~： Twenty-nine - contract release

Sitting in the right corner of the back row, Wayne patiently observed and waited for the screening to start. This is a small screening room on the sixth floor of the Fox Building. He and Luke Jimmy and his party arrived here at eight in the morning.

Terry led them to this screening room with only a dozen or so seats, and asked them to wait quietly for a while. The screening session was scheduled for 9:00 a.m.

Wayne raised his left hand and looked at the time. It was already nine o'clock, but right now, no one came in the room except himself, Luke Jimmy, and a staff member who was showing the film.

He tried hard to suppress his anticipation and irritability, and now he can't do anything except sit quietly in the back and wait. It was obvious that Luke was more nervous than Wayne, and his fingers kept tapping the box containing the copies.

Just as he was trying to talk to Jimmy, the door was pushed open by Terry. The first to come was a middle-aged Latino beauty with chocolate-colored skin and a woman's professional attire.

Then an executive who was obviously Jewish went straight to the front row, sat next to the Latina beauty, and said something softly. Terry stopped Jimmy and the others from wanting to say hello and closed the door to signal that they could show it directly.

Seeing Wayne nod, Luke handed the box to the staff and helped him load the film copy onto the projector. As the lights went out, the movie started showing in silence.

Wayne observed the middle-aged Jewish people sitting in the front row, and he was very sure that he would decide the distribution treatment of "Happy Day", whether Fox released it or let him get out with a copy, it was all in his mind.

Sitting next to Townsend in front, Yuliana Avtiva tried her best to suppress her impatience. This impatience was not aimed at Townsend Rothman, but at the upcoming film.

Yuliana knew before she entered the door that it was a test of favor, and she specifically asked Terry about it, thinking it was a waste of her time. She would never hold out any hope for the work of a 20-year-old director. This kind of novice director's work is simply not worthy of her being a top expert in the industry.

Although she looked at the curtain, Yuliana's mind was on Townsend beside her, wondering who could ask Townsend to help. But that changed a few minutes after the film opened.

At the beginning of the movie, this mean girl wakes up and forgets the name of the man she spent the night with, and then she has sharp teeth and sarcastic sarcasm all the way. If only these things should not have caught her attention.

After the fast-paced narrative, the heroine was **** stabbed to death, which made her eyes bright, and then the seamless resurrection gave her a huge surprise. Yuliana began to take out the book and stared at the screen intently.

"with potential?"

There was Townsend's whisper in her ear, Yuliana nodded and said softly: "There is some potential, this is not a traditional horror movie, let's watch it first."

In this silent atmosphere, the trial session passed slowly for more than 90 minutes, and during these more than 90 minutes, Wayne could clearly see that the two people in the front row were attracted by his film.

After the screening, Luke packed up the copy, and Wayne watched what the two people in front were discussing. They spoke very lightly, and he was too embarrassed to say hello now.

After packing up the copy, Terry walked over and took the three people out of the room. "Wayne, you can take a break first, and you can talk about the issue after lunch. We need some time to discuss it."

"Of course, we are in the rest area downstairs." Jimmy took over. "You can come downstairs and find us anytime."

Terry nodded, and when he returned to the office of the director of the distribution department, Yuliana Avtiva was talking to Townsend about the film.

"Of course, the other selling points of the film, I think you can see that the core wrapped in the black style of this film is very surprising to me, and I can talk about how I feel after watching this film.

First of all, the theme of this film is the opposite. He does not praise Jessica's series of bad behaviors, but believes that these invisible "evil" factors are destined to bring "evil" results. Only those who really want to change from the heart can "good" people break through the mystery and get the qualifications leading to tomorrow. After all, in the world, light can overcome darkness. As long as people work hard, there will always be a way back.

Very old-fashioned, right, but this kind of old-fashioned stuff has always been the thing that can move the audience the most. The director is very immature in some places, such as the humorous scenes about relieving emotions. It can be clearly seen that he is not good at these, but these will not affect the story. "

"Yuliana, you gave him a very high opinion. Okay, I see, you can go to work first." Townsend listened to her words and nodded. He also said to Terry, who had just come in, "The announcement is made according to the introduction of the C-category film."

"Okay, Mr. Rothman." After Terry agreed, he asked again, "What kind of distribution contract do we sign with him? Buyout or?"

