"What? Big dreams have got Susan. Corinth? ”

In the lavish president's office at Paramount Pictures, Brad . Gray repeated his subordinate's statement in disbelief, "Are you sure -- I remember only a day ago, you told me that there are only three companies that have made offers for The Hunger Games and that they don't include Big Dreams, is that the rights agent -- I remember her name is Ellie. What--isn't that what you say? ”

"Yes, you're not mistaken," his assistant Jack also looked quite nervous, but still tried to defend himself, "for fear that my colleagues in the buying department would be too inefficient, I contacted Elle separately. Brown and Academic Press, that's what they told me at the time. You know, this is the first in a series of novels, and while it's getting a lot of attention, most of the studios are on the sidelines until Disney makes an offer. But I'll give it to Ellie again this morning. Brown called and made an offer for Paramount when Elle. Brown said that the original author had reached a letter of intent with Big Dream—"

He glanced at his boss carefully, his voice weakened unconsciously, and said cautiously, "Susan. Collins has decided to give the rights to The Hunger Games to Big Dream, and Elle says that she is very resolute and that it will be difficult to change the outcome......"

First of all, Jennifer was behind the turmoil after the Oscars, and then Jennifer released a video, which perfectly cleared her suspicion of hype, and then Brad was invited to tea by the IRS, when this news seemed to have grown wings overnight and flew to major newspapers, and even Paramount's public relations department had no time to react, if anyone in Beverly Hills still doesn't know the grievances between Brad and Big Dream, they can't guess the inside behind it. I am afraid that I am not qualified to gain a foothold in this community.

At least as Brad's personal favorite, Jack is clear about Brad's true feelings - no one dares to ask him how much money it took him to get out of the IRS unscathed, and how many human resources it took to suppress the follow-up report, and also silence the IRS's mouth, making the matter a big thing and a small thing. Misunderstanding caused by poor communication', but Brad's position in Paramount has been shaken by this incident, which is a certain fact, and there is no shortage of complaints within the company: everyone is working hard to communicate with Jennifer. When Jefferson had a good relationship, Brad's troubles directly made cooperation impossible. Originally,-for-tat on some business matters is also considered business, no big deal, but Brad's hand is too dirty, and it directly makes the whole thing private, and now Jennifer is working on "Avatar" with Fox, "Codename Shero" with Warner, and "OZ" with Disney, Paramount not only can't get involved, but also has to spend a lot of money to re-establish a very strict computer security system to prevent Big Dream from making trouble, why bother? Although Big Dream makes money, he hasn't done anything against Paramount, right?

For a company with a huge system like the Big Six, it is impossible to be monolithic internally at any time, and perhaps this matter will become one of the factors for Brad's future resignation, but at present, since the damage has been done, and an apology is absolutely useless, then whether it is public or private, Brad must continue to do bad dreams, compete for the projects they fancy, whether it is to suppress Big Dreams, or to add a few more high-quality movies to Paramount, it is of great significance to do so. Therefore, when Big Dream began to inquire widely, Brad immediately instructed Jack to keep an eye on the situation - of course, they would not jump out immediately and rush to raise the price, who knows if Cesare's round of inquiries was just a smokescreen, or more sinister, trying to lead the company that executed the staring strategy into a trap?

Looking at it now, Brad did guess correctly before, Big Dream did prevent competitors from a move, if it weren't for the sudden leak of the news in Disney and brought out "The Hunger Games", it would be difficult for Paramount to see that Big Dream originally took a fancy to this novel - since Jack reported the news to the boss, Brad has taken it very seriously, how much does it matter? I value him so much that he still hasn't made the first offer, I'm afraid that this is a two-person magic show between Big Dream and Disney's main department, "The Hunger Games" is still a disguise, and the real target is another book, if you blindly follow the trend, you will be cheated by Big Dream again......

As the only one of the six CEOs who has been pitted by Big Dreams, Brad's caution is not comparable to Sony and Lionsgate, he did not end immediately, but found a novel, read and studied it in person with the respect of CEO, and verified its adaptation value with his own eyes, and at the same time asked Jack to closely follow the copyright progress, taking this matter as the first priority - with Jack's understanding of the boss, as well as his own speculation, once Brad is sure that "The Hunger Games" is the real goal of Big Dream, he will take it down at all costs, And he will give it a great deal of importance, and make this book the highlight of the year, of course, and he will lead it himself, and he will definitely intend to turn this film into a battle to defend his position.

