rival actors in acting, and screenwriters and directors can learn from members of the crew. Only Ronald could give himself some useful advice.

Other people around are either actors who know nothing about business, or people like Wagner who have conflicts of interest.

"If you want to talk about the most important thing, the most important thing for an artist like you to start a production company is to have talent. I heard a famous investor say that it is about to enter the 90s, and talent will become the most important assets."

Ronald thought about it, and the core competitiveness like them still belongs to the category of artists. It is almost impossible to be an outstanding businessman.God is fair and will not give a person too much talent.

"Talent?" Cruise thought thoughtfully.

"Yes, people actually have different pursuits. Not everyone puts money as the most important thing. The number one tip for me to work with talented people is to take good care of them and give them enough money And respect, understand what they want in their hearts, and then find a way to let them have a stage to display their abilities. In this way, they will work hard for you and earn you enough wealth. Of course, at the same time, they themselves Also get what you want, wealth or self-actualization..."

……

"Nicole really has a face that the camera prefers, I'm so jealous..." Diane came back and told Ronald about her feelings.Nicole Kidman's appearance is a bit like Grace Kelly, the last Hollywood actress.There are many good-looking people, but there are not many who have the opportunity to enter Hollywood and are favored by the cameras.

As an old Hollywood saying goes, to make a movie is to make a close-up of a beautiful woman's face.The faces of some darlings, enlarged to the size of two floors on the screen, can't see any flaws.To a large extent, audiences become fans of a star, attracted by this human instinct for a good-looking face.

"Oh, don't say that, Diane. Grace Kelly doesn't impress anyone except that face. What people really remember are those who are as good-looking as they are good at acting. Role."

"But it's rare for that face to be remembered..." Diane's jealousy was mainly aimed at the screen image.The audience doesn't care too much about acting skills, they just love to see the beautiful faces on the screen.

"No, you are the one I remember..." Ronald kissed Diane's face. Although he didn't say anything, Diane still cared a lot about the little scar in the corner of his eye.Compared with Kidman's perfect face, Diane, who is usually quite confident in her beauty, is also a little jealous.

"I'm going to New York. I have some business matters to deal with. I'll come back to accompany you then." Ronald spent more time with Diane recently, and he also enjoyed this feeling very much.

"I'll go with you..." Diane smiled and kissed Ronald back.

"What are you going to do?"

"I also have my affairs to deal with..." Diane and Ronald bickered happily, and she smiled, "I want to see old Bert, I still need his permission for the new film, and ask him for some advice by the way. matter."

"Oh, he really has deep research on acting skills, and he is also the person who understands you best." Ronald understood that Diane played a street girl, after all, he violated the agreement with his father, old Bert.There is no need to make the relationship between father and daughter so rigid now, anyway, this is a big production, and talking about it will actually help maintain the relationship between relatives.

……

Ronald arrives in New York and meets Ed Bastian.The other party has turned its main energy to buying daily news and TV stations for Ronald, and the radio station is coming up.Just a few months before the acquisition was initiated, he resigned from Puhua Firm.

Ed Bastian is very capable and has made a good acquisition plan for Ronald. The two companies and charitable foundations used for the acquisition have also been established.This allows for the ownership to be spread out, and to fly low under the regulatory and competitive radar without provoking too much distaste.

He also told Ronald about the business strategy of cooperating with Daydream Films after the acquisition.

In Ed Bastian's view, business is business, art is art, and the two should not be confused.Orion's concept of letting go of the director's performance regardless of the production cost in order to win the Oscar is untenable in the general trend of raising interest rates.

After the acquisition is completed, the most important thing to do is to recuperate, and strive to make money from every movie, every TV series, and every business strategy.

The distribution of newspapers should reduce the number of color pages and increase the selling price appropriately, so as to ensure that every reader is the target customer group of advertisers.Stop doing charity to poor readers who can't afford any mass consumer brands.

The TV station should reduce the purchase cost, introduce as many cheap movies as possible from Xiangjiang, Dongying, and Europe, and then introduce some English-language TV series from Australia and Britain.Don't go to a big-produced TV series just to make a name for yourself.

In his opinion, Daydream's annual output is still too small, and it relies too much on Ronald's own vision and connections.The most suitable strategy for daydreaming is actually the strategy of Roger Coleman and Minahan Golan in the early stage.

A large number of small productions of two to three million US dollars are produced, and more than ten films are shot each year, aiming at action movies, horror movies, and low-cost comedies with a fixed audience.As far as possible in Europe and East Asia, rely on Ronald's good reputation to collect advance payments and reduce the pressure on cash flow.

"I have investigated Hollywood's box office dark horses every year. Every year, some small-budget productions will stand out and get a considerable box office. By the way, they will be sold again in the video market. This kind of thing is like luck, as long as we guarantee that all ten films will return Ben, as long as one or two films can achieve good results, then the annual profit figures will be very good."

"You seem to know more about the business operation of movies than I do. It seems that I have found a good candidate for the president of the new company." Ronald read the proposal and was very satisfied. As for subsidizing cash in it yourself.

"Movies are just a commodity after all..." concluded Ed Bastian.He is more interested in the media industry than Pepsi.Aren't movies and TV shows more interesting than selling sugar water?
After the two finished chatting about business, Ronald and Bastian chatted about the rules of film and television production for a while, and the topic talked about CAA's Ovitz's recent strong moves.

"Tell me why Ovitz is so crazy. Does he not understand that he will offend a large number of actors, directors and screenwriters by doing so? This is the root of his success."

"Hey, this is the curse of the successful." Bastian put down his pen and crossed his hands, "I have seen a lot of business in Price Waterhouse, and most successful businessmen will put the reasons for their success, Make a summary. Then treat it as a principle and let employees learn.

And most of these people will think that this is the secret of their success, luck and the market have nothing to do with their success.When the business reaches a new level, they will apply the original experience to the new business field.

Apparently, Mr. Ovitz believes his experience as a star agent is the main reason, if not the only reason, for the film's success. "

"Hmph..." Ronald thought carefully about what Ovitz had done, and Bastian really explained it right away.

The most important thing for a celebrity broker is to strive for the role that brings the most benefits to the client.For this purpose, they can create many reasons to make the client appear to be the most suitable person for the role.

Among them, they can do many things, such as slandering competing actors, such as doing a good job as a director and producer, such as letting screenwriters express their opinions.After getting the role, they will fight for the highest salary, such as threatening the studio to let the star quit without paying a high salary.For example, they will secretly find other studios to approach, such as falsifying previous salary records, etc...

Ovitz's approach to Oscars is much the same as his approach to roles.Coercing the actors under his banner to vote for the person he likes, creating public opinion that someone is determined to win the Oscar, and so on.

When helping Sony acquire Columbia, they relied on private contact with minority shareholders to lower the price. After Sony failed to adopt his idea, they contacted Australian tycoon Skass to bid for higher prices in private, creating an illusion for customers that he was the only one. These are typical broker practices.

Maybe Ovitz is overconfident, or he simply doesn't understand that different industries require different business operations. This kind of domineering deal with those emotionally exaggerated artists in the film industry and producers with heavy financial pressure is always ready to carry a golden parachute Studio executives on the run, really effective.But in other industries, facing real business elites, it will appear naive and ridiculous.

(End of this chapter)