Chapter 364

Within an hour, Langley and Drake returned to the same hotel again to visit another giant in the independent film industry.

If the Weinstein brothers were born for the Oscars, all their works have only one goal: the little golden man; Then focus pictures and Fox Searchlight were born for independent films. These two companies are also affiliated to the top large film companies. As independent brands, they specialize in independent fields.

The goal of these two brands is not for Oscars, but to tap more potential works and film practitioners from the independent film industry. To put it simply, it is brand effect, setting up a signboard that can't be measured with money for the brand of its parent company. Oscar is just an additional product.

The style of Fox Searchlight is relatively smaller and fresher. The warm and healing route is the mainstream. All of Wes Anderson's works are distributed by them. In addition, they are responsible for the operation and distribution of "500 days with summer", "127 Hours", "Slumdog Millionaire", "Juno", "sunny little beauty" and other works, Although there are occasional dark works such as "black swan" and "shame", they are only a few in the end.

It is rumored that in this year's Sundance, Fox Searchlight is chasing "another Earth" and "double Martha".

In contrast, the focus of the film industry on the style of a number of open and close, often have some unexpected choice. In their distribution history, we can see such orthodox independent films as "motorcycle diary", "survival in the wilderness" and "atonement", as well as such works challenging traditional concepts as "Brokeback Mountain", "Oriental promise" and "pirate radio". Of course, there is the first large screen work of lanli, "buried alive".

However, the overall publicity means of Fox Searchlight and focus film are more formal and traditional. Generally speaking, they are aboveboard and win with absolute strength; The Weinstein brothers, on the other hand, were determined to win, even if their hands were dirty.

It can be seen from some actual cases. In 2005, the focus film industry "Brokeback Mountain" lost to the Lion Gate film industry's "crash", in 2007, the focus film industry's "atonement" lost to Miramax's "no country for old people"——

Miramax is a company founded by Weinstein brothers and later merged by Disney. However, the two brothers broke up with Disney in 2005 and left the company to set up their own business.

Standing at the door of the hotel room, Drake nervously adjusted his tie, then faced blue Li and asked, "how's it going? Do I look formal enough? " Although this is not the first time, Drake's nervousness has not been relieved much.

"You remind me of the waiters in the restaurant." With a serious reply, Drake nodded contentedly, then raised his hand and knocked on the door.

In about 15 seconds, the door of the room opened, and a middle-aged man of about 40 years old appeared in front of him, with a kind smile on his face to welcome him.

The forehead that has been decapitated is shining, but the back of the head still has a half circle of dark gray short hair, which should be able to keep warm in winter; His chin is neatly trimmed, his nose is covered with a pair of gold glasses, and his lake blue shirt makes him look like an assistant professor in a university rather than a film industry employee.

"Welcome, welcome." The man opened the door and made way for the passage. "Thank you for agreeing to my request so soon. I was worried that I could not make an appointment for dinner tonight. " The polite words with a little intimate humor, "the weather in park city these two days is really terrible. It only snowed in the morning, and it's very troublesome to go out."

The man led Drake and Langley to sit down in the hall. "I'm making a pot of coffee. Do you need it? Or shall we have some afternoon tea, according to British tradition? " The second half of the sentence is to Lan Li.

Langley replied with a polite smile, "it's not a good idea to have afternoon tea in park city." The ending rises slightly, and there is a trace of banter in his eyes. The taste of banter can't help flowing out

Salt Lake City is located in the holy land of Mormonism. More than 80% or even 90% of the residents are religious. Therefore, the customs here are very different from those of other cities. The most significant point is that alcohol is not sold here, and it is true in any public place, even on the shelves of supermarkets - the beer on the shelves is alcohol free.

The man immediately tasted the humor in Lan Li's words and nodded, "fortunately, my wife doesn't know my business trip destination this week." Another famous Mormon doctrine is polygamy.

The obscure humor in this sentence immediately makes the scene harmonious. The humor frequency of both sides is on the same channel, which is really helpful. The man turned around, told his assistant to make coffee, and then sat down opposite Langley and Drake. "Nice to meet you. I'm Douglas Fellner, in charge of the Distribution Department of focus pictures."

