Chapter 54: Product Placement Advertising
Chapter 54: Product Placement Advertising
The meeting room door was pushed open again, and Jeffrey Hanson and Kapoor Sid walked in. Seeing the gloomy look on Eric Williams’ face, they understood that the negotiations had fallen apart.
Kapoor knew this matter was definitely related to him. Otherwise, a nearly washed-up Richard Gere would not possibly reject a film invitation from a director as popular as Eric.
“Eric, how about I just resign? If I have to go to Europe, then I’ll go to Europe. Although the European film industry is in a slump right now, with my abilities, finding a job won’t be difficult.”
Eric rubbed his somewhat stiff cheeks with his hand and said, “No. I won’t make any compromises. Kapoor, you just need to do your job properly. By the way, the agency contract with Julia Roberts has already been signed, right? What do you think of Julia?”
“I specifically went to watch Miss Julia Roberts’ Mystic Pizza earlier, and I also spoke with her just now. Honestly, Eric, I’m not optimistic about her potential. This young lady only received short-term acting training, her acting skills are average, and her appearance also isn’t particularly outstanding…”
Kapoor’s voice slowed more and more as he spoke, occasionally glancing at Eric’s expression. Remembering that Julia Roberts had been personally recommended by Eric, plus the rumors that had appeared in newspapers before, the relationship between the two was definitely unusual. He worried that speaking so bluntly might upset Eric.
However, after Kapoor finished, Eric nodded in agreement. “Actually, I think so too.”
“Then why are you still making her the female lead?” Jeffrey asked. He had always wanted Eric to replace her with a more famous actress.
“Because I have a feeling that Julia will definitely become famous across America in the future, break into the Oscars, and become known around the world…” Eric had only just begun speaking when he saw the exact same expression on Jeffrey and Kapoor’s faces: Who are you trying to fool?
Smiling, Eric changed his words. “All right, just kidding. Actually, although Pretty Woman has the words ‘pretty woman’ in the title, we can’t really cast a girl who’s too beautiful. In my opinion, Julia’s image is just right. If the female lead is too beautiful, the audience will easily focus only on her face and ignore the deeper themes this movie is trying to express. If, after audiences finish watching the film in the future, all they can remember from Pretty Woman is a pretty face, then that would be the true failure of this film.”
Jeffrey and Kapoor had both already read the script for Pretty Woman. After hearing Eric’s analysis and combining it with the script’s content, they finally agreed with his point of view.
“Right now, the most urgent matter is finding a male lead.” Eric looked at the two men before him. “Although Richard Gere is still my first choice, since he refused, we can only choose another actor. Do either of you have any good suggestions?”
“How about Michael Douglas?” Jeffrey suggested first. “In last year’s Wall Street, Douglas played a stock market tycoon, which is very similar to Edward’s character setting in Pretty Woman.”
Eric had just begun recalling Wall Street when Kapoor softly reminded him from the side, “Eric, Michael Douglas’ agency is also CAA.”
Jeffrey nodded.
“Whether it’s worth it or not doesn’t really matter, Jeffrey. My situation is different from everyone else’s. You’ll understand in the future. Other film companies may be afraid of falling out with giants like CAA, but I don’t have those concerns.”
“I really don’t understand where your confidence comes from.” Jeffrey shook his head. “Eric, you mentioned the matter of sports car sponsorships in films before. I contacted the Los Angeles executives of Ferrari that you mentioned. At first, they very readily agreed to provide sports cars for filming free of charge. But after understanding the movie’s content, once they heard the female lead was a prostitute, they became hesitant. I think we should contact other sports car brands instead.”
“No problem.” Although Eric liked Ferrari, since the other party had chosen to give up this promotional opportunity, he did not force the matter. Recalling Jeffrey’s words, Eric suddenly thought of something. “Jeffrey, you just said they originally agreed to provide sports cars for filming free of charge?”
Jeffrey did not understand what Eric meant. After thinking carefully for a moment, he nodded.
“You didn’t mention payment?”
Jeffrey replied, “Eric, with your current fame, getting a sports car brand to sponsor a movie for free is very easy. We don’t need to pay them at all.”
