Joint Investment by Three Companies

Having lost interest, Kevin repeated himself in English. Only then did the woman in the cheongsam lead him toward the third floor with her graceful figure.

This was a special hotel decorated in a classical Chinese style, with only three floors at most.

As soon as he arrived at the Heavenly Room, Kevin saw MGM's president, Rett, chatting happily with Jeff Robinov.

As presidents of major companies in the industry, they held equal status. In a few years, it was even possible that their positions might be exchanged.

Naturally, there would be no open conflict between them.

"Kevin!"

Seeing Kevin arrive, Rett stood up and welcomed him with a broad smile.

That attitude also let Kevin understand Rett's predicament within MGM.

Kevin nodded and sat down, then handed the two men a rough adaptation script for Mission: Impossible. Likewise, he had personally selected suitable actors for several of the main roles.

Only then did Kevin call over a waiter and order several excellent dishes.

"Peking duck, steamed lamb, stir-fried prawns, glutinous rice-stuffed duck, stewed pheasant in a jar, stewed quail in a jar..."

They sounded simple, but most of them were famous dishes from the Manchu-Han Feast. In his previous life, Kevin had only been a third-rate director.

These were delicacies he could never bear to eat.

But things were different now. With his considerable wealth, he could eat as much of this food as he wanted.

The two men carefully read through his script and proposal while Kevin took the opportunity to eat to his heart's content.

He even started considering hiring a chef.

After browsing through the proposal, Jeff Robinov could not help but sigh. As expected, it was an extremely mature film proposal.

But could Kevin really handle this kind of spy action movie?

"Kevin, are you sure the investment this time is eighty million dollars?"

Jeff Robinov could not help confirming it again. Going from three million dollars to eighty million dollars in one leap was a genuinely frightening investment amount.

If Kevin had not already proven himself with two films, Jeff Robinov would have thrown out any ordinary director long ago.

Hearing Jeff Robinov's words, Kevin finally set down the Peking duck in his mouth and said,

"That's right. According to my calculations, we need at least eighty million. I'm confident that the North American box office alone can recoup the costs. We'll definitely make a fortune."

"But the biggest issue is that it's adapted from the American TV series Mission: Impossible, and Paramount Pictures holds its rights."

"If we want the greatest possible profit, we have to negotiate with Paramount and find a way to acquire the rights from them. At the very least, we need licensing authorization. But if that happens, we'll make far less money."

Kevin's words immediately plunged the two men into thought.

But they quickly came up with an idea.

Since none of them dared shoulder the investment alone, they might as well use MGM and Warner Bros.' strength to cooperate directly with Paramount.

There was no need to even think about the sequel rights. Paramount would definitely never give those to them.

But they could still negotiate over the first Mission: Impossible film's rights revenue.

With Kevin's previous two successes, Jeff Robinov and Rett Winchester hesitated for a moment. But once they learned this was an adaptation of a classic American TV series with an established audience, and that spy action films were a genre that never went out of style—

Coupled with multiple investors sharing the risk—

All of that made it seem much more acceptable.

At the very least, the odds of success had increased greatly.

"Kevin, in that case, Rett and I will go to Paramount and discuss Mission: Impossible."

"You can continue refining the proposal..."

Kevin nodded.

After Kevin treated the two men to a proper taste of Chinese cuisine, he waited until they left.

Then Kevin drove toward CAA.

CAA Headquarters.

Inside Michael Ovitz's office, Michael Ovitz and Dawson were discussing something.

"Dawson, next, you need to persuade Kevin to accept our most comprehensive packaging deal. Otherwise, it'll be very difficult for you to rise to the position of a top CAA partner."

Michael Ovitz spoke heavily, with a faintly threatening tone.

Seeing Kevin's two films become consecutive blockbusters, CAA also wanted to extract more profit from him.

The packaging deal Kevin currently accepted was incomplete, so CAA only had decision-making power over behind-the-scenes personnel, some supporting roles, and minor actors.

To secure more benefits for CAA, Michael Ovitz was persuading Dawson to find a way to make Kevin fully accept his packaging deal.

That meant that aside from Kevin himself, everything else would be handled by CAA, while the director only needed to serve as a tool.

"Kevin will never accept that."

Dawson said calmly.

"Doing this will only damage our relationship with Kevin."

Ovitz said coldly,

"That's your problem. If you can't do it, hand Kevin over and let someone else take charge of him."

"I'll give you one month. If you can't do it, Kevin will be assigned to someone else."

"Come on. Work hard. You can do it."

A trace of disappointment flashed through Dawson's eyes. He silently left the office.

CAA ultimately cared too much about its own interests rather than the client experience.

For superstars and directors who lacked no opportunities, CAA was more like a vampire. The most frightening thing was that CAA itself had not realized this.

Instead, it believed its packaging deals were heaven-sent and that anyone could accept them.

But in truth, directors were the ones most affected by this packaging system.

Stars were merely one part of it. They only needed to consider the film itself, while the director and other actors were not things a star could decide.

But directors were different. Different people brought different filming styles and other differences.

Directors were the least likely people to accept a comprehensive packaging deal. Dawson understood this very clearly.

Feeling disappointed, Dawson walked out of the CAA building.

He then happened to run into Kevin, who was on his way to CAA.

"Dawson, what's wrong?"

Seeing Dawson's expression, Kevin asked directly.

He had never seen Dawson look like this before. Something unpleasant must have happened.

Dawson pulled Kevin along for several minutes until they reached a park bench and sat down. Only then did he say,

"Ovitz wants me to make you fully accept the packaging deal. Otherwise, he'll replace me as the person handling your business."

Dawson's face revealed a sense of dejection, making him look listless.

Kevin fell silent for a moment. Ovitz's greed left him somewhat speechless.

But capital devoured people. That was hardly surprising.

Unlike China, where personal connections carried more weight, the United States placed greater emphasis on interests.

Once interests were violated, personal connections became far less useful.

His way of thinking was still too heavily influenced by his previous life.

That had led him to consider problems through the lens of personal connections.