制霸好莱坞

Jenny stared at Mary in disbelief. "What do you mean he came and left?" Jenny asked. "He had nothing to do, so he took a plane to kill time?"

Mary shrugged helplessly and placed the hospital-provided breakfast in front of Jenny. "Mr. Virgeri said it's award season now and he doesn't have time to wait for you to wake up. But he did say the memorandum has been negotiated, and you just need to cooperate with the producer's arrangements."

Mary then slid a piece of information across the table to Jenny. "This is what Andy brought this morning. He asked you to read it, memorize it, and then burn it."

Jenny frowned. "Burn it after reading it... What's that about? Where's the content of the memorandum?"

"Mr. Virgeri said he sent it to your email. You should be able to see it after you leave."

Since there was no mobile network in the hospital ward, Jenny had Mary take her phone last night. Now, Jenny turned it on and checked the call records. Cesare had taken the latest flight to arrive and the earliest one to leave. Judging from the call times, he likely took a taxi straight to the town after landing, negotiated the memorandum with Andy, then turned around and went to the airport without even stopping.

The hospital had kept Jenny overnight because they'd been out at sea for so long. They added sleeping pills to her IV, and when she woke up, it was already past ten in the morning. After a quick wash and breakfast, she met with local police and SAG representatives. The SAG reps had arrived early to check the safety of the island filming base and the route to the island after the shipwreck incident.

Since the memorandum had already been signed, Jenny did nothing out of the ordinary. After the police and SAG interrogation, she spent the day in the hospital before being discharged and returning to the crew's hotel to rest.

In an effort to save money, the crew had opted for the best motel in town, now fully booked. Jenny found it packed with people. After asking around, she learned that the SAG reps had arrived to inspect the safety of the crew. This included the Directors Guild, Cinematographers Guild, and other unions concerned about safety. The shipwreck had shut down production, and now, the crew had time off, getting paid without working. It was a nightmare for the producer, but a carnival for the rest of the crew.

Jenny wasn't surprised by the document in her email. The memorandum didn't even mention the shipwreck, and it was dated the day before the accident. It contained one sentence: Disney promised to give Jenny 1% of the profits from the sales of DVD/VCD/VHS tapes for Pirates of the Caribbean 1.

While 1% seemed small, the wealth it represented was anything but. Jenny couldn't calculate the exact sum, but Cesare had included an estimate in his email. DVD/VCD sales were a major revenue stream for film companies, often out of reach for actors. Even A-list stars struggled to access this revenue stream, usually reserved for the film company's pockets.

Films are expensive to make, with costs including production, publicity, and distribution. Hollywood typically requires a box office return of three times the production cost to turn a profit. For example, if Pirates of the Caribbean had a $100 million production cost, the North American box office would need to hit $300 million to break even. But even with such high returns, film companies rarely profit from box office sales alone. A film like Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone grossed over $300 million, but only recovered about $160 million after production and distribution costs.

DVD and audio-visual product sales were key to profitability. In Hollywood, the sale of these products—along with broadcasting rights—could account for the majority of a film's income. Jenny estimated that her 1% of the DVD/VCD sales could mean $1.5 million, based on the film's North American box office.

Her salary? $300,000.

"You're telling me my reminder is worth at least five times my salary?" Jenny told Josh during lunch. The whole hotel smelled of beer and wheat; Johnny, Jeffrey, and other cast members were partying on the roof. Josh, of course, was with them.

Josh grinned. "Yeah, it's pretty cost-effective for them to give us this 1%. They're not actually losing anything. That money is future money, Disney's money, not what they have in their budget right now. Besides, if we speak honestly, the whole crew will be shut down for at least half a month, and the losses could outweigh that amount."

His attitude was more relaxed now, and Jenny could tell he was getting comfortable. "Actually, you're pretty optimistic about the box office. I did the math, and I don't think it's worth five times my salary. It's probably about equal to mine."

Jenny smiled. "That's because my salary is much lower than yours."

The two shared a laugh. Jenny then turned to Claudia, who was next to Josh. "Hi, Claudia. I didn't know before—maybe you should have told me earlier."

Despite being the lead, Jenny made a point of being kind to others. Claudia smiled, though, looking slightly embarrassed. "Hi, Jenny. Thank you for your support. It was my idea not to tell you—sorry for that."

Jenny was curious about why Claudia agreed to Josh signing such a contract, but decided not to press. "Come on, we're already buddies—there's no better way to get familiar than spitting in his face."

They laughed. Josh, clearly at ease, said, "Hey, if you ever need anything, you can always spit in my face again—just don't do it when I'm eating lasagna. I can't stand garlic smell."

Their conversation veered to other topics. Jenny was mainly there to thank Josh for his care. As the socializing wrapped up, she wanted to talk to Gore and the others, but Claudia stopped her.

"I advise you not to go over there," Claudia whispered. "I heard Andy and Gore had a loud argument yesterday. Andy went straight to the airport. Now Gore's ignoring the SAG people, and the assistant director is with him. Mr. Bruckheimer has already left."

Jenny realized then that her gains were another's loss. The 1% dividend certainly hadn't been negotiated in a friendly atmosphere.

Josh shrugged. "We don't know anything about that. The dispute is between the producer and the director."

Seeing that Jenny seemed a bit uneasy, Josh patted her shoulder. "Come on, money is money, work is work. We've filmed this much—he can't fire us now. Leaving for artistic reasons is one thing; quitting over safety concerns is another."

Claudia chimed in, "If he quits, the producers will be happy. They'll put all the blame on him for the shipwreck."

Jenny was still adjusting to this Hollywood dynamic. It was a very different world from the "house fighting" she was familiar with in the East. In Hollywood, the rules of the game seemed more direct, and Josh, with his experience on the Star Wars prequels, was clearly more seasoned.

As they continued to chat, Jenny realized just how much more she had to learn. She clinked glasses with Josh. "Partner, I hope every collaboration between us will be as pleasant as today."

Josh smiled, and just then, someone began taking photos of everyone at the party. After getting Claudia's approval, he looked back at Jenny, who nodded. She and Josh raised their glasses to the camera, smiling sweetly as the flashes went off.