Hollywood Road

After a long period of back-and-forth negotiations, the two sides were getting closer and closer to reaching a consensus. Murphy once again participated in the negotiations with Bantam Books Publishing House and George Martin. After three fierce bargains, an agreement was finally reached. One≯Novel ＜＜﹤≦≦≤≤＜≤≤﹤﹤＜≤＜≦＜

Stanton Studios will pay Bantam Books and George Martin as much as US$15 million in one-time copyright adaptation fees, but the scope of copyright transfer is no longer limited to "A Song of Ice and Fire: Game of Thrones" Instead, it includes A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords.

In addition to the basic copyright fee of 12 million US dollars, Bantam Books Publishing House and George Martin also enjoy a 10% profit share of all aspects of TV series revenue.

This aspect is also the place where the negotiation dispute is the most intense. One party wants to share the full income, but the other party does not want to give it. Finally, an agreement was reached on the profit sharing.

For Hollywood, which relies heavily on sequels and copyright adaptations, such a deal is not too big a deal.

Paying a high price, Murphy certainly will not let George Martin go easily. The agreement stipulates that as long as the TV series project is approved, George Martin must participate in the screenwriting work, and the screenwriting fee will not be paid separately, and Stanton Studio enjoys Absolute right of first refusal to the later novels and the parts that George R. R. R. Martin is conceiving as yet unwritten.

Originally, Murphy wanted to do it all at once, but the other party was not stupid, knowing that once the TV series received a good response, there would be room for bargaining with Stanton Studio.

With almost no media knowledge and reports, Murphy, on behalf of Stanton Studio, signed a formal contract with Bantam Books Publishing House and George Martin in the Death Star building where CAA is located.

However, the preparation of the project will not start immediately. The preparation time for such a huge fantasy epic is far longer than that of ordinary movies. Compared with commercial movies, scripts are not paid much attention to. In the production of American dramas, scripts are extremely important.

George Martin had previously worked as a screenwriter in Hollywood. His ability and experience in this area are not a problem, but Murphy will not trust him blindly. Writing scripts and writing novels are completely different things. Apart from being in charge of reviewing scripts himself, Stanton The studio will also recruit suitable screenwriters from outside, and then spend at least one year to one and a half years to polish the script and formulate the first draft of the shooting.

Murphy has already figured it out. The work of Stanton Studios for a long time in the future is to prepare and shoot "Game of Thrones" episodes, but this is a long-term plan. According to his plan, before "Game of Thrones" , Stanton Studio is also finishing his new project "Gone Girl".

After securing the copyright of "A Song of Ice and Fire", Murphy transferred Paul Wilson, who had been involved in the negotiations, back.

At the same time, Seth Rogen also offered to be his assistant again, and the three completed the first draft of the script and the project proposal in the fastest time.

These were sent by Murphy to Bill Rosses and Kara Firth respectively, and they were also submitted to the relevant departments of CAA and 20th Century Fox respectively.

After the great sales of "Deadpool", Murphy is different in Hollywood. The new project is invested by Stanton Studios, and CAA is in charge of packaging, so the work progresses much more smoothly.

The shareholding structure of major Hollywood companies is complicated, internal powers are mutually restricted, and there is a complete set of operating mechanisms. Any work can be approved casually without someone saying it. This will indeed ensure the return on investment and reduce possible risks. , but on the other hand it seems to work a little slowly.

Murphy is the only shareholder of Stanton Studios, and he actually has the final say on the investment. Although outsiders view this mode of operation as having low risk resistance and blindness in investment, operating a film project , Compared with large and bloated companies, it is indeed much more convenient and faster.

After finalizing the first draft of the script, Murphy first went to 20th Century Fox, because the film needed a suitable dealer, and he also wanted to introduce part of the investment from 20th Century Fox. The most important reason was that the film relied on 20th Century Fox. Century Fox, and secondly, after spending a huge amount of money on the adaptation rights of "A Song of Ice and Fire", even now he feels huge financial pressure.

It is impossible for him to put all the funds into one basket. This is the simplest reason. Investments are bound to come with risks. The benefits of introducing Twentieth Century Fox as a partner far outweigh the disadvantages.

And with Kara Firth, cooperation will be more convenient.

Twentieth Century Fox also has the intention to invest, and there are not too many problems in terms of operation. After they pushed the investment to go through the review process, Murphy specially called Bill Rosies and Kara Firth together to have a serious talk. talk.

"I've contacted everyone on your filming team."

In the living room, Bill Rossis took the coffee that Gal Gadot handed over, thanked him first, and said, "They are already ready and ready to join the project at any time."

