Chapter 55: Harvey Is In a hurry

[Chapter 55: Harvey Is In a hurry]

"Boss!" Two of his subordinates came rushing in excitedly.

Gore seemed to have sensed something; his joy was evident.

"Sit down and talk," Charlie waved to Melche, sending the others away before sitting on the sofa and glancing at the two men with a smile. "I guess you already figured it out. That's right, since Corleone Studios was established, we've only developed one project. For a company with distribution capabilities, the performance was quite poor. We need to arrange at least three theatrical releases a year. Also, we have to establish the content acquisition system."

Charlie scratched his head. Starting a company was really complicated!

"We might need to have frequent board meetings to perfect the company's organizational structure," Charlie took a deep breath. "Let's not chat about that now; project production can't stop. Initially, I planned to develop a sequel to Fifty Shades of Gray first. But for now, we have to work on Wrong Turn."

Kevin and Gore both gave affirmations.

The novel for this project was already on the market. According to Locke's data reports, the market reaction hadn't been very enthusiastic.

This wasn't surprising; the thriller and horror novel market was fiercely competitive.

Charlie continued to release content in novel form mainly to secure copyrights early and create his own content sales channel.

The door opened by Fifty Shades of Gray couldn't simply be closed.

Previously, he had intermittently discussed new project development with the two.

This time, Charlie laid out a clearer plan. "Gore, I've seen your short films and commercials; they're excellent. I believe you're fully capable of directing a full-length horror thriller feature!"

"Thank you!" Gore grinned and nodded. "Actually, boss, I've already sketched some storyboards and character profiles for Wrong Turn. I'm very confident about the future."

He pulled out a small notebook from his pocket.

Inside were many pencil drawings, showing quite impressive artistic skills.

Charlie flipped through it, nodding repeatedly. "I'm really glad my team is so passionate. Gore, you'll not only direct Wrong Turn but also be one of the producers."

"Thank you, boss! I can't wait to get started!" Gore was positively beaming.

Hollywood was cutthroat. Even though he had won awards in advertising, starting a directing career on a feature film needed a great opportunity.

Plus, at Corleone Studios, Gore was still a senior executive. He had endless hopes for the future.

"I want the budget for this movie to be around ten million," Charlie discussed the project's specifics. "We'll start immediately; the first payment of $300,000 will be transferred to a dedicated account the day after tomorrow. I want to establish a dedicated studio to run this project long-term.

I'll serve as executive producer. Besides that, my only suggestion is that this have to be a series. You and the writing team, Garen and the others, need to set up a complete world framework. Any questions?"

'So, we're fully responsible for this project?'

Having only worked on one theatrical feature, then getting a chance to lead a project independently -- it was quite the opportunity.

Kevin was also deeply moved by Charlie's trust.

Both nodded without any suggestions.

Kevin asked, "Boss, what do you mean by world framework?"

Charlie smiled. "It's not just a simple trilogy. You need to find a core character or a magical object that can link to worlds like Saw. The stories are standalone, but if needed, we can develop more interrelated works once there's a viewing base."

"Like Marvel and DC Comics?" Kevin's eyes lit up instantly.

"Exactly!" Charlie said, "Of course, it won't be easy. Don't let the audience feel too much upfront to avoid affecting the story's independence. This is just us setting up the framework in advance so if the project succeeds and there's demand for development, we can do it."

"That's an interesting proposal; boss, you have so many ideas," Gore happily said.

This kind of interconnected universe, which Marvel later overplayed, was already becoming common. Many trilogies, like the existing Batman series, had done similar things.

Charlie didn't mind setting it up early.

Whether it would harm core content innovation in the entertainment industry was none of his concern.

The three then discussed the plan in depth.

Charlie's idea was to keep the world framework as a base but focus mainly on this series. Future multi-project crossovers would depend on market development.

Kevin and Gore fully agreed with their boss's proposal.

Doing this wouldn't affect the project's development, so why not?

Afterward, Charlie talked about the rough salary plan.

All copyrights of Wrong Turn belonged to Corleone Copyright Management, i.e., Charlie himself.

As a well-known author with successful film adaptation experience, Charlie intended to take $800,000 as copyright fee, project establishment bonus, credit, box office revenue share, etc.

He even intended to take $30,000 as a screenwriter fee since his world-series concept was an important credited writing contribution at Corleone Studios.

In short, he took all he could without shame.

It was important to distinguish company money from personal money. This also helped with expanding costs, accounting, and tax avoidance.

Charlie's shares would count as costs. Then they'd discuss Kevin's and Gore's salaries.

Neither were union members yet. Although Charlie wouldn't immediately give them enormous pay that would be unsustainable later, he didn't mind giving them the basic union pension shares upfront.

Salaries would be a fixed base plus performance. Performance pay would be negligible; Charlie's portion would be deducted from the adjusted total revenue after distribution.

Their fixed salaries were around $80,000 and $100,000 respectively, with Gore getting the bigger share. For newcomers, this was not bad at all.

After energizing them with the money talk, Charlie said, "You can quickly reach out to Garen, Gert and others to build the project team. Aside from executive producing and funding, I won't interfere."

"Got it, boss."

"Yes, we won't let you down."

Riding the Corleone fast track, their careers accelerated rapidly, bringing much joy.

...

In the office, Charlie stretched and called Locke to check on How to Train Your Dragon's publishing.

Locke said the book was signed with Judy's publisher, who offered only a 10% royalty.

But they promised significant resources for market promotion, which was enough.

Holding the rights gave Charlie many future opportunities.

He was more concerned about the British book he'd mentioned.

"Have you found it?"

"No. Where did you hear that name? It might not even be on the market yet," Locke was puzzled.

"Okay, keep an eye out and inform me immediately of any news!"

Charlie's greed was normal. Seeing ten steps ahead was typical for a capable business owner.

Becoming a Hollywood mogul was tough. The upper structure was set; without rapid development methods, you'd end up under a big company's umbrella.

...

At two in the afternoon, Charlie personally greeted Harvey at the company entrance with Etto and Mord. "Welcome, my brother! As one of the board members, I've been looking forward to your inspection!"

Harvey chuckled awkwardly, used to Charlie's shameless slick talk. "Better say that to Eisner too. At the meeting two days ago, he nearly threw an ashtray at my head. I heard you're managing Good Will Hunting effectively? Great. Then let's get started on Peter Jackson's project soon. You'd better come up with a solid plan. If it can't fully meet expectations in a few years, I'll have to be Eisner's obedient dog, and you'll be mine!"

*****

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