I'm in Hollywood Chapter 173: A Trivial Matter

Eric pushed the door open and walked into the living room. Hearing the sound, Drew immediately jumped up from the sofa and embraced Eric full of excitement. She was smiling sweetly but then snuffled and turned unhappy after sensing that Eric was trying to dodge. Drew pretended to dislike Eric’s reaction and drew a breath near his left cheek. Then she used her sleeves to rub against his face before kissing it.

Eric found the little girl’s act both funny and annoying. Stepping forward, he got rid of the cuddle and put Drew onto the sofa. Then he sat down by her side and asked: “Okay. Why did you hurry to see me?” Eric noticed the striking black file on the tea table and opened it. It turned out to be a copyright transfer contract.

“Haha, you have quickly secured the copyright on An Affair to Remember. I thought that I would have to wait until the summer vacation ended.”

Drew smilingly leaned against Eric and put her jaw on his shoulders：“This is Hollywood. As long as you have money, things will become much easier.”

“How much did you spend?” Eric took the metal clipper away from the file and asked casually.

“3.5 million,” the little girl said the price unconfidently and promptly explained：“But it is all-inclusive and permanent copyright. We own the copyright on even the original soundtracks in the movie. ”

Eric nodded. If what Drew said was true, the price would be acceptable. He would just take this as a chance to enlarge the Firefly Film Stock. Maybe he could also wait until Sleepless in Seattle became a blockbuster and invest in the reshooting of An Affair to Remember. Eric had intended Drew to acquire only the 5-year copyright on the film, but the result was a bit different. After all, the original copyright owner would surely grasp the chance to rip off the potential buyer who was interested in the old film dating back 30 years. Five years? No deal! If you wanted to buy it, you had to accept the high price.

Seeing Eric nodding his head, Drew felt at ease and began to explain further, “This film was originally produced by Jerry Wald, an investor who started his own film company. The guy shot a number of fantastic films but then had the misfortune to die from a heart attack. His wife sold the copyright on several films to another film company. Later, that business went bankrupt. The twist and turn sent the copyright to Fox finally.”

“Wow,” while listening to the girl, Eric saw in the file the name of 20th Century Fox. Then he nearly sprang up.

Drew was explaining carefully when she was shocked by Eric’s exclamation. She opened her eyes wide and asked：“What……What happened? Is there anything wrong?”

“You just said that……This film was bought from 20th Century Fox?” Eric tried his luck and asked once again.

The girl fluttered her eyelashes innocently and moved her chin up and down, “Yes?”

Eric forced a smile, “Gosh, I will court the hatred of Fox.”

On that evening, Eric was so fed up with the little girl’s disturbance that he suddenly decided to find her a part-time job during the summer vacation. Not for a moment did he think about the copyright on An Affair to Remember. If the copyright owner was Warners, Universal Picture or Paramount Pictures, Eric would let it go since he had no relations with them. Making films was also a business and you could in no case keep making a profit.

However, never could Eric imagine the copyright owner to be 20th Century Fox. Now he was still in a good working relationship with Fox and he did not want to ruin the relations. For this reason, Eric explained in person to Barry Diller and made compensation by giving the copyright on a TV series when Columbia Pictures wanted the copyright on Running out of Time. Life was playing tricks on him now and God was deliberately spoiling his relations with Fox this time.

After Sleepless in Seattle was put on show, if the videotapes of An Affair to Remember sold 2 million copies like his friend said in his previous life, the sales value would reach 60 million dollars and the film would be like a box-office success. Although film companies announced to the public that the videotape profits accounted for less than 20% and that the cost more than 80%, insiders would easily see through their lies. The percentage of videotape profits would easily exceed 50% and it was even higher than that of box-office profits. In this case, the videotapes of An Affair to Remember would bring Eric at least 30 million dollars.

Eric could almost imagine how some people would fly into a rage.

Seeing Eric’s constantly changing expressions, Drew asked curiously, “How can it be like this? We have spent 3.5 million dollars and Fox has made money. Why will they hate us?”

“Yes, it is true that we have spent more than 3 million dollars. The point is that we are likely to make 30 million dollars from this film in less than 1 year. How will Fox feel then?”

The little girl covered her small mouth with her hands surprisedly. Eric asked her to secure the copyright on the film and said the business could bring money. Drew had thought that the maximum profits would be 1 or 2 million dollars. So she was a little nervous when confiding the film had been bought at the price of 3.5 million dollars. If they could really make 30 million dollars……

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“But……It seems that……Eric, Fox does not know that we are the purchaser. For fear of making them link the business with you, I did not meet Fox’s people in person. Instead, I found an agent who transferred the copyright to me after getting it. All through the process, Fox did not know that it was us that wanted the copyright.” As she went on saying, Drew’s voice was getting lower. She immediately realized that Fox people, as long as they were sane, would surely link the business with Eric if Sleepless in Seattle gained popularity and then a big fortune was made from An Affair to Remember.

Thinking of this, the girl stuck out her tongue, “Then, Eric, what shall we do now?”

Eric rubbed against his temples and thought for a moment. If Sleepless in Seattle was put on show by the end of this year, then the videotapes of An Affair to Remember would not become a sales miracle until next year. By then, he had already fulfilled his contract with Fox for this year. So he would not worry about Fox making trouble for the film distribution. At most, Fox would play some tricks to delay the process of shared revenue. In that case, there was no need to worry since the contract signed last year had clearly stipulated the rights and obligations of both parties. If Fox breached the contract, the company would be unlikely to win the lawsuit. The filmmakers in Eric’s previous life were so careless that they did not find problems with profit-sharing contracts until the films became blockbusters. At that time, it was too late to rid themselves of disputes that could last for years. Eric was totally different from them. 

“Well, let’s just forget about it. The meat has been readily offered to us and we just cannot give it back. After all, it is Fox that has offered to sell the copyright and we have paid the company a large sum.”

“Hha,” the girl felt relieved, cuddled Eric and kept rubbing against his body coquettishly, “Eric, but there is also a trivial matter……”

Chapter end