The top of fame and fortune [Comprehensive British and American]

"Is something wrong?" Erika leaned against the window, looking at Bruce Wayne and asking.

Wayne didn't say much, just reminded, "There are reporters at the banquet."

This is true, the purpose of his hosting this dinner is to make high-profile national news headlines with Erica, so of course this is not an intimate banquet.

Bruce looked at Harry Osborn with slightly raised eyebrows, and then said to Erica, "If you are photographed being too intimate with other men, I'm afraid it will be a little troublesome to deal with."

What he didn't mention to Erica was that reporters were not allowed to film outside the ballroom at all.

So what trouble could Erica cause by posing intimately with Harry in a private guest room?Probably just to make Master Wayne's mood more troublesome.

But Erica did not refute Wayne, she looked at Harry, "About the conversation just now, can we continue later when we find time?"

Harry sensed that Erika's current mood didn't seem to be good, his clear blue eyes looked deep and gentle, "I'll wait."

Erica gave him a soft kiss on the cheek, and then had to go to Wayne, ready to return to the ballroom with him and continue to play a pair of high-profile lovers.

In the classical corridor leading to the banquet hall in Wayne Manor, Bruce looked at Erica who was walking beside him, but there was a distance from him——

He noticed that her attitude was much colder when she faced Harry Osborn just now, and when she was with him now.

What did Lex Luthor say to her?What made her make such a change?

Bruce Wayne's perception of 'Erica's nonchalance' was not wrong.It's just that the reason is not because of Lex Luthor - but Erica thinks that her recent love life has begun to make her a little tired.

In American dating culture, it is reasonable and permissible to be with several people at once during the dating phase, as long as you can keep busy.But at present Erica feels that getting along with these gentlemen has cost her a lot of effort.So she is not going to continue like this, she is a little annoyed.

In the classic corridor, Erica looked at Bruce Wayne, "Next, I'm afraid I don't have much time to cooperate with you."

Compared with the fun of dating, she still prefers to focus on her career at present, "I need to return to Los Angeles to deal with affairs."

What Erica said to Wayne was not an excuse. On the morning after the dinner, she flew to Southern California to discuss more arrangements for the filming of "The Truman Show".

In the conference room, director Peter Weir suggested, "I originally planned to build a seascape where Truman lived in the studio, but in terms of actual implementation, I am afraid it will be extremely difficult."

In "The Truman Show", the Seaview Town where Nancy Truman lives is a huge studio, the filming location of the world's most popular documentary soap opera "The Truman Show", and only Nancy has this I don't know.

She has been deceived by the whole world since she was born, and was placed in a fake sea view town full of thousands of camera machines. For more than [-] years, her every move has been watched by hundreds of millions of viewers around the world.

In the conference room, Erica agreed with director Will's opinion, and then looked at art director Dennis Gessner, "Dennis, you called me last week and said that you are looking for suitable shooting locations in California and Florida, is there any progress? "

"Wendy brought us a good proposal," Gessner looked at Wendy Stitz, the visual consultant on the other side of the round table, "in the seaside community of Seaside, Florida."

As he said that, he handed over the relevant video materials to Erica, "In terms of community planning, it is very suitable for our filming location."

Erica flipped through the documents, with a beautiful smile on her face, "Very good, I will fly to Florida tomorrow morning."

She plans to complete the on-site investigation as soon as possible, and the production team of "The Truman Show" can continue with the next step of preparation work after the selection of the location is confirmed.

Two hours later, Erica went to the CAA headquarters after the film discussion.

And when she entered Michael Ovitz's office, she was holding two scripts, "Forrest Gump" and "Pulp Fiction."

This is the screenplay that her other agent, Brian Lord, screened for her a few days ago.And Ovitz asked Erica to come to CAA today, which seems to be related to this matter.

"What do you think of these two films?" Ovitz asked.

"In terms of the plot of the movie alone, I prefer "Pulp Fiction," Erica replied frankly, "but the role of the heroine Mia is limited for actors."

She went on to say, "Forrest Gump is certainly equally good, but it's a bit too right-wing conservative values."

Erica's values ​​are naturally more left-wing, or it should be said that Hollywood has always been a stronghold of the left.

In the plot of "Forrest Gump", the heroine Jenny, the representative of leftists, grew up in a single-parent family and was abused by her father since she was a child. After she became an adult, she became a typical "Beat Generation" and advocated liberalism. , anti-war, drug abuse, sexual liberation, and eventually died of hepatitis C infection.

"But "Forrest Gump" is indeed a very smart movie, and its conservatism," Erica went on to analyze, "considering that the average age of the Academy judges is over 60 years old, they will probably like this movie very much. .”

Ovitz expressed his approval, "Forrest Gump's male lead is initially determined to be Tom Hanks, and the film is expected to be launched in August next year. There is no overlap with the shooting schedule of "The Truman Show". I suggest You take it."

He talked about the salary details, "Paramount Pictures' budget for "Forrest Gump" is 5000 million U.S. dollars, and the production cost is relatively tight. And if you decide to take over the filming, in terms of film salary, Paramount may not be able to Pay your hefty flat fee, but will be willing to pay the box office instead."

"As far as Hanks is concerned, the performance contract currently planned is to give up half of the film salary in exchange for 10% of the box office revenue." Ovitz revealed more inside information to Erica.

Erica thought for a while, "What if I ask to 'bring money into the film'? My production company will invest an additional 2000 million US dollars and become a co-producer."

"Based on the production budget provided by Paramount for "Forrest Gump", Paramount executives may think that this film has considerable risks, or that the loans provided by the bank are limited," Erika analyzed, " This is probably due to the fact that its film adaptation rights were sold in 1985, but it was rejected several times, and the industry widely questioned the commercial potential of "Forrest Gump."

