hunt hollywood

Leaving Paramount headquarters, Jonathan Friedman gave up the idea of ​​visiting several other studios, but decided to rush back to WMA to discuss countermeasures with the company's top management.

In order to curb the continuous development and growth of CAA, it is imperative for WMA to follow the other party's implementation of the project packaging model.

Now that several major Hollywood film companies have joined forces to prevent WMA from doing so, WMA should be strong enough to push this matter forward.However, in order to achieve this, the company's management must first reach an agreement and work together.

Although he is very clear in his heart that it is not easy to achieve this in the WMA with many hills inside, Jonathan Friedman still conceived some rhetoric in detail in the process of returning to the company.

However, as soon as he returned to the company headquarters on Camino Street, Jonathan Friedman was stopped by Norman Broca's assistant and took him to the WMA president's office.

When he came to Norman Broca's office, Jonathan Friedman couldn't wait for the old man who was sitting behind his desk to flip through a document to speak, "Norman, something has changed."

Norman Broca raised his hand and made a calm gesture, signaling Jonathan to sit down first, and then said: "I already know that the studio is trying to boycott "The Butterfly Effect". , the matter has been resolved."

Jonathan Friedman looked puzzled: "Solved?"

Norman Broca nodded, picked a document from his hand, handed it to Jonathan Friedman who was sitting opposite him, and said: "I had lunch with Ronald Goldberg, and he told Mine. Moreover, Fox is very interested in this film, and they don't mind a packaging agreement. Therefore, we roughly agreed on a cooperation plan at noon, and you can watch it first."

"Butterfly Effect" is a project promoted by himself. Jonathan Friedman was a little displeased when he heard that Norman Broca reached an agreement with Fox without discussing with himself, but he still took the file and opened it.

Flipping through the cooperation proposal page by page, Jonathan Friedman's brows became more and more wrinkled.

WMA originally planned a complete set of production team, from core creators such as producers, directors, male and female protagonists to peripheral staff such as photographers and lighting engineers.It was also the result of weeks of painstaking coordination by Jonathan Friedman.

According to the plan, the budgeted cost of the entire packaging project is 1500 million US dollars, and WMA uniformly draws 10% of the budget as a commission.

Now, this obviously compressed project plan has only a budget of 1200 million US dollars left. Not only are there only a few core creators left for WMA's packaging objects, but the salaries of most customers have also been reduced.

For the two clients under his own name, Brian De Palma's director's remuneration was reduced to 150 million US dollars, and Simon's script remuneration was still 10 US dollars to buy out two scripts.In addition, WMA no longer uniformly draws commissions from the entire project, but settles separately with individual customers according to the usual practice.

And, what makes Jonathan Friedman most uncomfortable is that, as Norman Broca's star, Matthew Broderick's salary is still $500 million.

Throwing the unfinished cooperation plan on Norman Broca's desk, Jonathan Friedman suppressed his dissatisfaction and said, "Norman, is such a cooperation plan still a package contract? "

Norman Broca put down the pen in his hand, and said: "Of course, you have to know that the packaging contract that CAA signed with the studio at the beginning is far inferior to the one in your hand."

Jonathan Friedman took a deep breath silently, not knowing whether he wanted to cry or laugh.

Even now, the scale of WMA is still far greater than that of CAA.

But this person in front of him, the president of the world's largest talent agency giant, even compared his company with CAA, which was a small workshop many years ago.

Norman Broca looked at Jonathan Friedman, and seeing his changing expression, he couldn't help but express a little more earnestness in his tone, and said, "Joe, I know what you think, but many things need to be done slowly. .And, you have to understand that the company's current situation is very bad, so I hope you can take care of the overall situation."

Jonathan Friedman made a fist with his right hand on his knee.

Take care of the overall situation?

Ah.

If it is not for the sake of the overall situation, the entire project should be his own.

Just to keep the overall situation in mind, I only retained the director and screenwriter, and gave up all the other places.

just now.

How can you let yourself take care of the overall situation?

Thinking with some bitterness in his heart, Jonathan Friedman said coldly: "Norman, even if this is the case, why is Matthew's salary still so high when everyone else's salary is reduced? Anyway, I have no way to ask my own The client explained."

Facing Jonathan's blunt questioning, Norman Broca's expression did not change at all, and he said patiently: "Joe, I think you know Brian's situation better than anyone else, so giving him $150 million is not a problem. There's nothing wrong with that. As for that, um, the screenwriter, didn't you say he was talented? $10 is already very generous for a young kid. Now you tell him the news, I guess that The little one will definitely be jumping for joy."

