Chapter 11: first contact

In just a short while, several film selection personnel changed their views on this film one after another.

The content of the film is very simple. Three film college students mysteriously disappeared in the jungle near Buzizville, a small town in Maryland, USA.

At the time, they were filming a documentary about the ancient local legend "The Blair Witch".

It was not until a year later that their backpacks were discovered, and the tapes, Hi-8 cameras, 16mm cameras and other items contained in them clearly recorded the last journey of the three.

Except for a fairly beautiful heroine, and a slightly frightening and mysterious atmosphere, there is nothing eye-catching in the whole film.

However, this is an indescribable film, with a garbage-like picture quality, but it has an amazing promotional plan.

According to his distribution experience for many years, as long as the publicity is in place according to this plan, it is almost 100% able to get a good box office.

What's more, the film in front of me has a poor investment.

Even if it takes a certain amount of resources to promote it, it won't need too much money, just a little bit of motivating.

At that time, those TV stations and newspapers will come forward excitedly and spontaneously reprint and publicize the whole thing.

The only thing that makes people hesitate is that after the film is released, the truth will come out sooner or later. Facing the fooled news media, as well as countless public relations and movie fans, if a solution is not resolved, it will affect the reputation of the company .

Of course, he only hesitated at most. As one of the largest film production and distribution companies in Hollywood, 20th Century Fox's promotion line is not very high, but the promotion plan in front of it is even lower.

Twentieth Century Fox is backed by News Corporation and is one of the largest multinational media groups in the world. As long as it is profitable, who cares about a mere reputation.

Colette-Singer, as one of the managers of 20th Century Fox's distribution department, is also an excellent film selector, and even has a certain say in the company's introduction of film distribution.

He is not like a film critic who pays too much attention to the details of the film. Many of the best-selling films have a passable shooting level at best.

He is more concerned about changes in the market, and what kind of movies the North American public and movie fans want to see and what types of movies they need.

Obviously, the "Blair Witch" in front of me has such potential, which can cater to the curiosity of the North American public and movie fans.

Even, if it can be released simultaneously, some English-speaking regions can achieve good box office.

For a moment, his attention was all on talking with the two film selection staff beside him, talking about the promotion plan in a low voice, and he didn't care about the content of the film.

According to the plan at hand, as long as the propaganda is successful and there are no obvious loopholes in the plot and logic, then other aspects can be completely ignored.

"You can try it." Colette-Singer seemed to be talking to himself, and at the same time, he seemed to be asking for the opinions of colleagues around him.

"You can really try it."

The two colleagues next to him nodded in unison.

It might be considered for other distribution companies, but Twentieth Century Fox does not need it at all. With News Corporation as its support, there is no need to worry about publicity.

"A stunning publicity plan, I really don't know how he came up with it."

One of the film selection staff had a very complicated tone. He had never encountered such a thing, and he would decide whether to release the film because of a publicity plan.

"I really want to see what it does when it comes out."

Even if it only has a few million dollars at the box office, it will still make a solid profit, and the potential of the film in front of it is obviously not only a few million dollars.

Maybe, 20th Century Fox will release a film that can go down in the annals of Hollywood's low-budget blockbuster hits.

The entire film of "The Blair Witch" is only about 90 minutes long, about one and a half hours, so the trial viewing will not last long.

As the screening of the film ended, Colette Singer walked over impatiently and said with a smile: "A very good film."

Ryan was very polite and said, "Thank you for your compliment."

Colette Singer shook his hand with a smile and said, "This is not a compliment."

"To be honest, if it wasn't for Mr. Lucas' invitation, I would never have participated in today's trial meeting."

"However, it seems that today you brought me a surprise."

"Maybe we can sit down and talk."

Needless to say, Ryan could tell that the Colette Singer in front of him was very interested in "The Blair Witch".

But Ryan didn't directly agree. Instead, he glanced at Helen first, saw her nodded slightly, and then agreed: "Of course."

The three of them came to a coffee shop downstairs and chatted briefly.

The three of them knew very well that it was just a simple contact right now, and specific matters needed to be discussed separately. After all, the distribution department of 20th Century Fox also needed some time to discuss.

The only thing that is certain is that as long as the two people in front of them don't open their mouths, and everything follows Hollywood's rules, Twentieth Century Fox will not refuse to release this film anyway.

Even, in his own opinion, George Lucas is only one aspect, and the most important thing is the promotion plan in his hand.

"Great claims program, really good."

Colette-Singer thought for a while, and said firstly: "But the film itself has no advantages at all. Frankly speaking, if it weren't for the existence of this promotional plan, even if it was recommended by Mr. Lucas, this film would be very good. Difficult to get into theaters."

"So you should be clear that distributing such a film is very risky for the distribution company, so the price of buying out the copyright may not be too high."

He deliberately emphasized the tone on the copyright, and did not mention the split at all.

Whether it was Ryan or Helen, they had long been prepared for this.

