Hollywood Domination Chapter 62: Oil from the stone

"What do you mean he came and left?" Jenny asked Mary, "Is he passing the time by flying?"

Mary shrugged helplessly, and put the breakfast provided by the hospital in front of Jenny, "Mr. Vijay said that it is award season, and he has no time to wait until you wake up. But he said that the memorandum has been negotiated, let You can cooperate with the arrangement of the producer."

Then she put a document in front of Jenny, "Andy brought this in the morning, he asked you to read it by heart, and then burned it."

"What is this, it will burn after reading it..." Jenny was speechless, "What is the content of the memo?"

"Mr. Vijay said that it was sent to your email address, and you should be able to see it after you go out."

There is no mobile phone network in the ward, so last night Mary took her mobile phone, and Jenny turned on the phone and looked at the call records-Cesare basically arrived on the last flight, and then took the earliest flight The plane left. Judging from the call time, he probably took a taxi directly to the town after getting off the plane, and then negotiated the memorandum with Andy, turned around and took a taxi, and went to the airport without stopping.

Because they struggled in the sea for so long after all, the hospital did not release them last night, and added some sleep aids to Jenny's drip. It was already past ten o'clock in the morning when Jenny woke up. After washing up and having breakfast, she met with the local police and representatives of the actor union one after another. ——SAG is still full of power. What happened last night, today the representative arrived in town. In addition to asking Jenny and others about the accident, another major purpose is to check whether there are potential safety hazards in the island shooting base and the way leading to the island. Is the route safe enough?

Since the memorandum had been signed, Jenny did not try to be ingenious. She survived the interrogation by the police and SAG in a satisfactory manner. She stayed in the hospital for another day before she was allowed to leave the hospital and returned to the hotel rented by the film crew to rest.

In order to save money, the film crew did not go to the already developed resorts to shoot, so the best hotel in the local town is a motel, which is now fully booked by the film crew. When Jenny went back, she found that there was a lot of people here. After asking, she found out that because the representatives of SAG also replaced various unions such as the directors' union and the photographers' union, and cared about the safety of the employees, the entire crew was concerned about their shipwreck. The production was shut down due to an accident, and the crew members entered their favorite time to spend money and do nothing. Although this is the producer's nightmare, for the crew, it is a big carnival party for all members.

After realizing the pressure from Andy, Jenny was not so surprised by the document in the mailbox—the memo did not mention the shipwreck accident at all, and even the date of drafting the contract stated that it was the day before the shipwreck accident. The whole memo is actually one piece of content: Disney promised to distribute 1% of the profits from the sales of DVD\VCD\VHS videotapes of "Pirates of the Caribbean 1" to Jenny.

1% is a very insignificant number, but in this memo, it means wealth...Jenny couldn't figure it out for a while, but she knew that it was absolutely impossible to go much less, because Cesare might just be afraid She couldn't figure it out, and explained the approximate size of the money in the email. ——The DVD\VCD channel is an important profit channel for the vast majority of filmmakers, and it is also the private land of the filmmakers. Actors are never allowed to get involved. Although generally big-name actors have the right to share in the box office, but only It is difficult even for them to touch this forbidden area.

Generally speaking, in addition to the cost of filming, the cost of a film also has a very important cost of publicity and distribution. According to Hollywood practice, if the box office alone is to recover the cost, the local box office must reach three times the cost. Keep it up. In other words, for a film like "Pirates of the Caribbean" with an investment of 100 million, the box office in North America is 300 million to return to the original line, and the profit can only be considered if it exceeds 300 million. But then again, the 2001 box office champion "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" had a box office of just over 300 million in North America, and only two films had a box office of over 300 million in North America throughout the year. , More than 90% of the movies are huge losses. It is absolutely impossible for filmmakers to do such a high-risk business.

