I’m in Hollywood - Chapter 102

[Chapter 99 All I want is a work of art]

Seeing Jeffrey, who was really pissed off and still complaining, Eric could only get up, poured a glass of water for him, waited for Jeffrey to drink it in one breath, and then persuaded: “Okay, Jay. Fry, don’t you see it? It’s just a tactic that CAA can’t save face. If the other party kills 20% of the share, of course there is no need to talk about cooperation. But if you think about it calmly, you will know CAA wants to delay more for a while?”

“Why delay?” Jeffrey obviously hadn’t calmed down yet, and poured himself a glass of water before asking directly.

Eric Tan Tanshou: “Because of the face, “Premier” magazine compiled a ranking of ‘Hollywood Power Figures’ some time ago, Michael Ovitz ranked first, even Barry Diller and Michael Ai The helms of movie giants like Senna can only rank behind him. If he has just won this title, there are two stars under his command who have cooperated with the previously blocked target. This is not to call him ‘the most powerful man in Hollywood’. “It’s not a mess

.”

Jeffrey breathed a sigh of relief: “That’s good, I thought the other party really wanted to share the profits, it’s too messy.”

“It’s not messy,” Eric directly attacked Said: “Jeffrey, maybe you will slowly accept the reality that the star has to share the profit in addition to the salary, because Cruise tried this model in the last movie “Rain Man” and won a lot of money. Great sweetness, it is impossible for other Hollywood stars not to follow suit.”

“The two people add 40% of the gross profit, does the other party still want to earn more than us? We have to pay the remaining 60%. Various other expenses.”

Eric actually thought of this issue, he felt that this might be an opportunity, and he was destined to join the Hollywood Film Producers Alliance in the future, which determined that for his own interests, he would definitely To stand on the opposite side of the actor.

Cruise’s “Rain Man” is just an attempt to provide actors with a new payment model, and this “Dark War” negotiation may become a reference for many top Hollywood stars in the future to ask for a share, so, no matter what , the lower the share ratio, the better.

If this ratio can be controlled between 5% and 10%, once it becomes a standard, the cumulative savings in future expenses will be an astronomical figure.

Although Eric doesn’t know if this will be successful, he always has to try.

“Jeffrey, don’t be in a hurry, just talk to the other party slowly, don’t even think about the 20% share, and the 6 million salary will also be pushed down, you want to share, but don’t want to reduce it. Remuneration, how can there be such a good thing now.”

Jeffrey was still a little unwilling: “Eric, why don’t you bypass Cruise and Hanks’ agents and talk to the two of them alone, you weren’t that day. Did you have a good chat?”

Eric smiled and took out yesterday’s “Hollywood Information” and shook it in front of Jeffrey: “They are both artists under CAA, and I don’t have a particularly good relationship with each other. They Being able to agree to appear in “Dark War” is enough to not give Michael Ovitz face, and the two can’t do too much. Besides, they can’t possibly oppose CAA to strive for more benefits for themselves, right?

” Free did not refute, but asked: “Eric, tell me what you think. This is the first time I have encountered such a thing. Although I can delay the negotiation, as the boss, you are the The person who made the final decision, so you’d better give me a reference for the bottom line data, when I am negotiating, I have a sense of proportion.”

Eric touched his chin and thought about it, and said

: “It is hard to bite Hollywood and there are no actors. The convention of taking share is that if the other party wants to share, the salary will be reduced. I heard that the reason why Cruise can get the share contract in “Rain Man” is the result of actively reducing the salary. As for the bottom line, Cruise With Hanks’ current fame, the salary should not exceed five million dollars, and the share ratio should be controlled between 5% and 10%, and it must not exceed 10%.”

“Okay, I have a good idea.” Jeff Take note of Eric’s words.

Noticing Jeffrey’s still depressed look, Eric patted the other person on the shoulder comfortingly and said with a smile: “Okay, Jeffrey, don’t worry about this anymore. Although because of the new pay model, we It is true that some profits will be lost, but we can make up for them from other places, and that part of the profits do not need to be divided with the actors, and we can even offer higher prices in the name of actors.”

