Across America, Starting with the Boxing Champion

Chapter 545: War of Public Opinion

From the perspective of film art, independent film companies are in opposition to large film companies that cater to the market. The purpose of independent films is to maintain the artistry of films, not to pursue the market, and to resist films produced by big film companies using "formula".

Lionsgate's original movies were mostly "independent films", but now Lionsgate pays more attention to box office, which is similar to the six major film studios.

It became what David Bordwell called the ‘evil dragon’.

In addition to criticizing Lionsgate's films, some filmmakers have accused Lionsgate's marketing plans of disrupting the movie market.

For example, Lionsgate Pictures and AMC and other theater chains implemented the "Tuesday Discount Plan" at the beginning of the year. Movie tickets are discounted by 40% every Tuesday. The price of movie tickets under Lionsgate Pictures on Tuesday is only US$5-7.

There is also the ‘Free Movies Program’, where you can watch six Lionsgate movies and get a free movie ticket.

Although the 'Big Six Pictures' are also doing this, they are not as deep as the discounts given by Lionsgate Pictures.

Some small and medium-sized production companies, due to limited financial resources and a limited number of movies released each year, simply cannot afford this trick.

This is also one of the weapons that the New Seven Films can use to dominate the film market.

Lionsgate suffered the same losses from the Big Six when it was weak. Now that it is strong, it will naturally join them. If it doesn't join, it will be left behind by the Big Six.

This is one of the reasons why Lionsgate is considered the ‘Evil Dragon’.

In addition, some people pointed out that Lionsgate likes to use actors from the Palm Bay agency when making movies. For example, Emma Stone, Jennifer Lawrence, Melissa McCarthy, Matthew McConaughey and others all belong to Palm Bay. Bay agent, also often appears in Lionsgate movies.

According to Hollywood industry regulations, brokerage companies, production companies, and theaters must abide by the principle of three-line separation.

Lionsgate's approach is considered a monopoly.

etc.

Regarding the above criticisms and accusations, some are nonsense, and some are well-founded.

No matter what kind of criticism, the public relations department of Lionsgate Pictures will hold a press conference in a timely manner to provide a reasonable explanation and preserve Lionsgate's golden brand.

For defamatory comments, Lionsgate’s legal department will not hesitate to send a lawyer’s letter.

The two sides have been fighting for more than a week. With the full cooperation of the publicity department and the legal department, the negative news about Lions Gate in the media has been gradually suppressed.

This public attack also ended in failure and ended in failure.

"Is this the method of the six major film companies? The attack power is very average."

In the Lionsgate office, Link said as he flipped through the magazine.

“Boss, it’s not that our competitors are weak in attack, but that the quality of our company’s films is very high, and most of them have good box office and word-of-mouth success. They have no good way to criticize our films.

However, we cannot underestimate the Big Six. This time it may be a tentative attack. As long as there is any problem with our company's movies, they will all come around like sharks smelling blood. This is how MGM went bankrupt back then. of. "

said Goldsmith, vice president for communications.

Link nodded. After so many years in Hollywood, he could also feel how fierce the competition within the entire industry was, and it became even more intense after the rise of Lionsgate.

It often gives people a feeling of undercurrent.

This feeling is dangerous.

There are three main reasons why Lionsgate Pictures has not been surrounded by its peers so far.

First, since he took over Lionsgate, the quality of its films has been good, and he has won Oscars every year, making it impossible for his peers to attack Lionsgate in terms of film quality.

Second, after several acquisitions, Lionsgate Pictures has a relatively sound system of publicity, distribution, and production, and is less dependent on the Big Six. It is difficult for the Big Six to deal with Lionsgate Pictures.

Second, the six major film studios are six sects without unified leadership. They want to deal with Lions Gate and cannot be consistent in their actions.

These are Lionsgate’s strengths.

But Link will not underestimate the Big Six because of this. As Goldsmith said, the Big Six are deep-sea sharks. As long as Lionsgate dares to expose its shortcomings, the Big Six will attack them in groups.

So when Lionsgate has reached this point, Link and the senior management are walking on thin ice. Every movie and every project must be treated with caution and not give opponents a chance to take action.

"This "Dallas Buyers Club" is good, and Matthew McConaughey's performance is also good. However, when promoting it, pay attention to moderation. Don't always talk about Oscars. You should promote the difficulties Matthew McConaughey encountered during the filming. .

For example, losing more than 30 pounds, contact with AIDS patients, contact with **** groups, Oscar judges like to see actors sacrifice something for acting, so we will show these things to them, and they will vote. It's useless to just praise your acting skills. "

Link said while looking at the magazine.

"Okay boss!"

Goldsmith took out his notebook and wrote down his words.

Link smiled softly and was about to give some more instructions when the cell phone in his pocket rang. It was Leonardo's call.

"What are you doing? I'm not going to play cards."

"I'm not a gambler. How can I play cards every day? What I want to ask about is "The Wolf of Wall Street". I heard that the movie is scheduled to be released in December."

Leonardo said hesitantly.

"Any questions?"

"I wonder if the movie can be postponed until next year."

"Why?"

"Do you think I have a chance of winning the Best Actor Oscar for this movie next year?"

"No chance, at best shortlisted." "Yes, I know that too. I just watched "Dallas Buyers Club". Matthew did a very good job, and the subject matter of this movie is also more advantageous. I feel that compared with him, I can win the award. The chance is much smaller, so if it is postponed to next year, will the probability of winning an award be higher? "

Leonardo asked.

