Chapter 76: A New Plan

After officially joining the union, Murphy's main focus was shifted to the preparation of the new movie, the script had to be further revised, especially adjusted according to the money he could actually put into it, and just like the last time, it was impossible for him to spend all the more than nine hundred thousand dollars he had in his hands on this one project.

Stanton Studios needed money to run, although there were no employees now, but at least a telephone operator and cleaner would have to be recruited later, and a finance person if there was a suitable candidate, all of which required money.

And the series of expenses added after the completion of the production of "Fruit Hard Candy" also told Murphy that all the money smashed into the production of a movie, that is an incomparable stupidity, and not to mention other things, he himself to maintain a normal life, the same also need money.

He's had strange experiences, but he's not one of those saints who doesn't eat, drink and drive without needing gasoline.

Murphy plans to invest between $800,000 and $900,000, with the final amount depending on circumstances.

He could not afford to make a plasma horror movie with $300,000, which was still enough money to be confident, after all, the dollar is constantly depreciating, and the difference between a few years before and after the purchasing power of the dollar is very different.

With the start of school at major North American colleges and universities, Paul Wilson ended his spring break and returned to Stanton Studios, and unlike his last stint as a free intern, he had received a fair amount of recognition from Murphy, who also offered him a weekly salary of four hundred dollars.

There would also be some bonuses, as appropriate, when new projects were completed.

Paul Wilson's work ethic is also higher, after all, ideals can be motivation, but money is the basis of survival.

Murphy so valued Paul Wilson, but also because of one point, he introduced several students to Stanton Studios internship, when the crew was established, and can be used as free interns.

These are all good things.

"The crew is just the two of us now."

Standing in front of the door of his room on Thirteenth Street in Santa Monica's Green Zone, Murphy hung the nameplate of Stanton Studios on the wrought-iron door and said to Paul Wilson next to him, "You're one of the heads of the crew now, so be more on top of your work."

Not yet graduated, with a decent salary to take, being able to witness the creation and development of a film company, and also being able to actually participate in film production to accumulate experience, Paul Wilson had nothing to be dissatisfied with, and even felt that he was a lucky man, within the same class of SCAD Film School students, he was one of the not so many who had actually participated in the production of a film that could be formally released in the theaters.

Compared to the others, he was already a step ahead.

Looking at the director next to him who was even younger than himself, thinking that the other party could become a millionaire in his early twenties, and that there were feature-length films entering theaters, Paul Wilson's eyes were full of admiration, "Don't worry, boss, I'm also a person with some experience, those miscellaneous aspects of the work will be left to me."

He didn't think he'd do a worse job than Jessica Chastain, the female intern.

Murphy gently patted his arm, "We're partners in business together, there's no need to be so formal, call me Murphy."

Paul Wilson nodded his head vigorously, it felt really good to be appreciated.

Obviously, Murphy was just enlisting people, Stanton Studio had just hit the road and needed some talent, he also wanted to hire someone like Carla Faith who had outstanding ability and experience, but the reality did not allow it, so he could only find a way to dig it out himself.

Another look at the metal nameplate above the 'Stanton Film Studio' line of letters, Murphy pushed open the iron door, entered the small building, the empty living room still placed a dozen or so desks, different from the past, closest to the entrance door this side of a desk in front of a thirty-something Latina woman.

This was the receptionist-cum-cleaner-cum-phone operator that Murphy had just recruited.

"Hello, Mr. Stanton." She greeted Murphy.

Murphy nodded and asked, "Rosa, did someone call?"

The woman called Rosa immediately picked up a form and walked over, handing it over to Murphy's hand, which contained the contact information and basic information of two people.

"These two people want to apply for the company's finance." She said, "I made an appointment for tomorrow morning."

"Uh-huh." Murphy looked it over and handed the form back to her as Rosa Rodriguez went back to her desk and sat back heavily in her chair, which made a creaking sound as if it would fall apart at any moment.

Paul Wilson on the other side of the table couldn't bear to look at the poor chair, being pressed up against a woman who was nearly six feet tall and weighed over two hundred pounds, and he really, really felt sorry for the miserable chair.

He doubted very much that the chair would last more than a few days.

Murphy had gotten used to it over the past few days, and without bothering to look at the creaking chair, he turned and headed upstairs.

The most important reason he could hire such a Latina was that the other woman was willing to take one salary for three jobs, but of course with her looks, education, and abilities, it was basically impossible to find a better job.

Back in his study, Murphy continued to revise the script, taking breaks to think about the project plan.

Originally, after the first draft of the script was revised, he intended to find Jones Butler to contact the Miramax side, to see if the two sides can reach a pre-production cooperation, to reduce the pressure on the side of Stanton Studios.

After deep thought, he still chose to give up, although after he became a member of the Screenwriters Guild, he had already filed the script for the new project in the Screenwriters Guild, but Hollywood studios have always had no sense of propriety, plus the new project is also very simple, so if it is imitated, he can't even cry.

With Miramax's strength, if the other party had no modesty, I'm afraid that while his side was still preparing, they would have finished filming.

Murphy never expected the writers union filing to solve the copyright or imitation problem, it's also impossible, the North American copyright law is indeed complete, but the main content of similar films are endless, such as "Heaven and Earth Rush" and Michael Bay's "The End of the World", "White House Down" and "The Shocking Crisis", these can't be explained by coincidence at all.

The new project is far from being able to compare with these films, but the minimum precautions should still be taken, with his current fame and strength, Miramax really do something, he basically can not do anything.

Even if it ends up in court, this kind of lawsuit drags on for a year or two, how can he stand it?

Writers union filing is just an insurance policy, not a guarantee that copyright will not be infringed upon, and Murphy will not be so naive as to think that if the script has been filed in the writers union, everything will be fine.

The script will be broken down into character scripts and scene scripts, and like other Hollywood productions, most people won't see the full version of the script.

There is also the shooting plan, according to the tradition of North America, the fall season is the most suitable time period for the release of horror films, every year in September there are a large number of horror films landed in theaters, countless horror film fans will also flock to.

But Murphy said nothing would make this movie appear in September.