Chapter 11: Novel Drafts
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“No, no, no. Mr. Adrian, we think that these conditions are perfect.” Brandt obviously came prepared. He looked at Adrian seriously and earnestly. “You’re extremely talented, and nobody will deny that, but we can’t deny the fact that you’re still new in the industry, so we must follow the regulations.”
“Oh?” Instead of making a comment, Adrian raised his brows and crossed his arms.
“Even if the film results in an excellent box office after it’s released, we can’t offer you a higher price for its script.” Brandt gestured as he maintained a serious manner. “The price offered for the two scripts is quite a generous amount considering that you’re a new screenwriter. As for the submission deadline, I’m sure no discussion is needed, right?”
“I’d like to remind you, Mr. Brandt, that I’m not the one who sets the price.” Adrian smiled.
Four film companies were already in an intense contest the moment Adrian revealed the next two scripts, and because the first four scripts sold were quite valuable, they were neither going to bargain nor share, thus the price offered for the two scripts had only been rising.
Nonetheless, Warner was the first to pull out because they had already bought the script for ‘The Bodyguard.’ According to their professionals, ‘Scream’ and ‘American Pie’ might not profit as much although they were rather attractive; Fox gave up next even though they felt that Adrian’s scripts were great because Universal and Disney raised the price higher than they wanted it to be; Disney persisted until the end because they had a distribution label called Touchstone Pictures that specially produced movies above G-rating while they focused on family-friendly films, but they failed to succeed over Universal.
“With all due respect, Mr. Brandt, you obviously haven’t seen my potential.” Adrian continued, “I’m sure that while you’re thinking about securing the scripts, you didn’t expect me to buy a small film company and even begin directing a film.”
“Those are two different things, Mr. Adrian,” Brandt responded.
“No, no, no. What I mean is,” Adrian shook his head calmly as he explained, “I still have room for choice. I believe that Disney, Fox, or Warner will be willing to make a concession and that they’ll invest in the films while I produce them. After all, nobody knows the scripts better than I do.”
“That doesn’t seem very appropriate, Mr. Cowell.” Although Brandt kept a straight face, the way he addressed Adrian showed that he was dissatisfied.
“Indeed.” To Brandt’s surprise, Adrian did not deny it.
“What about this,” Adrian said after taking a sip of coffee, “Universal may have the sole ownership of the sequel scripts, but their specific price will only be discussed after the first film’s release. If we really fail to reach an agreement, Universal can look for someone else to write the sequels’ scripts—of course, we’ll have to further discuss what failing to come to an agreement means. What do you think, Mr. Brandt?”
Brandt was speechless as he did not expect Adrian to propose those conditions. Not only did Adrian give them the sole ownership, but he also gave them the authorship of the sequel scripts! Though the specific definitions would need to be further discussed, it would be very easy for Universal to find another screenwriter if they were to go back on their word.
“I think—the conditions are acceptable.” Brandt then thought to himself, ‘I’ll just agree first since we won’t suffer any loss, and further discussion will take place later.’
“You can stay in London for a few days, my lawyer, Wilson, will be here to discuss the details with you in a while.” Adrian later sent Brandt away.
Adrian did not think that Universal Pictures gained any extra advantages. He knew very well that although he bought a film company and became a director, Universal still took him as a talented rich boy who only ventured into the film industry for fun—they would definitely look into his previous dealings. Additionally, they planned to gain the preemptive right of purchasing the sequel scripts by offering the same price for the reason that he was new to the industry and because it was human nature to fight for profit maximization.
Since that was the case, Adrian simply offered them a bigger cake. In any case, the money earned from selling his scripts was only a petty profit. He mainly wanted to build good relationships with the film companies and was not interested in writing the sequel scripts. In Hollywood, scripts of original films and adaptation films were not the toughest to write, but the sequel scripts of hot-selling films.
A screenwriter for a sequel script would have to consider the selling points of the first film, as well as its connection to the previous story. If there was a major flaw in terms of logic, the sequel would still be denounced even if it could attract viewers through visual effects. Most importantly, sequels could easily cause aesthetic fatigue, thus leading to the decrement of the film’s selling points. For instance, while the third ‘Scream’ had an above-average script, the viewers already knew that it was going to be another masked killer going after Sidney. Besides, the screenwriter could not completely jump out of the initial frame, hence it was inferior to the first film.