Jonathan Friedman recalled the contact with Simon during this period, and he was very sure that it was impossible for the young man to jump up when he heard the news. Even if he really jumped up, it would definitely not be because of happiness.

Seeing that Jonathan was silent, Norman Broca thought for a while and said, "Well, Joe, this is a good start after all. So, as long as this project is successful, I will approve an additional bonus for you at the end of the year. How about it?"

Jonathan Friedman was still silent. After a while, he got up and said, "Norman, I need to think about it."

Norman Broca also stood up, walked around the desk, patted Jonathan Friedman on the shoulder, and said: "Fox wants to sign the contract as soon as possible, so you give me an answer tomorrow Bar."

Jonathan Friedman nodded mechanically, turned around and left Norman Broca's office.

When the office door was closed, the original amiable look on Norman Broca's face disappeared immediately.For Jonathan, the vice president who was promoted by relying on the relationship of WMA chairman Lou Weiss, he actually looked down on him very much.

Of the eight vice presidents of the WMA, Jonathan Friedman's ranking is basically the last one.

For the packaging plan proposed by Jonathan Friedman, not only the major Hollywood studios are afraid, Norman Broca also does not want this project to be too successful.If Jonathan Friedman becomes the pioneer of the company's internal reform because of the "Butterfly Effect" package project, the other party's prestige and status in WMA will definitely be greatly improved, and it will even threaten his own status.

Jonathan Friedman didn't agree immediately just now, and Norman Broca also roughly understood what the other party would probably do after he left.

After coming to the desk and sitting down, Norman Broca immediately picked up the phone, pressed the call button and said to the secretary outside: "Pick up Stevens for me."

Jonathan Friedman returned to his office, leaning on the leather chair a little slumped.

I don’t know how long it took, but Jonathan Friedman was about to cheer up and called Lou Weiss, the chairman of the WMA at the New York headquarters on the east coast, hoping to get a call from the old boss who single-handedly promoted him. Getting some support, the phone on his desk rang first.

After answering the phone, unexpectedly it happened to be Lou Weiss calling.

The two talked for more than ten minutes. Jonathan Friedman put down the microphone in his hand, and his expression was a little more frustrated.

As the WMA's first package attempt, Jonathan Friedman had just conceived the idea not long ago, but he had actually talked with Lou Weiss on the phone.Although he is on the East Coast, Lou Weiss is also very concerned about this project.

However, when he called just now, Lou Weiss didn't mean to support Jonathan Friedman. Instead, he hoped that he could complete the "Butterfly Effect" project as soon as possible without any complications.In the end, he also said that the WMA can't stand the turmoil now, and he still hopes that he can take care of the overall situation.

Faced with this situation, Jonathan Friedman also understood.

Norman Broca must have communicated with several other senior executives and even the board of directors of the company in advance.Moreover, after all, after working in WMA for so many years, Jonathan Friedman even vaguely realized that Norman Broca did not want to see the package project "Butterfly Effect" be too successful.

Now, perhaps the chairman of the company Lou Weiss, CEO Lee Stevens, and even the members of the WMA board of directors have reached a consensus on this matter.

Facing a large group of conservatives who are not motivated much, if I try to push this matter forward, it may only be counterproductive, and I may even lose the position of vice president I just got.

Suddenly envious of CAA, there is only one voice Michael Ovitz.

In this case.

Then take care of the overall situation.

With a self-deprecating smile, Jonathan Friedman pressed the call button on the landline again, and told his assistant to call Simon and leave a message, asking him to come to WMA tomorrow.Then he called Brian De Palma himself.

The 7 11 convenience store is open 24 hours a day. During this time, Simon has already started shifts.

It happened to be night shift on Tuesday.

Work from 11pm until 7am the next morning.

After the shift in the morning, after breakfast, Simon rode back to the hotel.Hearing the message from the WMA to his phone, he only took a short break for an hour, and then hurried to Beverly Hills.

He came to Jonathan's office familiarly. It was a few minutes before 10 o'clock, and he had to chat with Owen Wright outside, but the door of Jonathan's office was opened.

Simon stopped talking with Owen Wright, turned around and looked over, and happened to meet the eyes of a young man who walked out first, but it was Matthew Broderick.

Jonathan also came out afterwards, and when he saw Simon, he immediately showed a gentle smile, and said, "Simon, you came just in time. Now, this is Matthew Broderick, and he will soon be the leading actor of "The Butterfly Effect". They are young people, and they will definitely have a lot of common language in the future.”

Simon hadn't responded yet, and Matthew Broderick, who had a suspicious expression on his face, had understood at this time, but he didn't give Jonathan Friedman any face at all, and said with a cold face: "Joe, this person and I don't agree. There will be some common language."

