Of course, the biggest reason was that Kevin was still an unproven rookie.
To them, he simply wasn’t worth starting a bidding war over.
So all three companies had tacitly agreed to keep their initial offers modest.
Now that Kevin seemed ready to lay his cards on the table, they would have to decide whether to play along.
“I’ll waive my director’s fee,” Kevin said, “but I want a performance-based bonus structure.”
“Oh?
Interesting.
Let’s hear it,” Dean replied, taking the lead.
Kevin held up two fingers, his expression dead serious.
“If the global box office falls under twenty million dollars, I don’t want a single cent.
But if it crosses twenty million, I want one percent of the box office gross.
For every additional ten million after that, my share goes up by another one percent.”
Dean laughed heartily.
It was a fascinating gamble, and looking into Kevin’s eyes, he could practically feel the young man’s burning ambition.
Clearly, Kevin genuinely believed his debut film could cross the twenty-million-dollar mark.
But in Dean’s experienced view, the odds of that happening were less than one percent.
For a rookie director to take a 1.3 million dollar budget and turn it into a multi-tens-of-millions box office hit was, statistically speaking, impossible.
So this condition was entirely acceptable and favorable to them.
“Alright, I agree.
But we cap the backend points at five percent,” Dean said with a sharp smile.
Dean was a seasoned executive, and he preferred to play it safe.
Even if a scenario seemed impossible, it was still standard practice to eliminate any margin for error.
A five percent cap meant that even if Saw miraculously exploded at the box office, Kevin’s payout wouldn’t bleed New Line Cinema dry.
“Deal!”
Having achieved his actual goal, Kevin shook Dean’s hand, officially sealing the agreement.
As for pushing for a bigger cut, Kevin knew better.
No one in Hollywood was a fool.
If the film actually grossed a hundred and fifty million dollars — as it had in his previous life — New Line Cinema would, in theory, owe him thirteen percent of the gross. Get faster updates on novelping.com.
A payout that massive would absolutely make the studio turn hostile toward him.
then they would employ aggressive “Hollywood accounting” to hide the profits, potentially leaving Kevin with less money than if he had just taken a flat fee.
Five percent of the gross for a rookie was already an astronomically good result.
As for the other two studio reps, Kevin didn’t pay them any mind.
From the flow of the negotiation, he could tell that New Line Cinema was the only one genuinely interested in backing the project.
The other two were likely just there to fill the room, creating an illusion of a united front to pressure the young director into taking a lowball offer.
With the core terms settled, Dawson, who had mostly stayed quiet, stepped forward to iron out the specific contract details with Dean.
After a bit of back-and-forth, the agreement was swiftly signed.
Ultimately, this was just a low-budget investment; as a senior executive, Dean had the authority to greenlight it on the spot.
If this had been a ten-million-dollar tentpole, dozens of studio lawyers and board members would have been dragged into the room.
After the paperwork was finalized, Dean promptly left the CAA building with the other two executives.
Inside the meeting room, only Dawson and Kevin remained.
Dawson picked up the signed contract, beaming.
“Alright, Kevin.
What about the rest of the crew?
And the actors — do you already have any casting in mind?”
Kevin waved a hand casually.
“Aside from my core team from USC that I already outlined in the proposal, you can arrange the rest of the crew.
As for the cast, hold open auditions for newcomers.
If we decide to hire them, you can sign them with CAA on the spot.”
“Understood.
Leave it to me,” Dawson said, his face flush with excitement.
This was the sheer power of representing a director.
A successful director could funnel a massive number of high-quality actors straight into CAA’s roster.
If the film actually hit it big at the box office, the ripple effect for Dawson’s career would be immense.
Right now, his only priority was to support Kevin’s production flawlessly.
…
Once struggling actors saw it was a low-budget horror film, many felt they actually had a shot and swarmed the audition location.
For major studio productions, named roles naturally went to established stars or actors with deep resumes.
Pure newcomers had virtually no chance of getting their foot in the door for those roles.
Low-budget productions, however, couldn’t afford hefty salaries for A-list stars or well-known actors, so they often relied entirely on fresh faces.
And for those newcomers, earning a credited role in a feature film mattered far more than the paycheck.
Under those circumstances, three days later…
Outside a rented office building near Hollywood, hundreds of people were lined up down the block.
They had all come for one purpose: to win a leading role in Saw.
…
Inside the office, Kevin methodically sifted through a mountain of headshots and resumes.
The auditions had been split into two groups.
The assistant director Dawson had found for him was handling the extras and minor speaking parts, while Kevin was personally overseeing the auditions for the lead roles.
“Salma Hayek?”
Looking at the small headshot attached to the resume, Kevin murmured the name.
It felt familiar, though he couldn’t quite place it immediately.
A moment later, Salma Hayek walked into the room.
Compared to the others, she was clearly an excellent candidate.
According to her resume, she had won the Mexican TVyNovelas awards for Best Actress in 1989.
Winning awards usually meant she had a solid baseline of acting talent.
But those awards carried almost no weight in the United States.
Most of Hollywood casting directors simply didn’t care much about foreign television trophies.
So, in the eyes of the American industry, she was still a complete nobody, meaning her salary could naturally be negotiated down to a newcomer’s minimum rate.
But what Kevin was really considering was whether she would be willing to fully commit to the demands of the role.
The scenes wouldn’t be excessively explicit—just a bit of tasteful nudity.
But in a horror thriller, giving the audience a little visual “fan service” was standard commercial practice.
…
Salma Hayek looked at the young director across the table and lifted her chin slightly, exuding natural confidence.
Her entire presence carried a mature, undeniable allure—especially her stunning figure, which commanded attention the second she walked into a room.
It was only at this moment, seeing her in person, that Kevin finally remembered just how massive this actress’s future potential truly was.