Hollywood starts with an agent

Chapter 22 Unique Hobbies

At night, in a nightclub in Hollywood.

At the invitation of Quentin Tarantino, Aaron went to the bar with him to have fun. After selling a script, this guy became rich.

"The script for 'Natural Born Killers' can't be priced so low anymore. I just don't know when Tony Scott will adapt your 'Fatal Romance'?"

Aaron sat on the sofa, drinking and talking to Quentin from time to time.

"Aaron, it's up to you to decide. I didn't expect this script to be sold so soon."

Everyone in the family knows their own business. He also knows what Quentin Tarantino's script is like, and the story is actually very confusing.

Aaron noticed that Quentin was staring at the dancers' calves. "What are you looking at? There are so many girls on the dance floor. Just have a few drinks!"

Quentin Tarantino smiled and said, "I was looking at their feet. Which one is more beautiful?"

"Feet?" Aaron was stunned for a moment, then looked at Quentin Tarantino a few more times and found that this guy was really staring at other people's feet.

"Don't you care if someone has a pretty face, a sexy figure, big breasts, or a nice butt?"

"Go look at your feet!"

Quentin Tarantino looked at Aaron with a mysterious smile, "Aaron, you are still young and don't understand the beauty of this."

Aaron shook his head. Well, everyone has different tastes.

"By the way, if you have time, you can come up with a low-budget script for yourself and then find a way to film it;"

"We can test the waters at the Saint Denis Film Festival first. If we can gain some fame in the industry, it will be much easier to get investment for our films later!"

Aaron ignored why Quentin Tarantino liked women's feet so much and got down to business.

When Quentin Tarantino heard this, he thought about it seriously, but then said helplessly, "But we are all newcomers. Can we get investment?"

"To make a feature film, I think it would cost at least one or two million dollars!"

Aaron took a sip of wine and said, "First, polish the script carefully. When the time comes, we can work together to find a solution."

"Okay," Quentin Tarantino knew that Aaron Anderson was now a favorite of CAA head Michael Ovitz, so perhaps there was a way.

Aaron’s current thinking is this: he doesn’t want to pay, but he also wants to make the movie himself. With his current status, it’s quite challenging!
Some time later, Quentin Tarantino hugged a heavily made-up girl and prepared to get a room.

"Aaron, don't you want to go and have some fun?"

Aaron shook his head and said, "You go ahead. I'm busy lately!"

"Okay, see you next time," Quentin Tarantino said, kissed the gorgeous girl in his arms, and left with a smile.

Currently, the most important project in Aaron's hands is the distribution rights of Ninja Turtles commissioned by Golden Harvest;
The six major Hollywood distributors have no shortage of finished products, and their asking price for "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" is not high, as can be seen from the example of 20th Century Fox.

Therefore, Aaron focused his attention on the leading companies in the second-tier distribution market, including Columbia Pictures' TriStar Pictures, New Line Cinema, Samuel Goldwyn Films, and Orion Pictures;

As for other smaller distributors like New Century Pictures, New World Pictures, Miramax, and Trimark, Aaron wasn't even considering them. MGM United Artists was also a target, but after being acquired for the second time by Nevada casino magnate Kirk Kerkorian, the company's performance in the film and television entertainment market became erratic.

Afterwards, Aaron started visiting each house with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles project, but he didn't meet any important people;

Especially TriStar Pictures. Coca-Cola has just merged Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures to form Columbia TriStar Pictures Group, and now Sony is in final acquisition negotiations with Coca-Cola!

"It seems that the possibility of Samsung is very small now." After leaving Columbia Studios in Culver City, Aaron went to the last company he was optimistic about, Orion Pictures.

"Hey, it's you," Aaron actually waited for Pete Holman, the Orion executive whom he had met in the hotel room before, in the reception room.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Holman," Aaron still had professional ethics.

"This is an action film that fits the current trend of the times and is quite suitable for Orion!"

Pete Holman leaned back in his chair, took a sip of his coffee, and asked, "Does it fit the Orion constellation?"

"Do you know who Orion is working on a movie with right now?"

"Kevin Costner, and we have a lot of releases, and we don't see anything special about this Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."

Aaron smiled. "Is it the Kevin Costner western, Dances with Wolves, which he directed and starred in?"

Why did Aaron know this? Because Michael Ovitz had just successfully signed Kevin Costner this year and secured a $300 million salary for him.

Even Kevin Costner expressed his willingness to reduce his salary to $100 million, and the excess funds were used for "Dances with Wolves".

"The studios really don't like the way your CAA does things."

Pete Hoffman was already dissatisfied with not being able to enjoy Nicole Kidman last time, and now Aaron Anderson came to slap him in the face, so of course he was not polite.

Michael Ovitz's money-oriented approach has indeed offended too many people over the years. He piled up stars to bargain for high prices with the studios, causing the production costs of movies to rise sharply. CAA deserves a lot of credit for this!
"Mr. Holman, CAA is about business, not box office."

Pete Holman was a little impatient. "What do you think of buying the North American rights to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for $240 million?"

"We at Orion value profits, not projects!"

……

When leaving Orion, Aaron didn't feel disappointed or sad, it was just that the price difference was too big;

At least, New Line Cinema and Samuel Goldwyn Films have some ideas, but they need to see the results of the finished film first.

In July, Golden Harvest will wrap up filming of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and produce a rough cut. That's when it will be time to really discuss the price!
Orion is currently preparing two projects: Kevin Costner's first film "Dances with Wolves" and its sequel "RoboCop 2", which are its main products.

Aaron shook his head. The film Dances with Wolves had to go through many setbacks. It was easy for a new director to go over budget when directing such a large-scale film.

Except for "RoboCop 2", many of Orion's other projects have no profit prospects.

(End of this chapter)