Chapter 201： Carrying a black pan forward

?By the end of August, the crew of "House of the Dead" had been formed. The entire project production budget was only 1.2 million U.S. dollars, of which the 200,000 U.S. dollars was still paid to Uvi-Bauer's copyright fees. This determined that the crew could only use the theater The method with the lowest allocation of the film crew is to prepare, shoot and produce.

Ronan handed over the crew to an external producer, only to let people control the most critical financial aspect.

He also wanted to see how bad the film produced by Wubao could be with such a low investment.

Ang Lee and the crew came to Los Angeles at this time, preparing to participate in the Toronto Film Festival. Ronan specifically talked with Ang Lee.

"The promotion and distribution of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" in North America will revolve around the awards season and the Oscars." Ronan said to Li Ang: "I have made preliminary estimates with the professionals of the Embassy Film Industry, and we will do as much as possible. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" applied for Oscar awards, among which the best foreign language film, best director and best film are key public relations goals."

Ang Lee has been in Hollywood for many years, how could he not know the importance of Oscars to film practitioners? Without any hesitation, he said, "If you need my cooperation, just give me instructions."

Ronan said: "If we can get multiple Oscar nominations, it will be a win-win for us."

There is no doubt about this. Ang Lee is also very clear and said: "I have hired a professional public relations firm to do public relations."

Ronan handed a plan to Ang Lee: "This is a preliminary plan, including the focus of publicity and media skills. Director Lee, you are a member of Hollywood. You know the political correctness behind Oscars. I won’t say much about this. Up."

"Yeah." Ang Lee nodded: "I promise, I personally and the crew members will not talk nonsense."

Ronan urged: "The Toronto Film Festival is a very good publicity platform, and it has gradually had an impact on the North American awards season. David Villa of the Embassy Pictures will accompany you to Toronto. There may be some media activities during the period. Try to cooperate."

Ang Lee succeeded in Hollywood, and active integration can be said to be the key: "I met David once, and I went to visit him in the afternoon."

In order to make Ang Lee more involved, Ronan specifically said: "If "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" can get the Oscar statuette, the significance is far more than the final few awards."

Ang Lee was so smart, he immediately understood Ronan's meaning and said, "I understand."

"I am not familiar with the people on the crew, I hope you can convey it." Ronan saw Lee Ang's serious expression and said calmly: "From the end of the Toronto Film Festival to the Oscars ceremony, I hope that the crew will stay as much as possible. In Los Angeles, those who cannot stay for a long time at work also try their best to participate in public activities of the crew."

He said with no weight: "This is good for their future career."

Ang Li is very confident: "I believe no one will refuse."

Ronan emphasized: "Director Li, before the end of this awards season, I hope you will stop taking on new jobs and make every effort to prepare for the Oscars. It is best to temporarily settle in Los Angeles."

"Yes." Li Ang responded immediately.

Although the nearly 6,000 judges of the Film Academy are scattered all over the world, Los Angeles is the largest gathering place. The entire Oscar public relations is actually carried out with Los Angeles as the center. Every year, those actors or directors who intend to attack the Oscars will be held before the start of the awards season. Came to Los Angeles and lived for a few months.

The funds and copies of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" North America are in preparation, just waiting for the award season to begin.

But before "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", Embassy Pictures first released "Human Removal Project 2."

As Halloween is getting closer, the promotion of this film is also working hard.

"The trailer for "Human Removal Project 2" is released, and the **** and horrible massacre is fully upgraded!"

News and reports related to the film began to appear frequently in the media.

"For the previous game, the biggest problem is that it is difficult to judge whether the film is an action movie or an indoor thriller. From the previous trailers, the sequel is a complete action movie, and it should be quite exciting!"

The advocacy of advocacy is essential.

At the same time, Embassy Pictures also held a special screening of theaters, fans and media for "Human Elimination Project 2".

Maybe it's the relationship between the traditional white protagonist. The trial screening of this film is quite good, and most of the media and movie fans have given praise.

Embassy Pictures did not restrict media word-of-mouth, and the media was allowed to publish relevant comments the day after the trial screening, provided that no spoilers were allowed.

The North American film industry is very mature, and there has been a tacit understanding between film companies and the media. For example, for trial screenings, film companies generally greet them in advance, and the media can write related comments or articles based on the quality of the films they see. However, the time the report is released must be after the film company lifts the ban on media release.

Of course, there are some media that do not bird film companies, but film companies will not invite such media.

There is no contractual stipulation in this regard, which is an unwritten rule, and few people will actively break it.