In addition to the overseas box office and the development of peripheral products, the magic weapon for filmmakers to make profits is the sales of audio-visual products. Under the complicated profit sharing model overseas, it is very likely that the film studios with a $100 box office will only get about $30 or $40 in the end. For example, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", with an investment of 160 million and a publicity cost of 80 million according to industry practice (only in North America), then the North American box office is more than 300 million, and the return is 160 million. The global box office is only 500 million. If you can get back 200 million or 360 million profits, you still haven’t paid taxes. The corporate tax in the United States is close to 40%. ——This was the most profitable box office champion last year, and that’s not counting the global publicity costs.

But the fact is that even if it is a work that cannot sell peripherals—for example, those romance films that really cannot develop peripherals, as long as the North American box office can match the cost, overseas countries can barely give some. In other words, I made a romance movie, cost $100, advertised $50, got back $50 for $100 at the North American box office, $25 for $80 at the overseas box office, a total of $75, after tax Assuming that the various legal tax avoidance is $50, which only adds up to 30% of the total cost, the film studio still makes money. This profit is earned from the sale of various broadcasting rights and audio-visual products. Through the sale of various copyrights, filmmakers can earn the remaining 70%, and the biggest part of this is of course the sale of audio-visual products such as DVDs. .

Even assuming that audio-visual products account for only US$50 of the copyright income of US$100 after tax, and one percent is US$0.5, which accounts for one percent of the North American box office, then according to this calculation, Jenny got It will also be one hundredth of 300 million yuan, 1.5 million US dollars. (She remembered that the North American box office of Pirates of the Caribbean was 300 million yuan)

Her salary is only 300,000.

And the calculation here is only North America, the word in the memo is global.

"A reminder from you is worth at least five times my salary." She told Josh when she went to have lunch - the whole hotel is now filled with the smell of beer and wheat, Johnny, Jeffrey and some supporting actors The actors were all partying on the roof, and Josh was of course there.

"Oh, so you finally saw the memo?" Josh smiled, "Actually, it's nothing, it's still a good deal for them to give us this 1%. First of all, this 1% is future money, Disney Secondly, if we answered truthfully, the entire production crew would be shut down for at least half a month, and the sum of all kinds of losses may be equivalent to this money.”

Perhaps it was a blunt relationship, his attitude towards Jenny is more natural now, "Oh, but it seems that you are very optimistic about the box office, I also estimated the amount I can get, it is less than five times The salary is at most comparable to my salary."

When it comes to personal salary, it's very sensitive. Who knows how Josh calculates it, and Jenny can't ask in detail. She just joked, "That's because my salary is much lower than yours."

The two looked at each other and smiled, and Jenny took the initiative to say hello to Claudia next to Josh, "Hi, Claudia—I didn't know that before, but you should have told me earlier."

Although she is the leading role now, Jenny has always told herself to be kind to others. The relationship between Claudia and her is really good. She also smiled and nodded, "Hi, Jenny. Thank you for your support, it was my idea not to tell you—I hope you don't blame Josh."

Although there was something to Josh, Jenny is a bit self-respecting, and she can't do anything to steal her boyfriend. Although she is very curious about how Claudia would agree to Josh to sign such a contract, in fact, it probably Jenny smiled and shook her head, "Comeon, we're already buddies—there's no better way to be familiar than to spit in his face."

All three laughed, and Josh was clearly comfortable with the buddy-buddy relationship between the two, and now his body language around Jenny was relaxed. "Dude, feel free to spit on me again if you need to - just please don't eat lasagna, I can't stand the smell of garlic."

Jenny came here this time, mainly to thank Josh for taking care of him at that time. The three of them got together and chatted casually. Josh told her that the captain also got a new ship and good wages for lost wages. Jenny Seeing that the entertainment was almost over, I wanted to go over to talk to Gore and the others, but before I could take a step, I was stopped by Claudia.

