Chapter 297: Movie Plans
[Chapter 297: Movie Plans]
Thinking of Harvey as an Oscar public relations expert, the future creator of Oscar-winning actors, Link decided to call Harvey Weinstein to discuss the awards campaign for Pulp Fiction.
The film had been co-produced by two companies, splitting box office revenues almost evenly. If the movie won any awards, Guess Pictures could expect to gain more ticket sales as well. However, it seemed that Harvey Weinstein was reluctant to collaborate with Guess Pictures unless Link provided $3.5 million to Miramax for the operation.
Link disagreed, insisting on the partnership between the two companies. He pointed out their successful collaboration on the Butterfly Effect and expressed hope that unnecessary conflicts wouldn't arise over this matter. Reluctantly, Harvey agreed.
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Link organized for Monica Lewinsky and others to join the Miramax public relations team to learn how the award campaign expert, Harvey, secured Oscars.
"Monica, remember, Harvey can be quite cunning and a bit flirtatious. You should be cautious while you're involved in the PR work. If any issues arise, don't hesitate to call me," Link advised.
"Sure thing, boss! I'll definitely be careful. I'm your girl, and no one can push me around but you," Monica replied with a wink.
After becoming a full-time employee at Guess Pictures, Lewinsky had gained some confidence. She no longer felt as constrained in her conversations and occasionally made flirtatious remarks with him, which amused Link.
Link smiled as he told her to get ready for her tasks.
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"Link, we've finished editing The Shawshank Redemption. There's a screening at the office tomorrow afternoon. Do you want to attend?" his executive assistant, Annie, inquired.
"Sure, make the arrangements," Link replied.
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After Annie left, Link continued to manage his workload. As the new year rolled in, the company faced a myriad of issues, including the upcoming release of new films, shooting schedules for projects, and ongoing acquisitions of production and distribution companies.
In addition to all this, he also had to deal with the dirty tricks being played by the Big Seven Studios. For instance, at the beginning of the year, three executives from the production and marketing departments left, along with fourteen other staff members. Luckily, Guess Pictures offered excellent benefits, and its reputation was growing, which meant many people applied for jobs. Losing a few staff members was a setback but hardly a disaster.
The Big Seven Studios had also been courting six promising film projects from Guess Pictures, including Foxfire, Freeway, and Gattaca. These projects were originally sought by independent film companies that struggled to secure funding. After gaining approval from Guess Pictures, the ambitious filmmakers received more enticing offers from the Big Seven, prompting them to switch allegiances.
As a result, Guess Pictures had to revise its collaboration agreements with other companies and increase penalties for breach of contract. Several directors, including Jan de Bont (Speed) and Chuck Russell (The Mask), were poached by the Big Seven, leaving some sequel projects on hold.
To counter this, Link had to work overtime preparing the sequel to Batman, planning to shoot additional films afterward to make up for the project shortages.
There were still other tricks, but effective actions from Link and the management meant that the overall impact was kept minimal.
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This year, Guess Pictures had eleven films scheduled for release, including Rumble in the Bronx, The Man from Earth, While You Were Sleeping, Butterfly Effect, Paranormal Activity 2, Ace Ventura 2, and To Die For. Almost every month would see one of their films debut.
They also had twelve films either in development or already filming, including Judie Foster's Hachi: A Dog's Tale, Michelle Pfeiffer's Dangerous Minds, Paul Thomas Anderson's first film, Hard Eight, and Sandra Bullock's The Net. They had Steven Soderbergh's Gray's Anatomy and Final Destination 2.
In addition, Link had secured projects like Scream, Primal Fear, and three collaborations with Columbia Pictures: Fight Club, The Fifth Element, and Jerry Maguire.
While the budgets for most of these projects were low and didn't classify as blockbusters, their box office potential couldn't match last year's hits like The Mask, Speed, and Se7en.
To ensure his films remained competitive at the box office, Link prioritized reading several screenplays to identify projects with box office potential.
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The next day, Link attended the screening of The Shawshank Redemption at Guess Pictures' theater. The film was remarkably faithful to the original, and it was hard to tell any differences unless one looked closely.
As the screening concluded, the audience erupted into applause, celebrating the cast and crew for producing a great film. As a producer and editor, as well as a cameo actor, Link was among the creative team, and he received a notification for box office bonuses afterward.
His involvement in the film was 16%, receiving 1.3 times the box office bonus, with an additional 2% director's physical fitness bonus. Although minimal, any reward was better than none, and the 2% physical fitness bonus was more effective than two months of continuous workouts.
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After the screening, Link met with Tim Robbins in the office to discuss his new screenplay, Dead Man Walking, which told the story of a killer finding redemption through the power of faith and humanity before execution.
While the film's box office potential was uncertain, its artistic merit was high, and it showed promise for awards -- making it a worthy investment. Tim hoped to direct it, with Susan Sarandon as the lead, and invited Link to take on roles as producer and editor.
After some consideration, Link agreed, making it the thirteenth film Guess Pictures would participate in this year.
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[T/N: Gong Li came to visit Link in office to discuss script of Chinese Box. It tells the story of a terminally ill British journalist who came to Hong Kong and fell in love with a Chinese woman on the eve of 1997.
After meeting her in Golden Globes party (Chapter 294), Link went on a date with her and then went to her apartment.
Link decided to invest in the project, giving her a with a salary of $200,000. And she decided to please him, and he accepted her gratitude. Chapter's original title "the big desk in the iffice finally found its purpose" was thus justified.]
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During their collaborations with Guess Pictures, Link ensured all of his girlfriends received better compensation.
On one hand, he had the financial means to support them through this method, while on the other, it helped raise their profiles and secure more substantial pay on other projects.
Among his girlfriends, Michelle Pfeiffer had the highest salary at $12 million, and Sandra Bullock earned $5 million after the success of Speed. Monica, Jennifer Connelly, and Renee Zellweger were below the $5 million mark and were continuing to improve their chances.
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Ding-ling-ling!
The phone on the desk rang. It was his assistant Annie calling to inform Link that Daniel DeVito wanted to discuss work.
*****
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