Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"He is bluffing. I don't believe that this cunning Israeli will release a B-level movie about the Fantastic Four. He is just here to blackmail us and get some benefits that he does not deserve.

This guy doesn't know how to make movies. If Ronald hadn't made him a movie called "Break Dance," this Israeli would have gotten out of Hollywood and gone back to his Negev desert..."

Although Stan Lee had some friendship with Warner Bros. executives, he did not expect that Warner immediately rejected the request to acquire the film.

They have always been known for being stingy. Even Peter Guber, who went to Sony to serve as CEO of Columbia Pictures, had to blackmail him severely. They wanted to defraud Warner Brothers, but they would not let go.

Stan Lee tried to sell the huge box office potential of "Fantastic Four" to the other party, but the other party just didn't believe that Minahan would really show this bad movie and refused to let go.

"Avi, you and Minahan are both Israelis. Can you communicate with him and give up the release of this movie? How much money might we, Marvel, pay to repurchase this movie?"

The person Stan Lee was facing was Avi Arad, a Marvel executive and fellow Israeli immigrant. He is the only Israeli in Marvel, so he might be able to establish some friendship with Minahan.

"I can give it a try, but the most we can do is use the cost of his filming, plus the US$250,000 we spent to buy the copyright at the time, to buy back the movie. You know, our financial situation is not very good now... "

Avi Arad drew a table for Stan Lee and analyzed the cost of filming this "Fantastic Four". He believed that Minahan would definitely not be satisfied with this amount of money.

…

"Minahan, we are all Israelis, and I do want to acquire this movie from you. We are straightforward. This movie will definitely have an impact on Marvel's brand value. We don't want it to be released. Can you give me a Exact image, if you want, we can negotiate the purchase price.”

Avi Arad found Minahan, revealed his identity when he came up, and tried to extract Minahan's true story.

"The exact intention is that I want to release this movie. B-level movies are also a good investment. I only spent... Forget it, you can definitely find out that if the box office exceeds 10 million, I will make enough money... …”

"Come on, you can make money with a box office of five million. I am really from Israel. My parents are survivors of the Holocaust in Poland. When I was 67 years old, I served in the Wehrmacht and fought in the Six-Day War. ..." Avi Arad tried to persuade the other party with the feelings of a fellow countryman.

"Okay, let me explain to you. My purpose is to make money. If you want to stop me from issuing the issuance, just buy it with cash and show some sincerity..."

"You also know that Marvel's current financial situation is not very good, otherwise it would not sell you the rights to adapt two comics for $250,000. What do you want that we can provide? We As long as you don't release this B-level film, the adaptation rights are still in your hands anyway. If you find the funds, you can make another one. As long as the quality is acceptable, we will thank you..."

"It turns out that you have also served in the National Defense Forces. I participated in the first Middle East War, but I am an Air Force pilot. I don't have to smell tank exhaust in the desert. Avi, for this reason, let me tell you the truth. It's very simple. , I’m looking for profit. Either you buy it with cash, or sell me one or two more low-cost characters.”

Avi Arad smiled bitterly, Stan Lee would never agree to another Marvel character falling into the hands of this person. "Actually, as long as the script is suitable for your company's filming, right? I can go to Warner and try. They have a lot of scripts in the warehouse, many of which are suitable for low-cost filming..."

"I don't want low-cost ones, I want big-production ones. As long as I have a script, I can find partners to invest..."

"Don't brag, Mr. Golan. If you had money, why would you make this Fantastic Four film?"

"That's a trade secret. I now have very rich and resourceful collaborators..." Minahan winked and laughed.

"If you have it, why don't you sell this movie to him? We at Marvel don't mind a collaborator with money and resources..." Avi Arad wanted to expose the other party's lies.

"How do you know I won't do this? Time is passing, tick, tick..." Minahan drank the coffee in one gulp and walked away with a smile.

…

"He seems to really have a partner. It would be a good thing if it works out..." Avi Arad came back and reported the outcome of the conversation to Stan Lee.

"I still hope that Warner Bros. can pay for it. This kind of big production requires not only production, but also distribution. It also requires a big company. Minahan's so-called partner is not one of the seven major producers. A factory with such distribution capabilities..."

