Made In Hollywood

Carrying her briefcase, Nancy exited the elevator, turned into the corridor, and arrived at Duke's door, gently pressing the doorbell.

The door opened to reveal a blonde woman's face, and Nancy frowned, "Why is it you?"

"Hello, Nancy."

After greeting her agent, Naomi quickly stepped aside to let Nancy in. "You're here to see Duke, right? He's on a call in his study; I'll go get him."

Watching Naomi hurry away, Nancy's displeasure vanished for a moment as she walked over to the sofa, skillfully taking a silver kettle to pour herself a glass of water.

After hanging up with Zack Snyder, Duke walked into the living room, casually waved at Nancy, and placed the cordless phone back on its base.

"So early?" he said to his female agent.

"There's something important."

Ignoring Duke, Nancy turned her attention to Naomi Watts, who had just come out. Naomi, not foolish, grabbed her bag from the coat rack and said to Duke, "I have things to do, so I'm leaving first."

"Goodbye."

Since Nancy had come directly to see him, there was clearly something important, and Duke didn't try to hold her back as he escorted her out of the house.

"Are you two together?"

As soon as he closed the door, Duke heard Nancy's not-so-happy voice, "Duke, what agents hate the most is seeing their clients get together!"

"It's not what you think."

Sitting on the sofa across from Nancy, Duke made a gesture of understanding. "It's just a game of pretense; there's no need to worry."

Seeing that Duke didn't seem to be joking, Nancy nodded slightly and opened her briefcase, saying, "I have some bad news. I contacted 20th Century Fox again yesterday, and they show no signs of backing down."

"And there's good news." She handed over an invitation. "This morning, Warner Bros officially sent a letter wanting to start negotiations with us regarding 'The Rock.'"

"Warner Bros?"

Even someone as calm as Duke felt a spark of excitement upon hearing the news. Finally... another film company was showing interest.

"And I have solid information." Nancy appeared exceptionally concerned. "Warner's investment in 'Batman Returns' needs time to recoup, and they've invested heavily in projects like 'The Fugitive,' which won't release until next year or even the year after. Their current budget is a bit tight..."

"So they might accept my investment?" Duke immediately understood Nancy's implication.

"Possibly..."

Before Duke could celebrate, Nancy continued, "Even so, you'll only be able to reap short-term benefits. With your current capital, you don't have the strength to share the film's long-term earnings."

"Box office, VHS, and TV rights sharing are enough." Duke hadn't even considered getting a long-term ticket.

Then the two discussed the points to note when contacting Warner, and Nancy Josephson showed the utmost enthusiasm for facilitating Duke's investment. The reason was simple: if this succeeded, apart from her ten percent commission from Duke's salary, she would also get five percent of his investment returns.

There's no such thing as a free lunch.

The film industry itself is like gambling; there's only the chance of great success, not guaranteed success. Duke was, to some extent, betting on his own ability to succeed, and Nancy was also betting on him, aware of the risks. She could end up busy only to find that Duke's investment lost money, leaving her with nothing. But if the film succeeded like 'Speed' did? She would earn a substantial commission!

The next day, Duke, Nancy, and Sophia, forming a trio, entered the Warner Bros building in Burbank as agreed.

They were greeted by Jeff Robinov, who was in charge of film production at Warner Bros.

"Duke, we meet again."

Sitting across from each other at the long conference table, the bald Jewish man stated directly, "I've been thinking lately, if I had given you ten more minutes back then, would 'Speed' now belong to Warner?"

Displaying a polite smile, Duke said nothing because the answer was obvious. Even if they had given him two extra hours, the other party wouldn't have been swayed by someone as inexperienced as him.

They quickly got to the point. This was a common Hollywood commercial film collaboration where building relationships was superficial. Warner Bros wanted to collaborate with Duke because they saw profit potential in 'The Rock,' and Duke was sitting there instead of hiding behind the scenes because Warner was willing to accept investment.

Just like the collaboration between 'Speed' and 20th Century Fox, everyone was getting what they needed and tried to minimize or set aside their differences based on mutual understanding.

This was just the initial negotiation; they were still far from a formal agreement. As the discussion neared its end, when Jeff Robinov inquired, Duke honestly stated his special requirements once the film project was established.

