Hollywood starts with a broker

At Dawnlight Studios, Aaron sat in his office chair with an open copy of the "San Francisco Chronicle" on his desk.

Disney's animated film, "The Little Mermaid," had sold a whopping 9 million videotapes!

"Is animation really that profitable?"

Aaron's heart began to race uncontrollably at the thought of these ordinary videotapes priced at $19.99 each.

Selling 9 million copies amounted to nearly $180 million in sales. After deducting various costs, Disney could earn at least half of that, plus revenue from rentals, laser disc sales, and more.

"The Little Mermaid" was also released during the Christmas season the year before last, grossing $110 million in North America and $220 million worldwide.

More importantly, for Disney's animated films, the main source of income was actually various merchandise and spin-offs, such as licensing for toys and other products!

"The Little Mermaid's" profits were even higher than "Pretty Woman" for Disney.

This year, Disney was also releasing the animated film "Beauty and the Beast!"

"The animation giant, it's not just a name for show, is it?"

Disney was indeed the undisputed king of 2D hand-drawn animation.

Aaron knew that he couldn't compete with Disney in 2D hand-drawn animation, so he would have to put some effort into 3D computer animation.

Pixar Animation, acquired by Steve Jobs after he left Apple, was Dawnlight's target, especially since Jobs was now focused on his newly founded NeXT computer company!

At that moment, Aislinn Beckett arrived at Aaron's office. "Boss, Gary Foster had this script sent over."

Aaron took it and looked at it. "Hmm, 'Sleepless in Seattle!'"

The story was simple: a widowed man with a child and a female reporter fall in love through radio broadcasts.

In the future, it seemed to be a romantic comedy starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Although not as good as "Pretty Woman," it was still a very successful commercial film.

"Aislinn, this script is good. Have Brad negotiate the purchase of the script from Samsung so we can develop it ourselves."

"Of course, Samsung will still handle the distribution!"

Since Samsung didn't value this kind of script, Aaron liked it.

Anyway, the script was still being revised, so Dawnlight could start developing it in the second half of the year.

"Okay."

"By the way, how is the filming progress of 'Hook' over at Samsung?"

Aaron was, of course, not concerned about "Hook," but rather wanted to participate in Steven Spielberg's other project, "Schindler's List."

"'Hook'? It's been delayed!"

"There are many problems with the crew. Dustin Hoffman is not in good condition, and Julia Roberts, the female lead, is also mentally distracted due to a broken heart and is smoking marijuana all day long, etc..."

Aaron nodded. Once "Hook" wrapped up, Steven Spielberg should officially start the "Jurassic Park" and "Schindler's List" projects!

This year, Dawnlight Studios' projects included developing "Scent of a Woman," and now there was also "Sleepless in Seattle."

If there was any extra energy, "Speed" could also be considered, but action films were more time-consuming and expensive to develop than art films and romance films.

As the 41st Berlin International Film Festival, held in mid-to-late February 1991, began, it was the first joint event after the reunification of East and West Germany.

However, due to the economic crisis and the outbreak of the Gulf War, very few films from around the world came to participate in the competition, only 25 in total.

Jonathan Demme won the Silver Bear for Best Director with "The Silence of the Lambs," marking the film's first major award!

At the end of February, US President George Bush announced the end of the war to liberate Kuwait and a ceasefire.

Starting in mid-to-late January, the Gulf War lasted only 42 days, with most of the time spent on aerial warfare. The ground war lasted only over 100 hours, and Iraq had no chance to fight back.

In his apartment in West Hollywood, Aaron leaned back on the sofa and watched CNN's live broadcast. "This Gulf War has made CNN famous worldwide!"

CNN directly launched satellite broadcasting, continuously playing war footage, directly attracting everyone's attention.

Nicole Kidman put down the script in her hand and paused for a moment. "I thought you were concerned about the war itself. I didn't expect it to be CNN?"

CNN was about to begin its journey to becoming the king of ratings. It would have to wait until after 9/11 for FNC (Fox News) to surpass it.

CNN was the first 24-hour continuous news cable television station, even more powerful than the three major wireless broadcasting networks!

"How is it? This script is not bad, right? I found it from Samsung. Dawnlight Studios will develop it this year."

"Once 'Ghost' is released, we should officially start development."

Nicole Kidman was reading "Sleepless in Seattle." Dawnlight wanted to develop it, but Samsung had no objections at all, as they retained the distribution rights.

As for the female lead, there was no need to consider anyone else; it would definitely be Nicole Kidman.

"I'm fine with it. A romantic comedy, it feels pretty good," Nicole Kidman certainly had no objections, as she was still a newcomer.

However, producer Gary Foster had approached director Garry Marshall, who declined, and attempts to have other screenwriters revise the script also failed to satisfy Samsung Films.

The script for "Sleepless in Seattle" was currently being revised by veteran screenwriter David Ward, but the director had not yet been determined!

However, Aaron was also dissatisfied with David Ward's adaptation. This guy didn't understand the essence of romantic comedy. He was too old and didn't understand modern love.

Aaron nodded. "I'm planning to invite the screenwriter of 'When Harry Met Sally...' to adapt this script."

"Hopefully, we can finalize the director as soon as possible!"

There is no wrong way to write a good script!

Aaron's plan was to invest $20 million in "Sleepless in Seattle," which should be enough.

After all, the budget for "Scent of a Woman" was also about that amount, mainly because Al Pacino's salary had increased after the success of "Pretty Woman," and it was estimated to be around $5 million.

"Well, your vision is definitely better than most producers," Nicole Kidman came and sat next to Aaron.

"By the way, 'Boyz n the Hood' will be released soon. How many theaters has Columbia arranged for the opening?"

Speaking of this, Aaron was happy. "They've arranged quite a few, over 800. I guess the previous promotional strategy worked."

Dawnlight Studios had invested over a million dollars in marketing for both "Boyz n the Hood" and "The Silence of the Lambs."

Columbia, of course, invested even more. The test screenings must have been very good, giving Columbia confidence!

"That's really great," Nicole Kidman said and kissed Aaron directly. They hadn't seen each other for a while, which made Nicole feel very moved.

"Mmm," Aaron responded while groping Nicole's body, then had Nicole raise her hands and took off her cardigan!

"Who are you planning to choose for the male lead?"

Nicole Kidman asked while unbuttoning her bra.

"Let's decide on the director first," Aaron pushed the girl directly onto the sofa.

As for Tom Hanks, the original male lead in "Sleepless in Seattle," he was very good, but it was still a bit early.

"Do you have any recommendations?"

Nicole Kidman smiled and hugged the man on her body. "Do you want to try?"

Aaron widened his eyes. "Do you want to throw $20 million into the Pacific Ocean?"

In the future, Aaron might be earning hundreds of thousands every minute. Become an actor?

To be pointed at by others, Aaron would have to be crazy to have such an idea...

Yesterday, it seemed that that chapter was censored and only released today. That's interesting...