hunt hollywood

Simon nodded with a mysterious expression, and looked around on purpose, and said, "It's actually an angel. I met it two years ago when I was in a mental hospital."

Sandra had an exaggerated surprised expression on her face: "Introduce me."

Simon regretted: "It's a pity, she has returned to God."

The two were talking nonsense in a low voice, and a tall girl in a black evening dress came over, but it was Nicole Kidman.

"Simon, Sandy, what are you talking about?"

Sandra said carelessly: "Simon said he has seen God."

Nicole froze for a moment, then nodded, and said, "This, um, is very interesting."

Simon was very helpless, he was living well, how could he have seen God, he simply ignored Sandra's words, and asked Nicole, "How is the preparation for George's "Crossing the Horizon"?"

Although she still has Nicole's two film contracts, Daenerys Films did not have a suitable project for her for a while, so Simon agreed that Nicole would first shoot George Miller's "Crossing the Horizon".

For similar reasons, so did Samuel L. Jackson and Meg Ryan, who signed option contracts with Daenerys Films.

"Australia is too cold now, and the filming will probably not start until September," Nicole said, looking at Simon with rolling eyes, and said, "I heard that you plan to film "Batman" in Australia."

"Yeah," Simon didn't deny it, and said, "It's also because of the season. It's just right to shoot there early next year."

Nicole didn't hide it, and said: "Speaking of which, Simon, is there really no role suitable for me, even a small supporting role is fine?"

Simon shook his head regretfully, and said, "I'm not willing to waste your film contract on a small supporting role."

"Then it's not included in the contract." Nicole was very straightforward, and said flatteringly: "After all, who would refuse Simon Westeros' invitation."

After socializing like this, the lively party time flew by quickly.

After ten o'clock, guests continued to leave one after another. Near eleven o'clock, the entire mansion was basically empty.

Even though there were plenty of guests tonight, Sandra didn't hire a party company.

Simon and Sandra sent off the last wave of guests together, and saw Sandra's assistant Gina Koros cleaning up the mess alone in the living room, so he asked, "Do you want to call someone to clean up?"

"Let's talk about it tomorrow," Sandra said, sending Gina to rest, pulling Simon to sit down on the sofa in the living room, curling up and leaning against the man's arms, saying: "You really don't plan to stay tonight ?”

Simon poked his finger through the mesh at the waist of Sandra's long dress and scratched it lightly, and said, "You don't want to be on the headlines of gossip when you wake up early tomorrow, do you?"

Sandra smiled and opened Simon's mischievous fingers, and said, "I don't mind if I can snatch Simon Westeros over."

Simon smiled and shook his head, and leaned over to kiss the woman on the forehead and leave, but Sandra hugged her neck and kissed her lips.

The two huddled on the sofa for a while, but Simon got up and left.Even if he and Sandra don't care about gossip, they have to take into account Janet's feelings.

The next day is Wednesday.

Although Simon did not stay at Sandra's house, his attendance at the girl's birthday party last night was exaggerated by the gossip tabloids, but it did not cause much disturbance.Having just turned 20 years old, he possesses a fame and wealth that others cannot match. It seems normal to many people that such a guy who attracts so much attention keeps having all kinds of scandals with women.

Simon didn't even bother to care about these, he needed to deal with the thorny issues about "Rain Man".

Before last year's "Good Morning Vietnam", Barry Levinson, who started out relying on TV dramas, could only be regarded as a second-tier director like Robin Williams. "Good Morning Vietnam" ended up with a domestic box office of 1.23 million U.S. dollars in North America, and one film surpassed the sum of all previous films directed by Barry Levinson.

In this era, any director who can produce a movie with a North American box office of over [-] million will be sought after by the entire Hollywood.

As Barry Levinson's status rose, so did his temper and mind.In the process of directing "Rain Man", Barry Levinson also contributed a lot in the process of directing "Rain Man".

In order to prevent this project from completely getting out of control, Simon has been personally following up the entire shooting process.At the beginning of the post-production work, he also handed over a seventeen-page memo accumulated from watching the filming samples every week to Barry Levinson, hoping that the other party could refer to his own opinions for editing.

