hollywood billionaire

Chapter 66
If you were to make a list of people in Hollywood, Kevin Hart would definitely be at the top.

Kevin has not only a hilarious sense of humor, his greatest skill is knowing how to turn witty one-liners into a bridge to build a career path. Since his first comedy stand-up tour in 2009, Kevin Hart has always made close and key friends for himself, Chris Rock, Will Smith, Jason Stam, Ice Cube, Ludacris, Drake, Pharrell Williams, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, and even Chris Paul, who is still with the Clippers, are all considered close friends with Kevin Hart.

And these are just celebrity friends who are well-known by the media on the stage.Behind the scenes, there are countless people who regard Kevin Hart as a friend.To give the simplest example, each of UTA's Big Three has invited Kevin Hart to his home several times.With such a complex internal ecology, the United Artists Agency can simultaneously win the trust and love of the three parties. Kevin Hart's social skills can be called a master level.

If there is only one person in Hollywood who can socialize upwards, it must be Kevin Hart.

There are many reasons for Kevin Hart to quickly win the favor of everyone. One is his cheerful personality, and the other is his extreme ability to observe words and emotions.Of course, the most important thing is his control over the details of the relationship, and his meticulous care and respect for the person he communicates with.

For example, this acquisition negotiation for Hartbeat is different from Diplo choosing to meet at the Manate Entertainment office. Kevin Hart insisted on inviting Han Yi and Jordan Bromley to have dinner at the Mélisse restaurant. In April 2016, the Michelin Guide has not yet returned to Los Angeles, but everyone knows that as long as the tire supplier from Clermont-Ferrand restarts the selection of restaurants in the greater Los Angeles area, this restaurant will inevitably become the top of the list. Five, whether it is two stars or three stars.

This is also the case. After the return of the Michelin Guide to Los Angeles in 2019, Mélisse became one of the five two-star restaurants.

In the Los Angeles area, there are no Michelin stars.This also means that Mélisse, at least in the selection dimension of French food critics, is the most worthwhile gourmet destination in LA.

Mélisse, founded by California celebrity chef Josiah Citrin, serves French cuisine with a new California style. It is the most prestigious high-end restaurant in Santa Monica.Located at the junction of Wilshire Boulevard and 11th Street, Mélisse is not only far away from the tourist-filled beaches, but also a considerable distance from the third shopping street, the luxury center of Santa Monica, which fully guarantees that diners can enjoy privacy Quiet dining environment.

However, unlike Masa and Per Se, which are located in the Time Warner Center and face the bustling Manhattan, Mélisse's location seems to be too low-key.Light green walls, purple window sills, brown wooden doors, and a very retro shop sign hanging at the entrance are the entire exterior of this one-story building.In Han Yi's eyes, it's not as high-end as the Starbucks across the street.Even the sidewalk in front of the restaurant can only accommodate two people walking side by side. If there is one more person, they will have to be squeezed beyond the red shoulder.

When Han Yi and Jordan Bromley's cars arrived at the door of Mélisse one after another, Kevin Hart and his entourage had been waiting at the door of the store for a long time.Seven or eight people filled the road to the brim. The pedestrians on the other side of the street secretly took out their mobile phones to take pictures, and the bolder ones walked up to Kevin Hart for a group photo.As long as the passing vehicles see Kevin Hart, they will roll down the windows to say hello, or directly honk their horns to pay tribute to him.

For a moment, Han Yi couldn't tell whether it was a private dinner or Kevin Hart's roadside show.However, Han Yi knew in his heart that no one would be willing to stand on the street and be viewed as a rare animal without pay.Kaiming can obviously enter the store, and even sit at the reserved table and wait, but he still chooses to wait outside the store, and he will not refuse every fan who asks for a group photo until his cheeks are deliberately posed. The smile became a little sore.

There is only one reason why Kevin Hart would do this.

Show Han Yi his humility and sincerity of cooperation.

Emotional intelligence and social skills are so high, even if Han Yi knew that this was a deliberate superficial effort, he had to have a good impression of him.

After all, who doesn't love someone who's obsessed with figuring out how to please him?

More importantly, with such a shrewd character as a partner, if the benefits are distributed properly, Han Yi will have fewer trivial matters to worry about in the unfamiliar film and television field.

"Yi! Sorry, sister, my guests have arrived...Okay, no problem, take another picture."

After posing in a coordinated manner to satisfy the black female fans who took a group photo, Kevin Hart hurried two steps, walked up to Han Yi, and opened his arms.

"How's the traffic?"

"Bad as always, I almost threw up in the car."