In terms of Paramount's abundant funds, once a certain movie is won at all costs, the hope of success should still be quite high, of course, Jack will not be arrogant enough to believe that Paramount will be the final winner, but in terms of the general copyright transaction war, in the case of three companies already offering, this is destined to be a protracted tug-of-war, copyright brokers tend to let competitors push the price higher and higher, at least for a month or two, and then before the craze fades - at least, She will also spend a week deliberating on the merits of the offers of all parties, after all, for a best-selling author like Susan, the box office of the movie must give her dividends, and she will also pay attention to the company's promise to the film itself for her own development, what cast to do, how much budget to give, and what ideas to use to adapt...... In a battle of such a length of time, Paramount will not at least not even have a chance to make a move, and it can still fight.

"I really, really asked Elle repeatedly. Brown and the publisher, they both said that Big Dream was just asking them for a list of pending recommendations during a routine range contact, and "The Hunger Games" happened to be included. Thinking of this, Jack couldn't help but emphasize again, in fact, he was also puzzled by this matter, "In addition, Big Dream has not communicated with them about "The Hunger Games" at all, but the tricky point of this matter is that the film and television adaptation rights of "The Hunger Games" are in the hands of the original author, and neither Elle nor Academic Press has the exclusive agency rights. When Collins suddenly made up his mind as if he were fascinated, neither the publisher nor the agent could change the outcome...... I've asked Elle to communicate with the original author to see why she made this decision suddenly, as far as Elle herself says, her cooperation with Susan has always been relatively pleasant, it's hard to imagine that Susan would hide her from her private contact with Big Dream, it all seems more like a sudden decision-"

Brad waved his hand, interrupting the assistant's nervous chatter, but he didn't get angry - contrary to Jack's fears, although Paramount's big plan was stillborn again, Brad seemed to be in a good mood, he didn't mean to get angry at all, but rubbed his chin and said thoughtfully, "yes, don't you think it was all too sudden?" ”

"You mean—" Jack squeezed his boss shrewdly, "is the pace of this rights deal very unusual?" ”

"At first, we suspected that the film suddenly made an offer for five films, and as a result, it was revealed that The Hunger Games was the result of Dick. Cook with Jennifer. Jefferson's trap. Brad habitually clicked his temple -- a habit he'd developed since he came back from the IRS, and he's heard he had a very bad migraine attack in the IRS -- "But if you think about it another way, what if this wasn't a trap?" What if Big Dream had just set a trap in the first place, and The Hunger Games was their target, and Disney's main offer actually sabotaged their plans, forcing them to rush out and finish the novel? ”

"Group infighting?" Jack said in astonishment - he immediately smacked his lips, realizing the value of the idea, "It's not impossible, Big Dream's plan is getting bigger and bigger, and the positioning has already clashed with the headquarters, and it's natural for conflicts within the group to happen--However, it's quite rare for the momentum to be so big and attract the attention of so many peers......"

"Maybe it's not intentional infighting, the problem is still in the transmission of information, maybe the communication is not smooth, and the department that makes external quotations leaks hole cards by mistake," Brad shook his head at the disapproving look on Jack's face, "Don't think that this kind of low-level mistake can't happen, the mistake happens every day in the world, if you look at many major events in human history, you will find that low-level mistakes play a lot more role in it than you think...... But in any case, the reason is not important, the result is the most important - as you said, Big Dream's current positioning has conflicted with Disney movies, and the result of this incident is so abrupt, Big Dream stole "The Hunger Games" without coordinating with Disney headquarters - it must not have been coordinated - what does this mean? ”

