A Chevrolet stopped in the parking lot of the Firefly headquarters. Jim Carrey got out of the car from the co-pilot, looked at his outfit again against the window, and made a few quick facial expressions to make himself look more energetic . After the manager Carl Mexon on the opposite side also came down, the two walked towards the office building not far away.
After notifying the receptionist of their names, the two walked into the elevator together.
Standing side by side in the ascending elevator, Jim Carrey clasped his hands in front of him, stepped on his feet, glanced at the manager beside him and said, "It's... unbelievable."
Carl Mexon also looked expectant: "Yeah, that's Eric Williams. I thought it was a scam call at first."
When they reached the top floor, the elevator door opened, and Jim Carrey and Carl Mexon saw a man in his thirties standing outside the elevator.
"Hello, Mr. Carey, Mr. Mexon, I am Williams' assistant, Alan Fissman."
Seeing that the other party reached out to him first, Jim Carrey stepped forward quickly: "Hi, I'm Jim Carrey."
"Of course," Allen felt Jim Carrey's embarrassment, and smiled, "I've seen your performance material, Mr. Carrey."
After shaking hands with Carl Maykerson again, Allen said, "Please come with me. Mr. Williams is meeting with guests. It will take a while, so you can take a look at the contract first."
Hearing the words of the contract, both Jim Carrey and Carl Mexon showed a little excitement. They came to a reception room, and Alan handed the printed contract to the two of them. Said: "You can take a look first. I still have some things to do. I will call you when Mr. Williams finishes his work."
After sending Alan off, Jim Carrey and Carl Mexon quickly opened the contract folder.
After reading a few pages hastily, Carl Mexon looked up worriedly and said, "Jin, this is an option contract."
Jim Carrey just nodded slightly, still carefully reading the contract in his hand. Noticing that Jim Carrey didn't have much reaction, Carl Merkerson also continued reading.
After Carl Merksen finished reading it, he didn't know what to say.
The contract in hand is neither harsh nor demanding. The harsh part is that this contract requires that Jim Carrey can only shoot films for one film company within the next five years. This condition is very similar to the contract of stars in the era of big studios decades ago. But the difference is that the contract does not stipulate that Jim Carrey should be like in the era of big studios, no matter how famous an actor is, he can only get a dead salary. He can negotiate with the film company based on the box office data of the movies he starred in. . And within five years, if Jim Carrey wants to break the contract, he needs to pay up to 100 million US dollars in liquidated damages.
One hundred million dollars!
Carl Mexon glanced at the guy beside him. He never thought that the actor he represented was worth 100 million dollars.
Jim Carrey read the contract. He raised his head to look at the agent and asked, "Carl. Didn't you say you want to cooperate with Firefly? Why does the contract show that I want to sign with TG Films?"
Although Carl Mexon is only an inconspicuous little broker at the bottom of the William Morris Brokerage Company, he is much more informed than Kim Carrey next to him. He cautiously glanced at the closed door of the reception room , Carl Merkerson said in a low voice: "The founders of TG Films, Elizabeth Murdoch, Drew Barrymore, and Julia Roberts are all inextricably linked to Eric Williams Contact, there are even rumors that they are all women of Williams. The recent Oscar hit thriller "The Silence of the Lambs" was produced by these three women with the support of Williams, so there is nothing wrong with signing with TG and signing with Firefly Big difference."
Jim Carrey envied Eric's beauty, and said, "Then what do you think of this contract?"
Carl Merkerson could see that Jim Carrey was already moved. For an actor like Jim Carrey who could barely squeeze into the ranks of third-tier artists, being able to cooperate with Eric Williams, who is very popular in Hollywood, is a big deal for many of his peers. For an actor of the same level, it is simply a good thing that they dare not even dream of.
"Jin, almost all of the provisions of this contract are restrictions on you personally, and there is even a liquidated damages of up to 100 million U.S. dollars, and there is no clause on how many films will be arranged for you within five years. Once you Conflict with tg, because of the limit of huge liquidated damages, they can even freeze you."
Jim Carrey said: "How could I have a conflict with TG?"
"Actors who star in Williams' films will skyrocket in value. If you finish a film and your salary rises to 5 million US dollars, tg is only willing to offer you 1 million in salary. Do you think you will talk to them?" conflict?"
Jim Carrey said with a smile: "Carl, I only received 50,000 US dollars in the horror movie six years ago. Last year, I starred in a TV series, and it was only 2,000 US dollars per episode. It's not a bad thing, if I miss this opportunity, I don't know if I will ever get a million dollars in my life."
Carl Mexon shook his head lightly. He knew Jim Carrey's character very well. Because he had experienced a long and difficult life at the bottom when he was a teenager, Jim Carrey attached great importance to money. Now, although he looks like he’s fine even if he suffers a little bit, once his net worth really rises to 5 million dollars, he can only get 1 million dollars in salary. Strange.
However, Carl Mexon did not say these words in his heart. No one would like others to say that he is greedy for money. Once a cooperation with Eric Williams is reached, Kim Carrey's salary cut is likely to become his main income.
"Jin, you have to think about it. Although I really want to help you fight with Eric Williams, you should understand that in our capacity, there is no room for bargaining with him. We don't even have Know what movie you're about to do with Eric Williams."
While the two were discussing in the reception room, in the office not far away, Eric was discussing "Saving Private Ryan" with Catherine Bigelow who had rushed back from New York.
During the search for materials during World War II in New York. Catherine became very interested in this period of history. The prototype characters of "Saving Private Ryan" were even found in a large amount of World War II historical materials. This surprised Eric a little, because he didn't even know that there was a prototype for this story.
