Chapter 680： lesson

The negotiations between Firefly and Colombia on the sequel to "Black Man" were personally handled by Kasenberg, and with the hard personality of Kasenberg, Eric did not worry that the fireflies would suffer in the negotiations. As for Colombia, The threat of prosecution is even more worthless in the eyes of the fireflies. Once the lawsuit is filed in Colombia, the lawsuit will not be able to produce results for a year or two. The fireflies can't afford it, but Colombia does not dare to consume it. `

However, Colombia had a heart for the flower industry, and Eric had to come out personally. Therefore, just after the New Year in New York, Eric returned to Los Angeles.

Although the flower film industry has not had any equity relationship with fireflies on the surface, it is a very important step in Eric’s Hollywood expansion plan. The whole Hollywood is actually clear about the inside story of the flower film industry. After all, at the Seventh National Congress If the film company basically monopolizes the channel, if there is no support from the seven, any new Hollywood player will not dare to make a movie that has invested 5ooo million dollars, otherwise they will definitely be the seventh in the process. The card’s blood is gone.

But the seemingly inconspicuous flower film industry did this. It not only produced two large-scale productions of about 8ooo, but also got a lot of second and third-line film companies from Colombia. Divided into terms, which is absolutely inseparable from the support of the Firefly Group.

The biggest strength of the flower film industry to do this is that if the big investment film it produces does not get a reasonable line contract in the other six, the firefly can be picked up at any time.

After Colombia’s choice of the New Year, this festival is difficult for the flower industry, and this is also true. In the hands of the flower film industry, there are currently two pending films, "Museum of the Museum" and "Forrest Gump". The original schedule for the two films was the 1995 summer file, but now it is the beginning of 1995, the seven The film company's summer program has basically been confirmed, especially the fireflies. This year's summer file "Jurassic Park 2", "Dongli Day" and "Toy Story 2" all need to occupy a lot of publicity resources. film.

Once Colombia and Flower Pictures collapsed in the contract negotiation, Firefly could not take enough resources to play the two films, although they could take two films from Flower Film. Other major movie companies may have this ability, but in the sharing agreement, the flower film industry is definitely not cheap. Then, in the end, the two films are likely to be postponed.

The production cost of "Museum of the Museum" is 8ooo, and the production cost of "Forrest Gump" has reached 5ooo. The movie cannot be released on time. A total of $1.3 billion in investment cannot be realized in time, and the follow-up plan for the flower studio will not be carried out. This kind of effect similar to the domino effect will have a great impact on the flower industry.

Los Angeles, not far from Firefly Studios, Venice Beach, the office of the Flower Film Headquarters. Amy Pascal is worried about Erik about the recent events: "The reason given by Colombia is that the box game of "The Game of the Brave" did not meet expectations, and the film style of "Museum of the Museum" and "The Brave" The game is very similar. If you follow the original sharing agreement, Colombia will not only be profitable, but will face losses, so they ask to change the established contract to increase the North American line of Colombia from 15% to 2o%, and they also ask to participate. Videotape and TV broadcast rights.`"

When you think about it, the story styles of "The Game of the Brave" and "The Museum of Wonderful Nights" are very similar. There are a large number of animals, behemoths, exotic flowers and other lenses in both films. Even the special effects of the two films are completely completed by the same team in the digital field.

but. The box game of "The Game of the Brave" did not meet expectations, not the quality of the film. Although the reputation of the film was not good, but as a commercial giant with cg special effects, the film reputation has little effect on the box office. The reason why the box game of "The Game of the Brave" did not meet expectations, the main reason is that the competition for the schedule is too strong.

Compared with the summer syllabus, in order to avoid the potential tacit understanding of the release of a big production in the summer, the competition in the 1994 Christmas season can only be described as tragic. On December 23, except for the brave The game, and even the "Street Fighter", "Little Women", "Love" and other six films on the screen of 15oo block at the same time. Relatively speaking, there were only three films that were opened at the same time as "Change Face" in the previous week.

At the same time, a large number of new films opened the total box office of the week from the 23rd to the 29th to reach 18.8 billion US dollars, reaching the highest point of the total weekly box office at the end of 1994. But in this week's time, the number of films with a weekly ticket of 1ooo is up to eight. In this kind of competition, "The Game of the Brave" can still get a box office of 36 million US dollars a week, and the box office has only a weak 26% decline in the case of the new box office in the Christmas market. The box office performance can be Said to be very good. If the "Brave of the Brave" game is placed in a relatively loose summer program, it has the potential to impact the box office of 200 million US dollars, and now it failed to meet the box office expectations. It can only be said that it is not a good time.

