Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Hello, Mr. Price, we meet again." Ronald was the third person after Weintraub and Avelson to shake hands with Columbia President Frank Price.

When he and Michael Ovitz, the president of CAA, came to promote the script of "My Brother's Keeper", Frank Price had just taken office as the president of Columbia and was very high-spirited. Now he is much more restrained because he has effectively resigned from the position.

"Come in, Ronald." Price's mental state was still good, and he patted Ronald on the shoulder. He helped stabilize the internal conflicts in Colombia and resisted the development of the big star Jane Fonda. He still cherishes the young man who was the target of a hostile takeover by the Vegas tycoon.

When Weintraub asked him to recommend screenwriters, he immediately thought of Ronald. In a few years, Ronald had become a director and made two movies with good box office. If I hadn't stopped working in Colombia in the future, I would have thought of signing him to make a movie for myself. However, things are unpredictable, and there will be opportunities in the future.

Frank Price is widely recognized as the only CEO among the seven major studios who knows how to read scripts and judge the quality of movies. He read the script for "The Kid" that Ronald submitted to Weintraub. The writing is smoother than the scripts of a few years ago, and it shows the potential to be a hit.

But these almost have nothing to do with me. Price asked a few of them to sit down on the sofa in the office and asked his secretary to make coffee. He could keep the office and secretarial treatment for a few months.

"Frank, the last time Barbara came to Los Angeles, Jane went specially to accompany her. Why didn't she see your wife, Katherine?" Weintraub came up and mentioned the ladies' gathering in the tone of an old friend.

"Catherine went to Roy's graduation ceremony," Price explained. Katherine Crawford is his wife, who turned out to be a TV actress, and Roy is the couple's third child, who just graduated from high school.

"Seriously, that boring person Faye Vincent is so ignorant. Most of your profits last year were based on the share of the 'et aliens' that you won, right?"

"Yes, the five percent profit share is actually more than the profits of all other Columbia movies combined." Frank Price smiled bitterly.

Fay Vincent was the former chairman of Columbia, and he led Coca-Cola's acquisition of Columbia. This lawyer-turned-entertainment tycoon also became executive vice president of Coca-Cola.

Every president and CEO of a listed company will have conflicts, but like Fay Vincent, it is rare to find someone who tries his best to exclude himself and get rid of himself because he has different strategic ideas.

"So, give our project the green light as soon as possible while you are still sitting in this position."

"Don't be kidding, your script and director team are great, I didn't let you go because of your relationship." Price and his old friend laughed and cursed for a while, took out a thick Montblanc pen from the drawer, and agreed to the filming. He signed his name on the book.

"Okay, as long as you have the funds in place, you can start filming. If you have anything you need my help with, please mention it as soon as possible. I won't be working here right away." Price's signature means that "Longwei Boy" got it Green light for shooting.

"Tell me, where is your next home?" Weintraub was very interested in his whereabouts.

"I would open my own production company and retire with a golden parachute."

Weintraub looked unconvinced, but he happily took the signed consent form for filming and read it again and again.

With a beep, the intercom rang. Price got through the secretary in front of everyone. "Here comes Mr. Price, Mr. Aykroyd, and Mr. Reitman."

"Invite them in," Frank Price straightened his posture and asked his old friends to leave first with a smile. He also wanted to meet the next crew who came to Yuetan.

After Ronald said goodbye to Price, he also left the office. He suddenly found that Niceta was chatting with a man with a CAA logo on his suit.

"Rick?" Ronald asked.

"Ronald, let me introduce you. This is Dan Aykroyd, actor and screenwriter. This is Ivan Reitman, director. This is Ronald Lee. They are all clients of our CAA. Just in time to find Mr. Price with you."

"Hello, Mr. Aykroyd, hello, Mr. Reitman." Ronald greeted them.

"Ronald, John Candy told me your name, you're a football fan too, huh? It's a pity that he turned down my invitation and didn't come to participate in the movie, otherwise we could have had a nice chat." Dan ·Aykroyd is a fat comedian who speaks and laughs very enthusiastically, making people feel like spring breeze.

"If we have the chance, let's go drink Canadian beer together. I also know a few Canadian directors and actors." Ronald was reminded by Niceta in his ear, knowing that Aykroyd was of Canadian origin, and warmly extended an invitation to him. .

"Why not? We all belong to the same agency after all."

"Two gentlemen, please follow me, Mr. Price is still waiting for you." the secretary reminded.

"See you later."

Weintraub and Avelson saw that Ronald's agent had other arrangements. After saying goodbye to Ronald, the two prepared to leave first.

There are still many casting and location selection matters that the two have to continue to discuss. Weintraub is a boss who loves to get involved in the details of film production and wants to know everything.

"Hey, Susan, let's leave this young man behind, Ronald, and you go on a date with me." Avelson saw Weintraub's secretary, Susan, and started flirting with her again.

"John, we still have to talk about casting. You know? There are a lot of old Hollywood stars who called me when they heard about my investment in a teen movie." Weintraub said He put his arm around Avelson's shoulders and separated him from his secretary, Susan.

"Of course, who is there?" Avelson asked.

“There’s Steve McQueen’s widow…”

The two of them walked out arm-in-arm, with Susan, who looked a bit fat with red hair, following behind.

