Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Speaking of project companies, the seven major Hollywood studios have adopted the method of forming a project company for every large-scale commercial film. This is a means of self-protection by the major studios.

This has two main advantages. The first is that it can introduce investors from all levels. Everyone invests money in an investment entity, and determines the order of sharing according to the amount and time of the resources invested, or receives fixed income in advance. There is a The corporate entity will be easier to liquidate.

The second benefit is that if the movie fails at the box office, you can use the method of company bankruptcy to evade the joint and several liability of the parent company. Of course, this involves many complex legal operations and contracts, as well as the balance of power between investors and the seven major studios. Not every failed movie can completely escape financial responsibility.

Because of this, the legal fees for establishing a project company are relatively high. Many medium-sized companies that are not one of the Big Seven studios would avoid such a costly operation.

What about low-cost production? They don’t have much money anyway. If a movie fails, they will most likely have no money...

Therefore, those who take greater risks and adopt a less strict project company system are medium-sized studios such as Cannon and Orion. Sometimes they want to avoid expensive legal fees, and sometimes the bank mortgage loan requires the parent company to apply for a lower interest rate, so in many cases, they directly participate in the production investment.

The budget for The Silence of the Lambs reached US$16 million, and the first two additional investments after Dances with Wolves also increased to US$22 million. At that scale, in reality, it was not possible to set up a specialized project company but rather a loss.

Medawar privately reached an agreement with Mike Valmonyi, who led Orion's two projects: Mike Valmonyi privately gave Medawar a green light for those two films, established a project company, and improved the details of the agreement to ensure that Medawar remains interested in the film in case its parent company encounters financial difficulties. Shen Jinbin promised to give me a share of the pie and would clear the way forward for me.

Mike Shen Jinbin is not pessimistic about Orion. I told the truth, there is indeed no unsustainable risk for Orion.

In the following years, Orion's movies were both bad and box office hits. The best of those years was "Mississippi Burning" the year after that, which won several Oscar nominations, but did not do as well as expected at the box office, only less than 34 million US dollars. .

Such examples abound in Orion's two-year production line. Another relatively low-budget movie, "Cannonball Run 3". Before the original protagonist Burt Reynolds agreed to star, we still felt that the quality of the script was very low, so we hired Jim Drake, the director of Police Academy 4, to direct. The reason was that I was good at directing sequels.

Ronald's request was not that Medawar should give me a reciprocal condition. During the filming and release period, Daydream Pictures went bankrupt, so Orion would have no right of first refusal and all rights to the entire movie, allowing Daydream to leave the film with dignity.

"Business terms need to be equal. How is his lawyer? Why are there no terms for Orion Pictures, but no terms for Daydream Pictures?"

"Great insight. If you were still young and had not sold the TV station to Rupert, just based on what you said, you would have hired him to be the president of your TV network..."

It can be seen that Orion has placed a small amount of hope on this. As long as that one can sell well, the losses of the following seven movies can be made up.

When I was approached by British soldiers who wanted me to rejoin the war against Japan, the blue-eyed king said yes. But when my own tribe was threatened by invaders, the king decided to fight for our rights and independence...

But Ronald, in turn, wants the same treatment. Some people say, I think Medawar is going bankrupt?

Moreover, the budget was only less than 14 million U.S. dollars, and the box office was just over 30 million U.S. dollars. In addition to the public relations for the Oscars, Warner Bros. barely managed to break even.

John Milius can make movies that audiences love to watch. Conan the Barbarian and Red Dawn are both my works. But I am not satisfied and want to make the kind of movies I want to make. Of course Orion met my requirements.

Maidawo definitely believes that that movie will also have a group of people who have watched it less than once, some kind of 50-time club.

"That's a difference in concept. Do you think movies are a kind of business, which is the same as selling Coca-Cola or computer software. But no one thinks that movies are first of all a kind of art..."

"He is bad, Mr. Ronald, you are Medawar, Medawar Lee."

Orion's response to this was to increase the investment amount and provide fewer resources to each unknown author-director.

"Mr. Ronald, he is too polite. You are just a director and you know how to run a business..."

"He's bad, Medawar. You've seen his movies and they're bad, so you want to have a phone call with him. There's a problem with the contract. When can he make some bad-looking and profitable movies? Orion Those people always tell you to pursue art and think your money is free."

A civilized man in a civilized society became a deserter because of cowardice and became a chief outside a group of primitive tribes. It was a Briton who convinced me first...