This is the advantage of having a customary shooting and production team, which can reduce a lot of unnecessary troubles and make the preparation work more concise.

"What about you?" Murphy looked at Kara Firth.

Kara Firth was holding the water glass Gal Gadot gave her, took a sip of lemonade, and said, "There is no problem with the trip, the trip fee will be 10%, and other aspects need to be reviewed in detail before going into details." Negotiations, but the huge amount of money that 20th Century Fox invested in "Kingdom of Heaven" and "X-Men 3: The Last Stand" cannot be recovered in a short period of time, and Dave Scola is promoting the independent film project of Wolverine. Now the financing is It’s a big problem, the investment can’t reach half of what you expected, at most it’s only one-third.”

"Fifteen million dollars?" Murphy frowned. The production cost he planned was around 45 million dollars. If 20th Century Fox reduces investment, Stanton Studios will face greater investment pressure.

He needs a certain amount of cash reserves as working capital, and at the same time to deal with some unexpected incidents, plus the one-time payment of the copyright fee of "A Song of Ice and Fire", the pressure of 30 million US dollars is still quite high.

Maybe get a bank loan? With his fame after "Deadpool", it must not be difficult.

You can also consider introducing some private equity funds...

In short, after going through the difficult stage of being unknown at the beginning, for a director with a global box office of more than 550 million US dollars, it will no longer be very difficult to attract investment.

Murphy nodded, "That's fifteen million dollars."

Kara Feith put down the water glass, "I will urge the company to complete the review process as soon as possible."

"I need you to be the producer again." Murphy was not polite, and said directly, "I need to focus on directing as much as possible, and I need someone I can fully trust."

"Yes." Kara Firth agreed first, and then said, "I have no problem this time, but it is impossible to take on this kind of specific work in your films every time in the future. Murphy, you need to find or Cultivate a trustworthy producer."

"I know." Murphy sighed lightly. This kind of person is a rare talent in Hollywood.

He also knows that Kara Firth is an executive of 20th Century Fox, and has the goal of continuing to go up. It is impossible to engage in specific work in a crew for a long time.

"Oh, that's right." Murphy changed the subject, "I conceived a marketing plan that fits the theme and plot of the film."

As soon as he said this, Gal Gadot, who had been acting as an audience, stood up, took out two documents that had been prepared from the bookshelf, and handed them to Kara Firth and Bill Rossis respectively.

Murphy smiled at Gal Gadot, and said, "Take a look first."

Kara Firth and Bill Rossis quickly flipped through it. They had read the script before, and it was not difficult to see that this was a marketing idea based on the plot setting.

"I think there is a certain degree of operability." Bill Rossis said first, "but it must rely on the platform of 20th Century Fox."

A shell company like Stanton Studios simply does not have the ability to execute such a plan.

"It's not feasible." Kara Firth completely disagreed with Bill Rossis' point of view, "This is a very, very good marketing idea."

After all, she came from a social journalism background. "As long as measures are taken, Murphy's plan is very likely to cause a social sensation and discussion. It will be very difficult for our film not to attract attention."

Bill Rosses thought about it, then nodded heavily, "It's doable!"

"In this case." Murphy said to his two partners, "then try to make it into a plan that can be truly implemented."

Gal Gadot looked at Bill Rossis, then at Kara Firth, and finally returned to Murphy. These three people... Well, they are just like each other, and they don't care about Murphy's plan at all. False propaganda may be involved, which will bring many negative effects.

Continuing to listen to these three people discussing the perfect plan, Gal Gadot suddenly found that he was really simple, kind, and a really good person.

"Bill, Kara, there's one more thing." Murphy had already stood up, "Apart from commercial and box office, I also want this film to do something during the awards season."

"You mean..." Bill Rosses understood immediately, "Academic awards?"

Kara Firth also became interested, "It's really a pity that such an interesting movie doesn't go to the awards season to disturb those stereotyped movies that were shot for awards."

However, this is all for next year, and the three of them just mentioned it, and they are not in a hurry.

Bill Rossis and Kara Firth left here quickly, Murphy sent them away, and Gal Gadot was also preparing to go out.

"Can I bring a copy of the script?" Before she left, she said, "I mentioned your story to Nat a few days ago. She is very interested and wants to read it."

The script has been filed with the Screenwriters Union and registered with the Copyright Office. Murphy nodded, but still warned, "Don't show it to too many people, remember to bring it back."

"Honey." Gal Gadot came over and kissed him heavily, "Thank you." (To be continued.)