Hollywood Road

You did it on purpose, right?

After the press conference, Murphy had just returned to the office floor of CAA upstairs, and Kara Firth, who came up with him, asked, Have you already planned it?

Murphy didn't answer, and walked towards Bill Ross's office.

Kara Firth glanced at him from the side, and said with certainty, You did it on purpose, you planned it long ago!

It is obvious that the Stanton studio obtained the relevant film authorization from the Boston Globe a few years ago, and in the process of Diego Ross hitting the Oscars, it was cleverly using the Catholic Church The conflict with Hollywood, if he said he had no plan, no fool would believe it.

My plan is to touch the sensibilities of the Catholic Church with this new film.

Kara Firth is not an outsider either, Murphy simply said, Let them continue to attack me, this will help Dark City win awards, I didn't expect the plan to change as fast as it did, and the incident in front of the Chinese Theater in Hollywood happened. The shooting can just be regarded as a counterattack against the Catholic Church.

It's not just that simple, is it?

They are old friends, Kara Firth can guess some of Murphy's thoughts, I heard that Howard Koch, the current rotating chairman of the academy, is very dissatisfied with the Catholic Church's attempt to interfere in Hollywood, and has already united a large number of academies with great influence. The powerful old man surrounded the major Hollywood companies behind his back to launch a counterattack against Catholicism in the media. Now that you want to shoot such a film, those old guys, and even most of the Hollywood companies, will probably raise their hands to express their approval and welcome .”

Who knows? Murphy shrugged, I'm just taking advantage of the current situation.

He pushed open Bill Ross's office door and walked in.

Carafes then followed in, seeing Murphy greet Bill Rossis and sitting on the sofa, he couldn't help sighing, maybe Murphy is not the best director in Hollywood, but he is the best at creating situations and A director who takes advantage of the situation.

In this regard, if he ranks second among all directors in Hollywood, no one can rank first.

Sitting on the sofa next to Murphy, the three of them discussed some things about the movie.

The film's investment will not be very high.

Most of the time, though, it's Murphy who says, Around $40 million is enough.

Carla Firth asked,

What about the investment ratio?

Leave it all to 20th Century Fox. Murphy didn't plan to let Stanton Studios invest. You know, I'm eyeing Sony Columbia Pictures.

Well. Kara Feith nodded, Forty million dollars is not a lot of investment, and it will pass the company's routine review in a month at most.

Where's the goal? Bill Rossis asked. Next awards season?

Yes! Murphy said solemnly, The main goal of this film is to win awards, and all plans must be carried out around this goal.

Kara Firth thought for a while, There is no problem with this. If the film can win an important Oscar award, income will not be a problem. The company definitely has no objections.

Although the influence of the Oscars is declining, the Oscar effect on the market revenue growth of a film is still very obvious.

By the way, Murphy. Kara Feith asked again, When can you finish this film at the earliest?

Murphy had already planned, saying, It won't be beyond May next year.

Can it be sped up a bit? Kara Firth reminded, We can go to the Cannes Film Festival in April.

For Hollywood films that specialize in awards, the awards usually start in the first half of the year, and some films have even been shown at the Sun Denis Film Festival at the beginning of the year to build word-of-mouth for the awards season at the end of the year.

No, we're not going to Cannes! Murphy offered a more thoughtful suggestion, We're going to Italy! We're going to Venice!

How can a movie with such a theme and content be worthy of the various accusations of the Catholic Church without a trip to Italy?

Venice Film Festival? Carla Firth smiled immediately, Good idea! Let's go to Venice! Go to the hometown of Catholicism! Catholicism is not instigating the media and some organizations to target us, so let's take the premiere of this film Put it in front of the eyes of the Vatican! Let them take a good look at who lacks a sense of social responsibility!

Bill Rossis looked at Murphy and then at Kara Firth, the two lawless work partners.

Still, it's a good idea, and one that wins goodwill from within Hollywood.

Now when it comes to the accusations and interference of Catholicism, most people in Hollywood scoff at it. Some typical liberals have even started to criticize Catholicism in the media.

