Taking back the post-production rights of "Rain Man", Simon did not expect Barry Levinson to remain silent as he hoped.
What Simon didn't expect was that the next day, the "Hollywood Reporter" quickly published the front-page news that "Barry Levinson was forced to withdraw from the post-production period of "Rain Man"". The article completely placed Barry Levinson as the victim. From the reporter's standpoint, the entire process of Simon's wanton interference in the production of "Rain Man" was vividly described from the filming stage until yesterday when Barry Levinson was fired.
As if arranged in advance, on the day the news was published, the two stars of "Rain Man", Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise, also accepted interviews with CNN at the same time, publicly accusing Simon of disrespecting the film's creators. .
Immediately afterwards, the Directors Guild of America also jumped out and issued a public statement on Friday, claiming that it would investigate whether Daenerys Pictures had violated the rights of directors.
then.
In just a few days, Daenerys Films was quickly thrust into the center of another public opinion storm.
Hollywood has always been a producer-centered system.
Whether it’s the uproarious incident in the early 1980s that director Tobe Hooper of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” was sidelined by producer Spielberg in the “The Ghostbusters” project, or Simon’s memory of “Justice” many years later. Alliance" had a director-replacement tragedy, and it was common for directors to be kicked out during film production.
However, ordinary people obviously don't care too much about these industry rules.
Under the hype of the media, an incident that is common in Hollywood was quickly exaggerated into a major incident that was close to a scandal.
New York.
Lower Manhattan, Morton Street in Greenwich Village.
In a nine-story red brick building less than a kilometer from New York University, this is the East Coast headquarters of New World Entertainment.
New World Entertainment occupies six floors of the nine-story red brick building. Half of the company's more than 110 employees other than Marvel are here, and the other half are in Los Angeles. The six-story office space is obviously more than enough to accommodate more than fifty employees. This is actually the result of several layoffs experienced by New World Entertainment.
Because the company's business focuses on television program production, New World Entertainment originally had hundreds of employees on the east coast. In the past six months, it has laid off nearly half of its employees, but the lease of the office building has not expired. This is why the current situation has emerged.
Today is August 2nd.
After a month-long financing and auditing process, Simon officially signed an acquisition agreement with New World Entertainment Chairman Larry Copping, and senior executives of both companies gathered in New York.
After the signing ceremony in the morning, the main executives of the two companies gathered again in the largest conference room in the office building for a meeting after lunch.
Although several buildings with better conditions have been purchased in the uptown area, according to the contract, the residents there will not be moved out until around 1990, and will also face demolition later.
At the afternoon meeting, Simon asked the management to buy the red brick building where New World Entertainment was located as soon as possible and use it as the East Coast headquarters of Daenerys Entertainment.
The North American real estate market has continued to decline in the past six months, and Greenwich Village is not considered a prime location. It probably cost less than US$20 million to buy this straight red brick building with a small area. Daenerys Entertainment There will be enough expansion in the coming years to fill the entire building. The extra space and time can be used for renovation.
The company is growing so rapidly that additional property is a must.
certainly.
The biggest reason was Simon's personal preference of opening up private territory, and he happened to be able to afford the expense.
As for the West Coast, Simon has not yet taken a fancy to the location of the company's headquarters, so this matter can only be put on hold for the time being.
Although it was the longest day of the summer, long meetings involving personnel adjustments, financial planning and project discussions were held until nightfall in Manhattan. Fortunately, Daenerys Pictures is thriving, and many people have just escaped the disaster of losing their jobs when the company went bankrupt, and they also found a promising new owner. All the executives of the two companies have no complaints about this. .
At the end of the meeting, Daenerys Pictures also arranged a welcome reception for all New World Entertainment employees at a nearby hotel.
It wasn't until ten o'clock in the night that many people dispersed contentedly.
Simon couldn't take any time off, and before the reception was over, he returned to the New World Entertainment headquarters with Amy Pascal, Robert Rehm, and Robert Egger, who had successfully resigned from ABC to join Daenerys Entertainment.
Everyone sat down in a small conference room in the company. Jennifer personally made coffee for everyone. Simon took the coffee handed over by the female assistant and thanked her softly, but his expression was not so relaxed.
"Simon, as things continue to ferment, many well-known directors in Hollywood may avoid cooperating with us out of scruples. This is a very difficult issue," Robert Rehm, the oldest person among the people present, took the lead: "We Clarification and counterattack must be made as soon as possible.”
