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"Thunderbolt Blue Angel" has been basically completed, but Simon knows that Catherine's life is not monotonous.Right now, New York is still the base camp of American independent films. Catherine gets along well with this circle. Recently, she also served as the producer of another independent film in the process of completing the later stage of "Blue Angel".

I didn't expect much, but the phone was connected unexpectedly.

"Catherine, it's me." Hearing the woman's voice, Simon turned and leaned against the glass cover of the phone booth while holding the receiver, watching the traffic on the road: "It's nothing, I'm just here in Burbank, and I wanted to call you Phone, what are you doing at home at this time... Oh... Jenny will be back in the middle of next month, so, do you want to come to Los Angeles... I am standing on the side of the road, of course there is the sound of cars, I didn't expect you to change the subject... Hehe , why can’t I stand on the side of the road... Really nothing, I just had dinner with Jack Valenti, I thought about taking a walk on the side of the street to help digestion... No one is watching, there are few people here , I'm a bit lost, I should go to Rodeo Drive... Since you don't want to come back, how about I sneak out there tomorrow night? Well, it's such a happy decision...Okay, okay, then I'll find other time Go further...then, kiss...they don't know who you're kissing...or you hide in the bathroom with your phone...oh, well, bye."

Chapter 207

The day after Simon and Jack Valentine met, Daenerys Entertainment's barely-there first self-published film "The Cry of Elvira" was released in North America with an opening screen size of 553.

Although it is a project left over from New World Entertainment, the media still paid considerable attention to it.

The day after the film was released, many mainstream newspapers in North America published reviews of the film.However, the word-of-mouth of the film is mostly negative, and it didn't even reach the passing level. "The Hollywood Reporter" unceremoniously criticized the film as "a horror film that tries to imitate various horror genres but appears nondescript".

Now that he decided to send the film to theaters, Simon didn't make do with it, and specially approved a publicity budget of 200 million US dollars for the copy printing and advertising of the film. In the 80s, such publicity expenditures were already very considerable.

However, in the three days of the first weekend, "Evila" still only received a box office of 221 million U.S. dollars, and the total box office in the first week is expected to be only about 300 million U.S. dollars.

The first week started with 300 million US dollars. According to the general box office trend of this era, the total North American box office of the film is roughly between 800 million and 1000 million US dollars.

The production cost of "Evila Cry" is 750 million US dollars, and the total investment is 200 million US dollars including the 950 million US dollar publicity budget.

Based on the box office alone, this film obviously cannot recover its cost. Even if it can recover its cost or even make a little profit after later distribution on overseas channels, video tapes and TV platforms, but considering the time cost, this is a failed project after all.

Daenerys Entertainment executives had expected this result and were not surprised.However, after the box office data of "Avella Cry" was released, many media began to advocate arguments such as Simon Westero's "falling from the altar", saying that "Avella Cry" is likely to be Daenerys. The beginning of entertainment's march toward mediocrity.

The "New York Times" also wrote an article to analyze that Simon's huge sum of money to acquire New World Entertainment is a bad move. Too eager expansion will only make Daenerys Entertainment quickly collapse and decline.

Simon was not affected by these media remarks. During this period of time, he could clearly feel the benefits brought by the acquisition of New World Entertainment for him to gain a firm foothold in Hollywood.

With the purchase of this company, Daenerys Entertainment acquired an experienced film and television production and distribution team at one time, owned a batch of valuable film and television project copyrights, and consolidated its position in the field of TV program suppliers. Yes, and got Marvel, all of which are totally worth the $2.5 million.

Although Simon didn't mind the failure of "Avella Cry", a group of senior executives from New World Entertainment didn't think so.

"Evila Cry" failed at the box office, and Robert Rehm and others were obviously a little guilty when facing Simon in the next few days.However, Simon did not say anything to appease these people. There is pressure to be motivated, and the defeat of "Avella Cry" can be regarded as a spur for them.

While "Avella" sparked media buzz, Daenerys Entertainment sent "Scream" to MP for ratings for the third time on the new Monday.In addition, the later stages of the three films "Rain Man", "Dead Poets Society" and "Steel Magnolia" have all been completed. Simon is still waiting for the traditional Hollywood forces to express his position, and has not eagerly submitted these three films for review.

