Saw Casting

Of course, the biggest reason was that Kevin was still a director who had yet to prove himself. They had no need to create conflict with other film companies over him.

Thus, all three companies tacitly moved to drive down the price.

Now, the director seemed ready to make his final demand, and they would consider whether to agree to it.

"I don't want a salary, but I want to make a wager agreement with you."

"Oh? Interesting. Let's hear it."

Dean was the first to speak.

Kevin raised two fingers with a serious expression.

"If the worldwide box office is below twenty million, I won't take a single cent.

"Starting at twenty million, if the box office exceeds twenty million, I want a 1% share of the box office revenue. For every additional ten million, that percentage goes up by 1%."

Dean burst out laughing. This kind of wager agreement sounded quite interesting, and he could sense the ambition in Kevin's eyes.

Clearly, Kevin believed from the bottom of his heart that his first film could surpass twenty million at the box office.

But in Dean's view, the odds of that were less than 1%.

A new director making a film with 1.2 million dollars and earning tens of millions at the box office was the kind of fantasy that was theoretically impossible.

Therefore, they could fully agree to this condition.

"Fine, I agree. But the cap is 5%."

Dean said it with a smile.

As the Chinese liked to say, it was better to be safe than sorry. Even if something was impossible, he still had to eliminate the possibility of things going wrong.

The maximum 5% box office share meant that even if Saw truly became a massive hit, the money paid to Kevin still would not hurt New Line Cinema.

"Deal!"

Having achieved his goal, Kevin shook hands with Dean, signaling that their cooperation had been finalized.

As for fighting for a larger share, the same principle applied: no one was an idiot.

If the box office really reached the 150 million dollars it was originally supposed to earn, then New Line Cinema might have to give him a 13% share of the box office revenue.

That enormous profit was enough to make New Line Cinema turn hostile and manipulate the overseas box office figures. If that happened, he might not even receive the benefits he was originally entitled to.

Five percent was already an excellent result.

As for Grand Duke and Great American Pictures, Kevin did not even spare them another glance. From the negotiations just now, he had already seen that New Line Cinema was the only one with any real intention to invest.

The other two seemed to have come along to support Dean and create a shared sense of pressure, so that this young man would not be too difficult to handle.

Once the partnership was settled, Dawson, who had barely spoken until then, stepped forward and began discussing the specific details with Dean. After a round of back-and-forth negotiation, they quickly signed the agreement.

After all, this was only a small investment. With Dean's position as an executive, he could make the decision himself.

If it had been an investment worth tens of millions, it would certainly have involved a negotiation team of dozens of people.

After reaching the agreement, Dean quickly left the CAA building with the other two.

In an instant, only Dawson and Kevin remained in the room.

Picking up the contract from the table, Dawson smiled slightly.

"Kevin, what are your plans for the crew members? And the actors?"

Kevin waved a hand, speaking naturally.

"Other than a few positions I've already specified in the proposal, you can arrange everyone else. As for the actors, find some newcomers to audition. If we decide to use them, sign them to representation contracts on the spot."

"Alright, leave it to me, Kevin."

Dawson's face was full of excitement. This was the power of a director.

A director client could bring a CAA agent a large number of high-quality clients, and if that director's film performed exceptionally well at the box office, it would create a chain reaction.

All he could do was provide Kevin with better service in every respect.

After Dawson went to the Actors' Guild to register Saw as a project, countless actors were able to see some information about Saw through the Actors' Guild.

Once they learned that it was a low-budget horror film, countless actors felt that they might have a chance and flocked to the location chosen by the production for auditions.

There was no need to mention major productions. Any named role was usually reserved for actors with experience or at least some acting credits.

Complete newcomers, or newcomers with little acting experience, often found it difficult to get such opportunities.

For these newcomer actors, a named role was often more important than money.

Three days later, under these circumstances,

Outside an office building near Hollywood, more than a hundred people had lined up. They had come for only one purpose: to get an important role from the Saw production.

Inside the office, Kevin calmly reviewed one résumé after another.

The production had divided the auditions into two sections. One section was for the minor roles, and the assistant director Dawson had found for him was handling those auditions.

The other section, for the film's most important roles, was being handled by Kevin himself.

"Salma Hayek?"

Looking at the small photograph on the résumé and the familiar yet vaguely remembered name, Kevin thought carefully.

At the same time, Salma Hayek entered the room.

When Kevin looked at Salma Hayek in person, his eyes immediately lit up.

Compared with the dozen or so women before her, Salma Hayek was in a league of her own. Not to mention that according to her résumé, she had won both Best Actress and Best Newcomer at the TVyNovelas Awards in Mexico in 1989.

Winning awards showed that her acting skills were not bad either.

The best part was that those awards carried no weight in America. Arrogant Americans did not recognize them.

Therefore, to Hollywood, she was simply a newcomer actress, and her salary could naturally only be calculated at a newcomer's rate.

However, Kevin's only concern was whether she could let herself go in the film.

The scale would not be too extreme, just showing her nipples.

But giving the audience a little something extra was only appropriate.

Salma Hayek looked at the young director before her and proudly thrust out her chest.

Her entire body radiated mature allure, especially her fully developed pair of large breasts, which made people feel an urge to step forward and grab them.

But Kevin knew that one pair of hands definitely would not be enough to hold them.

Only then did he finally figure out the future development of the actress before him.