"That's right." The two went to Warner Bros. to talk about new competitors, but Warner Bros. still didn't believe them and insisted that this was just Minahan's bluff...

"It seems that Warner Bros. didn't take the bait. Ronald, how about we just sell it to them according to the price that Marvel can offer?" Minahan Golan also came to see Ronald. Selling to Warner actually requires a discount on two scripts. For him, the money he gets will not be much more, so it is better to get the money earlier. Currently, his 21st Century Productions mostly consists of projects and he does not have a lot of cash. He is still waiting for the income from this business.

"Don't worry, I will guarantee your income. If Warner's offer is not enough, I will make up for your income." Ronald didn't care about the money, but he really wanted to get the two scripts from Warner.

"In this way, let's add more fire to Warner..." Ronald whispered a few words in Minahan's ear.

"Ha, you are really a cunning businessman, but these all cost money..."

"I'll pay for it..." Ronald immediately called his accountant and wrote him a check in the name of investing in Minahan's next movie.

"The craze caused by Batman has not subsided. In addition to the sequel project that has been confirmed for production, former Cannon chairman Minahan Gran said that his Fantastic Four will soon meet the audience in the summer."

Soon, "Hollywood Report", "Variety", etc. began to appear in the release trailer of "Fantastic Four".

On the newly released Corman Company's movie "Slumber Party Massacre 3", the "Fantastic Four" trailer began to appear.

Fifteen-second commercials for the "Fantastic Four" were also inserted into the middle of the "Richie Lake Show" programs broadcast online by local TV stations in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami.

"This doesn't mean anything. Sticker ads and ads for teen talk shows with low ratings are not expensive either. Maybe they were created just for us..."

The president of Warner Bros. is Terry Tramel. He now has a box office miracle like "Batman" and is very powerful. His voice in the industry is louder.

But he also knew that because of Jack Nicholson's contract, they made at least 50 million less!

This caused him to seriously lose points in front of chairman Robert Daley. Now, in addition to searching for movies suitable for comic book adaptations, he also pays special attention to costs.

Otherwise, even another successful movie like Batman can't cover up the financial failure (if Nicholson's dividends are not earned, it is a failure).

Stan Lee's lobbying was still unsuccessful. He also contacted Columbia, which had just been acquired and had a lot of money, and Universal, which was interested in making movies based on comic book adaptations, but neither of them was interested in doing such a thing. After all, paying so much money to buy out a Minahan B-movie would make the studio look like it was losing money.

…

"Ronald, Warner Bros. still hasn't moved... do you think?" Minahan didn't wait for the eagerly awaited call from Warner Bros., and came to discuss with Ronald again.

"Then continue to increase the pressure. I'll let Michael Gray handle it. Don't worry..." Ronald had already learned about Warner Bros.'s psychology from Niceta. He found a public relations consultant and began to discuss the "Fantastic Four" Increased release promotion.

"It has been learned that Fantastic Four will be released during the Labor Day (first Monday in September) long weekend this fall. Minahan Golan, the former Hollywood mogul, said that a separate advance screening will be earlier on Independence Day It will be released ahead of schedule at Comic-Con International in San Diego during the holidays to satisfy comic fans’ requests,” The Hollywood Reporter and Variety have begun releasing new release news.

According to two authoritative media reports, Minahan will donate the box office generated from the premiere and early release to the Coca-Cola Foundation's Special Olympics charity projects and McDonald's House's charity projects to support sick children.

“A new adventure for Israelis in Hollywood…”

At the same time, a Los Angeles film magazine, Film Threat (mainly covering low-budget independent films), interviewed Minahan Golan and said that after he resigned from the chairman of Cannon, his first film challenged Things that had previously failed in the field of comic adaptation were made into cover reports.

…

The news reached Warner Bros.'s Terry Temel, who yelled, "This bastard Israeli pauper..."

Although they are all of Jewish descent, most of the Jews in the American New York community are descendants of the middle class who immigrated before World War II. When Israel was founded, most of the Jews were descendants of poor people who immigrated to America without money, were lucky enough to escape the Holocaust, and then immigrated to the Middle East.

