Brad Gray sat on the couch and didn't move his position for a long time. There was so much going on this morning, he needed to digest it. originally thought that Shirley was going to have the upper hand, but Lance turned the tide; Originally thought that he would regain the advantage, but Lance showed no mercy.

Now, he has to face a tricky situation again.

It is conceivable that after Lance refused to play Max, Shirley would inevitably concentrate all her energy on interfering in the casting of "Kill with a Knife" - Lance gave up the right to cast, which was one of the conditions of the final editing rights, so it evolved into an internal battle for Paramount. Brad even thought that it might as well be left to Lance for casting.

However, he doesn't have time to indulge in the disappointment now, he must cheer up, take advantage of Shirley's decision to preemptively arrange the main characters such as Max, Annie, Felix, etc., make full use of this time difference, and firmly hold the initiative in his hands.

"Knock", the sound of knocking on the door came, and Brad didn't need to look back to know that it was his secretary, "I'm not hungry for the time being, you can go out and buy me a sandwich later, and then you bring in the actor information you collected before......" But after waiting for a while, Brad didn't wait for a response, turned his head to look over, and then saw the secretary with an embarrassed smile on his face, "Mr. Gray, Mr. Strello's phone." ”

"What?" Brad only felt that his head was a mess, and his ability to process information was strictly retreating. But then there was a thunderclap in his head, and he reacted, "Uh, take it in." ”

"Line 4." The secretary whispered, then stepped back and closed the office door again.

Brad quickly stood up, came to his desk, rested his right hand on top of the phone, and instead of picking it up immediately, he took a deep breath. Then he pressed the number four button, grabbed the phone and put it to his ear, and said in a relaxed tone, "Hey." Lance, what, you forgot something in my office? ”

"I think I forgot my actor contract." Lance's deep, magnetic voice came from the other end of the phone, as if he were standing on the other side of the valley and whispering. The wind came with a few words,

Brad only felt that his brain went blank for a moment, and the ups and downs of this morning were so impactful that even veterans such as Brad felt that their hearts were a little overloaded. It took almost all his strength for Brad to suppress the "why" he blurted out, but quietly exhaled a breath of turbidity, which precipitated the countless suspicions and speculations in his mind.

Brad knew that he didn't need to ask why, just accept the result - and as a result, Lance nodded and agreed to play Max. Whatever had happened in the space of twenty minutes had made Lance change his mind, but it turned out that they had come to a consensus.

This is a good thing for Brad and for "borrowing a knife to kill".

Of course, this is a gamble, and everyone knows that even if the audition list is wonderful, Lance is still a newcomer with no acting experience, and his debut film will be a medium-sized production with a cost of 60 million, and it is not a simple and crude commercial blockbuster like "The Day After Tomorrow", but a character that poses a serious challenge to acting. The pressures and risks that need to be taken in this process cannot be ignored.

But. This is Hollywood, and every investment is full of uncertainty. Without courage, there is no success. As in the case of the "City of God", Brad was willing to bet on Lance once again.

So. Brad cleared all the doubts from his mind and said in a light-hearted tone with a teasing smile, "Don't worry, I'll fax it to Percy." "It's as if they've agreed a long time ago.

"Heh," Lance chuckled, "no. I don't think we're talking about the same contract, and some of the details of the contract should be different. ”

Hearing this, Brad was really relaxed. If Lance had nothing to ask for, it would be strange; Instead, Lance made a request, which meant that the matter was officially settled. Brad slowly sat down in the boss's chair, slowed down his speech again, and gradually took the initiative into the palm of his hand, "I'm listening." ”

"Forty percent of the box office dividends." No superfluous nonsense, just say it neatly. Although he decided to star in "Killing with a Knife", although he decided to regain his dream, and although he decided to burn his youth again, he can't go back to the simple and wanton era of the past after all, since he has made up his mind, why not take the opportunity to seek greater benefits?

Dreams, are they really priceless?

Lance's lion opening made Brad chuckle directly, "I thought we had made a deal. Previously, for the final editing rights, the two sides had already confronted each other once, and reached an agreement of "29% box office dividends".

Lance was unmoved, "I thought the agreement was torn up." The plain words were tinged with a slight smile, playful and sarcastic.

Brad knew that Lance was hinting that he was the first to tear up the agreement. In the original agreement, Lance did not accept the proposal to play Max, but Brad still insisted on pushing for the plan. Although Lance's initiative and cooperation today made the plan possible, Brad has lost the opportunity.

