[Chapter 89: Dwayne's New Venture]
In the morning, gan Taylor stirred from her deep sleep, vaguely hearing sounds. With great effort, she opened her eyes to find herself alone. She heard footsteps and turned to look in that direction.
Hawke had gotten dressed and waved goodbye, saying, "I have an important job today. I have to go."
"Goodbye." gan reminded him, "If you get any important news, make sure to contact ."
Hawke stepped out, hopped into his Mondeo, grabbed the remote gan had given him, opened the electronic gate, and drove toward Century City.
...
Fifteen minutes later, he t Edward at a breakfast spot in Century City. After they had eaten, they headed to William Morris.
After a few questions at the reception desk, they were led upstairs to that familiar small conference room.
Dwayne Johnson was already there.
When he saw Hawke, it felt like seeing family. He rushed over to give him a bear hug and said, "This competition is intense. I have no confidence at all. I had to co to you."
Hawke jumped right in, asking, "What specific film and role are we talking about?"
Johnson handed him a script and replied, "It's a gunfight action film. We don't have a final title yet, but it's temporarily called S.W.A.T.. I want to go for the lead role."
Hawke opened the script and flipped through the pages carefully.
Edward, dressed in a suit, was adapting to his role and chid in, "I think there's a series with that na."
Johnson explained, "A few screenwriters from that series are coming over to our crew."
Seeing that the script was more of a character breakdown, Hawke quickened his pace in skimming it. After reviewing the first fifth, he flipped to the end and closed the script.
He looked at Johnson and said, "This is useful for actors but not for ."
The office door opened from the outside, and Dany Garcia walked in, carrying so docunts.
"Morning, Hawke," she greeted the two n. "Morning, Savior."
Hawke stood to shake her hand. "Dany, I didn't expect to see you so soon again."
"Maybe we can continue working together," she laughed. "Should I outline the way we'll collaborate?"
Compensation and job details were obviously the first topics to discuss. Hawke listened to see what she had to say first. "I'm all ears."
Dany ntioned, "Assist Dwayne in landing the role. Unlike previous image consulting or business advising, this falls into the manager's job scope. My suggestion is for both sides to sign a temporary managent agreent, focusing solely on this role's competition." R̃𝐀ΝɵВĚ𝙎
Hawke understood the difference between a Hollywood agent and a manager, replying, "Sounds good."
Dany continued discussing the paynt issue, "The industry standard for a manager's commission is typically ten percent of the actor's fee for the role. Dwayne's fee for The Scorpion King was $5.5 million, so the new role's fee won't be lower than that."
After arriving in Los Angeles, Hawke had done his research on Hollywood and the entire North Arican entertainnt industry: "If a film grosses over a hundred million in North Arica, the lead actor's fee must rise, corresponding to their status."
Dany nodded slightly. "The compensation to the West Coast studio would be one-tenth of Dwayne's fee this ti."
Hawke added, "If the production opts for a base fee plus share, it should include that later share as well."
Dany knew how Hawke had rescued the star player of the Dodgers from the brink of disaster and had great confidence in him. "No problem, but let be clear, Hollywood producers are full of pitfalls. Dwayne is only just gaining a foothold within the industry, and with his level of fa and ability not being strong enough, later participation won't be offered."
Hawke pressed, "What's the minimum guarantee here?"
Dany answered bluntly, "Even if this fails, you'll still receive $100,000."
Hawke stated, "There are a few points I need to clarify beforehand. Dany, Dwayne, we've collaborated once before, and you know a bit. But I don't understand the specialized aspects of acting, how to perform a role, how to excel in auditions, or how to prepare for a character."
Johnson replied, "If you were handling that work, neither Dany nor I would have invited you. Just do what you're best at."
Hawke wanted to set expectations first: "My style is pretty unconventional, and it might even go beyond the visible rules that Hollywood lays out."
Dany couldn't help but laugh, "If everyone followed those visible rules, would Hollywood even be Hollywood anymore?"
Johnson said to Hawke, "Do you know why I'm determined to invite you? Because so people don't play by the rules. After the initial audition, Kevin Spacey pressured by calling to suggest I withdraw from the project."
"Kevin Spacey?" Hawke thought of certain rumors he had co across online in another life. This guy had a deep hidden gay; was he trying to support a troublemaker or the one to play the lead?
Dany confird, "Exactly. When this Oscar winner made the call, I was present. He didn't threaten directly, but every word was veiled in intimidation, implying that if Dwayne didn't back down, he would ruin Dwayne's career."
Hawke turned to Johnson and asked, "You weren't scared off by that and are still willing to compete?"
Johnson offered a warm smile: "I'm not a complete newcor, nor am I soone easily pushed around."
