Hollywood Hunter

Crowded and busy, with a certain excitement that is hard to hide.

This is Julia Roberts' first impression of the office building of the Burbank Daenerys Entertainment Division.

You know, today is Saturday, and most people in this company don't seem to have the consciousness that they should enjoy the weekend. However, thinking of the feedback from the film reviews on "Steel Magnolia" in the media today, Julia herself can't help but feel a little excitement.

In addition to the expected praise for the film as a whole, director Mark Redell, starring Jessica Lange and others, many film review articles also specifically mentioned her as Shelby.

After analyzing the film reviews in the morning and communicating with Daenerys Entertainment, ICM President Marvin Josephson, who has personally taken over her agency work, said that this time he even hopes to help her win an Oscar for best supporting actress. Nominate.

Julia is only 21 years old this year. She is not expected to win an award, but just a nomination is enough to give her an advantage over most female stars of the same age.

This time I was going to participate in a publicity meeting. Marvin Josephson didn't come with him, just assigned another agent to accompany him. The two were led to a reception room by the staff, and Julia unexpectedly discovered that Daryl Hanna, another star of "Steel Magnolia", and the other's agent had arrived early.

Also an artist under ICM, if it were the past, Julia could only look up in front of Daryl Hannah.

Daryl Hanna is 28 years old this year. He debuted in the 1970s. In 1982, he attracted attention with Ridley Scott's role as a clone in "Blade Runner". Over the years, he has participated in "Mermaid" and "Wall Street." , "French Open Eagle" and other popular works, can be described as one of the most popular actresses in the 1980s.

However, thinking about the five-part appointment with Daenerys Entertainment, Julia immediately became confident again.

I just don't know if I can see Simon Westero today.

It's a pity that the little man who greeted countless Hollywood actresses already has a girlfriend. Moreover, there are rumors in the circle that he seems to prefer mature women, and "The Beverly Wife" is affected by this tendency.

Yes, yes.

There is nothing wrong with the little boy who has lacked care since childhood and the mature woman who likes to be gentle and considerate. But, who said that young girls can't be gentle and considerate?

Thinking of this, Julia and Daryl Hannah greeted each other. Seeing that the other party did not behave too warmly, she did not deliberately ask for being boring, but the agents accompanied by both sides talked a few words from time to time to avoid cold spots.

After waiting for more than ten minutes, other main creators of "Steel Magnolia" arrived one after another. However, after the agreed two o'clock in the afternoon, Daenerys Entertainment did not intend to start the meeting.

Just as Mark Redell, the director of "Steel Magnolia", got up to ask about the situation, Daenerys Entertainment CEO Amy Pascal came in, greeted everyone apologetically, and explained the temporary Something went wrong, and everyone needs to wait a while.

Whether it is Mark Redell or Jessica Lange, Dolly Parton, Daryl Hanna and other stars, they are usually just the kind of objects that others are waiting for. However, Amy personally apologized. Daenerys Entertainment is just as fast as the day, and all the big names have been very talkative. Otherwise, Daenerys Entertainment would not be able to gather these people on Saturdays. .

It's just that everyone can't help but be curious, what happened suddenly can temporarily delay the meeting.

After explaining to everyone, Amy only stayed for a short time and left in a hurry, only leaving Jennifer and Vanessa to entertain everyone. Everyone knows that the two women are the personal assistants of Simon and Amy. This has shown Daenerys's sincerity in entertainment, so there is no too much complaint.

At the same time, a large conference room upstairs.

Almost all the executives of Daenerys Entertainment arrived, even Robert Iger from the East Coast flew over from New York this morning.

At this time, Daenerys Entertainment's two presidents, Robert Rem and Robert Iger, in charge of publishing and television business, Danny Morris, president of New World Pictures, and Ella Docman, president of Highgate Pictures , Daenerys special effects president Mark Silvers, Marvel Entertainment president James Gorton, consumer products president Nancy Brill, and the company's chief financial officer Paul Schmidt and other core executives all surrounded Sitting at the large conference table.

Simon stood alone with a serious expression.