Han Yi hugged Kevin Hart, patted Kevin Hart on the back, and smiled.

"Oh, don't spit on me, brother!" Kevin Hart made a slightly exaggerated movement, pinching the ivory white linen suit on his chest, "The only Gucci in the house!"

"Yeah right." Han Yi curled his lips, "The only Gucci...is because the house is full of Hermès, right?"

"Fake news, I only rock GAP."

After bumping fists with Han Yi again, Kevin Hart felt that the greetings were in place, and turned his head to show Jordan Bromley and Zhao Youzhen the same warm and bright smiles.

"Jordan, Yujin, it's always nice to see you."

"Allow me to introduce you to Hartbeat's management team, Ty Randolph, a charming lady who was previously COO at Hartbeat and is now CEO. Jeff Clanagan, Chief Channel Officer, Brian - Smiley, chief content officer, Candice Wilson-Cherry, head of film, and Mike Stern, head of television and audio."

"Ty, Jeff, Brian. Well, Candice, I like your hair. . . Good evening, Mike."

Han Yi and Zhao Youzhen shook hands with Kevin Hart's five colleagues in turn, while Jordan Bromley stood aside with a smile on his hands. Hartbeat is also a client of Manate Entertainment. Although Jordan is not directly responsible for it, after all these years, the executives who should be seen have also seen a lot.

Hartbeat's core team fits well with Kevin Hart's background and identity—except for Mike Stern, who is a Caucasian face, the other four executives are all African-American.Although Ty and Candice have straight hair and curly hair, they both wear black female makeup with exaggerated eyebrows.The descriptions of Jeff and Brian are also quite similar. The former is older and the latter is more energetic, but both have well-trimmed beards and a neat body shape.

Together with chairman Kevin Hart, Hartbeat undoubtedly has a company ecology dominated by ethnic minorities and even more empowered by female executives.In Hollywood in the 2010s, it met almost every crowd's criteria for political correctness.

"In addition, this is a lawyer from Manate Entertainment, Jordan's colleague, Christopher Chasen."

"I've heard of you for a long time, Mr. Han. Please call me Christopher or Chris." The tall Christopher Chasen took two steps forward and held Han Yi's hand graciously.

"Hello, Christopher."

Han Yi raised his head slightly and looked at the partner lawyer of Manat Entertainment's film and television sector.From skin color, to appearance, to name, Han Yi couldn't imagine a white man who fit the Anglo-Saxon stereotype better than him.

No matter how many African-Americans are struggling to start a business, there will always be light skin around them.

This may be the reality of American society. On the surface, it is so colorful and diverse, but when you look closely, the real core occupations and senior positions are still the same color.

"Let's come in first, gentlemen, the ladies should feel a little cold."

After the introduction, Kevin Hart leaned against the door and welcomed the banquet guests into the room, then gave Brian Smiley a look, the latter took a step forward, and after holding the handle for other team members, Kevin Hart followed Han Yi into Mélisse's front hall.

This future Michelin two-star restaurant can really be described as cramped, and the reception hall is not as big as the entrance of ordinary people.Fortunately, Kevin Hart has booked a spot in advance, and his face and figure are recognizable enough.After seeing Kevin enter the door, the welcome manager led the group directly to the semi-open booth in the northwest corner of the restaurant.

For today's negotiations, Kevin Hart also spent a lot of thought on the seat arrangement. Each dining table in Mélisse can only seat four people, so the corner booth is reserved for Han Yi, Kevin Hart, Jordan Bromley and Christopher Chasen to talk about business, Ty Lan Dolph and Candice Wilson Cherry sat in another booth next door with Zhao Youzhen, who was also a woman.Jeff, Brian, and Mike sat at the nearest scattered table, which happened to block the curious eyes of other people in the restaurant.

"Good evening, gentlemen."

With short blond hair standing upright, the short waitress came to the table, folded her hands in front of her, and said with a smile.

"Welcome to Mélisse, I am Thalia, today's waiter, and I am very happy to serve you."

"What would you like to drink? Do you want to pair it with table wine?"

Hearing Thalia's question, Kevin Hart spread his right hand towards Han Yi and gave a questioning look. He knew very well who the main character was tonight and whose needs should be met first.

"Ah...a glass of iced coke is fine." Han Yi raised his index finger and smiled at Talia.In a high-end French restaurant like Mélisse, each course is carefully paired with a table wine that is used to enhance the flavor.Which kind of ingredients should be paired with which kind of wine is a knowledge worthy of painstaking research.For example, foie gras, a relatively greasy food, can achieve a perfect balanced taste when paired with a light, sweet and fruity German Reserve Riesling.

