American fame and fortune

Chapter 799: Old and cunning

As the nominations are announced, the raucous Oscar publicity ostensibly subsides as the email scandal erupts and the film academy re-emphasizes various bans.

According to the academy's regulations, after the nomination list is announced, publicity can continue, but lobbying of the judges is not allowed.

In the past, most people didn't take it seriously.

But this year is different. The various award-winning crews suddenly have a lot of rules.

The college has been investigating the mail door, and if you make any small moves at this time, it is easy to hit the muzzle of the gun.

In the office of Davis Studio, Bruce put down the entertainment newspaper in his hand.

Martin, who was reading David Fincher's director's notes, raised his head and saw that Boo was silent and asked, "Isn't there any new Oscar news?"

Bruce shook his head: "News related to the Oscars lacks excitement. It has been mediocre since the nomination list was announced."

Martin couldn't help but laugh: "Old Boo, we have made outstanding contributions to the Oscars!"

Bruce was confused and didn't know what shocking words this shameless bastard wanted to say.

Martin said seriously: "Look, the Film Academy has strict management of Oscar public relations now, and all film crews who are competing for awards also consciously abide by the various rules set by the Academy. Why?"

The corners of Bruce's mouth began to twitch: "Because of what we did?"

“That’s right, because of the good things we have done!” Martin gave an example: “In the past nearly two decades, Harvey Weinstein has continuously pushed down the bottom line of Oscar’s public relations, causing the Oscar to slip into dust from the clouds, and we, It only took three years for the Oscars to fly again, forcing all crews to pay attention to the rules of the Academy..."

Bruce deliberately said something ironic: "The academy should really reward us well and give us a special contribution award or a lifetime achievement award!"

"I think it's necessary," Martin said.

Bruce murmured in his heart, according to this shameless statement, what this bastard Martin did was to arouse the academy's attention to the rules?

"Why don't I believe it?" Bruce looked puzzled at first, and then suddenly realized: "Because I am one of the actual participants and understand what you are doing."

Martin raised his finger and shook it: "Old Bu, your level is still too low. All low-level behaviors must be included in a noble coat!"

Bruce sincerely suggested: "You can run for president of the Screen Actors Guild! You can also run for president of the Producers Guild."

Martin was surprised: "Why?"

Bruce said: "You are so shameless that Hollywood cannot tolerate you."

There was a knock on the office door from outside, and Thomas opened the door and came in, interrupting the two of them.

Martin pointed to the reception area: "Sit anywhere you want."

Thomas did not go over, but came directly to the opposite side of the desk, put a thick document bag under his arm on the desk, and said: "The script just sent by DreamWorks, Spielberg's project, I I took it as soon as I received it.”

At the Oscar nominees luncheon, Martin had a few words with Spielberg about cooperation, but they were mostly polite words. He didn't expect Spielberg to act so quickly.

He took the document bag and opened it to find the script and related reports.

Obviously, a movie based on true events.

Martin first looked at relevant reports, old newspapers from the 1960s, what happened during the Cold War,

The Cold War cannot avoid two behemoths.

In 1960, Gary Powers, an American spy pilot who carried a large amount of secret intelligence, was appointed to carry out a secret mission. However, the new US reconnaissance aircraft U2 "Black Widow" he piloted was eventually shot down over the Mao Xiong. Gary Powers Si was captured.

At the same time, the US military also captured Abel, a Soviet spy, and the two sides intended to exchange captured personnel.

A lawyer named James Donovan was selected to represent the United States in mediating with the bear.

Martin looked at the script again. The name of the screenwriter was marked below "Bridge of Spies" on the cover. The screenwriters were famous-Ethan Coen and Joel Coen.

The famous Coen brothers.

Thomas said at this time: "Spielberg's father, as an engineer, was sent to work with furry bears during the Cold War, so he was very interested in this subject."

Martin nodded, opened the script and read it. After flipping through a dozen pages, he asked, "That's not quite right. The first actor, James Donovan, is a very old lawyer and is not suitable for me."

Thomas said: "Your role is Gary Powers, the pilot. For the first male lead, Spielberg chose his old partner Tom Hanks, and DreamWorks agreed to a base salary of US$20 million. I also invite you to bring money to join the group."

"A supporting actor agreed to my basic salary of 20 million U.S. dollars." Martin felt a little strange: "He also agreed that I would bring money to join the cast as the leading actor, and he would be paid no less than me..."

He looked at Thomas: "Do you think it's normal?"

Thomas said: "This is a project directed by Spielberg. His projects are very attractive and have always been reliable..."

