Hollywood starts with an agent

Chapter 138: Very flexible

Buckinghamshire is close to London and has Pinewood Studios and Shepperton Studios, so most of the UK's film and television entertainment companies are concentrated here.
Film production companies, special effects companies, post-production sound companies, props companies, etc., form a very complete industrial chain.

After Aaron established the Dawn UK Films branch in Buckingham, he invested in the acquisition of a 40% stake in the Electric Cinema chain, a long-established British art cinema chain;

The Electric Cinema chain, like Landmark Cinemas in the United States, is a small art house cinema chain, but it is still very important to the nascent Dawn Pictures!
The head of Dawn UK films is Graham Bradstreet, formerly a partner at Studio Pictures, who left last year.

In the evening, Aaron took Catherine Zeta-Jones to an entertainment party hosted by PolyGram Films at the Ritz Hotel on Piccadilly in central London;

PolyGram Films has fully acquired the British independent production company Studio Pictures, greatly enhancing the other party's film and television development capabilities!
"Aaron, you've been doing quite a lot in England lately?"

Michael Kuhn smiled and clinked glasses with Aaron. Dawn set up a British branch and found a former partner of Studio Pictures to be in charge.

Not only that, it also invested in London's long-established art cinema chain Electric Cinemas, which clearly means that it will independently distribute its works in the UK.

Aaron took a sip of his wine and said, "There's nothing I can do. There are so many cinema brands now. I'm worried that there will be a new round of cinema mergers and acquisitions in the near future."

"Dawn is a young film company. We need to prepare in advance and have our own distribution channels in order to prepare for the expansion of these channels later."

Among the major Hollywood distributors, Columbia TriStar owns shares in Loew's Cinemas and Walter Reade Cinemas;
UIP (United International Pictures), a joint venture between Universal and Paramount, owns a 40% stake in the Odeon cinema chain, a large European cinema chain.

Warner Bros., Disney, and 20th Century Fox all own their own theaters to a greater or lesser extent and have participated in investments in some theater chains!

As for independent distributors in Hollywood, almost every one of them started out by operating cinemas.

During the Reagan era in the 1980s, the Paramount Act existed in name only, and the government even encouraged film companies to operate theaters;
However, due to the fierce competition and the complex scale and composition of cinemas, film companies are reluctant to waste energy on operating cinema chains and investing in shares in order to ensure their own distribution channels.

"PolyGram has also invested in Gramercy Pictures in the United States and will use Gramercy to distribute films in the United States in the future;"

"Perhaps we can continue our cooperation and sign a distribution agreement between PolyGram and Landmark Cinemas. In the UK, PolyGram's distribution channels can also help promote Dawn's works better!"

Michael Kuhn's opinion was very good, and Aaron certainly wouldn't object.

"Absolutely. If PolyGram has a good project that lacks funding, perhaps Sugon can provide some support."

Aaron smiled. PolyGram Films' main business was still British films. Even their Hollywood productions were mainly low-cost art films and romances.

Philips' positioning of PolyGram is still mainly in the record industry, and it has never thought about investing heavily in the film and television business.

Dawn is different. In terms of investment in movies, it is not comparable to PolyGram. PolyGram's distribution channels are the icing on the cake for Dawn.
The main reason is that Aaron has great confidence in Dawn. As long as they produce excellent works, other theaters will naturally take the initiative to distribute their own films.

After talking with Michael Kuhn, Aaron found Graham Bradstreet, “Dawn UK Films was founded, and I was going to develop a British-style romantic comedy;”

"The project is called 'Four Weddings and a Funeral.' The theme is about a man who's a frequent wedding attendee but is afraid of marriage. He meets a flirtatious foreign woman at a wedding, and the two of them attend four weddings and one funeral, ultimately marrying..."

"Four Weddings and a Funeral" is the work that will make Hugh Grant famous in the future. The humor of British romantic comedies is subtle, different from the Hollywood style.

"Four Weddings and a Funeral, if it's positioned as a romantic comedy," Graham Bradstreet thought for a moment. "When I was at Studio Pictures, I worked with a comedy writer named Richard Curtis;

"He wrote the screenplay for the hit British comedy Mr. Bean in the past two years. I'll take this idea to Richard Curtis for an adaptation!"

Aaron nodded. "This kind of romantic comedy is not expensive. I met British actor Hugh Grant in the UK before. He has a very good image."

"As for beautiful foreign women, Sophie Marceau from France is a good choice."

Since Four Weddings and a Funeral is a British comedy, the European market is definitely more important than the Hollywood market;

Hugh Grant is not well-known now, but Sophie Marceau is quite famous in Europe, which is just right!

"Well, I'll find someone to adapt the script first," Graham Bradstreet certainly did not object. The British film industry is really in a slump right now.

After the party, Aaron and Catherine Zeta-Jones returned to their villa in Hammersmith!
"A British romantic comedy? I'd like to play a supporting role in it, sure!"

On the bed in the bedroom, Catherine Zeta-Jones lay in Aaron's arms with a blush on her face.

After hearing Aaron talk about "Four Weddings and a Funeral", Catherine Zeta-Jones happily agreed;

"Mayflower Season 2" has been aired, and now she can only get supporting roles in some TV movies. Shuguang's movie is different, it will definitely be released in Hollywood.

"I guess it'll start filming in the second half of the year, once Graham finds someone to finish the script first!"

"No problem, I'm not busy. Right now I'm mainly participating in some commercial performances, shooting magazines and advertisements."

Aaron stroked the girl in his arms and said, "I have an appointment with director Ridley Scott to discuss a project in the next two days. If you are free, please come with me."

"It's okay, you can come over anytime," Catherine Zeta-Jones originally hoped to meet more important people by following Aaron.

"You've learned tap dancing before, right? If you act in an action movie in the future, will that be a problem?"

"Of course, no problem. I've won the UK tap dance championship before, and I've also performed in stage plays with a lot of dance performances."

"My body is quite flexible, so I should have no problem adapting to some action scenes!"

Aaron smiled and nodded.

Catherine Zeta-Jones had already guessed that Aaron was going to discuss an action movie with Ridley Scott.

"My dear, you should be aware of my body's flexibility..."

(End of this chapter)