"Do you have someone suitable in mind?" Matthew asked. "Who is it?"
Compared to directors, producers are undoubtedly more critical, and he's been troubled lately by finding the right candidate for this role.
Helen Herman responded directly, "You know her—former president of Bowei Pictures, Nina Jacobson."
Matthew recognized the name. "I remember she served as an executive producer for the Pirates of the Caribbean series."
Nina Jacobson was quite well-known in Hollywood. There was a widely circulated joke about her that went something like this: On Christmas morning, a child eagerly rushed to the Christmas tree in search of presents, only to find a pile of manure. Nonetheless, the child excitedly declared that there must be a pony hidden nearby.
Nina Jacobson was that child.
The joke was meant to be good-natured, highlighting that despite suffering several severe setbacks early in her career, Nina Jacobson didn't give up but instead became more resilient, eventually becoming the president of Bowei Pictures.
It seemed she had gone through another significant setback a few years ago.
Matthew asked, "Helen, wasn't Nina Jacobson dismissed from Disney?"
"In 2006, due to a disagreement, she was kicked out of Disney by Michael Eisner before he stepped down," Helen Herman replied, clearly informed. "She then produced a teen series, turning a total budget of $55 million into nearly $320 million in global box office revenue."
Matthew nodded. She indeed had a strong heart.
Helen Herman added, "Nina Jacobson is also a supporter of the feminist movement and has rare experience in successfully producing teen idol works."
"Alright," Matthew decided. "Get in touch with Nina Jacobson first. If she's interested, I'll talk to her."
Helen Herman agreed, "Sure, I'll contact her later."
That afternoon, she reached out to Nina Jacobson. The former president of Bowei Pictures agreed to a meeting, and that evening, Matthew and Helen Herman met with her at a private club.
The conversation went smoothly, though there was one issue: Nina Jacobson was preparing to establish her own production company and wanted to invest in The Hunger Games.
With David Ellison on board, Matthew wasn't lacking funds, and with the first Hunger Games movie's production budget not being high, he didn't want anyone else involved.
There were disagreements on this point, but disagreements were normal since everyone has different interests. However, after Matthew refused her investment, Nina Jacobson didn't cut ties. She continued to maintain contact with Helen Herman, leaving room for further discussions.
Negotiation is essentially a process of eliminating differences and reaching compromises.
The next day, Matthew met with Patty Jenkins at Angel Agency and introduced her to Susan Collins.
Compared to Nina Jacobson, things went much smoother with Patty Jenkins. Patty Jenkins' status and achievements in the industry were far less than Nina Jacobson's, and she hadn't made a movie in years, so her demands weren't high.
After several meetings, Patty Jenkins' agent joined the discussions. Although details like salary would be discussed once the producer was confirmed, Patty Jenkins had already committed to directing and writing The Hunger Games.
By mid-December, Matthew and Helen Herman reached an agreement with Nina Jacobson. She agreed to drop her plans to invest and temporarily halted the establishment of her production company, joining The Hunger Games purely as a producer, reporting directly to Matthew.
For this, Studio 13 would pay her $4 million.
This wasn't the highest producer salary in Hollywood, but it was the highest ever for a female producer.
Hiring someone as experienced and successful as Nina Jacobson undoubtedly required paying the right price.
Expecting people to work hard without fair compensation is unrealistic.
According to the thinking of some people Matthew once encountered on the other side of the Pacific, for a project like this, the producer should take a symbolic one-dollar salary, and the director and actors' fees should be in the five-figure range. Profits from the movie wouldn't be shared with distributors or theaters but kept entirely for themselves.
If the whole world operated like that, what would box office numbers even mean?
Studio 13 officially signed a contract with Nina Jacobson, who began assembling the crew. Three key personnel were confirmed: herself, director and writer Patty Jenkins, and author and co-writer Susan Collins.
Next up was recruiting various behind-the-scenes departments such as cinematography, props, lighting, and art direction.
