Simon rested for less than five hours and got up early at eight o'clock the next day.
In order to save time, he does not plan to drive back himself this time. The crew will hire a driver to take the SUV back to Los Angeles. After simply having breakfast and saying goodbye to everyone, Edward Feldman, the producer of "Night of the Dead", drove him to the Phoenix Municipal Airport.
Due to the time difference, it was only nine o'clock in the morning when we arrived in Los Angeles.
Los Angeles International Airport.
Simon got off the plane, walked all the way to the pick-up hall, and looked around.
He called Janet last night to pick him up, but unexpectedly it was Jonathan's assistant Owen Wright who showed up at this time. Owen Wright also quickly spotted Simon and walked over in a hurry. Without even saying hello, he handed him a pair of sunglasses and said, "Simon, you'd better wear these."
There were not many people in the pick-up hall at this time. Before Owen Wright could continue to remind him, Simon had already seen seven or eight guys holding cameras running towards this direction. Some even impatiently raised their cameras and pressed the button. When I pressed the shutter, a series of flash lights suddenly lit up around me.
Following the movement here, many pairs of eyes in the hall were cast towards him at the same time.
Although it was the first time in his life that he encountered such a situation, Simon did not panic. He put on his sunglasses, lifted up the suitcase that was originally pulled behind him, and hurriedly walked out of the hall with Owen Wright.
The paparazzi saw Simon and Owen quickening their pace to leave, and ran after them again. They surrounded them tightly from front to back, from left to right, and continued to take pictures while asking questions.
"Simon, can you stop and say a few words?" "Simon, "Run Lola Run" won the box office championship last weekend. Tell me your thoughts." "Simon, I heard that you are looking for a partner for your new script. , offering a 10% share of the North American box office, do you think this is possible?" "Simon..."
Buzz buzz, buzz buzz.
Amid the messy questions, Simon just lowered his head slightly in silence, and together with Owen Wright, squeezed the gap between the paparazzi and slowly moved out, without daring to use too much force. He heard Stallone being touched by the paparazzi in Arizona. News about China, I didn’t want to encounter such a mess as soon as I returned to Los Angeles.
Arriving at the parking lot with some difficulty, the two got in the car. It was not until they entered the highway around the airport that Simon relaxed a little, but soon discovered that the group of paparazzi just now were all following Owen Wright's car. .
Owen, who was in the front driver's seat, raised his head and glanced at the rearview mirror, and said with a smile: "Simon, how does it feel to be famous?"
Simon said honestly: "I kind of want to hit someone."
"Oh, you will get used to it in the future. The number of people like this is actually very small. Your sudden return should have been temporarily contacted by the reporter from Arizona," Owen stepped on the accelerator, increased the speed of the car, and then continued: "Ms. Johnston originally planned to pick you up, but when she was about to go out, she found that her door was surrounded. She had to call Joe, and then I came."
When Simon heard this, he immediately asked with concern: "What's going on?"
Irving made a calming gesture towards Simon, who was leaning over from the back row, and said, "Didn't you tell reporters last night that you have a girlfriend?"
Simon said in surprise: "I didn't say Jenny's name, and why did even you know it so quickly?"
"There are thousands of newspapers in the entire federation. If they are not happy, how can they have sales? However, don't worry, those paparazzi basically abide by the rules. As long as Miss Johnston does not go out, there will be no problem. I will talk about this matter in a few days. The news about her was almost hyped, and the paparazzi blocking her door have dispersed." Owen explained, and then asked: "Simon, where are you going to go now? I suggest you don't go to Johnston. Miss, that will only bring more paparazzi over."
Simon thought for a while, since Jenny was stuck at home, there must be someone squatting outside his villa in Montana.
After thinking for a moment, Simon made a decision and said, "Let's go to the WMA headquarters. It just so happens that I also have something to talk to Joe about."