Eric believes that there is absolutely no such thing in Colombia. If the box office of "The Game of the Brave" does not meet the expectations, the attempt to re-negotiate the terms and conditions with the flower film industry is a bit of a rogue.

After thinking for a moment, Eric looked up and asked: "What is the excuse for "Forrest Gump"?"

“Colombia feels that Forrest Gump is more suitable as a rushing film. The box office has limited potential. For this film, Colombia has some lack of interest from the beginning,” Amy Pascal said. Eric, said: "Actually, Eric, I think so. "Forrest Gump" is a very good film, this is beyond doubt, but its inspirational and nostalgic film style seems more suitable At the end of the year, the main viewing group in the summer is still young. So, we should now ensure that the "Museum of the Museum" is the latest, if "Forrest Gump" is delayed until the end of the year, for the impact of next year's Oscar, Perhaps it is a good thing, the American culture of this film is too strong. If there is no Oscar aura, the income of overseas trips must be very limited."

Eric patiently listened to Amy Pascal's analysis as a former woman who could serve as the head of a Hollywood studio. `Amy Pascal's personal ability is absolutely excellent, and the analysis of the commercial positioning of "Forrest Gump" is also very accurate, but as in the famous chocolate saying in "Forrest Gump", a movie is not released. No one knows what kind of box office potential it will show. Fortunately, Eric knows exactly, so for the analysis of Amy Pascal he just nodded slightly and did not agree.

Looking at the eyes and sitting quietly, it’s rare to be spoiled and not to sell a cute little Ni Nizi who patiently listened to the conversation between the two. Eric asked without a test: "Drew, what do you think we should do?"

Drew heard Eric ask himself and thought about it: "It depends on what you think. Colombia made these gestures, just want to force the fireflies to pass the "Black Man", "Smiths" The sequel is scheduled to open, oh, now I must add the sequel to "The Game of the Brave". If the firefly is no longer stuck, Colombia will definitely not be entangled with the flower industry on the contract. After all, without these two films, Colombia can't find the right film to fill the schedule. It will also miss this summer's file, which is a bad thing."

Eric smiled and said: "In fact, Sony seems to be like a wealthy but wanting arty tyrant in Hollywood. This kind of money that can't afford to make a big impact on the rules of the game in the circle, stay with us. For the sake of the benefits, if the players behind Colombia are replaced by others, maybe it’s not something we can do. So I don’t intend to push Sony out of Hollywood in the copyright of those films.”

Amy Pascal showed a relaxed smile, and Xiao Nizi also spread his hand: "Then we have anything to worry about, everything is still the same."

Eric looked at the reaction of the two and shook his head in a smile. Dao: "You haven't pursued it too much. You can see from this incident that even your most intimate ally is sometimes unreliable. The reason why Colombia dares to do this is to see the fireflies now even I want to take over the flower film industry, but in a short period of time I will not be able to do anything. So, the flower film industry will ultimately rely on itself."

Amy Pascal is a little surprised: "Eric, are you saying let us do these two movies ourselves?"

"Of course not. You can only come slowly. The most important thing is that Colombia should get a lesson. The other major Hollywood studios should also understand that if you don't have enough confidence, don't just flip your face with your partner." ""

Drew shook his head: "Eric, we are a little confused."

Eric looked at the watch and turned to look at the TV in the office: "Time should be almost the same, you have bsp here; Amy Pascal nods, finds the remote to turn on the TV and find the bsp; the picture happens to be A news item about the auction of mobile communication operation licenses was cut out. The host said with a press release in front of the camera: "The latest news, 1o point 15 points, firefly group ceo Jeffrey Kasenberg and Sony USA branch President Howard Stringer held a meeting at the Columbia headquarters in Culver City, announcing that both parties will launch the sequel of the two films "Black Man" and "Brave Game" at the same time this year. Please see the station below. Live report from a Los Angeles reporter..."

The three of them watched the TV screen. After a while, Drew said: "Eric, it’s too sudden. I know that I and Amy don’t have to worry about Museum Wonderful Nights and Azerbaijan these days. Gan Zhengchuan’s line."

Xiao Nizi’s voice pulled Eric out of some thoughts. Instead of responding immediately to Drew’s words, he picked up the phone and dialed a number. When he connected, he said to the phone: “Kelly I just saw a news about the auction of mobile operating licenses and checked what is going on. I will see detailed information tomorrow."

