Hollywood, as we know it today, started its life in the second decade of the 20th century with the rise of the production facilities in South California. They were created there by the numerous filmmakers who moved their business from New York in search of a more consistent climate for round-the-year film shooting. With the advent of technology, production companies focused in on a city that provided them with both, the perfect weather and easy access to new and improved technology. Los Angeles thus became the heart of modern-day Hollywood.
The influx of immigrants into the United States quickly forced this new workforce to find new ways of running the business, and the popularity of movies quickly gave birth to a new kind of movie entity – movie studios. Most modern-day movies are usually produced by the movie studios that were established and flourished during that time. Nowadays, they are called the Big Six.
One of these major studios includes MCA, which was founded by a Jewish Immigrant, Martin Collins, in the year 1923. The agency went ahead to produce many timeless classics, during what is commonly called ‘The Golden Age of Hollywood’, which lasted from the early 1920s to the late 1960s. With the success of MCA as an agency, came the greedy money-grabbing nature of market investors, who saw a golden goose, in the form of the movie studio. These investors, through the cunning use of the stock market, attempted to wrench control of the studio from William Collins, who retaliated using heavy-handed Nepotistic business strategies to distribute the company shares inside of his own families.
Anyone who did not have the last name Collins attached to his own was not given consideration for positions of power inside the company. That is how Matthew Collins found himself in the seat of CEO and Chairman of MCA.
Matthew Collins led the MCA, as its CEO, from the late 1970s and 80s and after struggling initially in the ever-evolving market, found himself a very comfortable niche in the indie and romantic comedy movie genre. But as the era of modern computers arrived, in the early 2000s, the company faced a severe loss of resources and manpower due to the nepotistic nature of the upper echelons of the company. The company lost its position as the leading agency in the Big six of Hollywood. And it slowly lost most major film stars that were poached, if not entirely antagonized toward the MCA, by the other Agencies in the market.
Will Evans knew this dark secret of the agency. It wasn’t altogether very rare in his previous world either. He understood that Matthew Collins must have felt threatened by Will, because he compared the loss of Robert to be synonymous to the poaching of stars from his agency, after Robert become an A-list superstar, because of [Sherlock Holmes]. Will knew, his hubris and ego would not let him see past the picture he has painted of the situation and see the opportunity Will had provided for him. But he had hoped he did.
That was why when he heard his cinematographer, and personal Doraemon, Jeffery narrate the happenings of the deal, he wasn’t surprised. He was disappointed, yes, not surprised.
“What are we going to do Will? That was a blatant insult if there ever was one, plus we still need a good actor for [500 days of Summer]” Jeffery ranted, and Will could hear the rage he was still trying to subdue.
“Nothing, Jeff, we do nothing. We will inform them, they are not getting a cut from the box office, and wait for them to fold. We don’t need them, they need us, remember.” Will replied in a soothing tone, trying to allay Jeffery’s anger.
“We can’t just do nothing! Will!”
“Don’t worry Jeff, if in the next two weeks, they don’t reach out to us with more favorable terms, in the negotiation, we will move the spot of Tom in the movie to someone else, in a different agency.” Will pointed out.
After a moment of silence, Jeffery’s voice came through the phone “You realize that if we do that, we will be cutting off all the bridges with MCA, and that means they will try to pressure your uncle.”
Will was saddened by the idea that he was going to be bringing problems to his uncle, but he consoled himself, that he would invite his uncle to the DTA as soon as the time was right.
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“Yes, I know. And if there isn’t an actor available for Tom in the movie, I might just do it myself.”
“If you’re sure about this, then alright. We will wait two weeks for new developments, I will keep you updated. I will see you tomorrow at the office, I think Director Lucas wanted to discuss some things about [1917] with you, so how about we meet after that?” Jeffery said after breathing a sigh.
“Sure, Jeff, see you tomorrow.”
Will also feared for June, she was still part of the roster of talents that were dependent on the MCA and its agents. He worried that the management would isolate and target her, to get back at him, or they would try to harm their relationship. He decided that he would offer a job at the DTA, as he knew that the resources that would be allocated in his company would be far more beneficial to her than what she could potentially utilize at the MCA.
The problem was, that June is a stubborn and prideful woman. He did not know whether she would accept the offer. She did not want to be known in Hollywood as someone who used him as a ticket to her fame, she wanted to stand out on her own, and Will immensely respected her for that. But he would still try regardless because he knew that if the MCA doesn’t change the terms and take the role, they will be playing all the underhanded tactics that they could potentially find.
***
During the week that Dream Vision had decided to wait for a possible change in the terms from the MCA, Will had attended various meetings with Director Lucas, who was working on [1917]. Originally, the movie had included various historically accurate elements that defined the life of a soldier on the battlefield of World War 1.
The war was treated as The War to end all wars, and almost every able-bodied man was conscripted in the senseless conflict. This included men from parts of the world that had no relation to European politics, and that was depicted by the Sikh, turban-wearing Indian man, who was conscripted into the British military, while India was under the rule of the British empire.
This was a nod to the era of colonialization depicted in the movie, and Will wanted to remain as accurate to the history of the world as possible, and using Lucas’s eye for cinematic detail, they had hashed out various subtle scenes to properly represent all major aspects of life from that horrifying time.
There were various scenes that were completed in just a single take, the longest take lasting for more than eight minutes. They had also decided to use a motorcycle retrofitted with a mounted camera for scenes that were shot out in the open, like the scene where Schofield traverses the ruins of the city at midnight, under the light of the flare between the enemy lines, surrounded and being hunted by the enemy military.
Will was also constantly working on the script of [Liberty Scene], having completed almost half of the script. He’d had to revamp and rewrite multiple parts of the story, in order to better encapsulate the mindset of the opportunistic, self-aggrandizing nature of Mario Di Mauro.
He had to come up with various dialogues that would suit the character while staying true to the essence of the character while referencing other films and media.
In one of the scenes, he had written about Mario’s actions getting exposed by the Vercetti’s. He had just been betrayed by his girlfriend, Tracy De Santa, in exchange for a promise of wealth and power in the city. The Vercetti’s had then proceeded to kill Tracy and due to that, Mario had set their drugs warehouse on fire, while on a call with the head of the Vercetti family, saying “Yippie Kay Yay, Motherfucker!”
There were many action-packed scenes that he had decided to include in the film, which tied the story of [Liberty City], into a neat package, completing the viewers’ need for drama, action, violence, and adrenaline. Will was sure that the movie would do phenomenally in the cinema.
***
It had been two weeks, since Jeffery had attended the meeting with Jacob Woodsworth, about hiring Reagan Norris, to act as Tom in [500 days of Summer]. After the disastrous meeting, MCA had remained adamant about taking 10 percent of the final box office share, from the movie. And Will had reached the end of his patience. He had decided to take the next step, which would essentially cut all ties with MCA, and further propelling Dream Vision into a brand of its own.
He was currently dialing Jeffery’s number having recently edited parts of the script of his original movie [Liberty City], from his home.
“Hello, Jeff, have you sent out the casting offers to the other agencies?”
“Yes, I have. I sent them two days ago.” Jeffery replied.
“What was the response?”
The reply that he got, had the wheels in Will’s head spinning in overdrive, trying to determine where such an action will take the future of Will and his studio.