I’m in Hollywood

The other party's initial condition is that, Bill Michalnick said, Sony Pictures can share 15% of the total revenue of Dad Rush including box office, audio and video products and peripheral playback authorization as the distribution fee, but We need to cover the distribution budget of the film.”

Compared with the time when he only knew foolishly staring at the box office, Eric just heard it and knew that the producer who got Adam Sandler's new film was a Hollywood veteran.

Among Hollywood film production and publicity budgets, the most fictitious is undoubtedly the publicity budget.

According to the rules, several major Hollywood unions need to take a certain percentage of the net profit of Hollywood movies as their member benefits. In addition, some movie creators will also sign net profit sharing contracts with movie companies, as well as some tax avoidance factors. In order to reduce Even to avoid this part of the expenditure, the production company usually falsely announces the budget, offsetting all the profits generated during the film distribution process, making the book appear a loss, which is the so-called Hollywood ledger.

The producers of Dad Rush Forward proposed that Colombia should bear the publicity budget of the film, which directly avoided the big pit of the distribution company's false publicity budget. You know, the publicity budget of Hollywood movies is basically about half of the production cost, but the publicity budget of many films is even higher than the production cost.

Also, the 15% distribution share of omni-channel revenue is clearly well thought out.

The revenue here is naturally not the profit of the movie, nor the total sales revenue of the movie’s box office and DVD, but the revenue obtained by the movie company after sharing it from various terminal sellers. % share, the average overseas share is about 35%, and the wholesale income of audio and video products, etc.

Adam Sandler's overseas box office appeal is basically negligible, and the operating cycle of audio-visual peripherals such as video tapes and DVDs is too long. For Colombia, the most realistic thing is the North American box office share.

The 15% share of box office revenue, with a little calculation, is probably only equivalent to 8% of the total North American box office revenue. That is to say, if Dad Rush earns 100 million US dollars at the North American box office, Columbia Pictures can only get 8 million US dollars. Although the overseas box office is not too much, it is still no problem to collect 2 million US dollars.

In this way, Colombia can take $ 10 million at the box office. According to the current Hollywood box office, audio and video, and licensing each account for one-third of the revenue, after about two years of omni-channel operation, Colombia's total revenue is about 30 million US dollars.

New Line's budgets for Wedding Singer and Tea Boy are both $10 million. Of course, it will definitely not be written in the book. If Dad Rush also follows this standard,

After two busy years, Colombia can only get a net profit of 20 million US dollars.

It is not difficult to guess that since Adam Sandler rejected the new line's $15 million salary offer, then the independent production company gave him at least a minimum of $20 million.

Compared to Adam Sandler's easy money, Columbia is making a lot of hard money.

hard money.

A studio that's one of the Big Seven in Hollywood has been reduced to making some hard-earned money from the obvious, rather than going bankrupt.

In fact, Sony Pictures in the original time and space, except for the Spider-Man series that has been clinging to it, can occasionally make the company's financial report look better. At other times, it is basically in the process of Adam Sandler, Will Smith The state of these ultra-low cost-effective stars earning 'hard money'. Tom Cruise earns more than $70 million from each Mission: Impossible film, which has already turned Paramount against it, but Will Smith has frequently won singles from his cooperation with Sony Pictures. The department's revenue is as high as 80 million US dollars.

After clarifying his thoughts, Eric said to Bill Michnick without hesitation: Reject them, we don't want the distribution rights of this movie, and we won't accept similar conditions in the future.

Bill Michanick hesitated, saying, Eric, the 15% share is definitely still negotiable.

Bill, you must have made a profit forecast for this film, right? Eric asked, and without waiting for Bill Michanick to answer, he continued: I'd rather Columbia's distribution channels remain idle, not Work for stars. Colombia lacks production funds. I will give you the resources. You need to publicize and distribute resources. The media network of the Firefly system can provide them. Therefore, all you have to do is to take your team to find good movie projects. You There are two years, and after two years if Colombia doesn't get better, I will make the first layoff. If it can't be saved after that, I will lay off you and merge Colombia into Firefly.

After Eric finished speaking, he ignored the two of them, got up and walked directly outside the restaurant.

Bill Michanick digested what Eric just said, and suddenly felt the pressure doubled.

Although Eric's words just now were very intense, but think about it carefully, you need money for money, and you need channels and channels. If you can't do it well, even if Eric doesn't speak, he has no face to stay in Colombia. However, as one of the riskiest industries in the world, who dares to guarantee the success or failure of a movie?

Looking at Kenneth Horn, who seemed to be unaffected by what Eric just said, Bill Michanic suddenly had a flash of inspiration, and tentatively said, Kenneth, I heard In addition to Midnight Bell, how many good Japanese horror movie scripts are there in Xinxian's hands?

Kenneth Horn didn't wait for Bill Michanick to bring it up, he shook his head and smiled, Don't even think about it.

Bill Michanick took a sip of his coffee dejectedly, and said, I found that Eric personally helped you choose so many projects, even MGM's agent movie universe, but there is nothing here in Columbia. what.

Really? Kenneth Horn still had a smile on his face, and said: Otherwise, you can give me Pirates of the Caribbean, and you can choose the script of the new line.

Although Pirates of the Caribbean was pressed by Eric himself and has no intention of starting, but just thinking about Eric's direct purchase of Sony Pictures for this script, it is impossible to imagine how much he attaches importance to this project.

Hearing Kenneth Horn's request, Bill Michanic immediately 'tit for tat' and said, Don't even think about it.

Eric took Columbia, to a certain extent, for Pirates of the Caribbean, and more importantly, to continue to expand the production and distribution platform of the Firefly system.

