Hollywood starts with an agent

Chapter 433 The New Landscape of Hollywood
In late August, the Venice Film Festival will open, and Hollywood will soon be entering its fall season.
Dawn's "Rush Hour" and "Romeo and Juliet" both went to the Venice Film Festival for promotion!
At the Bitmore Millennium Hotel in Los Angeles, Universal Pictures held a press conference for its action blockbuster "Face/Off".
Director John Woo attended the event with his two leading actors, Nicolas Cage and John Travolta.

The $7000 million North American box office and $1.5 million global box office of "Broken Arrow" gave director John Woo greater autonomy in the "Face/Off" project.
The $8000 million budget is a significant increase compared to the $5000 million budget for "Broken Arrow".

Besides John Woo, another action director, Michael Bay, is equally noteworthy. After gaining fame with "Bad Boys," his latest film, "The Rock," has received rave reviews.
The $1.3 million box office in North America was remarkable, and it also raked in a whopping $2 million in overseas markets, bringing the total global box office to $3.3 million!
Other films such as "Twister," "Independence Day," and "The Fat Professor" are still showing in theaters.

In Aaron's office in Burbank.

"During his inspection, James Cameron discovered that the tableware and other items found on the Titanic were not from the White Star Line brand."

"So he had them all destroyed and reordered a new batch of tableware and other items!"

Etherine Beckett is giving Aaron a update on the filming progress of James Cameron's new film, Titanic.

Aaron sighed. "I guess we're going to waste another million or two dollars. Didn't the producers at 20th Century Fox have anything to say?"

Ethelyn Beckett chuckled. "Producer David Vogel and director James Cameron had a huge argument on set."

He threatened the director that if there were any problems with the Titanic, he would jump into the sea.

"James Cameron also angrily stated that if the filming wasn't done according to his demands, he would rather burn himself to death!"

Aaron shook his head. The title of "tyrant on set" was indeed well-deserved, forcing the producer to the point of wanting to jump into the sea.

However, there was no other way, as 20th Century Fox itself invested a whopping $130 million in the production of this film, not including the marketing costs after the film was completed.

Moreover, Universal invested $65 million to acquire the North American distribution rights, so 20th Century Fox is under immense pressure to recoup its investment.

"20th Century Fox is now relying on James Cameron to hold out."

"The Terminator series, and action-sci-fi films like True Lies, are incredibly popular."

"Twentieth Century Fox cannot back down in order to maintain a long-term partnership agreement with James Cameron."

Etherine Beckett knew that her boss had always been eyeing James Cameron.

He was certain that as long as 20th Century Fox dared to part ways with James Cameron, Dawn would be waving checks and signing a cooperation agreement with James Cameron the very next day!
"By the way, I heard Steven Spielberg is going to help Ramon direct a war movie called 'Saving Private Ryan'."

“The investment will definitely be substantial. Have you considered collaborating with Paramount? We at Dawn have the funds!” As soon as Aaron finished speaking, Athena Beckett pursed her lips. “Boss, that’s difficult. Not to mention that Steven Spielberg is representing DreamWorks in this collaboration with Paramount.”

"Moreover, there's a rumor circulating in Hollywood that if a boss approves of a film, no one will be willing to give up the distribution rights."

"Paramount Chairman Shirley Lansing and Warner Bros.' Bob Daly both stated in front of reporters that if Dawn actively sought cooperation, it meant the film was guaranteed to be a blockbuster and would be given the green light immediately!"

Aaron leaned back in his chair and said dismissively, "They also need to find someone to share the risk. Can independent investors and external funds make up for it?"

Hollywood's major film studios definitely prefer independent film investors and external funding;
Because of this, Hollywood companies can retain distribution rights, and they can decide how to handle the finances.

Hollywood's major film studios don't actually collaborate much, because at that level, everyone is a Hollywood distributor, so who would be willing to be a film investor?

After the 1990s, the international market rose and became able to compete with the North American market. Hollywood has paid more and more attention to the international market, which is why there have been collaborations with major Hollywood distributors.

Paramount is a prime example. They partnered with a distributor of similar caliber to share the risks, separating North American and international distribution. After all, as a film company of the same level, their production capabilities are beyond question!
"Forget it, since Steven Spielberg represents DreamWorks, the North American distribution of Saving Private Ryan will remain with DreamWorks."

Besides, Aaron must have known that DreamWorks SKG had signed screening contracts with various cinema chains in the past two years.

After all, Dawn already owns the first multiplex cinema chain in the United States, Angel Cinemas, as well as Landmark Cinemas, which it controls;
With the addition of its 40% stake in Odeon Cinemas after acquiring Universal, Dawning's global distribution network is by no means weak.

Universal has the confidence to withdraw from its partnership with Paramount through United International Pictures (UIP) so quickly!
The world's three major voting blocs are North America, Western Europe, and East Asia. Of course, Europe also includes countries in Central and Southern Europe such as Germany, Italy, and Spain.

The rest are actually insignificant. Latin America only has Brazil and Mexico, since the North American box office market does not include Mexico!
However, DreamWorks faces numerous difficulties in its development, as which Hollywood distribution company doesn't own theaters?
Hollywood independent distributors are themselves founded by theater chains, and large distributors have also invested in a significant number of theater chains;
Needless to say, Dawn Cinemas has its own subsidiary Columbia Pictures, which controls the Loews Cinema chain. Paramount has National Entertainment Cinema, and MGM has United Artists Cinema, among others.

It is easy to imagine the difficulty for DreamWorks to rise up amidst the encirclement of the seven major Hollywood distributors, especially since it is a company founded by a few sophisticated egoists.

Aaron established Dawn early enough, starting with the acquisition of a landmark art cinema and continuously launching blockbuster works to increase its influence;

Dawn is all that Aaron has to do, but will DreamWorks be all that Jeffrey Katzenberg, David Fincher, and Steven Spielberg has to do?

Obviously not, all three of them had their own selfish motives!

Even MGM, which was acquired by Seagram, felt the pressure, let alone a newly built DreamWorks.

(End of this chapter)