And so it happened.

During this period of time, Simon has been able to hear Barry Levinson continue to publicly complain about Simon's excessive interference in the "Rain Man" project on various occasions. If Daenerys Films hadn't suppressed a press release, these rumors It's been featured on The Hollywood Reporter.

In the original contract, Michael Ovitz won a month of post-editing time for Barry Levinson.

Naturally, Simon couldn't predict the current situation. Considering the original team, he agreed to it, but now he regrets his original decision.

Fortunately, a month has finally passed.

Simon is also unrelenting in his request to see the rough cut dailies.

The screening room at Daenerys Films headquarters.

After watching the three and a half hours of rough-cut samples, Simon turned off the projector with his own hands, looked at Barry Levinson next to him and said, "Barry, in just this hour, I have discovered at least five I need an explanation for a detail I mentioned in the memo that didn't appear in the film."

Barry Levinson said in a nonchalant tone: "Simon, I think this cut is very good. I don't think there is any need to keep the details you mentioned."

Simon continued to stare at Barry Levinson, and said, "Or, Barry, you did it on purpose, right?"

Not to be outdone, Barry Levinson said, "Simon, I really don't like others to interfere with my work."

"But, you have to understand," Simon's tone turned cold, and said: "I gave you this job, and you have spent me 2500 million US dollars, or more than 2500 million US dollars, so you are obliged to spend some money. A result that satisfies me.”

Hearing Simon's words, Barry Levinson's temper also jumped up, saying: "Westeros, I am a director, not your slave. I will only make the best of this project according to my own ideas." Well, if you can't accept that, then you shouldn't have hired me in the first place. Do you know how many studios in Hollywood would pay me $2500 million to make a movie?"

"It seems that we have nothing to say." Simon didn't intend to waste any more words with Barry Levinson, stood up and said: "Daenerys Pictures will completely take back the post-production rights of this project. In addition, I need to remind You, Barry, are contractually obligated to uphold the film's reputation. So, I don't want to hear you discussing Rain Man in public, and it's in our mutual interest."

第188章 甩锅（修）

Taking back the post-production rights of "Rain Man", Simon didn't expect Barry Levinson to remain silent as he hoped.

What Simon didn't expect was that the next day, the "Hollywood Reporter" quickly published the front-page news of "Barry Levinson was forced to quit the post-stage of "Rain Man"". The article completely placed Barry Levinson as the victim. From the perspective of the author, Simon vividly described the whole process from the filming stage of "Rain Man" to Simon's wanton interference in film production until Barry Levinson was fired yesterday.

As arranged in advance, on the day the news appeared in the newspaper, Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise, the two leading actors of "Rain Man", also accepted an interview with CNN at the same time, publicly accusing Simon of disrespecting the film creators. .

Immediately afterwards, the Directors Guild of America also jumped out and publicly issued a statement on Friday, claiming that it will investigate whether Daenerys Pictures has violated the director's rights.

then.

In just a few days, Daenerys Pictures was quickly pushed to the center of another storm of public opinion.

Hollywood has always been a producer-centric system.

Whether it is the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" director Toby Hopper who was sacked by producer Spielberg in the "Ghost Driven" project in the early 80s, or the "Justice League" many years later in Simon's memory There are many incidents where the director is kicked out during the film production process.

However, ordinary people obviously don't care too much about these industry rules.

Under the hype of the media, an event that is commonplace in Hollywood was quickly rendered into a big event that was close to a scandal.

new York.

Lower Manhattan, Morton Street in Greenwich Village.

In a nine-story red brick building less than one kilometer from New York University, this is the east coast headquarters of New World Entertainment.

A total of nine floors of the red brick building, New World Entertainment occupies six of them, half of the company's more than 110 employees other than Marvel are here, and the other half are in Los Angeles.The office space on the sixth floor is obviously more than enough to accommodate more than 50 employees. This is actually the result of several layoffs experienced by New World Entertainment.

