I'm in Hollywood

Chapter 220: Script Purchase

Eric quickly noticed that Elisabeth seemed to be getting embarrassed as her face became rosy, but she seemed to regard their confrontation as a 'battle' so she stared back, stubbornly.

Finally, she asked, "Hey, what are you thinking?" Without looking at her, Eric pointed to the floor-to-ceiling lampshade on the lawn nearby, "The lampshade over there is pretty. I'm thinking that I can't wait for you to leave so that I can remove it from the lawn and take it back with me."

Elisabeth couldn't help but laugh briefly, before she frowned and sternly looked at Eric, "Don't even think about it. I'm watching you closely."

"That's a shame," Eric sighed, yet he didn’t seem regretful, at all.

"Hey, can you not be a child all the time," Elisabeth finally asked, helplessly.

Eric threw the used cigarette into the trash can nearby and replied, "Liz, can you just tell me why you’re here?"

"I..." Elisabeth hesitated, "I wanted to remind you not to forget to pay me a salary."

Eric asked, confused, "Huh?"

"As your assistant director. Although my father asked me to do it, I don't want to do it for nothing. I want to be financially independent as soon as possible, so that the old man will stop threatening me with freezing my credit card."

Eric smiled, "We both know what you are really going to do as my assistant director, Liz. Your father knows why he made you my assistant director, as well, so please stop making trouble, alright? Although you don't have many classes left, I suggest you finish school and enjoy your last year in college. Once you leave, you won't be able to find that feeling again in life."

"You don't need to worry about my business!" Elisabeth replied, dissatisfied. She added, "I already have my own plans for my future. I plan to be a film producer. So, first of all, I have to familiarize myself with the process of film production."

He asked with a raised eyebrow, "Oh? What about News Corporation? Weren't you studying media to inherit your father's business?"

Elisabeth couldn't help feeling a little sad when she heard Eric's words. She haltingly replied, "I know that he wants my brothers to take over."

"Your father is kind of… traditional."

Eric truly didn't expect Murdoch to be so patriarchal.

"Sexist is the more apt term," Elizabeth murmured aggrievedly, and then said to Eric again, "Um, there is actually something else."

Eric curiously gazed at her.

"I have discussed this with Julia. Maybe next year, after I gain some experience, I plan to produce my first movie, and she agreed to become the female lead in it."

"So?"

"So, I mean… can you… uh… sell us a script?"

Eric remained silent before he slowly took out a cigarette from his pocket. This time Elisabeth finally couldn't stand it. She grabbed the cigarette from Eric's hand and threw it directly into the trash can. She yelled, annoyed, "Hey, don’t you realize that smoking in front of a lady is rude?"

"Okay, okay, I won't smoke," Eric raised his hands and surrendered, but then he asked, "Forget the script for now. If you want to make a movie, from where will you get the investment? Didn't you just say that you want financial independence? Even with Julia as the female lead, it won’t be that easy to find investors?"

"I've already thought about it; I will borrow $10 million from my old man to establish a film company. The money is enough to make a movie, Julia also agreed to take equity in the company as her pay for the movie, along with a share of the movie's profits."

Elisabeth explained quickly. Eric thought about it for a moment and understood. This is a common method used by billionaires to avoid high inheritance taxes in order to pass on family wealth. They give their children a sum of money in the name of assisting them in establishing and developing their own company. After the children’s company develops to a certain scale, they would sell it back to their parents at a high price by means of equity swaps. This method can dilute profits on paper and make it possible to pass on wealth to the next generation at a small price. Of course, this method of inheritance also has higher requirements on the abilities of the children.

Although Murdoch does not intend to let Elisabeth succeed him as the next head of News Corporation, he would certainly not refuse to pass on his wealth to her as her inheritance.

While Eric was thinking, Elisabeth interrupted him, "Eric, what are you thinking? Do you agree or not?"

Eric looked at her and asked with a smile, "Alright, how much will you bid for my script?"

Hearing his words, Elisabeth was left speechless.

All of Eric's personally-written movie scripts have a box office return of no less than $100 million, and almost each one can bring investors no less than $50 million in profits. According to this standard, his scripts would sell for even more than what Hollywood's top screenwriters earn.

Eric quickly said, "Look, you haven't thought about anything yet, so let's forget this matter until you have given it some more thought."

He stood up after speaking. Unless Elisabeth was stupid, she would realize that he was rejecting her.

In fact, this was not just a question of money. Eric has many scripts in his mind. Even if he gives one to Elisabeth, it wouldn't matter much to him, but it is a risk he is unable to currently take.

Although he has achieved box office success for several consecutive movies, his strength in Hollywood is still not stable. If he hands out a self-written script to Elisabeth, and he can't personally ensure the quality of the movie during production and she messes up, it will destroy the aura of infallibility he has established through several consecutive hits. Even though Elisabeth had Julia, it was not enough to convince him that the two girls would succeed.

"Hey, Eric, wait," Elisabeth quickly stopped Eric. Although she was unaware of Eric's concerns, after some thought, she decided to forego the plan of buying a self-written script from him because she realized that she could simply not afford it, but she was quite clever, and quickly thought of another idea.

Elisabeth smiled and asked, "Eric, how about this: I won't buy a script from you. Instead, Julia and I will choose the script by ourselves. All you need to do is help us check and see if the script has any potential or not, alright?"