Dominating Hollywood: Starting with Scarlett

Chapter 142 Chainsaw Negotiation
"Hello, is this the Norton Eye?" Jack Wilson stood in front of the door with his head tilted and repeated the previous greeting.

Jimmy stood up to greet him: "Hello? What's the matter?"

At this time, the receptionist lady had already gotten off work, and only a few of them, the so-called judges, were still fighting for the script.

"Jack Wilson, I'm a producer from Australia."

"Jimmy."

"Hello, hello." After Jack Wilson finished speaking to Jimmy, he walked into the hall and sat on the sofa.

When he saw the scripts piled up on the table in the hall, he opened his mouth in surprise.

"Oh my God."

"This is only part of it. We are conducting preliminary screening." Jimmy came to the opposite side of him and handed him a glass of water: "So do you want to submit your work?"

"Yes, that's right." Jack Wilson looked back and explained: "I have a few scripts in my hand, and I want to find a film company to see if they can be filmed. I think in your script competition, the gold and silver awards will be won Filming contract, right?”

"It's interesting. You can buy it. It just so happens that the company is currently short of such horror movie scripts."

Jimmy didn't rush to read it, just threw a piece of paper to him: "Then fill in the information."

"Then how do you think the treaty should be decided?"

"I understand." Jack Wilson nodded and left from the door of Angel Declaration.

"What do you think of this script?" Standing opposite him was his subordinate Maxson. He managed the submitted scripts and sent them to Mardi for decision-making as long as he thought they were good.

In addition to bonuses, gold scripts and silver scripts will receive a shooting contract, while the bronze script award has an option contract. Whether to sign it depends on the screenwriter himself.

After reading the first three books, he didn't read any further because they were all horror movies, and horror movie scripts had the highest probability of being shit.

Their bonuses are also very different. The Special Screenplay Award is US$2000 per person, the Bronze Screenplay Award is US$3000, the Silver Screenplay Award is US$5000, and the Gold Screenplay Award is US$10000.

He has been traveling around Los Angeles some time ago, but there has been no news. Now that he is in New York, he can also check out opportunities at other film companies.

So he folded the script on the table and left it alone.

"No problem." Jack Wilson picked up the pen and filled in his details.

"Yes."

"Horror Cinema", "Zombie Jack", "Non-Physical Horror".

Jimmy, who was sitting opposite him, crossed his legs and looked through the scripts.

At least Jimmy hasn't seen a script that makes him feel creepy so far.

Because there were many scripts, Jack Wilson filled out the form for half an hour before finally putting down his pen. However, by this time Greta and the others had already left, leaving only Jimmy.

Two days later, at MGM United Artists, Mardi, the director in charge of script signing, was holding a script at his desk and pondering it carefully.

唐德所制定的剧本大赛奖项里，一共分为4个奖：金剧本奖1名、银剧本奖1名、铜剧本奖1名、和特殊剧本奖5名。

After receiving a positive answer, Jack Wilson felt a little more at ease. He opened his briefcase, took out several scripts from it, and handed them to Jimmy: "This is the script I want to submit."

"Then I'll leave first. Oh, by the way, there's another question." Jack Wilson suddenly remembered before leaving: "If I submit this work, can I also submit it to other film companies?"

"Of course, it's your choice." Jimmy smiled: "It's just that you can't sign a script contract with other companies before the award is awarded."

"Just follow the C file. We just happened to have canceled several shooting plans recently. The budget of this film is very low, so we can shoot it together."

"Can you set it to B mode?"

"Unfortunately, I don't think so."

Category C is the minimum purchase standard set internally by the company, and it is not large in terms of resources or amount.

Maxon has worked conscientiously in this position for five years, and his ability to identify various scripts cannot be said to be dazzling, but at least it can be said to be astonishing.

He thought the premise of the film submitted by Jack Wilson was very interesting and might stand out among the crowd of plasma horror films.

But now it seems that Mardi has no such idea. He only thinks that this is a low-cost thriller, and audiences tend to prefer to watch big-budget and plasma films. "Okay." Maxon opened his mouth and whispered the last two words. He turned and left. Not long after, he saw Jack Wilson waiting in the conference room.

With his expectant eyes, Maxon pushed out the contract in his hand: "We are willing to buy this script."

"Great." Jack Wilson was very happy. He had been keeping this script for two years, but he didn't expect that it would finally be sold.

