After the shoot wrapped, Richie tried every trick in the book to get Leon to stay longer, showering him with hospitality.
But Leon didn't linger in Montana; he flew back to New York overnight.
Even so, Richie's enthusiasm didn't wane. He strongly urged Leon to meet with Sam Houser to chat about his ideas for Red Dead Redemption 2.
Leon readily agreed, hoping the other party could give a specific time.
This wasn't out of a passion for video games, but entirely for the needs of the Ready Player One movie.
According to leaks from multiple gaming media outlets, production on Rockstar's latest masterpiece, GTA V (Grand Theft Auto V), was already 90% complete, with a high hope for release in 2013.
The officials neither denied nor debunked this, giving it high credibility.
The leaked info claimed this title would be an epoch-making, epic AAA game.
Rockstar's scale might lag behind giants like EA or Activision Blizzard, but they held the ace card that was the GTA series.
A game series that drove young people around the world crazy.
This was Leon's motivation for wanting to contact them.
---
The next day, Leon arrived at the Lion's Den Media headquarters. The quarreling here hadn't stopped since early morning.
Phil, Sean, Marco, and others were arguing non-stop about the scripts for King Von and Lil Durk in The Rap of America.
As the parties involved, the two nggas surprisingly hadn't slept until the afternoon, since the topic of the argument concerned their future.
"Listen, Leon said before that the champion must be produced from these two brats to maximize profits." Phil pointed at Sean's nose and lashed out, "You damn pervert, you inbred freak, are you making some under-the-table deal with another agency behind our backs?"
Marco was also helping to attack Sean from the side. As the manager of Lil Durk and King Von, their interests were highly correlated.
"Everything I do is for the consideration of this show, without a selfish bone in my body." Sean quickly explained, looking at Leon with helpless eyes.
"Shut up quickly." Phil sneered. "You are already the chief director of this show, and you are still not satisfied... greedy bastard!"
The focus of the argument was that Phil and Marco insisted on setting a script with King Von as the protagonist.
Setting up various conflicts and halos for him in the show, creating the image of the "Chosen One," and escorting him into the finals.
Finally, in the live broadcast of the finals, he would win the championship with a thrillingly small vote gap.
Sean had a different view. He believed that the auditions had just begun, and formal recording hadn't even started yet. It was completely untimely to set the script now.
This would cause the show to lose vitality and drama in subsequent recordings.
Maybe some very interesting contestants would pop up in the show. It wouldn't be too late to decide the direction of the script then.
Leon didn't say a word, his mind obviously not on this argument.
Both sides had a point.
Although Phil's side was considering their own interests, King Von taking the crown was also profitable for Leon.
Sean insisted on maximizing the interests of Lion's Den Media for the sake of the show's effect.
It didn't seem to make much difference who Leon supported.
The parties involved, Lil Durk and King Von, had no idea what was happening.
Contract? Reality show script?
They didn't even know how to spell these words.
Except for their expertise in drugs and women, they weren't much different from retards.
Their minds were completely detached from this argument concerning their own interests, constantly trying to interrupt: "Boss, GS6 is also participating in the Chicago audition tomorrow. How about I fxxk them up right there at the audition site?"
GS6 was a gang on the South Side of Chicago, in long-term opposition to the O-Block where King Von and his crew were located.
The conflict between the two sides was mainly about trivial matters like who peed on whose turf, who slept with whose girl, etc.
"Of course, as long as you don't use weapons, you can do whatever you want."
Leon didn't care about this at all, treating it as part of the show's effect. As long as no one died, they could do whatever they wanted.
His mind was full of funding issues right now.
Venue fees, camera crew fees, costumes, makeup, props, and pre-promotion fees...
The most deadly was the mentors' pay. The $6 million on the books of Lion's Den Media was far from enough.
50 Cent agreed to join at a floor price of $200,000 per episode.
Currently, excluding the live finale, a total of 12 episodes needed to be recorded, totaling $2.4 million.
Cardi B was an internal employee, and her pay was compressed to $80,000 per episode.
Kanye West was undoubtedly the biggest name in the mentor lineup, with a pay of $500,000 per episode.
This price was only reached after he had a fierce dispute with his management team.
His manager, Braun, heard that he was participating in Leon's show and opened his mouth like a lion, asking for $1 million at first.
Kim Kardashian's pay was $300,000 per episode, neither good nor bad.