“You mean… …Ad placement?”

“Bingo!” Eric snapped his fingers: “‘Dark War’ is still a fashion movie, and this kind of movie is very suitable for advertising placement. I read in the newspaper that Lamborghini is because of the For the placement ads of “Fengyue”, this year’s sports car sales will more than triple that of previous years, and the new Phantom sports car has already received hundreds of orders before it even goes on sale.”

“It’s a really good idea,” Jeffrey finally said. With a small smile, he subconsciously searched for the script, wanting to see which advertisements could be implanted in “Dark War”.

Eric took out a piece of paper and handed it to Jeffrey: “Don’t look for it, I’m ready.”

Jeffrey picked it up and glanced at the long list, his mouth slightly open.

Mobile phones, walkie-talkies, sports cars, boxed biscuits, sunglasses, cameras, necklaces, comic magazines…

“Eric, isn’t this too… exaggerated?”

Eric felt that compared to the previous life, he had It’s very prudent, at least he didn’t spend 200 million dollars to create a three-hour special effects commercial, he just cleverly used the plot to insert the advertisement, and did not change the plot for the sake of the advertisement.

“Jeffrey, this is actually just something I thought of and scribbled down. There’s a lot of walkie-talkie and cellphone footage in the movie, so the cellphone and walkie-talkie ad could be packaged with a communications equipment company, like Motorola, I’ve heard that Motorola is going to Launch a small mobile phone, only the size of a palm. I believe that Lamborghini is the example before, plus the two superstars Cruise and Hanks join, Motorola will readily pay millions of advertising fees. If the other party’s offer is too low, then find their old rival Ericsson. And the sports car, continue to contact Lamborghini, presumably the other party will not refuse.”

Geoffrey pointed to the list and asked, “What’s up with that box of cookies?”

Eric explained: “Didn’t you read the script? In the movie, Sean planted several bombs, all of which were fake. These bombs were made of packaging boxes, and not only packaging boxes appeared in the movie. There will be close-ups and related lines, so this is also a very important placement advertisement. As for sunglasses and cameras, they will be used in the movie, so you can also ask for sponsorship, no matter how small a mosquito is, it is meat.”

“Eric, don’t you worry that inserting too many advertisements will arouse the audience’s disgust?”

“No,” Eric said to himself: “None of these advertisements are placed deliberately, so the audience does not It won’t cause any discomfort. Of course, because the number of implanted advertisements this time is relatively large, it is necessary to communicate with sponsors in advance. It is not like the Lamborghini last time, the movie has not been released, and the sponsorship matter is directly exposed. ”

Jeffrey noticed something wrong and wondered: “The placement of advertisements is not prominent, and it is not publicized. If I were a sponsor, I would definitely not pay for this.”

“It is not that people are not publicized,” Ai said Rick patiently said: “I mean, before the movie is released, you can’t publicize it, otherwise, even if I didn’t deliberately implant it, the audience would think it was deliberate, and this preconceived notion will be subconscious. Cause the audience to be disgusted with the movie. But as long as the movie is released and the word of mouth is confirmed, hyping up the advertisement will not only have a publicity effect, but also attract audiences who are curious about the advertisement in the movie to enter the movie theater again, thereby increasing the number of movies. The box office.”

Jeffrey gave a meaningful smile: “Eric, I feel like I have a Merchant of Venice sitting in front of me.”

“Is this sarcasm?”

“Yes, but I added a lot of praise and Admire the emotions.” Geoffrey laughed.

“Oh, Lord Jeffrey, you are so generous.” Eric replied in a stage play tone, and then laughed.

After the joke, Eric looked at his watch and said, “I just have an appointment, so…”

Jeffrey didn’t wait for Eric to say, and quickly replied, “Leave the matter to me, yes. wrong?”

