Chapter 325: Crime

Donna Langley attended the Motion Picture Producers Association conference on behalf of Capet Pictures to discuss negotiations with the Writers Guild.

The old contract between the Motion Picture Producers Association and the Writers Guild had expired. If a new contract wasn't signed, a strike by the Writers Guild seemed inevitable.

Both sides were firm on their interests, and currently, the minimum pay for an original script costing less than $5 million was $40,760. For an adapted script under $5 million, it was $30,772.

For original scripts costing over $5 million, the minimum rate was higher at $87,679, and for adapted scripts over $5 million, the rate was $72,662.

Original scripts were rarely adapted compared to the abundance of adapted scripts. The Motion Picture Association ruled that only writers who contributed 30% to the script would get credit, limiting the number of credited writers to three per movie.

Those with credit received a portion of the script's earnings, but in reality, many writers contributed to a script. To claim their fair share, they needed to increase the portion allotted to writers.

At Capet Pictures, the scripts for Iron Man 2, Transformers 2, and The Incredible Hulk were already completed.

With the earlier adaptations of novels like The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, Charles felt fully prepared.

In mid to late September, the youth school drama Gossip Girl, produced by Capet TV, premiered on CTV. The ratings were phenomenal, and the show was highly talked about.

However, the initial reviews were similar to those of the Gossip Girl novel when it was first published: shallow and fast food literature.

Despite this, the fresh faces of Blake Lively and the sultry Odette Annable became teen idols.

Blake Lively also starred in a romantic comedy called The Wedding Planner's Daughter.

At the same time, J.J. Abrams, head of Bad Robot Productions, submitted a script called Cloverfield to Capet Pictures. It stemmed from an idea Abrams had while promoting Mission: Impossible III in Japan.

However, he soon got involved in the filming of Transformers and only recently finished adapting it into a complete script.

Consequently, Capet Pictures' Matrix Pictures invested $20 million for J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions to make the film, casting Gossip Girl's Queen B, Odette Annable, as the lead actress.

"J.J. Abrams sure is a talented filmmaker!" Charles sat in his office, praising Abrams. Cloverfield was another pseudo-science fictive monster film shot with a handheld camera.

The pseudo-documentary style invoked memories of the insurmountable success of The Blair Witch Project years earlier. Charles also recalled Paranormal Activity, another family-style pseudo-documentary horror film that made nearly $200 million worldwide in 2009, outdoing Saw and spawning several sequels.

Such low-budget pseudo-documentaries rarely attracted distributors and often bounced around before finding a willing company. Charles speculated that the film might already be completed.

He wondered where the film might be gathering dust, whether at the Screamfest Horror Film Festival, a horror film festival, or a fantasy film festival. Such festival types required close attention.

After all, the original Paranormal Activity was a rough, home-style pseudo-documentary, barely qualifying as a film, probably unfit even for the Sundance Film Festival.

Thinking about horror films, Charles remembered James Wan and called his mother.

"Mom, how's James Wan doing this year?"

"James Wan?" Evelyn seemed to ask an assistant next to her before responding.

"Not too well. The horror film Dead Silence he made for Universal Pictures grossed only over $16 million in North America and just $6 million overseas. The DVD sold only $18 million. The thriller Death Sentence he made for 20th Century Fox didn't perform well either, grossing less than $10 million in North America."

Charles chuckled, "Looks like our Matrix Pictures' Saw trilogy was his peak!"

"When will he return to low-budget horror films? I still have faith in him. We could sign a three-film contract. Matrix Pictures made its name with his Saw series. We owe him something."

Evelyn Capet laughed, "You owe him? Your Matrix Pictures releases a Saw film every Halloween. You're just upset that last month's Hostel: Part II didn't meet your expectations!"

"Don't worry. James Wan is indeed going through a rough patch. Supporting him is a good idea since he directed the first three Saw films."

After hanging up, Charles planned for Matrix Pictures to contact James Wan. Did Wan have the idea for Insidious yet?

Later, he called Phyllis Jones, instructing her to have Matrix Pictures keep an eye on American horror and fantasy film festivals for standout horror films.

"Sure, but there are so many horror films, it's hard to choose," Phyllis Jones explained.

"The pseudo-documentary style, novel horror films," Charles reminded her. The success of The Blair Witch Project had led to countless pseudo-documentary horror films without another major success.

"Got it!" Phyllis Jones said, handing Charles a newspaper. "Boss, check this out. Last year's crime statistics report in America. It's like a land of crime!"

"Land of crime?" Charles laughed. That was interesting.

The FBI's report on 2006 national crime statistics released in September: There were 1.41 million violent crimes nationwide in the U.S.

Overall, men committed 60.4 violent crimes per thousand, women 22.2 per thousand.

White men committed 47.2 violent crimes per thousand, women 18.8 per thousand.

African American men committed 120.5 violent crimes per thousand, women 45.1 per thousand.

Hispanic men committed 28 violent crimes per thousand, women 10.6 per thousand.

For others, men committed 18.1 violent crimes per thousand, women 7.1 per thousand.

The report indicated a violent crime occurred every second in the U.S. last year: a murder every half an hour, a rape every 5 minutes, a robbery every 2 minutes, and an aggravated assault every 4 seconds.

"Last year, gun deaths were this high," Charles thought of his home guns and bodyguards, feeling secure.

"Rest assured, there will be more this year and next!" The financial crisis aftermath made Charles think Matrix Pictures could develop the ultra-violent anti-violence film The Purge.

Unemployment and economic downturns would provide the context. War movies were full of battles, anti-racism films were rife with racism, and anti-violence films had to be packed with violent scenes!

*****

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