Daenerys Entertainment Burbank Division.

The time is October 10th, Wednesday.

Different from "Scream", due to the themes of "Rain Man", "Dead Poets Society" and "Steel Magnolia", it is impossible for MP to give more than R rating no matter how difficult it is.Therefore, although it has not yet been rated, Daenerys Entertainment has already begun to arrange representatives from major theaters in North America to participate in the test film in order to sign a screening agreement.

In the screening hall, the ending credits of "Steel Magnolia" rose, and Robert Rehm, who personally entertained the trial film, got up and invited Richard Hill, the vice president of United Artists Cinemas in charge of film source procurement, to the next door. reception room.

This is the second screening today, and the two of them have already watched the sample of "Dead Poets Society" in the morning.

In the 80s, the large-scale integration of North American theater chains has not yet started. United Artists Theaters, which was spun off from United Artists after the Paramount judgment, is still the largest theater chain company in this era, with a total of more than 2200 screens across North America. , with a market share close to 10%.

In order to make up for the bad impression that the box office failure of "Evila" may have created in Simon's mind, in recent days, Robert Rehm has been tirelessly pushing forward the release of several films at the end of the year.For three consecutive days, he personally accompanied some theater executives to watch samples and discuss cooperation agreements.

Moreover, Robert Rehm also had a vague premonition that his boss might have had a showdown with MP Chairman Jack Valenti last Friday, and the theaters directly under several major film companies that originally intended to cooperate have rejected them in recent days. For his test film invitation, Robert Rehm can now only win screen resources from theaters outside the seven major systems.

However, Robert Rem was not too worried about the current situation.

Because of the previous Hollywood strike, during this period of time, the major theaters in North America were generally in a state of shortage of film sources, and the quality of the films shown could not be compared with the same period in previous years.For the past three consecutive weeks, the total box office in North America in a single week has been severely shrunk below 3000 million US dollars.Coupled with the box office miracle created by Daenerys Entertainment in the past two years, Robert Rehm has full confidence to fight for enough screens for the company's films without relying on the resources of the seven major theaters.

"Charlie, counting the "Scream" we have seen before, the three films were all personally selected by Simon and supervised the production. "Scream" is actually Simon's idea. Therefore, the three films, Daenerys Entertainment needs to guarantee a combined 55% of the box office."

"I've heard about the rating problems of "Scream," Richard Hill held a cup of coffee with a confident expression on his face, and said, "Bob, you probably don't know about "Scream" by now." "Call" can be released on time. "Dead Poets Society" and "Steel Magnolia" may not have this problem, but companies such as Universal Control's Cineplex theaters, Columbia's Loews theaters, etc. should not open the screen for you Resources. So, 40%, we can only give so much. In addition, if "Scream" can pass the ratings, we can sign the exhibition contract of these three films at once, but in New York, Chicago, etc. In core cities, United Artists needs to have exclusive screening rights.”

Because of the attendance rate, the box office sharing contracts signed by film companies and theaters usually decrease in steps.A few weeks before the opening of the film, the film company can get at least 60% of the box office share. As the attendance rate decreases, the film company's share will gradually decrease.

But generally speaking, the final box office share that mainstream film companies can get for commercial films is about 40% to 55%. The North American film industry has experienced more than half a century of development, and the industry also has very mature calculation formulas for this.Therefore, Robert Rehm and Richard Hill did not get entangled in specific details, but directly discussed the final sharing ratio.

Hearing Richard Hill's request, Robert Rem shook his head and said, "Charlie, our company's situation may not be very good, but your situation is actually worse. Now all theaters are short of film sources. And, if The Big Seven can obtain the box office performance of Daenerys Entertainment in the past two years, and the percentage of box office share they demand will be even higher. You may have to pay a huge deposit in order to obtain the source of the film as in the past. So, 55%, you agree with this One point, we can continue talking.”

Richard Hill retorted: "The previous achievements do not represent the future. "Scream" may not be bad. After all, it was an idea conceived by Westeros himself, but he did not sign it. As for "Scream" "Dead Poets Society" and "Steel Magnolia", if it weren't for big stars like Robert De Niro and Jessica Lange, they would actually be more literary films, and they wouldn't have much selling point at all."