Eric intends to release "Saving Private Ryan" on the 50th anniversary of the Normandy landings in 1994. Catherine's plan is to spend a year conducting detailed data research and on-site surveys. The preliminary preparations will start next year, and the official shooting will begin in the summer of 1993. This is similar to Catherine's work rhythm in Eric's memory, and a movie is produced every three years or so.
Moreover, the production time of a war epic movie like "Saving Private Ryan" is not too long. The complicated preliminary preparations cannot be completed in a few months. Recreating the Normandy landing scene, constructing the ruins of the blockade at the end of the movie, and the countless World War II military props in the movie all require a lot of time to prepare. What's more, Catherine planned to handle all the work by herself.
After discussing some specific production details, Catherine raised her head from a pile of materials with a pen in her hand, and said to Eric: "As for the candidate for Captain Miller, I plan to..."
"Tom Hanks, I have already contacted Tom. He said that he will make room for this movie."
Catherine paused and asked, "Tom Hanks. That nagging single dad in "Sleepless in Seattle"?"
"Yeah, I didn't expect you to have seen this movie, how do you feel?"
"It feels like it was made by a woman," Catherine says bluntly, before realizing she's a woman too, adding: "I mean... well, it's a movie that's so nuanced that it doesn't look like a young man like you. A script that can be written."
Eric was calm on the surface, but in his heart he marveled at the woman's keen intuition. The original version of "Sleepless in Seattle" was the work of the female director Nora Ephron. However, Eric was still quite thick-skinned. He leaned on the desk and approached some women opposite him, and said, "You know, I'm a genius, and I can't be judged by common sense."
Catherine leaned back slightly, rolled her eyes at Eric, and said, "But you promised not to interfere in this movie. And Tom Hanks is a comedian."
"Tom's acting is very broad. He just plays more comedies. You can take the time to invite him to an audition. I guarantee that Tom's performance will surprise you. If you are not satisfied with Tom's performance after the audition, then you can still find yourself. The candidate you want," Eric said here, showing a sly smile: "But I think with your professionalism, you will definitely not deliberately deny Tom just to get angry with me, right?"
"Okay, I'll get in touch with Mr. Hanks."
Catherine stood up as she spoke, packed the materials in front of her and put them in a satchel. She glanced at Elizabeth who had been sitting in the corner and looked down at the magazine. She only greeted Elizabeth when she came, and Catherine felt keenly Elizabeth was hostile to herself, which made her feel a little funny, how could she rob this little bastard from her: "You must have other things to do next, then I will leave first."
Eric also stood up: "I'll take you out."
After sending Catherine away, Eric returned to the office. Elizabeth had already occupied his executive chair, and looked at him with her chin propped up: "I didn't expect you to like this kind of woman?"
Eric picked Elizabeth up and threw it aside, sat down by himself, and said, "What kind of woman?"
Elizabeth reached out and gestured on Eric's head, teasing: "As long as she wears high heels, she will be taller than you."
Eric has grown to 185 centimeters in the past two years, and said with a smile: "As long as she doesn't wear high heels, she will be lower than me. Besides, women will always be lower than men in bed."
Elizabeth spat with a flushed face, remembering the absurdity of last night, so she had to change the subject: "Do you think Jim Carrey will accept that contract?"
"As long as he is in his right mind, he will definitely accept it."
Elizabeth found out the contract drafted by Eric, sat down in Catherine's original seat, and said, "But I think this contract is very strange. These terms you made are all to suppress his salary in the future, so why? Wouldn't it be easier not to just sign him for a few movies at a low price. He's just a nobody now, and he'll definitely accept it."
"That will only make the trouble worse. If his salary increases by 1 million, and our contract only gives him 100,000 US dollars, do you think he will honestly make a movie for you?"
"Why not? Anyway, there is a contract, and the worst case is a lawsuit."
"Even if he compromises and makes you a movie at a low price, you can't prevent him from being passive and sabotaging the movie on purpose. Moreover, once the contract is understood, the two parties will turn against each other, and there will be no possibility of cooperation anymore. .”
Elizabeth shook the contract in her hand: "But I think your contract is likely to mess up the relationship between the two parties, right?"
"We will pay him according to his worth. The liquidated damages of 100 million US dollars is only to prevent him from deliberately asking too outrageous prices. I have asked this person to investigate. If there is no restraint, he will definitely open his mouth. Moreover, after five years of cooperation, I don’t think there is any need to cooperate anymore. At that time, his worth must have exceeded 10 million US dollars, and he may even participate in the share of the film. gone."
"Well, you are always very reasonable," although Elizabeth agreed with Eric's point of view in her heart, she was still not convinced on the surface.
Eric just smiled, picked up the microphone on the table and informed Allen to let Jim Carrey and Carl Mexon come in.
After a while, there was a knock on the office door, and the two pushed the door open and walked into the office. They saw another woman here. Although they had heard of Elizabeth, neither of them had seen what the girl looked like. He looked at Elizabeth curiously.
Eric didn't pretend to be a gesture, he got up gently to greet the two, and introduced Elizabeth, and the four sat down on the sofa in the corner of the office.
"So, Mr. Carey, and Mr. Mexon, right? Have you considered it?"
The two looked at each other. Although he knew that there was little hope, Carl Mexon still mustered up his courage and said, "Mr. Williams, isn't this contract too harsh?"
"Harsh, what do you mean?"
Carl Mexon said: "For example, there is a five-year time limit, and there is also a liquidated damages of 100 million U.S. dollars."
"As long as you don't plan to breach the contract, it doesn't seem like a big deal, does it?" Eric collected his expression, looked at the two people opposite, and the corners of his mouth became half-smiles: "Could it be that the contract has not been signed yet, and you have already signed the contract?" Have you considered breaking the contract?" (To be continued...)