Of course, this was not something she could control herself. The fate of the Kardashian women was firmly in the hands of the "Empress Dowager" Kris Jenner.
In this way, the pay for mentors and the host alone would cost nearly $13 million.
According to the design, the show would also invite at least six flying mentors (guest judges) to participate in the recording.
Counting all expenses, the production cost would be very expensive.
If Clause B is executed because the view count does not meet the requirements, whether the $30 million can cover the costs is still unknown.
Leon hated the word "risk" very much. To avoid risk, he turned his attention to product placement.
At first, not many brands were interested in a hip-hop talent show, not to mention it was a non-mainstream internet variety show.
However, with the launch of the promotional campaign and the rising heat of discussions about the bizarre auditions on the internet, cooperation offers from brands flew in like snowflakes.
With Bonnie's help, Leon selected a few of the most valuable brands.
"You guys stop for a moment."
Leon pressed his hand down, and the argument stopped quickly.
He continued: "I think Sean's suggestion is wiser. There will be many interesting X-factors during the recording process..."
"Fxxk, are you just going to let this bastard take money from other agencies?!" Everyone else chose to be silent, only Phil was still arguing.
"The show has just begun. I will come up with a plan that satisfies everyone." Leon said, "The most important thing now is the program's funding. Has no one thought about this damn problem?"
Speaking of this, Phil finally shut his mouth and hung his head.
He only cared about whether his artists could succeed in this show; other things had nothing to do with his interests.
For this reason, he even suggested renting a small island in the Caribbean as a recording location—it wasn't his money anyway.
Sean pinched his voice and said: "I have thought of ways to save money from various aspects... We don't need a professional studio like CBS TV station, and the personnel of the photography team and sound team will also be controlled as much as possible, as long as the task can be completed."
Leon waved his hand and interrupted him.
Saving expenses in these aspects wouldn't save much money and would greatly reduce the quality of the program.
He had just proposed the idea of product placement, and everyone's expression lifted.
But Sean's face quickly dimmed, reminding: "Netflix might not want to see us do this..."
Leon had long thought of what he could think of.
The contract signed between Lion's Den Media and Netflix was a one-shot deal.
The latter was only responsible for paying. Except for providing help in promotion, everything else had to be completed by Lion's Den Media itself.
Of course, any income generated after the show aired, except for copyright, had nothing to do with Lion's Den Media.
The advertising business with the most profit was naturally within Netflix's income scope.
But there was a very vague boundary in this, which was the income from product placement during recording.
Leon consulted Luca in advance for this.
The other party stated that as long as the contract did not stipulate in detail, the proceeds generated by product placement during the production process belonged to the production party.
"You don't have to worry about this. I have already communicated with Scooter," Leon said.
Scooter didn't say much about this matter either.
The news released by Netflix was that The Rap of America was a Netflix self-produced web variety show.
But the actual situation was not so.
In this case, the distributor Netflix could not have 100% control over the program.
The only requirement Scooter put forward was: product placement cannot affect the viewing experience of the program, so sponsors must be approved by Netflix to be placed.
Leon listed a large list of sponsors: "Durex, Adidas, Monster Energy... I think the images of these companies fit our program very well."
Durex was the first endorsement invitation Leon received, and he maintained a good relationship with the management of Reckitt Benckiser Group.
The marketing staff of Reckitt Benckiser believed that the viewing group of The Rap of America was black people.
They only divided them into two categories: one category consumes a dozen contraceptive products every day, and the other category doesn't know how to use an umbrella (wear a condom) in their lifetime.
The former are VIP users, and the latter are potential users.
For this reason, Reckitt Benckiser Group basically didn't think much about it and sent a sponsorship contract worth $1 million, and was actively striving for an exclusive naming contract.
Adidas need not be mentioned. The cooperation with Leon made them earn enough attention in the trendy shoe market.
With the great success of the first batch of Chestnut shoes, they immediately formulated a sales plan for the second batch of shoes.
200,000 pairs of Chestnut shoes were being produced at full capacity.
Adidas was willing to provide a sponsorship fee of $800,000, not letting go of any opportunity to cooperate with Leon.
The name of Monster Energy Company was not conspicuous among a crowd of brands seeking cooperation.
If he hadn't been blinded by the amazing offer of $1.5 million, Leon would have excluded this company without hesitation.
Through understanding, he learned that this company was not a simple small workshop.
