Chapter 687： Crash

The two continued their journey of discovery in the trading area. Ronan glanced back, and it was almost the same as before. The booth that had just left was crowded with people again.

Most are buyers of other issuing companies.

Ronan believes that if he expresses interest in a certain film and has direct contact with the seller, it is estimated that many people will come out and immediately lose his bid.

Tony Koch asked: "That film just didn't work?"

"Don't worry." Ronan reached out for a piece of information from Vinci, and quickly scanned it as he walked.

There is a very simple plot introduction in the information. In just 36 hours, an unexpected car accident pushed a group of people who had never lived in Los Angeles before and after the incident into a domino-like emotional abyss.

The title is "Crash", and the director, screenwriter and producer are the same person, named Paul Haggis.

Translated, this film is called "Crash".

Ronan has watched "Crash" because of the relationship between Ang Lee and "Brokeback Mountain".

This is the work that once defeated Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain" and won the Oscar for Best Picture.

Paul Haggis’s work seems to have a lot of stars, but in fact it is a collection of many ex-actors.

It seems that from the beginning of this film, Sandra Bullock changed the decline after "Life and Death 2" and embarked on the road to the front line.

There is a production budget for the film on the information, and the public cost shows only 6.5 million US dollars.

Perhaps, the true cost will be lower.

After watching another French film, Ronan deliberately stayed for a while. This is a French musical drama. If I remember correctly, the Chinese translation used to be called "The Spring of Cattle Class".

Ronan seemed to have some interest, at least it seemed to others.

In fact, Ronan has always had great doubts about the prospects of French films in North America except for Luc Besson.

The people behind are gathering here, Ronan said to Tony Koch: "This film is a bit interesting, are you going to talk to them?"

Tony Koch is not stupid. He glanced at the people who followed and said, "Are you making me attract firepower?"

Ronan smiled and said: "The talk is over, I will treat you tonight."

"Okay, I attract firepower." Tony Koch knew very well that he accompanied Ronan around this circle and was not suitable for seeing the real goal: "You always have to tell me, which movie did you see? "

Ronan whispered: "The "Crash" I just watched."

Tony Koch sighed: "Sure enough, Hollywood filmmakers value most of their films."

Ronan said directly: "Because Hollywood films are most suitable for the North American market."

To drag a European movie, even if it is a world-renowned European movie like "Two Smoking Guns" and "Angel Loves the Beauty", the response in the North American market is not very good, and even the former is still in North America to some extent. Hit the street.

Tony Koch stopped talking and said, "You go, I'll go in."

Ronan continued to move forward, leaving Tony Koch and a business assistant. Someone entered the booth behind, and some people continued to follow Ronan.

Connie took out her mobile phone and dialed a buyer from Embassy Pictures, briefly confessed a few words, followed Ronan, and whispered: "Someone from Embassy Pictures is in the exhibition hall and will pass soon."

Ronan nodded: "Let's continue."

Soon after Ronan left, Tony Koch just tried to quote $1 million, and someone immediately raised it to $3 million.

Tony Koch knows that this film has some value, but for the Embassy Pictures, it has limited value.

The French showroom is very lively, but Tony Koch is no longer the protagonist.

Not far from here, Navas of Lionsgate was standing in the booth of DEJ Studios, watching the film being shown attentively, as if he had seen the lives of the civilians in Los Angeles.

A seemingly ordinary crash caused a series of racial discrimination problems.

This film is very meaningful in social reality. It is in line with the social environment of Los Angeles and many states in the United States. It also seems to be very suitable for the tastes of the mainstream judges of a certain award.

Navas didn't go away, and was watching this film attentively. As a person living in Los Angeles all year round, the film can give him a lot of touches.

But he also knows that personal feelings cannot be used as the only criterion for judging whether a film has purchase value.

There are not many people standing here watching the film, but there are still seven or eight. Navas is not as famous as Ronan, nor has it attracted the attention of others.

While watching the film, Navas quickly scanned the materials specially prepared by the producer.

"In the next thirty-six hours, an unexpected car accident brought together a large group of strangers who lived in Los Angeles but never knew each other. In just 36 hours, they completely changed their lives."

This is the sentence that impressed Navas most in the information.

The film is a group play, multi-line narrative, it is difficult to shoot, but it is rare to shoot very smoothly and naturally, with many characters and numerous clues, but the explanation is clear.

As for the theme, it is the very prominent issue of racial discrimination in the United States.

The director put the old topic of "racism" in the foreground of the film. It seems radical, but in fact it is more subtle.

