Early the next morning, John took Nancy and Dani to Universal City again, and the person who received him was Bud Hill, for a rookie director of his level, it was obvious that he could not alarm the bigwigs of Universal Pictures.

"Director Chris Deng, we intend to bring the movie "Stealing Love" to theaters. As soon as Bud Hill sat down without any pleasantries, he went straight to the point.

For the 20-year-old rookie director in front of him, he doesn't need to be polite, because behind him is Universal Pictures, even Spielberg has to ask for it, let alone a rookie like John.

So he has a natural sense of superiority when facing an independent producer like John.

"Thank you! I really hope to work with Universal!" John doesn't care about Bud Hill's domineering, as long as "Stealing Love" can be released smoothly, so what does it matter if he lowers his head, he is now a director of John Chris Deng, not JK of the Morgan family.

"In that case, let's talk about ways to work together!" Bud Hill is tasked with getting the best out of the world.

"I wonder how your company will cooperate?" John attaches great importance to the way the two sides work together.

There are many ways to cooperate with a film company, the best of which is to sign a distribution contract, and the film company collects a certain amount of the box office and copyright of the film as payment. The worst thing is that the film company directly buys the copyright, so that the box office, videotapes, movie peripherals, and overseas distribution have nothing to do.

"A buyout of the rights, of course!" said Bard Hill, with a natural gesture.

"Mr. Hill!' is a multi-million dollar commercial film, not one of those B-class and art films," John frowned, and Universal Pictures was ready to use him as a novice.

"It's true that 'Stealing Love' is a commercial film, but director Chris Deng, 'Stealing Love' is a movie banned by CAA!" Bud Hill felt the need to remind John.

"Working with you means giving up the benefits of CAA. So the premise of our cooperation is to buy out the copyright. Bud Hill said categorically.

Listening to Bud Hill's words, John frowned, Universal Pictures was obviously going to take advantage of the fire.

"Mr. Hill, what are the conditions for CAA to open to the world?"

Bud Hill held out a palm: "Two movies, 5% package service fee." ”

"Uh......"

Nancy on the side gasped, the CAA and ICM package service fees are basically 10% of the movie box office, she didn't expect Michael Ovitz to reduce the service fee by half in order to deal with John.

5% doesn't seem like much, but if both films are big productions, the box office can basically be around $400 million to $500 million. Subtracting 5% is equivalent to more than $10 million less than $10 million for CAA, which is a big move.

And since Universal Pictures has given up more than 10 million benefits, it is bound to make up for it from John. So John knew that it was no longer possible to let Universal Pictures distribute movies on his behalf. "Mr. Hill, I agree to buy out the copyrights. ”

A smile appeared on the corner of Bud Hill's mouth: "Director Chris Deng! We are willing to pay 1300 million dollars to buy the copyright of "Stealing Love". ”

According to the calculations of Universal Pictures' professionals, the production cost of "Stealing Love" is about $10 million. So Bud Hill first gave a tentative price, and he wanted to see John's bottom line.

"This can't be! Mr. Hill, your price is too low, and I need a reasonable price. ”

1,300 million seems to be 3 million more than the production cost, but after deducting ICM's brokerage fees, lawyer fees, accounting fees, taxes, and crew bonuses, John may not even get 1 million in the end. So he would never agree to this price.

"Why don't you make an offer!" Bard Hill gestured to John.

John unceremoniously shouted out the price in his heart: "$28 million." ”

"What?" Bard Hill helped his glasses, and John surprised him with the price.

And Nancy, who was on the side, almost choked when she heard the price.

"Director Chris Deng, I want a reasonable price too!" Bud Hill looked at John solemnly after holding his glasses.

"Mr. Hill, I'm at a reasonable price!" said John, spreading his hands, swearing that he would never have a lion open his mouth.

In the previous life, the North American box office of "Stealing Love" was more than 73 million, and if it was divided according to the box office, the theater would take more than 38 million, and Universal Pictures would receive more than 35 million. Subtract the distribution cost of 5 million, and the 28 million for John, then Universal Pictures can still get 2 million dollars in profits.

But this 2 million is only the North American box office, and there will be overseas box office, videotapes, TV and peripheral income, according to John's calculations, Universal Pictures can earn at least $40 million on "Stealing Love".

A movie made Universal Pictures $40 million, and John, as a producer and investor, only got $28 million, and if you subtract the production cost of 10 million and millions of expenses, John can only get more than 10 million at most. So John felt that he was offering a reasonable price.

John thought it was reasonable, but Bard Hill, who was sitting across from him, felt unreasonable. "Director Chris Deng, I'll give up to $15 million, it's impossible to be more. ”

"Mr. Hill, I can reduce it to a maximum of $27 million, and I can't reduce it. John replied in a-for-tat manner.

"Director Chris Deng! I want to remind you that the copyright of "Stealing Love" is not complete, and you have already started selling the soundtrack, so it is impossible for me to accept 27 million. 16 million is my last offer. Bud Hill's tone became stronger.

"Since the copyright is incomplete, then I am subtracting 1 million, and 26 million cannot be less. This is John's bottom line, if it is less than this price, then he might as well make "Stealing Love" into a videotape and launch it on the market.

"Then I can only apologize!" Bud Hill stood up and shook John's hand, the difference of 9 million in the middle was destined to be unagreeable.

"It's a shame that we can't cooperate. John also felt a little regretful that he could not reach an agreement.

"If you're considering my offer, you can call me!" Bud Hill believes that as long as John doesn't want to smash the movie into his own hands, he will eventually find himself. Not every company in Hollywood can offend Michael Ovitz as much as Universal Pictures.

"Okay! I'll think about it when I get back. John didn't want to block his way.

Back at Crown Studios, Nancy was a little unhappy with the breakdown of the negotiations: "John! ”

For her, $16 million is enough, and after deducting the production cost of 10 million, John can also get a profit of 6 million. How many people in the United States can earn $6 million in half a year?

ICM gets a 7% share, $420,000. As an agent, she gets a 3% cut, $180,000.

$180,000 is already a good income for a junior broker like Nancy. In Hollywood, junior agents will not earn more than 200,000 a year, intermediate agents will not earn more than 500,000, and only the top agents may earn millions a year.

So watching the negotiations break down and $180,000 fly away like this, Nancy is naturally in a bad mood.

And John looked at Nancy, who was black-faced, and shrugged helplessly: "Nancy! The price they gave was too low, I couldn't agree." ”

"But "Stealing Love" needs to be released and released. Nancy solemnly reminded John, "And with Michael Ovitz intervening, we won't have much of a choice." ”

"Wait, if Universal Pictures ends up offering the highest price, it's not too late to cooperate" John also wants to wait, in case he meets a company with a head in the water that is willing to distribute "Stealing Love"!

Didn't Mr. Ma say: dreams still have to be had, in case they come true!

"Alright!" Nancy frowned. She felt John was naïve.