Century City, WMA headquarters.

In the hall, which is rarely open to journalists, a makeshift rostrum was set up, and Christopher Nolan and Ali Emmanuel sat at two tables, picked up a pen, and signed their respective contracts.

Diagonally behind the door of a break room, Martin and Thomas watched as Nolan officially signed with WMA and changed agencies.

The hottest Hollywood director left CAA at the end of last month.

Thomas looked at Nolan, who had signed the contract, and then at Martin, who was standing beside him, and raised his hand to touch his bare forehead.

Although in just seven years, he achieved the terrible transformation from the grassland to the desert, he has no regrets at all.

When he was full of hair, he was just one of CAA's many low-level agents.

When his hair falls out into the Mediterranean, he is already a top Hollywood agent, a powerful presence with an annual income of seven figures!

Who doesn't envy?

Martin suddenly spoke: "CAA can't keep Nolan after all. ”

"yes." Thomas answered, but was taken aback.

The CAA and Nolan incident is simply the best negative teaching material, and he must learn from it.

Brokers are only service providers for customers, especially when facing front-line customers, forcing Nolan like CAA will only be ruthlessly abandoned.

Thomas glanced at Martin compared to other Hollywood people, Martin may be from a relationship, and he is more affectionate to his family.

As long as you don't get dizzy, this position is very stable.

Thomas added: "I heard that Director Nolan is going to sue CAA? ”

Martin said: "CAA is still dragging on his share of last year's share and not giving it. ”

Thomas sighed: "CAA is no longer the CAA it was when it was founded, so many top customers have left, and there must be something wrong with their internal management." ”

In recent years, CAA has lost a lot of first-tier customers alone, Spielberg, Martin Scorsesese, Leonardo, Halle Berry and Christopher Nolan, etc., have left CAA one after another.

Martin thought for a while and said: "The same company, starting a business and becoming the first in the industry, the mentality is different, the CAA in the eighties and nineties regarded itself as the servant of the customer, and now some of the senior brokers of the CAA may regard themselves as the master of the customer." ”

Speaking of which, there is a sense of familiarity, this kind of company seems to have been experienced.

Martin recalls a little, isn't this the case with property companies in many communities in his previous life?

Thomas said: "yes, in order to get the agency of Sean Connery and Spielberg, the founders of CAA sacrificed so much that they wanted to sell their butts to them, and Michael Ovitz almost begged to get their agency contract, and now ......"

The signing ended, the media interviewed, and then Nolan, Ali and Emma Thomas, among others, came to the break room.

Martin stepped forward to shake Nolan's hand and said with a smile, "Chris, welcome to the WMA." ”

"We're going to be fighting together," Nolan said. ”

Martin nodded: "Warner Bros., I don't know what to say." ”

Ali joined the two at the right time and said, "WMA fully supports you and protects your legitimate interests!" ”

Nolan sighed with some emotion: "I didn't expect that the Warner Brothers would come this far." ”

Martin said: "Last year's share has been overdue for 40 days, and my lawyer sent a lawyer's letter, but Warner Bros. has been delaying and wants to continue to delay. ”

Ali said: "The reason given by Warner is that the payment in the international market is overdue, so let's continue to wait." ”

Nolan shook his head: "We have been waiting for more than forty days, and it is impossible to wait indefinitely. ”

Although Martin no longer works with Warner Bros., he has appeared in a number of Warner Pictures productions and has a certain amount of post-production in films such as "The Dark Knight".

Nolan has been working with Warner since "Chasing the Murderer in the White Night", and the number of films involved is even larger.

Warner Pictures, on the other hand, has not paid the two of them the 2011 post-payment share.

Of course, it's not just them, it's a number of companies and individuals involved.

Waiting outside, the media reporters dispersed, and the group went upstairs to discuss. 、

Soon, Martin's lawyer, Hamlin, and Nolan's, both arrived at the WMA.

After a series of lawyers' letters to no avail, Nolan and Martin chose legal action at the same time.

Not only them, but many celebrity directors in the circle who have business dealings with Warner have also made the same choice.

Warner Bros., the No. 1 performer in Hollywood in the past decade, seems to have encountered some trouble after the change of coach.

…………

Warner Building, Chairman's Office.

