Los Angeles.
With the sudden departure of Daenerys Entertainment producer Ron MacMillan, Hollywood's already quiet January became even more lively.
When Ron MacMillan learned that he had been fired because of some "trivial" matter, he almost immediately contacted Simon to make the decision for him. He felt that this was Amy and Janet acting on their own initiative.
After confirming that Simon had acquiesced in this matter, an angry Ron MacMillan was completely furious and demanded a $5 million severance package. Daenerys Entertainment will naturally not pay the money, and is not afraid of Ron MacMillan's threat to go to court.
The evidence of Ron MacMillan's misappropriation of film project funds is completely conclusive. Although the amount is not large, it is enough for Daenerys Entertainment to reasonably fire him.
If it really breaks out, no matter how Hollywood views this matter, in the eyes of the media and the public, Ron MacMillan will only end up with the same infamous fate as David Bergman.
So, after a week of confrontation, Ron MacMillan finally signed the separation agreement without any compensation.
In exchange for another confidentiality agreement not to discuss the incident publicly, Ron MacMillan also received a follow-up share of several films he and Daenerys Entertainment deserved in advance, totaling $2.6 million. , so far the two parties owe nothing to each other.
Within Daenerys Entertainment, as the financial audit personally supervised by Janet continued to deepen, the company successively fired a number of employees with unclean hands.
Although it inevitably attracts some criticism, the entire Daenerys Entertainment Group also realizes that their company will never be as confusing and disorganized as a traditional Hollywood film company. Of course, because Daenerys Entertainment's salary standards are significantly higher than those of its peers, not many people choose to leave because the company's financial system is too strict.
As for Ron MacMillan, although he signed a confidentiality agreement, complaints quickly spread in the circle that he lashed out at some parties and attacked Simon and Daenerys for being stingy and ruthless in entertainment.
However, because he did not publicly express these views in the media, Daenerys Entertainment could not make serious calculations.
Since he can associate his name with "Run Lola Run", "Dead Man" and "Scream", three of the top ten best-selling films of the year, even though he knows that the people behind the three films are not It's Simon Westeros. Ron MacMillan's departure immediately caused a scramble throughout Hollywood.
After several offers, Universal Pictures finally signed a three-picture deal with Ron MacMillan with a generous contract of a base salary of US$3 million plus 10% of the project's net profit share.
In addition, Universal also specially provided Ron MacMillan with additional subsidies such as a vice president-level private jet, personal entertainment, and administrative assistants, and a newly established establishment at Universal Studios Burbank specifically for Ron MacMillan. Macmillan Productions opened offices.
Prior to this, only a few companies, such as Spielberg's Amblin Pictures, had offices in Universal Studios.
Daenerys Entertainment did not deliberately hide the reason for Ron MacMillan's departure, and the circle knew it well. Universal Pictures also gave Ron MacMillan such generous treatment based on his salary contract, which is obviously somewhat targeted.
In fact, Daenerys Entertainment is not the only one facing 'targeting'.
Paramount Pictures, not to mention "The Rocketeer" and "Firebirds" which are currently in a state of intense preparation, realizes that "Sex, Lies and Videotape" may be a dark horse at the box office. MCA/Columbia, the film's main investor After several discussions between the two parent companies of Home Entertainment, Columbia Pictures finally obtained the distribution rights to "Sex, Lies and Videotape."
As the Sundance Film Festival approaches, Colombia has also set up a special promotion team to start pre-promotion for the film.
After grossing US$12.96 million at the box office in its fourth week, "Rain Man" once again experienced a reverse drop in its box office in its fifth week of release as the number of screening screens continued to increase, reaching 1,732. Although the reverse decline was only a very weak 2%, the box office revenue of US$13.19 million brought the total North American box office of "Rain Man" to US$72.38 million.
Moreover, the box office has exceeded US$10 million in a single week for five consecutive weeks, and it is very likely that it will be six consecutive weeks. This kind of box office stamina has clearly exceeded all other movies produced by Daenerys Entertainment last year.
Daenerys Entertainment's "Scream," which had the best box office performance after "Rain Man" at the end of last year, only had a weekly box office of more than $10 million for four weeks. Even "Pulp Fiction", which temporarily ranked first in 1988, only lasted for five weeks with a box office of 10 million in a single week.
