Made in Hollywood

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Carrying the briefcase, Nancy got out of the elevator, turned into the corridor, came to Duke's door, and gently pressed the doorbell.

The door opened, revealing the face of a blonde, Nancy frowned, "Why are you?"

"Hello, Nancy."

After saying hello to the agent, Naomi quickly moved out of the door and let Nancy come in, "Are you here to find Duke? He's calling in the study, I'll call him."

Looking at the hurried back, the unpleasantness on Nancy's face flickered. She walked to the sofa and sat down. She skillfully took a silver pot and poured herself a glass of water.

Hanging up Zack Snyder, Duke walked into the living room, waved casually to Nancy's side, and put the cordless phone on the cradle.

"So early?" he said to the female agent.

"There is something important."

Nancy ignored Duke, but looked at Naomi Watts who came out behind, Naomi was not stupid, grabbed the bag hanging on the hanger, and said to Duke, "I have something to do, I'll go first. "

"goodbye."

Since Nancy came directly to the door, there must be something important, and Duke did not hold back and sent her out of the house.

"You got together?"

As soon as the door was closed, Duke heard an unhappy voice from the female agent, "Duke, the last thing an agent likes to see is that his clients get together!"

"Things are not what you think."

Sitting on the sofa opposite Nancy, Duke made a gesture that you understand, "It's just a game of play, don't worry."

Seeing Duke didn't seem to be joking, Nancy nodded slightly, opened her briefcase, and said, "There is bad news. I contacted Twentieth Century Fox again yesterday, and they didn't mean to back down."

"There is another good news." She handed over an invitation letter. "This morning, Warner Bros. officially sent a letter to start negotiations with us on "Brave to the Dead Island"."

"Warner Bros?"

Even as calm as Duke, when he heard the news, his spirits were lifted, and finally... there was another film company's attention.

"And I have definite news." Nancy seemed very attentive, "Warner's investment in "Batman Returns" needs time to return, and it has invested heavily in projects such as "Desperados" that will be released next year or even the year after. The current budget in hand is a bit tight..."

"That means they might accept my investment?" Duke immediately understood what Nancy meant.

"possible……"

Without waiting for Duke to be happy, Nancy continued, "Even so, you can only get short-term benefits. With your current capital, you don't have the strength to share the long-term benefits of the film."

"The box office, videotape and TV rights transfer share is enough." Duke also didn't think about getting a long-term meal ticket.

Afterwards, the two discussed some things to pay attention to when contacting Warner. Nancy Josephson responded with the greatest enthusiasm for promoting Duke's investment. The reason is very simple. In addition to the 10% rake, she also gets 5% of Duke's investment income.

There is no free lunch in the world.

The film industry itself is like a gamble. There is only the greatest chance of success. There is no inevitable success. Duke is betting that he can succeed to a certain extent, and Nancy is also betting that he can succeed. Although there are risks, she may find out after a busy game. Duke's investment lost money and he got nothing, but what if the film could be as successful as "Speed ​​of Life"? She will get a huge commission!

The next day, the trio of Duke, Nancy, and Sophia walked into the Warner Bros. building in Burbank as both parties agreed.

They were greeted by Jeff Robinoff, director of film production at Warner Bros.

"Duke, we meet again."

Sitting on both sides of the long conference table, the bald Jewish man said directly, "I've been thinking recently, if I had given you ten more minutes, would "Speed ​​of Life" belong to Warner now."

With a polite smile, Duke didn't say anything, because the answer was obvious, even if he gave him two more hours at the time, the other party wouldn't be impressed by a newcomer like him.

The two sides quickly cut into the theme. This is the most common commercial film cooperation in Hollywood. The friendship and relationship are all false. Warner Bros. wants to cooperate with Duke because it can be seen from "Brave to the Dead Island". Earnings prospects, and Duke is sitting here rather than hiding in the background because Warner is willing to accept investment.

Just like the cooperation between "Life and Death" and 20th Century Fox, everyone gets what they want, and then on the basis of reaching a consensus, they minimize or put aside their differences.

This is just the first negotiation, and it is still too early to reach a real agreement. The negotiation is about to end. When asked by Jeff Robinoff, Duke also truthfully answered the special requirements he needed once the movie was approved.

"There are a lot of soldiers, combat and military equipment involved in the film, and I need a professional military advisor, preferably with the support of the Pentagon."

