Hollywood Hunter

A two-acre office park near the famous Marina del Rey in southern Venice Beach.

Just after Michael Ovitz got off in the parking lot, Jennifer Rebold greeted him and said politely: "Mr. Ovitz, the boss is already waiting for you, please follow me."

Without seeing Simon greet himself, Owitz was somewhat displeased, but nodded in front of the beauty, and walked with Jennifer into a large plant in the park, where various types of vehicles were assembled. Parts, Simon is whispering with a white middle-aged man next to a strangely shaped'motorcycle'.

"Good afternoon, Michael," Simon stopped talking and came over, shook hands with Owitz, and introduced another middle-aged humane: "This is Adam Rocklet. He used to be an engineer at General Motors and now runs Own studio."

Ovitz shook hands with Adam Rocklet again before looking at the'motorcycle' in front of him again.

The reason why it can be called a'motorcycle' is entirely because this car has only two wheels, two wide wheels that are obviously only used in racing.But in addition, the exaggerated styling of the entire car is completely out of the category of'motorcycle'.

Because he has been paying attention to Simon's development intentionally or unintentionally, Owitz quickly understood the purpose of this'motorcycle' and tentatively said: "Simon, is this your prop for Batman?"

The'motorcycle' in front of me is actually the super-pulling bat motorcycle in the original "Dark Knight" series.

Simon is not interested in the completely pragmatic Batmobile in the version of Nolan's "Batman". In addition, he designed the shape of the Batmobile, but kept the idea of ​​this Bat Motorcycle.After confirming the filming of "Batman", he began to get people to design this car.

Simon heard Owitz's question and nodded, "Yeah, what do you think?"

Owitz stepped forward and carefully looked at the bat motorcycle in front of him, saying: "The shape is very novel, but I don't seem to see the power system, can it run?"

Adam Rocklet, who was standing next to the two, explained at this time: "Mr. Ovitz, this motorcycle uses wheel motor technology, and its power system, transmission system and braking system are all integrated in the wheel hub. And driven by electricity, so you can run."

Owitz has always been a very curious person. After hearing the words, he was a little more interested. He carefully asked about the details of the car. The three of them chatted like this. Owitz finally tried it himself. A short distance was opened in the plant.

Because many details are still perfect, although it can run, the speed of the bat motorcycle is still very slow at this time. Simon’s expectation is that it is enough to reach a speed of about 30 kilometers per hour during the shooting process.

After getting off the bat motorcycle, Ovitz remembered the advantages of the series of wheel motor technology that Adam Rocklet just introduced, and praised: "It is really surprising, I don’t think there are such advanced technologies in this world, maybe it will not take many years. , We are about to usher in a new automotive industry revolution."

Adam Rocklet carefully pushed the bat motorcycle back to the center of the plant and smiled: "Mr. Ovitz, the wheel motor technology is actually not advanced at all. It has almost the same history as the internal combustion engine. As early as 1900, Porsche The founder of the company, Fernand Porsche, designed the first electric car with wheel motor technology. It is only in this century that our automobile industry has focused on the development of internal combustion engines, and wheel motors and electric vehicles have failed. Popularize."

Ovitz suddenly said, "This is really regrettable."

Simon couldn't help but sigh: "I always feel that because fundamental interests drive rather than simply the pursuit of science, we have missed too many things. Apollo plans to send humans to the moon in the sixties However, in recent years, instead of continuing to develop, aerospace technology has been going backwards."

Owitz said: "I think Apollo's plan is to hurt some people.

"Before the beginning of the Great Nautical Era, some countries on this planet had too many opportunities to dominate the world, but in the end it was the United Kingdom, which had only a few million people at that time, achieved the sunless empire. We were just above the starry sky that humans can reach. Thousands more times than the sea, who knows what it can bring us?"

After a casual chat, Simon and Ovitz sat down at a workbench in the plant, and Adam Rocklet took the initiative to leave.

Picking up a wrench from the workbench and playing with it, Simon still asked Owitz with a tone of ease, "How is it talking to Sony?"

Ovitz was a little surprised. Although he did not conceal his trip to Japan, few people knew he was rushing to Tokyo to discuss the acquisition of the Hollywood film company with the Sony Group.

However, since Simon has already ordered it, he did not deny that, "Sony wants to acquire a big Hollywood movie company, CAA also happens to expand its business. Speaking of Simon, Japanese people are very interested in you. , They also specifically asked about Daenerys Pictures."

"I'm not interested in the Japanese," Simon said so, without much comment, and went to the topic: "Since you are back, Michael, I think this latest farce should also end. Levinson They have all achieved their goals, so I hope they all shut up next."

Ovitz had just taken a smile with a serious expression, and said, "Simon, you shouldn't expel Barry without a word."

Simon looked at Ovitz and said: "Michael, everyone is smart. Several of them think that "Rainman" is unlikely to succeed, and Levinson does not want to be promoted to the first-line cafes with "Good Morning Vietnam". Hoffman is also worried about repeating the fiasco of last year's "Isda" box office defeat, so several people have put the blame on me. Now, they have all wished, and this matter should stop here."

Ovitz had also wanted to gain some benefits for some of his clients from Simon. Simon broke the point, and he was not good to talk again.He has always felt that he and Simon are the same kind, two smart people, if he deliberately stirs up, it will make him look very stupid.

He didn't want to be a fool.

"I'll talk to Barry and them." After a moment of silence, Owitz nodded in agreement and said, "Next, Simon, what are you going to do?"

