Mr.Bill said in a heavy voice, "Kyle, we must handle this matter properly, otherwise..."
Kyle waved his hand and said, "You don't need to say more; I know the severity of the situation. Although I am also a screenwriter, I am more inclined to be a member of the Producers Alliance. Of course, they probably won't admit I'm a member of the Writers Guild either. Hmph, since they've jumped out, they'll have to face the consequences of their mistake."
Vacation requests?
To hell with your grandmother!
With the screenwriters causing trouble, Kyle's interests are bound to be damaged. Kyle absolutely will not accept these guys who harm the company's interests!
At the same time.
Paramount Pictures.
"Has the news been confirmed?" Sherry Lansing, president of Paramount, asked with a dark expression.
Jordan immediately replied, "It's been confirmed. It's the screenwriters from the Writers Guild causing trouble."
As soon as he finished speaking.
A hot-tempered executive immediately shouted, "These greedy bastards are practically looking for death; then we'll grant their wish! It's 1999 now. The completion of a script is almost always done by several, or even a dozen, screenwriters working together. Do they still think it's the 80s, the era where one person independently finishes a script?"
The 1988 screenwriters' strike caused industry losses as high as $2.5 billion. At the same time, in order to resume work as quickly as possible and end the dispute, the Producers Alliance was forced to pay $87 million in compensation.
In the eyes of many film and television companies, this was an extremely humiliating matter.
The conflict between the Producers Alliance and the screenwriters mainly lies in the area of revenue.
The screenwriters hope to obtain more revenue, while the producers believe: Your value is only worth this much.
One side wants more money;
The other side is unwilling to give more money;
The conflicts accumulated over a long period could no longer be suppressed at this time and all erupted!
—This is the Great Screenwriters' Strike!
"Hmph!"
Sherry Lansing snorted coldly, "If they want to strike, let them strike. I want to see who can outlast whom!"
During the strike, the screenwriters undoubtedly lose their source of income;
As for the film and television companies, with the strike bringing things to a standstill, the losses are bound to be huge. The losses in this area certainly far exceed those of the screenwriters, measured in units of hundreds of millions.
But, the production companies will not compromise easily!
If they compromise just because the screenwriters make a fuss, will the production companies have to compromise every time they make a fuss in the future?
...Warner Bros. Pictures.
"Sir, I heard that the top executives at the head office now know the screenwriters are going on strike. How do you think we will handle it this time?" Dirk Ellison, an executive in the distribution department, asked cautiously.
A screenwriters' strike?
Ellison knew this wasn't a good thing.
One must know that currently, Warner Bros. Pictures' parent company, Time Warner Group, is discussing merger matters with America Online. It is a very critical moment.
The screenwriters' strike will undoubtedly cause certain losses to the merger of the two companies.
Sure enough, as soon as the news spread, Time Warner Group's stock price took a small dip, with a market value loss exceeding $500 million.
Even if the lost market value is just paper wealth, it still makes a large company like Time Warner Group look very bad, causing a significant loss of face.
Warner Bros. Pictures President Barry Meyer said in a heavy voice, "Logically, at the current juncture of the company merger, at this important moment, it is highly likely the head office will choose to settle the matter and spend money to avoid disaster, but... we also have to consider the attitudes of other film and television companies."
Ellison, the head of the distribution department, nodded heavily upon hearing this.
Warner doesn't dare to compromise easily!
Think about it, once Warner chooses to stand with the Writers Guild, how will the other film and television companies in the Producers Alliance view you?
In other words, a traitor has emerged!
When that time comes, even with Warner being one of The Big Six of Hollywood, they definitely won't have a good time.
"Sigh~"
Whenever Barry Meyer thought of this,
He felt a massive headache and sighed, "Let's wait and see. The final decision will depend on the attitude of the head office."
...Sony Columbia, Universal, Disney, 20th Century Fox, and the other Hollywood Big Six... DreamWorks, MGM, Searchlight, Dimension Films, Lionsgate Films, Artisan Entertainment... as well as a crowd of third- and fourth-tier Hollywood movie companies, including screenwriters responsible for writing TV series, all participated in the strike one after another.
In less than 3 short days, as many as 11,000 screenwriters participated in this screenwriters' strike event under their real names.
One must know that in 1999, there were only 12,000 registered screenwriters in the Writers Guild. In other words, almost all the screenwriters in the Writers Guild participated in this strike event.
The scale was enormous!
On this day, when Kyle attended an internet summit, he was intercepted and surrounded by dozens of media reporters.
"Mr. Page, how do you view this screenwriters' strike?"
"According to reports, Page Pictures has as many as 32 registered screenwriters, and as many as 21 of them have participated in this strike under their real names. What are your thoughts?"
"Please share your views."
"The screenwriters' strike has caused the production of several films your company is currently shooting, such as Spider-Man, Harry Potter, and the shallows, to stop. The losses amount to at least several million dollars. How do you view this?"
A crowd of media reporters shouted hoarsely.
Kyle had a dark face and didn't say a word.
Fortunately, Kyle had a powerful security team by his side; otherwise, no matter how impressive Kyle was, he would have been cornered to death by the reporters.
"Boss, for your safety, I suggest leaving the scene immediately," the bodyguard Arthur said in a heavy voice.
"Okay." Kyle was also a decisive person.
However... things don't always go as planned!
Just as Kyle intended to leave the scene and escape from the media reporters, a leather shoe emitting a foul stench slammed heavily into Kyle's face.
"..."
A literal slap in the face!
For a moment, the entire scene fell into an eerie silence.
The members of the security team were the first to react. Two former Navy SEALs immediately moved to restrain the person who had thrown the shoe at Kyle.
"Kyle Page, you damned capitalist, you stingy Vampire, why don't you just die?!" Not far away, a middle-aged man shouted loudly.
His name was White Sand, and he was a screenwriter.
In 1997, he had once blocked Kyle's car to hand him a script he had written. Kyle had simply finished reading it and rejected it.
In 1998, it was him again, submitting a script to Page Pictures once more, only to be rejected again.
Harboring a grudge, he decided to take revenge on Kyle during this screenwriters' strike.
This leather shoe, emitting a foul odor and accurately hitting Kyle's face, was his most direct form of revenge.
Kyle was furious!
Since crossing over to this day, when had Kyle ever been slapped in the face?
And in front of everyone!
After a few short seconds of shock, the reporters all became excited!
"Kyle Page being hit in the face with a leather shoe in public—if this isn't news, then what is?!" one reporter said excitedly.
The photographers also tightened their grip on their cameras.
You can hit a person, but don't hit their face!
Tell me, how could Kyle not be extremely enraged at this moment?
The most crucial thing was that, barring any accidents, Kyle was going to be on the headlines today—in the form of being slapped in the face!
What a humiliation!