Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Exploiting Hollywood 1980 Main Text Volume Chapter 83 The Tape is a new movie Roger Corman said is a teen movie that reflects the high school students "Sid Sister Gang". After Ronald watched the newly completed preliminary version at New World Company, he felt that it was completely different from the debut film he was filming, "Fast-paced Richmond High", which was also a youth movie.

Although there are many common confusions among teenagers in the movies I shot, there are also some cruel aspects, and many sensitive themes, but the overall tone is still upward. In the end, the future of each protagonist is also upward, bright, and full of hope.

But this "Sid Sisters" is completely different, with a dark tone from beginning to end. The heroine, dark-haired Veronica, has always wanted to join the foursome of social WASPs, the Sid Sisters, in high school. These rich girls all have the word "Sid" in their names, which is a sign of joining a gang.

At this time, a very rebellious boy Jason came to the school. He asked others to call him JD, and Veronica dated him. When the Sid Sisters tested Veronica, Veronica refused because of a project that was too difficult. In the end, Chandler vows to destroy Veronica's reputation.

At this time, JD came out and thought of many ways to help Veronica get revenge. In an accident, Veronica drank sewer cleaner to Chandler, causing the latter's death. JD simulated the notes and faked Chandler's suicide.

After that, JD became even more unscrupulous. He semi-coerced Veronica to kill several of the sister gang and the boys she was dating, and seemed to be preparing to fake Veronica's own suicide. Veronica starts to panic.

When Veronica was about to expose JD's true face, she discovered that JD had brought a bomb to school. In the madness, JD blew himself up. Veronica also said goodbye to the sick social mentality of high school girls.

"This movie..." Ronald chose his words. The Sid Sisters gave him a very strange feeling, "It's like a teenage version of Kubrick's 'A Clockwork Orange'..."

"Well, if you're not satisfied, we can talk about the price, or you can look at other movies?"

The distribution department in the New World is now in a very low position. The downturn in Hollywood has implicated many companies. Now that there is someone willing to buy the film distribution rights, everything can be easily negotiated.

Because of the legal dispute between Roger Corman and the boss of New World, Ronald took over the joint venture between the two to buy the film distribution rights. He left it to Michelle Cannold to do research. Soon Cannold came to Ronald with the information and said that the movie was worth buying.

In order to show his sincerity that he really wanted to buy it, Ronald also attended the movie screening in person. Who knew it was a very dark movie?

Although it is the director's debut film, the technical level of this film is very good, and the black-haired girl is also very distinctive, which is easy for the audience to remember.

These are all factors that contribute to the movie's success, but the biggest disadvantage is the content of the movie, which makes people don't know how to market it well.

Romance movie? It turned out that it was too exaggerated to see the male protagonist carrying a bag of explosives to school and blowing himself up. Horror film? Are there any monsters that are scary from the beginning? This movie mainly targets the psychological factors of teenagers in school, gradually breaking away from normal school life and showing an alternative fear.

"Please give us a moment, I want to discuss it with my deputy," Ronald politely asked the New World people to discuss it privately with Cannold.

"Do you still think this movie has the potential to be a hit?" Ronald asked Cannold.

"Yes, I still insist. This movie will sell very well in the video market. As for the box office in the theater, I'm not sure."

"Is that so? Why?" Ronald couldn't understand the difference.

"Do you know why there were so many colorful genre films in Hollywood before the 1950s? Especially the 70-minute B-level films, many of which were the inspiration and origin of the new Hollywood era."

Cannold did not answer Ronald, but asked him a question. However, he did not really want to test Ronald's film history knowledge, but answered quickly himself.

"Because at that time, going to the cinema was not an option, but a necessity on weekends or at night. We arrived at the cinema and decided which movie to watch. Men could watch westerns, women could watch comedies, and young people could watch romantic dramas. Middle-aged people can also watch ethics dramas. In short, everyone has their own hobbies, and it’s not too late to decide where to go.