Although many people inside and outside Hollywood are very downbeat about Columbia's prospects, Eric is full of confidence in Colombia's recovery. After all, for him, he chooses from hundreds of film projects that are brewing in Hollywood every moment. It's a no-brainer to give Colombia some scripts with big-selling potential.

The words just now were just a beating on Bill Michanick.

Kenneth Horn obviously saw this, and was very relaxed. Bill Michanick was beaten by Eric, and naturally he would be more attentive.

As for Adam Sandler's new film, even if the box office hits 200 million or more in the future, Eric doesn't care. Re-setting the rules of Hollywood's profit distribution is definitely more important in Eric's mind than temporary gains and losses.

Moreover, after leaving the Firefly system, there are three remaining companies, Warner Bros., Paramount, and Universal Pictures, but absolutely none of them seem to be the same.

As for the so-called 'Sudden Entertainment' that distributes independently, given the situation that Hollywood has completed the major integration of the media industry, the other party will definitely face the constraints of the seven major alliances in doing so. Online platform, the box office with the potential of 100 million US dollars, is lucky to get 50 million.

After all, the number of viewers and the size of the ticket warehouse for each schedule are fixed. The entry of an independent company is equivalent to cutting meat from the seven majors. Who would want to.

It can be said that after the new century, unless there is a fundamental change in North America's policy towards the media industry, the number of major Hollywood studios will only decrease, but not increase.

Leaving the restaurant, Eric originally wanted to go up to the top plywood to breathe, but found that Harvey Weinstein, Robert Redford and others were already standing here, and Julia was still standing in the crowd. He was chatting and laughing, and when he saw Eric appear, his temperament suddenly changed, and he came over like a soft little daughter-in-law and held Eric's arm affectionately.

Everyone could feel Julia's abnormality, but no one had any strange expressions on their faces. Over the years, Julia has obviously not cared about these things at all. Among Eric's women, only Julia dared to put the ruby ​​ring on her hand and seldom took it off. .

Feeling the slippery of the silk dress on Julia's body, Eric smiled and greeted everyone: What are you talking about?

Sundance Film Festival, said Robert Redford, Eric, are you interested in going skiing in Park City, now is the time?

In addition to his identities as well-known Hollywood directors and actors, Robert Redford is also the founder of the famous Sundance Film Festival.

Eric was not interested in skiing, and although he knew that Robert Redford meant to invite himself to the Sundance Film Festival, he still planned to shake his head and refuse.

However, just as he was about to speak, Julia gently tugged at his sleeve and whispered expectantly, Eric, I promised Bob to attend the opening ceremony of the Sundance Film Festival next week, Will you go with me?

Julia rarely made any requests to Eric, and when she heard the girl speak, Eric had no idea of ​​refusal at all, so he had to look at Robert Redford again, and said, So, Bob, let's go down. What day are you coming?

The opening ceremony is Thursday, said Robert Redford, trying to hide the expression on his face as much as possible. The opening ceremony is held in the evening. You can go there that day.

Okay then, I'll take Julia to see it, Eric nodded and continued the topic: Are there any outstanding films this year?

This, said Robert Redford with a smile, I think all the films are very good, but it's up to you to see if it suits your taste.

The purpose of the Sundance Film Festival is to foster independent films and newcomers, and one of the biggest features of these films is their low cost. As the most successful commercial director in Hollywood right now, it's hard for Robert Redford to tell if Eric would still be interested in these small productions.

Eric can also roughly understand the subtext in Robert Redford's words, saying: Actually, the production cost of a movie has never been the most important, but I prefer the kind of small and big movies.

When Harvey Weinstein heard Eric's words, he immediately shook his head and said, Eric, everyone likes what you said.

Eric was stunned for a moment, then laughed, and said, Yes, in fact, everyone likes it.

After chatting and laughing, Eric left the deck with Julia and asked, Where's Liz?

She's gone to New York. Walking in the corridor in the cabin, Julia pressed closer to Eric's body and added, It seems that she went to quarrel.

Eric became interested as soon as he heard it, and said, Why are you arguing?

Julia was confused and said, I don't know.

Although Murdoch was shrewd and ruthless in business, he was never a strict father, or his two sons would not have grown into dudes. For Elizabeth, the best of the children, the old man prefers it, and Eric has never seen Elizabeth quarrel with his father.

Then, if you go to New York to quarrel, the object can only be a strange woman.

Thinking of how tragically Elizabeth and the girl could be abused and cried when they quarreled, Eric was a little worried about her quarrel journey.

When they came to the lower main deck, Eric walked to the buffet table, picked up a plate with Julia, planned to eat something, and asked, Forget it, let's not talk about her, you are preparing for that new movie. How's it going?

It's been discussed with Soderbergh, Julia said, picking out the food, The filming will start in March and it will be released at the end of the year.

Eric nodded and said with a smile, Nicole's Moulin Rouge is scheduled for next year, and it is estimated that no one will compete with you this year.

As a big-budget musical, Nicole's Moulin Rouge originally hoped to be released this summer, but due to various delays, the summer program could not be completed, and the end of the year was too crowded. In the direct competition of Uncompromising, Fox simply pushed the schedule to next year.

The two took the food, walked to a table and chairs on the deck with their plates and sat down. Julia said, I don't care about the queen, Eric, you don't care either, right?

Eric pretended to think for a while, then smiled: It's better to be a queen.

Well, then I'll get an actress, Julia's expression changed again in a blink of an eye, and said, Eric, if you can't wait, there are a few actresses on board now.

Eric wanted to knock on Julia's forehead like a girl, but there were many people around, so he didn't move, and said, Who is there, why didn't I see it?

Julia turned her head to look around, pointed her little hand, and said, Hey, Holly Hunter, the actress of Farewell to the Piano, although she played a mute in that movie, her voice is actually It sounds good.