"I remember you liked the script very much, Michael, in fact I am the same. Next, I will personally take over the later work of this project until it enters the theater line," Simon shrugged and added: "Since none of them I hope to have a relationship with "Rainman" again, then this project has nothing to do with them. Daenerys Pictures will pay all kinds of balances in their contracts, all they have to do is shut up. And, at least for now The entire Federation knows that there is a film like "Rainman", which is actually a good thing. Film marketing, whether it is marketing in the good direction or the bad direction, as long as the audience can notice this movie, then it Marketing is successful."

Owitz did not express any sense of indignation at Simon’s contempt for his clients, but if he realized: "You used this strategy in Instinct?"

"Yes, this should be regarded as controversial marketing, which is very easy to use. You can also try it when you are in charge of the movie company in the future."

Ovitz shook his head subconsciously and said, "Simon, I didn't plan to run the film company."

"If you have a chance but don't grasp it, it will only be your loss. After all, the CAA pattern is too small, and you should be tired of it yourself? Otherwise, you will not try to do consulting work for Sony." Simon remembered Ovitz's personal professional experience adds a casually: "However, if you are in charge of a film company and fail to gain absolute control, your losses will be even greater."

Ovitz couldn't help but think of the invitation from Sony executives who wanted to acquire Hollywood's big film company during his trip to Japan.

CAA's influence in Hollywood seems to be growing, but because of the industry's own limitations, it can only be regarded as a small plate after all.More than 600 of its customers can only bring about 120 million US dollars of total revenue for the company every year. This money pays the salary and dividends of all more than 100 brokers of the company, which can fall into the hands of Owitz himself. Not much.

In comparison, even the now ruined MGM has an annual income of more than US$100 million. The Universal Pictures parent company MCA (Music--of-America) he recommended to Sony this time is even a behemoth.

Both sides are not idle people. Now that the matter has been settled, Owitz quickly leaves and Simon continues to discuss some design details of the bat motorcycle with Adam Rocklet, and rushes back to Santa Monica’s Daenerys. Film Industry Headquarters.

Just sitting in the office, Amy knocked on the door with a document and walked in.

Passing the folder in his hand to Simon, Amy explained: "This is a new contract that the Producers League has just provided to WGA."

Simon opened it easily. There were two proposals in the folder, one was the new contract today, and the other was the proposal rejected by the WGA in mid-June.

After a brief review, Simon found that the producers' league was completely ruthless this time.

In the new plan, the Producer Union directly requested that the contract be extended to four years compared to the previous three-year contract.

In addition, with regard to the syndicate revenue of the one-hour TV program that is the core of the strike dispute, the producers' union completely rejected the WGA's desire to divide according to the number of replays. The share ratio is only 1.2%, far lower than the 2% commonly expected by the industry.

In comparison, the June contract, although stipulating a payment ceiling, the Producers’ Union provided a compromise between the screenwriter’s choice of fixed and proportional sharing.

As for WGA's demands for other movie share ratios, minimum salary standards, and even more creative control in this strike, the Producers' Union has also compressed to varying degrees on the basis of the June contract.All calculated, the value of this contract is reduced by 50 million US dollars compared to the June plan, which is equivalent to the average loss of at least one month's salary for more than 10,000 WGA members.

Moreover, the producers' alliance also strongly requested that WGA must give a reply within a week. If the new contract cannot be passed, the negotiations between the two parties will be postponed again by one month.

Today is already August 5.

At the end of last month, officially signed a contract with Daenerys Pictures, ABC quickly re-launched the "Who Will Be a Millionaire" program.Although there are only two episodes left every week, this does not hinder the audience's pursuit of this reality show. Compared with the initial pilot episode, the total number of viewers even rushed to 20 million.

In addition to ABC, NBC and FOX TV networks have also begun to promote the two other reality shows just received from Daenerys Pictures.Although CBS failed to collaborate with Daenerys Pictures, it also created a reality show of the game's level, which also started publicity.

In recent days, the four major TV networks have also publicly stated that they will develop more interesting reality TV shows, and also announced that they will promote more non-union members' TV drama project cooperation.

This is obviously more obvious pressure.

Simon turned over the information in his hand and looked at Amy: "Do you think WGA will agree to this contract?"

"WGA doesn't have much choice anymore," Amy nodded and said, "I'm just worried that our TV series project may be affected."

After completing the acquisition of New World Entertainment, Simon’s first request to the new world entertainment executives is to re-start the TV series project that has been shut down as soon as possible.Now, although those projects are no longer short of funds, the reality show project of Daenerys Pictures has caused WGA to fail in this strike. The company's TV series are obviously very likely to be resisted by the screenwriters.

TV dramas rely more on screenwriters than movies.

Frowning for a moment, Simon said: "Depending on the situation, everyone is for their own jobs. I don't believe that the screenwriter has the courage to refuse the job in front of him after losing six months of continuous income. If they are really like this, we invite non Union members or overseas screenwriters."

Amy knew that this could only be the case for a while, so she changed the subject and asked, "How are you meeting with Ovitz?"

"It's a deal," Simon nodded and said, "CAA has no plans to completely fail us."

Amy has some concerns. Barry Levinson will definitely not get involved in this project again, but she doesn’t think Simon is personally responsible for the later stage of "Rainman" is a good choice: "You really have to personally supervise the "Rain" People" to re-edit?"

"Otherwise, apart from Barry Levinson, Hollywood is probably the only one I am familiar with this project."

"Perhaps, we can invite the editor of Rain Man."

"I checked," Simon said: "Stu Linde, he's a long-term partner of Barry Levinson, so forget it, I don't plan to let this project have anything to do with Barry Levinson. ."