“I mean…” Eric subconsciously waved his right hand somewhat irritably. “They pay us.”
Jeffrey said in astonishment, “How is that possible?”
Product placement advertising should already have existed for quite some time, but judging from Jeffrey’s reaction, Eric understood that the concept of increasing film revenue through embedded advertising had not yet truly entered people’s minds. In the era before his transmigration, however, the global product placement industry in film and television had already reached a scale exceeding twenty billion dollars annually.
“Jeffrey, imagine this. According to the script, that sports car will continuously appear throughout the first twenty minutes of the movie. There’s even a scene where the female lead introduces the car’s performance. That’s basically equivalent to a twenty-minute sports car advertisement. Assuming my film earns one hundred million dollars at the North American box office, that means ten million people will have watched this advertisement. Then add the audiences from worldwide screenings and later home video releases, and the number of viewers becomes even more enormous. Even ten or twenty years later, every time people watch this movie, they’ll still see this ‘sports car advertisement’ once again. Do you understand how massive that advertising effect would be?”
Jeffrey nodded thoughtfully.
“So, organize everything I just explained and separately lobby the executives of those sports car brands. Remember, if the sponsorship fee is less than one million dollars, don’t even bother negotiating.”
“Eric, isn’t one million too much? Besides, what you just said is only hypothetical. What if the movie’s box office performs poorly…”
Eric said, “That’s easy to solve. We can agree on a box office target with them. If the film fails to reach expectations, we refund part of the sponsorship fee.”
Jeffrey pressed on. “Then what if it exceeds expectations?”
Eric looked helplessly at the nagging old man. “Jeffrey, these kinds of detailed matters are exactly what you, the producer, should be thinking about. I still have plenty of other things to handle. You can’t expect me to worry about all of this too, can you?”
Just as he was speaking, a staff member knocked on the office door and said, “Mr. Williams, the clothes customized according to your sketches have already been delivered. Would you like to personally take a look?”
“All right, I’ll come immediately. Let Julia change into them first.” Eric agreed, then chatted with Jeffrey for a few more moments before saying, “Jeffrey, let’s go take a look at the styling I designed for Julia.”
As soon as they walked out of the soundproof meeting room, they could hear faint knocking sounds. Workers were still renovating parts of the office area.
When they arrived at a fitting room a little over thirty square meters in size, Julia had already changed into the classic outfit from Pretty Woman: a tank top, miniskirt, and long boots, with a red jacket worn over them. Eric only glanced once before frowning.
“Where’s the wig? I remember specifically mentioning it before.”
“It’s inside the dressing room. Should I put it on now?” Julia asked.
Eric waved his hand. “Hurry up and put it on. We still need to take promotional photos later.”
Julia obediently walked into the dressing room. The female assistant newly assigned to her by the agency, named Allison, perceptively followed her inside to help.
Very soon, Julia walked out again. Not only had she put on a blonde wig, she was also wearing a small black hat.
The moment she appeared, everyone inside the fitting room could not help but brighten their eyes. Against the backdrop of the wig, Julia’s face gave off a faintly stunning feeling. If Julia’s original appearance could only be rated a six out of ten, then now she could at least score an eight.
Even after seeing Julia’s appearance, Eric still felt something was not quite right somewhere, but he merely instructed the photographer beside him to take several photos of Julia.
After finishing all of this, Eric said, “All of you can leave now. I want to talk with Julia alone.”
Several staff members gradually left. Jeffrey also got up and departed.
Once everyone had left the fitting room, Julia nervously pinched the corner of her clothes and asked, “Eric, is there some problem? I noticed you’ve been… frowning the whole time?”
To Julia Roberts, everything she had experienced these past few days felt like a dream.
First, she had somehow been coaxed into bed by Eric, receiving a vague and unrealistic promise from him.
Then, for an entire week afterward, Eric never contacted her again. Just as she was becoming disappointed and thinking that everything Eric previously said had only been meant to toy with her, he suddenly called her again.
After hurriedly signing an agency contract, Eric directly tossed a stack of scripts in front of her.
“The female lead is yours. Don’t disappoint me.”