In comparison, casting could wait.
Actors, especially leads, typically join the production last. Matthew wasn't in a hurry to find the actress for Katniss, and he hadn't considered contacting the well-known actress who enjoys using milk as a face mask. The project was still in the early planning stages, and it would be a while before casting or even pre-production began.
While Matthew was busy with The Hunger Games, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences finalized his invitation, officially naming him among sixty new Academy members.
This meant he now had the right to vote for the Oscars.
However, the Oscar nomination ballots and the submission list would not be sent to members until December 30.
During this time, he also received a call from Taylor Swift. She seemed very interested in being his music teacher, reminding him not to forget about the lessons.
Matthew was too busy with work and had to decline for now, postponing it until later.
Taylor Swift then sent him a detailed email with a complete music teaching plan.
"Is this country singer really so keen on being a teacher?" Matthew wondered when he saw the plan. If Taylor Swift were only interested in teaching him to sing, he might have to reconsider continuing as her student.
As December rolled on, Matthew temporarily set aside the teacher-student matter with Taylor Swift. Before reporting to the Inception crew, he gathered David Ellison, Nina Jacobson, Patty Jenkins, and Susan Collins for a brief meeting to unify production concepts and the film's future style, while also finalizing the production budget.
With the support of David Ellison, who was genuinely wealthy, and after several discussions with Nina Jacobson and Patty Jenkins, Matthew set the production budget for The Hunger Games at $80 million.
In today's Hollywood, an $80 million budget is considered moderate for a commercial film.
But compared to Twilight, this was a big-budget, large-scale production for a teen movie.
Twilight had been in theaters for just five weeks before its momentum quickly faded. However, after its fifth weekend in North America, the box office crossed the $200 million mark, reaching $202.38 million.
But the film's performance declined rapidly after its strong opening, with daily box office earnings dropping below $500,000, meaning its market potential was nearly exhausted. The final North American box office would likely just exceed $210 million.
Given its $40 million production cost, this was a huge hit.
Moreover, the film performed well overseas, with global box office earnings surpassing $400 million.
Hollywood acknowledged that Twilight was a massive commercial success, propelling the series' novels to the top of The New York Times bestseller list, where they remained for five consecutive weeks.
Related merchandise also sold exceptionally well. Since Studio 13 lacked the capacity to produce and distribute such products, they expanded into this area through licensing.
To date, Twilight had sold nine different licenses for merchandise, including toys, games, T-shirts, and accessories, generating a total of $29.8 million.
Additional licenses were still being negotiated. The revenue from licensing in North America and Europe alone almost offset the $40 million investment.
When DVD and TV rights were considered, the merchandise alone could turn a profit.
However, both Matthew and David Ellison knew that all of this was built on the foundation of Twilight's box office success.
Without the box office, these impressive licensing revenues wouldn't exist.
To say that commercial films aren't all about box office is a foolish notion.
Matthew also met with Sean Daniel and Sofia Coppola. Pre-production on Twilight: New Moon had already begun, following the same fast-track approach. The release date was set for before Thanksgiving next year.
Aside from the inevitable salary increases, the film's production scale wouldn't expand, and the shooting budget wouldn't increase, keeping the production cost at $55 million.
In this regard, Matthew was rather stingy.
However, with this type of film aimed at a young female audience, increasing the production scale wouldn't add much value since few viewers would buy tickets for grand scenes, which wasn't the selling point of the Twilight series.
Matthew had high expectations for Twilight: New Moon. Based on the first film's performance, he predicted that with proper promotion, the North American opening weekend could potentially reach $100 million.
This series was like a goldmine for him.
By the time the entire Twilight series was released, his net worth might have doubled.
Being a billionaire certainly had its perks. Although at this stage, accumulating wealth was often described as a numbers game, the luxuries enjoyed by the rich were unimaginable to those without money.
After wrapping up these tasks, Matthew reported to the Inception crew as scheduled.
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