Of course, Han Yi, who never drank alcohol, could not enjoy this kind of customized service.For him, who has never studied alcoholic products, whether it is white wine or red wine, there is only one feeling in the mouth - sour, astringent and bitter.

All in all, not as good as Coke.

"I admire your determination to stay sober, Yi." Kevin clapped his hands, glanced at Christopher beside him and Jordan, who was sitting diagonally across from him, "The table wine may be too exaggerated, but gentlemen, I think we can look for micro It's not bad to be drunk, right? Today is a good day, and there should be champagne to celebrate... Thalia, any recommended champagne?"

"We have a very good champagne from montagne de reims." Thalia's English is a typical valley accent, but her French is also very fluent, without a bit of American lame taste, Grande Cuvée, which is what most Mélisse guests order if they want a slightly boozy effect and a great taste."

"Okay Thalia, I'll do as you say."

"Half a bottle or a bottle?"

"We still have business to discuss." Kevin nodded, "Half a bottle is fine."

"Of course, Mr. Hart... Today's chef's tasting menu is in front of you. This time I have prepared a complete experience of ten dishes for you." Thalia put her fingertips lightly on Kevin Hart's body On the tasting menu in front, the voice of the introduction is soft and soothing, "The starter is egg caviar, 'Caprese' made of lemon cucumber, cherry tomato, basil leaves, white chocolate, balsamic vinegar, and a black truffle sauce corn chowder, and a foie gras pie on a toasted brioche."

“For the first main course, we have Steamed Santa Barbara Spot Shrimp and Flavored Italian Watercolor Rice with Perigord Truffle Risotto, your choice. For the fish course in the middle, what we offer today is Fried wild Alaskan halibut. There are also two options for the second main course, high-quality rib eye steak, or 21-day-aged free-range duck.”

"Finally, there are three desserts for you, cheese danish, chocolate nutella biscuits, and melon ice cream."

A traditional ten-course French dinner should actually consist of an appetizer, soup, appetizer, salad, fish, first main course, clear dish, second main course, dessert and sweets. Mélisse's so-called ten-course degustation menu is not absolutely authentic.Fortunately, even the chef's customized menu is only $185 for a single serving.Compared with the Per Se nine-course dinner starting at $325, and the Masa’s $950 pre-board experience, it is already quite affordable.

After choosing their main course, Thalia put away the four menus and returned them, and presented champagne and lemon ice cola.The cumbersome social etiquette and dining process have always been an indispensable part of the life of the upper class in Europe and America.

Han Yi didn't like this kind of red tape, but it didn't prevent him from following the trend.

"So, Kevin..."

Han Yi moistened his dry throat from talking too much today with Coke, and said.

"Game of the Brave, what's the current situation?"

"They offered me a salary of 1800 million dollars." Kevin also took a sip of champagne, "but I rejected the proposal."

The specific remuneration of the actors has always been confidential information kept secret from the outside world.No Hollywood star wants to know how much he earned from his last movie, because it would severely limit his bargaining power with his acting agency.

However, two of the people sitting at the dinner table today are well-known law firm agents, and they have already handled the contract.With a client agency nondisclosure agreement, Kevin Hart is not afraid that they will leak the news.

As for Han Yi, the billionaire brought a checkbook today and came to discuss cooperation sincerely.So it's only natural for Kevin to throw out some innocuous statistics to show his trust and sincerity.

"Why?" Han Yi raised his eyebrows and asked, "Too little?"

"No, the price tag is actually not bad." Kevin Hart shook his head, "I declined because I wanted 8% of the box office profit share."

"clear."

Han Yi nodded slightly, understanding.Even if he doesn't know much about the film and television industry, he knows that for the current Hollywood movie stars, the so-called one-time salary is just an advance payment, and their real money lies in the point value they get from the film studio.

In the era of big studios, actors were all signed by various film companies with film contracts and years. Apart from the one-time performance fee, they had no way to share any profits from the commercial performance of the film.However, in the early 1950s, legendary agent Lou Wasserman revolutionized the industry when he landed a starring contract for his client, then-top superstar Jimmy Stewart.

At the time, Universal Pictures really wanted Jimmy Stewart to star in the western "Swordsman", but there was no extra budget to pay his high salary.So, Lou Wasserman used his brains to solve this problem for both Jimmy Stewart and Universal Pictures.

