American Fame and Fortune Chapter 577

Chapter 577 The knife is hidden behind the sweet words

Having not experienced the baptism of the six major companies' account books, how can you think that Martin and Louise are reliable?

Wu Maoting only discovered the goodness of his original collaborator after he stumbled with Warner Pictures.

At this time, Martin was talking about all the risks and emphasized that the profit prospects of the project were unclear. On the contrary, Wu Maoting increasingly believed that Martin was sincere and trustworthy.

Martin added: "It's a romantic comedy project. I haven't seen the script yet, but the producer is very reliable. I'll contact you after I see the script."

 “No problem.” Wu Maoting left his contact information in Los Angeles and said goodbye at the right time.

 Martin sent him to the studio foyer.

Before leaving, Wu Maoting shook hands with Martin and said, "I'm waiting for your good news."

 Martin responded.

These people went out to leave. Before Martin went upstairs, Louise came in from outside.

 She pointed to the back: "It seems to be the Burmese investor?"

Martin said directly: "He invested in "Terminator 2018" and was cheated by Warner Pictures' accounting."

Louise understood immediately when she heard it: "Are you going to eat your straw?"

"Gavin Newsom's wife, Jennifer Siebel, who was harmed by Harvey, has a romance film project in her hands." Martin briefly talked about what happened at yesterday's party: "She has never given up on Hollywood. To get me to invest, I originally wanted to take a cut of "Lone Survivor", but he just came over."

Louise said: "Whether the project succeeds or fails, we can earn management fees and commissions from it. The Newsoms are still worth investing in. I heard from my father that Gavin may participate in the governorship after his term as mayor of San Francisco ends." Of course, he is partnering with someone else, and if he succeeds, he will become the lieutenant governor.”

 Martin laughed: "It feels good to use other people's money as a favor."

 Louis looked at her watch and said, "It's almost time. Shall we go to Warner?"

 The two of them went out together, instead of taking a car, they walked across the street, diagonally across from the Warner Building.

 Today's meeting was attended by many participants, involving many subsidiaries and cooperative companies of Warner Bros.

When he went upstairs, Martin met Didi Gardner from Plan B. Because of Aniston, the two chatted for a while in the elevator.

When I got out of the elevator, I also saw Robert Reiner of Castle Rock. Since the 1990s, all the films produced by this company have been distributed by Warner Brothers.

 A group of people came to the conference center and sat at the long conference table.

Soon, more than twenty people were sitting here, many of whom were communicating privately and discussing what Warner's new management planned to do.

Didi Gardner said to Martin: "I heard that the new one plans to increase the online and offline commission ratio for film distribution."

Martin is not surprised by this: "Distribution companies are in the upper reaches of the industry chain. North American distribution is okay, but only the six major Hollywood companies can do global distribution."

 Louise said: "It's better to keep things as they are."

Not long after, Kevin Tsujihara, accompanied by Daniel and two other Warner executives, entered the conference center.

 The meeting begins.

Kevin Tsujihara got straight to the point: “Today I invite all Warner partners to come over, mainly to discuss the next step of cooperation, so that we can still work closely together for mutual benefit and win-win results in the future.”

 Martin and Louise sat relatively far back, quietly waiting for the next words.

Kevin Tsujihara's words are still very polite: "Over the past five years, with our close cooperation and joint efforts, Warner Bros.'s performance has always ranked first in Hollywood. I hope that we can still maintain our lead over other companies in the future!"

 There was applause at the scene.

"But since the 2008 economic crisis, Warner Bros.'s profits have declined and global industry channels have narrowed." The turning point came unexpectedly, and Kevin Tsujihara began to emphasize the difficulties: "Warner has also faced huge difficulties and tests, and we have been persisting. "In the past two years, Warner has resisted the damage and negative impact of the economic crisis on its own, avoiding the impact on various downstream partners, and has achieved today's situation where Warner bears the pressure and shares the benefits with its partners."

ˆKevin Tsujihara's scene was very well-spoken.

 Martin and Louise looked at each other, knowing that knives are often hidden behind sweet words.

Kevin Tsujihara said: "Warner Bros. has endured this situation alone for two years, and it is no longer able to bear it under the huge pressure. The normal development of industry cooperation requires all of us to work together to maintain it. We share profits and risks. Only then can we It is a healthy and stable long-term cooperation.”

 An executive from New Line Cinema said: “I couldn't agree more.”

Someone from Legendary Pictures next to him answered: "Without Warner's strong distribution capabilities and distribution channels, we would not be successful. Since we enjoy the profits brought by Warner, we naturally have to bear risks with Warner."

Kevin Tsujihara pressed his hand down: "The main risk is still borne by Warner Bros. You just need to follow Warner."

He will not be the bad guy at the forefront and said: "I have other work to deal with. The meeting will be chaired by your old friend Daniel."

