Chapter 10 Bundling Plans
Throughout the 1990s, the name Michael Orwitz was known to everyone in Hollywood. Although there are rumors in the media that he had encountered some minor trouble in the position of Disney president, people still dare not underestimate his energy. An observer even wrote in his column: What his friends want to happen is exactly what his enemies worry about, but whether it is his friends or enemies, everyone has a completely consistent view of one thing, that is, Michael Orwitz will never be excluded from power.
When Lit first reported Orwitz's name, the Wachowski brothers thought he was lying, but when he turned on the computer and found information about AMG company registration on the Internet, the two brothers said nothing.
Lite turned his head from the computer monitor and looked at the stunned Wachowski brothers behind him and asked, "Do you think I'm qualified to be your agent now?"
Larry's throat rolled hard, obviously not completely digesting the "surprise" that Lite brought him.
Andy pinched her chin and began to seriously consider Lit's previous proposal.
Seeing that the two brothers were relaxed, Li Te began to strike while the iron was hot.
"Warner promised to invest $10 million in your movie, but I know the money is not enough, otherwise you wouldn't have broken up with your previous agent. If you are willing to make me your agent and give this movie completely to me, then I can guarantee you that you can at least bring more than $60 million in investment to this movie, and even more!"
If Lite said this before, it would definitely attract the ridicule of the Wachowski brothers, but now the two really believe it a little, not because of anything else, because Lite is behind CAA Michael Orwitz, a guy who once made the Hollywood movie giants and the four major TV stations in the United States love and hate.
"Even if Mr. Orwitz comes forward personally and wants to convince a film company to invest $60 million in a movie, and the director is two newcomers who have only made a low-cost movie, it is probably not easy, right?" Larry was calm and was not completely fascinated by the beautiful vision portrayed by Litt. "Besides, Mr. Orwitz is now the president of Disney, not the chairman of CAA. Unless Disney comes to invest in our movie, why should Mr. Orwitz help us?"
Andy reacted as well, and his eyes looked at Lite with a more cautious look.
"Mr. Orwitz will resign from Disney soon. AMG is a way out for him, so your worries are redundant."
Litt's answer did not completely dispel the Wachowski brothers' concerns.
"You only answered the latter question, so what about the previous question?"
Lite pointed at Larry, "Good question, I'm about to tell you about this. As we all know, CAA's rapid rise in the past twenty years is closely related to the artist bundling strategy it has implemented. The maximum pay of big-name movie stars can rise from millions of dollars to 20 million dollars now, which is also closely related to this. While the movie giants complained that CAA's bundling sales have pushed up labor costs, they had to pay for CAA's approach. And I have to do the same thing as CAA, and sell your movie as a whole to the film company!"
"But you don't even have an actor in your hands now!" Andy couldn't help but scream.
"But I have you!" Li Te interrupted him without hesitation.
"This is not enough!" Larry couldn't help it and shouted at Li Te: "We can be directors, screenwriters, or even producers, but what should we do if the male and female protagonists in the film?"
"You don't have to worry about this problem at all. If you have a good script, are you still worried about not being able to find a good actor?"
"But good actors are from other agencies. How can you implement the bundled sales plan and negotiate with the film company?" Larry asked.
"It's very simple. If you want to get the opportunity to star in this movie, you must become an AMG artist, otherwise everything will be free of talks." Lite replied without thinking.
"Then you might as well just say that you want to use our movie to attract big-name movie stars to join AMG." Andy exposes Li Te's "conspiracy" without any face.
Li Te spread his hands very alone, "You can understand this way, but I can guarantee that the male protagonist I found can not only meet your requirements, but also satisfy investors."
"I said I wanted to find Tom Cruise, and you can do it too?" Andy asked deliberately.
"Don't you think he's a little short?" Li Te said nothing about the rest.
"The audience who walked into the cinema never thought Cruise was short, although he was indeed a little short." Andy would answer very seriously.
"Well, why don't you change someone?"
"Just just say you can't handle him." Larry took the conversation and looked at Lite who was still stubborn with a sarcastic look, "We won't blame you!"
"Do I need to say thank you?" Litt rolled his eyes in anger. "Given the popularity of Tom Cruise in Hollywood at present, he must have a lot of characters for him to choose from, so the key to convince him is not me, but the script and the characters, although I think this one in your hands..."
Lit originally wanted to name the movie directly, but he suddenly realized that neither he nor the Wachowski brothers had mentioned this in the previous conversation. If he said it rashly, it would definitely arouse the Wachowski brothers' suspicion, so he deliberately stuck the words here.
"The Matrix." Larry took the initiative to follow Lit's words.
"Is this the name of your movie? Well, although I think The Matrix is a very creative and thoughtful film, not everyone will feel that way. In fact, it is a very alternative work based on a normal perspective. If I were Tom Cruise's agent, I would definitely not recommend it to him because it was too risky. Such a movie would either be a big success or a complete failure. There would be no third result, and with Cruise's current reputation in Hollywood, he could have chosen those more secure scripts and characters."
"Just say that big-name movie stars don't like our movie." Andy interrupted Lite, a little discouraged in his tone.
"I can't say that completely. At least I know one person who has been famous for a while and Cruise has been a bit like that. But he has encountered some minor trouble recently, but none of these are problems. I can be confident that I can convince him to join our plan."
"Wait a minute!" Larry was interrupted this time, "You said that man is almost the same as Cruise, but what did he mean?"
"Don't worry, the one I mentioned was just two years ago. Cruise was already very famous at that time, right? The person I recommend to you is mainly because he is not very lucky. He has basically lost money in the films he has appeared in the past two years, so many film companies are no longer afraid to ask him for cooperation."
"Is this the one you think is the most suitable one? A outdated male star?" Larry stared at Lit with wide eyes, his face full of doubt.
Li Te picked up his hand and leaned half against the wall.
"I firmly believe that he will shine in the future, and all he needs is an opportunity to prove himself, just like you are now!"
The Wachowski brothers suddenly fell silent. Although the silence time was extremely short, the psychological activities of the two were very complicated.
The Wachowski brothers decided to join this industry, mainly inspired by the autobiography of the famous filmmaker Roger Caulman. They found that the so-called Hollywood "elites" at that time complained about the inferior movie scripts, but this phenomenon was not effectively curbed, so they decided to use their storytelling skills to create different movie scripts.
At first, both brothers thought they had chosen the right career this time, but not long after, when they wrote "Assassin's Battlefield" in 1995, this short-lived joy was replaced by a huge failure. The film's box office defeat hit the Wachowski brothers, and critics' sarcastic articles deeply hurt them. Although most critics believed that the performance rather than the script destroyed the entire play, it still made it difficult for the two brothers to accept, and it was one of the reasons that made them determined to take everything into their own hands.
In 1996, the two brothers personally wrote and directed the screenwriter and director of the screenwriter, and filmed a low-cost thriller "The Stunning Flower", which won praise from the crowd as soon as it was released. Unfortunately, this movie only allowed the savvy distributors to make a big splash in the video tape market. The Wachowski brothers only gained some reputation. Although the script "The Matrix", which was planned for many years, was attracted by Warner Films, the other party was only willing to invest $10 million in the film, which is far from the figures that the Wachowski brothers were looking forward to.
As Litt said, what they need most now is an opportunity to prove themselves.
Larry slowly raised his head and looked at Lit.
"What's his name?"
Chapter completed!