Seemingly having made a great decision, Ashley Olsen asked, "Do you have a script? Can we read it first? Don't worry, we promise not to leak it."
Eric scoffed inwardly, thinking, 'Am I afraid you'll leak it? I'm worried that with your vision, you won't be able to tell good from bad.'
However, he still called Chen Xing in: "Notify Judy to bring the blue is the warmest color script, and also find a makeup artist."
"Yes, boss!"
As for the script, Eric wrote it in his spare time while filming transformers. As an art film, the dialogue was Paramount.
This film was adapted from French writer Julie Maroh's comic 'blue is the warmest color', but it hadn't been published in 2003.
Without the original work as a foundation, he couldn't rest assured giving a rough outline to a screenwriter to fill in, because different people's comprehension abilities vary greatly, especially for an art film, and it was just an outline.
Unable to trust others, Eric could only rack his brain to recall the plot. Fortunately, as the Oscar Best Foreign Language Film and Palme d'Or winner that year, it had been thoroughly studied in their small circle and watched many times.
So he could recall all the classic shots and dialogues. As for the minor details, it wouldn't be a problem to have a screenwriter fill those in.
After a while, Judy walked into the office with the script. The Olsen Sisters had their backs to her, and she didn't recognize them from behind.
"My boss, you've taken this script back and forth three times, and each time you only added or deleted some dialogue. I knew it wasn't time to find a screenwriter yet, and you would definitely have a fourth time. Facts prove my judgment is correct."
As she spoke, she placed the script on the table and turned around, only then seeing the Olsen Sisters. She felt that the twins in front of her looked familiar.
"Oh, you two, let me think. I'm sure I can remember."
The Olsen Sisters smiled, looking at the woman in front of them, who seemed a few years older than them. But they had encountered this situation many times before.
Trying hard to recall, Judy patted her head and said with some uncertainty, "It's the Olsen Sisters, you are the Olsen Sisters, yes, it's you."
"Sorry, I'm a bit confused about you two. You are Mary Olsen, and you are Ashley, right?"
The two sisters pointed at each other: "It seems you've got it wrong."
"Oh, my apologies, my apologies. This is how I distinguish you in my mind: Mary's chin is a bit sharper. Look at my eyes, they seem to need a doctor."
Judy said, looking back and forth at the Olsen Sisters, feeling something sensitive in her heart trembling. She always felt this way when she saw beautiful women.
Although her relationship with Bar Refaeli had made breakthrough progress, this did not prevent her from liking other beautiful women.
No, this should be called appreciation.
After watching for a moment, she turned to Eric, a flash of insight in her mind, and suddenly exclaimed.
"OMG! You're not going to star in this movie, are you? Eric, Ashley and Mary are going to star in blue is the warmest color, right?"
Eric understood the excitement of a lesbian, but being so startled was really undignified. He waved his hand: "Judy, you've said enough. You can leave now."
Judy retreated a few steps to a corner, apologizing in a low voice like a minion: "I'll just stand here, I won't disturb you. Please don't kick me out, I like this scene."
Mary Olsen looked at her helplessly: "We just want to read the script, we haven't decided to star yet."
"Alright, you can read the script first. Although it's not perfect yet, the general plot is like this. Those storyboards were drawn by me, so it's easy to understand."
The two sisters thanked him and began to read carefully. As Eric said, this play could help them contend for the highest awards in the film and television industry, so the Olsen Sisters read it especially meticulously.
Feeling it would take some time, Eric directly walked out of the office.
Seeing his boss come out, Chen Xing immediately followed. As a secretary, he had to be by his boss's side at all times.
Looking at the Chinese young man in front of him, who was several years older than himself, Eric shook his head slightly.
Although Chen Xing was diligent and had good comprehension, he had been with him for too short a time and had only done some basic work before. It would be a long time, at least two years, before he could stand on his own.
"You keep an eye here. Call me after the Olsen Sisters finish reading the script."
"Yes, boss."
Eric then went directly to the floor above, arriving outside his father's office a moment later.
