Made in Hollywood

"Tina? When did you arrive?"

Just after walking out of the VIP passage, Duke found that in addition to the people from Warner Asia branch, there was his personal assistant Tina Fei waiting here.

"I got off the plane two hours earlier than you." Tina Fei stood beside him habitually, "I want to notify you, but your phone is blocked."

Duke took the latest Nokia model out of his briefcase, turned it on, and followed the Warners out of the airport.

Sitting in a Mercedes-Benz waiting outside, this man named Johnson said, "Director Rosenberg, we have reserved a room for you and Miss Tina Fey at the Peninsula Hotel."

"Thank you." Duke nodded, "Let's go to the hotel first."

After the car started, the other party said again, "Mr. Phil and his deputy are negotiating with Mr. Yuan and Mr. Cheng respectively, and they can't come to see you until the afternoon."

Duke frowned. "They still won't budge?"

"Yes, they killed the price and didn't let go."

The specifics will be discussed after meeting the head of Warner's Asia branch. Duke said nothing, looked at Tina Fei, who was trying to maintain his spirits, and shook his head.

"Tired?" he asked. "Sleep for a while."

Tina Fey knew Duke's temper and didn't refuse, she said with a smile, "I'll close my eyes and call me at the hotel."

Now that there are outsiders present, the specific situation in London is not suitable to say, and also affected by the jet lag, Tina Fey closed her eyes and fell asleep quickly.

When Tina Fei felt someone shake her arm and opened her eyes, she found that the car was parked at the door of a hotel. She quickly pushed the door and got out of the car, helped Duke carry the briefcase, and walked into the hotel elevator. Then came to the luxury suite area on the top floor.

Entering the presidential suite, Duke sent a few words to the people who left Warner, dragged the luggage into the master bedroom, and pointed to the secondary bedroom after coming out, and said to Tina Fey, "Let's go and get rid of the jet lag first."

"Let's talk about work first."

Go to the bar in the living room of the suite. Tina Fey skillfully made a pot of coffee, brought it over and poured a cup for Duke and herself. Sitting on the sofa, sniffing the aroma of coffee to refresh herself, she talked about her negotiation in London. .

"Author Joanna Rowling is a single mother, just a rookie writer, and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is her first official work."

Listen to Tina Fey. Duke took a sip from his coffee cup and said, "Keep it simple."

Tina Fey smiled at Duke and continued, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone didn't sell well. It didn't bring about substantial changes in Rowling's embarrassing life, and she herself lacked confidence. I'm not optimistic about the prospects of this work. In fact, she is the best to do it. The negotiation has dragged on until now, mainly because I told you on the phone. Her book agent is a bit difficult, and her second The first draft of the work has been completed and is being revised..."

"Tina, you did a beautiful job." Duke recognized Tina Fey's work. "If the movie sells well in the future, you will be the vice president of Duke Studios."

"A dozen vice presidents?" Tina Fey murmured, and added, "If it wasn't for her book agent, for a maximum of $200,000, we could get the Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone movie. and surrounding copyrights.”

"You're doing a pretty good job of talking about $240,000."

Duke remembers very clearly that Warner Bros. used $250,000 to get these copyrights, not to mention that Tina Fey did not only talk about "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", but also bought them at the same price. "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" related copyright, in addition to the two sides signed an agreement, Duke Studio has the right of first refusal to other follow-up works in the series.

The current "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" has not been on the market for a long time. Just as Duke thought, without a huge publicity and promotion, the sales volume is very small. According to what Tina Fei has seen, Joanna ? Rowling is just in a state of just getting out of government relief.

If he can't even take advantage of the fire at this time, then he doesn't need to be in Hollywood.

Thinking about what to do with the Harry Potter series next, Duke and Tina Fey went back to their bedrooms to rest due to jet lag. By the afternoon, their spirits recovered a lot. After a phone call with someone from Warner Bros. Asia , met together at the western restaurant of the Peninsula Hotel in the evening.

Warner has been in contact with Yuan Heping and Cheng Xiaodong on behalf of Duke, and has made a lot of efforts for this, but little progress has been made.

"Phil, I didn't expect us to meet here."

Sitting in the booth of the western restaurant, Duke handed the phone to Tina Fey and greeted the owner, a former Warner Bros. assistant manager who used to work in Burbank. , the two are acquainted.

"I haven't seen you for a few years, and your name is even louder."

After Duke and the two finished ordering, Phil handed the recipe to the waiter and pointed to the city outside the window, "Even here, you are a top-level director like Spielberg, everyone knows. "

Turning his head and looking at the pedestrians passing by outside, Duke's eyes returned to the opposite side, "Phil, let's talk about the specific situation."