"Back then, when Harry Met Sally, the major Hollywood film companies also felt that it lacked selling points, but this movie earned a box office of 1.1 million US dollars in North America," Robert Rehm did not give in at all, continuing Said: "Charlie, if you want to make this business, it's better not to consider the external factors of the Big Seven. The suppression of Daenerys Entertainment by the Big Seven film companies can't help you make more money, But it’s okay to cooperate with us. You have to understand that not only these three movies now, Daenerys Entertainment will produce more movies in the future. If we cooperate happily this time, Daenerys Entertainment will definitely give priority to it in the future United Artists as exhibitor."

Richard Hill heard Robert Rehm's last words, looked at the other's expression, and immediately understood the subtext.

If this cooperation is not happy, United Artists Cinemas will definitely be rejected by Daenerys Entertainment in the future.

In recent days, Richard Hill has successively received calls from executives of some major Hollywood film companies, asking United Artists not to cooperate with Daenerys Entertainment.

Apparently, the relationship between Daenerys Entertainment and Seven has started to sour for reasons that haven't been made public.

Robert Rem originally thought that Daenerys Entertainment's attitude would be relatively weak this time, but he didn't expect that Robert Rem, who had a mild temper in New World Entertainment in the past, would suddenly be so strong.

Richard Hill thought of Simon's figure inexplicably.

That's a really sharp young man.

Probably what kind of boss there is, what kind of employees will be produced.

After continuing to fight for it, Robert Rem refused to give an inch in terms of the share ratio, but Richard Hill found that he really didn't have the confidence to fight Daenerys entertainment.

After all, United Artists Theaters only owns less than 10% of the screens in North America. Even the Big Seven, after the local and government liberalized the restrictions on film companies operating theaters a few years ago, they only got about 15% of the screens in total. These are the highest quality screen resources, but throughout North America, 75% of movie screens are in the hands of other large and small theater operators.

The long-term relationship of interests has given the Big Seven a very strong influence on the entire North American theater market. If it is other second- and third-tier film companies, the Seven Bigs will make efforts at the same time, and the major theaters may really adopt it out of fear. means of blocking.

However, Daenerys Entertainment is not on the list, because this studio is too bright.

Six films have been produced in two years, all of which have entered the top ten of the annual list, and five of them have exceeded [-] million domestically. If such an amazing box office performance can continue, who will have the confidence to reject the huge benefits contained in it?

Although he was perfunctory with the other party in those calls from the Big Seven, Richard Hill has never considered cooperating with the Big Seven to block Daenerys Entertainment. He believes that many other theater operators in the industry will not do the same Do.Perhaps, only the part of the theaters directly under the seven major companies cannot cooperate with Daenerys Entertainment due to the overall interests of the parent company, but Richard Hill feels that the heads of those theaters must be cursing their mothers.

As professional managers, everyone has performance indicators.

Thinking of this in his heart, Richard Hill glanced at the reception room, and suddenly understood one more thing.

In the past, the film company usually invited the heads of multiple theaters to participate in the test, but this time, Robert Rehm only invited him.Obviously, this is not just because United Cinemas is the largest theater chain company in North America. Daenerys Entertainment does not want to give the major theaters the opportunity to connect.

Without the confidence to fight Daenerys Entertainment, the terms of cooperation proposed by Daenerys Entertainment are not too harsh.In the following negotiations, Richard Hill's attitude softened unconsciously.

By the end of the day, the two parties had basically finalized the screening agreement.

Reaching a cooperation, Richard Hill rejected Robert Lehm's dinner invitation and left.Robert Rehm was also planning to go home from get off work, but he received a call from Simon temporarily. The headquarters just got the brand new label titles of Daenerys Films, New World Films and Gaomen Films. Simon I want him to go and have a look.

Since the boss was still working after hours, Robert Rehm had nothing to complain about, and drove from Burbank to Santa Monica.

Arriving at the headquarters of Daenerys Entertainment in Santa Monica, Robert Lemm quickly came to a conference room upstairs.