“Smart, I didn’t expect you to answer quickly.” Eric laughed again.

Jeffrey didn’t understand what Eric was talking about, so he didn’t laugh, he pouted and asked curiously, “Dating, with a woman?”

“Man, a well-known architectural designer in the industry, Frank Guy I’ve seen the Malibu mansion he designed for Oracle chairman Larry Ellison, so I’m going to ask him to help me as well.”

“It has something to do with the rocky beach you spent 5 million wrongly on. ?”

“Why is it a waste of money,” Eric retorted: “When I successfully build my Malibu 10880, someone will buy it for $50 million.”

“Whatever you want, to be honest, you like this I was relieved by the wayward behavior, because you finally did what a teenager of your age should do, otherwise, I would always subconsciously regard you as a peer. Eric, why do you always call it there Malibu 10880?”

Eric blinked: “It’s a secret.”

“Tell me, I promise not to tell anyone else.” Jeffrey tilted his head curiously.

“Since it’s a secret, of course you can’t tell anyone other than yourself, you are considered ‘Others’.” Of course Eric couldn’t explain it to Jeffrey and left the office directly.

Michael Jackson’s Neverland, which covers an area of 11 square kilometers, and various buildings, only cost $19.5 million. In comparison, Malibu’s land of only about one hectare spent $5 million, which is indeed a big deal. s price.

However, even so, it was the result of an extra ‘public relations fee’ lobbying by the private lawyer, because this is a small park and cannot be sold by convention.

“Mr. Williams, although the design of this building you drew is very imaginative, there are too many unreasonable places in it, and the construction is quite difficult, especially when it is built on the edge of a cliff.” Frank Gehry Evaluate Eric’s drawings with his professional eyes.

At this time, the two of them were standing together at the corner of Malibu, along with Frank Gehry’s assistant. Eric was not alone. Virginia happened to be at home, so he was called by Eric to be a temporary guest secretary. character of.

This is already Eric’s private domain, and he has obtained a building permit, so he can toss on this land.

As long as it wasn’t for disturbing the people and causing anger and resentment, no one would take care of them.

“Mr. Gehry, you mean that it’s too difficult to build, which means it’s possible to build?”

Frank Gehry nodded: “But that would cost quite a lot of money, and I don’t think it’s necessary at all. If this mansion is built here, I suggest moving the mansion to the north by at least about ten meters, which will not only greatly reduce the difficulty of construction, but also save more than 30% of the construction cost. Moreover, various pipeline routes are also easier. Erection.”

Eric made a visual observation, and after panning ten meters, the glass window could see that there would be a rocky land with a very unpleasant scenery. Is it still a sea-view mansion facing the sea in spring.

Shaking his head, Eric rejected Frank’s suggestion: “Mr. Gehry, if I insist, how much will it cost?”

“I can’t give you specific numbers for the time being, because I don’t have specific survey data yet. If you If you insist on building according to the style on your own design drawings, you also need to do a lot of testing on the geological conditions of the cliff bank to determine whether it can bear the weight of the building, if not, it needs to be reinforced, which is more cumbersome. , I think five million is definitely indispensable.”

“Only five million dollars?” Eric raised his eyebrows. It cost five million to buy this land.

“Mr. Williams, as far as I know, the most expensive mansion in Malibu right now is that price.”

“Sorry, Mr. Gehry, I don’t know much about these things. Ten million, or even twenty million, what kind of effect can be built?”

In this era, even Bill’s classmate from Microsoft would not be able to come up with 10 to 20 million in cash. After all, the other party’s worth is more reflected in the stock price.

But the film industry is different. As long as the box office can sell well, tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars can be recovered in a relatively short period of time.

Frank Gehry glanced at the boy in front of him in amazement, and after thinking about it, he said, “In that case, I will build a work of art for you, Mr. Williams, are you sure?”

“I’m sure, Gehry. Sir, what I want is a work of art.” Eric said decisively.

[End of this Chapter]