His father's secretary was a woman named Susan, nearing forty, with rich work experience. She used to work in the finance department and was later transferred to be a secretary.
According to Eric's understanding, Susan had been with his father for over five years.
Generally speaking, a person cannot work as a secretary for five years; three years is already a long time. They are either promoted to a more important position, or they are incompetent and dismissed, or assigned to an idle position.
It was rare for someone like Susan to work for five years. Eric suspected whether his father had an improper relationship with her.
After all, although the woman was almost forty, she was still beautiful and curvaceous, with a voluptuous chest, and wore non-prescription glasses all day long.
Many people like women with glasses, as it adds a touch of intellectual beauty, and it is said to even increase attack speed.
Seeing Eric arrive, Susan quickly opened the door. His father was reading a document.
He looked up and saw his son. He signed his name on the document and handed it to Susan: "Have Xiu Lun revise this agreement again."
Susan closed the door and left. Harry Cooper asked, "Eric, what's up?"
He found a seat and sat down: "Dad, do you remember what I told you before about the China Film Group Corporation subsidiary?"
His father nodded: "I remember. What do you want to do?"
"These past few days, a company called Xinghui from Hong Kong came to us looking for investment. It's the document I showed you yesterday."
"Hmm, that Stephen Chow, right? A 22 million dollar investment. Since you're optimistic about him, I'm at ease."
"Yes, I entrusted him to build connections in mainland China. Stephen has contacts with senior executives of China Film Group Corporation. I think this is a good opportunity."
"China Film Group Corporation? Is that the company that controls the introduction of films? I've heard of them, but I haven't dealt with them. The market share in China is too low, and it's far from developed."
"Yes, if you only think about box office, mainland China doesn't have much profit, but I want to expand other businesses there."
"What?"
"Acquire land, build factories, establish our own factories, and develop DVD and merchandising businesses."
At this point, his father instantly understood: "You want to sell transformers merchandise there?"
"Not just transformers, but also merchandise from various subsequent films."
Upon hearing this, his father hesitated: "I know your thoughts, including what you said about Dual Star Entertainment not long ago, but piracy is too severe in China. This may not be a good choice."
"Even if it's severe, it's not as severe as in the United States, is it? We are the world's number one pirated country," Eric laughed.
The issue of piracy has always been a major enemy of the film and television industry.
To be precise, it's not just for film and television; songs, games, books, toys—everything can be pirated.
And for film and television companies, the most hated are undoubtedly pirated disc manufacturers.
A legitimate disc sells for over ten dollars, while a pirated disc sells for only five dollars. For most people, the choice is clear.
Even if the clarity of pirated discs may not be high, and even the plot may not be complete, with some scenes cut from the beginning or middle, cheapness is still the most winning trump card.
Before crossing over, when Eric was young, pirated discs were too common at roadside stalls or street-side audio-visual stores.
In big cities, you could buy one for 5 yuan, while in small counties, 2 yuan per disc was the standard price.
Often, a movie would just be released, and within two days at most, it would already be circulating on the market.
This problem exists not only in China but all over the world. Piracy in the United States is also very serious.
Even if the law imposes strict penalties on pirates, the huge profits still cannot be stopped. The market cannot be completely eliminated; after being suppressed in the open, it will go underground.
What truly killed pirated discs was the development of the internet. The rise of video websites gradually turned discs into historical dust.
Since then, although discs are still circulating, most are commemorative editions launched by major manufacturers, usually bought for collection.
Hollywood companies are all suffering from headaches over how to combat pirates.
"Dad, I've always wondered, since piracy is so harmful, why doesn't Hollywood unite to resist it?"
Hearing this question, Harry Cooper said helplessly, "Of course we've thought about it. Everyone is looking for effective solutions, but the results have always been minimal."
"I once had this idea: unite all Hollywood companies to jointly support a large factory, license genuine products at low prices, and drive those pirates out of the market with prices lower than pirated ones."
Eric nodded: "That's a great suggestion. I once had the same idea. Then what?"
