Zhou Yan and the others briefly chatted with Catherine and then went to check in.
Brigman sat in Zhou Yan's room for half an hour and then stood up to leave. After all, he was a busy man and it was not easy to come to pick up Zhou Yan in person.
Tomorrow is the celebration party for "The Sixth Sense". As a producer of the film, he has a lot to do.
Originally, Bregman wanted to treat Zhou Yan to a meal, but Zhou Yan said that he had just eaten on the plane and was not hungry, so Bregman gave up.
Not long after Bregman left, Zhou Yan picked up the phone in the room and dialed.
"I'm Zhou Yan."
Hearing the call from Zhou Yan, Chris on the other end of the phone said happily, "You have arrived at the hotel? What is the room number?"
"1201. "Zhou Yan reported his room number.
"Okay, Teacher Zhou, please wait for me."
After saying that, Chris hung up the phone.
About two minutes later, the doorbell of Zhou Yan's room rang.
Zhou Yan walked over and saw Chris standing outside through the peephole.
Opening the door, Zhou Yan smiled and said, "You came very quickly."
"I'm downstairs, you can come up by taking the stairs."
I know Zhou Yan today When he came to the United States, Chris arrived a day early and checked into the hotel where Zhou Yan and the others were staying. Today he has been waiting for Zhou Yan's call.
"Please come in."
Inviting Chris to the room, Zhou Yan smiled and said, "There is no tea here to entertain you."
"You're welcome, have you had lunch? "How about we go have lunch together? There is a restaurant nearby that serves pretty good steaks. It's not too far to walk there."
Zhou Yan waved his hand and said, "Let's eat steak next time." I had a meal on the plane and I'm not hungry at all now." Zhou Yan went to open his bag and took out a script, "This is the English version of "Shutter Island".
This. The script was translated just the day before. Since Zhou Yan was coming to Los Angeles, he brought it to him.
He also knew that Chris was in a hurry, so he just handed the script to Chris without much greeting.
Chris took the script and turned it over with a smile, "Excuse me, Teacher Zhou, I will take it to the company as soon as possible."
Zhou Yan directly started the customer-repelling mode, " If there’s nothing else, just go quickly.”
Although he was sent away, Chris was quite happy because he didn’t want to waste any more time here. He nodded and said, “Okay, wait for me. There is news here, and I will notify you as soon as possible.”
“Well, you can come to me before tomorrow morning. Let’s make an appointment after noon.”
"Understood."
After saying that, Chris stood up and left directly.
......
After leaving the hotel, Chris rushed to the company without stopping and handed the script to Terry Semel.
Terry Semel was originally dealing with other things, but when he heard that Zhou Yan's script had arrived, he put down the work at hand and read the script attentively.
While he was reading the script, Chris was waiting beside him.
Chris believes that Terry Semel will be impressed by this script.
The result was not what Chris expected. When Terry Semel read the script, he burst out laughing and said, "Chris, you did a great job. This script is very good and worthy of our attention." Take it down with all your strength."
Chris smiled and said, "Should I go and talk to Y directly, or should the company send someone else to talk?"
Terry Semel thought about it. I thought and said, "It's better for you to talk to Y. After all, you are familiar with each other, and your Chinese is good, which makes communication easier. He shouldn't stay long in the United States this time. We need to resolve it quickly."
"Yes, the key is that he has many things to do. In addition to the celebration party for "The Sixth Sense", he also has to handle the soundtrack work for "Titanic". I heard that Tomson has arranged for him Some other activities, so his time is relatively tight these days. Before coming, he also told me that I can go to him directly before noon tomorrow. After noon, I will make another appointment." Reese said.
"In this case, you should go back to him as soon as possible. Even if the specific details cannot be finalized in a short time, we must discuss the general direction of cooperation. Otherwise, I am worried that something will happen. This time he is here to attend the celebration banquet of "The Sixth Sense". No one knows whether Colombia will jump out halfway."
Chris nodded and asked, "Then my authority. ..."
"For less than 1.8 million U.S. dollars, you..." mid-sentence, Terry Semel paused for a moment and then said, "For less than 2 million U.S. dollars, you can make the decision. "
The main reason is that the cost of scripts has increased rapidly in the past two years. Some famous screenwriters sell a script for more than three million US dollars, or even four million US dollars.