If there is no need, everyone will not gather together late at night after a busy day.
What is being discussed at this time is naturally the incident of Barry Levinson being fired that broke out in recent days.
Simon did not let this incident affect the expansion pace of Daenerys Pictures, and completed the acquisition of New World Entertainment step by step, finally acquiring this company and Marvel Entertainment, which he valued most. However, in recent days, it is impossible for Simon to ignore this matter. The media and public relations team of Daenerys Films has been working at full capacity to prevent the situation from getting out of control.
However, what Simon hasn't quite understood in recent days is why Barry Levinson wanted to make this incident known to everyone? Moreover, there is obviously the shadow of CAA behind this. Although he has become a highly sought-after A-list director with "Good Morning Vietnam", without the support of CAA, Barry Levinson would never have been able to make such a big deal in just a few days.
At the end of the day, we are all business people.
Although Simon does not intend to compromise, according to usual practice, CAA should try to contact Daenerys Films first instead of breaking things off in such a big way.
After all, although the media trend generally favors Barry Levinson, there is no shortage of discerning people in Hollywood.
Which film company hasn't fired a few directors
People at CAA will make things worse if they are slightly wronged. Can we all cooperate well in the future
However.
Simon has not received any news from CAA these days.
Habitually playing with a pencil in his hand, Simon glanced down and suddenly discovered that he always seemed to be able to find a pencil at hand. However, when he noticed Jennifer sitting quietly next to him after serving everyone coffee, he no longer struggled.
Glancing at the thin white neck exposed by the female assistant's ponytail, Simon retracted his attention, nodded to Robert Rem, who was already in the state, and then looked at the other people: "What do you think?"
Amy frowned slightly and thought, but didn't speak.
Robert Egger heard Simon's inquiry and said: "I always feel that Barry Levinson and the others seem to be too impatient in this matter recently."
Simon was confused: "Huh?"
Robert Iger sorted out his thoughts and said: "If the information I know is correct, you just fired Barry Levinson, and things broke out the next day. This was obviously too deliberate and too hasty."
Robert Rehm said: "Bob, Ovitz has a lot of energy in Hollywood. He only needs to make a few phone calls to do this."
"Indeed, but if it were me, I would definitely choose to communicate with Simon first, and only use these methods if the negotiation fails," Robert Egger said, looking at Simon, and said: "But, Simon, Austria Wiz hasn’t been in contact with you, right?”
Simon nodded and looked at Amy.
Amy understood and explained to Iger and the others: "We tried to contact CAA, but they said Ovitz went to Japan."
"If CAA intends to reconcile, this is not a problem," Iger shook his head and said: "The problem now is that CAA has no intention of reconciliation. They seem to just want to embarrass us."
Amy said: "I'm also wondering about this. Although we are not as good as the Seven Big Ones, CAA should not be stupid enough to completely quarrel with us."
Robert Rem also said at this time: "Perhaps, is it possible that the Seventh Party is actually behind this matter?"
Amy and Egg both fell silent upon hearing this.
This year's summer season has come to an end.
Although Paramount Pictures has successfully achieved two films with a box office of over 100 million in North America through two wonderful saturated general releases, during this period, the light of Hollywood has almost all focused on Daenerys Pictures.
In addition to "Pulp Fiction" and "Basic Instinct", Daenerys Pictures also launched popular reality shows such as "Who Will Be a Millionaire" that affected the entire Hollywood writers' strike situation. In addition, at the end of last month, the company also sold another reality show "Big Brother" to the Fox Television Network for a high price of US$1 million per episode.
Compared with "Survivor" which only has more than ten issues per season, "Big Brother" has a standard 23 issues per season.
Moreover, being shot completely in a closed environment in a house, the production cost of "Big Brother" is only comparable to that of "Who Will Be a Millionaire", both of which are very cheap.
Due to the demonstrative success of "Who Will Be a Millionaire", the in-program sponsorship fees obtained by "Big Brother" also offset the production budget and generated profits, and Daenerys Films fully realized the $23 million received from the Fox Television Network. It is a net profit, and it also retains the right to renegotiate the next season based on the show's ratings.
After calculation, the three reality shows that have been sold can bring a total net income of about 200 million U.S. dollars to Daenerys Pictures in the first season alone. Among the seven major ones, Colombia and China have not performed very well in recent years. MGM's annual net profit may not reach this figure.