Therefore, studios can tailor movies to various audiences to meet their needs. As long as your movie has characteristics, there will always be some audiences who like it, and even low-cost productions can make money. So there are many second-tier studios that specialize in a certain type of film. "

Ronald nodded, he knew this. After the advent of television, movie theaters are no longer a daily entertainment venue. Audiences have to know that there is a movie before they consider whether to go out to the movie theater. This also makes the role of stars special. When the audience hears the name of the star, they will want to go to the cinema, which is why they are so expensive.

"Nowadays, video rental stores are very large. They store various types of video tapes in separate areas. Each area has hundreds of movies to choose from..." Michelle Cannold's next words revealed his thoughts.

"Is that so?" Ronald thought for a moment when he went to Blockbuster. Indeed, the popularity of video tapes in American households continued to increase year by year. The recent opening of more and more Blockbuster chain stores has in turn increased the sales of video recorders year after year.

According to the latest statistics, there are more than 57 million video recorders in the United States. New sales each year have also begun to exceed 10 million. Audiences have also developed the habit of shopping at Blockbuster to see what new movies are available for rent when they get home from get off work.

This is very close to the custom of audiences in the 1930s and 1940s going to movie theaters to see what movies were available.

Ronald decided to test the video market with "Sid Sisterhood." This kind of low-cost, specific type of film is much easier to shoot than a blockbuster film. If the sales are good, it can form an assembly line for large-scale shooting, and won't the business increase?

"We can buy the distribution rights and video rights of this film, as well as all subsequent derivative rights, but I have a request. The director must re-edit and add more comedy style to make the whole thing less dark."

"As for the price, should we follow our quotation?" New World's manager beamed. The movie was finally sold.

"You talk to Mr. Cannold, he will discuss the details of the purchase with you."

Ronald laughed and threw the technical details to Michelle Cannold. The New World is in a lot of trouble right now. How much money can be made from it depends on Cannold's ability. Anyway, he will mostly handle this matter from now on.

"The three million U.S. dollars you mentioned is the shooting cost on paper. We are all in the industry. We cannot accept this price. Our quotation is 1.5 million..."

Michelle Cannold cut it in half when he came up. Ronald watched the other manager's smile disappear quickly, and then he and Cannold slowly discussed the details on the budget sheet, comparing item by item.

New World Pictures, which had been run by Roger Corman for more than ten years, abandoned Corman's cautious style after being acquired by a group of lawyers, and began to use the company's high-quality assets to package it and list it on Wall Street.

After it went public, although it didn't produce any big movies, it was still as popular as a cannon on Wall Street. Just last year, they acquired several companies with different businesses in the film industry.

First, a pharmaceutical company called "Rhythm Industries" declared bankruptcy. New World acquired part of the assets of the company whose main business was buying Spider-Man chewable vitamin tablets. That is Marvel Entertainment, which owns the Spider-Man comic that Minahan Golan wants to make.

Then they integrated these assets, obtained higher stock prices and stock indexes, and took advantage of the high stock market value to spend more than 4 million to acquire a studio belonging to the Canadian film company Lionsgate.

Then they bought a producer of educational films, Learning Company. It seems that a large-scale giant that includes production, distribution, and various types of films is about to take shape.

The final piece of the puzzle is the movie's spin-off, The Toy Company. Last year they also considered acquiring Mattel and Kennametal, two of America's largest toy manufacturers.

But the sudden stock market crash shattered this dream that was about to take shape. New World's stock price fell below one dollar, gradually sliding towards penny stocks. The huge interest brought by the use of financial leverage in large-scale acquisitions has brought the company to the brink of bankruptcy.

This "Sid Sisters", it seems that New World can't even get the funds for distribution. Rather than going to court for breach of contract, it would be better to exchange for some funds while someone takes a fancy to it.

This kind of continuous use of leveraged mergers and acquisitions is like a snowball. It acquires an asset and then hypes it up. Let the investment market accept the new assets, which will bring synergy to the company as a whole, drive up the stock price, and then use the new high valuation to make mergers and acquisitions. Other businesses.

In the era of low interest rates, this tacit game was played again and again on Wall Street, using a junk bond instrument. Use high-interest bonds to raise funds in the investment market.

But this kind of game encountered last year's major stock market crash, and the cycle of continuous acquisitions was suddenly broken. Once it stops, the interest alone can bankrupt a company.

