21. Knives Out Analysed.
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Recap of the previous chapter –
Ben begins to read the draft of John Wick, and he finds himself loving the story that Mark wants to create. He finds his muse for writing again and is excited to start writing again.
Upon being questioned by Ben, Mark reveals his seemingly impossible dream. The group is stunned by his declaration, seeing awkward air. Mark turns to question Joseph and Margaret about their thoughts on his script of Knives Out.
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~ Mark's POV ~
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April 15th, 1990, same day, 10:53 am, in the meeting room.
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Joseph and Margaret looked at each other as if deciding who was going first. She nodded at him, as if gesturing st her taking lead and then turned to Mark as she began explaining the problems she found with the script.
"Mark, this is a pretty decent screenplay, I can definitely see it becoming a hit at the box office. However, there are some mistakes in the plot which the critics can and will use to attack your film. Especially after the rival studios hire them to attack you with low rating reviews just to turn the public's eye away from you."
"Your idea to change the ending is brilliant, subverting the expectations of the readers of your book. But, in my opinion," she glanced at Mark with keen eyes to see if was willing to hear her critique.
She saw him, leaning forward, intently staring at her, giving his complete attention to her words. This small gesture seemed to make up her doubt filled mind whether if Mark was mature enough to lead them, at least he seemed like a good listener and a respectful man.
She continued explaining again, "It just lacks the necessary build-up in the part of the uncle, since Ransom is getting his scenes to shine."
"Whereas, his uncle is left aside as a forgotten side character with very little screen time, to show his character arc, to show him becoming this vindictive man who would be willing to plan the murder of his own father in cold blood."
"You would have to increase his significance in the plot and write better dialogues for him, or maybe have him do some exaggerated gestures to draw the audience's attention to himself even when he has no lines in a scene." She explained how maybe he could remedy the problem she found.
"The actor you are going to hire for this role will be a crucial make or break for your movie."
"I'd suggest finding an experienced actor with a background in theater drama who's capable of displaying a variety of emotions and has a solid track record."
"As they are masters in showing exaggerated yet controlled facial expressions and using body language and gestures to display their emotions in a scene."
"Of course these are just my suggestions, pardon me if I came off as rude" Margaret apologized for any perceived slights towards her new boss.
"Nonsense, I love your suggestions Ms. Carter, they really gave me some good ideas about how to salvage this "Uncle situation". Your points will definitely help me in selecting the most appropriate actor for the role."
"If you have any suggestions on actors for the role, please do not hold back on my sake. I can't guarantee any favors, but if he can play the part, then I will definitely select him."
"Mark, please call me Peggy if we are all friends here, as you said early." Peggy said as she looked to Mark for approval.
Mark replied with a smile in assurance.
"Of course we are, I am your boss, but we are all friends here as well. The obedience towards following my orders is all I ask of you."
"When we are talking about work, and it's your area of expertise, don't hold back your thoughts and opinions for our sake."
"We are all recent graduates of the New York Film Academy, me and my friends. And we will be grateful for any advice or guidance you can provide to us. After all, you are far more experienced than us." Mark said this while looking towards them.
"I understand we are a new studio that hasn't even produced its first movie yet, but I'll try my best to make you feel like you didn't make a mistake by joining us." Mark said solemnly.
He continued, as if unable to hold back his emotions. "I will try to provide you with the best opportunities and benefits I can."
"Because I believe I chose honest people with integrity, who wouldn't just leave after making a name for themselves and getting poached by the big media giants."
"Though I wouldn't hold it against you if you decide to do so, I would just accept that as a failure of my ability as a leader and my ability to judge your characters." He said at the end with a downturned face.
"Ah crap, I went off rambling again, sorry guys," Mark said in a chuckle with an apologetic smile, while scratching the back of his neck.
"Where were we? Yeah, Peggy! It was your turn, I am so sorry for just taking over like that. Maybe I am just excited to meet you all." Mark apologized sheepishly with a smile.
Peggy said with a kind smile, "I don't mind at all, Mark. Instead, it's refreshing to see a boss like you, who cares about his people for a change."
"It creates a nice contrast and balance with the other Hollywood executives who are only looking out for their self interests and goals."
"I just hope I can expect the same from you after we become a part of the Big Five." She teased him at the end.
"Ah, I see you got a lot of confidence in me." Mark teased back with a roguish grin on his face. Happy to see her believe in the possibility of their greatness.
"Well, it's not just you based on your words alone. I observed the expressions of the writers who went through your list."
"Your seemingly impossible dream looks very possible in their eyes for some reason. I am willing to place my bet on you because of the confidence in their eyes."
"Anyway, let's get back to the knives out script issue. In conclusion, if you do all that I mentioned before and patch up the small mistakes and plot holes, then maybe your film can be both critically acclaimed and a box office winner." She finished in a calm and collected manner.
