hunt hollywood

The matter still has to go back to the sudden media questioning of Simon in March. A reporter from the "New York Post" discovered that Mark Hollington, the independent writer who published an article questioning Simon in the "New York Times", recently suddenly Bought a brand new Ferrari.

So, here comes the problem.

Mark Holrington's previous income was simply not enough for him to pay for such an expensive sports car.

Then.

Where did the money come from?

Is it the extra money you suddenly made because you were instructed to criticize a certain genius boy?

As a gossip tabloid with a huge circulation, the "New York Post" is known for all kinds of unscrupulous news.In order to avoid defamation lawsuits, this article did not directly challenge Mark Hollington at all, but the words always lead the audience in a certain direction.

Facing the accusation of the "New York Post", Mark Hollington rebutted very "cooperatively" at the first time, claiming that he bought the sports car in installments and did not pay the full amount, so naturally there is no " Extra money'.

The "New York Times" may not want to take this muddy water again. Mark Hollington's clarification article can only be published in another newspaper, "Daily News".

It's more lively now.

As we all know, the "Daily News" and the "New York Post", which have similar market positioning and similar circulation, have always been deadly rivals. It will even bring out the opposing bosses Rupert Murdoch and Mortimer Zuckerman and demote them to nothing.

Now, with Mark Holrington's clarification on the Daily News, the two sides are fighting again.

This kind of media tearing usually has little fruit.

Unfortunately for Mark Holrington.

Things got worse and worse, and the matter of him collecting money to discredit Simon Westeros was inexplicably confirmed in this tearing.

So much buzz until Friday, April 4th.

Due to the change in the media wind direction and the intensified marketing campaign of Fox Films, the box office decline of "Butterfly Effect" in the second week of the whole week continued to narrow compared with the three days of the weekend, only 15%, and it received another US$1828 million.

In two weeks, the total box office of "Butterfly Effect" has reached 3997 million US dollars.

It's just that the box office close to 4000 million US dollars has made "Butterfly Effect" squeeze into the No.1987 position of the total box office of the movies released in 4, second only to "Run Lola Run", "Lethal Weapon" and Disney's January release. A Cruel Fate.

On Simon's side, while he was busy with a lot of things at hand, he also cooperated with Fox Films to be a guest on NBC's "Tonight Show" again, and spent a few minutes discussing the creative inspiration of "Butterfly Effect".

According to the contract between the two parties, although Simon has the obligation to cooperate with the promotion of the film, he is actually the kind of person who doesn't like to show his face very much.

However, when Peter Sanders invited Simon to participate in the talk show, he directly sent a check of 30 US dollars, and also said that the North American box office of the film exceeded [-] million US dollars, and Fox Films would pay Simon another bonus.

The other party was so upbeat, Simon naturally tried his best to cooperate.

At the same time, after Michael Ovitz's visit, Robert Redford responded the next day, willing to accept the remuneration terms of $50 plus 5% profit sharing.

After the party last Saturday, Madonna and his wife thought about it for a few days, and they also gave a response, expressing their willingness to play the roles of the little bunny and the little pumpkin.The final negotiated condition is that the couple will take the $50 film salary together.

In addition, Simon also agreed to write a song for Madonna's new album in the second half of the year.

After finalizing these, "Pulp Fiction" now has three superstars joining Robert De Niro, Robert Redford and John Travolta.The fame of Madonna and Sean Penn should not be underestimated either.

With a budget of 800 million U.S. dollars, such a strong cast has been combined. The ecstatic Orion Films specially held a press conference on Thursday, announcing the name of Simon's new work "Pulp Fiction" and a series of participating actors. Big names list.

afternoon.

Daenerys Films headquarters in Santa Monica.

In Simon's office, Meg Ryan, who was dressed as an office worker in a white shirt and black tube skirt, carefully poured coffee for Simon and Amy before turning around and going out.

Amy held the coffee cup, watched Meg Ryan leave, and said to Simon, "She seems a little afraid of you. It's not a good sign to make a woman afraid."

These days, Meg Ryan is officially starting her '[-] to [-]' at Daenerys Films.

Simon just wanted to restore Meg Ryan to the state that a 26-year-old woman should have through a regular life, and didn't expect her to do any substantive work, so he just arranged for her to work as his secretary with Susan in the outside room .

Hearing what Amy said, Simon, who was flipping through a thick stack of actor information, just shook his head slightly and said, "It's not because I'm afraid, but because I'm embarrassed."

'Pengci' hurt myself twice, it's no wonder it wasn't embarrassing.

Amy naturally couldn't understand Simon's explanation, but she just smiled without asking.

Seeing Simon looking down at the actor's profile again, he noticed that there was a novel on his desk near her. Amy put the coffee cup back on the table and took the book curiously.

These days, Simon always has one or two portable books at hand. Amy thinks this is a good habit of her boss, but she doesn't think much about it.At such a young age, he has made achievements that many people would never be able to achieve in his lifetime. It seems completely logical to maintain the habit of reading all the time.