Although they did not get angry, the special temperament that the two generations have accumulated as well as the huge wealth and reputation halo made the executive groups who can be regarded as industry elites in the conference room dare not take it lightly.

The cause of the incident was the publicity plan of "Steel Magnolia".

At the end of the year, the four films "Screaming", "Steel Magnolia", "Death Poetry Society" and "Rain Man" generally have different audience groups. In order to complete the announcement of these films more efficiently and accurately, these four films The film was handed over to the four teams of the company.

According to the established brand strategy, "Screaming Scream" is assigned to New World Distribution Company, and the title uses the label of New World Pictures. The three films "Steel Magnolia", "Death Poetry Society" and "Rain Man" belong to Dan Nelise’s distribution company, the title uses Daenerys’ film label.

Because "Scream" is a commercial film independently released by Daenerys Entertainment in the true sense, the company's emphasis on this project is self-evident.

Robert Rem put all the elites in the distribution department into the "Screaming Scream" publicity group, and at the same time gathered a lot of resources that the company can use.

After all, a nationwide roadshow definitely requires a large number of media contacts to support it. If any other film company does this rashly and arrives in a city, it may not find a media willing to cooperate with it.

The first week of "Screaming Scream" has a box office of 20.71 million U.S. dollars. The team responsible for the announcement of this project is absolutely indispensable.

When it came to "Steel Magnolia", the problem suddenly appeared.

Since the four films are divided into four groups, there will naturally be a sense of competition between each other.

Moreover, whether it is the person in charge of Robert Rem or the employees of the distribution department, naturally they will express their own inclination based on the box office potential of several films. The box office potential of "Scream" is the highest, and everyone hopes Join this group, Robert Rem will also allocate more resources for it. Before the return of the distribution rights of "Rain Man", "Steel Magnolia" was undoubtedly the least favored one of the other three movies. After some deployment, it naturally became a weaker distribution team.

In the early stage of publicity, Simon did not find this problem because it only needed to carry out advertisements in various channels.

However, "Steel Magnolia" will also have a road show next. Simon realized the seriousness of the matter when he saw the huge difference between "Steel Magnolia" and "Scream".

This is not because the quality of the "Steel Magnolia" project is too poor. The company is in a period of rapid growth. Everyone is doing their best, even if the "Steel Magnolia" team can't compare with the "Screaming Scream" team , But after spending enough thought, the gap will not be too big.

The key is difference.

The two plans are completely different in style.

This means that the two teams of "Screaming Scream" and "Steel Magnolia" have not had any communication at all, and many obvious advantages of the "Screaming Scream" program have not been absorbed by "Steel Magnolia". Similarly, Some of the details in the "Screaming Scream" plan that have proved infeasible, "Steel Magnolia" still exists.

If it is just the commercial success or failure of the two films, Simon does not care, but he understands that if this situation continues, it will soon cause division within the company and further infighting.

The most notable feature of a large company's disease is the internal struggle that restricts each other's departments.

Daenerys Entertainment is far from developing into a large enterprise with deep roots, but Simon does not dare to take this issue lightly. Moreover, Simon even felt a little grateful to be able to discover this problem in time.

In a few years, Daenerys Entertainment will develop and grow, and its corporate style and culture will be completely finalized. It is impossible to reverse these problems without breaking the bones.

Amy returned shortly after leaving for a while. Simon, who had been silent just now, continued: "Everyone has to understand that Daenerys Entertainment is a whole. Production, distribution, derivative development and other support departments, any link Both are indispensable. I don’t expect all of you to get along with each other. There will be differences between the two. What’s more, Daenerys Entertainment now has more than 800 employees. But I ask you to work together, even if you If you want to strangle each other privately, you must also cooperate with each other at work. If you cannot do this, then you can only choose to leave on your own initiative, or I will fire you. Daenerys Entertainment will internally There is competition, there is no doubt about it. But cooperation is more important than competition, and the next thing will be directly reflected in the compensation package of all of you."