For example, Shane Black wrote the script for the upcoming movie "The Secret Service" that will be released this year, and it was directly auctioned for a high price of four million US dollars.
Although Zhou Yan is not a well-known screenwriter, his reputation in the film industry is not bad at all, and his scripts will definitely not be cheap.
Two million US dollars, in Terry Semel’s opinion, is considered more sincere.
Chris also thinks that two million US dollars is quite good, so he is quite confident in getting this authority, "Okay, I will talk to Y now."
" Oh, and also." Terry Semel said again, "If possible, let's see if there is any hope that he can score this movie. His score is very popular now."
"What about negotiating rights for the soundtrack?" Chris asked.
"You should test his tone first. It would be best if you can finalize the script first."
"Okay, I understand." Chris was not in a hurry to leave. , he asked again, "What if Zhou Yan asks about the film's budget, director and casting?"
"Don't take the initiative to say these things. If he wants to ask, just increase the budget to 40 million US dollars." As mentioned above. You should ask him what he thinks about directors and casting. Didn’t he say last time that he had a favorite director? "
"He mentioned it to me before. Just wanted to confirm.”
"Whatever he has in mind, you should verbally agree to it first."
Chris nodded, "I understand."
......
Chris knocked on Zhou Yan again When I opened the door, it was just after five o'clock in the evening.
At this moment, Zhou Yan is writing a score in the room. He promised to write another piece of music for Shizuka Kudo before, but he didn’t just say it casually. He plans to write the piece during this time, and maybe wait until Shizuka will be able to record when she comes to Yanjing after a while. When he heard a knock on the door, Zhou Yan put down his pen, stood up and took a look. He was surprised to see Chris standing outside the door.
Opening the door, he asked in surprise, "Chris, why did you come so fast?"
"Our company is not very far from here." Chris smiled, "And We are very eager to cooperate with you, so we came back without stopping."
Zhou Yan nodded, "From what you said, your company is interested in this script."
"Of course, the script of "Shutter Island" is very good. The company has decided to buy this script. What do you think about the cost? Screenwriting fees in Hollywood are generally around half a million US dollars now. Well-known screenwriters include I hope to get more than one million US dollars. Our company attaches great importance to you and will definitely give you a higher price as appropriate.”
Zhou Yan didn't know much about screenwriter fees in Hollywood, but he felt that there was something wrong with the numbers Chris mentioned.
"Don't talk to me about the screenwriter's fee. Go talk to Zhang Youan. Don't you know each other?"
Chris was stunned for a moment. He had already thought about a lot on the way. Maybe, he just didn't expect that Zhou Yan wouldn't discuss screenwriting fees with him at all.
This made him a little confused. When they wanted to buy "Spring of the Cowherd Class" before, Xu Feng could logically make the decision himself, but Xu Feng insisted on asking Zhou Yan, and in the end it was Zhou Yan who vetoed it. .
Now when it comes to the screenwriter fee, Zhou Yan can decide it himself, but he must be asked to talk to Zhang Youan.
Some screenwriters have agents, and they really like to have agents help them negotiate business, but usually, the general direction is negotiated by the screenwriters themselves, and only when some details are involved will they go to the agent to contact them.
After all, the cooperation model between screenwriters and agents is different from that of artists.
When it came to Zhou Yan, it was the other way around.
Is this a negotiation strategy between Zhou Yan and Xu Feng?
Thinking of this, Chris did not give up. He continued to fight, "How about you tell me your thoughts first, so that when I talk to Zhang Youan again, it will be more efficient. I think, even if If Zhang Youan talks to me, he will definitely come and ask you what you think.”
Zhou Yan shook his head and said, "No, Zhang Youan has full authority to decide on screenwriter fees. There is no need to ask me. If you talk to me now, it will be a waste of time, because what I talk to you cannot count. After all, I I don’t know much about the market in Hollywood. And Zhang Youan is in the United States now, so it’s easy for you to contact him.” , can the three of us talk together?"
Zhou Yan shrugged, "I have no problem, but you have to see if Zhang Youan has time."