"I advise you not to go there," she said, lowering her voice, "I heard that Andy and Gore had a quarrel that could be heard in the whole building yesterday, and Andy went directly to the airport, and now Gore doesn't care The people from SAG are accompanied by the assistant director, and Mr. Bruckheimer has already left."

Jenny suddenly realized that what she gained was the pain of others, and the 1% dividend was definitely not negotiated in a happy atmosphere.

"Uh, then we—" She was suddenly embarrassed.

Josh shrugged, "We don't know anything, that's the business of the agent and the producer. The dispute between Andy and Gore is the business of the producer and the director."

Seeing that Jenny was still a little bit unrelieved, he patted her on the shoulder, "Comeon, money is money, work is work, it's all in this, can he still fire us? For artistic creation It's one thing to quit the director, but it's another thing to quit the director because of these unclear safety responsibilities."

Although on the set, he and Gore always talked and laughed, but now Josh's attitude is very shrewd, and Claudia is also accustomed to it, and even added, "If he quits, the producer Fang must be very happy, and all the responsibility for the shipwreck accident can be shirked directly on his head. I guess, Andy and he must have a disagreement on who should bear the responsibility for the accident."

Jenny is still trying to adapt to this new type of workplace struggle-she would not say that Hollywood studios are peaceful and happy, but it is obvious that this kind of struggle is different from the oriental "house fight" and "gong fight" she was used to. , there is a big difference in the rules of the game. Compared with Josh, who has already filmed "Star Wars Prequel", she seems a little immature.

Besides the different rules of the game, the biggest difference may also be the difference in mentality. Orientals pay attention to restraint and order, just like the night before yesterday. There is no difference between upper and lower levels in Shi's heart. His hint directly led to Jenny and him (the agent) forming a united front, and won a memorandum worth more than one million for each other, which led to a quarrel between Andy and Gore. Now let Jerry, the big boss, come over and clean up the mess - and then he can enjoy himself at the party with confidence, and doesn't care what Gore on the other side thinks.

Are people stupid and don't know how to be afraid, or is this how Westerners play games? Jenny was inclined to the latter point, after all, Cesare asked for her share of the money for her.

"It seems that I have a lot to learn from you." Jenny took the initiative to clink glasses with Josh, "Partner, I wish every cooperation between us will be as happy as today."

Josh grinned, just in time, someone took a camera and started taking pictures of everyone in the party, so he gave Claudia a look, and after getting Claudia's nod, he looked again Jenny.

Jenny nodded, and was pulled into Josh's arms. She and Josh raised their cups to the camera together. Thinking of the one and a half million, in the click sound, there was no need to pretend, and they all showed sweetness. sweet smile.

#

The short-lived eerie atmosphere on the set disappeared quickly after Jerry's arrival. Jenny, of course, didn't see the gold medalist's wrists with her own eyes, all she could see was that the local police terminated the investigation and announced that it was just a pure accident-Jenny had no idea how he did it, because Jerry As a result of negotiations with SAG, they moved the water battle scene to the aquatic setting center near California. This decision meant that the town lost many jobs.

The SAG inspection came to an end on the second day of Jerry's arrival. Now the crew only needs to complete some exterior scenes of the pirate city of Tetuga on the island before moving back to California for safe indoor inspection. shoot. Driven by Jerry, the entire production crew started to follow a new track. He even set aside time to meet with Jenny and said a lot of nice things to her.

Well, Jerry is better than Cesare in maintaining interpersonal relationships, but considering that he is the one who suppresses her salary in the future, and Cesare is the one who gets her 1% bonus , no matter how polite Jerry is to her, Jenny can only be a sentimental slave, loyally unite around Master Vijay, and bear his merciless 'squeeze'.

Because of this delay, the work of the crew ended later than Jenny expected, and the time has entered November, and the filming has not yet ended—then the disadvantage of not having a manager appeared again at this time, and there was no manager to help arrange Jenny can only take the work schedule of "Chicago" faxed by Judy to bargain with the assistant director, asking him to adjust her shooting schedule as much as possible, so that she can participate in the premiere of "Chicago" as much as possible Activities before and after the ceremony. ——Although she played a small role for a few minutes, she was treated like a female number three in publicity. The interviews and programs arranged by the film crew were all exposed according to the standards of a female number three.

