"Sobering up?"
In the living room of his Villa, Kyle had woken up early from yesterday's revelry and was currently eating breakfast.
Joaquin Phoenix came down the stairs looking groggy and sleepy. Without standing on ceremony with Kyle, he reached out, grabbed a glass of milk, and downed it in one go.
"Whoa~ It seems I really drank too much yesterday. Hmm, let's put it this way, I have no idea how I ended up in your house right now."
Joaquin held his forehead, a trace of distress appearing on his face.
Hearing this, Kyle laughed, "Hahaha, it seems you really were wasted yesterday and forgot everything. We were at the nightclub; whether it was you, Charlize, Keanu Reeves, or Johnny Depp, everyone was drunk. Only Lima and I kept some restraint."
"Oh? Then now... where are they?" Joaquin asked.
"Late last night, when we were about to leave the night scene, Keanu was picked up by his girlfriend; Charlize was sent home by her two agents; as for Depp, he's still sleeping in the guest room. He drank the most yesterday, and I doubt he'll wake up before noon," Kyle explained.
"I see. Then last night, did you and Lima do anything... good?"
Suddenly, Joaquin flashed a wicked grin.
Something good?
Get out of here!
Kyle cursed irritably, "Lima's whole family are devout Christians who refuse premarital sex. What are you thinking about all day?!"
"No way!" Joaquin was immediately astonished.
He knew that Kyle and Lima had been dating for several years now.
After a pause, he grinned wickedly again, "No wonder you woke up so early, it turns out... Hehe..."
Kyle was suffering!
Since crossing over, although Kyle hadn't really engaged in 'casting couch' antics or unspoken rules, he had still slept with a few female stars and enjoyed a fair share of romance. However, when it came to his official girlfriend, Lima, Kyle was very patient; he hadn't successfully reached home base yet...
For the next while, Kyle and Joaquin chatted for a bit.
As members of Hollywood, their conversation naturally included movies.
"When are we going to collaborate again?" Joaquin was very willing to appear in Page Pictures' movies.
"Sigh~"
Kyle sighed, "There are new films to be shot this year, but they are all low-budget movies. You know, just the two A-list commercial productions, 'Harry Potter' and 'Spider-Man,' have drained a huge amount of our company's manpower and resources. Until they are finished, we can't produce any more high-budget films."
The lack of various talents was severely restricting the development of Page Pictures!
Even if Page Pictures wasn't short on money right now, senior workers and talents were definitely not something that could be resolved in a short time.
"Agencies like CAA, ICM, UTA, WMEE—can't they provide packaging services? They aren't short on talent for cinematographers, lighting technicians, props, and so on," Joaquin said in surprise.
Packaging services?
Heh!
Kyle said disdainfully, "A few years ago, no matter how much I disliked the agencies' bundled one-stop packaging services, I would have accepted it just to get a movie made. But... nowadays, the talent they can provide is honestly very mediocre."
The so-called American entertainment industry packaging service was first created by the CAA agency.
The film company provides the project and the funding;
The agency provides the actors—and remember, not just one actor, but they can provide all the actors, saving the production company the selection process. They even provide crew members like directors, producers, props, makeup, and art direction;
It's a one-stop service.
Undoubtedly, the packaging services launched by agencies saved many film companies a lot of preparation time, and choosing actors was no longer a problem.
It rose in the 80s and peaked in the 90s.
However... flowers don't stay in bloom forever, and people don't stay young. The fees for packaging services provided by agencies became too high, making them unbearable for many production companies. It was fine if they made money, but if they lost money, it was a disaster. Even the rapid surge in Hollywood actors' salaries was partly due to packaging services.
This was loathed by countless production companies.
Furthermore, there was no shortage of agency representatives who would barge into a film company president's office without permission, slamming tables and acting arrogant and overbearing!
Among them, even The Big Six of Hollywood were not spared!
For example: in the early 90s, while filming the movie 'Jurassic Park,' a minor agent dared to audaciously barge into the office of the head of Universal Pictures, one of The Big Six, making a huge scene.
What was this for?
Was the agency going to revolt? Did they want to stand above the production companies?
Therefore, the once-famous American entertainment industry packaging service had lost its momentum by the late 90s. Even though packaging services still existed, the professional behind-the-scenes talent they could provide was very scarce. Crucially, the fees were still quite expensive, making it a complete white elephant.
"Talent still needs to be recruited and trained by ourselves. I don't feel comfortable using others' people."
"Besides, I'm not short on money. I'd rather spend more money on my own people than give an extra dime to an agency!"
Kyle's words were very firm.
"Alright, I understand," Joaquin said, feeling dejected.
He was very willing to collaborate more with Page Pictures, but the current conditions didn't allow it!
Page Pictures lacked manpower and couldn't start several films at once, and any movies started now would only be low-budget ones…
A few days later.
November 8th.
Page Pictures.
The movie 'final destination' had been in theaters for exactly 10 days since its release on October 29th. It had achieved a box office gross of over $57 million, dominating all films in the Halloween slot and ranking number one.
It firmly suppressed Warner's movie 'the haunted house' behind it.
"Boss, as long as we fight the upcoming battle well, the North American box office for 'final destination' will definitely not fall below $80 million," Kevin Feige reported.
"Upcoming?"
Kyle frowned, "Are you referring to Paramount Pictures' new release 'Sleepy Hollow' that opens tomorrow?"
"Yes!"
Kevin Feige said solemnly, "I was previously invited to the premiere of 'Sleepy Hollow.' It's a good movie. The marketing department gave it high praise, and it's expected to have quite an impressive box office performance."
Kyle knew this very well.
'Sleepy Hollow' was indeed an excellent horror/thriller film. In the original timeline, it had achieved a North American box office of over $100 million, making it a rare gem among horror movies.
In terms of watchability, both 'final destination' and Warner's 'the haunted house' were inferior to Paramount's new work 'sleepy hollow.'
"Once 'sleepy hollow' gains momentum, our movie's box office will inevitably be affected," Kevin Feige said.
Kyle pondered, "Then what's there to consider? Although I have a collaboration with Paramount coming up, that doesn't stop us from attacking them."
Kyle thought this way, and Warner thought this way too.
Competition is everywhere in Hollywood.