As a big hit during the awards season, with the announcement of Oscar nominations at the end of January and the presentation of various union awards and Oscars in February and March, the box office potential of "Rain Man" has obviously exceeded that of "Pulp Fiction."
Seeing the success of "Rain Man" at the box office, MGM, which originally gave up the script of the film and took on "The Hobbit", and later sold the North American omni-channel distribution rights for a mere US$5 million, couldn't sit still. .
Annual crown.
Even if the total project cost reaches 40 million U.S. dollars, based on the box office potential of "Rain Man", if the local and overseas box office revenue is combined, the profit may still exceed 100 million, not to mention the subsequent video and TV broadcast revenue.
This is simply a 'gold mine'.
He was deceived by Simon Westeros.
So there was another fuss about suing and claiming compensation, and actually hired a law firm to start studying possible loopholes in several contracts between MGM and Daenerys.
Finally, including Fox, Warner and Disney, which have always had good relations with each other, in this lively January, almost all the seven major Hollywood companies are involved in Daenerys Entertainment.
If these were simply involved, it would be nothing. Even if MGM wanted to initiate a lawsuit, it would just take advantage of it.
Almost all Hollywood's best-selling movies will trigger various large and small interest disputes. Even in the original "Run Lola Run", the media once rumored that Simon and Janet turned against each other because of uneven distribution of interests.
The most helpless thing is that any project that Daenerys Entertainment is interested in now will become the focus of the entire Hollywood.
Although Simon had the foresight to accumulate a large number of copyrights, it was ultimately unable to meet Daenerys' entertainment needs. It was also impossible for the company to put all the copyrights that were expected to sell well on the development schedule, which required other projects to fill the content. shortage.
"Al, I know what you are thinking. Now that "Driving Miss Daisy" has been chosen by Daenerys Entertainment, with the current trend in Hollywood, other film companies will definitely offer higher prices to compete. But you can Are they sure they can do it well? If they mess up, you'll get nothing but a slightly higher royalty fee. But leave it to Daenerys Entertainment, and if it succeeds, not only will you get With both fame and fortune, you will become the top screenwriter in Hollywood, and all your future scripts will become the targets of Hollywood competition. This is the most important thing."
New York, inside a café on Broadway.
Ella Deutschman talked to the balding middle-aged man in his fifties across from him. After saying this, he took out a business card and handed it over, saying: "It has the contact information of the hotel where I am staying. Al, if you'd like to give us the script, give me a call tonight. After today, all I can say is sorry."
The middle-aged man opposite Ella Deutschman is named Alfred Urie. He is a screenwriter, but he mainly creates stage plays on Broadway. A stage play written by Urie two years ago, "Driving Miss Daisy," won critical acclaim on Broadway and won last year's Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Playing with the business card in his hand, Alfred Urie looked shrewdly at Deutschmann, who had already stood up. Without getting up together, he said with a hint of determination in his tone: "Ella, if I don't fight this Phone, are you really going to give up on Driving Miss Daisy? I think it's probably going to be another Steel Magnolias."
Ella Deutschman just smiled and said: "Uri, you are the third screenwriter I have met with today. I have seven more people to meet next. You may all feel that the script in your hands is the next one." "Steel Magnolias," but unfortunately, there is only one "Steel Magnolias."
"Okay, Ella," Alfred Urie said in a relaxed tone, "Why don't you sit down and talk some more? Since you want "Driving Miss Daisy," you have to introduce yourself to me. How do you plan to adapt this movie? Besides, don’t you think the $100,000 offer is a little too insincere for the rights to adapt a stage play that won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama?”
Ella Deutschman did not sit down and explained: "Al, as I just said, the $100,000 is just an advance payment. In the next three years, Daenerys Entertainment will pay you again if it invests in making this movie. For $200,000, you will also have the right to authorize the screenwriter and the subsequent share of the "Basic Agreement". After three years, if Daenerys Entertainment fails to produce the film, you can choose to redeem the copyright."
Alfred Urie still did not give up trying to find out more information, saying: "So, you don't plan to make this movie in the short term. In this case, I need to think about it carefully."