Mark replied to her promptly, "About the small mistakes, I already have a very talented screenwriter go through it. Rest assured, she will take care of it." Mark said, waving towards Jess, who just nodded back.
"And you, Joseph, what's your opinion about my script?" He inquired with a questioning look.
"Before that, Mark, can I ask when you are thinking about releasing this film?" Joseph asked him for more details, so that he could give a more informed and thorough analysis.
"Well, I am thinking about releasing in the fall, around the month of September." He replied.
Joseph said happy to hear the news. "Perfect, so we don't have to fight with summer and Christmas releases of the Big Five Studios for cinema halls."
He continued with an excited tone, "and with your fame as a renowned author driving the publicity of the film, it can pull larger audiences."
"What plans do you have for the marketing and distribution of the film?" He asked.
"It will be taken care of by Universal Studios." Mark said nonchalantly.
Joseph's eyes widened at the claim. But he nodded in silence, knowing that Mark must have his ways. He thought some more before giving his answer.
"I still haven't seen the film yet, but just by looking at this set, I can see how passionate you are about this film. I am very certain that this will be a box office success."
"But how high will it be, I don't know. I won't dare to make any claims without watching the finished movie first." He said at the end thinking about the numbers.
Mark thought about the members of the two departments and their responsibilities.
"Let's summarize your responsibilities for now. Please familiarize yourself with each other, as you guys are going to be my two main departments that will work in tandem for the pre-production of my future film projects." He said trying to summarise their responsibilities and work criteria.
"Peggy and Joseph are going to be the two heads of the Analyst department, with Peggy being the Lead Art Analyst/Critic and Joseph being the Lead Market Analyst/Researcher."
"No film will be shot by the studio unless they both give their approval. Obviously, I hold the final right to veto their decision."
"But I will be giving them the proper judging parameters for the various different movies, so if the script really failed to impress them, then it simply isn't good enough to be shot by us." He said briefly explaining his quality control mechanism.
"Now coming on to the Script & Continuity Department -
We have Jess as the Script Supervisor. Jess your main task, when not overlooking the shooting of the movie, will be to work on fixing scripts. Later on, when more people are recruited to help you in your tasks, you can start helping with IWA as well. I have a few horror movie scripts that need to be worked on."
"Jess, while fixing the script for Knives Out, please keep Peggy informed about the plot developments and changes. My hope is that your collaborative efforts will lead to the creation of a better script."
"Peggy, please let me know about your thoughts again after the script is fixed and finished." Mark instructed her.
"Mark, don't you worry about the script with Jess and me. We will make sure that the completed script is up to mark." She said, with a genuine smile, happy to help.
"Glad to hear that, Peggy." Mark said happy to have her on the team.
"Like Jess, Ben, your task will also mostly consist of writing John Wick's screenplay and lore. But I also want take advantage of your expertise so please help the others develop the lore and world background of their chosen works from the list." Mark said requesting Ben to help out his fellow writers.
"As for you, Mel, just keep focusing on writing the Legends of Runeterra for now, I will let you know if anything changes." He said with a nod and then turned to address the last two remaining Howard and Tony.
"Howard, you will be mostly focusing on writing the novel you pick from the list. Tony, the same goes for you as well."
After a moment of silence with everyone digesting their roles and tasks.
Joseph asked, unable to hold in his curiosity, "Mark, what is your goal with launching this studio?"
"Hmm" Mark thought for a few seconds and said, "I want to foster the new talents in Hollywood, irrespective of race, gender or social standing. I want my studio -
"Eidolon Entertainment to become a brand that guarantees quality."
"I want to people to think that as long as it is a product of our studio it will be good, that they won't feel disappointed or let down by something we created."
"It is understandable if an individual does not enjoy a particular genre or style of movie; however, it is irrelevant to my point."
"My point is that I want to win over their trust, I want to cultivate a belief in them that they can trust our films to be good with their eyes closed."
"I know this is something very hard to achieve because nobody can only make hit movies. There are ups and downs in the career of every director and producer."
"But if we can analyze the audience's demands and perfectly create a script to match those demands. We can actually create films that will win the box office. It looks easy on paper, but to put it into practice will be a tough task. But with you all by my side, I am certain that we will achieve that goal."
"By the way, I know I am an amateur director, and it's my first time doing all this. But for you all to put your faith in me and join my team, really means a lot to me. So thank you very much everyone, I hope you all will support me on my journey in Hollywood." Mark said with a confident grin on his face, ready to take on the world.
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{Author's Note: And that's all for today thanks for coming here and reading my work. I hope you liked it, it was more of a character interaction chapter. And I summarized at the end about what the roles are for people who like to skip.
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