Because the company's business focuses on TV program production, New World Entertainment has hundreds of employees on the east coast, but nearly half of them have been laid off in the past six months, and the lease of the office building has not yet expired. This is the current situation.

Today is February 8.

After a month-long process of financing and auditing, Simon formally signed an acquisition agreement with Larry Kupin, chairman of New World Entertainment, and high-level executives of both companies gathered in New York.

After the signing ceremony ended in the morning, the main executives of the two companies reunited for a meeting in the largest conference room in this office building after lunch.

Although several buildings with better conditions have been bought in the upper urban area, according to the contract, the residents there will not move out until around 1990, and then they will face demolition.

In the afternoon meeting, Simon asked the management to buy the red brick building where New World Entertainment is located as soon as possible, and use it as the east coast headquarters of Daenerys Entertainment.

Over the past six months, the property market in North America has continued to decline, and Greenwich Village is not considered a prime location. The purchase of this straight-shaped red brick building with a small footprint probably cost less than 2000 million US dollars. Daenerys Entertainment The expansion in the next few years is also enough to fill the entire building.The extra space and time can just be used for redecorating.

With the rapid development of the company, it is necessary to purchase additional properties.

of course.

The biggest reason is Simon's personal preference to open up a private territory, and he happens to be able to afford the expense.

As for the west coast, Simon has not yet taken a fancy to the location of the company's headquarters, so this matter can only be put on hold temporarily.

Although it was the longest summer season, long meetings involving a series of issues such as personnel adjustments, financial planning and project discussions were held until nightfall in Manhattan.Fortunately, Daenerys Films is thriving, and many people have just escaped a catastrophe of company bankruptcy and losing their jobs, and have joined a promising new owner. All executives of the two companies have no complaints about this .

At the end of the meeting, Daenerys Films also arranged a welcome reception for all New World Entertainment employees at a nearby hotel.

Until ten o'clock in the middle of the night, many people dispersed contentedly.

Simon couldn't be free. Before the reception was over, he brought Amy Pascal, Robert Rehm, and Robert Iger, who had successfully resigned from ABC to join Daenerys Entertainment, back to the headquarters of New World Entertainment.

Everyone sat down in a small conference room in the company. Jennifer personally made coffee for everyone and brought it up. Simon took the coffee handed over by the female assistant and thanked him softly, but his expression was not so relaxed.

"Simon, the matter continues to ferment. Many well-known directors in Hollywood may avoid cooperating with us out of scruples. This is a very difficult issue," Robert Rem, who is considered the oldest among the few people present, said first: "We Clarification must be made and counterattacked as soon as possible."

If it is not necessary, everyone will not gather together late at night after a busy day.

The discussion at this time is naturally the expulsion of Barry Levinson that broke out in recent days.

Simon didn't let this matter affect the expansion rhythm of Daenerys Pictures, and completed the acquisition of New World Entertainment step by step, and finally acquired this company and Marvel Entertainment, which he valued the most.However, in recent days, it is impossible for Simon to ignore this matter. The media and public relations team of Daenerys Films has been working hard to prevent the situation from getting out of control.

However, what Simon has not understood in recent days is, why did Barry Levinson make this incident known to everyone?Moreover, there is obviously the shadow of CAA behind this.Although he has become a highly sought-after first-line director with "Good Morning Vietnam", without the support of CAA, it is impossible for Barry Levinson to make such a big deal in just a few days.

After all, we are all businessmen.

Although Simon does not intend to compromise, according to the usual practice, CAA should try to contact Daenerys Films first, rather than tearing face with such a big fanfare.

After all, although the media generally favors Barry Levinson, there is no shortage of discerning people in Hollywood.

Which film company has not fired several directors?

The people of CAA will make a big fuss if they are wronged a little bit, can you cooperate well in the future?

however.

Simon has not received any news from CAA these days.

Habitually playing with a pencil in his hand, Simon glanced down and suddenly found that he always seemed to be able to find a pencil at hand.However, after noticing the figure of Jennifer quietly sitting next to him after serving coffee for everyone, he no longer struggled.