For such a film, plus a new director with a not-so-famous reputation, no distribution company will agree to distribute it in a share-sharing manner.

"I can agree to buy out the copyright."

Ryan shrugged his shoulders and said, "However, regarding the specific price, I think 20th Century Fox will not be stingy."

Helen who was next to her frowned when she heard the words, and opened her mouth, but in the end she didn't make a sound.

Will not be stingy!

If you let outsiders hear it, you have to laugh out loud.

There is no film company or distribution company in Hollywood that is not stingy, unless the other party has more interests.

A trace of embarrassment appeared on Colette-Singer's face. If another person had said this, he would have said yes without hesitation, and would have quoted an extremely low price, at most $30,000 to $50,000, to buy the copyright.

But the Ryan in front of him is a little different. Leaving aside the amazing publicity plan of the film, the George-Lucas relationship alone cannot be deceived.

He knew very well in his heart the importance of George Lucas to the company's top management, and that was about restarting the "Star Wars" series of films.

"Okay, Mr. Ryan, on behalf of Twentieth Century Fox, I can buy the entire copyright of this film for $800,000."

Colette-Singer hesitated for a long time before saying what he thought was a very high price. Afterwards, he was afraid that Ryan would refuse directly, so he added again: "Of course this is just my personal offer, and the details need to be negotiated."

Helen felt relieved. The worries she had been worrying for a while can be completely relaxed. At a cost of more than 40,000 US dollars, it is already very rare to get a price of 800,000 US dollars.

Furthermore, according to her experience, it is entirely possible to slightly increase the price in the subsequent negotiation process.

Eight hundred thousand dollars!

Ryan nodded secretly. This price can be said to be very high, or in George Lucas's face, the price offered is very generous.

However, he clearly remembered the achievements of "The Blair Witch" in his previous life, with a box office of US$140 million in North America and US$248 million worldwide.

If he sold all the copyrights at a price of 800,000 US dollars, he would be somewhat unwilling.

“Very sincere price.”

Ryan looked very calm, and said: "I have no doubts about the price, it's just that the producer and the director will share the price, and you need to discuss it with Helen."

During the filming of the whole film, he held several roles, and he did not have a dollar salary, but only signed a box office sharing agreement.

At first Helen thought that he was trying to save money, but only now did he understand that he had already decided to take a share of the box office.

Producer and director share!

Immediately, Colette-Singer was a little dumbfounded. This was the first time he had encountered such a situation. What was the producer and director's share in the copyright buyout?

Logically speaking, even if there is a share, shouldn't it be included in the buyout money!

It's hard to say that the distribution company has to pay for such a share.

"Mr. Ryan, please forgive me for not being able to agree to your request." Colette Singer refused without hesitation.

He would never agree to such a request, and he had no right to agree.

Unless the company's top management nods, he doesn't have such rights yet.

"It's okay, we can talk about it slowly."

Ryan didn't look anxious at all, as if he wasn't the one who wanted to speed up the filming progress a few days ago and try to release the film in the off-season.

At the moment, Colette Singh had no choice but to say goodbye and leave. As for the final agreement or not, it can only be left to the upper management of the company to decide.

Seeing that there were only Ryan and Helen left, she finally couldn't help but speak, and said very seriously: "Ryan, I hope that next time, you can leave it to me to handle such a matter, instead of negotiating with the distribution company in person. .”

This kind of thing is originally the scope of work of the agent, similar to Helen's work on the crew some time ago, it is no longer within the scope of work of the agent. UU reading www.uukanshu.com

She wouldn't have done it if she hadn't been forced to.

"no problem."

"The following negotiations can be completely entrusted to you." Ryan showed a smiling face, he didn't want to have any unpleasantness with the beautiful big golden legs in front of him.

In fact, the biggest role of an agent in Hollywood, apart from the help of some contacts, is to negotiate with film companies, distribution companies, and investment companies, and beat the table for a long time.

Actors or directors themselves will not have any unpleasant things happen to them.

In this way, it is naturally beneficial to the filming work of the crew.

"I hope so." Helen held a skeptical attitude.

After so many days, she got to know Ryan a little bit better. She didn't seem to care about anything, but she had her own persistence, and she wouldn't follow the manager's advice on everything.

"The producer or director can discuss the matter, but even if 20th Century Fox finally agrees, it probably won't be too much." Helen took the initiative to change the subject and talked about the serious matter.

"Normal splits are hard to talk about, so how about box office splits!"

"For example, the box office of 30 million US dollars is used as a starting point. For every additional 10 million US dollars in the box office, you can get 1% of the share." Ryan asked.

He had already thought about this for a long time, and wanted a stepped box office share, even if the starting point was higher, it didn't matter.

Step-up box office share!

"Since you are optimistic about the film's box office, then I can try to talk to the people in the distribution department of 20th Century Fox." Helen didn't look surprised at all.

No need to ask, she knew that Ryan had great expectations for the film's box office, and would rather make concessions on the buyout price, and wanted a certain share of the box office.