Owen nodded and said: "Qiao actually wants to talk to you as soon as possible. In the month since you left, especially in the past two weeks, there have been many people seeking cooperation, interviews, and information, but they can't find them. You can only contact us, Qiao is almost driven crazy, and even I have to block dozens of calls about you every day."
Although he had clearly felt the changes around him in Arizona, Simon still smiled when he heard what Irving said: "It's not that exaggerated, right?"
Owen looked at Simon through the rearview mirror again, and then said: "It seems that you are not clear about your current situation. Simon, "Lola Run" is very hopeful to win the North American box office championship this year. Think about it Tom Cruise was so popular last year after Top Gun was a box office hit. Now, so are you."
Simon noticed a paparazzi on a motorcycle outside the car window, who was using a camera with one hand to take pictures in vain against the car window glass with difficulty. He nodded, stopped talking, and started to think about the next things again.
More than 20 minutes later, Owen parked his car in the parking lot in front of the WMA headquarters, and the two hurriedly entered the WMA headquarters building before the paparazzi surrounded them again.
It was a busy time just after work, and there were a lot of people coming and going in the WMA headquarters building.
When they noticed Owen Wright walking in with a young man, most people were confused at first. As some people who recognized Simon eagerly came forward to say hello, everyone quickly realized Simon's identity and nodded. Say hello, or take the initiative to talk.
Arriving outside Jonathan Friedman's office in such a lively manner, his agent had already greeted him.
"Simon, you are finally back."
After saying hello, Jonathan stepped forward and hugged Simon. After letting go, he patted him on the shoulder, and then led him into his office with the envious eyes of other WMA employees and customers around him.
Entering the office, Jonathan motioned for Simon to sit down on the sofa in the reception area, but he turned behind the desk and took out a thick stack of folders from the filing cabinet.
Simon watched the agent busy, but did not go to the reception area. He came to his desk and pointed to the landline on the table, and said: "Qiao, I want to call Jenny first."
"Of course," Jonathan nodded understandingly, put the stack of folders on his desk, pressed them casually, and said, "You go ahead and type. I happened to be going out for a while. The mailroom just said that there is a document that I need. Sign for it in person."
Simon smiled as he watched the agent leave the office, then picked up the phone and dialed Janet's number.
After being together for so long, Simon also found that Janet was a person who hated answering the phone. The person on the phone beeped for a while before someone picked up the phone and hummed lazily.
Simon smiled and said, "Jenny, it's me."
Hearing Simon's voice, Janet on the other side of the phone became energetic, but immediately began to blame Simon for attracting a lot of paparazzi to her.
After chatting for a while, under the woman's obsession, although he knew that rushing to Malibu would definitely attract more paparazzi, Simon finally promised Janet to rush there as soon as possible after he and Jonathan finished talking about the matter.
After hanging up the phone, Jonathan, who had obviously been waiting outside for a while, opened the door and walked in.
The two of them came to the reception area and sat down together, and Owen Wright brought in two more cups of coffee. After Owen left, Jonathan introduced the stack of folders he just handed to Simon one by one and said: "Simon, these are some documents and memos related to you in recent weeks, from the media and the studio. From other filmmakers, I’ve told you some on the phone. But you’d better see it in person.”
Simon nodded in response, and even opened a folder and glanced at it a few times.
Jonathan waited for Simon to flip through a few pages of the document, then handed over two more scripts and said, "Also, the screenwriter you asked me to inquire about, Nora Ephron, happens to have two scripts to her name. There’s a crime comedy called “The Daughter of Hell”, which I think is pretty good, but it’s been bought by Warner Bros. There’s another romantic comedy called “When Harry Met Sally,” which has a very special plot. The structure, however, may have been too deviant from the mainstream, and no studio has taken to the story yet.”
Simon took the two scripts and flipped through them casually, still smiling.
Jonathan looked at Simon's expression, then handed over the last folder and said: "Finally, regarding "Death Is Coming", after you asked me to release the news, in recent days, Warner, MGM, Columbia and Second-tier companies such as Canon and New Line have inquired about this matter from me. Although they have not given a definite reply, the heads of these companies have expressed their hope to talk to you in person."