Glancing at the thin white neck exposed by the female assistant's ponytail, Simon withdrew his attention, nodded to Robert Rem, who had already entered the state, and looked at the others: "What do you mean?"

Amy frowned slightly and thought about it, but didn't speak.

Robert Iger heard Simon's inquiry, and said: "Recently, I always feel that Barry Levinson and the others seem too impatient."

Simon wondered: "Huh?"

Robert Iger sorted out his thoughts, and said: "If the information I understand is correct, you just fired Barry Levinson, and the matter exploded the next day. This is obviously too deliberate and too impatient."

Robert Rehm: "Bob, Ovitz has so much energy in Hollywood, he just needs a few phone calls to do it."

"Indeed, but if it were me, I would definitely choose to communicate with Simon first, and only use these methods if the negotiation fails," Robert Iger said, looking at Simon, and said: "But, Simon, O Weitz didn't contact you, did he?"

Simon nodded and looked at Amy.

Amy understood, and explained to Iger and the two: "We tried to contact CAA, but it said that Ovitz went to Japan."

"If CAA intends to reconcile, this is not a problem," Iger shook his head, and said: "The problem now is that CAA has no intention of reconciling. They seem to only want to embarrass us."

Amy said: "I am also wondering about this. Although we are not as good as the Seventh University, CAA should not be so stupid as to completely quarrel with us."

Robert Rem also said at this time: "Perhaps, is it possible that this matter is actually driven by the Seventh Congress?"

Amy and Iger fell silent after hearing the words.

This year's summer vacation has come to an end.

Although Paramount Pictures has successfully achieved two North American box office films with a box office of over [-] million through two wonderful saturated full-scale releases, during this period, almost all the light of Hollywood has gathered on Daenerys Pictures.

In addition to "Pulp Fiction" and "Basic Instinct", Daenerys Pictures also launched "Who Will Be a Millionaire", a hit reality show that has affected the entire Hollywood screenwriter strike situation.In addition, at the end of last month, the company also sold another reality show "Big Brother" to the Fox Network at a high price of $100 million per episode.

Compared with "Survivor", which only has more than ten episodes per season, "Big Brother" has a standard 23 episodes per season.

Moreover, filmed in a closed environment completely in a house, the production cost of "Big Brother" is only comparable to that of "Who Will Be a Millionaire", both of which are very low.

Because of the exemplary success of "Who Would Be a Millionaire," in-show sponsorships for "Big Brother" also covered the production budget and generated profits, and Daenerys Pictures' $2300 million from Fox Network was fully credited. It is a net gain, and also retains the right to renegotiate the next season according to the ratings of the show.

Calculated, the three reality shows that have already been sold can bring Daenerys Pictures a total of about 2 million US dollars in net income in the first season. The performance of the seven big shows in recent years has not been very good. For several MGM companies, the annual net profit scale may not be able to reach this figure.

The principle that Muxiu will be destroyed by forest wind is applicable to any industry in any country. Daenerys Pictures' performance is too dazzling, and competitors will certainly not remain indifferent.

but.

In the conference room, Simon immediately ruled out the possibility of the seven majors making a move.

Pulp Fiction and Basic Instinct were hugely successful, but studios got a share of the profits.

Just like "Pulp Fiction", it is expected that only North America can get more than 1.5 million US dollars in the box office. Simon's original contract was signed in the name of the company. After the settlement, Daenerys Pictures can only get 10% of the box office. The share, as well as the 5% share of the North American local video sales in the later period, are still owned by Orion. The income of "Instinct" is also shared equally with Fox, and it also makes a lot of money. It is impossible for the two companies to have any dissatisfaction.

As for the other companies, they still maintain a cooperative relationship with Daenerys Films or look forward to a cooperative relationship, and they don't have enough motivation to do such things that harm others and benefit themselves.

Even for the four major TV networks, except for CBS, which failed to grab "Big Brother" and looked down on "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" and got nothing, the other three, in order to ensure that there are no accidents during the production and broadcast of several reality shows, There is also no incentive to do so.

motivation?

motivation!