Simon and Amy were all here and greeted each other. Everyone sat down at the conference table. Seeing that Simon's female assistant was adjusting the projector, Robert Rem took the initiative to talk about the results of the afternoon's negotiations.

"United Artists agreed to sign all three films, 55% of the combined box office share, and guaranteed four-week screening time. Richard Hill originally wanted exclusive screening rights in some core cities, but I refused. But , United Artists Theaters is not optimistic about "Steel Magnolia", they are only willing to give 200 screens, if "Scream" can pass the rating review, this movie and the subsequent "Dead Poets Society", they can all Provide 500 screens. In addition, Simon, the internal test screenings of "Steel Magnolia" and "Dead Poets Society" arranged last week were very good. I wonder if we can adopt a release strategy of opening small-scale films in advance to accumulate word-of-mouth , like Disney's "Good Morning Vietnam" last year?"

Theoretically, "Dead Poets Society" and "Steel Magnolia" have to participate in some film festivals for pre-publicity before their release.However, the schedules of these films are very tight, and there is no time to arrange similar marketing links.

Simon nodded after hearing Robert Rem's suggestion, "Yes, you can discuss and come up with a plan first."

Chapter 208 Three Titles (Revised)

The three of Simon discussed the release details of several films of the company. Jennifer adjusted the projector, and then closed the curtains of the meeting room with Amy's assistant Vanessa, and came to the video recorder.

After being signaled by Simon, the female assistant pressed play.

On the projection screen directly in front of the meeting room, the picture lights up. In the dark and fiery pool of fire, accompanied by a sharp chirp, an orange-red firebird emerges from the fire, hovers briefly in the air, and then spreads its wings. Freezing in the center of the picture, the blazing flames dripping from the wings of the firebird form the two words 'Daenerys Pictures' below it, and there is a line of annotations below the company name: 'A Daenerys Entertainment Company'.

After the short opening title of only five seconds, Robert Rehm looked at Simon and said, "Phoenix?"

Simon nodded and explained: "The phoenix in Greek mythology, every 500 years, this bird will throw itself into the flames and be reborn in the fire. I like this legend very much. The image of the phoenix in the picture just now It will also be the company logo of Daenerys Entertainment in the future, and I hope that Daenerys Entertainment can continue to exist for a long time, even if it encounters difficulties, it can be reborn from the ashes."

The major Hollywood film companies all have impressive label titles, such as MGM's Lion, Columbia's Statue of Liberty and so on.Starting from "Run Lola Run", Daenerys Pictures has only used simple text titles for the previous films, and the titles of New World Pictures and Gaomen Pictures are also very simple.

Now, now that the company is on track, Simon has in recent months hired a design firm to formally create label title titles and company logos for Daenerys, New World and Highgate.

Robert Rem just thought of Phoenix, the capital of Arizona, which is adjacent to the southeastern part of California.After listening to Simon's explanation, although he still doesn't quite understand the connection between the terms 'Daenerys' and 'Phoenix', he agrees with Simon's idea very much.

Everyone chatted briefly, and Jennifer loaded another video tape into the VCR, and the opening title of New World Pictures soon appeared on the screen: After a burst of intense lightning and thunder, the clouds dispersed, the sky returned to blue, and at the same time appeared The words 'New World Pictures' in CG three-dimensional style, and 'A Daenerys Entertainment Company' are also marked under the theme words.

Among the proposals provided by several design companies participating in the bidding, Simon found that this idea was somewhat similar to the later Lionsgate film titles.The positioning of New World Pictures is exactly the same as that of Lionsgate Films, and Simon directly chose this plan.

Compared with the gorgeous and flamboyant opening titles of Daenerys Pictures and New World Pictures, the opening titles of Gaomen Pictures are full of literary atmosphere.

In the soft soundtrack, several rows of slowly flowing film films gradually form the words "Highgate Pictures" against the pure black background. With the movie screen flashing, under the name of Gaomen Films is still 'A Daenerys Entertainment Company'.

Later label titles of major Hollywood film companies generally have the label of the parent company, because the integration wave of media groups will only start after Sony acquires Columbia next year, and there is no similar title style emerging now.