In the president's office, Frank Price was having a quarrel with another agent from CAA.

"This asking price is too high." Price shook his head. "With a director's remuneration of five million, how much total cost will I have to pay? Your movie must also have a major star." As he said this, he looked at director Ivan Reitman, "What do you think the budget for this movie was?"

"The total price is 25 million to 30 million." It was also the first time for Ivan Reitman to direct such a large-scale production. He had no idea how much such a special effects movie would cost, and he did not discuss it with his agent in advance. . But when things came to a head, Reitman had to multiply the budget of his last movie by four and randomly quote a number that the agent could bargain with anyway.

"Have you chosen your leading actor? Is it Dan?" Price pointed to screenwriter Dan Aykroyd, who came in with him.

"I am only suitable to play this role similar to the 'Cowardly Lion'. The protagonist is a 'Scarecrow'. We feel that we need a famous star to play the role." Aykroyd compared the movie to the characters in "The Wizard of Oz" role in.

"I understand, I understand that comedy generally cannot be a big hit at the box office. Since you are asking for a production budget of more than 25 million, we must find a big-name star. Is there anyone chosen?" Is Frank Price here? I felt that the price was too high, so I made my own request just for the sake of box office guarantee.

"We can find Bill Murray!" Director Ivan Reitman did not expect that the other party would not counter-offer the budget he casually mentioned. He immediately thought of Bill Murray, who was also a client of CAA and is now one of the most popular male comedy stars.

CAA's agent was also overjoyed and told Reitman that he had done the right thing.

"Bill's sneer style is indeed suitable, but he always decides late whether to participate in a movie. Last time he came to me to promote his own 'Blade' project." Frank Price He felt a little unsafe, and he didn't want any further setbacks in the last few projects he decided on before leaving his job.

"I can help convince him, Mr. Price." CAA's agent quickly agreed. With a budget of 25 million to 30 million, and the fact that the protagonists were all selected from CAA's clients, such good conditions allowed He was so excited that he immediately packed up everything. "

"Then it's settled. If you can sign Bill Murray, or a similarly famous male star, I agree to give your project the green light."

"Now let's talk about the conditions for sharing. On behalf of CAA, I propose 30% of the box office profit as the upper limit of the total share of CAA's actors and directors participating in the filming of this film."

"You must be joking, there is no way I can agree to this condition." Frank Price smiled, which was a big opening for a lion.

"I think this share ratio is very reasonable. The script, director, starring, and even the earliest creative ideas are all handled and promoted by our CAA."

"That's impossible. This price is robbery!" Frank Price stopped signing.

"Mr. Price, this is the lowest ratio I can get for you within the scope of my authorization. If you don't agree with this ratio, then I can only call Mr. Michael Ovitz and ask him to negotiate. You negotiated the price.

I never set a high price on purpose, and you know if Mr. Ovitz had intervened, it might not have been this price in the end. "

"Okay," Frank Price really surrendered. No studio executive wanted to face the aggressive CAA president. He signed and said, "Sometimes, I really don't know who is running the business. This movie company, am I or Ovitz?”

"One last question, Mr. Price." Screenwriter and actor Dan Aykroyd was very happy when he saw Frank Price happily signing the consent form. Everyone said that Frank Price was The only studio executive who understands the quality of a script lives up to his reputation.

"Please tell me." Price always had a special preference for screenwriters.

"The name of my script collides with the name of a children's program produced by Universal Television in the 1970s. I wonder if you can help contact Universal Television to solve the problem? I know that at that time, you were the president of Universal Television."

"Ghostbusters?" Frank Price looked at the cover of the script.

"Yes, if this name doesn't work, we can only change it to 'Ghostbusters', 'Ghostbusters', or 'Ghostbusters'."

"Don't worry about it, I'll help you solve this matter." Frank Price waved his hand, indicating that it was just a small matter.

Dan Aykroyd and director Ivan Reitman stood up to leave. They saw Ronald waiting at the door. They were so happy that they invited Ronald to go to a party to celebrate.

"Sorry, you don't have an appointment and can't go in." Price's secretary stopped a short man in a suit and tie who was behind them and wanted to break into the president's office.

"Go away, I am the lawyer representing Mr. Faye Vincent, the CEO. My name is Dick Gallop."

The secretary still insisted and asked Price through the intercom before letting him in.

"Hello, Dick." Frank Price motioned to the secretary to exit first and close the door.

"Frank, do you want to suddenly approve the film project at the last moment?" Attorney Dick walked to the desk angrily and looked at the two projects that Frank Price had just given the green light to.

"You name it, I approve the movie based on its box-office potential," Price said as he sat.

"Are you kidding me? A horror comedy with special effects? A budget of twenty-five million to thirty million dollars?"

"I can forgive you for being rude, Dick. But I am still the president of Columbia, and I know what movies have the potential to be a hit. The fusion of comedy and horror movies is the big trend in the next year or two."

"You must be crazy." Dick Gallop had no choice but to rush out of the office again, found a conference room, and directly called Fay Wen, executive vice president of Coca-Cola and CEO of Coca-Cola Columbia Studios. Center's phone number.

"Mr. Vincent, Price is crazy, he has lost control..."

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