Welcome to Hollywood The Game, the Virtual Filmmaking Sim.
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Talent Rules - Updated 2/9/06 Directors, actors and actresses that fictionally appear in all films in Hollywood the Game are available for use by all players. There are no “agents” who have sole control over the use of these talents. Any person can be used as a talent. Many of these people are listed in the talent database. It is impossible to include the hundreds and hundreds of possible talents in this listing. On occasion talents will be added as the administration sees fit. The talent listing consists of names, plus for each a number, the Talent Score. The Talent Score is a minimum of .5 and has no maximum. This Talent Score (TS) serves multiple purposes. First, it will be the cost to hire the talent for a movie role (in millions) as the director or top two starring actors/actresses. So if an actor has a TS of 10, it would cost $10 million to have him in a movie in one of those three positions. All other talents, in positions 3 and up, will be hired at one-half of that rate. An actress with a TS of 7 can be hired for $3.5 million to appear in a 4th-spot supporting role in an HTG movie. Special rates concerning directors who also appear as actors: Any director who is readily accepted also as an acting talent may also appear in the film as an actor at a special rate. The director's normal directing fee based on Talent Score is always paid. In addition, if the director appears in the top four slots of the movie's cast, there is just an extra $1 million charge. If the appearance is outside of the top four, there is no extra charge. Please note that a talent with a Talent Score of 10 or greater cannot be hired for a role outside of the director or top four slots. Exception: Cameo roles. Producers and studio chiefs are asked to use common sense when looking to cast talents not on the listing. Example: The Talent Score of the kid who played the son of the lead in some obscure film and has no other films to his credit is .5. Another example: The director of a few foreign films that has never been released through Hollywood and has absolutely no name recognition for the viewing public of Hollywood films will not have a significant TS. Under development: The cost to hire a talent is the cost on the day of release. But, in order to place a film on the release calendar, the talents must be paid for. So, in case there is an increase in price at the time of release, the film studio needs to pay the difference at that time. Talents may be used in cameo roles for films under the following conditions:
There is a maximum of two cameo appearances per project for talents
with a The TS is also used in the box office formula. The Talent Scores used are for the director and first four actors/actresses listed on the release calendar. It is the responsibility of the film studio to make sure that this information is accurate. When a picture leaves the game’s theatre, the TS of the director and top 4 stars of the film are subject to change. A talent “expects” his TS times $10 million at the box office (U.S. domestic gross). For example, an actor with a TS of 10 expects a film that he is a top 4 star in to gross $100 million. To determine the amount of change for the director and number 2 actor slots: Change to TS = (Final film gross – Expects figure) / 100 For example, an actor with a TS of 5 expects $50 million U.S. gross. He stars in a film that grosses $100 million. (100 – 50) / 100 = .5, so the TS goes from 5 to 5.5. Another example: The same actor’s film grosses only $30 mil. (30 – 50) / 100 = -.2. His TS would decrease from 5 to 4.8. The above testing for the lead actor is performed similarly, but the talent expects 1.5 times as much and is rewarded/penalized 1.5 times the change. The above testing is done for talents in acting slots 3 and 4, but the possible increase or decrease is half of the above. Talent Scores will only change greatly with the frequent use of the talent. When a film leaves the game on a Thursday, this testing does not affect films with the same actor releasing on Friday (for ease of the administration). Talent Scores listed for talents with multiple purposes are for their primary purpose only. That is, the TS of a director listed is for that director when he/she directs a film. If that director would be used as an actor, the TS would not necessarily be that TS. A new TS is assigned by the administration when the box office is calculated for that film. It is only assigned at that time and is not a set figure. For example, the TS listed for Clint Eastwood is for his use as a director, not an actor. (The same applies for Sophia Coppola, Harold Ramis and Spike Jonez.) The TS listed for Denzel Washington is for his use as an actor, not a director. If used for the other purpose (directing/acting), different Talent Scores would be assigned for the talents. Because all talents may be used openly, there is a possibility that some talents will be used at the same time in a director or top 4 position. There is a penalty to the TS for this. When a movie with a talent in the