‘American Pie’ underwent the same situation. Though there were 7 sequel films, the later films ended up in a state where sexual content became their official selling point. Therefore, it was best not to get involved in writing sequel scripts. As part of Adrian’s plan, it was very important for him to maintain the image of a talented person.
“Is anything wrong?” After sending Brandt away, Adrian asked Kathrin as he noticed that she was looking at him curiously earlier.
“Nothing, I’m just… A little surprised,” Kathrin replied, “I didn’t know that you’re a screenwriter too.”
“There are many other things that you don’t know, Ms. Beckinsell.” Adrian grinned. “I believe that you didn’t notice the screenwriter’s name on your script—don’t jump to conclusions easily.”
“Regrettably, the screenwriter’s name isn’t stated on my script.” Kathrin scoffed, then walked away.
Adrian shrugged and chuckled when he watched her leave. He recalled Joseph saying that she was only 17 years old, and the sassy lady was indeed attractive. For some reason, he also felt that she looked familiar, which was why he became interested in her. Nevertheless, Adrian did not try to figure that out because it would be too time-consuming.
‘I shall not think too much, I’ll think about it once she becomes mine,’ He thought to himself.
Thud, thud, thud. When someone knocked on his door, Adrian who was busy typing on the typewriter uttered without looking up, “Wait.” He hurried to the door once he was done with his work.
“What’s the matter, Ms. Beckinsell?” Adrian pretended to be surprised.
“Your assistant, Mr. Haggis has something to attend to. He asked me to bring you your schedule for tomorrow, as well as some other documents, and he asked that you review them as soon as possible.” Kathrin lifted the files in her hand. She was wearing a loose t-shirt and a pair of tight jeans at that moment, which displayed her youthful energy even though the room was dimly lit.
“Alright, please come in.” Adrian gestured. “Do you want anything to drink?”
“No, thank you.” Kathrin forced a smile as she said to herself, ‘Please, let me return those documents if no changes are needed, I’m busy.’
“Alright, please sit for a while.” Adrian began reading the documents by the table lamp.
Kathrin, who was bored, looked around her. Seeing as Adrian was focused on the documents, she looked at the draft on the typewriter.
She was surprised moments after reading the draft, thus she naturally took the other draft on the table. The drafts were novel sections from two different novels, and she was completely drawn to them.
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“What’s a parent? Control! A parent is the dreamworld of computer operation, which is built to control humans, so that humans turn into this!” Murphys lifted a battery, and he sounded so cold that his voice pierced through Andrew’s heart easily.
“No, I don’t believe this, this is impossible!” Andrew held his head as he yelled.
“Yes, it’s not easily understandable, Neo, but it’s the truth,” Murphys mentioned mercilessly.
“Stop, let me out, let me out!” Neo began shouting crazily.
In an instant, everything around Andrew disappeared as he appeared in that narrow cabin again. He sprung up from his chair while screaming, “Don’t come here.” After staggering into a corner, he knelt on the ground to vomit.
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“What do you think?” Adrian’s voice scared Kathrin that she quickly put the drafts back on the table.
“Don’t be nervous.” Upon seeing her childish move, Adrian giggled. “I just want to know your thoughts.”
Kathrin looked at him for a few seconds before she replied, “Uhm… Are these your novels?”
“Yes, those are two science fiction novels.” Adrian nodded. Seeing as she was still confused, he used the drafts to explain, “This one’s about zombies, and it briefly talks about a biology company in Western America that carried out a virus test in a town. There was a leakage of virus that turned ordinary people into zombies, so the municipal government sent a Special Tactical Squad to investigate it, which developed into a series of events. It’s a novel for… Thrill-seekers; This one is similar, but is slightly more serious as it talks about future people who have designed AI batteries. Some of them are unknowingly immersed in the virtual world, but there are some who doubt it, and try to escape from it to reveal the truth!”
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