The traditional Hollywood movie model used to be pretty straightforward: first, you'd have a script, and then you'd find the right producer, director, and actors based on that script. Simple, right?
But then the commercial boom of the '90s hit, and everything flipped upside down. Total game-changer!
Nowadays, Hollywood runs on a producer-centric system, especially for those big-budget blockbusters. It all starts with a producer who's got a spark of an idea. They team up with a movie studio, set up the project, form a crew, and *then* write the script and hire the director and actors. Wild, huh?
Both approaches have their pros and cons—
The old-school way put writers first, so movies had stronger frameworks, better stories, and tighter plots. That's why you hear so many critics these days whining about how modern films feel shallow, simple, or full of holes. Fair point!
But here's the catch: a good story doesn't always mean big box office bucks. 💸
As the money pouring into movies kept growing, studios couldn't just cross their fingers and hope a writer's script would pay off. One flop could wipe them out—no coming back from that! So, they switched things up and made producers the core of the operation. Why? Because Hollywood's top producers have a killer "market sense." Their ideas tend to vibe with trends way better than most writers' scripts ever could.
The downside? These producers usually aren't great at writing themselves. They end up hiring random temp writers to slap a story together. And when you've got a rushed team like that, the scripts turn out basic, messy, and riddled with flaws. No wonder the movies get trashed by critics more and more!
Studios know this is a problem, but when it's a choice between a so-so reputation and losing *everything*, they'll take the hit to their rep any day. Better than going broke, right?
That's exactly why old-school critics and filmmakers are tearing their hair out and slamming the industry. It's not just blind hate for special effects—it's the whole capital-driven new system they can't stand.
But here's where Dunn stands out. With his "sunglasses system" (cool name, by the way), he's cooked up a brand-new approach: a "writer-group responsibility model centered on analysts." Revolutionary stuff!
Dunn's built his own go-to team, but for a movie company, it's still a small crew. He's got big plans, though—as his power grows, Dunn Pictures is set to roll out three core departments: Market Analysis, Art Analysis, and the Big Writing Crew.
- The Market Analysis team, with their insane "market sense," comes up with the ideas.
- The other two departments back them up, crafting scripts for commercial hits that the production team can greenlight.
- Meanwhile, the Art Analysis folks, with their top-tier "artistic taste," pitch ideas for award-worthy dramas, and the rest of the team helps shape those into scripts for production.
This new model reins in the production department's power, turning producers into hired hands instead of big shots. It centralizes control, cuts out the chaos, and dodges the pitfalls of both the old and new Hollywood systems. Genius!
Best of all? Hollywood only has a handful of golden producers with a few killer ideas each. Dunn's different—he can easily recruit dozens of "market-sense" superstars for his Market Analysis team. Picture these specialized geniuses brainstorming together—they'd churn out more great ideas in a month than a typical studio could in a year! That's the secret weapon behind Dunn's grand ambitions.
Even without the sunglasses, these three departments would have his back. He'd sleep easy knowing that.
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Three days later, a script for *My Big Fat Greek Wedding*, tailored for Nicole Kidman, was sent to her manager, Pat Kingsley. Meanwhile, Dunn hopped on a plane to New York with his assistant, George Paxton.
September 1st was a Sunday. Tomorrow, the stock market reopened.
"Dunn, Yahoo's stock… it's pricey," George said, looking worried. "Last Friday, it opened at $56 and closed at $60. What if…" He didn't know much about finance or stocks, and it showed on his face.
Dunn grinned. "You're scared it'll crash all of a sudden?"
George nodded. "If we're playing the stock market, shouldn't we hire a broker or something?"
Dunn's expression turned cool and confident as he shook his head.
Stock brokers? Just a bunch of smooth-talking con artists who'd take at least a 10% cut. No thanks!
With his insider knowledge of the future, Dunn could strike gold in the market without breaking a sweat. Why let a broker mess that up?
He shook his head again. Wall Street was full of money-hungry wolves, and until he had real power, he'd steer clear.
He only knew a few stocks well—Yahoo, Cisco, Microsoft, Google… That info was too valuable to share with Wall Street sharks.
"I've got this," he said, brushing off the topic.
He remembered clearly: before the dot-com bubble burst, Yahoo's stock soared past $450. As long as he didn't get greedy and sold early, he'd be golden.
Plus, with daily trading volumes hitting 50-60 million shares, his little stake wouldn't even make a ripple. He'd just dip in quietly and cash out.
On September 2nd, the market opened, and Yahoo's stock dipped to $40 a share. Dunn pounced, snagging 2.1 million shares at an average of $399 each—over $800 million total.
Big money, sure, but in 1997, with tech stocks on fire, it wasn't a huge deal.
Dunn left the NYSE in high spirits, only to get a less-than-thrilling call.
"Boss, we've got a problem with Nicole Kidman," his production assistant Glenn Fiero sighed. "Her manager Pat is dead-set on a $6 million paycheck."
Dunn frowned. "Did she read the script we wrote?"
"Yeah," Glenn replied. "Pat says it's great and perfect for Nicole, but for a commercial flick like this, she won't take a pay cut."
"That's tricky…" Dunn rubbed his chin. After the stock investment, the budget for *My Big Fat Greek Wedding* couldn't go over $15 million. Nicole's fee was pushing it.
"Yep. She got $5 million for *The Peacemaker* last year…"
"Wait!" Dunn's eyes lit up. "When's that movie coming out?"
"*The Peacemaker*? Mid-month, I think."
Dunn smirked. "Then we wait. Let it hit theaters, and then we'll talk."
Nicole Kidman… when had she ever starred in a blockbuster hit?
Her "box office poison" reputation wasn't for nothing. And honestly, her manager Pat Kingsley's taste in projects was pretty meh—fine as a babysitter, maybe, but not as a top-tier agent. No wonder Tom Cruise and Nicole both ditched her later.
Compare that to Kate Winslet's agent, Hilda Queally—what a legend! First, she got Kate into Peter Jackson's *Heavenly Creatures*, making her a Hollywood name. Then came Ang Lee's *Sense and Sensibility* for an Oscar nod, followed by the mega-hit *Titanic*!
And Hilda's other client, Cate Blanchett? Her career was soaring too—smoothly breaking into Hollywood and landing the lead in *Elizabeth*, a historical drama that snagged her an Oscar nom and launched her to superstardom.
Both Aussies, yet Nicole's bumpy road ahead and Cate's rise to the top really boiled down to their agents' skills.
"If Nicole's willing to play ball, I could give her a boost…" Dunn mused.
He hadn't met Nicole Kidman yet and had no clue what the movie goddess looked like in person. If she was as stunning as they say… well, who knows? 😉
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