Hollywood Road

Milton Johnson thought for a while, and ordered the female assistant, "Call Jamie Winster."

Within a few minutes of the female assistant's call, a middle-aged man in his thirties walked into this office and sat opposite Milton Johnson. Milton Johnson waved his hand to the female assistant, and the female assistant walked out of the office. Closed the door.

"Has the negotiation with Stanton Studio progressed?" Milton Johnson asked directly.

"Not for the time being." Jamie Winster shook his head. "We have had several phone calls with Murphy Stanton. His sincerity in cooperation is not high, and the conditions he wants are a little too much."

A new director, a shell company with only three full-time employees, just because a movie has some selling points, you want to open your mouth to Lionsgate? Does he have such confidence and qualifications?

He also admitted that the film can indeed bring a certain impact to people, but it cannot conceal the fact that it is a rough small production. The risk of such a production being pushed into the theater market cannot be ignored.

Fingers habitually tapped the desk table top, Milton Johnson frowned slightly, "What about CAA?"

Jamie Winster hurriedly recovered and replied, "I called Bill Rossis. These agents of CAA are all greedy guys."

One party wants to get high returns through the movie, and the other party wants to lower the price to get the maximum possible benefits. If the two parties do not make a certain concession, the cooperation is impossible to achieve.

Negotiation is often a process of mutual compromise.

Milton Johnson knows this very well, but is not prepared to compromise.

He tapped the desktop faster, "Jamie, have you seen that film, and the people from the editorial department also participated in the trial meeting. How long can they write a similar script?"

"Well... the script is easy to say." Jamie Winster understood what he meant. "For teamwork, two to three weeks are enough."

What is there to say about this script? The film is outstanding more because of shooting and production.

Milton-Johnson calculated silently in his heart for a while, and his slightly old eyes flashed with precision, "How about shooting and production?"

Jamie Winster thinks about it a little bit, "If it is produced by a mature team that often cooperates with the company, I think it will take about one and a half months from preparation to production."

Obviously, from the very beginning, when people from the editorial department participated in the trial meeting, Milton Johnson had been preparing for or planning something.

He asked again, "What about the things I asked you to investigate?"

"After "Fruit Hard Candy" was released, Murphy Stanton joined the screenwriters' union, directors' union and photographers' union."

This has been cleared up by Jamie Winster, and he quickly said, "The Chainsaw has been filed with the screenwriters’ union and the director’s union, and it belongs to the union registration project.”

Milton Johnson’s tapping speed slowed down on the desktop. "It's kind of troublesome."

Older people will be slightly conservative in thinking. Although this backup plan was first proposed by Milton Johnson, Jamie Winster appears to be more radical.

"It will indeed cause some trouble." He nodded first, but then said, "Stanton Studios is just the kind of small company at the bottom of Hollywood. The director Murphy Stanton is related to CAA except for the agent. An incompetent little actor walks very close, and there is no network worth mentioning. Even if the union makes trouble for us, it is a routine matter..."

He raised his voice slightly, "And we can't imitate his films, there will definitely be some changes. Hollywood mainstream commercial blockbusters and content crashes from time to time, let alone a plasma horror film with a completely routine production model?"

Lionsgate will only copy the other party's film unless it is stupid. Based on that film, they can make a better one.

This sophistication has another advantage. As long as it can be released first, the relatively crude film is more like a poor imitation.

Milton-Johnson nodded slightly, and the speed of tapping on the desktop accelerated again. "I will mention this project at a high-level meeting. If you can’t get "Chain Saw", we will enter the project review stage as soon as possible and let the editorial department Prepare a script outline."

Jamie Winster responded, stood up and prepared to leave, and Milton Johnson exhorted, "Say hello to the legal department in advance."

If this project does appear, the opponent’s biggest counter-attack is undoubtedly the lawsuit. This is the method that big companies like them least care about. Not to mention the countless Hollywood crash projects. The entanglements are difficult to explain, so the Academy of Algorithms accepted it. Lionsgate can also drag on. It doesn't matter for a year or even two years. Can a small company like the other party stand it?

Even, they can find someone at random and sue Stanton Studio for plagiarizing his ideas.

This kind of thing is definitely a lot in Hollywood. Think about the people who can’t wait to trouble James Cameron after the “Titanic” sells out...