In Ronan's previous life, after a trial screening of a Disney movie, some media reporters released comments in advance, and then all Disney movies and works were closed to this media.

To the media, this is not worth the gain.

Under normal circumstances, if the trial screening effect is good, the film company will not suppress media comments. Most of the films that quickly lifted the ban on media reputation after the trial screening have a good reputation.

In fact, the time when the ban on word of mouth is lifted can also be used to spy on the quality of the upcoming film.

A film that can win word-of-mouth from the media, theaters and audiences during its trial screenings, I can’t wait to publicize its good word-of-mouth soon so that it can attract more potential audiences, and the ban on all aspects of word-of-mouth will be lifted early.

For example, media reviews, public interviews with movie fans, ratings on websites like Rotten Tomatoes on the Internet or IMDB.

Correspondingly, a film with a not low investment will be released the next day, and the ban on comments from various aspects has not been lifted, and the possibility of a bad film is extremely high.

Some bad movies even want to suppress the spread of negative word-of-mouth after they are released.

Today’s increasingly influential IMDB, although there is no relevant score for "Human Removal Project 2" due to the insufficient number of rating users, the comments of some fans who participated in the trial screening have been hung on it.

"Compared to the first one, the sequel is simply too much higher. The two are not at the same level."

"The director perfectly described all the plots that a large-scale raid plan will eventually bring, and the description of human nature is also deeply rooted. If the male protagonist is not a retired soldier, but an ordinary person like the female protagonists, then there will be no The so-called heroes, and how they will end up can be imagined."

"The second part puts the story on the street instead of confining it to a house. Through various intertwined images, people can see the results of the so-called sweeping plan. Kind people stay at home, or It will suffer from heaven and disaster. And the government has also played a less glorious party. As the boss said at the end: In order to make the people more controllable, balance the number of people, and people don’t kill enough, so they choose the target and increase the killing."

These comments are high on the website like advertisements, attracting the attention of movie fans.

Propaganda inevitably pulled the US government in again.

How can a popular Hollywood movie not hack the US government?

It is estimated that the most professional statistical agency will also find it difficult to find out one thing: how many wrongdoers did the Washington authorities have in Hollywood movies? Why do you have to carry these black pots?

The U.S. government will always be the best choice in the wrong hands.

This is not Hollywood deliberately hacking the US government, but conspiracy theories are the best material for movies.

Such as those unresolved controversial historical mysteries.

Because for audiences, conspiracy theories have always had a market, and for screenwriters, this is also a good opportunity for them to open up their minds.

The previous life "Moonwalker" throws out a conspiracy theory: the American Apollo moon landing plan was that the United States hired the famous director Stanley Kubrick to forge those moon landing images.

For example, in "Anonymous", a man named Edward Deville is considered to be the true writer of Shakespeare's works; in "The Da Vinci Code", historical processes such as the founding of the United States, the assassination of Kennedy and the defeat of the Vietnam War are all Controlled by "Freemasonry"...

In the eyes of those who admire "conspiracy theories", the world is full of doubts. Who killed Kennedy? Was the US moon landing real or fake? Are aliens kept in storage after being discovered by the US government? Movies have just become the best vehicle to demonstrate these doubts.

The best target for conspiracy theories is undoubtedly the US government, which is boasting all over the world.

Of course, secret organizations are also very suitable candidates.

Who rules the earth? UFO enthusiasts think it’s aliens, racial prejudices think it’s Jews, Americans think it’s the President of the United States, and the slogans think it’s Haidilao...

There are always some people in the world who firmly believe that certain fields and certain events are controlled by a hidden behind-the-scenes organization It’s not that screenwriters love to tamper with history and create all kinds of conspiracy theories. The people have fertile soil. Various rumors have been circulated for decades, and there are very important arguments, which can be a source of inspiration for screenwriters.

"Human Removal Project 2" also meets the needs of the market. It is full of conspiracy theories. The back-to-back US government, a mysterious organization established for the wealthy and inhumane...

These are also the selling points of the film.

The test screening of the film was very well received, and the theaters were also very satisfied. After careful statistics from the Embassy Pictures, there were 2,850 theaters in North America in the first week.

This is very rare for an R-rated horror film.

Embassy Pictures printed 3,800 copies at one time, which will be sent to theaters across North America before October 20.

At the same time, everyone in the overseas distribution department, including Alan Albert and Danny Donald, also rushed to all parts of the world to make final preparations for the overseas release of "Human Removal Project 2".