The principle that everything that is good in the forest will be destroyed by the wind is applicable to any country and any industry. Daenerys Pictures' performance is so dazzling that competitors will definitely not remain indifferent.
but.
In the conference room, Simon immediately ruled out the possibility of Qida taking action.
Although "Pulp Fiction" and "Basic Instinct" were hugely successful, the studios received a share of the profits.
Just like "Pulp Fiction", it is expected to earn more than 150 million US dollars in box office in North America alone. Simon's original contract was signed in the name of the company. After settlement, Daenerys Pictures can only get 10% of the box office. The bulk of the share, as well as the later 5% share of North American local video tape sales, still belongs to Orion. The revenue of "Basic Instinct" is also shared equally with Fox's, and it's also a huge profit. There can't be any dissatisfaction between the two companies.
As for the other companies, they all still maintain a cooperative relationship with Daenerys Pictures or are looking forward to a cooperative relationship, and they do not have enough motivation to do such a thing that is harmful to others and not beneficial to oneself.
Even among the four major TV networks, except for CBS, which failed to grab "Big Brother" and looked down on "The Housewives of Beverly Hills" and got nothing, the other three networks, in order to ensure that there are no accidents during the production and broadcast of several reality shows, There is also no incentive to do so.
motivation
motivation!
Thinking quickly in my mind.
Suddenly, Simon finally grasped the key to the matter.
Michael Ovitz is not a fool, but very shrewd and realistic. So, if there is not enough motivation and Barry Levinson just wants to vent his emotions, he will obviously not support the other party in doing so.
Now the question is.
What exactly is the motivation for this whole thing
Listening to Amy and others' discussion in silence, Simon reorganized the ins and outs of the whole incident. After a moment, he finally understood.
"I probably understand what's going on." Simon knocked on the table gently, interrupting Amy and others' discussion, then looked at the female assistant, and said: "Jenny, please arrange the flight for tomorrow morning. By the way, Contact Ovitz, he should have returned from Japan, I will see him when I arrive in Los Angeles tomorrow."
Jennifer nodded to take note.
The other three people were confused and looked over at the same time with puzzled expressions.
Simon said: "Amy, do you still remember those bad things during the filming of "Rain Man"? Whether it was Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, and Barry Levinson, they started shooting the movie Were you very dissatisfied with this project after that?"
Amy nodded.
Because of their distaste for "Rain Man", the entire crew showed a passive and casual mentality during the filming of the film.
In the second week of filming, Dustin Hoffman even shouted to the producer, "Go find Jack Nicholson, I don't want to film anymore" for this reason and some other dissatisfaction, and then he really I gave up my choice and was persuaded to come back after a lot of trouble.
Later in the filming, both Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise directly referred to their respective characters as "two idiots in a convertible".
Apparently.
Judging from what Barry Levinson did during the later stages of the film, the director's mentality was also the same.
Feeling the still curious gazes of several people, Simon explained: "After all, "Rain Man" is a large-scale production that cost 25 million U.S. dollars. Barry Levinson, Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise all All the creators believe that this project will fail at the box office, which will affect their reputation and status in Hollywood. So, what would you do if this happened to you?"
Amy Pascal, Robert Rem, and Robert Egger looked at each other at the same time, and a certain thought flashed through their minds.
However, none of the three spoke.
The answer couldn't be more obvious.
Shirking responsibility!
only.
It is definitely better not to react too quickly to this issue. Probably few bosses would like to see employees who like to shirk responsibility.
Simon looked at the expressions on the three people's faces and knew that they had understood.
Ever since Simon handed over a memorandum of his revised opinions on "Rain Man" to Barry Levinson a few days ago, there have been complaints from Barry Levinson accusing Simon of excessive interference in the project.
Think about it now.
This is basically Barry Levinson paving the way for the box office failure of "Rain Man". He just made it to the top with "Good Morning Vietnam" last year. If he immediately suffered a box office failure of a $25 million big production, he would definitely It affects your own worth and status.
Simon even felt that Barry Levinson deliberately went against him in the editing of the film just to anger him, and this strategy obviously succeeded.
Then, of course, several of the main creators, who did not want to bear the bad reputation of making a film that failed at the box office, decisively put the blame on Simon.
Now.
The matter has already caused a stir in the city. Even if "Rain Man" hits the box office again, the media and the public will only think that the responsibility lies with Simon, and several of the film's main creators have become victims.