Chapter 175: A trivial matter
Chapter 175: A trivial matter
Eric pushed the door open and walked into the living room. Hearing the sound, Drew immediately jumped up from the sofa and embraced Eric full of excitement. She was smiling sweetly but then snuffled and turned unhappy after sensing that Eric was trying to dodge.
Drew pretended to dislike Eric's reaction and drew a breath near his left cheek. Then she used her sleeves to rub against his face before kissing it.
Eric found the little girl's act both funny and annoying. Stepping forward, he got rid of the cuddle and put Drew onto the sofa. Then he sat down by her side and asked: "Okay. Why did you hurry to see me?" Eric noticed the striking black file on the tea table and opened it.
It turned out to be a copyright transfer contract.
"Haha, you have quickly secured the copyright on An Affair to Remember. I thought that I would have to wait until the summer vacation ended."
Drew smilingly leaned against Eric and put her jaw on his shoulders:"This is Hollywood. As long as you have money, things will become much easier."
"How much did you spend?" Eric took the metal clipper away from the file and asked casually.
"3.5 million," the little girl said the price unconfidently and promptly explained:"But it is all-inclusive and permanent copyright. We own the copyright on even the original soundtracks in the movie. "
Eric nodded. If what Drew said was true, the price would be acceptable. He would just take this as a chance to enlarge the Firefly Film Stock. Maybe he could also wait until Sleepless in Seattle became a blockbuster and invest in the reshooting of An Affair to Remember.
Eric had intended Drew to acquire only the 5-year copyright on the film, but the result was a bit different. After all, the original copyright owner would surely grasp the chance to rip off the potential buyer who was interested in the old film dating back 30 years. Five years? No deal!
If you wanted to buy it, you had to accept the high price.
Seeing Eric nodding his head, Drew felt at ease and began to explain further, "This film was originally produced by Jerry Wald, an investor who started his own film company. The guy shot a number of fantastic films but then had the misfortune to die from a heart attack.
His wife sold the copyright on several films to another film company. Later, that business went bankrupt. The twist and turn sent the copyright to Fox finally."
"Yes, it is true that we have spent more than 3 million dollars. The point is that we are likely to make 30 million dollars from this film in less than 1 year. How will Fox feel then?"
The little girl covered her small mouth with her hands surprisedly. Eric asked her to secure the copyright on the film and said the business could bring money. Drew had thought that the maximum profits would be 1 or 2 million dollars.
So she was a little nervous when confiding the film had been bought at the price of 3.5 million dollars. If they could really make 30 million dollars...
"But...It seems that...Eric, Fox does not know that we are the purchaser. For fear of making them link the business with you, I did not meet Fox's people in person. Instead, I found an agent who transferred the copyright to me after getting it.
All through the process, Fox did not know that it was us that wanted the copyright." As she went on saying, Drew's voice was getting lower.
She immediately realized that Fox people, as long as they were sane, would surely link the business with Eric if Sleepless in Seattle gained popularity and then a big fortune was made from An Affair to Remember.
Thinking of this, the girl stuck out her tongue, "Then, Eric, what shall we do now?"
Eric rubbed against his temples and thought for a moment. If Sleepless in Seattle was put on show by the end of this year, then the videotapes of An Affair to Remember would not become a sales miracle until next year. By then, he had already fulfilled his contract with Fox for this year.
So he would not worry about Fox making trouble for the film distribution. At most, Fox would play some tricks to delay the process of shared revenue. In that case, there was no need to worry since the contract signed last year had clearly stipulated the rights and obligations of both parties.
If Fox breached the contract, the company would be unlikely to win the lawsuit. The filmmakers in Eric's previous life were so careless that they did not find problems with profit-sharing contracts until the films became blockbusters.
At that time, it was too late to rid themselves of disputes that could last for years. Eric was totally different from them.
"Well, let's just forget about it. The meat has been readily offered to us and we just cannot give it back. After all, it is Fox that has offered to sell the copyright and we have paid the company a large sum."
"Hha," the girl felt relieved, cuddled Eric and kept rubbing against his body coquettishly, "Eric, but there is also a trivial matter..."
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