Hollywood starts with an agent

Chapter 331 The Man Who Changed the Profit Sharing Model

With the announcement of the nominations for the 67th Academy Awards, the highly anticipated "Forrest Gump" leads the pack with 13 nominations.
Next up are Pulp Fiction and The Shawshank Redemption, each with 7 nominations!
Despite its relative obscurity at the Golden Globes, The Shawshank Redemption received seven Oscar nominations.
This is a great comfort to the film's director, Frank Darabont.

At the Sunset Marques Hotel in West Hollywood, Robert Zemeckis, director of "Forrest Gump," along with lead actors Tom Hanks and Elizabeth Hurley, and Winston Groom, author of the original novel, attended a banquet!
Aaron Anderson, who had returned to Los Angeles from Houston, also made a special trip to the hotel.

When Winston Groom published Forrest Gump, only 4 copies were sold.

However, with the release of the movie "Forrest Gump", the novel's sales have exceeded 170 million copies!

Forrest Gump is undoubtedly a classic film, with excellent performances and unforgettable scenes;
It involves drama, comedy, romance, and even war, with kindness and love being the themes directly expressed in the film.

The success of "Forrest Gump" is mainly due to its reflection of the "American Dream"—that everyone can achieve their dreams as long as they work hard. Forrest Gump himself represents the direction of mainstream American culture, embodying enthusiasm, honesty, sincerity, positivity, and confidence!

"Congratulations, Robert! Forrest Gump is absolutely a timeless classic!"

Aaron clinked glasses with director Robert Zemeckis.

“Thank you, Aaron,” Robert Zemeckis smiled.
"Without your support, Forrest Gump would not have achieved such great success."

The filming of "Forrest Gump" cost $6000 million. For a project that many companies were not optimistic about, Dawn's attitude was very important.
Otherwise, Robert Zemeckis and lead actor Tom Hanks would have considered investing their salaries into the project.

Aaron shook his head. "The success of Forrest Gump is mainly due to everyone's hard work."

The release of "Forrest Gump" last year coincided with the US congressional elections. The film did not indirectly connect with the political and cultural realities of American society, but directly intervened in the political parties and politics within it.
The film was embraced enthusiastically by the right-wing Republican Party within the United States, helping the party win a significant number of votes.

Forrest Gump was recently named one of the "100 Greatest Conservative Films in American History"!
After talking with Robert Zemeckis, Aaron went to Tom Hanks' side, and their collaboration began with "Philadelphia."

"Tom, barring any unforeseen circumstances, you're going to win the Oscar for Best Actor again!"

Aaron can congratulate him in advance. Last year's "Philadelphia" earned him his first Oscar for Best Actor, and this year's "Forrest Gump" is even more impressive.

Tom Hanks smiled and hugged Aaron, "It seems I'll have to continue working with Dawn, being able to participate in such excellent projects!"

Aaron smiled. "Your voice acting in the animated feature film 'Toy Story' was also excellent; it's releasing next month."

"I'm very confident."

Tom Hanks winked. "Toy Story, this is also the first animated feature film I've worked on, and I personally love it!"

"By the way, I heard you're going to direct a movie?"

Aaron suddenly asked, "Tom Hanks filmed Apollo 13 last year, but he doesn't have any other projects."

"Yes, I want to venture into a new field and plan to write, direct, and star in a musical comedy film called 'An Unstoppable Miracle'."

"It's about a fictional rock band in the 1960s that became famous overnight and then disappeared." Tom Hanks is also a filmmaker who transitioned from acting to directing.

Just like actor Tim Robbins, who wrote, directed, and starred in "Bob Roberts" three years ago, he is now directing his second film, "Dead Man Walking"!
"That's good. Have the issues with the investors and issuers been resolved?"

Regardless, Aaron, while not particularly concerned about Tom Hanks' directorial debut, still had his own opinion.

"It was distributed by 20th Century Fox. The film had a low budget; it was a low-budget musical comedy!"

Although Tom Hanks is very famous, his directorial debut will certainly not have a large budget, so finding a distributor will not be difficult.

"Barring any unforeseen circumstances, filming for 'Unstoppable Miracles' will begin during the summer."

Aaron nodded and smiled, "It's good that there are distributors. Dawn's New Moon Pictures and Twilight Pictures have always been quite supportive of independent films!"

Then, Aaron patted Tom Hanks on the shoulder and said, "We will definitely continue to work together on movies in the future."

Then, Dawn Steele, a senior executive at Dawn, came to Aaron's side and talked about Cruise/Wagner Productions' new film, Mission: Impossible!
"What, is it that the action blockbuster produced by Tom Cruise is about to start filming?"

Aaron took a sip of his drink and sat down on the sofa with Dawn Steele.

Dawn Steele smiled. "Filming officially starts next month, and Paramount has offered very high terms this time."

"Not only did they provide Tom Cruise with $7500 million in funding, but they also gave him full control over the film's production."

"Importantly, Tom Cruise participated entirely as a producer this time, adopting a new revenue-sharing model."

"A full share of the film's box office revenue, video revenue, and television broadcasting revenue!"

Aaron nodded. "Tom Cruise's $1500 million salary for our 'Con Air' is already top-tier Hollywood pay right now."

"It seems that this kind of simple film salary is no longer enough for him."

Dawn Steele and Aaron Anderson both knew what Tom Cruise's actions represented: if Mission: Impossible succeeded, it would change the revenue-sharing model between Hollywood actors and studios.

To participate in the film's profit sharing as an actor, on an equal footing with the production company.

Dawn Steele remarked, "Tom Cruise's approach has set a precedent; now, Hollywood's top male stars are also having new ideas about their salaries!"

Currently, the top male stars in Hollywood earn $1500 million per film.

"You mean Jim Carrey? I heard he's in talks with Sony about a new film and wants a $2000 million salary..."

(End of this chapter)