Top Screenwriters Are Worth a Fortune

"Hmm, from the way you described it, Aaron, Phone Booth is a one-man show!"

At a small bar in Barstow, Aaron Anderson held Nicole Kidman in his arms as he drank with Nicolas Cage.

"Exactly. The entire film is practically the male lead's personal performance, so it really tests an actor's skills."

Aaron truly intended to invite Nicolas Cage, because he was simply too perfect for the role.

"Do you have a script, Aaron?"

"Yes. Once you finish filming Wild at Heart, we can sit down and talk properly!"

For now, Aaron still needed to find a suitable director for Phone Booth.

"Sure, give me a call then." Nicolas Cage smiled and clinked glasses with them.

A while later, Nicolas Cage charged onto the dance floor to show off his moves!

"This guy sings an Elvis Presley classic while standing on top of a car in a snakeskin jacket in the movie. Don't tell me he really thinks he's Elvis Presley?"

Aaron laughed as he spoke to Nicole Kidman, who sat in his lap.

Besides, twenty-five-year-old Nicolas Cage was still an avid comic-book fan, well versed in every DC and Marvel Comics character.

Batman, directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton and Kim Basinger, had come out this year, and Nicolas Cage loved it as well!

"Enough," Nicole Kidman said, giving Aaron's body a pinch. "Aren't you planning to develop that romance script of yours, Ghost?"

"Of course I am, but that movie's budget is a little high. Even if I went looking for investors now, there's no guarantee I'd find any. And even if I did bring them in, I wouldn't have much say in the matter."

As he spoke, Aaron kissed Nicole Kidman in his arms. "When the time comes, do you think I'll have the final say in choosing the male and female leads?"

"Look at this year—Meg Ryan became Hollywood's Sweetheart with When Harry Met Sally..."

"Kim Basinger, a model and Sex Symbol who once posed for Playboy covers early in her career, also became a widely known sexy star because of Batman."

"I have very high hopes for Ghost. It's a good script, and I have to save it for you!"

"Save it for me?" Nicole Kidman smiled too. "You always have such a sweet tongue. But are you sure a story like Phone Booth has a market?"

Nicole Kidman felt that both the script and its setting were far too simple.

"There shouldn't be a problem. I have faith in my own judgment. Simple settings and characters mean Phone Booth can be made very cheaply!"

In terms of settings and characters, Phone Booth was no less minimal than Sex, Lies, and Videotape.

The difference was that Phone Booth's main setting was a phone booth on the street rather than a room inside a house.

After spending several days in Barstow, Aaron returned to Los Angeles and collected a series of bonuses and profit shares from CAA.

Sex, Lies, and Videotape, Cinema Paradiso, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Everybody's Fine, and other works were all part of Aaron's performance record!

Including the money he had already received, Aaron had now become a millionaire, with nearly one million dollars in savings in his account.

Under pressure from Congress, George H.W. Bush had also chosen to raise taxes this year, increasing the top personal income tax bracket from 28% to 31%.

When he filed taxes next April at this rate, the total would definitely exceed three hundred thousand dollars!

"Aaron," Jack Wells called out as he caught up with him in the CAA hallway.

"Hey, Jack. Let's grab a drink tonight!" Aaron waved a hand. Having money really did make a man bold.

"Uh, sure!"

"By the way, I just came out of Mr. Harber's office and saw that screenwriter Joe Eszterhas didn't look too happy. What happened?"

Joe Eszterhas was the screenwriter of films such as Flashdance and Jagged Edge.

He was CAA's absolute ace. One of his scripts could sell for $1.25 million. Scripts were the foundation of packaging a project, and Joe Eszterhas's status at CAA came with countless privileges!

"You don't know? Joe Eszterhas has decided to find a new agent and leave CAA. Mr. Ovitz and Mr. Meyer both tried to persuade him to stay," Jack Wells said, lowering his voice.

"A few days ago, he had an argument with Michael Ovitz in the office, and it made the papers."

"Still, Michael Ovitz's main focus right now is helping Matsushita Electric of Japan enter Hollywood, so he hasn't been paying much attention to CAA's internal affairs."

Aaron curled his lip. Joe Eszterhas had a rough-looking face covered in a thick beard, and his temper was notoriously explosive. He truly was not easy to deal with.

CAA had already assigned several Assistant Agents to him. Luckily, both Aaron Anderson and Jack Wells were men; otherwise, they might have been assigned to try working with him back then.

"After last year's massive screenwriters' strike, Hollywood screenwriters seem to have gotten a little full of themselves!"

The Writers Guild had launched a five-month strike to secure video residuals and shares from television broadcasts for screenwriters.

The 1988 screenwriters' strike had caused Hollywood enormous losses.

Aaron shook his head. Ever since package deals had emerged, script prices had surged. Original quality scripts were being bid up to more than a million dollars.

And with deep-pocketed foreign capital from Carolco Pictures, Sony, and soon Matsushita pouring in, not only would script prices soar, actors' salaries would also see a crazy spike.

Jack Wells spread his hands. "Previously, more than 80% of Hollywood screenwriters came from the two major Writers Guilds on the East Coast and West Coast."

"After last year's strike, only 70% of Hollywood screenwriters now come from the Writers Guild, and that proportion is still falling. Especially in television, production companies now prefer to use non-union screenwriters."

Clearly, film and television production companies hired screenwriters outside the Writers Guild to cut costs. Compared with the Actors Guild, the Writers Guild's coverage was indeed much lower.

Still, 70% was a very high figure. Aaron remembered that after the millennium, only around half of Hollywood screenwriters came from the Writers Guild, certainly no more than 60%.

Many lesser-known screenwriters also chose not to join the union simply so they could get work!

Hollywood really didn't place much importance on screenwriters as a group. It seemed that Korean Entertainment Industry valued screenwriters the most.

Hollywood's screenwriters at the very top of the pyramid lived very well, and those in the upper tiers did fairly well too;

but there were simply too many screenwriters in Hollywood. Many of them had to work other jobs on the side!

"Alright, I'm going to Propaganda Films. Wait for me at the bar tonight."

Nicole Kidman's pay for filming Wild at Heart was one hundred thousand dollars, forty thousand of which had already been paid;

now that the film was about to wrap, Aaron had to go collect the remaining payment for her.

After leaving the CAA building, Aaron casually bought a copy of the Los Angeles Times from a nearby newsstand:

"Thousands upon thousands cross the Berlin Wall!"

The reunification of East and West Germany had entered its final countdown...