Simon said here, picking up the two road show plans of "Steel Magnolia" and "Screaming Scream" and showing them to everyone, saying: "Just like these two plans, the release of "Steel Magnolia" could absorb " The experience advantage of "Scream" has avoided some mistakes that have occurred, but this situation did not happen, which obviously means the lack of communication between the two teams, and even the team of "Scream" waits to watch " "Steel Magnolia" group jokes, the mistakes I made, how can you avoid them, how can my own accumulated experience let you know? This kind of thinking is very narrow, and I don’t want to see similar situations in the future. , Bob, it should be your job to coordinate the communication between the two teams, so it’s your dereliction of duty to happen."

Robert Rem felt the sharp gaze that Simon looked over, and did not dare to refute, and said: "I'm sorry, Simon."

"I don't want to hear such words as sorry," Simon shook his head and said, "As punishment, 10% of your bonus this year will be deducted."

According to the salary contract agreed upon by Simon and Rem, in addition to the basic annual salary, a bonus of up to 3 million US dollars can be obtained based on the performance of the work. Rem started his job in August. According to Daenerys Entertainment's development momentum, he will easily get a full bonus of $3 million in August next year.

Now, Simon deducted 300,000 dollars in just one shot.

Robert Rem can only smile bitterly. Everyone can feel Simon's rare seriousness today. If he argues at this time, he thinks Simon will deduct another 10%. Can he leave because of this? There are countless people in Hollywood now coveting the position of Daenerys Entertainment's executive position. If he leaves, someone will immediately fill it, and his ability will not be worse than him.

Simon did not hear Rem’s objection to his decision, so he turned his eyes away and looked at everyone and continued: “Because of the nature of the film industry, it is more efficient to divide employees into different teams to be responsible for each project. However, I don’t want to see all kinds of divided small groups within the company. It is your job to ensure the unity and synergy of the team. While you assign employees to be responsible for different projects, you must also ensure that they cooperate with other teams. Remember This kind of cooperation is not voluntary, but mandatory. Everyone must provide assistance to others on the basis of their own work. Only in this way can he get a higher salary and get a higher position. The company In the past, Amy and I have been personally responsible for the personnel work. Next, I will set up a separate personnel department of the company to take charge of this work as soon as possible. My word is here, you can communicate with yourself, and then notify this as soon as possible To everyone in the company."

Simon finished speaking, picked up the two plans and raised his head to Robert Rem, then turned and left the conference room.

Robert Rem quickly got up and followed out.

Because of the tight office space, there is no dedicated office for Simon in Burbank. Simon stood directly on the corridor, handed the two plans to Rem, and said: "Give you one day, let the "Scream" and "Steel Magnolia" teams come up with a new plan together. By the way, the "Death Poetry Society" and "Rain Man" teams will also be involved. Let's implement it now. Tell them that if it fails, everyone's salary next month will be reduced by one level and the year-end bonus will be halved."

According to a recently decided salary plan, all employees of the company in December will receive a minimum of twice the monthly salary and the maximum of ten times the monthly salary according to the length of entry and the level of work performance. Some outstanding employees can also receive additional year-end bonuses. .

It is precisely because the relevant news has been announced in advance that the company will be full of energy these days, even if today is the weekend, not many people choose to rest.

Daenerys Entertainment Group's Daenerys Entertainment Group's Daenerys Pictures, New World Pictures, High Gate Pictures, Daenerys Release, New World Release, Daenerys Special Effects, Pixar Animation, Marvel Entertainment, etc. Departments and subsidiaries, the overall number of employees has exceeded 800.

Because the core management has a separate salary system, Daenerys Entertainment’s other employees, including some middle and low-level managers, have an average monthly salary of about 3,500 US dollars. In a normal month, based on 800 people, Daenerys Entertainment’s monthly salary The expenditure is 2.8 million US dollars.

Even if all were counted as 10 times the monthly salary, Daenerys Entertainment would only need to pay $28 million.

Such a sum of money is definitely a burden for other film companies of the same size. For example, Orion Pictures, certainly can’t spend so much money to reward employees, but for Daenerys Entertainment, it’s not counted at all. what.

Simon could actually be more generous, but he also understood the principle of gradual progress. The integration of Daenerys Entertainment has been less than a year, and most of the employees have only been on the job for a few months. Now that they are given too much, it will be difficult to satisfy their appetites in the future.