American fame and fortune.

Chapter 756: Pass the blame, continue to pass the blame

On Monday morning, Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas, in the name of director and producer, invited Spielberg from DreamWorks and Parallel to Warner Bros. Studios' "Interstellar" studio. Bob from Meng Film Industry held a meeting.

The Knoves had informed them in advance and invited Martin over.

Bob and Spielberg understood that Nolan had identified Martin, and Martin was the leading actor.

All five of them knew each other, and Martin was not very familiar with Bob.

"I went to see "Jack the Giant Slayer" with Martin last week. It was a very bad movie. From the plot to the style to the characters, it was completely broken!"

In the conference room, Nolan glanced at Martin and said to Bob and Spielberg: "I think the root cause of the film's failure lies in Jon Berg's genius creativity, the so-called new production model that is almost crazy. "

Because of Jon Berg's relationship, Spielberg also watched the film and said: "This production model is too crazy, and failure is an inevitable result."

Bob shook his head: "I don't understand what Jon Berg thinks."

Nolan said: "What if Jon Berg interfered with our project in a similar way?"

Martin has not yet clearly joined the cast and has remained silent and does not say much.

This was heard by Spielberg and Bob, but they understood it differently.

Bob said, "Let's try it."

Warner Pictures somehow got the news that Martin wanted to start the project, and then took action first, but the result was today's disastrous defeat.

After several people discussed it, Spielberg suddenly remembered something and asked Martin: "I heard an internal message from Warner, where did the project of "Jack the Giant Catcher" originally come from?"

He further said: "We all have cooperation with Warner. We took advantage of this opportunity to join forces with other investors to force Warner Brothers to fire Jon Berg. I think Warner's internal affairs are about to explode now."

Martin's words are enough. The two bosses are both good people and they will definitely understand. These news will spread slowly in the future, and he will save a lot of trouble.

You can't just stuff the script of "Fuck Street" into the safe in the office and fill the desk with the original works of "Fuck Street Movie", right?

Nolan added: "Since taking office, Jon Berg has messed up a series of big-budget projects. Warner Pictures' film projects with more than 6000 million US dollars in the past two years, all the successful ones were left by predecessor Alan Horn. "Sequels to blockbuster films, major Jon Berg-led projects, none of them were successful."

Spielberg was also annoyed by Jon Berg. The project had been delayed because of his personal grievances, so he said: "You can give it a try."

"I have indeed considered a fairy tale live-action movie project. The studio has also signed an agreement with Disney Pictures to invest in the live-action version of "Beauty and the Beast."" Martin first said that he was really paving the way, and then half-truly said: "It's almost Warner's initiative. Before "Jack the Giant Slayer", I studied these two fairy tales and asked someone to come up with a simple script at that time. Later, when Warner Pictures approved the project, I gave up."

Bob and Spielberg's faces grew serious.

Who can tell the difference between true and false?

There are also the previous "Pharaohs and Gods" and "Darkland", which are said to have been snatched away from Martin by Warner Pictures.

He shrugged: "I don't know how the news leaked, but Warner Pictures invested a huge amount of money to establish the project. If Davis Studio continues to do it, the collision will be very troublesome."

"Jack the Giant Slayer", like most major Hollywood productions, is a typical platter project. Now that the project has failed miserably, investors need an outlet for their anger.

Spielberg and Bob looked at each other and both had similar thoughts. The so-called project that Martin Davis was optimistic about might have pitfalls.

Bob said: "But we have an investment agreement with Warner Pictures, and Warner refuses to give up."

Nolan's eyes drifted past Martin without any trace, and said: "Let's take advantage of the failure of "Jack the Giant Slayer" to drive Jon Berg out of office!"

They also attracted people's attention to Martin. From now on... let's forget about it.

Warner Pictures and Annapurna Pictures are examples of this.

Martin said in his heart that it was all accidental in the past, not intentional, definitely not intentional.

The little meeting ended, and Bob and Spielberg left one after another.

Martin chatted with Nolan for a while and then left.

When changing cars at the entrance of Warner Studio, he bought a few newspapers and flipped to the entertainment section. The front page was all about the box office failure of "Jack the Giant Catcher".

Among them, the latest "People" magazine mocked Jon Berg without mercy.

"Warner Pictures, under the leadership of Alan Horn, achieved brilliant results in the first decade of the 4th century, but sadly bowed out due to the failure of "Terminator ". His successor Jon Burr He has great ambitions and wants to take Warner Pictures to the next level."

"However, after Jon Berg took office, the three major production projects "Pharaohs and Gods", "Darkland" and "Jack the Giant Slayer" failed without exception, and "Jack the Giant Slayer" was even more innovative. He used an unprecedented funny editing method, causing Warner Pictures to suffer an unprecedented failure."

