Chapter 1781 Chapter 1781

Barry Meyer naturally does not need to grovel in front of Hugo, but for businessmen, as long as it is profitable, they will never cherish the gold under their knees. Hugo, the steamed bun—at least for the last year—is like the “Big Apple” that everyone wants to bite into.

At this time, Barry has already taken the absolute lead. He doesn't want to give up, but he also doesn't want to completely delegate power, because the residual value of Hugo, the cash cow, has just begun to be tapped. Therefore, how to grasp the scale has become the most important topic in Barry's heart.

Rick hopes to replicate the trajectory of "Independence Day" and sign a contract with the "L.A. Confidential" crew; but Barry doesn't want this. He also hopes to dig more from the creative artist agency and William Morris agency. possibility. But Hugo's words just now put Barry in a predicament - he originally thought that Hugo was just an actor and didn't pay much attention to the brokerage company, so he definitely wouldn't be as difficult as Rick, but he ignored it. Even as an actor, Hugo's demands could spell trouble.

However, Hugo's last sentence made Barry's eyes shine. Because, Kevin Spacey is under the creative artist management company, and Kevin Bacon's current contract is still in the hands of the international innovation management company.

It can be seen that although Hugo still intends to hold the casting rights in his hands, at least there is room for maneuver. If it works well, even if the actors of "LA Confidential" are packaged to Endeavor Elite Management Company, but don't announce the list of actors for the time being, and still spread the casting news according to the original plan, then he still has a huge room to operate...

If necessary, Barry does not mind using tough methods to confront Rick head-on, but this is only the last solution; if possible, Barry hopes to reach a cooperation in a friendly situation, both parties are happy and beneficial to each other.

In the blink of an eye, Barry's head has already turned several times. But on the surface, Barry remained calm and showed a look of embarrassment. Although he didn't say much, the meaning couldn't be more obvious. Barry lowered his eyes slightly, but did not reply to Hugo immediately, but paused, and then changed the subject, "You just said that there are two questions, so what about the second one?"

All these signs indicated that Barry did not agree with Hugo's words, but he was concerned about Hugo's face, so he did not refute directly. That's why I chose to listen to the second condition first.

Except for Tom Cruise, no actor has taken over the position of producer before, so now everyone is crossing the river by feeling the stones, speculating about their own rights, and trying to work out a suitable production company. cooperation method. Whether it's Barry or Rick, the reason for hesitating is actually because they are probing.

Although Hugo has his advantages, he really doesn't know much about the production business, and it is inevitable that he will be a little bit cautious at this time. But Hugo's biggest advantage is that once he decides to do it, he will never give up lightly. For "LA Confidential", he doesn't care what plans Barry and Rick have, but his bottom line is inviolable—even if it ends up falling apart.

Hugo looked at Joseph who was sitting on the side from the corner of his eyes. Joseph was not nervous at all at this time, but he gave Hugo a positive signal with a calm face, which made Hugo calm down a little, and then went to He said, "A question about cost."

This made both Barry and Joseph look surprised. Obviously, neither of them expected that Hugo would have any idea about the cost of the movie. You should know that calculating the cost of a movie is a very complicated task. The use of film, studio rental, crew salaries, shooting location rental, and related equipment costs have not been calculated in detail. It is impossible to give an approximate range.

Similarly, when shooting a comedy movie, why do some projects only need 20 million dollars in investment, while others cost 60 million U.S. dollars like a black hole? Computing companies among them are not that simple.

Hugo felt the surprised expressions of the two people, and felt a little embarrassed in his heart, because he really didn't know anything about the cost of the film, but now he remained calm on the surface, did not show any uneasiness, on the contrary, he still showed a confident smile, " I am willing to accept box office dividends as salary, but the condition is that the cost of the film must be more than 40 million U.S. dollars."

"Hugo, do you have a source for this data?" Barry only needs one sentence, which is enough to make Hugo speechless. Joseph, who was sitting by the side, couldn't help but squeeze a cold sweat.

Hugo forced himself to calm down and not to panic because of Barry's question. He put his hands on his knees and leaned his upper body slightly forward, "Barry, have you read the script? You know that at the end of the movie, there is a shootout to break the plot. Is it a climax?" Hugo used his most familiar way to reintroduce the topic into his rhythm.

Barry couldn't help being stunned, "Yes, of course I know."