After saying this, Matthew Broderick glanced at Simon again, turned around, and walked to the corridor outside.

Chapter 017 Basic Agreement

Jonathan Friedman watched Matthew Broderick walk away very rudely, frowned slightly, motioned Simon to enter his office, and asked, "Simon, do you know Matthew?"

Simon didn't hide anything, and simply explained a few things about the airship bar last time.

"Oh, it's a small matter," Jonathan smiled casually, sat down behind his desk, and said, "I'll meet Matthew sometime, and we'll have a meal together, and we'll be fine if we shake hands. Between you young people, you shouldn't There is no unresolvable contradiction."

Simon nodded, and he didn't take what happened last time too much.Feeling that Jonathan was obviously absent-minded when he spoke today, and his expression looked a little tired, so he asked, "Joe, haven't you rested recently?"

"It's nothing, I'm just a little busy these days."

Hearing the concerned tone of the young man on the other side, Jonathan, who was rummaging through several documents on the desktop, hesitated for a moment, and suddenly felt very reluctant to take out the draft contract.

After hesitating so much, Jonathan finally handed Simon a blue folder, making up his mind to compensate the boy as much as possible, and said in a gentle tone: "Simon, the script matter has come to an end. However, the studio I checked your information at WGA in advance and knew that you are a newcomer, so the asking price is not too high. Moreover, they also want another script of yours. I also saw the synopsis at Paramount yesterday. It is very exciting. .So, let’s take a look at the contract first.”

Simon felt that there were obvious reservations in Jonathan's words, and he probably had a premonition of something, but he still opened the contract in his hand and read it carefully.

Looking at Simon who was carefully reading the contract, Jonathan actually wanted to hide.

He knew very well that Simon was definitely not the kind of rookie who would cheer for joy as long as he could sell the script in his hand.Therefore, I really don't want to face the boy's reaction after reading the contract.

God seemed to have heard Jonathan's heart, when someone knocked on the office door, Owen Wright poked his head in and said, "Mr. Friedman, Mr. Broca is here."

As soon as the assistant finished speaking, Norman Broca, who was standing outside the door, just glanced at Simon, and beckoned to Jonathan, "Joe, can you come out for a while? I have something to talk to you about."

Although he didn't want to have any communication with Norman Broca in the past few days, Jonathan was even more unbearable to face Simon at this time.Standing up as if nothing had happened, he introduced to Simon who also stood up with him on the opposite side: "Simon, this is the president of our WMA, Mr. Norman Broca. You continue to read the contract. I will chat with Norman for a few minutes." return."

Simon looked outside the door at the old man who had no intention of coming in, wearing a black suit, gray hair, a little short, and a standard Jewish big nose.

Nodding to the other party, Simon waited for Jonathan to leave the office before sitting down again and focusing on the contract in front of him again.

Then, as the reading progressed, Simon's brows became more and more wrinkled.

In all fairness, Simon didn't care too much about the basic remuneration of US$10 involved in this contract.

As a rookie, such an asking price is already very good.

$10, probably enough to finish Run Lola Run by myself.

However, this is a complete buyout contract.

$8 to buy out the entire copyright of "Butterfly Effect", and $2 as a deposit to buy the first option for the next three years of "Death Comes".Moreover, as long as Fox intends to shoot "Reaper" in the next three years, when the price is renegotiated, it will still be a buyout contract for all copyrights.

Probably looking over the contract in his hand, Simon even couldn't believe it, how could Jonathan give himself such a harsh agreement.

In Hollywood, screenwriting is also a very unstable career.Even WGA union members are basically unemployed for most of the year, and many have to find other jobs to make ends meet.

Therefore, in order to fight for more rights and interests, Hollywood screenwriters are also the group that strikes most frequently in the industry.

After decades of confrontation with studios, the Screenwriters Union and the Hollywood Producers Union have gradually reached a "basic agreement" to guarantee basic remuneration, minimum wage, medical insurance, and pension plans for Hollywood film and television screenwriters. etc. interests.

For film screenwriters, the most important clause involved in the "Basic Agreement" is not the minimum script remuneration stipulated in it, but a sharing agreement that can bring long-term income to the screenwriters.

According to the latest version of the "Basic Agreement" signed by the Screenwriters Union and the Producers Union in 1985, in addition to the two levels of minimum basic remuneration stipulated in accordance with the division of film production costs, film screenwriters can also benefit from the subsequent videotapes and TV broadcasting rights of the film. Get a corresponding share of the income.