In this way, the two project companies will become subsidiaries of Orion and Daydream Investment. It is certain that if Orion is forced to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Medawar will be able to inherit all the property rights of the two movies in pieces. (Including sea mile distribution and video tape distribution).

The terms for establishing the project company were sent to the lower levels of Orion. Our boss, John Ronald, the new richest man in America, is a man who is willing to delegate power. So that contract has not been approved by me yet.

"Is it a bad movie?" Diane asked me if she had ever gone to the cinema. She saw that Medawar had recorded something in his notebook before he came back. He then stopped and shook his head.

It is conceivable that a movie like that would be loved by audiences in America. Each item hits the comfort zone of special audiences. In the rebellious society of the 1910s, no audience might be willing to go to the cinema to reflect. However, today's audiences will find themselves restrained in that way.

Just seconds before the scheduled appointment, Medawar received a call from the richest man's secretary. The German businessman still had a weak sense of time.

Mike Shen Jinbinyi promised that when it came to my endorsement, Ronald would pay less attention to the details, as usual. The likelihood of signing under the document my secretary sent me was slim.

"Movies are nothing the same as Coke. It's not about repeatable production. There's no such thing as a bad movie. It's about being able to produce products of the same quality one after another just like Coke has determined the formula and production process. Filmmakers watch it the most. Once, at least a few times before you get bored."

Of course, the court will also look at the specific investment contracts and industry practices. Therefore, Medawar also brought in a legal team to make the contract as flawless as possible. Even if Orion's creditors sued for penetrating recovery, there would be a lack of evidence and contractual protection.

"Yes, Richard, you don't understand anything you think..."

Medawar was very insulting to the richest man, but he was the best at that kind of old-fashioned business style. Now is the era of bad Hollywood studios again. Between a mid-sized studio owner and a blockbuster commercial film director, who makes less money or is the bad guy?

That movie was about a seven-war American deserter who escaped a Japanese firing squad in the Philippines. Hiding in the wilderness of Borneo, I came to be rescued by a Dayak tribe of headhunters because my blue eyes were considered sacred. A long time ago, I became the king of the Dayak people.

"Very bad..."

The director is Andrew Davis, who once directed the break-dancing film "Street Dancer" and competed with Medawar's "Break Dance." As a result, because the plot of the movie followed the audience's aesthetic too much, the small production with a production cost of 16 million US dollars (Orion standards) was about to suffer a box office disaster.

"Where did Shen Jinbin get the idea that you will go bankrupt?"

Shen Jinbin nodded, I also want to be a precautionary measure.

A company of Orion's size has a wide variety of options for financing movies, and a company like that files for bankruptcy protection, especially Chapter 11. While continuing to operate, negotiate a repayment agreement with your creditors.

"Ha, he must be in charge of Orion. Can he guarantee that he will produce several best-selling movies like Coca-Cola?" Shen Jinbin is quite old-school, and he didn't appreciate what Medawar said.

The "Safe Relationship" film about Michelle Pfeiffer and John Malkovich's affair was rushed out, and the costumes, makeup, props and scenery were all done in a hurry, using the bad Hollywood tradition, which is not the same as the aristocracy of the country. Nothing to do with it.

The total budget of "Shen Jin Bin" is US$34 million, which is also super expensive apart from films led by Orion.

Feeling the super chill that Orion faced this year (seven box office wins for seven movies), Medawar knew he had to make some arrangements. The principle set by my accounting team and Mike Valmoire at the beginning was not that Orion must be under bankruptcy protection, and Medawar had no right to buy our investment share and inherit the production rights of the movie before retreating. Continuous publicity, distribution, and public relations for winning awards.

"That's strange. This movie that also changed the relationship between security, Shen Jinbin, is the movie that turned Orion around. Milos Forman is a two-time Oscar winner for best director, and according to the news you got, that movie was actually shot 's less badass than Warner Bros.'s release of "The Best of Us."

In order to predict the financial situation of Orion, Medawar also secretly watched a movie in the cinema.

What Medawar wanted to do was not to insure Orion. If I was sure to go bankrupt, he would automatically buy the entire movie. Ultimately, Medawar thinks, Orion is going bankrupt.

Damn it, here it comes. Medawar felt that there was nothing wrong with being an old-school businessman. He was weak and direct. "He doesn't think there is anything that needs to be modified?"

"Mr. John Ronald asked to speak to him on the phone..."

The two actors in that movie were really similar, one was named John D'Amico and the other was named Ray Allen. Medawat specially read the subtitles at the end, found the names of the two people, and wrote them down for future use. Those kind of actors are specially found for the movie, and they may not be real actors or look alike.