Both of them actually look down on each other. One side thinks the other is a poor guy, the other side thinks the other is a coward...

Terry Temel picked up the phone and made an appointment with boss Robert Daley's secretary. He wanted to report to his boss. It seems that Minahan is serious about it and has invested a lot of marketing funds.

If Fantastic Four is really released, the adaptation rights that originally expired this year will be automatically renewed. If Warner Bros. wants to adapt this movie, I'm afraid it will have to pay more.

"Quack, sure enough, Warner Bros. contacted me and they were willing to pay two million dollars to buy my Fantastic Four."

As expected, Minahan waited for Warner's offer and quickly called Ronald to report.

"Don't worry, they are the ones who are anxious now. Wait a minute, the price will go up."

"When do you want me to ask them for scripts for 'Forrest Gump' and 'Other People's Money'?" Minahan was also very proud on the other end of the phone and wanted to work hard to get what he wanted for Ronald. The script you want.

"Don't say it, don't say a word. When they offer to exchange it for scripts, you can name them. Remember, don't just talk about these movies..."

Everything is going in the direction Ronald expected, and the plan seems to be making good progress.

However, on the other hand, Ronald's plan encountered a setback.

Laurence Connor, the producer of the TV version of "Working Girl" and head of the writers' room, had finished filming the pilot and brought the master tapes to Ronald to watch.

Although the quality is much worse than the movie version, Sandra Bullock's face is still pretty among TV stars. Although the Tess played by her has lost a lot of knowledge about real business mergers and acquisitions, and is not as shrewd as in the movie version, she does have a lot more scenes.

In addition to Jack Traynor, the lead booking star, there was another mergers and acquisitions manager in the office, and a Latino plumber back home on Staten Island, who also liked her.

Ordinarily, the quality of a TV series like this is considered top-notch among the blockbuster soap operas. However, NBC has been reluctant to order the contract, so Ronald has to personally inquire.

I personally called NBC's executives in charge of purchasing, and the other person respected Ronald very much and said a lot of words of admiration, but when it came to the specific purchase of TV series, he didn't give him any face at all.

The two new TV series they are most optimistic about, one is also a movie adaptation, the TV series version of "Spring Is Not a Day to Study". Like "Working Girl", this one is also a new actor from scratch.

But unlike "Working Girl", this TV series is originally a high school love story, who falls in love with whom, who secretly eats behind someone's back, etc. Compared with "Working Girl", this TV series is obviously a workplace drama, but it is A drama that spends most of its time in love received even better reviews from the pilot.

The other one is "Law \u0026 Order", which received rare praise in the pilot. This kind of TV series that combines criminal investigation and courtroom seems to be very popular with the audience, and performs better than separate criminal investigation dramas and courtroom dramas.

Because there are these two A-level dramas, "Working Girl" can only be ranked as B-level. When new dramas are released in the fall, the time slot will be determined based on the situation.

Ronald came forward but was unable to secure a formal broadcast contract.

The distribution business of TV series looked completely different from the distribution of movies. Ronald felt the embarrassment of being separated from other industries, so he had to find some consulting companies in the TV series industry and began to learn slowly.

In fact, the biggest difference between TV series and movies is that TV stations are more conservative than movie theaters.

Not only is it conservative in scale, but it is also very conservative in its treatment of the series. Unlike movies, which are each a new product, TV series focus on series.

TV series with average ratings in the past are ranked higher than new series by TV stations. Because the old dramas have withstood the test of the audience, you just need to continue to follow the popular plots and continue to edit them. The risks of new dramas are much greater. Every year, there are four or five episodes of TV dramas that have terrible ratings and are canceled midway.

There is only one situation where old dramas will be abandoned. That is, if the ratings and advertising of old dramas suddenly fall below the average of new dramas, the TV station will consider replacing them with new dramas. After all, the salary of actors in old dramas is still much higher than that of new dramas.

"It seems that now NBC has to wait for any TV series to fall behind before we have a chance. But I will ask ABC if they are interested..." Ronald accepted the reality and replied to Lawrence Connor. .

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