Murphy looked at the time, I'm going to attend a theater seminar, Kara, remember to remind Fox to sign up for the Venice Film Festival. Bill, keep an eye on the PR work for Dark City for the time being.

After bidding farewell to Kara Firth and Bill Rossis, Murphy went to the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills to attend a reception hosted by the North American Theater Network Alliance. Views and opinions of Hollywood directors and other practitioners.

With the depreciation of the US dollar, it is impossible to avoid the price increase of movie tickets. Murphy is very clear that this so-called consultation is just a routine job. The film has enough support, and attendance is also a basic courtesy.

In fact, the trend of movie ticket prices in North America is already obvious.

Although the film industry is facing more and more competition from other entertainment, the North American box office of the past summer period is still higher than last year. However, for Murphy and other industry insiders, they also understand that the rise of the North American box office is not the same as that of the general market. It is not caused by the increase in the number of moviegoers, but more due to the price increase of movie tickets.

For consumers who like entertainment activities, the present can be described as a golden age. Super blockbusters are sweeping in, and a series of huge screen productions are overwhelming, stimulating the audio-visual enjoyment of audiences all over the world. As the commercial value of the entertainment industry becomes increasingly prominent, more and more More and more high-quality TV series are also coming out, and the TV entertainment industry is more prosperous than ever.

Of course, there are also many live entertainment options, such as sports games, concerts and other various mixed media performances.

In this climate of increasingly fierce competition, according to common sense, film distributors will be more cautious, try to maintain a balance of payments, and even reduce profits appropriately-more benefits to consumers in order to consolidate their market positions.

But the opposite is true. What Murphy sees is that movie ticket prices are quietly and slowly rising.

At the meeting, Murphy got the results of a voluntary survey conducted by the National Association of Theater Owners. This year, the average price of a single movie ticket in North America exceeded $8, which has reached an all-time high.

That's a jump of 26 cents and a nearly 4 percent jump over the previous year's average ticket price, which was itself an all-time record high.

However, audiences in North America are not very repulsed by this small increase.

Audiences always pursue audio-visual enjoyment. Despite the rapid development of home theater products, the visual experience of movie theaters is always bigger and better than that of their own homes. In particular, special picture effects such as IMAX movie theaters and 3D technology are becoming more and more popular among audiences. These technical means can Helping increase the immersive entertainment experience, and it's still moving forward.

The price of IMAX tickets is 3 to 4 dollars higher than that of ordinary movies. The audience's pursuit of better audio-visual stimulation can easily increase the value of movies. For example, when Dark City was released, a large number of IMAX movie tickets were snapped up by fans. , instantly raised the average ticket price for the entire summer, creating a record high of $8.83.

Film companies and theater companies are profit-driven, and they will be in the future, but they also know that they must further reduce risks in the fierce market, so they must become smarter and choose more 3D.

Today's studios are increasingly emphasizing family-friendly movies and action blockbusters -- especially PG-13 movies in combination -- rather than simply shooting everything in 3D. Because they know that for the themes they want to watch, audiences want to have a better theater experience and are willing to pay more for it.

In this digital age, audiences are becoming more and more sensitive and picky about high-quality pictures and sound effects, but quality comes at the cost of cost. Large movie theaters have spent a lot of money to upgrade their sound systems, add digital projectors, and subsequently put These expenses are apportioned to each viewer.

This is a typical small increase, and consumers generally don't mind, because they see or hear the immediate benefits of theater upgrades. They pay for the difference, and they don't mind paying an extra 50 cents eight times out of ten.

The customer's service experience has a great influence on the overall impression. Good service can make the audience feel that their movie-watching experience is great, and they can be freed from the turbulent and trivial daily life.

The increase in movie ticket prices may seem obvious because it exceeds general inflation, but in the end, going to the movies is still one of the most affordable forms of home entertainment, both in the United States and in most countries in the world. and region.

After attending this regular meeting, he took a photo with the important members of the Council of the North American Theater Alliance, politely said a few words to thank them for their continuous support, and Murphy left the Four Seasons Hotel, and then returned to Go to the manor, temporarily put aside other work, and start preparing the script outline and project proposal for the new movie.