 Daniel stood up and nodded to the old friends on both sides of the conference table. Kevin Tsujihara left the meeting room.

Daniel turned to the main table and said: "Everyone, I believe you all know that the distribution fees in Hollywood have become higher and higher in recent years, and the distribution commissions between Warner and its partners have never changed..."

 Facing these partners, he is also a little embarrassed, but the strategy formulated by Kevin Tsujihara will not change and must be implemented.

 Warner Bros.'s film business now ranks first in the industry both online and offline. It is not unreasonable for Kevin Tsujihara to use Warner's vast distribution channels around the world as capital to increase the distribution commission ratio.

Daniel agreed in his heart and said directly: "From now on, for films that sign a distribution contract, the commission for North American distribution will be increased by 2%, the commission for overseas distribution will be increased by 3%, and the commission for all offline channels will be increased by 5%!"

"Can!"

 “I think that's fair!”

ˆThose who actively voiced their approval were companies controlled by Warner such as New Line and Legendary Pictures.

 Including Martin and Louise, others remained silent for the time being.

Robert Reiner of Castle Rock suddenly said: "I agree. Without Warner's distribution channels, our film would not have such high profits."

 That is indeed true. Issuing companies occupy the upper reaches of the industry chain and rely on direct access to the global market.

 But with such huge interests involved, who is willing to give in easily?

People who were not from Warner Holdings all looked at Robert Reiner's face, wondering why the traitor appeared so quickly.

Daniel said with a smile: "Everyone, our cooperation will be more successful."

　No one spoke for the time being, and the conference room fell into silence for a while.

Martin glanced at Robert Reiner again. He could actually understand why an established company like Castle Rock made such a choice.

Castle Rock has cooperated with Warner Bros. for many years, and its offline channels for its films are highly dependent on Warner. It can even be said that the profits of the offline channels of its film library are closely tied to Warner. If it falls out with Warner Bros., it is not impossible, but it will sink. The cost is somewhat high.

It can be said that the longer a company has cooperated with Warner Bros., the more difficult it will be to break away from its dependence on Warner Bros.

  newly established companies are relatively better off.

The meeting ended, and when Martin was about to leave, Daniel stopped him: "If you have time, would you like to chat alone?"

 Martin is no different from before: "If you have something to do, I will definitely have time."

 The two went to the reception room on the other side.

Daniel said: "I want to apologize to you about the three old films in Warner's library."

 Martin waved his hand and said: "It doesn't matter. It was originally an intention. The initiative has always been in the hands of Warner Pictures."

Daniel further explained: "I said hello to the people at Warner Pictures at the time. I didn't expect that after Warner Pictures changed its helmsman, there were many changes in the management, which caused the situation to develop in a direction that I did not expect."

He acted very helpless, blaming everything on others: "The people at Warner Bros. Pictures are too unscrupulous in their work. They clearly promised me, but they turned around and pushed three films into the project approval process. Exodus was also reviewed. Project green light from committee.”

Martin didn't believe a word of these words, but he didn't show it at all. He sighed: "If you lose it, just lose it. Although I think the market prospects are very good, it is also difficult for me to raise funds for large-scale productions, but... "

 He ​​said he didn't care, but his face was full of regret: "Originally, I thought that when the film becomes a success, I will give you a separate agency fee and consultant fee."

Daniel was stunned for a moment, thinking to himself, why didn't you say it earlier? I reflected the situation even when I was riding a horse! If you tell me earlier, I will leave one for you no matter what!

Martin added: "I'm still looking at other old movies, hoping to find another project suitable for remake. Then we will do it quietly and not alert the bad guys with bad intentions."

Daniel responded quickly: "Okay, if you are interested in other projects, remember to find me, and the two of us will plan them separately."

"By the way, what's going on with Exodus?" Martin looked particularly concerned: "I heard that the project has made great progress?"

Seeing this, Daniel naturally thought that Martin was unwilling, and briefly introduced: "The project is officially named "Pharaoh and the Gods". The production budget may exceed US$150 million. It will be adapted from biblical records and will involve magical elements. Warner The studio has basically reached an agreement with Christian Bale, who will film this film after finishing filming Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises, and it is expected to be released in 2012. "

 Martin asked: “Where is the director?”

Daniel said: "Still talking with Ridley Scott, it's not a big problem."

Martin remembers that "Robin Hood" shot by Lao Lei will be released at the beginning of this summer. If there is another epic film, Lao Lei should be able to withstand it with his super thick health bar.

Having said that, according to the law of past life memory, the harder Lao Lei stumbles in epic films, the stronger the recovery will be when he returns to science fiction films!

 The novel "The Martian" has not yet been completed and is still being finalized. It would be okay for Martin to wait for Ridley Scott for a while.

 (End of this chapter)

Chapter end