Let Navas say that this piece of Zitian has an Oscar face.

But there are many films with Oscar faces every year. What is the real value of such independent small productions?

It is also a gamble to win the Olympics, and lose will be a mess.

So, take this movie and keep the price as low as possible.

If the price is too high, just give up...

Not every small independent production is called "Blair the Witch".

In recent years, only one "Blair the Witch" has been published.

After watching the film and thinking about it for a few minutes, Navas directly found the staff at the booth, indicated his identity, and wanted to talk to the producer.

The staff immediately took him to the temporary small office behind the booth, and Navas saw a middle-aged man whose forehead was almost completely bald.

Originally, the middle-aged man was a little depressed. When he saw Navas, he quickly cheered up, first shook hands, and then introduced himself: "I am Paul Haggis, the screenwriter, director and producer of this film."

Navas also introduced himself: "I am Navas from Lionsgate." He directly stated his intentions: "I just watched the movie clip you are showing and I am very interested."

"Thank you." Paul Haggis smiled: "Lionsgate Pictures intends to buy?"

The producer is already in a weak position, coupled with his own financial difficulties, Paul Haggis is somewhat anxious.

In order to switch from a screenwriter to a director, Paul Haggis made a lot of efforts, not hesitating to touch the bottom line that Hollywood directors generally keep silent-directors should not use their own funds to shoot films.

Although he has made a lot of achievements in the screenwriting industry, even valued by the old cowboy Clint Eastwood and wrote the script for his new film "Million Dollar Baby", Paul Haggis is not willing to just be a Screenwriters with relatively limited status and financial resources are not easy to make this step.

The most terrible thing is funds.

The so-called DEJ production company is just a partnership established by him, so most of the production funds come from self-financing. Paul Haggis almost put all the money from the screenwriting on this film.

The budget of the crew is very low, and the funds have to be spent on key productions. Fortunately, he has been in the screenwriting industry for many years and has some connections.

For example, the actors helped a lot. The travel expenses of people like Sandra Bullock and Don Chandel during the filming were all out of pocket.

In order to save money, Paul Haggis had to use his own house and his car in many scenes.

Many non-critical actors are also volunteers of Paul Haggis’s neighbors.

It is with these supports that he can complete this film.

But the completion of the production is only the beginning.

Like the small independent films of most small companies, shooting is difficult, but relatively easy. The most difficult thing is to enter the distribution channel.

Many of the films participating in the film festival trading session are similar.

Navas didn't have to conceal his intentions and said directly: "I came here just to negotiate the release of this film on behalf of Lionsgate."

When Paul Haggis just wanted to speak, Navas, with the strength of the publisher, said: "US$2 million, buy out the North American distribution rights of "Crash."

He personally is very optimistic about this film, but being optimistic does not mean asking a high price.

"The price is too low." Paul Haggis frowned: "I can't even collect the cost."

He shook his head: "The film festival is not over yet, I will wait."

Navas didn't want to waste too much saliva on such a small production. He simply made a clean statement: "US$4 million. All North American copyrights of the film belong to Lionsgate."

Paul Haggis thought about it for a while and said: "Sorry, I can't accept it. The investment in this film is $6.5 million."

"North American publishing rights are US$4 million." Navas emphasized: "Director Haggis, Lionsgate only needs North American rights, and you still have income from other markets in North America."

With the successive failures of "City of God" and "Ambush on Ten Sides", Navas has been much more conservative and has become more cautious.

He is very optimistic about the two films. What happened? It was very miserable.

How could Paul Haggis not understand that this is a North American copyright, but such a small production sells the North American copyright alone, and the overseas copyright? It's hard to sell it anymore.

This is a typical film that reflects American society, and overseas filmmakers will not be very interested.

He was about to say something more when Navas' cell phone rang.

The call was made by the previous assistant: "The Ronan Anderson people are in an exhibition hall on Channel 5 and are discussing a musical comedy with the producer.

Navas ignored the presence of Paul Haggis and immediately said: "You join on behalf of Lionsgate, don't let Embassy Pictures easily succeed. I will pass."

"Sorry, Director Haggis." Navas left a business card: "You think about it, you can call me."

After speaking, he hurriedly left the exhibition hall.

Paul Haggis looked at the business card, shook his head slightly, and found a suitable distributor. How could it be so difficult?

After sitting for a while, the company staff brought another person in.

"Hello, Director Haggis." The man shook hands with him politely: "I'm from Embassy Pictures..."

(In reality, Lionsgate bought the North American distribution rights for "Crash" for $4 million.)