Hollywood starts with a broker

The acclaim for "The Silence of the Lambs" continued to grow, and the box office soared. Both Dawn and Samsung benefited from this.

The only ones feeling bad were definitely the original producers, Orion Pictures, who had previously sold the filming-in-progress "The Addams Family" to Paramount for $22 million!

Dawn Pictures received numerous positive reviews from newspapers and magazines for "The Silence of the Lambs," and several Hollywood distributors sent people to discuss and hopefully sign an exclusive distribution agreement with Dawn.

"The conditions are similar, 10% to 12% distribution commission, priority investment rights, and so on!"

Thomas Gray smiled.

Aaron waved his hand, "There's no rush. We can handle domestic distribution ourselves."

"By the way, Orion must be regretting it immensely, right?"

"Dances with Wolves" had grossed $170 million in North America since its release, which helped Orion recoup some losses.

If "The Silence of the Lambs" hadn't been sold, it would have been another wave of recovery.

"Regret, definitely, but there's nothing they can do. Their creditors need to be appeased."

"Now, the number of films released by Orion has decreased significantly!"

Hearing Brad Gray's words, Aaron just smiled.

"'Ghost' will be released next month. Columbia said they've increased the marketing budget. Arrange for the cast and crew to cooperate with the promotion..."

Afterward, Aaron made a special trip to the San Francisco Bay Area to meet with Steve Jobs!

In the evening, Jennifer Connelly came to Aaron's room at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco.

Aaron stood by the window, admiring the night view of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. "Are you staying in the Bay Area this summer?"

Jennifer Connelly nodded. "I'll be participating in school's stage play this summer, performing in several theaters here!"

"What, do you want me to go back and keep you company?"

Jennifer Connelly walked to Aaron's side and hugged him.

"That's not necessary. Participating in stage plays is good for you, and next month, you'll have to go back to promote 'The Rocketeer'!"

Aaron pulled Jennifer Connelly into his arms. "'The Rocketeer' is released just one week after 'Ghost'."

"Yes, Dawn's 'Boyz n the Hood' and 'The Silence of the Lambs' have done very well at the box office. I think 'Ghost' won't be too bad either."

Jennifer Connelly said, tilting her head up to kiss Aaron.

Aaron smiled inwardly. Encountering a movie like "Ghost" was really... unavoidable!

"By the way, Aaron, I've inquired about Pixar. It's indeed been losing money. Pixar's focus now is on computer animation technology, and they want to abandon the hardware side of things."

"Currently, GG and special effects business are not enough to support their development. If you acquire Pixar, you have to be prepared for losses."

"Don't worry, I have a plan," Aaron said, stroking the girl's 34D. "Tomorrow, come with me to Oakland to meet with Steve Jobs!"

"Mmm..."

The next day, Aaron Anderson, along with Jennifer Connelly, met Steve Jobs near Lake Merritt in Oakland.

The 36-year-old Jobs was still quite young, and his hair hadn't started to thin yet!

"Mr. Jobs, good afternoon. This is my friend, Jennifer Connelly."

At a restaurant, Aaron quickly met this future ruthless figure.

"Good afternoon," Steve Jobs greeted them politely.

"Mr. Anderson, what's the reason for you to come all the way from Los Angeles to see me?"

"Call me Aaron. I have a film production company in Hollywood called Dawn Pictures. The currently released 'The Silence of the Lambs' is a Dawn product."

"I'm meeting you because Dawn wants to enter the animation industry, and I want to acquire Pixar!"

Aaron was direct. "Steve, your current focus is on developing NeXT Computer, and Pixar is a burden for you."

Steve Jobs shook his head. "When I acquired Pixar, I valued the development of computer animation technology. I believe it has a great market in the future!"

Aaron smiled and shook his head. "Are you saying, Steve, that you're planning to make your own animated feature film?"

"Pixar can cooperate with Hollywood!"

"I know. I heard that Disney has hired you to develop an animated feature film. Disney is at its peak and is the overlord of the animation industry."

"Do you think Disney cares that much about Pixar?"

Aaron took a sip of coffee and then pointed to himself. "I'm different. I'm a genius producer in Hollywood. Dawn has the funds to support Pixar in developing its own animated feature films."

"You can't, and you can't handle it. Even if Pixar wants to get funding from Disney to develop its own animated feature films, it will be difficult."

"I'm interested in Pixar because the few animated short films Pixar made are quite good, but it's not necessarily Pixar."

"With a little more time, I can build my own animation studio. It's just that it will waste some time!"

Steve Jobs looked at Aaron. "So, what do you mean?"

"$30 million, I want Pixar. Even if Pixar fails, at least I can give them the opportunity to make animated feature films."

"The future is the era of computers. Current stop-motion animation or drawn animation will not be mainstream!"

"$35 million!"

"Disney has indeed contacted me and wants to sign an animated feature film outsourcing agreement with us!"

"$40 million," Aaron stared at Steve Jobs. "Take it or leave it. If you refuse, I will immediately acquire another animation and special effects company and then hire Pixar's management and other technical staff at a high price."

"Don't doubt my determination. I can give them much more than you can. Rather than becoming a puppet of Disney Animation, I think they would prefer to develop their own animated feature films."

"An animated feature film costs tens of millions of dollars to produce, and it also needs to be distributed. Do you think any company in Hollywood has the courage to do that?"

Steve Jobs laughed. "Are you saying you want to compete with Disney?"

"Yes, why not? The profit from one of my movies is tens of millions of dollars, and it will reach hundreds of millions soon."

"Tens of millions of dollars in losses are not too important to me!"

Aaron relaxed. "Like this 'The Silence of the Lambs,' the box office will definitely break $100 million, plus videotapes and television broadcasts, I can earn at least $50 million in revenue."

"The profit of NeXT Computer in recent years is not as much as the revenue from one of my movies, and do you think I will only release one movie a year?"

"Aaron, although I don't understand Hollywood, no one can win all the time!"

"Steve, since I started as an agent, none of the movies I've handled have not been profitable..."