In the North American functional beverage market, its market share has exceeded 20% and is still growing rapidly.
This company clamored to drive the big brother of functional beverages, "Red Bull," out of the American market.
Sponsorship seats are limited to two: Exclusive Title Sponsorship and Super Sponsorship.
The value of Exclusive Title Sponsorship is higher than Super Sponsorship. Currently, Monster is leading in the competition with Durex.
Leon was more inclined to Monster winning. Otherwise, every time the host announced the show after it aired, Kardashian would have to say: "Welcome to watching Durex's The Rap of America."
It would sound very strange.
As for Adidas, it was almost equivalent to a gift. They only required all mentors participating in the recording to wear Chestnut shoes.
"Sean, do you have any ideas about sponsors?" Leon said, "Dr. Pepper and Gatorade are still increasing their stakes; we have many choices."
"No, I completely follow your instructions in this regard." Sean thought for about ten seconds.
Whether in terms of brand image, temperament, or quotation, Durex and Monster fit this show very well.
---
After the meeting, Leon returned to Apocalypse Music.
Just as he sat down in the office, his phone rang before his butt got warm.
The caller was Jeff, President of Warner Bros. Pictures.
Answering the phone, the first sentence the other party said shocked him: "Mr. Leon, I heard you are very interested in the copyright of Ready Player One?"
How did he know?
For a moment, many possibilities flashed through Leon's mind, and finally, he determined that the possibility of Scooter leaking the secret was the greatest.
Scooter had clamored about talking to the executives of Warner Bros., extremely confident about winning the copyright of Ready Player One.
"I am indeed a fan of this novel." Leon put on a posture of playing hard to get, refusing to reveal his intentions easily.
"Hehe, I'm asking if you want the copyright of this novel? We can talk."
Jeff was surprisingly direct.
Warner Bros. didn't lack money at all and rarely sold copyrights already in hand.
Actively promoting the copyright in their hands to others was a small probability event among small probability events.
What is this guy up to?
Leon pondered for a moment and said, "If the price is right, I think I will consider it."
"Of course!" Jeff sounded excited: "We are friends; you will get a friendship price! It's just..."
"Just what?"
"I have to discuss this matter with Spielberg. You are not the only one interested in the Ready Player One project."
"Okay, I look forward to your good news."
After hanging up the phone, Leon not only had no joy but also had a depressed expression.
Bonnie, who witnessed the whole process in the office, asked: "Didn't Warner want to sell the copyright of that novel to you? Why don't you look happy at all?"
Leon lay in the swivel chair, staring at the ceiling with his hands behind his head: "I feel Warner didn't intend to sell at all..."
"Why?" Bonnie didn't understand even more. "Didn't Mr. Jeff say it himself just now?"
"Just because Jeff said it, I feel something is wrong."
If Scooter contacted Warner on his own initiative, why didn't Warner sell the copyright to the wealthy Netflix?
Netflix showed greater interest in the Ready Player One project than The Rap of America from the beginning. They could completely buy the copyright and then invite Apocalypse Film & Entertainment to produce it.
They could even kick Leon out and produce and distribute it independently.
Being a middleman to let Warner contact Leon—this matter was neither necessary nor in line with business logic.
The only possibility he could think of was that the two sides didn't reach an agreement, and Warner didn't intend to sell the copyright at all.
"So, what exactly is Jeff thinking?"
"Spielberg?"
"Damn..."
After reciting Spielberg's name a few times silently, Leon's brain finally connected to the internet.
Although this internationally renowned super director had no time to attend to the Ready Player One project now, it didn't mean he was willing to give it away.
Currently, he is not only directing Lincoln and War Horse but also serving as a producer in projects such as Men in Black 3 and Transformers 4.
Even as a producer, his workload is no less than that of a director, firmly controlling everything on the set.
Megan lost the heroine role of Transformers forever just because of a slip of the tongue.
As the most successful commercial film director in history, no film company would refuse Spielberg.
Whether it is Universal, Sony Columbia, 20th Century Fox, Warner, Paramount...
The film contracts of these film giants have been lined up until 2020, and it won't be Warner's turn in the short term.
Warner Bros. wanted to use Leon's name to pressure Spielberg: If you don't film it, I'll sell it to someone else!
"These cunning bastards..." Realizing that he might have been used as a pawn, Leon gritted his back teeth.
Hollywood is full of setups.