In his proposed deal, Jimmy Stewart lowered his salary requirements in exchange for a portion of the film's profits.Like Robbie Williams' music deal with EMI, the share deal was a huge success, with Universal getting a critically acclaimed classic Western and Jimmy Stewart earning a fortune through box office cuts. Bowl full.

In a place like Hollywood where everyone is gossiping and everyone is eager to know how much someone else is getting paid, the success story of Jimmy Stewart and Universal Pictures spread quickly and became a new trend for the entire film industry. Actor Agreement Standard.

"Gross profit, or net profit?"

"Of course it's GROSS, Yi." Kevin Hart waved his hand and lowered his mouth, "In our industry, only gross profit is a trustworthy word, because every company has no regard for the so-called net profit. They all have their own way of calculating."

The fact is indeed as Kevin Hart said, whether it is for tax avoidance or to put more money from the management into their own pockets, each film company has its own formula for calculating net profit.In a Hollywood film contract, any "net profit" must be enclosed in double quotation marks like this.Because what it represents is not the remaining amount of total income minus total expenditure in popular perception.Every company, and even every different agreement, has its own definition of this term.

To give the simplest example, when calculating profits, film studios rarely only count the cost of negatives, that is, the actual cost of making all the negatives of a movie.Almost all film and television production companies will add 15% of the indirect cost when making the watch, as compensation for the producer's "various expenses incurred by operating the company" during the filming period.

The accounts on the public front can be directly increased in this way, but no one can tell how much money can be added in private.Actors' guild royalties, membership fees of producers' affiliated associations, advertising fees, film transportation and insurance fees, as well as taxes and box office audit fees, there are a lot of things that can be manipulated.

Therefore, no matter for actors, screenwriters, producers or directors, as long as they are famous enough to negotiate with the film studio, the worst condition is always "net profit sharing", and the best condition is always "First- Dollar Gross".As the name suggests, First-Dollar Gross means that participants can share profits from the first ticket sold, without waiting for the film studio to recover the cost.

Of course, between net profit and net gross profit, there are "adjusted gross receipts", or adjusted gross receipts, abbreviated as AGR, and "modified adjusted gross income", or modified adjusted gross, abbreviated as MAG, and countless others divided into ways.Some methods are more beneficial to the film side, while others are more biased towards the participating parties.

However, no matter how each agreement is drafted and what kind of sharing details exist in the agreement, the whole industry agrees that for the various participants in the film, the gross profit sharing is the only correct answer.

"My request is 8% gross profit, First-Dollar Gross."

"Did they agree?" Jordan Bromley's inquiring eyes did not fall on Kevin Hart, but on Christopher Chasen.

"No, but close," Christopher replied, "7 percent gross profit, AGR. To get that, we took an $800 million cut."

"Aren't you afraid that the movie won't be profitable, Kevin?" Han Yi flicked his fingers on the table unconsciously, and asked with great interest, "Many people think that the guaranteed money is the real money you can get." money."

"I don't think so, Yi."

Kevin Hart leaned back and straightened the hem of his suit, his tone exuding strong confidence.

"1000 million and 1800 million are both eight-digit numbers. When the numbers reach this level, more or less, in my opinion, has little effect." Kevin answered with a rare rigor and seriousness. Even with a bit of solemnity, "I hope that every film I cooperate with will be a success. If the film studio can make a profit, then what I can get is not only a share, but also reputation, word-of-mouth and the consequent status. If the movie screwed up... hey, that means I'm not worth that much, right?"

"That's why I don't want an upfront payment." Kevin Hart tapped his index finger on the rim of his glass.

"Advance payment is a Hollywood trap - really smart people only think about how to make a project the best and the biggest."

"Excellent point of view, Kevin, and I agree."

Han Yi admired Kevin Hart's attitude a little more. He came from a humble background but was able to make it to where he is today. Ability is only one aspect, and character is the most important quality.Most people will be like Diplo, always looking for the opportunity to cash out all the time.And Kevin Hart, who is willing to give it a go no matter what stage he is in, is even rarer than Argyle pink diamonds.

Han Yi has no doubt that as long as Kevin Hart is given the right opportunity and support, his career achievements will not be much inferior to the older black legend Dr. Dre.

"I'm very happy that you have such a mentality... In this case, I believe you have also talked to Sony about the investment, right?"

"Of course, my own agreement is just a side dish."

Kevin Hart smiled and glanced at Christopher Chasen sitting beside him.

"In the past few days, Chris has been in contact with Sony Pictures to inquire about their attitude towards the introduction of investment in "Jumanji."

"What's their attitude?"

"Let's put it this way...they are far more urgent than we are in this regard."

(End of this chapter)