Hugo nodded, "Just now you mentioned that Curtis thinks that this movie does not need any visual effects, so the cost can be controlled within 30 million." Hugo said step by step, although Barry wanted to interrupt the rain Guo, but he could faintly sense that Hugo was definitely not aimlessly aiming. He couldn't help but frowned slightly, leaned back, raised his chin in a defensive posture, and signaled Hugo to continue, "But I think that statement is wrong. I have considered whether to discuss this issue with Curtis in detail, but I think it may be more straightforward to talk to you."

"I think that in the part of the final decisive battle in the movie, we need to make the scene a little hotter and break out all the conflicts, so that the movie can really push to the climax. Therefore, for this part of the decisive battle, I hope to make the scene The shooting was bigger, maybe there were more extras, maybe it was to increase the explosion scene, maybe it was to use some visual effects to really create the feeling of a big scene.”

In the words of Hugo, in simple terms, it is to make the climax part worthy of the name to be a climax.

In fact, this is also one of the biggest shortcomings of "LA Confidential". This classic crime movie, in the era that Hugo is familiar with, won acclaim when it was released, but it was not a hit. The box office is only 126 million US dollars. The real profit of the film comes from the video tape rental market, which has won the hearts of countless audiences.

Of course, the box office fell far short of expectations for a number of reasons. However, one of the important reasons is that the foreshadowing and brewing in the first half of the movie are in place, but the climax part seems too hasty and weak, and it can't really detonate the contradictions of the plot completely, making people always feel that something is missing. It is a great regret to have to say.

Barry stared at Hugo in front of him, stunned for a moment, looked at Hugo carefully, but found that Hugo's expression couldn't be more serious, he couldn't help laughing, "So, you mean, I hope commercial movies Come up with the style of a commercial movie."

"Yes, that's what I mean." Hugo replied in the affirmative without hesitation. A good story needs to be told in the right way, otherwise it may ruin a good script. Adding some necessary scenes is a necessary supplement to the story.

Barry laughed sincerely this time, "So, Hugo Lancaster, suggest that I add explosion effects to a movie to make commercial movies more commercial?"

But Hugo didn't feel shy at all, and spread his hands, "Barry, 'Independence Day' is one of my medals, isn't it?" This brazen statement made Barry laugh out loud, and couldn't even help it. I clapped my hands twice, and my emotions were truly released.

"Of course, of course, absolutely." Barry nodded repeatedly, smiling, "I think, I understand what you mean."

"Our wish is to make the movie better, isn't it?" Hugo said calmly and confidently as he leaned back on the sofa chair.

Barry disagrees with this sentence. His wish is to make the film more profitable, but he has no way to refute Hugo, because he knows that the reason why Hugo has achieved today's position is because of his keen sense of film. The sense of smell has a unique view on the script, the characters, the entire rhythm and structure, and is dubbed the golden touch master by insiders. Therefore, he wants to use Hugo to seek more benefits. On the matter of film works, he should be more open to accept Hugo's opinions.

Barry quickly realized that the purpose of Hugo's words was to imply the "two problems" just now. After all, Hugo still started from the perspective of the movie itself, and he hoped that the movie would be excellent. That's the difference between Hugo and Rick, and it's the difference between Hugo and Barry.

"Of course, this is the root cause of our filming, isn't it?" Barry didn't say what was in his heart, but echoed Hugo's words.

However, Barry did not continue to mention the 20% box office dividend, because he knew that they were actually trading power for money, and he hoped to use the 20% dividend in exchange for Hugo's box office appeal. power, as well as the attraction of "Hugo Produced" to Hollywood; Rick hopes to use Hugo's reputation in exchange for the further development of Endeavor Elite Brokerage Company, and more box office dividends; Hugo hopes to use his appeal and Pay for the film in exchange for more control over the work, making the work even better.

The question now is how they should find a perfect combination point to make everyone happy. Barry needed to go back and think again, and Rick presumably needed the same amount of time to think. The first round of confrontation ended temporarily, and Hugo relied on his outstanding performance—unknowingly—to bring the situation under control for the time being, and only waited for the second round of confrontation.

Starting from "Independence Day", with the growing influence of Hugo, the interests involved in the circle have become more and more complicated. The greater the benefits, the greater the risks, and no one will easily compromise.