To put it simply, Eric hung up the phone and didn't explain anything about his own move. Then the topic just said: "The reason why I asked Kasenberg to confirm this matter as soon as possible is to let Some people understand that the next move of Flower Pictures has nothing to do with copyright disputes in films such as "Black Man."

Amy Pascal asked: "Eric, you mean, you are not going to let us cooperate with Colombia?"

Eric nodded and said: "The dispute between Firefly and Colombia is now resolved, and the flower industry will be re-cooperated with Colombia. It is no longer affected by the firefighting disputes between Colombia and Colombia. If you re-find the dealers, there will be no robbery. The risk. My plan is like this, "Museum of the Museum" is transferred to MGM, I personally communicate with Frank Makasso. The terms of the agreement are consistent with Colombia, and there is only one MGM summer file. Oo7, temporarily add a "Museum of the Museum", there is no pressure at all. The overseas and surrounding operations of "Forrest Gump" are represented by fireflies, and you can do it yourself. It is an exercise. "Forrest Gump." "It is more inclined to go to Austrian art films, so the pressure is not too big, and the box office trend is more likely to be a long line. You only need to get 15oo or more of the canvas."

Amy Pascal listened to Eric's words, his brow furrowed, but hesitated.

The Hollywood film bank is blunt, but it is actually a few steps.

First, you need to contact Ken to show the theater of your movie. This is the undoubted advantage of the seven major film companies, for the Seventh. Some promising films are often just established, and they have already signed contracts with many cinemas, and even get a lot of advance payment from the cinema dealers. At the same time, this is also an important threshold for blocking most new players who are trying to enter Hollywood.

The seven major films, the cinema line will take the initiative to seek cooperation, but if a brand new film company wants to play a movie, the advance payment will be signed in advance, so don’t even think about it, even if you complete the film production, the cinema dealers Often there is not much enthusiasm to go to the film for you, and ultimately there is no chance of even showing. Because this involves the second key step of the film line, marketing.

The same quality film, the same size, the same schedule. The box office obtained by the seven major banks is often much higher than the second- and third-line film companies. The main difference is marketing. The seven major film companies have mastered a mature film marketing system. In recent years, the further integration of the media industry has made the overall media strength of the seven major companies far beyond the second and third line film companies. Because the marketing of the film is done by the film industry, it is in the case that the media resources are gradually gathering on the seven giants. The cinema line will even prefer to produce seven quality films with mediocre quality, and are reluctant to do good movies for small film companies, because the seven powerful marketing strengths can often make a quality mediocre film pass the box office. An excellent movie from a small film company.

However, although the flower film industry is a newcomer to Hollywood, the key issues that these newcomers may face are not a problem in the flower studio.

Amy Pascal started from a small staff member of a independent studio more than a decade ago, and finally went to the position of vice president of Colombia. It is clear that any joint of the film line is clear, even without the help of fireflies, she Through the contacts in their hands, they can pull enough screening theaters for "Forrest Gump". At this time, with the support of Firefly, the largest media group in the United States, the marketing problem of the film is also solved. Therefore, just to operate the North American line of Forrest Gump, there is no difficulty in Amy Pascal's view.

But at this time, she just thought that this incident seems completely unnecessary... right?

Is it better to do things for Sony or MGM? As Eric just said, MGM has only one oo7 in the summer, adding a "Museum of the Museum" mission, there is no difficulty, then Adding a completely different style of "Forrest Gump" is also nothing, even if MGM really can't even eat two movies, isn't there another big one?

Don't worry, the time saved by the flower studio is enough to prepare a new film.

Eric certainly knows the thoughts of Amy Pascal at this time. In addition to giving Sony a lesson, there is another layer of thought, which is to keep the profit of the film "Forrest Gump" as much as possible. Give yourself. The original North American box office of Forrest Gump is $3.3 billion. If you hand it over to any company, you must at least 15% of the line. This money is about 5ooo, and more than 9o% in Hollywood. The film’s smashing of the last profit is not necessarily a $5 million in revenue for the producer.

Looking at Amy's expression, Eric smiled and said: "Actually, this is just my personal suggestion. You and Drew think about it yourself. If you really don't want to be so troublesome, forget it and translate the contract to Michael. May will do."

Eric said that Amy Pascal has made up his mind and said: "Eric, still listen to you, I believe you are definitely considering it for the flower industry."

The two agreed that Xiao Nizi had just smiled and took over Eric’s arm, although she would never have any objection to Eric’s decision, but Shantou knew that if she was right in everything. Eric’s speech is completely lacking in opinion, and it will definitely hurt Amy Pascal’s feelings. The flower film industry can’t live without this manager. (To be continued.)

...