American Entertainment: Starting with playing the role of Little Beaver

Chapter 116 The Genius Boy and the Corrupt Official

Now that Warner Bros. has officially decided to split the Goblet of Fire movie into two parts, it is inevitable that they will push the production schedule at a frantic pace, given that the release date of the Goblet of Fire has already been set and is less than two years away.

In this process, budget design, venue construction, and actor recruitment are all the producer's and director's responsibilities.

Right now, there's only one thing related to the actors: negotiating a contract renewal with Warner Bros.

Regarding the contract renewals, what kind of contracts would the others receive? Isabella didn't know, but as for herself...

It's confirmed.

Previously, on HP, Isabella and Warner Bros. reached an agreement for two movies to be signed together.

Together with "Azkaban" and "Goblet of Fire," she earned £1200 million in salary.

Since she had 'nothing' at the time, a price of 600 million per unit was not a problem.

but now?
Warner Bros. offered her £1500 million to participate in the production of "Goblet of Fire Part II".

Although there was still no revenue sharing, Warner Bros. extended another invitation to Isabella, wanting to co-develop the bestselling novel "The Devil Wears Prada" with her.

Warner Bros. offered £10 million plus 1000% of the entire franchise's revenue and the novel's rights to invite Isabella to serve as the project's producer.

If she stars in the project, she will receive a performance fee of £20 million plus a 2000% share of all profits.

The project must commence within two years of the contract signing. If it is delayed or cancelled, for example, if Warner Bros. does not acquire the rights to develop the Prada novel, Warner Bros. will have to pay Isabella £5000 million.

The figures in the contract are indeed outrageous, but that doesn't matter.

The main purpose of this contract is to make up for Isabella's rightful earnings in "Goblet of Fire Part II".

And to be honest, spending £6500 million (official salary + compensation) to hire someone who can create intellectual property to make a movie is not expensive.

This is truly a friendly price given our long-standing partnership.

Like Spielberg...

Regardless of profit or loss, as long as he personally produces a film, his personal income will not be less than nine figures.

At the same time, Warner also extended an invitation to Chris Columbus.

Warner Bros. hired Columbus as producer and director of "Prada" for $10 million plus 1000% of the company's profits.

Well, since there's a project, let's settle the accounts together.

If Prada fails to launch, Columbus will still receive compensation, but the exact amount is uncertain.

Isabella didn't ask.

Then, in addition to the supplemental agreement for Goblet of Fire Part II, Warner Bros. also signed a development contract with Isabella regarding Order of the Phoenix, or rather, they will sign similar contracts with everyone in the HP creative team one after another.

The contract contains many specific details, but they can be summarized into two points:

1. If Goblet of Fire is successful, then Order of the Phoenix will also be discontinued and remade.

2. If Goblet of Fire is not successful, Order of the Phoenix will still be produced, but production will return to a single-part sequence.

The reason for this agreement is simple: neither Warner Bros. nor Isabella knew whether the film splitting up would work.

Furthermore, neither side is willing to easily give up the HP IP.

Therefore, in order to protect their own interests as much as possible, Warner Bros. chose to tie everyone to the chariot in advance. They were afraid that everyone would run away after the failure of "Goblet of Fire", especially Isabella, because Isabella has her own IP.

Warner Bros.' thoughts coincided with Isabella's. Isabella personally felt that if "Goblet of Fire" lost hundreds of millions of dollars, Warner Bros. would probably be crying their eyes out. Therefore, she also hoped that the production of "Order of the Phoenix" could be finalized as soon as possible.

Uh……

Could this be considered a two-way journey?

Cough cough cough.

Then, the different outcomes brought Isabella different benefits.

If it's disassembled and filmed—

Isabella will receive a total of $40 million in salary for "The Order of the Phoenix (Parts 1 & 2)".

2000 million per unit.

At the same time, Isabella will also receive a 'blank deal' from Warner.

Warner Bros. will commit to developing two new projects with Isabella within two years of the start of filming for Order of the Phoenix.

It's primarily Marvel-based, but not the only one.

Isabella's highest earnings on a single project are 30+30.

That is, 30 million + 3000% of the total dividends.

Furthermore, the blank agreement did not include any participation clauses.

There is compensation available even if the contract is not fulfilled.

Warner Bros. pays Isabella $6000 million per game.

Simple calculation:
If the split-film adaptation of "Goblet of Fire" goes ahead, Isabella's salary for a single film in "Order of the Phoenix" will be at least 8000 million.

All transactions are conducted in British pounds.

If the development of *Order of the Phoenix* were to revert to a single-part series—

Isabella will receive $1500 million for her role in "The Order of the Phoenix".