"Although Hong Kong movies have declined, people in the film industry still maintain their inherent shrewdness." Phil didn't go around in circles and said directly, "They know that we want from them, and kung fu is not something that can be solved within Hollywood, so The sky-high price was offered. Cheng and Yuan should have reached a tacit agreement, and both insisted that they would not let go of 2 million US dollars."

"No room for bargaining?" Duke frowned.

"The earliest they offered was $5 million." Phil smiled helplessly, "This is the result of negotiations along the way, and it should reach their psychological bottom line."

$2 million is at best the salary of a second-tier Hollywood actor. It doesn't seem to be too much, but the action direction is definitely not worth the price, even if they have skills that Hollywood does not have.

Duke knew very well that these people in Hong Kong wanted to slaughter him as a fat sheep.

But is the fat sheep really so easy to slaughter?

That's right, with yellow skin, black eyes and black hair, he looks very kind, but he is not stupid enough to bring this emotion into business negotiations, and will the other party consider him a compatriot? Even if you are a compatriot, you will not be merciful when you strike a knife.

Nor will he forget. Many people working in film in this city are actually something...

"So there's no room for discussion?" Duke asked.

Phil sighed, "I've had three rounds of talks with them at this price, but they haven't made any progress. They also have enough confidence. The other action coaching teams here have a clear gap with them."

Duke nodded, "I see."

If it really doesn't work, then give up kung fu. This is not the only way to show program conflicts. Other fights can also be designed to be cool enough.

Duke was never a rigid person, and he never considered anyone indispensable. Even if that person is himself.

However, for a company like Warner, which has long entered the Hong Kong market, the means are not just open negotiations.

Phil suddenly said, "Duke, you may not know. Cheng and Yuan are successful not only because of themselves, but also because they have a mature team under them, and those people are as important as assistant directors and photographers. The director. Although the two of them won't let go, the people below may not. Warners are looking for someone to contact their team privately. The city is going through a drastic change. I understand the mentality of many people, and there must be many people who like to go to Hollywood. Development. Want to make dollars.”

Looking at this guy, Duke is sure that this is still Phil, but there seems to be some yellow things under the white skin. Obviously, he has been inspired and infected a lot in Hong Kong in the past few years.

"There are other aspects."

Obviously, Phil represents the attitude of the entire Warner. They can be said to do their best. "Warner has business dealings with some of Yuan's friends and partners, and they can always affect him from the side."

As with all Hollywood-style negotiations, negotiations are never limited to the negotiating table.

Phil went on to assure that these private tactics had progressed and would soon give Duke a result.

Since Warner is enthusiastic and proactive, Duke has no reason to refuse. This is the first time in his life that he has come to Asia, so he simply took Tina Fey around the city.

It's April 1997, and the city will undergo drastic changes. Duke and Duke are not focused on visiting. They just wandered around a few famous attractions, and then continued to communicate with Warner to understand the progress of the event.

His time is limited, and it is impossible to wait here indefinitely. If there is no ideal result in the near future, it is better to give up and choose other fighting methods.

Perhaps it is the upcoming changes in the city that are exciting. In the news from Warner, after several rounds of contact and a certain price, some people in Yuan Heping's team soon expressed their desire to go to Hollywood to develop, even Under the intentional provocation of Warner and some people with interests, these people connected to more people.

As long as people with a little vision, it is not difficult to find that Hong Kong movies have already declined, and Hollywood is the world's film center. From the outside, there are higher salaries and more opportunities, and there are people such as John Wu and Jack Chen, etc. After the success, there is a precedent for both fame and fortune in the world. How many people are really not tempted by fame and fortune?

The most sturdy fortress disintegrates from the inside. Just like Duke at the very beginning of this matter, some things cannot develop completely according to personal wishes. Duke wants to invite Yuan Heping with a bargaining chip of about 500,000 US dollars. The team, the other party insisted on $2 million.

When the heavyweight members of his subordinates expressed their willingness to change jobs one after another, some of them faintly showed signs of going to Hollywood even if they turned their faces, and even after many partners stood up or persuaded or analyzed their interests, even Yuan Heping had to make a decision. Compromise, just like the director's production team, the action direction is not something that can be done alone. In the new round of negotiations with Phil, the two sides finally found a balance and reached an agreement on the issue of compensation.

Yuan Heping and his team will act as the action director of The Matrix, with a total compensation of $800,000.

Because of this series of incidents, Duke was too lazy to see Yuan Heping again, leaving Tina Fei in charge of completing the final negotiation with the other party, leaving the city and returning to North America. He has lived in this world for twenty years. Over the years, it has become clear where the roots now lie. (To be continued ~^~)

PS:  Three more completed~~Seeking all kinds of tickets~