"I heard my colleagues talk about the grand viewing in Toronto before. I always wanted to see with my own eyes the focus of recent discussions. Today I finally saw them in park city." Douglas looked at lanli with a smile. His familiarity and enthusiasm, together with the topic of "buried alive", easily eliminated the gap between the two sides.

Just when Langley thought that Douglas would continue to get closer to this topic, he changed the subject. "However, my personal situation can be put on a bit. I hope there will be time to talk about it in detail, but the enthusiasm of the audience in Sundance can't wait. I'd like to invite you to come here today to talk about issues related to the North American distribution rights of "crazy love."

At the same time, it inadvertently reminds us of the cooperation of "burying alive". It just set off the atmosphere and showed enough sincerity.

Just from the 30 seconds, Douglas and Harvey have different styles.

Drake was still a little nervous, but he didn't have the feeling that he was so excited that he couldn't help himself. He looked at Douglas seriously, and said cautiously but firmly, "Er, excuse me, does focus film want to buy the North American distribution right of 'crazy love'

Douglas nodded with a smile.

Langley almost guessed the content of Drake's next sentence, but he didn't have time to stop it. Drake said directly, "my only request is that Langley can get 10% of the box office bonus." After that, Drake put his hands on his chest and made a defensive gesture, as if he would not accept any other form of negotiation.

Lan Li can't help but want to help him. The real negotiation doesn't work like this. No one will show all his cards at the first time, which is equivalent to pushing himself to the passive position.

However, Langley can understand Drake's mood. To be honest, Drake's firm friendship has made Langley feel warm and moved. Film pay is the second, through the "crazy love" this film, made a group of friends, this is the most rare.

"Drake means that we are more likely to share than to buy out." Lan Li had to take the initiative to come forward. Although he couldn't retrieve the sentence just now, he could at least explain it briefly.

Douglas nodded suddenly. His eyes fell on lenley. Then his smile rose and he said to Drake, "in fact, I think so, too. Lanli is a very good actor. He definitely contributed to the success of this movie

Drake grinned contentedly, nodded and patted lenley on the shoulder. There was a flash of joy in his eyes, as if to say, "I told you." This made Lan Li dumbfounded.

"However, we still need to discuss the proportion of dividends." Now that Drake is straight to the point, Douglas is the first to express his views. Seeing Drake's posture of opening his mouth to defend himself, Douglas calmly stops Drake, "you listen to our proposal first, and then we can slowly express our opinions, OK?"

The gentle gesture made Drake think seriously, then nodded in agreement.

Douglas slowly leaned back to the chair and cocked his legs. However, he didn't have the upper temperament. Instead, he was more like a professor assistant participating in an academic discussion in class. Sure enough, everyone's temperament is different, and the impression and effect are also different.

Before the negotiation, Douglas was naturally well prepared. Just now Drake made a temporary request. He needed to slightly adjust the plan. "We have three plans. First, buy out. We are willing to pay five million royalties to buy out the North American distribution rights of the works at one go. "

Douglas noticed Drake's eyes trying to argue, and he added, "as for how to allocate the cost within the crew, you can discuss it yourself. Of course, the focus film industry will be fully responsible for the follow-up publicity expenses of the film. "

On hearing this, Drake settled down a little and continued to listen.

"Second, share." Douglas said methodically that he was clearly fully prepared and ready to win. "We pay 2.5 million for the copyright, and the crew can get 25% of the box office bonus. This proportion includes the dividend income of directors, actors, screenwriters, producers and so on. As for the specific proportion, it is the internal affairs of the crew. But in this way, during the publicity period, the crew will have to bear part of their own expenses. "

"The last option is to share. However, the situation is slightly different. " Douglas pauses for a moment, looks at Langley and then at Drake. "The cost of copyright is four million, but the proportion of the box office bonus of the crew is 15%. Similarly, the cost of publicity needs to be borne by the crew members themselves. Of course, the focus film industry can guarantee that we will treat the arrangement of publicity itinerary with the highest standard. "

Then Douglas gave a big smile. "What do you think?"