The 'blank agreement' will still exist, but the content of the agreement will revert from two projects every two years to one project every two years.

The highest income of 30+30 will also shrink to 20+20.

The compensation has also been adjusted back to the present, decreasing from 6000 million to 5000 million.

In other words, if the dismantling and remaking of "Goblet of Fire" fails, then even if "Order of the Phoenix" is still produced, Isabella's salary for this project will only be the same as that for "Goblet of Fire Part II"—£6500 million.

It won't reach the 8000 million that would follow success.

Although it's still a lot, this price is actually paying the price for failure.

You've failed...

It's impossible to expect something in return.

Then, 'blank contracts', which do not specify any particular project, are very common in Hollywood.

For example, James Cameron currently has a blank agreement with Fox.

After the success of "The Big Ship," Fox, in an effort to secure Cameron's support and prevent him from working for other studios, offered him a blank contract. For the next ten years, from the date of signing, Fox could finance whatever Cameron wanted to make.

Fox thought they had made a profit, but no one expected that Cameron would only make one movie in ten years.

It's Avatar.

Moreover, when Cameron was making Avatar, he asked Fox for money, and his first question was always, "Give me two hundred million dollars."

The Fox News employees were stunned, but they had to give in.

If they don't give it to them, they'll have to pay a penalty for breach of contract for a blank contract, which is worth more than 200 million.

For example, Spielberg had previously signed a blank agreement with Universal.

He's signed time agreements like Cameron's, and he's also signed independent agreements that only specify the number of films to be made, without time limits.

In summary, there are many people who engage in curve trading; Isabella is neither the first nor the last.

With the work concluded and the contract signed, Isabella and Rowling returned to London together.

The flight, which lasted more than ten hours, left them very tired.

But as soon as they got off the plane, everyone perked up.

Because Vivian and Catherine's phones kept ringing.

Pick it up and take a look...

Good guy!
They're all SMS notifications from the mobile carrier!
They had a ton of missed calls, mostly from Hogwarts kids.

This fact made Rowling chuckle and say goodbye, "Oh~ Isa~ You've got a lot going on~ Hope your head doesn't spin~"

Upon hearing this, Isabella immediately rolled her eyes at Rowling.

Then, while waving, he instructed his mother and older sister to call back in order.

Then--

Egg Girl: "Oh, Isa—are you still in America? Are you still in Los Angeles? Has Warner Bros. contacted you?"

Radish: "Isa! David Heyman called my dad and said he wants to renew his contract. Do you know what's going on?"

Young Master: "Isa, Warner Bros. contacted my mom today, saying that 'The Goblet of Fire' is going to be made into two movies? And 'The Order of the Phoenix' is also going to be made into two movies? What's going on? I don't think I've ever heard of any of this before!"

Ginny: "Isa, my mom had someone look at the contract, and they said there was nothing wrong with it, but... what the heck is this 'dismantle the contract' thing?"

The barrage of questions made Isabella feel like she had truly become a know-it-all.

Faced with the questions posed by her friends, she could only say—

"The whole thing is actually just as you see it: Warner Bros. decided to split 'Goblet of Fire' into two parts for filming."

"The idea was proposed by Chris, and Aunt Anne voted in favor. Since I was in Los Angeles at the time, I also took a look. Chris's plan was indeed great, or rather, he hoped that HP would get better and better."

"Therefore, I supported him."

"But you cannot give up your own interests because of our approval and support."

"We should still fight for the pay we deserve, even if it means delaying the project."

Yes ~
This is why Rowling said Miss Beaver would be very busy.
Isabella's current position in the HP project is actually quite strange.

From the perspective of the participants, as an actress, she was on the same table as the Hogwarts kids.

However, once she owns her own IP and can influence the will of industry giants, she can also get to the table with investors and keep an eye on the progress of projects.

This leads to a very real problem.

Whenever something big happens on set, the Hogwarts kids will ask her about it, and then...

She would then hear countless beeps.

To be honest, listening to too much of this nonsense can make you dizzy.

But if I don't reply, something will feel off.

So, Isabella had no choice but to tell everyone the 'truth'.

Regarding the issue of contract renewal...

To be honest, Isabella originally thought that Warner Bros. would have a very long time to negotiate with the other crew members regarding their "renewal" or "new contracts," because the production time for HP after the filming was indeed too long.

Any normal parent would hesitate upon learning that their child might dedicate their entire life to a project. And if these parents are also wealthy? They would definitely consider it carefully.

In reality, Warner Bros. had completed negotiations with everyone on the creative team in less than two weeks.

Before March even arrived, everyone had already signed their contracts one after another.

This fact stunned Isabella!
When she learned the details, she was completely stunned...

