Hollywood starts with an agent

Chapter 287 Soul Figure
The restaurant at Disney headquarters in Burbank.

Michael Eisner invited Michael Ovitz to lunch and again proposed that he hope he could join Disney and become his partner!

Michael Ovitz thought this was a good idea. "Partner, someone who co-manages the company, right?"

"Just like my relationship with Ronald Mayer at CAA!"

Michael Eisner was silent for a moment. "Movie groups are different from talent agencies. In the United States, there's no precedent for a company with a shared chairman."

Michael Ovitz nodded. "Let me think about it for a while."

"By the way, what's going on with Jeffrey Katzenberg now?"

Michael Eisner sighed, "I have distributed the work to other people. Jeffrey and I are now in a cold war;"

"He has a deep obsession with becoming the president of Disney. I don't want to see him appear anymore!"

Michael Ovitz was helpless, it seemed that the two men had reached a point of no return;
Jeffrey Katzenberg is also preparing his own way out, which is to persuade Steven Spielberg to start a film company with him.

On the other side, at the Dawn headquarters, Nancy Josephson came to Dawn Television with the TV script "Pride and Prejudice";

Under the arrangement of Aaron Anderson, Dawn Television and the BBC jointly purchased the script to develop a new version of "Pride and Prejudice".

At the same time, because Aaron wanted to reach a new in-depth cooperation with the BBC, he instructed Jovan Adams, president of AMC Cable Network, to negotiate with the BBC!

"My Best Friend's Wedding" grossed $1.1 million in North America and $1.4 million overseas, bringing its global total to $2.5 million.

Immediately afterwards, Aaron also flew from Los Angeles to London, England!
Dawn UK hosted a launch event for Sense and Sensibility at the Savoy Hotel in London, hosted by Graham Bradstreet, Head of Dawn UK.

The film's director Ang Lee, and actors including Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant and Kate Winslet were in attendance.

Sense and Sensibility was actually the first work published by British female writer Jane Austen. It was not a hit when it was published.

Phantom Studios has had the idea of adapting the novel for several years. Phantom Studios' president, Lindsay Dolan, had worked with Emma Thompson on the film "The Last Days", and shortly thereafter, Lindsay Dolan chose Emma Thompson to adapt "Sense and Sensibility" into a film script.

“How did they choose director Ang Lee?”

Aaron asked Graham Bradstreet nearby.

Graham Bradstreet took a look and laughed, "It's because of Ang Lee's trilogy about his father, the style is very suitable;"

"In fact, when the script was handed to Ang Lee, it had already been adapted into several versions. His previous films were also stories about the conflict between rationality and emotion;"

"Taking over Sense and Sensibility is also a new attempt for him!"

As for choosing Emma Thompson as the film's leading actress, it was mainly because of her fame;
Emma Thompson is the screenwriter of the film and also holds the title of Oscar-winning actress. Her joining can not only speed up the preparation of the film, but also ensure the quality of the film.

At the same time, when Emma Thompson was writing the script, she hoped that Hugh Grant would play the role of Edward Ferrars in the play. After reading the script, Hugh Grant also praised Emma Thompson's script and was willing to reduce his salary to perform!

Aaron looked at the young Kate Winslet not far away, who played the supporting actress role in the play;
The future famous Rousi is now just a 19-year-old newcomer!

Aaron nodded. "Director Ang Lee's style is very delicate, and his works always have different meanings." "Perhaps, Shuguang can continue to cooperate with him in the future."

"Sense and Sensibility" takes love and marriage as the main theme, describing the completely different views on love and marriage displayed by two sisters, one rational and the other emotional.

The main theme of Jane Austen's novels, when dealing with the relationship between sex, emotion and marriage, basically ignores the existence of sexual factors, and instead places the importance of marriage above emotion.

These factors are similar to Eastern Confucian culture and intellectual beauty. Jane Austen's novel reveals anxiety and fear about love, and emphasizes that marriage is the key for women at that time to gain social recognition and life security!
The contrast and transformation between rationality and sensibility, this duality that can be transformed into each other, may not be common in Western culture. On the contrary, Chinese people are more likely to understand its meaning.
Director Ang Lee, who is good at expressing delicate emotions, can use the conservatism and implicitness of Oriental people to interpret the elegance and reserve of British classical culture.

"By the way, what is producer Richard Curtis up to lately?"

"Shuguang's romantic comedy script 'Notting Hill' is very much in line with his style!"

Aaron then asked Graham Bradstreet for his thoughts on the script idea.

The British romantic comedy "Four Weddings and a Funeral" released last year was written and produced by Richard Curtis;
Aaron has been preparing the script idea for "Notting Hill" for a long time, and it is time to officially start preparations.

"Richard Curtis, who produced and wrote a comedy for the BBC this year called The Vicar of Tiborough, which is about to be broadcast."

“Next, I will invite him to adapt the script of Notting Hill and start production!”

Graham Bradstreet already knew the explosive power of this kind of romantic comedy from the success of Four Weddings and a Funeral;

Of course, the importance attached to "Notting Hill" is extremely high.

However, Richard Curtis is indeed quite busy, after all, he developed the Mr. Bean and Blackadder series;
Now he is developing the series "The Vicar of Tiboree", which is enough to prove Richard Curtis's advantages and abilities in the romantic comedy genre!

Aaron touched his chin and asked, "Didn't Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson ever think of adapting Mr. Bean into a movie?"

The Mr. Bean series was co-written by Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson;

The soul of the series, Rowan Atkinson, is also a British comedy master and has a certain influence internationally.

"Adapt Mr. Bean into a movie?"

Graham Bradstreet thought about it and it seemed that this was indeed feasible. All he had to do was negotiate with the British ITV (Independent Television Network) channel for an adaptation.

Could it be that ITV will refuse the olive branch extended by Shuguang?

"I think it's okay. We can first discuss it with Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson;"

"After all, these two are the souls of Mr. Bean!"

Graham Bradstreet was going to approach Richard Curtis to develop the Notting Hill project anyway, so having another Mr. Bean movie wouldn't be a big deal.

And in "Mr. Bean", Rowan Atkinson is definitely indispensable, as he now represents Mr. Bean.

(End of this chapter)