Therefore, in terms of investment, Paramount is naturally very cautious. To a certain extent, adding a co-producer will share part of the investment risk for Paramount.

In fact, the reason why Paramount sent Erica a shooting invitation was to try to use her box office appeal as an 'insurance' for the film.

Even her inclusion would be enough to bring more financing to Paramount, and even the banks would be more than happy to lend money to the film production.

But for Erica, she is obviously not going to just be the insurance for 'Paramount' to make profits, she wants to take the initiative by herself.

Ovitz was surprised by her proposal, but at the same time it coincided, "I was going to make this proposal to you. Regarding "Forrest Gump", I think it has extraordinary commercial potential. But I was worried , you will refuse to shoot this right-wing conservative value film."

"Compared to leftists and rightists, only success is the most important thing," Erika raised the corners of her mouth, smiling confidently, "I will let the lawyer discuss financing with Paramount, which is a prerequisite for me to appear in the movie. And In terms of accounting, production investment accounting, plus starring accounting, I ask for one-third of the film's total income."

This is an astonishing but plausible number—

In terms of Erica's current commercial value, she is eligible to ask the producer to pay her 10% or even 20% of the total box office share just by appearing in a movie.And her independent production company, after providing "Forrest Gump" with 2000 million US dollars of financing, will account for nearly 30% of the total production cost of the film.

From this point of view, one-third of the total income is not considered an excessive requirement.

Ovitz apparently agrees with that figure, and he's extremely bullish on Forrest Gump.

But when it comes to Pulp Fiction, he doesn't seem very enthusiastic, "I believe that Pulp Fiction will be very good, but for Miramax Films, the producer, I don't recommend you to work with the Weinstein Brothers, they Lack of respect for actresses—”

He was about to continue the conversation, but there was a knock on the door of the president's office, and an assistant sent him an urgent and important document.

So Ovitz temporarily stopped talking with Erica, and first dealt with the important work as the person in charge of CAA. Erica noticed that his expression was not relaxed. This may be because the situation in the CAA senior management has been a little bit in recent days. unstable--

CAA executives Birkins and Long Meyer, who started their business with Ovitz 20 years ago, seem to intend to leave CAA.

Even Ovitz himself, there are media rumors from time to time, saying that he may leave CAA, which he founded, and switch to a large studio, and go to the Hollywood giant film industry with tens of thousands of employees and tens of billions of dollars.

It is widely believed in the Hollywood industry that it is only a matter of time before Ovitz leaves CAA. Within three to five years, he will definitely attack the Hollywood giant film industry, and with his departure, CAA may go bankrupt.

And this is obviously not a good thing for Erika. If Michael Ovitz leaves CAA and works for the eight major Hollywood film companies, she will not only lose her agent, but even the newly established independent film producer The company, I am afraid, will also lose its partners.

When Erica left the CAA headquarters, she was still thinking about this matter. She might have to make the worst plans for the future and ensure that her acting career would not become precarious because of this.

However, the matter that needs to be dealt with the fastest in front of her right now is not this crisis event that may appear in a few years, but her imminent graduation ceremony.

In late May, Columbia University held an intercollegiate graduation ceremony. Tens of thousands of students, faculty members, and family members of graduates attended the ceremony. The neighborhood of Morningside Heights in Manhattan, where Columbia University is located, seemed to have become much more crowded.

Compared with the graduates wearing "Big Blue" graduation gowns, many family members and friends are obviously more excited and proud——

Erica looked at Peter, Harry, and Steven in suits and ties, and Aunt May who was almost dizzy from the hot light, but still smiling.Erica was about to take off her academic hat to shield Aunt May from the light, but a long-handled black umbrella was handed over beside her.

In a few weeks, Mr. Mycroft Holmes, who 'arrived in the United States on official business' again, handed the long umbrella to Erica, "You need it."

"Thank you." Erica thanked him, with a smile on her face, and when she smiled sincerely, she would look a little innocent.

Although the British government cannot be said to be "flattered", it does feel a little special about it.

But when he was about to continue talking with Erica, at the graduation ceremony, the principal's speech had ended, and the next important guest was about to deliver a speech, "Let us welcome Columbia's outstanding alumni, Bruce Wayne."

Although Bruce Wayne is a well-known playboy in Gotham City, he has an astonishingly outstanding multi-degree and outstanding performance. He has studied in many of the highest universities in the United States, including Harvard, Yale, and Columbia.

After the principal's speech, Erica didn't pay much attention to Bruce Wayne's speech, but handed the long-handled black umbrella to Peter, and motioned her to hold the umbrella for Aunt May, "I need to go forward soon. Accept the award."

As Wayne's deep and sexy male voice sounded, Erica left the seat and went to the side of the podium.

The speech of Mr. "Excellent Alumni" on the stage ended in time, and next, awards will be presented to this year's outstanding graduates.

Bruce Wayne, as a guest alumnus, stood on the stage with the president of Columbia University and the deans of various colleges. "Please welcome the most outstanding graduate of Columbia College - Erica Parker."

Erica was the first to read her name, and naturally she was the first to step onto the stage. She first shook hands with the principal, and then the dean of the college, receiving blessings.

As for the guest alumnus Bruce Wayne, Erica naturally couldn't ignore him. When the two held hands, the atmosphere in the audience was extremely enthusiastic. I don't know how many people pressed the shutter of the camera to shoot the video.

But in the seats under the awards platform, several male relatives and friends of Erica obviously looked not very good, especially the young Mr. Osborne, and the British government who came from Britain on a special trip.

Mycroft looked coldly at Osborn on the side, then turned his gaze to Wayne who was saying something to Erica on the stage, and then thought of Lex Luthor in Washington—

He frowned: One is really worse than the other.