Kevin Tsujihara said to several subordinates: "I have been notified by the Legal Department that the company has received letters from attorneys from a number of people, including Leonardo, George Clooney, Daniel Radcliffe, Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Martin Davis, and Christopher Nolan, asking us to pay the late royalties owed and the interest accrued therefrom. ”

Warner Pictures' president Jon Berg's first reaction was to shirk responsibility: "The payment collection of distribution channels is not timely, and the collection of many projects exceeds the planned expectations, resulting in difficulties in the working capital turnover of the film business. ”

When Daniel, who is in charge of the distribution business, heard this, the fire rose from the bottom of his heart: "Why is the film business not paying back in time?" Because of the failure of many films last year, the North American box office did not meet expectations, resulting in the postponement of releases in many overseas markets, and even the withdrawal of some overseas markets from the distribution ranks, which has produced a series of chain reactions! ”

"Enough!" Kevin Tsujihara interrupted Daniel: "Are you just going to blame each other and pass the buck?" ”

Jon Berg turned his head to Daniel and said what about the good alliance? What about the responsibility to carry it together?

Daniel softened his tone a little and continued: "If it's just a movie released last year, and there is a problem with the payment of the distribution channel, I will be responsible!" But why did this kind of problem occur in old films in the past? I remember very well that there was no problem with the payment of old films, and all the accounts were transferred on time by the distribution company. ”

The film business is only one part of Warner Bros., but the film business is also one of the basic businesses that Warner Bros. stands on, so Kevin Tsujihara handed over Warner Pictures to his brother-in-law Jon Berg in the hope that he would be able to hold it up as quickly as possible.

Kevin Tsujihara rarely intervenes directly in the film business, and when he heard Daniel's words, his eyes fell on Jon Berg and asked him to give a reasonable explanation.

Jon Berg said frankly: "The post-production of "Jack the Giant Catcher" has reached a critical stage, and some additional investment has been temporarily made, because the time is tight and the task is heavy, in order not to affect the company's daily operation, I temporarily mobilized part of the old film to return money and put it into the post-production of this film. ”

Daniel stopped talking, because this kind of thing is not uncommon within Warner.

This is also within Jon Berg's normal remit, and Kevin Tsujihara has not made an opinion.

Jon-Berg continued: "When the channel is in place, the arrears are not a problem, we will give them a little interest at most, and even after the negotiation, the interest will not be paid. ”

Kevin Tsujihara and Daniel both think it's okay because similar situations happen in the industry from time to time, and because Warner Bros. is one of Hollywood's top big companies.

The celebrity directors mailed lawyers' letters and even resorted to law, and as long as Warner delayed for a while and reached a settlement with them, the matter would be easily resolved.

However, there are a lot of people and funds involved, and Kevin Tsujihara still paid attention to it: "Don't be in arrears for too long, find a way to solve some of them first." ”

Jon Berg is a genius who can both launch epic reforms in the production model and use Hollywood's inherent rules to innovate: "The cast of 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,' led by Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Gretel, has a huge share of ...... in the later stages."

He glanced at Kevin Tsujiwara and put it another way: "If they go according to the box office and profit-sharing contract, they will share hundreds of millions of dollars." ”

Kevin Tsujihara understood what Jon Berg meant: "Is this project really profitable? ”

Jon Berg shook his head: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is a serious loss. ”

In the past, Warner Bros. had to coax the Harry Potter cast and spoil actors such as Emma Watson with princess disease.

But the Harry Potter series is over, and the value of these fixed descriptions of actors has changed from infinitely large in the past to infinitely small in the future, and there is no need for Warner Bros. to get used to them anymore.

Jon Berg looked at Daniel: "You should have paid a lot of ...... in terms of publicity and distribution costs"

In this kind of matter, Daniel could not pull the group back, and said: "You can rest assured, the publicity and distribution costs are much higher than the production costs." ”

The distribution is done by the Warner Bros. label, and most of the publicity is used by Warner's media, and the box office is divided into Warner Bros., and the publicity and distribution costs and management costs must be deducted first.

Not to mention, it is a basic operation that the global publicity and distribution cost exceeds the production cost.

Jon Berg added: "The crew has $150 million in production costs, which comes from the distribution company's borrowing, and the interest on it, don't forget to calculate. ”

Daniel waved his hand casually, this kind of thing doesn't need to be said, he already has a plan in his heart, the income of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" falls into the hands of the production company, no matter how it is calculated, it is a loss.

As for the profit sharing in the contract signed by the cast, it will definitely not be enjoyed.

A film that grossed $1.356 billion worldwide and topped the annual list of DVDs in 2011 was both reasonable and legitimate.

Without this large share of the Harry Potter crew, the rest of the crew is not much for Warner Pictures, and it can be solved smoothly with a little delay.

Coming out of the chairman's office, Jon Berg and Daniel, the heads of producers and distributors who love and kill each other, got together and chatted for a while.

Professionals from both sides will soon go out and do a good job of "Harry Potter 9" revenue statements according to Hollywood-style accounting methods, and tell the world gloriously and responsibly that this movie has lost money!

(End of chapter)