Simon took the last folder and opened it. It was Jonathan's assessment of the possibility of cooperation between Warner and other companies on the "Death Is Coming" project.
After a brief glance, Simon also placed the document in front of him, then looked at Jonathan and said: "Qiao, I think we should talk about the new contract first."
Simon originally signed a simple script agency contract with Jonathan, with a term of three years.
But now, Simon is rapidly rising in Hollywood with "Run Lola Run". If the two want to continue to cooperate, the original contract will definitely no longer be suitable.
At this time, Jonathan piled this large stack of script documents and memos in front of Simon, which not only showed that he had invested enough energy in him, but also reminded Simon that the two of them needed to renegotiate the contract.
Therefore, when Jonathan heard Simon take the initiative to speak, he just smiled and nodded, waiting for him to continue.
Simon is not a stingy person, and naturally he will not let Jonathan take the script agent's commission to do the work of a full agent. However, considering his development plan in the next few years, Simon will no longer be able to sign a share contract with Jonathan.
After reorganizing his thoughts, Simon said: "Qiao, I thought about it before I came back. Next, I hope we can sign a fixed salary contract for three years and US$500,000. What do you think?"
When Jonathan heard Simon's conditions, some disappointment suddenly flashed in his eyes, but he didn't speak for a while.
Simon noticed the change in Jonathan's expression, and realized that there was ambiguity in what he just said, and quickly explained: "You misunderstood, Joe, it is US$500,000 per year, not US$500,000 in three years."
Jonathan has some idea of what Simon is about to gain from "Run Lola Run".
Judging from some details he knows, Simon's personal income from the distribution of "Lola Run" through various channels will definitely not be less than 20 million US dollars. With such a huge sum of money, it is understandable that he is unwilling to sign an agency agreement with himself.
However, at first, it was thought that Simon would only give him a fixed salary of US$500,000 for three years. Although this offer was not strictly speaking too low, if Simon persisted, in order to maintain cooperation with the boy in front of him and gain opportunities for his other clients, Jonathan would agree to come down, but his disappointment in Simon would certainly be inevitable.
Now, with $500,000 per year, Jonathan Friedman suddenly no longer had any dissatisfaction.
In this era, only a handful of first-tier superstars can earn a salary of US$5 million, and these people often only accept a starring film in one or two years. Therefore, on average, the commission they bring to agents every year must be less than $500,000.
Simon's asking price puts him directly in the position of a first-line superstar who earns an average of one fully paid film per year. Although he had a premonition that this young man's future annual income would definitely be more than this, as an agent, Jonathan also knew that he could not ask for more.
With a smile on his face, Jonathan readily reached out to Simon and said, "Then, happy cooperation."
Simon also extended his hand to the agent and said, "It's a pleasure to work with you."
There was no rush to replace the contract, and Jonathan immediately began to explain the series of documents to Simon in detail. However, after talking for less than half an hour, the phone on Jonathan's desk rang.
After making a wait gesture to Simon, Jonathan walked over to pick up the phone and chatted with the other party for a few words. Then he covered the phone and quickly whispered "Goldberg" to Simon before continuing to talk to the other party.
Simon did not get up, but quietly listened to the conversation between Jonathan and Fox Film President Ronald Goldberg.
After a while, Jonathan hung up the phone and said to Simon, who had already roughly understood the situation: "Goldberg wants to invite you to have a meal with you at noon. And, judging from what he just said, Fox should have agreed to your terms."
Jonathan said this, with some disbelief clearly on his expression.
10% of North American box office revenue and 5% of video sales.
It’s incredible that Fox agreed to the harsh conditions that even Spielberg would not have rashly put forward.
Although he tried his best to communicate with the film company for Simon, Jonathan originally just thought that after some bargaining, it would be very rare for Simon to finally get half of the conditions he proposed.