Chapter 411: Comedy

[Chapter 411: Comedy]

After having lunch at Julia's house, Julia and the babysitter took care of the little one while Eric and Elisabeth headed upstairs to the study.

Eric spread out the prepared materials in front of Elisabeth and then walked over to the VCR with a box of tapes. Elisabeth opened the materials Eric brought, which were mainly analyses of Hollywood comedy genres and box office data for various types of comedies from recent years. As she casually read through them, Elisabeth heard the TV come to life. Looking up, she saw a very expressive actor animatedly conversing with a young girl. However, the scene quickly shifted to a completely different setting, still featuring the same actor.

Watching the actor flash his somewhat exaggerated teeth and listening to the comical dialogue on the TV, Elisabeth couldn't help but laugh.

Eric turned to her and said, "Pretty funny, right?"

Elisabeth watched the man perform an exaggerated fall and joyfully exclaimed, "Yeah, who is this? I don't remember him at all!"

"His name is Jim Carrey. He's appeared in a few indie films and had a small role in a television comedy on Fox last year. What you're seeing is just a toned-down version of his usual performance," Eric explained as he hit the fast-forward button. The scene jumped to an audition room, where Jim Carrey was performing a silent routine, managing to be even more exaggerated and almost manic without uttering a word.

"Does anybody come to mind?" Eric asked again.

Elisabeth rested her chin on her hand and quickly replied, "Charlie Chaplin?"

"Exactly, it's Chaplin! I feel like Jim Carrey's comedic talent is just as strong as Chaplin's," Eric said, rewinding the tape and sitting back down next to Elisabeth. He picked up the materials again and said, "In recent years, Hollywood comedies have mainly revolved around romantic comedies and family comedies. The most successful ones have included films like When Harry Met Sally... and the 1987 box office champ Three Men and a Baby. Home Alone can also be categorized as a family comedy, but it leans more towards children and can be said to be a kids' comedy. Besides that, there are very few standout comedies in other genres, and studios are hesitant to boldly attempt different types, so this presents a great opportunity. Look at last year's Hot Shots! -- it clearly shows that there's a solid market for more outrageous comedy."

Elisabeth asked curiously, "What do you mean by more outrageous comedy?"

"Those are comedies that rely heavily on parody and crass humor. Their main characteristics are exaggeration, with plots that defy or exceed common sense -- just like Hot Shots!," Eric explained.

Elisabeth picked up the materials again to read, while Eric didn't interrupt her and picked up a magazine to read for himself. He had already gone over the data thoroughly several times, so he didn't need to look at it again.

After a while, Elisabeth finished reading and said, "The data shows that in the last decade, parody and crass comedies only accounted for three percent of total box office revenue, and this type of comedy is limited to North America. As international box office revenue continues to grow, it seems this genre doesn't have much of a future."

"That's why I say it's an undeveloped goldmine. The lack of future is just because everyone overlooks this market," Eric replied.

Elisabeth, being quite astute, quickly caught on and said, "You're not suggesting that my production company becomes a guinea pig for these types of films, are you?"

Eric nodded. "You could put it that way. But with me around, you won't be at a loss. Jim Carrey is someone I personally selected for you. He's still just an unknown. As long as I'm involved, I can easily secure him on a three-year option contract."

An option contract is an agreement that allows production companies to lock in a new talent with specific conditions, usually tying the actor to participate in sequels or requiring them to make a commitment to star in the studio's films at a lower rate within a certain timeframe.

At Drew's birthday party, when Eric suggested having Elisabeth focus on comedy production, she had already considered it carefully. While she would habitually banter with Eric, she also recognized his point. Instead of floundering around picking projects, focusing on one genre made sense, and comedy undeniably had great potential. With Eric's assistance, she believed her company could achieve good results in this area.

"Eric, what about distribution?" Elisabeth asked, blinking her eyes and feigning nonchalance.

"That's exactly what I wanted to discuss with you," Eric replied with a smile. He knew Elisabeth was the type of woman who cared about family and would keep her family's best interests in mind. In Eric's eyes, this was a commendable quality.

As it stood, the current ownership structure of her production company remained unchanged, with Elisabeth holding forty percent, and Drew and Julia each owning thirty percent. The young lady was practically an extension of himself, so it felt almost like he owned thirty percent as well. Considering the upcoming conditions, Eric could easily secure the majority of the profits for the company.

"I won't interfere with the investments. As for distribution, Firefly will handle North American and home video releases, while Fox can take care of overseas distribution," he continued.

Elisabeth said, "Actually, we could handle the home video distribution ourselves."

Eric shook his head. "That's unnecessary. I won't let you suffer. Your production company just needs to focus on producing, and with Firefly and Fox as allies, your company will never encounter issues with distribution."

Elisabeth retorted, "I don't want to be anyone's subordinate. You said before that a pure production company has no future."

"That was because they lacked sufficient backing. So it's settled. No more negotiating. Let's discuss some of the specific details," Eric concluded.

*****

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