"It is best to invite Hans Zimmer in the soundtrack; the assistant director, cameraman, editor and production manager, please give priority to the candidates I recommend; I hope that my opinions will be the mainstay in post-editing."

With such an investment of this scale, Duke knew that he could not get the final editing rights, so he could only list such an item.

None of these counterparties will immediately agree, and they need to be fought one by one in a tug-of-war negotiation.

Afterwards, Duke and his party left Warner, and the rest of the negotiation was handed over to his agent Nancy. This was a time-consuming and labor-intensive process, and it was hard to say whether it would be successful in the end, so he did not give up continuing to contact other companies. Chance.

Negotiations from their respective capital contribution, income distribution to crew composition, Duke's rights and obligations, etc., must be negotiated one by one, and written into the final contract.

"Looks like I don't need to get another job."

After leaving the Warner Building and getting into Duke's Bentley, Sophia fastened her seat belt and said to the driver's seat, "Don't forget, I am now an assistant and assistant director, and will be an assistant director and producer in the future, you promised me Yes, Duke."

Why did she return to Los Angeles from Europe, not specifically to be someone else's assistant, but for her own movie dream.

Duke is also aware of this. After starting the car, he said, "We are all newbies. We can explore together, grow together, and fight together for the ideas in our hearts."

"The difference between our movie concepts seems to be a little big, right?" Sophia tilted her head and looked at him, "I'm not interested in destroying a city crazy... No, it's crazy destroying the world in movies."

This philosophical difference cannot be bridged. Duke shrugged and changed the subject. "Have you given the script to Nikolay? Did he say anything?"

"He took it." Sophia understood that Duke was talking about her cousin Cage, "It feels a little interesting."

"Just a little funny?" Duke turned to look at her.

"This is not the type that Nikolai likes." Sophia said of course, "He likes some more alternative characters, and he is not interested in action movies."

"In today's Hollywood, if you want to be a real superstar, you have to enter the mainstream film circle." Duke turned the steering wheel, the car turned on the road to West Hollywood, "Look at Depp, who has starred in so many well-received roles. role, but has always been in a position of inferiority, not even Keanu Reeves today."

"These words..." Sophia pursed her lips. "If you have a chance, you should tell Nikolay yourself."

The actor is not in a hurry now, after all, the negotiations with Warner have not yet come to fruition.

Afterwards, Duke began to wait patiently, and at the same time continued to improve the preparations he had been doing. Together with Sophia, he hid in the Duke studio in North Hollywood, drew the scene art and developed the basic script; Schwartzman discusses what it takes to get audience-exciting shots; and Zach Snyder about color in future productions.

A movie is by no means the masterpiece of one person. Surrounding any successful director, there is a team of outstanding ability, and no director will be an exception.

Forming a team with similar concepts to himself, cooperation and tacit understanding is what every director will do on the road to success, and Duke is no exception. Apart from these people, he also spends time with Robin Grande and the editor. Mike Dawson met a few times. They were temporarily out of work and were very interested in working together again.

This is Hollywood, and there is not much information that can be kept secret. The matter of Duke's contact with Warner Bros. was soon known to 20th Century Fox. The cooperation between them, but Duke has not signed any agreement with them, the money exchange has been settled long ago, and Fox has not been able to get his sore foot for a while.

With 20th Century Fox is a normal business cooperation, with Warner Bros. is a normal business cooperation, at least on the surface, no one else can say anything.

But Duke understands that the top executives of Twentieth Century Fox must be unhappy in their hearts, and they will jump out and bite him at some point. He will never overestimate the moral standard of capital.

If the new movie project goes well, 20th Century Fox will probably just sit on the sidelines because of Warner Bros. If there is trouble, they will definitely jump out and get in the way.

Duke will not be afraid, nor will he escape, any super director will not have a smooth road to success. Hollywood is a Vanity Fair that fights with money, power, fame and talent, not pure kindness. world.

Just halfway through August, after more than ten days of tug-of-war negotiations, Duke's side finally reached a consensus with Warner Bros. Pictures, and then initialed a cooperation agreement. Duke finally looked forward to it. It was the second time to officially pick up the guide cylinder. (My novel "Made in Hollywood" will have more fresh content on the official WeChat platform, and there will also be a 100% lucky draw gift for everyone! Open WeChat now, click the "+" sign on the upper right to "Add a friend", search for The public number "qdread" and pay attention, hurry up!)