Among them, the proportion of video tapes is 100% of the sales revenue within 0.3 million boxes, and 100% of the sales revenue after 0.36 million boxes.

In addition, the income from TV broadcasting rights is divided according to different platform types such as public TV networks, basic cable stations, paid cable stations, pay-per-view stations, and even overseas TV stations. In general, the agreed income for screenwriters is not at all. Less than a videotape is divided into.

Since the 80s, with the explosion of the video tape market and the continuous development of television networks, the income of Hollywood movies in these two areas has continued to increase, and has now reached a level of one-third of the income of theaters.

So for a film that grossed even $3000 million worldwide, it probably would have made as much on video as well.

Based on the average selling price of home video tapes of about $30, the sales revenue of $3000 million is exactly equivalent to the sales of 100 million video tapes.According to this figure, the screenwriter of the film can successively get a share of about 100 US dollars from the sales revenue of the 9 million video tapes.

Subsequent TV broadcast rights revenue share will basically be equivalent to video tape sales share.

The total of the two is almost 20 US dollars.

This is already far higher than the average transaction price of Hollywood scripts in the 80s, and it is usually several times the basic remuneration agreed between the screenwriter and the film company.

Moreover, the sales share of these two aspects is still a long-term continuous income, which means that even if the film screenwriter can't find a job at all in the next few years, the sales share he gets every once in a while can guarantee his life.

Simon has full confidence in "The Butterfly Effect" and "The God of Death" that was picked up in advance by the studio.

According to the usual consumption habits of popular movie fans, as very classic horror films, the performance of these two films in the video tape market in the future is likely to be even better than that in theatrical release stage, and the sales volume may even far exceed 100 million boxes.

Therefore, if a sharing agreement can be obtained, and the income from TV broadcasting rights of the same scale is included, Simon will definitely continue to receive hundreds of thousands of dollars in follow-up income from these two scripts in the future, which is far from the basic $8 at this time. The remuneration is comparable.

Simon is not a WGA member, and there is nothing wrong with that.

In fact, Simon has no plan to join the WGA in the future, so he cannot enjoy the protection of the WGA's complete "Basic Agreement".

However, in Hollywood, where the film industry system is already quite complete, the share clauses for screenwriters are actually already an industry practice.

As long as the screenwriter can find a reliable agent, or even if he is a little knowledgeable, the partner is a formal Hollywood film company.Then, both parties can basically sign the terms of the attached sharing agreement.

But now, a vice president of the largest talent agency in Hollywood has only 'wought' for himself a buyout agreement that completely takes him for a fool.

At a certain moment, Simon really had the urge to jump up and throw the contract in his hand on the agent's face.

However, remembering some details of Jonathan's expression just now, Simon calmed down, turned his head and glanced at the office door, and patiently waited for the manager to return.

At the same time, in Norman Broca's office, Jonathan Friedman, who has been feeling comfortable since yesterday afternoon, heard the request from his immediate superior, and couldn't help raising his voice any longer, waving his arms and saying: "Don't like it? He's going to kick Simon out just because he doesn't like it? This is too unreasonable. Norman, do you know how embarrassing it was when I handed the contract to that kid just now? I'm a WMA vice president, but gave his client a stupid deal that even a [-]rd tier agency agent wouldn't necessarily come up with. Now you're asking me to tell him he's fired and will never have anything to do with this movie again It has nothing to do with it, how can you tell me?"

Norman Broca looked at Jonathan who was about to lose his usual gentle posture, concealed his disdain in his heart, and said in a stern tone, "Joe, you have to know that you are now the vice president of WMA. As a management, you You must consider the interests of the entire company. What's more, you are just a brat who doesn't understand anything, if you can't even handle this kind of thing, how can you afford your current position?"

You must consider your interests, right!

This thought flashed through Jonathan's mind. Hearing that Norman Broca had begun to threaten his position in his words, his tone was a little calmer, but he still argued: "Simon is already reading that contract. "The Butterfly Effect "The total remuneration for the manuscript was originally only 8 US dollars, 5 US dollars for the first edition, 2 US dollars for the revision fee required by the studio, and 1 US dollars for the follow-up retouching fee. These terms are clearly written. Even if he agrees to withdraw , How do you calculate the money? Should I just go back and tell him that there is only 5 dollars left?"

"Of course there is only 5 dollars left. In the entire Federation, how many people can earn 18 dollars at the age of [-], what else is he not satisfied with?"

Seeing that Jonathan's attitude had softened, Norman Broca became even more aggressive.

Before pitching the script to the studio last week, Norman Broca originally hoped to rework the script and add Matthew Broderick, but Jonathan rejected it because the script was perfect enough.