"And the company has free shooting plans recently. As long as the contract is signed, the shooting can begin immediately. Why don't we sign the contract now?" Maxon picked up a pen and placed it next to the contract.

"Uh..." Unexpectedly, Jack Wilson hesitated for a moment after reading the contract and had no intention of picking up the pen.

"What's wrong? Do you still have any doubts? The amount may not be high, but the share for subsequent films will be based on the market average. As long as this film can reach a box office of tens of millions, everyone can make money." Maxon thought it might be him. The purchase money given was not much, which made the producer hesitate.

But Jack Wilson was not hesitant for this reason at all. He just thought of the Norton Eyes script competition. His script has been submitted and it will take another week to get the results. If he signs a contract with MGM rashly now, he will definitely be sued. .

And he also wants to know whether the script in his hand can stand out. After all, the purchase price offered by MGM is relatively low, and it is also very low in the industry.

"I may have to communicate with the screenwriter." Jack Wilson planned to delay for a few days.

"Hmm... But I suggest you decide as soon as possible." Maxon saw his doubts and persuaded: "If we wait until next week, our film schedule may be full, and by then this work may not be released until next year. Start shooting."

Big film companies like MGM have no shortage of films at all. Every year, a large number of film projects are launched, and a large number are canceled.

Unlike a company like Lionsgate, which focuses on small-budget films, it can treat every stone as a treasure.

"Understood, I will reply to you as soon as possible." Jack Wilson took a deep breath, stood up, said goodbye to Maxon and left.

At the same time, Tang De also saw a new batch of scripts approved by Jimmy and the others. There were more than twenty scripts in total, neatly stacked on the table.

However, he did not immediately pick up a book to read, but looked at the names one by one. For him, finding the chainsaw was the most important, and the rest were just foils.

Tang De read the names one by one while carefully recalling the name of Saw.

As he was thinking about it, Tang De's hand suddenly stopped, his eyebrows were raised high, and he sighed: "It actually happened."

That's right, among the stack of reviewed scripts that Jimmy sent, there was a black folder with a white square of white paper that had been torn off and had rough edges, and three letters written on it with a black carbon pen.

"SAW".

It is the famous Chainsaw in later generations!
In fact, the original name of the movie means Saw, but the translated name of Saw sounds more in line with the temperament of the movie itself.

But that's not important. What's important is that it appears in front of Tang De now!
Tang De finally found gold in this script competition!
Then he briefly looked through the script and found that it was indeed that movie, and the characters, plot, and killing techniques all matched. So he immediately asked Jimmy to contact the producer, intending to have a good talk with him.

Jack Wilson didn't expect that just two days later, he would return to the Eye of Norton, but this time he was not facing Jimmy, but the person who actually made the decision in the company.

"Don, just call me that." Tang De took the initiative to say his name, and then poured a cup of tea for Jack Wilson.

"Don, I saw you at the Oscars, Best Cinematography! I didn't expect that, and what is this, it looks so cool."

Jack Wilson had never seen the Chinese tea ceremony and was very curious about Tang De's strange techniques.

"It's tea, very authentic. I hope you get used to it."

Jack Wilson tasted it, then sipped his lips: "I've had tea before, but this one tastes better than the ones I've had before, and it's not that bitter."

"Of course, this is white tea." Tang De said a few words to him briefly and then went straight to the point: "I have read the script you submitted. After the unanimous judgment of the judges and me, I feel that "Chain Saw" is very worthy of the gold medal. potential, so I want to discuss the contract with you in advance."

"I see, but I want to ask a few questions first."

Jack Wilson stated the questions he was most concerned about one by one: "If you win the award, when can you start preparations for filming? What is the specific budget range, and who will the director plan to hire in the end?"

Tang De saw that he was well prepared, especially seeing that he seemed confident and had a way out of what he thought. It seemed that other companies had also taken a liking to this script.

"If I win an award, the filming of the film will start preparations immediately. The budget is within 3 million for the gold award and 2 million for the silver award. As for the director, it is me."

Jack Wilson was a little surprised. He didn't expect that the Oscar winner for Best Cinematography would be the director himself, but when he thought about it carefully, he didn't find it strange. After all, the upper limit of the photographer's profession is still much lower than that of the director.

In addition, the budget proposed by Tang De really shocked his heart.

You must know that MGM's budget for this film was only 1.5 million.

(End of this chapter)