"Then? Then, of course, it couldn't be realized. The resistance was too great. First, all major companies would need to speak with one voice, but this step is already very difficult to achieve."
"Why?"
"Because of profit. Although everyone is affected by piracy, the extent of losses is not the same. For companies with smaller losses, doing so would incur greater costs than being pirated."
"And then there's the internal problem. Do you really think all pirates are enemies? Of course not. Many pirates are actually backed by senior executives of major companies."
"Do you remember Gosling Feller?"
"MGM's former head of marketing?"
"Yes, that's him. To my knowledge, he was running a pirated factory behind the scenes, harming MGM's interests, but the money actually went into his own pocket."
"These parasites, letting them leave so easily, it's really letting them off cheap, and even giving them compensation!" Eric cursed.
His father sighed: "This is just my speculation, but there's no concrete evidence. However, this phenomenon exists in many companies."
"What I just mentioned were the internal reasons for the company. Then there are external reasons: if we spend a lot of money to drive those pirates out of the market, then what? What do you plan to do? Will you still sell at low prices?"
"Of course not. At least we'd have to restore the original price, otherwise why would we do all this?"
His father smiled: "Then the problem arises again. When we restore the prices, the market will return to how it was before. Many low-income people cannot afford genuine products."
"The needs of this segment of the population must be met by someone, so it won't be long before pirates reappear, and then everything goes back to square one."
"In this process, we have to spend a lot of time and money, but the result is likely just to keep everything the same. People who can afford genuine products will still buy genuine products, and people who can't will still try to buy pirated products. So what are we doing this for?"
"So the consensus among major companies is to make genuine products better and more refined to solidify our core customers. As for those users who don't belong to us, no matter how hard you try, they still won't belong to you."
His father's words opened Eric's eyes. Upon careful thought, it was indeed true. Genuine and pirated products naturally target different groups of people. If it's not yours, no matter how hard you try, it won't be yours.
"Dad, what if we also make pirated copies? I mean, with the same quality as those pirated discs, cut at the beginning and end, with incomplete plots."
His father sighed: "I've also thought of this method, but first, piracy is illegal, you need to understand that."
"Of course, pirating your own company's works is not illegal, but if it's only for your own company, facing Hollywood's century-deep film library, you have no market competitiveness at all."
"So you need to unite with other major companies, but then the problem returns to square one. Everyone's losses are not the same, making it impossible to form a union. This is a dead end."
"So let piracy be piracy. It's a product of market rules, and no one can stop it. All we can do is try to crack down on it and minimize some losses."
After his father's analysis, Eric also despaired.
Perhaps, as he said, problems of the era can only be left to the era, and problems of development can only be left to development.
When the era enters a new epoch, there will be no need for crackdowns; the piracy problem will disappear on its own.
"By the way, how is the filming of transformers going?"
"Everything is going smoothly. We are currently filming the campus scenes in Santa Rosa. With Patty Jenkins there, there's nothing to worry about."
Ring
At this moment, the phone rang. It was Chen Xing calling.
"Boss, the Olsen Sisters have finished reading the script."
"Got it. Tell them to wait a moment, I'll be right back."
Hanging up the phone, Eric brought up the core issue.
"Dad, the business in China will have to be developed sooner or later. After all, Disney, Paramount, New Line Cinema, Universal, and others all have offices or subsidiaries there. We can't fall behind."
"However, you still need to decide on the head of the subsidiary."
"This is indeed a difficult problem. Who do you think is more suitable? For most people, they wouldn't consider this a good assignment."
"I don't know either. While Billy loves to fly around, he's too young and not yet capable of running a company. I need your support."
After a moment of hesitation, his father's gaze passed through the glass towards the door: "How about Susan?"
"Can she do it?" Eric frowned.
"You can rest assured about her ability. Do you know why I've always kept her by my side?"
"It's not because she's bad, but because she's too useful. Susan is the most capable of all my secretaries. I can't bear to let her go."
"Really? She's that good! Is it her business skills, or other skills?"
"You brat! Get out!"