America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM

Chapter 33 The Dragon King Appears

Eric received several calls throughout the morning, all congratulating "Red Dragon" on its box office success.

Gadot and Bar Refaeli also called. It seems that they are not underage girls who don't understand anything and don't pay attention to anything.

What was more surprising to Eric was that Elena also called, the female manager of JPMorgan Chase.

However, apart from their debt relationship, the two seemed to have nothing in common. They chatted for a few words, said they had a chance to have dinner together, and then left.

Until getting off work at noon, Judy walked in holding a thick stack of folders.

"Boss, this is what you want. We have screened the script library and after discussion, these should be more in line with the current market positioning needs."

That's right, what Judy held in her hands were all scripts, to be precise, they were scripts for horror and thriller movies.

Since returning to Los Angeles from Israel, Judy has not only helped the two women arrange their work and life, but the new job Eric has given her is the deputy director of the script library.

When he first joined MGM, Eric arranged the job of searching for horror film scripts on the market, but it wasn't long before the manager in charge resigned due to family reasons.

I was too busy with other things, so this matter has been delayed, and the position is also vacant. (っ◔◡◔)っ

I originally wanted Billy to take over, but now he is fully following George Martin and Thomas Harris, and is also in contact with Neil Gaiman, whose "American Gods" received widespread attention when it came out last year, ranking on the novel list. It's at the top of the list, and the rights haven't been sold yet.

But Eric is not optimistic about "American Gods", or he is not optimistic about Neil Gaiman.

It’s not that Neil Gaiman’s novels are not good. In fact, the works are very readable, otherwise they would not be on the bestseller list. The problem is that the stories he describes are only suitable for print media, and if they are made into TV series, they will turn into a puddle of mud. .

I remember that HBO got the rights to "American Gods" back then, but it held on to it for four years. The screenwriters and directors asked for a lot of offers. The final conclusion was that the book was really not suitable for the screen, so they sold the rights. Gave it to starz TV station.

Starz happily spent a lot of money to take over the project, and the average production fee per episode was as high as more than 8 million US dollars. However, the ratings were not satisfactory. They lost their wives and lost their troops. It was a pure injustice.

So although Eric is not optimistic about "American Gods", it's okay to buy it at the right price, because someone will take it over.

In addition, Billy has discovered several pretty good works. He can't come back to Los Angeles more than once a month, and this guy seems to prefer flying around outside than sitting in the office.

Seeing that he liked flying so much, Eric simply gave him another task: to go to the UK to find Michael Dobbs and obtain the copyright to "House of Cards".

Warren works at AK Film and Television, staring at the crew of "Sharknado" every day for fear of overspending. When we met last week, the guy told him that he had lost 7 pounds.

Bordeaux is following up on the contract with Hasbro and is about to start three rounds of negotiations. He has been squatting in New York for more than half a month.

After counting, Judy was the only one left who had not arranged specific work, so this matter naturally fell on her head.

"In addition to those in the script library, two people came to sell the script just now. They didn't find an agency. They were probably too poor to find one. But they were about the same age as us, so I met them. I thought the script was quite interesting. Are you interested?"

Eric did not answer directly, because there are too many young people like this in Hollywood. Every day there are a lot of new people who want to lobby major companies to buy their works, but very few succeed.

Eric flipped through the script and asked casually: "What type? How much do they charge? You know the system at the Screenwriters Guild. You can decide it yourself within $50,000. If you don't have $100,000, you should study it with other departments. This kind of trivial matter will be discussed in the future." No need to ask me for instructions, just go directly to the account of the special funds for scripts."

The two prices Eric mentioned were the market prices in Hollywood in 2002, or they were almost the lowest prices.

For a new screenwriter, unless he is so talented that no mountain can stop him from shining, the price of the script will not exceed US$100,000. Usually, the script can be bought out within US$50,000, and there will be no profit sharing. Category.

You talked about the Writers Guild’s rights protection? It's a no-brainer for a newcomer to protect his rights. If you don't accept it, just find another buyer. We are a buyer's market, not a seller's market.

Compared to the Screen Actors Guild, the Writers Guild has much weaker voice. Otherwise, why do you think Hollywood writers would go on strike every few years? Are they idle? People are forced out!

But of course, no matter how weak it is, it is still much stronger than China. China really doesn’t treat screenwriters as human beings.

Judy hesitated for a moment: "It's a horror film, but their requirements are a bit special. The script can be free, but the screenwriter wants to be the leading actor and recommend his good friend to be the director. There is also no fee and only a share of the box office."

"I think the script is quite creative, and I want to buy it out at a high price, but the screenwriter is very stubborn and insists on binding my director friend. I really wonder if they are gay."

The hand that turned the page stopped, and Eric raised his head, feeling that the request Judy described seemed a bit familiar.

Horror film, a combination of director and screenwriter. The screenwriter also wants to be the leading actor, but he is also bound to be the director.

"What are the names of these two young men?"

Judy thought for a moment: "The screenwriter's name is Whannell, and the director's name seems to be Wen. I can't remember exactly. He's an Asian guy with a pretty unique hairstyle."

As she spoke, Judy seemed to have thought of something funny and grinned a few times.

Eric stood up: "Let me make sure, Ray Warner and James Wan, right?"

Judy nodded hurriedly: "Yes, yes, that's the name, but why do you know it?"

Eric looked at the time: "Are they still in the company?"

"I've already left. I guess I'm going to the next store to promote. I'm a newbie. If I don't have money to find a brokerage company, I have to break my own legs."

"Okay, stop complaining, help me make an appointment with them, and say we'll have dinner together at noon. I'm very optimistic about the script, and I want these two people too."

Unexpectedly, "Saw" actually came to him. Only then did Eric realize that the movie was released in 2004. Now James Wan and Ray Whannell were in a very depressed stage of attracting investment. So he, as an angel investor, was The time has come.

"Saw" can also be regarded as an evergreen tree among Hollywood horror films. It has been filmed for the 10th time. I have never seen it or heard of it. It is definitely a hen that can lay golden eggs.

Then I'm sorry, Lionsgate is gone, MGM is going to cut it off.

Who between James Wan and Nolan appears more frequently in Meiyu?