Chapter 160: Golden Pair

[Chapter 160: Golden Alliance]

It seemed to Eric that there had been a casual chat with a friend in a past life during the time when they were watching Sleepless in Seattle. They had talked about the film in passing and ended up tracing back through various inspirations for other movies, discovering that many films had drawn from the classic performances of Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr in that famous movie, An Affair to Remember.

Of course, that wasn't the main point. Eric recalled his friend mentioned something about An Affair to Remember's video tape had become a massive seller, flying off the shelves with 2 million copies sold in no time at all. For the copyright-holding film company, that was practically a windfall.

That movie had already been around for forty years. Although both leads had been Hollywood superstars at the time, so much time had passed, and since it wasn't like the James Bond franchise that could keep churning out sequels indefinitely, its commercial value had significantly diminished. Perhaps for one or two million, one could buy out all the copyrights to that film. Furthermore, Eric thought about the licenses he might need to negotiate in the future, and he figured the copyright holders would see this as leverage to raise their prices. It made more sense to buy up all the rights now.

Noticing Eric's slightly excited expression, Drew Barrymore couldn't contain her curiosity any longer. She scratched at Eric's chest and hurriedly asked, "Eric, is there a good movie that suits me? Spit it out!"

"Not a movie, but if you want to make some money, there's a solid opportunity," Eric replied, picking up a pen and writing down the name of the movie. "Have you heard of this one?"

Drew's glanced at the paper and honestly shook her head. "Nope."

Eric patiently explained, "Well, you remember me telling you about my next film, right?"

The girl pointed her lips toward Nicole's room, which was outside the study. "Of course."

"In that movie's setup, the lead character, Annie, loved to watch the film. After my movie is released, the sales of the video tapes would definitely spike. So, if you're looking to make some money, you might as well use some holiday time to find a way to buy all the rights to this old film. It's been out for forty years; if the price is right, the studio will surely be willing to sell."

Drew had a blind trust in Eric. If he had said the same thing to anyone else, they would've been full of doubts, but she wasn't skeptical at all. Instead, she asked, "But if I buy it, where would I release the videotapes?"

"Firefly Films is planning to establish their distribution channels soon, including video tape distribution," Eric answered while recalling the three-movie deal with Fox and feeling a tinge of regret.

Back then, he was inexperienced and not too thorough in his considerations. So when signing agreements, he let Fox handle the video tape and TV broadcast rights, which meant Firefly was stuck waiting for their share. While it didn't seem bad since many independent film companies didn't even have a stake and were usually offered a one-time buyout, ultimately handing those rights over to Fox equated to losing a significant amount of income. After all, the film's buzz and reputation would be established by its release. If he could have his own video tape distribution, even if it wasn't as comprehensive as a big company, the profits would still be greater than what he would receive after those big corporations took their cut.

Moreover, from what he had learned recently, smaller companies with distribution capabilities often wouldn't transfer the rights to ancillary products like video tapes, even if they handed their movie's distribution rights to the big studios. As the profits from these ancillary rights grew compared to the total revenue, they could become a key funding source for medium-sized film companies. If a company had a decent film library, the extra income from these rights could sustain its daily operations without needing to keep taking funds from box office receipts or investors. They could survive as long as they didn't incur massive investment losses.

Thus, Eric was eager to establish his own distribution channel soon, and he knew he wouldn't allow any ancillary rights for his next three movies to slip away.

"But, Eric, I don't have any money," Drew said with her big eyes, looking at him with a cute, pleading expression.

Eric couldn't help but pinch her soft, fair cheek. "You've got a card, just swipe it. If you make money, it's your little stash; if it loses, it's on me."

"Well then, I'm going to do it!" Drew said as she nudged her cheek against Eric's face. She leaned in to peck his lips but was blocked by a big hand. Unfazed, she stuck her little tongue out and licked his palm.

"You were definitely a cat in your past life, loving to lick people's palms," Eric said as he nudged the girl off his lap. "Alright, now that you've got work to do and money to make, it's time for bed, right?"

"Eric, it's been ages since you held me to sleep," Drew said with a hint of melancholy.

"I'm a law-abiding citizen," Eric replied with a mock 'disgusted' look and pushed her toward the door. "And there are others around."

When Drew heard 'others,' she seemed delighted, rushing over to plant a kiss on Eric's cheek before leaving.

Eric chuckled, shaking his head at the closed door to the study, then turned his attention to the monitor to finish up the script. Barry Diller had personally called to remind him to keep an eye on the filming schedule. Even though American television shows aired while being filmed, they were nearing August, and with the show set to premiere in September, Eric only had a month left.

...

"Eric, here's the paper for today," Nicole said the next morning as Eric finished his workout, came back from his shower, and found her kindly placing the newspaper on the coffee table.

"Thank you, Nicole." Eric took a moment to appreciate the new pink maid outfit she wore, then picked up the newspaper to glance through it while Nicole went back into the kitchen.

A moment later, Eric spotted When Harry Met Sally... in the paper. Coincidentally, it was also released by Columbia, and surprisingly it had performed quite well. To his amazement, the star was Billy Crystal, who had hosted the Oscars several times, alongside Meg Ryan, who had initially played the lead.

Eric really liked this sweet-smiled star. However, it seemed her career had been quite rocky. It could be said she had poor taste in choosing scripts. It appeared that her two successful movies had been with Tom Hanks -- one was Sleepless in Seattle, and the other came a few years later; aside from those, she hadn't had any standout films.

The reason he thought of her choice of work as poor was that she had passed up a series of mega-hit movies, which seemed oddly miraculous. Starting from the 1990s, she had turned down roles, including one that would catapult a then-unknown Sharon Stone to stardom, simply because she refused to take off her clothes. Ironically, this sweet star had decided to go daring at the start of the new century to reinvent herself, trying to emulate that success by acting in a similarly themed movie like that and ending up flopping terribly.

Looking at the box office numbers in the paper, it probably meant this sweet star would get a little spark of fame, though thanks to Eric, Hollywood's history had shifted significantly. It was unclear how her luck would unfold in this reality.

"Nicole, can you come here for a moment?" Eric called out, his mind wandering back to her appearance in the papers.

"What's up?" Nicole quickly came out, still holding a little spatula.

"Um, never mind, you can get back to what you were doing. We can chat after breakfast."

"Oh," she mumbled, seemingly confused, as she turned and walked back.

At the dining table, Drew scarfed down her breakfast, grabbed a napkin to wipe her mouth, and swiftly got up, eager to rush outside.

"Come back, sit down, and finish your milk," Eric said, glaring at her half-full glass of milk. "Are you trying to catch a flight to Mars? Why are you in such a hurry?"

Reluctantly, the girl sat back down in her chair. "I need to buy the movie rights, you know."

"Finish your breakfast properly first," Eric repeated, ignoring her excuse.

"Hmph," Drew puffed her little nose, lifting her glass to gulp down the milk. "Is this good enough?"

"Alright, go have fun."

"Ugh, you're the worst," Drew said, grabbing another napkin to wipe her mouth before heading out. Once at the door, she suddenly turned around to glare at Nicole and then back at Eric. "While I'm not home, you two better not mess around, okay?"

*****

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