Simon enabled this mode of adding the parent company's label on the title of the label in advance, mainly to quickly brand the brand image of Daenerys Entertainment in the public's mind.

After the three titles were played, everyone continued to discuss, and then decided to release information on the three titles and some upcoming movie lists under the names of the three labels in the near future. This is also a good time for Daenerys Entertainment. publicity opportunities.

After discussing this matter, it was already past six o'clock, but Simon did not let Amy and Rem leave: "Let's have dinner together, and I have another matter to discuss with you."

Robert Rem didn't think that Simon called himself from the valley at this time just to watch the titles of the three labels, so he readily agreed.

Amy naturally did not object.

The three left the company headquarters and soon came to a nearby restaurant where Simon had asked Jennifer to reserve a seat in advance.

"It's like this. I found that you two are not too concerned about the affairs of Gaomen Films." After everyone was seated, after ordering food, Simon got straight to the point and said, "The original film purchasing team of New World Entertainment has arrived. High Door Films, but unfortunately, at the Venice Film Festival last month, Danny Morris led a team to Italy, but got nothing, and some of the projects he submitted to me during this period were not bright at all."

Danny Morris was formerly the vice president of New World Entertainment's film purchasing department, and now he also holds the title of vice president of Daenerys Entertainment as the head of Highgate Films.

When Amy and Rem heard Simon mentioning this matter, they looked at each other. Robert Rem took the initiative to explain: "Simon, from the late 70s to the early 80s, Hollywood literary films did flourish for a while. Saul Zaentz It was in those years that it began to attract attention. At that time, major film companies generally established subsidiaries named after "classics" to specialize in the literary film market. But now, because of the continuous rise in Hollywood production costs, there are not many in the field of art films. Profit can be said. If you don’t count last year’s "Run Lola Run", the best-performing literary and artistic films in the market in recent years generally only have a box office of about 2000 million US dollars. This is already a ceiling, and more literary and artistic films actually They are all loss-making, just like Saul Zaentz's "Prague Love" at the beginning of the year, with a production cost of 1700 million US dollars, the total box office in North America is only a little over 1000 million. Therefore, I don't think we need to waste on this matter Too much energy."

"What you said makes sense, Bob," Simon nodded earnestly, and said, "However, since there can be one "Run Lola Run" in Hollywood, there will definitely be a second or even more. And, you guys Have you noticed the development trend of the cinema industry in recent years?"

Amy asked suspiciously: "Simon, you mean Li and the government to let go of restrictions on movie companies operating theaters?"

"No," Simon shook his head, looked at Robert Rem and said, "Bob, AMC, you must know?"

"This is a chain theater company run by the Durwood family, headquartered in Kansas City, Nebraska. The biggest feature of AMC Theaters is the launch of a large number of multiplex theaters. The number of movie theaters this company currently owns in North America is about 150, but the number of screens exceeds 1300. However, the audience capacity of their auditoriums is generally low.” Robert Rehm skillfully introduced AMC’s information, saying: “I already talked to the manager of AMC on Monday. Regarding the issue, Simon, you are not planning to acquire theaters, are you? AMC has developed very rapidly in recent years, and the Duwood family will not sell it. United Artists Theaters was originally a good target, but it was just acquired at the beginning of the year. John Malone's telecommunications company holdings, we have also missed the opportunity."

Simon denied: "Daenerys Entertainment will not enter the theater market in the short term. I am just talking about a trend. Bob, multiplex cinemas are a destined trend."

Robert Rehm nodded and said: "It is indeed the case. AMC's model is very successful, and the industry is following up and trying, but Simon, does this have anything to do with the topic we are talking about?"

"Of course, although the overall number of audiences in North America will not increase too rapidly every year, I believe that with the popularity of multiplex theaters, the total number of screens in North America will definitely increase significantly in the next few years. Multiplex means diverse A movie theater has ten projection halls, even if they use eight of them to show mainstream commercial films, but because they have too many screens, the operator will definitely consider introducing some literary films that meet the tastes of a small number of audiences on the other two screens This is the opportunity."

Hearing what Simon said, Amy couldn't help but said, "Simon, even if you're right, wouldn't it be better for us to focus on the 'eight screens'?"