"What did you say? When your mom asked you if you wanted to continue filming Harry Potter, you said you really wanted to?"

"Then your mom found someone to help you negotiate the contract and renew it?"

3 month 1 day.

After signing the contract, the group gathered for a meal at a high-end restaurant in London.

At the dinner table, Miss Beaver raised her eyebrows in astonishment, as if she had heard something completely foreign.

He then cast a blank stare at Rupert.

"Yeah~~~" Rupert nodded vigorously. Born in 1988, he had now fully grown up.

Somewhat in appearance...

Slightly messy?
But this is not important.

After noticing Miss Beaver's confusion, he burst into laughter and said, "Oh, Isa—the fact that HP can be filmed separately is absolutely great news for me! Because splitting up the filming means that the filming time for HP will be longer, so my mom won't be able to nag me about other things! Then, I can take my GCSE exams this year, and if I pass, I won't have to go to school anymore! And my working hours on set won't be extended because I don't have to go to school, since you're not an adult yet!"

"..."

Miss Beaver's eyes twitched at the tongue-twisting words.

She admitted that she didn't actually understand what the radish meant at that moment.

Her confusion prompted the others at the table to burst into laughter—

“Oh, Isa, this is actually the case.”

Daniel said, “You know GCSE, right? That exam is for people who are 16 years old but have decided not to go to university. Rupert was born in '88, so he’ll be 16 this year. Once his birthday is over, he can take the GCSE exam.”

"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!"

The young master echoed, "Once Radish passes his GCSE exams, he won't need to attend the crew's tutoring sessions anymore, since he doesn't plan to go to university. Normally, people who pass GCSEs can work like adults, meaning they can film for eight hours a day. But our crew is different, because many of our scenes involve you, so..."

Bonnie chimed in, "So, Isa, when you're not 16 and haven't passed your GCSEs, our production team's working hours will remain at four hours a day because of you. Then, once that's the case, HP will be discontinued? From Rupert's perspective, that means he won't have to go to school, won't have to work so frequently, and won't have to listen to his mother nagging anymore, right?"

Bonnie looked at her older brother.

"Bingo!!!"

Rupert snapped his fingers. "That's it!!!"

"Because when I told my mom I only wanted to get GCSEs, she got really angry. She asked me what I could do if I didn't study?"

"I didn't know how to respond to her before, but now..."

"Hey! I have a job!"

When this godlike logic appeared, Isabella immediately felt a black line appear on her forehead.

She looked at Rupert Grint, at Tom Felton, at Bonnie Wright, at everyone else in the room…

In that instant, she suddenly realized that these people were quite geniuses.

In order to avoid studying and to avoid being nagged by their parents, these people actually want to exploit loopholes in the system?

These people are like gods!
Just as Isabella was accepting everyone's bizarre reasons for renewing her contract...

Her gaze suddenly turned to Daniel Radcliffe.

"Wait a minute, Daniel, weren't you born in '89?"

“Yes.” Egg Girl nodded.

"Then you can take the GCSE exam next year, right?" Isabella narrowed her eyes, as if she had discovered the key point. "As long as you pass the GCSE, won't they still work normally? Because you have the most screen time in HP."

"Oh, Isa, you've got it wrong."

Before Danielle could speak, Radish quickly explained, "Daniel's parents want him to take the A-level exams."

“His parents wanted him to go to university, so his filming time was still four hours until he turned 18.”

“The law provides for this.”

Radish smiled broadly.

Beaver mullet roe.

After a long pause, Isabella finally gave Rupert and the others a thumbs up.

“Okay, when it comes to truancy, I’d call you the best.”

"I think I understand why your parents signed with Warner so readily."

"When you just don't want to go to school, if you stop making movies, they won't know what you can do."

"So... I might as well just leave you guys on set?"

"As long as Warner's offer is reasonable?"

"hahahaha~~~~"

Isabella's words made everyone burst into laughter.

And Miss Beaver...

She could only give these people's behavior a perfect score.

There's nothing we can do; these people are just really awesome.

But to be honest...

When these people simply don't want to study and their wealthy parents don't know what they can do in the future, letting them cling to HP is indeed the best choice for parents, because as long as HP doesn't collapse, everyone can retire on the day HP ends.

This is no exaggeration.

Rather, regardless of Warner Bros.' wishes, when the production of Harry Potter reached the end of the series, namely Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows, Warner Bros. had to talk to everyone about profit sharing. This was an inevitable consequence of the series reaching its final chapter.

All the main creators will seek retirement insurance.

Now that the most difficult problem in the preparation process has been solved, Warner Bros. has set a return date for the project.