"Of course, at this time, it is best for Disney headquarters to continue to compete, and if Big Dream does not make a move, our bidding determination may also be shaken...... Choosing this radical path shows that Big Dream is not at ease with letting Disney get the copyright, and I don't believe that the Ministry will return it to Big Dream after getting the copyright," Jack's tone couldn't help but be a little excited, "I now believe more and more that this matter is not a low-level mistake, Brad, look at it this way, the psychology of mutual defense between Disney movies and Big Dream is already very heavy, all this is not the result of a mistake in cooperation, it is more like a Disney movie coming forward to compete with Big Dream for food - dog eats dog, if you think about it this way, That's where it all gets really interesting, isn't it? ”

"Whether it's a mismatch or a genuine dog-eat-dog, it's impossible to tell now," Brad shook his head, but there was more than a smile on his lips, "but I know, now Bob. Iger won't be happy, Dick. It's the same with Cook, Disney Films actually competed with its brother companies - and lost in shame - and this humiliating defeat was a very humiliating loss: they were the first to make an offer, but they didn't even have a chance to compete, and they were killed by Big Dreams...... Hey, I'd love to see Dick. Cook's expression is now ...... And, of course, Bob. Iger knew what it looked like when he was - I'd be willing to pay a million dollars for this opportunity if I could be there. ”

Although Big Dream is not a wholly-owned subsidiary of Disney, but because Disney has a controlling stake, it is recognized that Big Dream is a part of the Disney Group, and the group infighting is very taboo news for every CEO, which shows that their control over the group has been weakened, no matter who is right and who is wrong in the cause of this matter, whether the headquarters intends to oppress Big Dream, or good intentions to do bad things, Big Dream's response can not be more wrong, even if there was no resentment, now the heart knot has been planted, and if there is a mustard, Now the conflict is even more intense and open - if this continues, Dick and she must go one way, otherwise where can the cooperation begin? And whether it's Dick. Cook leaves, or Jennifer leaves, this will be a big loss for Disney, and of course it is also an opportunity for Paramount......

Thinking of this, Brad's originally relaxed and happy expression suddenly stunned, he was originally gloating and watching him with the fire in his opponent's house, as if he suddenly realized something, his face became heavy all of a sudden, and this of course made Jack very nervous - in his cautious peeping, Brad's expression was cloudy and uncertain for a while, his eyebrows became tighter and tighter, he pondered for a while, and then suddenly stretched out his hand and commanded Jack, "Put Dick. Cook came to me for a personal phone - remember, a personal phone. ”

At this time, contact Dick, and also need a personal phone call - do you want to join forces with Dick to suppress Big Dream? Jack muttered in his heart, but of course he didn't dare to ask anything, but walked out of the president's office quickly and looked it up in the address book: Of course there are office phones, but it's hard to say about private phones, mainly because Brad's previous phone was completely destroyed, no data was imported, all phones were completely lost, and if there was no backup in it, he had to think of a reasonable excuse to inquire into the COO office......

"Ring, ring, ring—" Just as Jack was tapping on the keyboard, the phone rang, and he temporarily left the keyboard almost mechanically, picking up his mug and sipping coffee, while continuing to pull down the address book, and picking up the phone with his shoulder and neck between his shoulders, "Hello, President's Office, who are you?" ”

The other party replied with a simple word, and Jack suddenly choked, and in his violent cough, the coffee spilled out, spilling all over the table, and his keyboard was also damaged, Brad's second assistant cast a gloating glance, but Jack didn't care at all, and as soon as he breathed evenly, he said extremely hoarsely.

"Okay, this will transfer for you, please wait."

After cutting the standby button, he continued to cough uncontrollably, and quickly pressed the call button, while desperately gesturing to Brad through the glass, attracting the attention of his boss - when Brad took off his reading glasses and suspiciously reached for the microphone, he coughed a few last times, desperately suppressing the itch in his throat -

“What？” As soon as Brad picked up the phone, he said, "Did you find Dick's phone number so quickly?" ”

"Boss," said Jack in a calm tone that he was proud of, "Jennifer. Jefferson is calling you. ”

Through the peripheral vision, he saw that the boss seemed to choke on the coffee in his mouth - Jack straightened up, pulled through a stack of papers to block the chaos on the table, and was secretly proud of himself, his tone was more calm and professional, "And I arranged her to wait on the first line, so, if you are willing to answer...... "There will be two more later~!"