Hollywood starts with an agent

Chapter 552 Too Shocking
Looking at Michael Jackson's retreating figure, Aaron felt somewhat helpless. He had a record contract with Sony and couldn't switch to Universal.

As for how good he was at Sony, that's not entirely true!

Tommy Mottola, president of Sony Music, was very dissatisfied with Michael Jackson, not only because Michael Jackson owned half of the shares in Sony/ATV Music Publishing.

Furthermore, because of Michael Jackson's control over the copyright of his own songs, he has been advocating that singers should own the copyright to their own songs.

Tommy Mottola is the ex-husband of American pop music icon Mariah Carey; the two divorced last year.
Mariah Carey, along with Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, and Madonna Ciccone, are collectively known as the four queens of American pop music!

The following day, Aaron met with Robert Johnson, the founder of BET Black Entertainment Cable Television, at the Dawn Building.

Looking at the first Black billionaire before him, Aaron asked, "Didn't Viacom say it wanted to acquire BET television?"

"How much did they offer?"

Robert Johnson shook his head. "They're only willing to offer $18.5 billion, which is far below my expectations."

"BET is currently the highest-rated TV station among the African American community in the United States, and it's worth more than that."

Aaron smiled. "Well, actually, now that Viacom is competing with me for CBS, they probably won't be making any new offers to BET for a while!"

Robert Johnson shrugged. "That doesn't matter. BET is doing quite well right now."

Aaron's meeting with Robert Johnson was brief, mainly because he had little interest in the guy.
While BET enjoys high viewership among Black people, it is not irreplaceable; it's just that some other television networks tend to neglect the Black community.

Now, major American television networks have begun to pay attention to minority groups in the United States, such as African Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Americans!

In Aaron's mind, BET should sell as soon as possible while the price is high, ideally after Viacom fails to acquire CBS, at which point Viacom will certainly be willing to pay a high price.

In the afternoon, Etherine Beckett came to Aaron's office and delivered a wildly imaginative and outrageous script!

After reading it, Aaron's mouth dropped open as he looked at the script of "Breaking the Heavenly Laws" in his hand. "This guy is really talented."

"Fighting the Laws of Heaven" tells the story of two angels who fell to earth and tried every means to return to heaven, even at the cost of disrupting the entire universe's system.

But the key point is that this is a religious film, which contains important plots about abortion, the muse is a stripper, and God is a woman!
The creator is an outlier in Hollywood—Kevin Smith.

"Isn't this kind of script just asking for trouble?"

Aaron was simply thrown aside. Kevin Smith, a director known for his unconventional style, had previously directed mainstream films such as "Clerks," "The Cool Kids," and "The Guessing Game."

With its witty and nonsensical humorous dialogue, it has won praise from many viewers and film critics, and has a group of fans in the United States, similar to Quentin Tarantino!

When Athena Beckett saw it, she was also startled, but she still asked, "Even Twilight Studios can't make it?" Aaron shook his head, "Twilight Studios is originally a label under Dawn Universal, although it mainly produces B-movies."

"Gravity, horror, political thriller, religious mystery, and teen sex comedy are all acceptable, but this kind is too shocking and will damage one's reputation."

The Dawn Group is now an international media conglomerate. How many Christians are there in the United States?

Aaron couldn't allow this kind of work to have any connection with the dawn.

Etherine Beckett nodded. "Kevin Smith also gave it to Miramax, and Harvey Weinstein is very interested."

"However, the parent company, Disney, objected and did not allow Miramax to produce it."

Aaron laughed. "Miramax has been a complete failure at Disney these past few years; Kevin Smith's work is very appealing to them."

"Harvey Weinstein will probably find a way to get this movie released!"

Miramax has a lot of autonomy under Disney, after all, when Disney acquired Miramax, it said it would not interfere in Miramax's management.

Although Twilight Pictures has some autonomy over Dawn, the head of Twilight Pictures was originally appointed by Dawn.

Moreover, Twilight Pictures owns the Scream series, has filmed American Pie this year which is scheduled for release next year, and is also preparing Final Destination. Unlike Miramax, which is half-dead.
Besides, Twilight Pictures and Quentin Tarantino have been working together for a long time, so they don't really need someone like Kevin Smith!

“Understood,” Etherine Beckett said, and quickly left with the script.

After all, if a low-budget film like "Wrath of God" had passed the approval of the Twilight Studios development team and could have been developed directly, why would Aaron have bothered with such a project?
But "Fighting the Divine Laws" is different. Its content is too shocking and involves too much religious content, so it will definitely be reported!

After Etherine Beckett left, Aaron thought about the script he had just read. It seemed that Kevin Smith had invited Ben Affleck to play the male lead.

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are very good friends. The two won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for Good Will Hunting, becoming the youngest recipients of the award. Ben Affleck also played a supporting role in Good Will Hunting.

Of course, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are not as famous now as they were. Matt Damon has starred in several movies, while Ben Affleck has never starred in a movie.

Ben Affleck would certainly not let an opportunity like "God's Wrath" slip by.

"Miramax, how long has it been since we heard anything from that company?"

Aaron shook his head. In recent years, due to the rise of Dawn, many independent film companies have disappeared.
I thought Miramax had been abandoned by Disney.
Look at New Line Cinema, they have the Evil Dead series, the Nightmare on Elm Street series, and the Friday the 13th series of horror films;
Comedy films include "The Wedding Singer" and the blockbuster "Dumb and Dumber," while action films include the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" series and "Blade."

No wonder New Line Cinema was able to maintain its independent status within the Time Warner Group without being acquired by Warner Bros.!
(End of this chapter)