Because of the lack of examples, Simon found himself unable to explain to Amy and Rem how prosperous the independent film market was in the 90s, led by New Line and Miramax.

In this case, Simon quickly decided not to explain too much, but to give full play to his advantages as the boss: "Well, in this case, Gaomen Films will be spun off and re-integrated into a subsidiary directly responsible for me. Company. I think Danny Morris should be so slack with the same concept as you, so let him run New World Pictures, "Butterfly Effect", "Death Comes" and New Line " With the success of films like A Nightmare on Elm Street, I don't think he'll feel like he's been left out."

Robert Rem didn't expect Simon to see Danny Morris' mind so thoroughly.

As the head of the film purchasing department of New World Entertainment, Danny Morris still has a lot of authority. After all, most of New World Entertainment's previous films were purchased from outside.The merger of the two companies was completed, and Simon put Danny Morris in charge of High Gate Films, and the executive felt a sense of being handed over.

Literary films, this is simply synonymous with not making money.

Robert Lehm and Danny Morris are not just superiors and subordinates, they also have a very good personal relationship.

Danny Morris has spoken to Robert Rehm several times before.Daenerys Entertainment is clearly on the rise. He didn't think about resigning, but just wanted to change to a position with more room for development, even if he was transferred to be in charge of publishing.

Recently, Robert Rem wanted to find an opportunity to mention this matter with Simon. Unexpectedly, before he had time to mention it, Simon took the initiative to fulfill Danny Morris's wish.

However, Robert Rehm was not happy for Danny Morris.

Judging from what Simon said just now, his boss obviously has high expectations for Gaomen Films. The appointment of Danny Morris to take charge of this company is obviously a recognition of his ability.Now, Danny Morris must have lost a lot of points in Simon's heart. If he fails to achieve results in the position of New World Pictures, the result can be imagined.

After dinner, Simon started looking for a new person in charge of Gaomen Pictures the next day.

In fact, Hollywood has two ready-made best candidates, the Weinstein brothers.

The Weinstein brothers, who are only in their 30s this year and are in their prime, have worked in Hollywood for more than ten years and have accumulated enough experience.

Moreover, Miramax's current situation is not good.Two years ago, the two brothers had a headache, and instead of being a good distributor, they went to become directors. They imitated the style of John Hughes and wrote and directed a youth film "Where You See It", which failed disastrously at the box office. Miramax Because of this, it almost went bankrupt and has not recovered in the past two years.

If Simon recruits this pair of brothers now, the possibility of success is very high.

Although Harvey was notorious for his sex scandal many years later, in Hollywood, if Simon had this kind of moral cleanliness, he would never even think about continuing Daenerys Entertainment.

It's just that these two brothers are really not the kind of guys who are willing to live under others. A more appropriate description is that they are wild and unruly.

In the original time and space, Miramax was a subsidiary of Disney, and the Harvey brothers frequently confronted the parent company.

At that time, Disney was negotiating with the Bush administration on the issue of cable television licenses, which was crucial to the company. Under Michael Eisner's repeated warnings, the brothers still invested in "Fahrenheit 911/[-]", which tried to pull Bush Jr. down.Although this documentary made a lot of money, the entire Disney was put in shoes by the Bush administration.

After Miramax’s announcement, the Harvey brothers have been trying to get rid of the company’s business positioning of focusing on literary films, but the big-budget films they invested in such as “Cold Mountain” and “The Aviator” all ended in failure. It also ended up falling apart with Disney.

Simon once watched the entire Weinstein sex scandal. He felt that if the Weinstein brothers hadn't left Disney, the storm would never have happened.Just like John Lasseter, the head of Disney's animation business was also exposed to the news of sexual harassment of female employees in that incident, but there were not many waves in the end.

Many people stumbled in that turmoil, but John Lasseter still enjoyed great glory as the "Big Four" of the Disney Empire, together with Robert Iger, Kevin Feige, and Kathleen Kennedy. Vanity Fair magazine cover.

It is conceivable that if Harvey Weinstein did not break away from the Disney system, Disney should be the "Big Five", Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm and Pixar Animation, plus Miramax, who is invincible in the Oscar field, Disney, the media giant, is sure to gain even more limelight.