Hollywood starts with an agent

Chapter 97 Good opportunity, don't miss it

In the morning, in the hotel room.

Aaron woke up hugging Salma Hayek. "When you're studying acting now, you'd better change your accent. It's not easy for Latinos to get roles!"

"Yeah, I know," Salma Hayek leaned on the man's chest, "Remember to call me when you have time."

"Don't worry, you're so attractive, I can't bear to let you go. I'll consider you when Shuguang finds a suitable role!"

Aaron said, patting the person in his arms.

Salma Hayek smiled and whispered something into the man's ear, but Aaron rolled over and pressed her down, blocking her lips...

Aaron thought the night with Salma Hayek was pretty good, at least she had a really good figure;
However, Aaron didn't take it too seriously. If he came across a suitable role, he would recommend it to her.

At Dawn Pictures, Aaron hired a head of marketing, Brad Gray, 33 years old, who is good at marketing!

"You're familiar with the company's situation. 'Boyz n the Hood' was released in March, 'The Silence of the Lambs' was released in April, and 'Ghost' was released in June."

"They are all co-produced with Sony. As for the co-produced "My Own Private Idaho," the distributor is Heritage Entertainment. It's an art film, so the release scale shouldn't be very large."

Brad Grey's main job now is to focus on the distribution coordination of these films.

"understand!"

In the afternoon, Esther Beckett came to Aaron's office.

"There's a novel that was published a few years ago. It didn't sell very well. It's called Forrest Gump. We asked the production department to buy the rights to adapt it into a film."

Aaron thought of this movie when he thought of "The Shawshank Redemption". The novel "Forrest Gump" was published five years ago, but because it only sold tens of thousands of copies, no one was interested in the adaptation rights.

This kind of good opportunity must not be missed!

"Forrest Gump, okay," Etheline Beckett heard and left.

Aaron then leaned back in his chair, drumming his fingers on the table. As for The Shawshank Redemption, it was based on Stephen King’s novella Rita Hayworth and The Shawshank Redemption;

It's a movie about a prison, without any exciting action scenes or love stories, so its commercial value is very low!
However, Aaron did know that The Shawshank Redemption did have a low box office, and it was only after the advent of DVDs that it became famous;
But it cannot be denied that "The Shawshank Redemption" is a good movie with strong themes such as humanity, redemption, and persistence.

However, since Stephen King's works are quite popular, most of the adaptation rights have already been sold!
Sony Studios, Culver City.

The crew of "The Silence of the Lambs" came specially to take a set of promotional photos. Director Jonathan Demme, actors Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster, Scott Glenn and Ted Levine were all there.

Aaron and Jonathan Demme stood together, looking at Anthony Hopkins not far away, and couldn't help laughing, "Anthony's Hannibal will definitely become a classic image in film history;"

"I really like the elegance in prison and the image of the mask in the play. Buying this movie is definitely one of the best decisions I have ever made!"

Jonathan Demme also echoed this, saying, "You young people seem to really like these horror movie characters."

Aaron crossed his arms and touched his bald chin. "Hey, 'The Silence of the Lambs' is not just a simple horror movie. It should be classified as a thriller or suspense film."

Jonathan Demme nodded and said, "I hope it will be a good result!"

"I will," Aaron said, patting Jonathan Demme on the shoulder.

"Orion will definitely regret this decision when the film is released."

"Regret it?" Jonathan Demme shook his head.

"Aaron, you may not know that Orion not only sold "The Silence of the Lambs", but also prepared to sell another film "The Addams Family" that was currently being filmed;" "Orion is in contact with Paramount and is preparing to sell the unfinished "The Addams Family" to Paramount!"

Aaron frowned. "I heard the budget is $3000 million. Is Orion really willing to spend that?"

"Well, it's Orion's most expensive film, mainly because Dances with Wolves is a long-running film, and the returns are too slow. Selling The Silence of the Lambs isn't enough to plug the hole;"

"If you could sell 'The Silence of the Lambs' before, you can definitely sell 'The Addams Family' now!"

There is no way. Orion does not have any valuable works on hand now. "The Silence of the Lambs" and "The Addams Family" are relatively high-investment works and are worth some money.

The Addams Family, based on the comic strip from the 1930s, is a dark family comedy directed by newcomer Barry Sonnenfeld;

This is also his directorial debut. Barry Sonnenfeld was previously a photographer for the Coen brothers and has a lot of experience in the noir style. They originally wanted to invite Tim Burton to direct "The Addams Family", but the two sides had disagreements.

"What a shame! 'The Addams Family' should be wrapping up soon, right?"

If Aaron had money, he would also like to buy "The Addams Family".

"We've filmed about three-quarters of it. Paramount offered a good price: $2200 million for the North American distribution and production rights!"

Jonathan Demme explained that, after all, the international distribution rights for “The Addams Family” were held by Columbia TriStar;
$2200 million to buy the North American distribution rights is about the same.

As expected, Sony's bid is definitely not as high as Paramount's!

Orion was about to file for bankruptcy protection last year, and the sale of "The Silence of the Lambs" and "The Addams Family" was also to overcome the crisis.

Not long after, when Aaron was about to see Mike Medver, the head of TriStar Films, he met producer Gary Foster.

"Hey, Aaron, good afternoon!" Gary Foster was a CAA client and knew Aaron Anderson.

"Good afternoon, are there any new projects?"

Aaron started chatting with the other person in the corridor.

"Yes, it's a romance film. Samsung Films bought the script last May, but after the adaptation, I've never been satisfied!"

Gary Foster said this with a helpless look on his face.

Aaron shrugged. "The average preparation period for a film is two to three years. Sony has a lot of projects going on right now."

“It’s not easy to get investment from them for ordinary scripts.”

If you want big directors, big stars, or big-scale projects, you can still go to Sony;

Of course, if you finance the filming yourself, it will be easier to negotiate with them for distribution!
Gary Foster looked at Aaron and suddenly asked, "My script is a romance. Are you interested in reading it?"

Dawn Pictures invested nearly $2000 million last year in the fantasy romance film "Ghost." Gary Foster has a romantic drama on his hands, and this budget is enough.

Perhaps Aaron Anderson would be interested?

"Romance movie?"

Aaron nodded. "Romance films are cheap to shoot, so they're suitable for Dawn Films. You can send the script to Dawn first and I'll take a look."

"Okay, I'll have someone send it to you as soon as possible!"

(End of this chapter)