"Buy out the North American copyright of the film, you go to negotiate. Arrange the film's rating as soon as possible, skip the media preview, and directly arrange the film to be screened."

"Okay, no problem, I'll inform them in a while."

Terry closed the door, walked out of the supervisor's office, went downstairs and informed Wayne that negotiations for the release of the film could begin.

The three of them breathed a sigh of relief when they heard it. As they went upstairs, Luke was still muttering in a low voice, "There shouldn't be an accident this time!"

In the conference room yesterday, the three sat opposite Terry,

"Director Greenberg, first of all, if you want Fox to release a film, buying out the North American copyright is a prerequisite." Terry looked at the young director and felt a little unbelievable. A director of this age can make a theatrical film. It's so rare.

Wayne didn't hesitate at all: "Of course, I agree to buy out the issue, as long as the price is right."

"It seems that we can easily reach an agreement, Director Greenberg. Then let's talk about the price, believe me, Fox has a special market evaluation department, and the lion's mouth will not solve the problem."

"The $4 million buyout in North America includes all rights to distribution, peripherals, and videotapes. I believe this price is not high, and "Happy Day" will definitely bring more revenue to Fox." This is Wayne's price in mind, compared to the film The value that can be created is not much at all.

Terry heard the offer from the opposite director and thought for a while in silence. He knew something behind the release of the film, so he didn't lower the price: "Yes, just buy out the North American copyright for $4 million. The specific terms are for you tomorrow. You can call your lawyer and come to Fox to discuss."

"Well, that's all for today. I'll go back and prepare. I'll bring a lawyer over tomorrow." Wayne suppressed the excitement in his heart and bid Terry farewell in the calmest voice possible.

From the Fox Building to the parking lot, the three people looked at each other along the way, and the atmosphere was strange and silent. It was not until after getting into the car that Luke opened his mouth to speak:

"It's done so easily? Damn it, the negotiation is done so easily!!!"

Wayne didn't hold back his excitement either, tapped Luke on the shoulder, and answered him loudly: "Yes! Luke, yes! We made it, and we'll be sending this **** movie into theaters in no time. .immediately!"

After hearing his words, Luke patted Wayne's shoulder hard, and exclaimed excitedly, "There's no more **** to destroy us now, ha, we succeeded immediately."

In less than a week, Wayne, with the help of a lawyer, signed a distribution contract with Fox using the studio.

20th Century Fox bought out all North American rights to "Happy Day" for $4 million, including distribution, videotape, peripherals, and television rights. Greenberg Studio retains the subsequent creation rights and overseas distribution rights of the film, and Twentieth Century Fox has the right of first refusal for subsequent creations and overseas copyrights.

The main cast members Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Naomi Watts, including the director Wayne, must cooperate with all 20th Century Fox publicity activities during the film's release.

Just a day after Wayne signed with Fox on behalf of Greenberg Studios, the release schedule for the film was handed to Wayne.

Fox has chosen the most secure distribution method In the past two days, Wayne has also imagined that the film can be opened in North America on a large scale with a thousand or two thousand theaters, and it is only after getting the schedule that we know that Just unrealistic fantasy.

It is impossible for Fox to invest a lot of money in publicity and marketing before seeing the response of the film. Even the cost of copying in this era is a lot of money.

The two copies that Luke went to print cost about US$800 each. A large film and television company like this should have cooperated with the factory, so it’s not too cheap. The average cost of each copy is about US$600.

It's 1991 and it's $600 per 35mm film print, or over a million if the film is released in 2,000 theaters. Fox will never pay the fee until the market for the film is unclear.

Big companies in Hollywood are full of scams, but they can never be charities. Unless the movie shows market prospects early on, Fox will definitely not spend a penny more.

The film began to be screened in 20 theaters around Los Angeles and New York, and Fox would send observers to observe the market and audience reactions.

If the audience has a good reputation and the box office is excellent in a single venue, with the responsiveness of 20th Century Fox, you can contact the factory to print thousands of copies in a short time at any time, and you can quickly expand the scale of the show.

This method is often used by distribution companies when distributing low-budget movies. The final result is: the screening is expanded, and Fox can get a high box office share; if the film fails, Fox hardly loses any up-front investment.

This is the rule in this circle. Even if the Fox film fails to show, it can easily recover the cost and even make a profit by relying on video tapes and TV rights.