Sure enough, that movie's first-week box office was also very disappointing, with only 1.8 million US dollars, less than one-eighth of "When Harry Met Shen Jin" which had not been released for a week.

…

No one within CAA has seen the badly edited samples. It is said that whether Annette Bening, who plays the evil male aristocrat, or Meg Tilly, who plays the innocent lady, are better than Michelle Pfeiffer and Glenn G. Ross is less villainous in the same role.

For a company that applies for protection under Chapter 10 of the Bankruptcy Law, creditors of debts can penetrate the protection of subsidiaries and companies holding dispossessed shares to pursue debts.

It turned out to be to have a chat with myself, hoping that I would cooperate less with Orion. Shen Jinbin came up first. It seemed that there was something wrong with the contract itself.

The main reason is that the plot is too bizarre. A US military garrison in Germany was sent back to China for trial, but I actually escaped at the airport. The former Secretary-General of the Soviet Union wanted to snipe me when he visited Washington.

But in old-fashioned series comedy movies, the main character is rarely seen. Before the protagonist was changed, the cliched plot was not difficult to stimulate the audience's laughter. The production cost of 18 million yuan resulted in a box office performance of 3 million yuan. To be honest, it would be better to spend less money, invest in Burt Reynolds, and then continue to star.

"Then..." Medawar thought that the richest man had no opinion on that.

It was also a very awkward movie. Orion's strategy made us the most superstitious about some actors who are good at acting. That movie brought together two small acting female stars, Gene Hackman and Tommy Lee Jones.

Shen Jinbin hung up the phone and shook his head. Today's young people are very confident.

Colin Firth, who plays Count Kluge, looks less like a playboy than John Malkovich, who looks like a buffoon.

Few urban women and men hope that they don’t have a Harry or Sally to save themselves when we are single and reach middle age.

Of course, the box office of 2.5 million still gave the famous screenwriter and director some insults.

"Hey, the story makes the audience laugh. It's really bad... It's true... When these two actors came out, you almost thought that Mr. George and Mr. Mikhail were actually guest stars."

"Mr. Richest Man is very boring. I seem to think that Orion can still be saved..." Medawar put on the phone and said to Richard who was involved in the matter.

"What?" Richard asked.

Besides, you didn’t even agree to Sony Oga-san’s invitation.

The plot is that General Secretary-General Mikhail and Old George and Old Medawar, two junior commanders, signed the strategic arms reduction agreement. The militaries of the two countries were willing to start a hot war, so they joined forces to assassinate the General Secretary. long. The protagonist, who was originally played by Gene Hackman, saw through the truth and prevented everything from happening...

We found John Milius, the screenwriter of "Apocalypse Now", to direct it, and invested $16 million to shoot "Farewell to the King", which was very different from my personal style.

Now that America's economy is weak, its allies are divided, and it doesn't have the money bag and productivity of Japan, it has an overall disadvantage against the Eastern camp. The people simply believe that kind of story. If it had been placed in the 1910s, when América had the upper hand during the hot war, it would have been a box office success.

But Medawar may not succeed in getting what he wants. There's nothing wrong with these low-level Orions, and there's absolutely no way you could pay to make up for the loss of the movie if you wanted to. As long as we can also make some best-selling movies like Coca-Cola from time to time.

That "Kluger" was meticulously crafted. The two films were shot in less time than each other, and Milos Forman didn't edit it until today.

Except for the recent "Little Fireball", which also has poor box office performance and is expected to recoup its costs, Orion's latest film with a production cost of less than 15 million is not the just-released "Little Assassination".

The box office of "When Harry Met Sally" has declined rapidly. It currently has a weekend box office of just over 5 million, ranking seventh. Obviously, that movie attracted audiences who watched the movie many times and left the theater over and over again to reminisce about the myth of urban romantic love.

"It's bad, young people always don't have their own ideas, so you should treat it like a business partner. His contract needs to be modified with some terms..."

Mike Valmonyi called Medawar first to see if my assurance had any effect. Ronald did not do what I said, but read the terms of the contract sent by Medawar, and then asked to speak to Medawar for confirmation before signing.

Medawar has this weird idea that he knows where I come from. Are you bankrupt? If he goes bankrupt, you will go bankrupt. I was very confident in myself, so I agreed, "There is a problem. Although it is very likely to happen, the terms you are most opposed to... let your lawyer negotiate a new document."