[Chapter 225: New Project, Hiring Ghostwriters]
After finishing all that, it was time to think about his new project. Linton had long planned the company's next lineup:
The Man from Nowhere, directed by and starring himself.Get Out, directed by Zack, starring Sophie Marceau.The Fault in Our Stars, directed by Anne, starring Charlize Theron.
He had already drafted the scripts early on and handed them to the screenwriting department for revision and refinement. Among them, The Man from Nowhere required the most adaptation. Originally a Korean film, its social backdrop, legal system, police operations, and lifestyle were drastically different from those in North America. It had to be fully localized.
Linton had only written a rough outline for the story, changing the male lead from an assassin to a special forces soldier. The rest was left to the screenwriters to fill in. Now, all three scripts had been revised and finalized to his satisfaction. He had even storyboarded The Man from Nowhere himself.
As for Get Out and The Fault in Our Stars, those projects had to be postponed and wouldn't start until the end of the year. Zack and Anne had already proven their directing talents with earlier films and were now being courted by several studios. They took on external projects.
But it didn't really matter. Hollywood had no shortage of capable directors. Zack and Anne were still relatively unknown, and they would continue working with Linton's company, paid fairly at market rates. Both postponed films were heavily story-driven, so the demands on the directors were moderate. As long as the scripts were followed precisely, competent hands could deliver.
Linton retained final editing rights. Still, as co-producer, he needed to exercise care and restraint. He remembered that The Fault in Our Stars had originally been a bestselling novel, which helped push its box office past $100 million.
Currently, none of his films had companion novels. Scripts couldn't be used to write books directly, meaning the novels would be delayed — but when released, they would strengthen each film's presence and form a unified intellectual property.
He would be seen as a genius author, gaining literary fans and further boosting his popularity. That thought prompted him to call his literary agent, Carnes Carter, who was well-versed in the intricacies of publishing.
...
Soon, Carnes arrived at the office and professionally addressed Linton's questions.
"Ghostwriter?" Linton asked.
"In America, many people have excellent story ideas or outlines, but they lack the writing skills to polish them into full novels. That's where ghostwriters come in."
"Hiring ghostwriters won't cause copyright disputes, right?"
"No worries. American copyright law doesn't explicitly state it, but as long as a ghostwriter contract is signed, all works produced within that contract belong to the employer."
The setup was similar to how Hollywood worked — producers developed ideas, hired writers, and retained all rights. It was legally supported. Linton also knew of several obscure novels that could be adapted into films.
"But you can't hire just any ghostwriter," Carnes cautioned.
Ghostwriters might lack polished prose, but many had strong imaginations and original ideas. With proper collaboration, their work could result in bestsellers — even literary classics.
"Sounds complicated. So how do we cooperate?"
"There are multiple cooperation models. The first is straightforward — paying the ghostwriter by time. In this case, they're like employees, with no copyright or authorship credit."
Carnes continued, "The next model is paying a moderate salary plus offering a portion of copyright. But that often fails to motivate the writer, and the quality suffers. Giving authorship credit is negotiable. When we give credit, we tend to retain a higher share of copyright."
"Then there's the lump-sum method, where you provide an idea and a target length, and they deliver the manuscript. But quality's a gamble, and it's rarely used anymore."
Regardless of the cooperation model, the employer couldn't arbitrarily demand edits that deviated from agreed expectations.
Linton understood the market well. After consulting Carnes, he quickly formed a plan. His in-house team was still the most reliable — they understood his vision and executed it more efficiently than outsiders.
On impulse, he called his office manager, Megan. "Put out a recruitment notice nationwide. We need two ghostwriters — one male, one female — preferably over 35, with solid storytelling skills."
...
Since Linton knew these upcoming projects would be a string of moderate hits, there was no point involving third-party publishers just to earn small change while giving up partial rights. It made more sense to acquire a publishing house.
Just publishing his own novels could bring enormous profit. And for a true media group, the publishing arm couldn't be ignored. He picked up the phone again.
"Goodman, look for a publishing house we can acquire. It needs to be profitable, with strong U.S. distribution."
In terms of novel publishing, when the time came, the books would be published under his film company's name. No worries about distribution.
Movies like National Treasure, The Da Vinci Code, Pirates of the Caribbean, Twilight, Fifty Shades of Grey, The Hunger Games, The Martian -- they could be made that way.
...
For The Man from Nowhere, the investment was modest. The highest costs were Linton's own pay as director and lead actor.
He planned to pay himself $2 million for the script, $6 million plus 5% of North American box office for directing, and for the lead actor — based on Tom Cruise's model — $20 million plus 10% of North American box office.
Excluding his own pay, other production costs were around $12 million. Including all that, the total film investment came to $40 million, plus 15% of North American box office as bonuses and contingencies.
He still had to wait for Pulp Fiction and The Island to wrap before diving into full production. To avoid delays from negotiations, he planned to collaborate with Universal but fund the entire movie himself.
Four months would be enough to shoot The Man from Nowhere. There were no huge scenes, and post-production was fully in-house.
Given his tight schedule for next year, the film would likely release by August, or possibly Christmas. By then, his company's North American distribution network would be well-established.
...
Linton was currently at Starlight Spark Stage 9. If his skill progressed as planned, he'd break through the Radiant Core by February.
Before that, he would spend time reorganizing the farm's structure in preparation for the Thunder Trial — laying formations, gathering materials, etc.
Originally, Winnie was supposed to oversee the farm's construction. But for now, Goodman would start. Once the basic setup was done, Winnie could join in.
*****
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