3月2日，大伙接到大卫·海曼的通知，对方表示，他们可以在3月15日至3月19日期间回归利维斯登。《火焰杯》的开机日则是4月19日。

The reason for this arrangement is simple: before the official start of the production, everyone needs to receive some skills training.

For example, dance.

There are dances in Goblet of Fire, right?

Everything is going smoothly at Warner, and everything is developing in the direction Barry Mayer hoped for.

As for his 'ally' Robert Iger...

On March 3, the Disney shareholders meeting was held in Philadelphia as scheduled.

Then, a farce ensued.

According to USA Today, one of the invited media outlets, the entire meeting lasted five hours and was as arduous as a movie script.

This was not only because at the very beginning of the conference, then-chairman Michael Eisner invited many mascots onto the stage and passionately recounted his contributions to Disney over the years to the more than 3,000 shareholders in attendance.

They received wave after wave of support and applause.

Furthermore, when Roy Disney took the stage, his first move completely stunned Michael Eisner.

Roy Disney presented all shareholders with a list of Disney Group executive compensation expenditures from 1997, with Michael Eisner at the top of the list, having raked in $5.7 million that year.

That's right!

1997 years!
Michael Eisner received the highest executive salary in human history!

5.7 million in a single year!

Of course, the way he obtained it was very slick.

In short—

In 1993, Michael Eisner made a bet with the Disney board of directors that if he could increase Disney’s market value by 100% within the next five years, he would receive a certain number of stock awards.

Then, in 1994, Michael Eisner publicly stated that they wanted to acquire one of the three major American television networks in order to broaden Disney's path in the television and distribution fields and build its own publicity network.

Then, in 1995, Disney acquired ABC.

The reward was paid out in 1996.

In 1997, he cashed out and left the market.

This fact infuriated all shareholders!
This isn't to say they were unaware of the betting agreement; it's just that anyone could see it was a deception!

The logic is very simple.

In 1993, Disney's market value was only 200 billion.

They acquired ABC in 95, which was worth $190 billion.

When the two companies merged, Disney's market value doubled out of thin air.

This behavior is clearly opportunistic!

Then Michael Eisner said to everyone—hey, don't worry about how Disney's market value went up, just say it didn't go up, okay? And, we're not agreeing on the stock price doubling, we're agreeing on the market value doubling!

Any normal person would go crazy after hearing something like that!
As for why no one noticed it before?

It's very simple. The actual salaries of each company's executives are kept confidential. Only the fixed salaries need to be fully disclosed. Other performance-based clauses may involve the group's operations, so unless the shareholders request an audit, they can be disclosed vaguely.

That's why everyone was kept in the dark by Michael Eisner until then.

And now?
When Roy Disney struck, it was a devastating blow. After he finished speaking, the next four hours turned into a denunciation session. While waiting for the voting to begin, 43% of the shareholders said that Eisner should be kicked out of the company.

That is, 43% of shareholders opposed Eisner continuing to serve as a board member.

This number is terrifying.

In the United States, directors of most publicly traded companies typically need 90% of the shareholder vote to be re-elected.

Unless otherwise stipulated in the company's articles of association.

The 43% dissenting votes meant that Eisner was going to be fired.

Indeed, following the conclusion of the shareholders' meeting, the Disney board of directors announced a restructuring plan that very night, with Michael Eisner officially stepping down as chairman and George Mitchell serving as acting chairman.

Michael Eisner remained Disney's CEO.

On the surface, Eisner remains the king of Disney because George Mitchell is his man.

But everyone knew he wouldn't stay at Disney for long.

Because the term of office for the acting chairman of Disney is only 365 days.

During this period, Disney must elect a formal chairman.

There are only two reasons why Eisner hasn't left yet:

1. He holds too many Disney secrets in his hands.

Disney wouldn't dare to kick him out directly; he'd rather self-destruct.

To prevent him from self-destructing, Disney must meet his demands, such as—

"I can leave the company, but you can't hold me accountable."

2. Michael Eisner can leave, but how will power be divided within the company after he leaves?
Like Roy Disney, he definitely wanted to be chairman.

In his world, Robert Iger is content to be a CEO.

But Robert Iger has only recently gained real power.

Let's not talk about these two...

It is impossible.

(laugh~
The power struggles within Disney have made them a major topic of conversation among North American consumers.

Just as everyone was anticipating a bloodbath, Rupert Murdoch frowned as he listened to his subordinate's report. "You mean, Warner Bros. is competing with us for 'Prada'?"

“Yeah.” The secretary who came to report nodded and said, “It is said that Isabella took a liking to it.”

“Oh—” Murdochra drawled, his eyes darting around.

(End of this chapter)