Amy even felt that maybe she should also find time to recharge her battery.

Thinking in her heart, Amy glanced at the name of the book in her hand, "Forrest Gump", the author's name was Winston Groom.Although I didn't know him, the novel chosen by the young man across the street was not too bad, so he opened it with great interest.

Simon noticed Amy's movements, and explained while reading the information: "Amy, I will ask Jonathan to help me discuss some scripts, novels and remake copyrights for me these days, but for the time being, I will put them on Westeros' side. You know, there is more money on the books over there, and we will definitely make these in the future."

Now that he already has a certain amount of capital, Simon has recently begun to implement what he has always wanted to do since returning to this era, and has grasped many film copyrights that are destined to be popular in the future in advance.

Looking at the gold mines that can be picked up almost at will, I feel sorry for myself if I don't do this.

Amy smiled and nodded, "I understand."

A slightly ambitious film company will hoard as much copyright as possible, and Simon's doing so does not surprise Amy at all.

On the books of Daenerys Films, there are only the operating funds borrowed by Simon and the production budgets of the two films "Death Comes" and "Pulp Fiction". It must be impossible to do this. The company will do it.

Chatting casually, Simon quickly picked out an actress profile, pressed the call button on the desktop, and called Susan Landis in.Noticing Amy's curious expression, he handed over the information and said, "Hey, this is my Mia."

Amy took the information and glanced at the name.

Nicole Kidman.

Who is this?

This thought flashed through her mind for the first time, Amy glanced at the photo again, and said to Simon: "If there is a video, you should at least watch her performance, right?"

Simon shook his head and said, "There's no need to waste time."

With that said, Susan walked in, and Simon pointed to the information in Amy's hand, and said, "Send this actor information to Jonathan, and tell them that they have two days to dig her to WMA. In addition, playing the role of Zhu I’m not satisfied with the black actors recommended by several companies, so I asked them to choose another batch to send over. Fame doesn’t matter. Also, the female taxi driver is the same, charming, flirtatious, with an accent, I I think what I said is very clear. There is no need to recommend local ones, choose European ones.”

Amy handed the information to Susan, listened to Simon's series of instructions, shook her head with a helpless smile, and found that it was always difficult for her to guess what her young boss was thinking.

Simon was actually helpless.

After finalizing a group of big names, the budget he can use to select other actors is only 100 million US dollars, but there are still a large number of roles in the film that have not yet been found.

Among them, Jules, who is more important, is the role of the original Samuel Jackson. Simon still hopes that the other party can play.But right now, Samuel L. Jackson doesn't know where.

In this era without the Internet, it is not so difficult to search for an unknown person.

Even Mia had her share of twists and turns.

Simon originally wanted to let Michelle Pfeiffer try it, and it didn't matter if it was more expensive.

However, after a brief audition, Simon discovered a very serious problem.

John Travolta is close to 1.9 meters tall, but Michelle Pfeiffer is only a little over 1.7 meters.With such a height difference between the two, the composition of the picture would be distorted as soon as they stood on the stage. How could it be possible to perform that classic swing dance.

After Michelle Pfeiffer, Simon added a height limit of 180cm or more to the casting conditions.

With "Pulp Fiction" slated to start filming in July, Simon still has so much work to do.After a simple selection, I chose Nicole Kidman, who was once very familiar, very simply.

Waiting for Susan's office, Simon glanced at his watch and asked Amy, "Didn't it say it was three o'clock?"

Amy also looked at the time and said, "How about I ask someone to call and ask."

Just as she was talking, there was another knock on the office door, and Meg Ryan poked her head in and said, "Mr. Westeros, Ms. Pascale, Mr. O'Brien is here."

Hearing this, the two stood up together and greeted them.

Office door.

A middle-aged white man with a round face in his 40s also walked in at this time, and extended his hand to Simon and Amy very sorry, and said, "I'm so sorry, Mr. Westeros and Ms. Pascal, I met you on the road. Little things."

Listening to the typical British accent of a middle-aged man, Simon walked over and smiled and shook hands with the other party, saying, "It's okay, Danny, just call me Simon."

Amy also shook hands with the other party and introduced.

Simon signaled to Meg Ryan to bring in some more coffee, and the three sat down in the reception area together, looking at each other involuntarily.

The middle-aged man's name is Dennis O'Brien, a film producer who runs a film company called Craft Films in partnership with the original Beatles guitarist George Harrison.

George Harrison founded the film company in 1978 to finance a friend of his.

Later, the film produced by Harrison's friend won a box office of 400 million US dollars in North America at a cost of 2000 million US dollars. As a result, the handicraft film industry was out of control, and then "Time" starring Sean Connery was launched. Robbers and other blockbuster films have gradually become a well-known independent production company in the UK over the years.

but.

Handicraft Films just stumbled last year with Madonna and Sean Penn's "Magic City".