…………

Warner Building, in the small conference room,

Kevin Tsujihara looked at his brother-in-law, Jon Berg, and Daniel, who was in charge of the publishing business, sighed, and then asked, "What's going on with this project?"

Jon Berg said: "The distribution company's announcement was unfavorable, and malicious negative reviews were circulated on the Internet, which seriously affected the film's reputation and dragged down the box office!"

Unsurprisingly, Jon Berg once again blamed it: "The promotion method is too old. When the film encountered a crisis of public opinion, the distribution company did nothing, resulting in the film..." "The negative reviews are because the film quality is too poor. !" How could Daniel let the other party put the blame on him? The loss may be as high as 3 million US dollars. This blame is too heavy, who can bear it?

He retorted: "'Jack the Giant Catcher' doesn't even have the most basic quality. Can it rely on publicity to reverse its decline? Audience reputation is based on the quality of the film!"

Jon Berg knew that this scapegoat was enough to completely crush people, saying: "There were serious work errors on the part of the distribution company. They did not arrange a test screening for "Jack the Giant Catcher", which allowed the production company to miss the opportunity to seek revisions. Last chance for the film!”

Daniel angrily said: "It is obvious that you refused to allow the film to be screened, and you were confident that the film would be a success when it was released."

He not only defended, but also took the initiative to attack: "If you hadn't been so smart and used the so-called new editing method, the film would not be what it is now!"

Jon Berg said: "I have no problem with my editing method. Any new production method requires a certain process from its emergence to maturity, and your release..."

Kevin Tsujihara couldn't stand hearing it anymore: "Okay, stop arguing."

Daniel and Jon Berg shut their mouths at the same time.

Kevin Tsujihara said: "You go and prepare first. The group company meeting will discuss this matter in the afternoon."

Daniel stood up and left the conference room.

But he paid special attention and was quietly observed for a while.

Sure enough, Jon Berg then entered Kevin Tsujihara's office.

Daniel felt that the top of his head felt heavy, as if there was a layer of black stuff stuck on top.

Jon Berg is Kevin Tsujihara’s brother-in-law.

Daniel knew this very well.

Not long after returning to the office, Daniel thought about countermeasures. Although "Jack the Giant Catcher" only had its first week at the box office in North America, the losses were completely predictable. The losses were extremely huge, and someone must be responsible for it.

Under normal circumstances, the person in charge must be someone from the production company.

The problem is not normal now.

The phone rang at this time, and Daniel answered it. His old friend Louise Meyer called and asked him to go out for a chat.

Daniel only thought about it for a few seconds and then agreed.

Half an hour later, the two met in the morning tea area of ​​the Smoke House restaurant.

Louise drank a cup of black tea and asked, "What, are you in trouble? She looks sad."

"The latest release of this big production, it's screwed up," Daniel said.

Louise nodded slightly: "People like Kevin Tsujihara and Jon Berg want to put the responsibility on you?"

Daniel glanced at him: "You are very well-informed."

"I have been cooperating with Warner for almost twenty years." Louise said calmly: "We have known each other for more than ten years, right?"

Daniel recalled: "I have been coming to Warner for more than ten years."

Louise pushed up her black-rimmed glasses: "So, you don't want to leave Warner Bros."

Daniel sighed: "Some things are not a matter of whether I think about it or not."

Louise said: "I got the news that Kevin Tsujihara and Jon Berg are planning to put the blame on You, and you will take the main responsibility for the failure of "Jack the Giant Catcher"."

These words were not what Daniel expected, so he chose to believe: "The responsibility does not lie with me."

Louise said directly: "If you don't take measures, the responsibility will be yours."

Daniel looked at Louise and asked, "You came to see me today. Do you have something to discuss?"

Louise said: "Nowadays, major companies in Hollywood are undergoing reforms. Many group companies are optimizing the industrial structure. Like Disney Pictures, they merged the distribution label and the production company, and put one person directly in charge."

She asked, "Daniel, don't you want to be like our old friend Alan Horn and control the two key businesses of distribution and production at the same time?"

Daniel understood what she meant: "You represent more than just Pacific Pictures, right?"

"Of course not." Louise said roughly: "In addition to my Pacific Pictures, there are also Martin's Davis Studio, the Nolans' Colter Pictures, DreamWorks, Paramount, Castle Rock Wait, there are more than a dozen companies and investment funds that are working with or have worked with Warner, and they are all victims of Jon Berg."

Daniel immediately thought of the key: "It seems that Warner Pictures' delay in paying its share has offended too many people."

Louise said: "Jon Berg misappropriated the profits for "Jack the Giant Catcher", thinking that he would wait for the film to be released and become a hit, and then pay it after the box office revenue was collected. Now the plan is bankrupt."

Daniel said: "It's good if I can protect myself."

Louise smiled and shook her head: "We have known each other for more than ten years. You are at the top of Time Warner, but there are people who support you."

(End of this chapter)