Chris nodded. I called Zhang Youan directly.
He has quite frequent contact with Zhang Youan, and he also knows Zhang Youan’s contact information in the United States.
The call was quickly connected, and Chris quickly told Zhang Youan what had happened.
Zhang Youan told Chris that he was still in New York, but would arrive in Los Angeles tomorrow morning. If he wanted to have a face-to-face interview, he could wait until tomorrow morning.
Chris secretly thought about it and decided to wait until Zhang Youan comes tomorrow morning before they talk, so that the matter can be settled quickly.
After making an appointment to meet tomorrow morning, Chris hung up the phone. Then he turned to Zhou Yan and said, "Teacher Zhou, I have made an appointment with Zhang Youan to meet at your place tomorrow."
Zhou Yan nodded, "Well, you just need to make an appointment. I don't actually have any requirements for screenwriting fees, but I have some requirements in terms of copyright."
Chris's eyes lit up when he heard Zhou Yan talk about copyright requirements. No matter what, just negotiate the terms.
"Tell me, what are the copyright requirements?"
"We have to wait until Zhang Youan comes to talk about it, but I want to tell you in advance, "Shutter Island" I will change this script into a novel, which will be published and sold by then, so the copyright for this aspect must be agreed upon.”
I heard that Zhou Yan is going to adapt “Shutter Island” into a novel and publish it. , Chris was even happier, because it was a good thing for them.
Although this novel may not be a hit, it will play a positive publicity role for the movie.
For the promotion and distribution of movies, it is best to have a complete set of configurations. Combining movies with novels is a very good way. There are also reasons why so many movie companies like to adapt novels into movies.
A movie with an original novel has an inherent advantage.
"Of course there is no problem. If you agree, we can also negotiate based on the film and television adaptation rights of the novel."
"You can just tell Zhang Youan about this."
Ke Reese nodded, "You said before that you have a favorite director, can you tell me about it now?"
This time, Zhou Yan did not try to be too pretentious, but directly told Chris a name, "Martin Scorsese."
Hearing this name, Chris blinked and was quite surprised. Because he really thought about Martin Scorsese before.
After reading the script, Chris was thinking about which directors would be suitable for this movie. Many names flashed through his mind, and Martin Scorsese was the one he thought was more suitable. Bit.
Zhou Yan wants to invite Martin Scorsese, which is both a good thing and a bad thing.
Martin Scorsese is indeed suitable for making this kind of movie, but the problem is that Martin Scorsese is not easy to hire. He is not the kind of director who can be hired with a little money.
Among all Hollywood directors, Martin Scorsese's commercial goals are relatively weak, and he has his own persistence.
However, if the script can impress Martin Scorsese, things will become very easy.
The key question now is whether Martin Scorsese will be impressed by this script.
Although Chris feels that Martin Scorsese is suitable for this script, this is all his subjective opinion. As for what Martin Scorsese will think, he cannot be sure.
But in order for Zhou Yan to hand over the script to them, Chris said with great confidence, "Since you want to cooperate with Mr. Scorsese, then we will definitely try our best to satisfy you. In fact, our company cooperates with Scorsese We have a very close cooperation with Mr. Seth. You know, the movie "Goodfellas" that he won the Silver Lion Award for was a collaboration with our company."
Of course Zhou Yan knew about "Goodfellas" and he also knew that the film won the Silver Lion, but he didn't know whether Scorsese and Warner had close cooperation.
It is normal for these well-known directors to have some cooperation with major Hollywood companies.
Zhou Yan also thought about many directors, but after much deliberation, he still felt that it would be better for Martin Scorsese to shoot the movie. After all, he shot the original version, and the effect was very good.
Scorsese is not a young director, and his current style is very mature, so there should be no problems if he is allowed to shoot.
As for actors, although DiCaprio performed well, there are many actors who can replace him, such as Kevin Costner, who just starred in "The Sixth Sense", and one of the original candidates, Bruce Willis.
The acting skills of these two people are very good, and their box office appeal is not bad.
In addition to the two of them, Zhou Yan thinks Tom Hanks is also very good. The key is that Tom Hanks has a strong box office appeal and is in the first echelon. (End of this chapter)