Eric did not bother to think about their considerations. Quentin and Lawrence did not agree immediately and then he stopped talking about this topic. After all, if the cooperation this time went on smoothly, the Firefly Film Company would be the top choice for the two persons.
Looking at his watch, Eric continued, "Just forget about it. Time is running out and let's first talk about the script. I can invest in shooting this film and you need not limit the budget to 1 million dollars. You two can shoot without compromising."
Quentin and Lawrence had felt doubtful about Eric's invitation to the Firefly Film Company. After seeing him disregard this matter so easily, however, they started to feel disappointed, regretting not having agreed at once.
This mood fluctuation had such a big effect on the two that they reacted slowly to what Eric said then. Not until Eric finished speaking and looked up at them did Lawrence finally start to respond. He tried for confirmation by asking joyfully, "Eric, is it true?"
Then Quentin also realized what had happened and looked at Eric full of joy.
Eric nodded once again: "Of course. But I have several conditions."
The two suddenly understood what was going on. In the meantime, they felt at ease since it was quite unreasonable for Eric to both make an invitation and promise investment without mentioning any conditions. The two just hoped that Eric would not interfere too much in the film production.
"Above all, the cast of the film must be selected from the entertainment company called uta. Do you know about it?" Eric asked uncertainly at the end of his statement. In these days, he had paid little attention to the operation of uta and had only called Kapoor Cid several times.
So he knew almost nothing about the company except that the business was thriving. Since he was becoming much more famous now, Eric had, in order to avoid suspicion, hardly got involved in the management of uta.
Surely, there were some media agencies that had tried to find fault with the monopoly of uta. In the end, however, their efforts did not pay off. In fact, the ant.i.trust laws in North America were not as strict as they were imagined to be.
Several decades ago, the Paramount Act stipulated that film companies could not vertically manage cinemas. The decree had already lost much of its binding force on major film companies.
One could not say it existed in name only, but the truth was that the cinema screens owned by major film companies accounted for more than 1/10 of the total. The geographical advantages of theaters chosen by big film companies were undoubted and the 1/10 of all cinemas were the best among them.
So the relevant dialogues seem a little redundant. Of course, what I said is just a suggestion and it's you who have the final say." Eric added. This idea came up suddenly and was only intended to make this cla.s.sic B-movie as playful as the edition in the previous life.
If Quentin did not want to make the changes, that was Okay since the script was simply characterized by its nonlinear narrative structure.
If all got condensed, the story would be quite a boring one: the head of a gang called together several robbers with colors as the code names and asked them to rob a jewelry store of its diamonds. However, the group was betrayed and then besieged by the police.
Some died in the gunfire and the remaining robbers fled into a warehouse. A series of fights happened and it was the internal conflict that killed all in the very end.
That was all.
The advantage of films was that they could, in various narrative methods, present in an interesting way a company that was too mediocre to be noticed.
"I will consider it," Quentin nodded after sensing that Eric was just making a suggestion. Quentin's first reaction was refusal but he did not refuse directly. What he should do then would not be decided until he discussed with his best friend.
"Well, the rest is fine with me." Eric leaned comfortably against the chair and looked at the two, "Do you have anything else to discuss?"
Quentin pulled the script over and placed it under his hand before asking, "Eric, what about...what about the film director?"
Eric smilingly shrugged his shoulders, "I have promised investment and that surely means I have agreed to your previous conditions. I will say nothing about the content of the film and you can arrange it as you like.
Moreover, you are in charge for the final editing." He had no expectations of the box office receipts. In his memory, this film was quite famous but failed to achieve a box office success. Some outstanding actors and actresses were put in the spotlight, though. That was the biggest attraction for Eric.
As long as Reservoir Dogs was cast by only actors from uta, all was worthwhile for Eric even if only a little fame was won and the costs were not recovered.