Los Angeles August 1973
Universal Studio. Conference Room
The room was full of people unlike the previous meetings, Aside from the top three and steven, there were many executives of the universal studio present from different departments. This was the production meeting for Jaws.
Everyone was waiting for entourge from Light & Magic Club Studio. Small talks were on going between the colleagues. Mood in the room was tense and restless.
Sidney Sheinberg leaning back on his chair. "Steven, I know you like that kid but today you are still a director contracted with universal, I hope you keep that in mind."
Steven adjusting his seat. "Sidney, I know! My future as a director is also on line, I won't mess around any unreasonable request, I will reject it first."
Sidney relieved.
"I hope so, The situation in hollywood is very bad currently."
"Studios are on decline, Time and peoples taste are changing, Any studio that cannot adapt to this new age will go down. Just ten years ago people only had movies and Theatre as their visual entertainment source."
"Books, Radio, Music all had their flaws in front of movies but T.V has been chipping at film industry for ten years, more and more people are gravitating towards T.V."
"Big studio always sitting high and mighty are losing money and getting taken over one by one."
"Fox is in turmoil with all the leadership changes, Disney after walt and roy's death and decline of animation movies is barely surviving thanks to those theme parks and merchandise."
"MGM has become a toy in hand of that casino guy, They are already selling assest to survive."
"Warner had to merge with Kinney and diverting more towards making money from other sources."
"Columbia is moving to low budget movies and T.V shows to survive."
"Paramount, Universal and United Artist are the only one's with little bit better financial health."
"This summer blockbuster thing that kid proposed, if it works to bring back even little bit of people back in theaters, it's a huge boon to the industry."
Everyone in the room listening to sidney became silent. The small talks came to end as door to conference room was opened.
Liam and his entourage, consisting of five people including his mother, their personal accountant named Rachel, Two lawyers from the contracted firm their names were William and joe, and the marketing manager Arnold Rivers hired to sell the album, entered. They greeted everyone and took their seats, and the meeting began.
Sidney started, "Welcome, everyone. Let's get straight to business. We're here to finalize the details for the production of Jaws."
Robert Rhyme picked up the conversation, "We propose an investment ratio of 60/40, with Universal covering 60% of the $9 million budget and Light & Magic Club covering the remaining 40%."
Liam, feeling the weight of the moment, cleared his throat. "That sounds fair, but we need assurance on the creative control for visual effects and music production."
Sidney leaned in, "We understand your concerns, Liam. However, Universal has final say on the overall production. We can negotiate your involvement in visual effects and music, but it must align with our standards."
Liam interjected, "Our team has proven their capabilities with the success of the album. We deserve a significant role in the production."
One of the Universal executives, clearly skeptical, voiced his concern. "You're asking us to trust a group of teenagers with critical aspects of a major film production. How can we be sure they won't falter?"
Steven, standing in defense of the Light & Magic club, replied, "They've already shown remarkable results."
Sidney nodded, considering his point. "Alright, Light & Magic Club will handle visual effects and music production, but under the supervision of our experienced team members."
Liam satisfied with the result. "We accept the supervision that's fair."
Another executive chimed in, "And what about the distribution of profits? How do we ensure a fair split while managing the marketing and box office returns?"
Robert Rhymes leaned forward, addressing the concern. "The profits will be split 60/40, aligning with our investment ratios. The duration for the box office returns will be one year. Universal will handle the marketing and distribution to ensure maximum reach."
Liam raised a point, "Since the copyright is owned by Light & Magic Club, we will manage the creative operations, ensuring that our vision for the project is realized."
Sidney, "Very well. Universal agree to this demand."
Robert Rhyme tapped his pen on the table. "We propose that 40% of the budget allocated to Light & Magic Club should cover visual effects, music production, and any other creative inputs. The remaining budget will be handled by Universal for primary production costs."
Arnold the accountant raised a concern. "We need clarity on the specific costs covered under primary production. We can't have unexpected expenses draining our allocated budget."
Sidney nodded. "Understood. We'll provide a detailed breakdown of the primary production costs and ensure transparency throughout the process."
Robert Rhyme interjected, "And what about the marketing strategy? Universal will handle it, but we need input from your team to ensure it aligns with the direction of the movie."
Liam agreed. "That's fine. Our marketing manager Arnold can work closely with your team to develop a strategy."
As the discussion continued, the atmosphere in the room shifted, becoming slightly more relaxed now that the main terms were settled.
Sidney cleared his throat, "Alright then, let's move to the timeline. Steven, you've got a few thoughts on the shooting schedule?"
Steven straightened answering. "Yes. If we're keeping with the current budget, we'll need to be efficient with our locations. Shooting on the water can be unpredictable."
"Casting and pre production needs to begin right in september and we need to finish the whole shooting by december giving enough time for post production and marketing needed to generate the hype."
Rachel, their accountant, raised an eyebrow. "So, what's the plan if the budget starts running thin?"
Robert jumped in, "We'll have a contingency fund in place. But we need everyone here to stick to their areas of expertise. It'll help avoid unexpected costs."
Liam grinned. "So, in other words, don't go playing with the shark on set?"
The room burst into light laughter, "Exactly," Steven replied, smirking. "Unless you want to be the one testing its teeth, Liam."
"Imagine the headlines: 'Teen Sensation Gets Eaten by Fake Shark."
Liam chuckled."Sounds like a terrible end to my story."
"Alright, jokes aside, we'll work to make sure everything's lined up." said sidney.
Liam leaned back on his chair. "Steven the 25 feet shark you asked for it's design is ready, but it's production and testing in saltwater needs time. The 8 feet model that we made earlier was tested in freshwater tank but not in ocean water."
Steven crossing his arms said, "Liam test it out throughly that shark needs to work or schedule is going down the drain and cost will inflate."
Liam nodding his head."We will make it happen steven but carrying that thing to location without any reporters leaking it will be a problem."
"This certainly is a problem, we can't have look of the shark leaked before the movie." said Robert.
Steven nodding,"well we will figure that out later we need to make the model and test it first."
Liam crossing his arms asked to sidney,"How many screens are we going to open the movie?"
"How many do you think are necessary, Liam you came up with this marketing of summer blockbuster after all."
Liam nodding, " In my opinion at least 500 across North america from first week."
Everyone in the room silenced and swallowed as they heard the absurd number.
Charles was the one to break the ice,"500... are you serious ?."
Liam with serious face. " Yes, 500 right from the start."
One of the executives from distributing department stood up pointing at Liam
"This is impossible even godfather took time to gain word of mouth and even then maximum screens they achieved were 300 only."
"The theatres won't accept such absurd demands and our reputation and relations with them will go down."
Sidney with stern face,"Calm down, We all know that, sit down on your seat and stop pointing."
Embarassed the employee sat down.
Sidney looked at Liam. "Are 500 screen's enough?."
Liam smiling,"500 is enough."
Sidney leaning back on his chair made the decision."Leave the screen problem to us at universal focus on the production of the movie, It's universal's task to negotiate with the theatre's as the distributors of the movie."
Liam nodded at sidney,"No problem."
Sidney leaned back, "If there are no further questions, let's proceed with drafting the contracts and get this project rolling."