With a budget of 1700 million US dollars, the final North American box office of 231 million US dollars may not be enough to pay the publisher MGM Pictures' publicity expenses.

Due to the overheating of the global economy in recent years, a large amount of capital has poured into the film industry. Handicraft Films did not close down because of the failure of "Magic City". Instead, it contacted Daenerys Films through Madonna's relationship. "When Harry Met Sally" generated interest.

The success of "The Butterfly Effect" solved the deadlock of "When Harry Met Sally" that had been ignored before.In the past week, not only many second- and third-tier film companies, but also the seven major film companies have basically re-expressed their interest in "When Harry Met Sally".

However, Simon now has other plans.

It is impossible for Daenerys Pictures to establish its own distribution channels in the short term, and the announcement of "When Harry Met Sally" naturally still needs to cooperate with the seven majors.But in terms of production, in order to maintain absolute control over the entire project, Simon plans to co-invest with some independent film studios.

In doing so, as long as a portion of the funding can be obtained first, the entire project can be launched.

When Simon completes the stock index futures operation in the second half of the year, Daenerys Pictures can inject follow-up funds into the entire project.At the same time, due to the success of the two films "Run Lola Run" and "The Butterfly Effect", even if it is a joint investment, Daenerys Pictures has enough confidence to ask for more revenue sharing.

Chapter 101 The Hollywood Ledger

"Danny, several major studios are currently interested in "When Harry Met Sally", and the commercial prospects must be very secure. However, in order to maintain control of this project, Daenerys Films The industry is more inclined to invest independently. On the other hand, the funds in my hands will not be used until the end of the year, but the film will start shooting in September. That’s why we choose to cooperate with a third party.”

Although Daenerys Films contacted here after Daenerys Films released rumors of seeking cooperation, Dennis O'Brien keenly raised his doubts after listening to Simon's explanation of the general situation of the project.

"Simon, as far as I know, Daenerys Pictures has absolute control over both "Death Comes" and "Pulp Fiction". "It shouldn't be difficult to get equal treatment, shouldn't it?"

Simon shook his head and said, "Danny, it's different this time. The point is that I also intend to participate in the investment. If I cooperate with one of the seven companies, even if I can get control over the production process of the project, the follow-up release will not be limited to the North American Academy. line, all other channels must be completely tied up with the other party. Moreover, the accounting system of the big film companies cannot guarantee that Daenerys Pictures will get the benefits we deserve, and you must have experienced this."

Dennis O'Brien nodded sympathetically.

Almost all film capitals that have entered Hollywood hate the "Hollywood books" of major studios and even second- and third-tier distribution companies.

In order to retain as much as possible the due benefits of independent producers, Hollywood distribution companies will do everything possible to inflate costs in various aspects.

Take theatrical distribution as an example. If it is a project of an independent film producer, the usual rules for sharing accounts between Hollywood distributors and producers are as follows.

After the movie is released, the distributor will first deduct a part of the movie box office as a distribution commission.The proportion of this money is determined by the contract between the two parties, and the stronger the producer needs to pay the lower the distribution commission.

In the process of cooperation between DreamWorks and Paramount and other companies in the original time and space, the publishing commission that needs to be paid is only 8%.However, weak producers need to pay distribution commissions as high as 15%.

But that's just the beginning.

The publisher's next publicity fee is the "essence" of Hollywood's ledger system.

Film distribution definitely costs money.

Copy costs, TV advertisements, offline expenses for company loss-making projects, lawn mowing at studios, private jets for management vacations, basically everything that can be counted for you will be counted for you.

finally.

In fact, the publicity fee may be less than half of the production cost, and it may even be higher than the production cost of the movie on the books of the distribution company.

So, can the 'Hollywood Ledger' be avoided?

No.

This is already a clear rule of Hollywood film companies. Even the "Harry Potter" series, which once had a single global box office of 10 billion US dollars, is actually a loss on the books.Even if the producer is strong enough to personally send an accountant to follow up on the release, the result will only be an inflated publicity budget.

Of course, this problem arises.

All are not fools.

Hollywood does this, why are there so many capitals rushing to it?

Obvious.

The 'Hollywood Ledger' certainly has a strategy.

For strong capital, they usually invest at the level of the entire major studio, and then calculate the general ledger and share the profit and loss.No matter how a film company plays tricks on a single project, the overall financial statement must be clear.Otherwise, the federal tax office will not agree.

As for small and medium-sized film investors, they either choose to sell out the copyright directly, or set up a film company to distribute it themselves.

at the moment.

Simon's release plan for "When Harry Met Sally" was basically similar to "Run Lola Run".Retain the copyright of each channel as much as possible, first promote the film to North American theaters, and then gradually operate the follow-up distribution according to the local box office results.Of course, the main thing is to sell out.

Inside the office.

Simon and Amy spent more than an hour explaining to Dennis O'Brien in detail the main cast, shooting schedule, distribution strategy and other details of "When Harry Met Sally".

Finally, Simon talked about the investment ratio and the distribution of benefits.