If the two sides sit down and slowly argue, everyone has their own position, and things are obviously not so easy to argue clearly; But Brad is a smart guy, and Lance is a smart guy too. So, Brad held his chin and thought carefully, "Thirty percent." ”

"Oh, none of the gypsies are so shrewd." Lance teased sarcastically, but the words were unrelenting, "Thirty-eight percent." ”

"You're a bit of a Jew, thirty-two percent." Brad was not outdone.

Lance didn't answer immediately this time, but paused, as if he was struggling, and after a pause of about two seconds, Lance's voice came again, "Thirty-six percent." Obviously, Lance still didn't give an inch.

Brad couldn't help but feel a little headache, this is not what it used to be.

The last time the final editing rights were discussed, Paramount was the overwhelming side, and even if Lance tried his best, Chaos Pictures did not have any advantage in the negotiations, so he retreated step by step; But things were very different today, leaving aside the fact that the "day after tomorrow" box office win gave Lance a much stronger position, and the morning meeting also revealed Brad's current position within Paramount. The competition between Brad and Shirley has obviously reached a critical moment, and "killing people with a knife" has occupied an important strategic position thanks to Tom Cruise's survival, and Lance is now pulling the tiger skin to support the banner, but Brad has to buy it.

Objectively speaking, Lance's request is not excessive, and the average level of dividends of production companies hovers around 40 percent, of course, the proportion of cooperation between independent production companies and large production companies is bound to be tilted in the direction of large companies. But Lance is going to take the final editing rights, so in the final analysis, it is still a battle of interests.

What Lance is gambling on now is Brad's situation within Paramount, as well as the importance of "killing people with a knife" to Brad. Maybe for Shirley, it doesn't matter even if she loses "borrowing a knife to kill", after all, she is the one who has the advantage; But for Brad, this is not necessarily the case.

Brad didn't lose his advantage lightly, "Lance, don't get an inch more. You have to know that you have won the right to the final clip. ”

"Chaos Pictures aside, the four positions of screenwriter, director, actor and producer, how much dividends do you think I can get?" Lance didn't back down.

In fact, Lance is making trouble unreasonably, except for the producer, the other three jobs, Lance can only be regarded as a newcomer, far from being eligible for dividends - just look at the cast of "The Day After Tomorrow", only Dennis Quaid has received dividends, and it is only two percent. But Lance's situation is more special, because he represents Chaos Pictures and wears many hats, which also means that Lance's role in the quality of the finished product of "Killing with a Knife" is irreplaceable, and even Tom can only be regarded as a pawn in Lance's hands, and the success or failure of the work depends on Lance. The more dividends, the more invested Lance will be.

"Thirty-five percent, that's my bottom line." Brad had actually made a decision in his heart, but he still showed the pain and entanglement of cutting his flesh.

Lance didn't buy it and continued to encroach on the territory, "There is also the right to cast actors." ”

Brad couldn't help but be stunned, but he nodded vigorously in his heart. In fact, Shirley wants to install actors in "Killing with a Knife" for two purposes, to increase her influence on the crew and to curry favor with Tom - and the former must also serve the latter.

As we all know, in Hollywood, actors of Tom's level have a huge impact on the crew, for example, Tom will choose second-tier and third-tier actors to work together, the producer must consider Tom's opinion, and in some special cases, the actor's contract will even clearly mark "refuse to cooperate with a certain actor" or "refuse to promote with a certain actor in the crew" and other overlord clauses.

Tom's agent, Wade, was able to show up at the meeting today, and that's it.

Brad was already having a headache with Shirley and Tom, but if the casting rights were returned to Lance, it would mean that Lance's control over the crew would be further enhanced, and Lance would be standing in front of Tom, and Lance would have to face Shirley's difficulties. Brad not only got rid of this hot potato, but also sold Lance a favor to further enhance his contribution to the crew, which can be called killing two birds with one stone.

After pondering for a while, Brad deliberately expressed his hesitation, but after the extreme pain, he still struggled to say in a struggling tone, "Deal!" ”

Clapper decision! Lance is about to step onto the stage of a show for the first time in his life, a real performance stage.

When life has been missed again and again, when faith has been destroyed by cruel betrayal and cold reality, when he has become invulnerable and rock-solid, when he has decided to give up on his dreams...... But he boldly and recklessly decided to burn his youth one last time, like a stupid fool, like an idiot who hit the south wall and broke the bleeding, like a moth to a fire, desperate, forgetful, wanton blooming, but ...... Will the outcome be different this time? (To be continued.) )

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