Hawke stated clearly, "Since we can use unconventional thods, I'll take the job."
Upon hearing this, Dany and Johnson visibly relaxed.
If the competition played by no rules, they wouldn't either.
Hawke asserted, "Let's get the agreent signed."
Dany had been prepared: "The contract is right here."
...
Hawke carefully reviewed it and faxed it to his lawyer to confirm there were no issues before signing.
Both sides reached an agreent, and work officially comnced.
Hawke first wanted the crew's basic information. Unlike the character breakdown, he ticulously scanned it. S.W.A.T. was produced by Sony Columbia Pictures, with four other smaller companies participating in the funding. The public production budget stood at $80 million, with Leonard Goldberg as the lead producer, who was a non-Jewish white man. His most notable past work in recent years had been Charlie's Angels.
The director was confird too. Hawke had never heard of him, a guy nad Clark Johnson.
Dany compiled Clark's directing resu, detailing that he had worked primarily in television, directing series like The West Wing, The Wire and The Shield, and had also directed a TV movie Boycott. This would be his first ti directing a feature film.
Additionally, the crew had secured a primary actor: Samuel L. Jackson.
He had received support from so investor and was also serving as a production manager.
Shooting was set to comnce in September, with a release scheduled for August of the following year.
By early July, all principal cast choices needed to be confird.
Hawke, after going through the information, asked, "Who is the casting director?"
Dany understood his implication: "The one who ultimately decides on the lead actor is producer Leonard Goldberg. Director Clark has the power to make suggestions, but due to the massive success of Charlie's Angels, Sony Columbia has imnse trust in Leonard."
Hollywood is a producer-centric model; unless the studio intervened, decisions were often left solely to the producer, except for top-tier directors.
Hawke further asked, "I need to know who Dwayne is up against."
Johnson responded, "The crew has conducted preliminary auditions and non-makeup tests, eliminating most of the actors. Only five are left for the lead role, including : Paul Walker, Colin Farrell, Josh Hartnett, and Jeremy Renner."
Hawke had heard of those four nas, recognizing that none had achieved success on the sa level as Johnson later on.
Hawke stood up and rolled a whiteboard over, using a carbon pen to write down the film company, producer, director, and competitors' nas.
He also jotted down a line: insurance company for the production.
Hawke said, "Let's start with a background check to understand these people's situations."
Dany noted it down in her notebook: "I can pull related information from the company's database, including their work backgrounds and family info."
"That's not enough," Hawke set his pen down and said. "I need to know their hobbies and preferences, work and living habits, problems with drug abuse, if they are troublemakers or just caught in the ss, their financial situations, and any past scandals or suppressed dirt..."
He listed a lot and took a pause, emphasizing two aspects: "I need to know the producer's and director's past decisions in actor casting -- why they've eliminated people and what led to their selections. I've heard that the crucial factors for choosing lead actors involve performance in the audition room and also outside it."
Johnson candidly stated, "Performance outside the audition room holds more weight."
Hawke added, "Which insurance company provides the completion bond for production, who the point of contact is, their background and preferences, and what risks they fear most -- that needs to be investigated too."
Dany felt overwheld and remarked, "Hobbies and preferences, drug abuse, scandals -- all that's best handled by public relations firms."
Hawke looked at both of them, "Let's bring Miss baa into this."
Johnson turned to his wife, "Call Baa, and have her rush over."
"You two can't just refer to her like that," Dany remarked, pulling out her phone to dial Caroline's number. Once the call connected, she said, "Dwayne has an important matter that requires your presence. Hurry to William Morris. What? You're at a client event on Hollywood Boulevard?"
She was straightforward, "This deal will be calculated separately, $20,000."
Caroline on the other end didn't hesitate, "Give half an hour."
...
In at most ten minutes, Caroline nearly burst into the small conference room, her feet already sore from her high heels.
Hawke pointed to a seat next to him, saying, "Sit down and let's talk."
Caroline sat down, noticing Hawke was at the head of the table. She questioned Johnson and Dany, "What's going on? Why did you bring him in?"
After several collaborative confrontations, she felt that wherever Hawke was involved, serious business was sure to follow.
Hawke explained, "This ti, we are assisting Dwayne to compete for the lead role in a film."
Dany detailed the situation from beginning to end.
Caroline adjusted her posture, saying, "You've found the right person; I can dig up all this information."
She turned to Hawke, "But one condition: the information I uncover cannot be leaked to the dia, especially not to Midnight Entertainnt."
Hawke affird, "The information you provide will only be used for this assignnt."
Caroline stood up, "I'll get started right now."
Hawke told Dany, "You should hurry up too."
He called Edward, "Let's go; we won't gather any intel sticking around here."
*****
/Sayonara816.
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