New World suddenly died like this. Now its assets are available for anyone to choose from. It is simply a large-scale garage sale.

Minahan's Cannon Pictures was actually almost trapped. But fortunately, he also bought a lot of theaters, so the valuation of these assets will not depreciate too much. Coupled with the capital injection from EMI in China, we can support it until now.

Cannold successfully negotiated the price below $2 million. Ronald felt that at least it was not a loss. The quality of the film itself was good. If he could find someone to promote it to TV stations, he would probably be able to make back his money.

"They also asked me if I would be interested in other assets of Daydream New World, such as Marvel Comics and Study Group?" Michelle Cannold brought a new inquiry from New World.

"I need to ask someone about this and do some research." Ronald knew that the copyrights of such an old-established creative organization were extremely complicated, and he didn't know how many hands they had been sold in history. The legal terms in the process can't be understood without hiring the top legal team in Hollywood. There are countless traps in it, and one clause may lead to millions of dollars in profits or losses.

…

With the publishing contract in hand, Ronald went to see Roger Corman.

"It's great. I like this movie very much. As long as there are good reviews when it is released in theaters, the cost will probably be recovered in the TV station's pre-sale market." Coleman is very familiar with selling copyrights. You will know after watching it Approximately how many can be sold.

"I plan to ask the director to modify the tone of the film and add comedy elements. After all, the audience for this kind of youth movie likes horror and comedy, but they don't like heaviness." Ronald told Coleman his thoughts.

"I agree, I will talk to the director Michael Lehmann." Coleman thought for a moment and agreed with Ronald that for this movie that reflects the cruelty of youth, it is best to make the tone a little lighter. Treat it like a game, so that at least it won't cause trouble like A Clockwork Orange and cause negative perceptions in society.

"By the way, New World is in bankruptcy and liquidation now. Do you plan to go to the supermarket?" Ronald asked Coleman, remembering the invitation.

"All my important things in the New World, the copyright of the movie, I took away when it was sold. He only has the emotional value of his name to me, and I happen to be a person who doesn't worry about names. For the sake of box office, I can do both. It took seconds to decide to change the name of the movie.”

"Haha..." Ronald thought to himself, it would be a good idea to take a look at the movie rights that New World has made and purchased after Coleman sold it. He gave the idea to private attorney Lindsay and asked her to contact gray-eyed Mitch Kanter in Los Angeles to do a research report.

"Besides their office building, what else is New World selling? I know they have bought a lot of assets in recent years." Roger Coleman fought a lawsuit against New World's new boss and won the lawsuit. From there After receiving hundreds of thousands more in compensation, he stopped communicating with them.

"An educational film company, a Canadian studio, and a comic company. Are you interested? We can bid jointly."

"Don't be kidding. I can't afford those things. Do you want me to make science and education films? Or run a studio in Vancouver? It's difficult to run an asset like a comic company."

"Ha, if you're not interested, I'll see if there are any new movies you've made since you sold the company. Video tapes are a good business."

"Hey, it's true that video tapes have gradually replaced drive-in theaters and become my company's primary source of income." Roger Coleman lamented that the current video tape business is based on a share of sales, unlike drive-in theaters that have a fixed advance payment. His current filmmaking business cycle is too slow, and he cannot produce twenty or thirty films a year like before.

"When you were young, before there was a TV, what was it like to watch movies at that time? I heard that on weekends and in the evenings, you would go to the cinema if you had nothing to do. There are many choices. You can go and watch if you like it?"

"Ha, when I was young, television had actually begun to gradually enter the family. When I was a child, I went to the theater you mentioned." Roger Corman recalled the grand occasion of going to the theater as a child.

There was no television at that time, so when everyone was bored, they would gather their friends and go to the cinema. At that time, movies were not divided into shows. You could go in and watch the movie after buying a ticket. What you saw was often half-way through, and then you could continue watching after the movie was over. The plot was considered complete when you saw it when you came in.

And there is no limit to how long you can watch when buying a ticket. If you want, you can sit in and watch several movies. It is indeed the best time for the movie business.

"It looks like what Cannold said, video tapes are the new movies, the new Hollywood." Ronald became more confident in the business of selling video tapes.