Before he finished speaking, he realized something was wrong: "It's not reliable."

Martin was reminded of "Saving Private Ryan", a model of business operation. Spielberg made a lot of money, Tom Hanks made a lot of money, and the producers also made a lot of money. Then the producers lost money and the investors didn't get any. .

What was the budget for this espionage project, including him, Hanks and Spielberg? I'm afraid most of the remuneration will be divided into later stages.

In this way, how much box office does the film need to get his share?

If the basic salary is 20 million plus post-production sharing, and he brings capital into the group, it is equivalent to using the money he raised to pay for himself... No, he also has to pay Hanks and Spielberg...

Spielberg and Tom Hanks are famous honest men in Hollywood? On the surface it is.

But if anyone believes it, they will be like the investors of Dabing back then.

Martin couldn't trust Spielberg and Tom Hanks, two cunning guys, so he closed the script directly and said to Thomas: "You call Spielberg tomorrow and decline this invitation for me. Please give me the specific reasons." Find the right one.”

This was not the first time Thomas had done this. He said, "Okay, I'll go to DreamWorks tomorrow and return the script."

The Jewish forces in Hollywood are very powerful, and Martin will not conflict with them casually. Of course, he will not step on the project because he thinks there may be pitfalls.

It is normal for Jewish forces to dig holes, bury people, skin them and remove their bones, and we must guard against them.

Thomas collected the script and materials, put them into a document bag, and quickly said goodbye and left.

Martin continued to read David Fincher's director's notes. The above are David Fincher's personal notes as a director over the years, and they are also some of the experiences he has summed up in the director's position.

If he hadn't been working with David Fincher and had a good personal relationship, he wouldn't have been able to borrow this note.

In addition to David Fincher's, Martin also has some learning materials provided by Chad Staelski.

But Chad prefers action.

Just like the outside world's evaluation, Chad's writing and acting skills are average. What really shines are the action scenes.

Not long after watching, Martin received a call from David Fincher, asking if he was at the company.

Half an hour later, David Fincher entered the reception room with Netflix's content director Greg Peters.

Peters shook Martin's hand and said, "Thank you for that Seventh Son."

Martin smiled and said: "You're welcome, we are partners, it's just a phone call away."

After the bank obtained the rights to "The Seventh Son" from bankrupt Annapurna Pictures, it must have sold the rights to recover funds. Martin asked Harris to negotiate at that time.

But the bank was unwilling to spend $30 million on takeaways, and was planning to spend some money on a large-scale advertisement.

Seeing that there was no profit to be made, Martin simply called Netflix directly instead of being a middleman to earn the difference. Greg Peters finally bought the rights to "Seventh Son" for US$38 million.

Although the industry knows that this is one of a series of failed works produced by Annapurna Pictures and Megan Ellison, the majority of movie fans do not know much about it.

As a result, after Netflix promoted and packaged it on its own on-demand website, it became a $150 million magical epic masterpiece exclusively broadcast by Netflix.

The same work played on different websites will have different effects.

Just like those big data movies produced by Netflix in Martin's previous life, each one has a worse reputation than the last, but they have repeatedly set Netflix's on-demand records.

Those movies, to put it bluntly, are not made by Netflix for the public to watch, but for paying users and potential paying users.

"It's really a pity that you can't star in "House of Cards."" Peters has always wanted to invite Martin to join: "If you join forces with David, it will definitely be a hit."

Martin said: "My schedule in the past few years has been too tight, and we will have opportunities to cooperate in the future."

Peters added: "David is competing for the Oscar for Best Director. Netflix invested 3.5 million US dollars and bought a large amount of media space. The specific details are with David. You are more familiar with the Oscar than I am, so you can run it. "

"We will definitely make good use of these resources," Martin promised.

David Finch added: "Martin is very capable of winning the Olympics."

Martin laughed: "Now we just need the most conventional methods to maintain good publicity and exposure."

Peters said: "Netflix is ​​waiting for your good news."

Neither Martin nor David Finch was polite.

Netflix is ​​a commercial company, and there are certainly reasons why it can mobilize media resources for an unrelated movie.

After this Oscar ceremony, David Fincher will fully cooperate with Netflix regardless of the outcome. The first work will be the political drama "House of Cards" that Netflix has invested heavily in.

For Netflix, Hollywood's first-line director David Fincher and Oscar-winning director David Fincher are completely different in terms of publicity and attention.

Of course Netflix wants to work with Oscar-winning director David Fincher.

The three chatted for a long time in the reception room, during which they also talked about Warner Bros.'s new Justice League universe plan.

In the near future, DC and Warner will jointly hold a press conference.

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