"No, in order to avoid internal conflicts, the distribution department has decided to postpone the release of "American Hustle" until next year. This movie is also the focus of the Olympic competition. If "The Wolf of Wall Street" is also delayed, you will still encounter 'rubber' next year. Man'Christian Bale, chances are still slim."

Link laughed.

"Shet! I heard that Lionsgate Pictures wants to monopolize the Best Actress, but why should they also monopolize the Best Actor? Why don't the Academy Awards be renamed the Lionsgate Awards?"

"Don't talk nonsense, or I will sue you for slander. The reason why our company's films can win Oscars is because they are of high enough quality and meet the tastes of the judges. There is no other reason."

Link said.

"Hmph, you are the boss, I can't influence you. Whether you want to go to this year's Victoria's Secret Show or not, I can help you introduce some beauties."

Leonardo said with a wicked smile.

"No, I have a wife and kids. Why would I go to that kind of crooked show? Only bachelors would like that kind of show. By the way, the underwear show is in December, right? "The Wolf of Wall Street" is released in December. You need to follow the crew to do promotions and still have time to go to the underwear show? Even if you want to win an Oscar with this kind of work attitude, I have a better chance of winning it than you."

"Shet! Link, I bet you will never win an Oscar in your life."

A frustrated voice came from the phone.

Link smiled casually and remembered something.

"Have you read the novel "The Revenant"? The company is planning to adapt it into a movie. I feel that you are very suitable for the leading role. You can give it a try. If you perform well, you have a good chance of winning the Oscar for Best Actor. ”

"Really? I don't believe it. If there is such a good role, you will definitely take it personally."

"The male protagonist is a fat man in his forties or fifties. He looks ugly and doesn't suit me very well."

"An ugly and fat character? Do you think it suits me?"

Leonardo asked unhappily.

"I've seen that photo of you playing with a water gun. It's very exciting."

"Shet! Shet! Damn, there's something wrong with the angle of that photo. I'm definitely not as fat as in the photo."

"hehe!"

Link hung up the phone and refused to listen to his excuses.

"Boss, there is one more thing."

After watching him finish the phone call, Goldsmith talked about the issue of the Oscar award for the public relations of "Rust and Bone". The public relations department believed that Link performed well in this movie and increased public relations efforts to have a chance to be nominated for the Best Actor Award.

"Any chance?"

Link thought for a moment and asked them to use normal PR efforts and not be too pushy.

First, his mentality has changed now, and he is not as interested in winning Oscars as before. It doesn’t matter whether he has or not.

Second, he is too famous now, too young, too handsome, and very rich. Out of envy, jealousy or other reasons, the Oscar judges will hardly vote for him. Increasing public relations efforts will only waste money. It is better to focus on publicizing other awards.

After leaving the office, Link went to the screenwriting department to take a look at the new scripts they had created, and by the way, he recommended two novels he had recently read.

"The Martian", the author of this novel is called Andy Weir. Since 2009, he has posted the novel "The Martian" on his personal website for free reading.

Later, under the strong request of readers, the work was published on the Amazon platform for a fee of US$0.99. As a result, there were more paying readers than free readers. In June, Random House bought the distribution rights of the novel for US$850,000.

The physical book was released to the public last week and sold 137,000 copies in the first week. It ranked 15th on the New York Times bestseller list and received a very good response.

Link asked the screenwriting department to contact the author to win the film and television adaptation rights of the novel.

The second novel is "Miracle Boy", written by R.J. Palacio. It is also a novel on the shelves this year. It tells the story of a little boy with facial defects who, with the encouragement of his parents, enters an ordinary school and regains his confidence. , a story about facing life positively.

Inspirational movies.

He remembers that the movie starred Julia Roberts and did well at the box office.

You can first negotiate the rights to adapt the novel and enrich Lionsgate's script library.

He also looked at the scripts submitted by the screenwriting department. There were more than ten scripts, all of which were of good quality. There were a few familiar movie names, but the box office results were uncertain, so he did not interfere. He handed them over to the production department for discussion first and let them decide. Decide.

Link will only look at the project production budget afterwards. If the cost is not high, there is no need to interfere. If the cost is too high, he will discuss it with the production department and try his best to prevent his projects from losing too much money.

While visiting the production department, Mike DeLuca, one of Lions Gate's three gold medal producers, approached him and hoped that he would seriously consider the "Fifty Shades of Grey" movie.

This year he starred in "Rust and Bone," an art film that grossed 320 million U.S. dollars in the global film market, and "Fifty Shades of Grey" is a global best-selling novel with a large fan base. If he, a world superstar, is allowed to If it is acted, the box office performance will definitely be very popular.

Link looked at the other party helplessly and asked himself, is it appropriate for a world superstar and billionaire to make this type of movie?

Mike DeLuca said it was appropriate, and promised that the amount of **** he would reveal in the film would not be greater than in "Rust and Bone."

Link shook his head. He has two movies next year, "American Sniper" and "The Expendables 3," and has no time to take on other movies. He wants Producer Ruka to come up with the script for the first movie first. If the script is good, he will If you have time, you can think about it.

Producer Luka nodded quickly and promised to come up with a very exquisite script.

Link looked at the time and returned to the office upstairs to pick up Ivaca from get off work.

(End of chapter)