Chapter 31 33. The King of Extras Appears

In the morning, Eric received several calls, all of which congratulated the box office success of "Red Dragon".

Gadot and Bar Refaeli also called, and it seems that they are not underage girls who don't understand or care about anything.

What surprised Eric was that Elena, the female manager from JPMorgan Chase, also called him.

However, apart from their debt relationship, the two seemed to have no common topics. After chatting for a few sentences, he said he would have dinner together if there was a chance and then hung up.

It was almost time to get off work at noon when Judy came in with a thick stack of folders.

"Boss, this is what you want. We have screened the script library and after discussion, these should be more in line with the current market positioning needs."

That's right, what Judy was holding in her hands were scripts, to be precise, scripts for horror thriller movies.

Since returning to Los Angeles from Israel, in addition to helping the two girls arrange their work and life, Judy has also received a new job from Eric, which is deputy director of the script library.

When he first took over MGM, Eric arranged the work of searching for horror film scripts on the market, but not long after, the manager in charge resigned due to family reasons.

Due to being too busy with other things, this matter was delayed and the position remained vacant.

I originally wanted Billy to take over, but he is now fully focused on following George R.R. Martin and Thomas Harris, and is also in contact with Neil Gaiman. The other party's "American Gods" received widespread attention as soon as it was published last year, ranking at the top of the novel rankings, and the copyright has not yet been sold.

However, Eric is not optimistic about "American Gods", or rather, he is not optimistic about Neil Gaiman.

It’s not that Neil Gaiman’s novels are bad. In fact, his works are very readable, otherwise they wouldn’t be on the bestseller list. The problem is that the stories he describes are only suitable for print media, and if they are made into TV series, they will become a mess.

I remember that HBO got the copyright of "American Gods" at the beginning, but held it for four years and hired a lot of screenwriters and directors. The final conclusion was that the book was really not suitable for the screen, so it sold the copyright to Starz TV station.

Starz happily spent a huge sum of money to take over the project, and the average production cost of each episode was as high as more than 8 million US dollars, but the ratings were not satisfactory. It was a complete loss of both the wife and the army.

So even though Eric is not optimistic about "American Gods", he still thinks it's okay to buy it if the price is right because someone will take it.

In addition, Billy has discovered several pretty good works. He can't go back to Los Angeles several times a month, and this guy seems to prefer flying around rather than sitting in the office.

Seeing how much he loved flying, Eric simply gave him another task, which was to go to the UK to find Michael Dobbs and acquire the copyright for "House of Cards".

Warren is in charge of AK Films, keeping an eye on the "Sharknado" crew every day, fearing that the budget will go over. When we met last week, this guy told me the good news that he had lost 7 pounds.

Bordeaux is following up on the contract with Hasbro and is about to launch the third round of negotiations. It has been in New York for more than half a month.

After counting, Judy was the only one who had not been assigned any specific work, so this matter naturally fell on her.

"In addition to the ones in the script library, two people just came to sell their scripts. They didn't find an agency, probably because they are too poor to find one. But they are about the same age as us, so I met them. I think the script is quite interesting. Are you interested?"

Eric did not answer directly, because there are too many young people like this in Hollywood. Every day, there are a lot of newcomers who want to lobby major companies to buy their works, but only a few succeed.

Eric flipped through the script and asked casually, "What type? How much do they want? You know the system of the Writers Guild. If it's less than $50,000, you can decide for yourself. If it's less than $100,000, you can discuss it with other departments. You don't need to ask me for permission for such trivial matters in the future. Just go through the account of the special script fund."

The two prices Eric mentioned were the market prices in Hollywood in 2002, or about the lowest prices.

For a new screenwriter, unless he is so talented that no mountain can stop him from shining, the price of the script will not exceed $100,000. It is usually bought out within $50,000, and there will be no profit sharing or anything like that.

You mentioned that the Screenwriters Guild should defend their rights? What's the point of a newcomer defending his rights? If you don't accept it, just go find another employer. We are a buyer's market, not a seller's market.

Compared to the Actors Guild, the Writers Guild has a much weaker voice. Otherwise, why do you think Hollywood screenwriters go on strike every few years? Are they idle? They are forced to do so!

But of course, no matter how weak it is, it is still much stronger than China. China really doesn't treat screenwriters as human beings.

Judy hesitated for a moment and said, "It's a horror movie, but their requirements are a bit special. The script can be free, but the screenwriter wants to be the male lead. In addition, he can recommend his good friend to be the director. He can also not charge any fees, just a share of the box office."

"I think the script is quite creative and I want to buy it out for a high price, but this screenwriter is very stubborn and insists on binding his director friend. I really wonder if they are gay."

Eric stopped turning the pages and looked up, feeling that the requirements described by Judy sounded familiar.

A horror film, a combination of a director and a screenwriter. The screenwriter wants to be the male lead and forces the director to do it.

"What are the names of these two young men?"

Judy thought for a moment and said, "The screenwriter's name is Warner, and the director's name seems to be Wen, but I can't remember exactly. He's an Asian boy with a very unique hairstyle."

The latest novel is published first on Liu9shuba!

As Judy spoke, she seemed to think of something funny and laughed a few times.

Eric stood up and said, "Let me confirm, it's Ray Whannell and James Wan, right?"

Judy nodded hurriedly: "Yes, yes, that's the name, but why do you know it?"

Eric checked the time: "Are they still in the company?"

"He's already gone. I guess he's going to the next agency to pitch. He's a newcomer and doesn't have the money to hire an agency, so he'll have to run around on his own."

"Okay, stop complaining. Help me make an appointment with them. Just say we're going to have lunch together. I'm very optimistic about the script, and I want these two people too."

Unexpectedly, "Saw" actually came to him. Eric then realized that the movie was released in 2004. Now James Wan and Leigh Whannell are in a very difficult stage of soliciting investment, so it is time for him, an angel investor, to come.

"Saw" can be considered an evergreen in Hollywood horror films. It has been filmed to the 10th part. Even if you haven't seen it, you have heard of its name. It is definitely a hen that lays golden eggs.

That's too bad, Lionsgate should get out and MGM is going to steal the show.

Who appears more frequently in American entertainment, James Wan or Nolan?

(End of this chapter)