"The film involves a lot of soldiers, combat, and military equipment. I need professional military advisors, preferably with Pentagon support."

"For the score, it would be best to invite Hans Zimmer; please prioritize my recommendations for the assistant director, cinematographer, editor, and production manager; I hope my opinions will be predominant in the post-editing phase."

Duke knew that, with this level of investment, he wouldn't obtain final cut rights and could only lay out such conditions.

The other side wouldn't agree immediately; they would have to negotiate each point through back-and-forth discussions.

Afterwards, Duke and his group left Warner Bros, leaving the remaining negotiations to his agent Nancy. It was a time-consuming and labor-intensive process, and whether it would succeed was uncertain. Hence, he didn't give up on opportunities to engage with other companies.

Negotiations would cover everything from investment amounts and profit distribution to crew composition and Duke's rights and obligations, all of which needed to be agreed upon and written into the final contract.

"It looks like I don't need to find another job."

Exiting the Warner building and getting into Duke's Bentley, Sophia, while fastening her seatbelt, said to the driver, "Don't forget, I'm now an assistant and an assistant director, but in the future, I'll be a co-director and producer. You promised me that, Duke."

She didn't return to Los Angeles from Europe just to be someone else's assistant; she was there for her own film dream.

Duke understood this too. After starting the car, he said, "We're both newcomers; we can explore and grow together, and we can fight for the ideals in our hearts."

"It seems our film ideals are a bit different?" Sophia tilted her head to look at him. "I have no interest in crazily destroying a city... no, I mean crazily destroying the world in a movie."

Such differences in ideology couldn't be reconciled. Duke shrugged and changed the subject. "Did you give the script to Nicolas? Did he say anything?"

"He accepted it." Sophia understood that Duke was talking about her cousin, Cage. "He seems a bit interested."

"Just a bit interested?" Duke glanced at her.

"This isn't the type Nicolas likes." Sophia said matter-of-factly. "He prefers more unconventional roles and isn't interested in action films."

"In today's Hollywood, to truly become a superstar, one must enter the mainstream film industry." Duke turned the steering wheel, taking the car onto the road to West Hollywood. "Look at Depp; he's played so many critically acclaimed roles but remains in a limbo position, even below today's Keanu Reeves."

"These words..." Sophia pursed her lips. "You should tell Nicolas personally when you get the chance."

The actors weren't a pressing concern, as negotiations with Warner hadn't yielded results yet.

After that, Duke began a patient wait, continuing to refine the preparations he had been working on. Together with Sophia, he hid in the Duke Studio in North Hollywood, drawing storyboards and drafting a basic script; discussing with cinematographer John Schwartzman on how to create thrilling and exciting shots for the audience; and consulting with Zack Snyder about future production color issues.

Film is certainly not a solitary achievement. Surrounding any successful director is a talented team; no director is an exception.

Building a team that shares similar ideals and has good chemistry is something every director does on the road to success, and Duke was no exception. Besides these people, he also took time to meet with Robin Grand and editor Mike Dawson a few times. Currently without jobs, they were very interested in collaborating again.

This is Hollywood, where not much news can remain confidential. Duke's interactions with Warner Bros were soon learned by 20th Century Fox. According to the insider information Duke received, they were extremely unhappy and completely shelved any collaboration with him. However, Duke had never signed any agreement with them; all financial transactions had been settled long ago, and Fox couldn't find anything to hold against him for now.

Working with 20th Century Fox was a normal business collaboration, and working with Warner Bros was also normal business. At least on the surface, others couldn't say much.

But Duke understood that the higher-ups at 20th Century Fox must feel upset and would likely find a chance to bite back. He would never overestimate the moral standards of capital.

If the new film project went smoothly, 20th Century Fox might just watch from the sidelines due to Warner Bros; but if problems arose, they would definitely jump in to make things worse.

Duke wouldn't be afraid or avoid it. Every successful director doesn't walk a smooth path to success. Hollywood is a battleground for money, power, fame, and talent; it is not a pure world of goodwill.

By the time August was halfway through, after more than ten days of protracted negotiations, Duke's side finally reached a consensus with Warner Bros and signed a draft cooperation agreement. After much anticipation, Duke finally saw the dawn of his second official director's job