Ella Deutschman didn't say anything more, and directly stretched out her hand to Alfred Urie and said: "If you are willing to sign, Al, we can spend a day talking about everything in detail."
After finally shaking hands with Alfred Urie, Ella Deutschman left the cafe without any regrets.
These days, in order to cope with the blockage from Hollywood, Daenerys Entertainment has begun to use this 'ultimatum' strategy in script negotiations that does not give the copyright owners too much time to think about it. Once they give up, they will never look back. There will be no bidding war with the Big Seven.
In addition, Daenerys Entertainment takes action very frequently, making it difficult for competitors to see the situation clearly, which also resolves the containment situation faced by the company to a large extent.
Of course, this strategy also has obvious disadvantages. For those screenwriters who have become famous, this strategy does not have much effect. Those who are willing to compromise are basically screenwriters who are eager for opportunities but have not yet made their mark, and the company's recent targets are mainly these people.
Speaking of which, Ella Deutschman didn't know what was special about "Driving Miss Daisy", let alone that this movie was the best picture at the 62nd Oscars in 1990 in its original time and space.
After the stage show "Steel Magnolias" was a hit at the box office during the year-end period that just passed, Hollywood began to turn more attention to Broadway stage plays. After Ella Deutschman communicated with Simon, she decided to start from the budget she could use. A sum of money was set aside specifically to purchase the rights to adapt literary and artistic stage plays suitable for the development of Gaomen Pictures.
As the winner of last year's Pulitzer Prize for Drama, "Driving Miss Daisy" naturally became the target of Ella Deutschman's attention.
Simon, who was far away in Melbourne, saw the name "Driving Miss Daisy" from Deutschman's list, but did not give Ella Deutschman any special reminder.
Simon also knows the current situation facing Daenerys Entertainment.
The company's response strategy has been very effective, and he doesn't plan to make an exception with this movie.
The history of Hollywood has changed a lot. If "Driving Miss Daisy" falls into the hands of others, it is uncertain whether it will achieve the same success as it did in the original time and space. And, if only the rights holder had a little foresight, he would know that it would be in his better interest to partner with Daenerys Entertainment. If you are a short-sighted person, then it is okay not to cooperate.
After her meeting with Alfred Urie, Ella Deutschman hurried off to other meetings.
After a busy day, Ella Deutschman returned to the hotel where he was staying in Midtown in the evening. The lobby manager had already reminded him that there were several phone calls. Three of the five screenwriters who had met today called and expressed their agreement to sell the copyright, including Alfred Urie of "Driving Miss Daisy."
After returning to the room and answering phone calls from several screenwriters one by one, Ella Deutschman made a call to Ireland on the other side of the ocean to routinely inquire about the filming progress of "My Left Foot."
This is the result of Deutschman's last flight to England.
"My Left Foot" is a biopic starring Daniel Day-Lewis, telling the story of a disabled man who was paralyzed by polio and became an artist by relying on his only moving left foot.
In the original time and space, "My Left Foot" was another Miramax remake besides "Sex, Lies and Videotape", and was nominated for Best Picture at the 1990 Oscars.
Now, neither of those productions are available to Miramax.
Although I failed to get "Sex, Lies and Videotape", because I collaborated with Daniel Day-Lewis on "Room with a View" when I was running New Pictures, Ella Deutschman's last British film The trip went smoothly and I got the movie.
However, when I discovered this movie, Jim Sheridan, the director of "My Left Foot", had already completed the preliminary preparations and was about to start shooting.
Because Simon was very fond of this project, Ella Deutschman spent a total of 1.8 million US dollars to buy out the copyrights of the three original investors. This price is already high, because the production cost of "My Left Foot" was only 600,000 pounds, which translates to less than 1 million US dollars.
The original three investors also wanted to wait for the price, but Ella Deutschman decisively used the 'ultimatum' and successfully made the three companies compromise.
After all, the news in the UK is not as well-informed as in Hollywood. It is a film that almost everyone is not optimistic about, and the filming has not officially started yet, so the final effect of the film is unpredictable. You can make double the profit with a backhand, but several independent small film producers are not too insistent.
It was the 'ultimatum' effect seen on My Left Foot that Daenerys Entertainment has adopted this tactic in recent times.