director/top 4 position is released within 4 weeks after another movie that was placed on the release calendar first with the same talent in a director/top 4 position, the TS in the box office formula of the talent in the second movie is penalized. The TS of the talent in the first movie is not penalized. Note that the cost to hire the talent remains the same, irregardless of the penalty. In the above case, the talent’s TS is penalized by 25% for the first, second and third week of release of the film after the other movie with that talent. On the fourth week, the talent’s TS returns to 100%. The Talent Score is not penalized further by releases of films with the same talent after that release. Example: A talent is in a director/top 4 position in a movie released on May 4. The same talent is in a movie in a director/top 4 position releasing on May 11. The May 4 movie was placed on the calendar before the May 11 film. With a TS of 8, the TS used in the box office formula will be 6 for the next three weeks. If the same talent is in a director/top 4 position in more than one movie released on the same day, the penalty is 50%. In the above example, the TS used in the box office formula will by 4 for the first three weeks of the film. The cost to hire the talent will still be $8 million. Studios/producers should check the release calendar for titles and talents for competing movies. FRIENDLY
TALENTS If
a studio or producer has had some continued success with a director,
actor or actress, it is possible for that talent to be friendly with
the studio or producer. This will result in a cheaper hiring
rate while maintaining the same Talent Score. If
a studio or producer has a talent in the director slot or top four
actor slots in three HTG films and that talent meets his expected
value (currently 10 times the talent’s TS), it is possible to
purchase friendly status for that talent. (The three movies do
not have to be consecutive.) The purchase is done when the
third film leaves the HTG theatre. In case multiple studios
and/or producers qualify for the talent’s friendly status, the
cumulative total of the top three domestic box office money for the
three qualifying movies will be looked at. The studio or
producer with the highest total will have the first opportunity to
purchase the friendly talent status. If that person declines,
the second person has the opportunity, and so on. The
friendly status may be purchased for the full hiring price of the
talent, but a minimum of $5 million. (So talents of lower TS
would not have a financial advantage to have friendly status.)
For that purchase, that talent may appear in the projects by the
studio or producer for one-fourth of the TS of the talent.
(This applies for all positions. You cannot accrue multiple
discounts using friendly status.) The
talent remains available to all other studios and producers.
But the friendly status, and the discount involved, applies to the
first studio or producer who makes the purchase. Example:
Lightyear Studios has featured actor Tommy J. (TS 6) in the top four
acting slots in three movies. Tommy J.’s expecting total was
reached for all three shows – his TS rises from 6 to 6.5, then
from 6.5 to 6.7, and finally from 6.7 to 7. For $7 million,
Lightyear Studios may purchase the friendly status of Tommy J.
From that point on, the actor may be hired for just one-fourth of
his TS’s rate (initially $1.75 million). To
request friendly status for a talent, email the Talent Administrator
and mention the talent’s name and the three movies that led to the
talent’s qualification for the friendly status. When
approved, payment is made to the game and the friendly status is
listed in the talent section of the HTG site. The friendly status of a talent is not transferable. It cannot be sold or given away to another player. When a producer leaves HTG, the friendly status of a talent is again available. However, if a studio is transferred to another player, the friendly status remains with the studio. BE
A STAR! With
the Be a Star feature, an HTG player can become a part of the talent
listing on the site. For a one-time fee of $100 million, a
player can have his name placed on the talent listing. This
payment must be made by that player from his account. Once
the talent administrator is notified of the payment, that player
receives a Talent Score of .5. The TS is subject to change in
the same manner as the scores for other talents on the listing.
Any studio/producer can use the player as a talent, but only with
explicit permission of the player. Good taste must be used.
(Game administration has final say in what is good taste and what
penalty is to be levied in case the line is crossed. For
example, sexually explicit scenes should be okayed first with the
player/talent.) Payment for the use of the player as a talent
is made to the player, not the game. A
player is not eligible for friendly talent status. If the player leaves the game, his name is removed from the listing. If the player returns, the purchase will have to be made again, unless special arrangements have been made.
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