After Jamie Winster left, Milton Johnson was still thinking about this. As a veteran of horror movies, he was really optimistic about this project.

But Lionsgate’s conditions were unacceptable to the other party, and he also couldn't accept the other party's huge appetite.

An unknown little person, why should a lion open his mouth? Is it just because you have a movie with a selling point in your hand? Without proper channels, the value of such movies can only be zero.

Milton Johnson called in the female assistant again and told her to keep an eye on the project and inform him of the latest situation in time so that she can adjust her strategy at any time.

Similarly, he did not completely give up the idea of ​​winning "Chain Saw". The previous one was just a backup plan. If the other party runs into a wall in Hollywood, there may be negotiations and cooperation between the two parties.

After all, Milton Johnson did not believe that Stanton Studios had the qualifications to cooperate with Lionsgate on an equal footing.

Whether it is a production company or a distribution company, it is a commercial company. Commercial companies naturally chase profits and, whenever possible, they must maximize profits.

Lionsgate is not the only publishing company that is optimistic about "Chain Saw". Murphy, whose price can meet psychological expectations, has not met one. Even Miramax, who has the most favorable conditions, is also planning how to use the smallest one. For the price, I got this movie that seems to sell a lot.

The smallest cost can also reduce the risks that inevitably arise with investment.

Harvey Weinstein stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows, overlooking Burbank's scenery, and asked Jones Butler behind him, "Murphy Stanton hasn't answered yet?"

Jones Butler took a step forward, "Not yet."

The big fat man's face is not very good-looking, and the other party looks too high on himself. It is only a little money and a few promises to get the geek like Quentin Tarantino back in the first place.

People who can be admired by him today can be used as capital in the industry.

What about the little director Murphy Stanton? Instead of giving him any reply, he took the film to and fro between different distribution companies, deliberately selling the film by relying on the little manager of Bill Rossis and the little capital brought by "Fruit Candies". A high price.

This is just a wishful thinking. Like him and Miramax, Hollywood distribution companies never spit bones.

However, Harvey-Weinstein cannot guarantee that all publishing companies will maintain the kind of silent understanding of small production companies. After all, the selling point of "Chain Saw" is still very clear. As long as it operates properly, it will not make low-level mistakes. If so, profitability should not be a problem.

Judging by his years of experience and understanding of the market, the probability of failure of "Chain Saw" is very low. As long as the invested capital is controlled, it is nothing more than a question of profitability.

What Harvey Weinstein is most worried about is that some companies rashly offer excessive terms in disregard of tacit agreement.

"It's time to put some pressure on him." He nodded slightly.

Harvey Weinstein turned around, took a look at Jones Butler, strode back to the back of his desk, sat on his chair, and said without any emotion, "Go find someone to post the message outside. ."

Jones Butler looked over there and pricked his ears.

"Miramax is preparing for a new project," Harvey Weinstein said of the fake project unhurriedly. "The film is a plasma horror film, and some suspenseful colors will be added appropriately. The script has been written, and it is planned to Invite Robert Rodriguez or Quentin Tarantino to direct."

He thought for a while and then said, "Call Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino and ask them to be interviewed by the media in the near future and mention this incident by the way."

Hearing these words, Jones-Butler just nodded and did not feel any surprise. His own boss has always been very clever, otherwise he would not create a **** case like "Shakespeare in Love", let alone Gwyneth. An actor of silk Paltrow's level won the Oscar for best actress.

Although this may be the most beautiful queen in Oscar history, it is also the real queen, isn't it?

"Go." Harvey Weinstein waved to Jones Butler.

Jones Butler left the office and started to operate these things without Harvey Weinstein's orders. She also knew what scale this matter had to be maintained. It could not be too much, but it must be spread to Murphy Stein. Over there.

This kind of work is not difficult for her at all.

In any commercial activity, there is always a torrent of light or dark, some things you can see, some things you can't see.

Just like Murphy now, after the Fox Searchlight test session is over, he can see that Tony Guzman and the two Fox Searchlight executives with him are very interested in the film, but he can't guess that they can open it for the film. The price code.

These need to be negotiated to determine.

Fox Searchlight was the last company. Murphy made careful preparations for this. He also called Carla Faith, who was studying in New York, to learn about the company's recent developments through her relationship.