This is a win-win arrangement, and it is impossible for Jenny to refuse, otherwise she will offend Rob and James at the same time, and she really only has a few scenes left, so she can finish filming in one day, so she It can be finished in advance and leave to do publicity. However, when coordinating the schedule, Jenny encountered great resistance. The assistant director Jie Luo who was in charge of arranging the shooting schedule did not cooperate at all.

"You know, Johnny, Jeffrey, and Josh haven't said a word about the shooting schedule."

The implication is that you are a newcomer, so what qualifications do you have to ask for a schedule change?

This dead glass...

Jenni was so angry that she cursed in her heart. Although she didn't discriminate against gays, she couldn't help wishing that Jie Luo was a straight man at the moment: if he was a straight man, no matter if he liked the pure goddess style or the luxurious Monroe style, she would It can be simulated in an instant, straight man, as long as the girl he likes says *, how can he be so rigid? She had already discussed with him ten days in advance, and there was no question of rescheduling at all. He is still like this, how can she explain to "Chicago"?

Knowing that it would be meaningless to continue entanglement, Jenny simply walked out of his office trailer, leaned against the wall of the car to measure the severity of the situation, and reluctantly took out her mobile phone and dialed a number.

"Say." As soon as the connection was made, Cesare's succinct scolding sounded over there, and there were repeated phone rings in the background——Cesare is currently in the busiest season of the year, because His A-list clients have also reached the sprint stage, and they are about to start the journey of the awards season. At this time, the amount of exposure is also the largest. Although there is PR, there will naturally be many things that need to be resolved by the agent.

"Master Vijay." Jenny said the problem she was facing now in the fastest way, "I can't talk to Gore, I really can't speak, do you think it's time to talk to Jerry?" Let's communicate."

"Why can't you speak?" Cesare spoke faster than usual, and quickly said, "Forget it, leave this matter to me, and don't worry about it—Nisa! Nissa!"

With a 'snap', he hung up the phone.

Jenny stared at the phone for a while, then slowly put the machine into her pocket.

"All the problems you have are because your coffee is too small." She said to herself, "When you are big enough, you and Gore, you and Cesare and even you and Jero won't have any more problems."

She took a deep breath, "There are still 7 months before the release of "Pirates of the Caribbean"."

There is still one month before the release of "Chicago".

The days of waiting will not last long.

Jenny looked at the setting board in the distance, imagining the noisy and luxurious premiere in her heart, imagining that she would put on a fancy dress and walk into the premiere theater under flashing lights—

"Fuck." She suddenly snorted pettishly, and she didn't know who she was attacking, "Today you are ignoring me-tomorrow I will let you down!"

Ah Q found a balance in a very oriental way. Jenny continued to walk and fantasized. In her mind, the reporter had already begun to report excitedly, "Oh, we saw the actor who played Kitty, Hollywood and Broadway Jennifer Jefferson of the double new generation also walked into the interview area..."

The author has something to say: Note: 1 What Andy is most afraid of is to thoroughly review security measures. This is a lot of pain, so don't look at the regulations, but there are also many people who engage in black-box operations and exchange benefits. In addition, he is responsible for these things, because the director only takes care of filming, and these things are ultimately the responsibility of the producer.

The 2SAG membership fee is not free. The actor union is very powerful and pays great attention to protecting the actors. The shipwreck on the return trip is a big accident, and people may die. Actors can directly file a complaint with SAG. If the film studio wants to threaten the actor to make a big deal into a trivial matter, SAG can even stop work on the set directly. So Andy can only be soft.

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Updated, a shipwreck is worth 1.5 million~ This is the meaning of a broker. Hahaha.