Hollywood Director 1992

Link watched the upgraded version of "The Blair Witch Project" three times in a row.

He discovered some very subtle changes in the film, including camera design, actor performance, lines, lighting, and sound effects.

There were some subtle changes in all of these areas.

If he hadn't repeatedly watched it dozens of times while editing, and become familiar with every element of the movie, he almost wouldn't have noticed.

Judging from his aesthetic perspective, the quality of the new version of "The Blair Witch Project" was undoubtedly higher.

Whether it was the actors' performances, or the movie's camera design, sound, brightness, or visuals, there were some subtle changes.

Although the version he had previously edited was relatively complete, it still seemed rough and not detailed enough compared to the new version.

To use a simple analogy.

The first version was like a newly carved jade pendant, while the second version had been handled many times, making its appearance crystal clear, its color warm and smooth, and its grade looked higher.

At the same time, he also discovered that the 'Movie Completion' in the system evaluation had changed from 87.8% to 92.4%, an increase of nearly 5 percentage points.

The other options remained unchanged.

Link remembered that after the system update, box office subsidies took personal participation, movie completion, movie awards, movie promotion investment, and movie market conformity as references. The higher the index, the more subsidy rewards were obtained.

Now only personal participation, movie completion, and market conformity appear, how are the rest calculated?

Could it be that after the movie is released and wins awards, the box office subsidy will change again?

These things still need to be explored.

After watching the movie, Link returned to his office and called in Vice President Michael Leeson to inquire about the industry acquisition situation.

After "Paranormal Activity" became a big hit, Guess Who Pictures planned to invest 20 million US dollars and use subsequent box office revenue as collateral to borrow 50 million US dollars from Morgan Bank to acquire several film and television production companies, film distribution companies, and video tape production and distribution companies.

There are two reasons for acquiring these companies.

The first is that he plans to use the acquired film company to distribute "The Blair Witch Project."

If Guess Who Pictures continues to distribute the film, it will be easy for people to see the problem during publicity.

Using a shell company to distribute it will reduce the problem.

The second is to strengthen Guess Who Pictures' production and distribution capabilities, increase the company's tangible asset value, and become a film company that can independently produce large-scale film projects without relying on the Big Seven film companies. The target is MGM Studios, one of the Big Seven film companies.

MGM is also the only independent production company among the Big Seven film companies that does not have complete production, publicity, and distribution channels, which is also the reason why MGM was the first to go bankrupt and be acquired.

After Guess Who Pictures' integration is completed, Link will start financing to increase the company's market value.

At the same time, use the financing money to acquire media and further improve the film promotion and distribution channels.

The goal of this step is to become a new giant in the Hollywood film industry.

"Boss, after the last work meeting, I took people to investigate the asset situation of current Hollywood independent film companies. We have currently sorted out 124 related companies and found 12 suitable targets. This is the information, take a look."

Michael Leeson pushed over a stack of documents.

Link opened it and looked at it. The one at the top was Castle Rock Entertainment. This company was founded in 1987 and has currently participated in the production of 12 films, including "When Harry Met Sally...", "Lord of the Flies", "Misery", and "A Few Good Men."

Castle Rock Entertainment's production capacity is not bad. In the field of independent production, it can often enter the top ten, but its distribution capacity is relatively poor. Its films mainly rely on New Line Cinema, Warner Bros. Pictures, and Columbia Pictures for distribution.

Because Castle Rock doesn't have much distribution capability, it also leads to the company not owning the copyright to the films, and for a film company, film copyright is the most valuable thing.

According to Wall Street investment institutions, Castle Rock Entertainment's current market value is approximately US$38.5 million, and its assets mainly include a film production studio, subsequent copyright shares of several films, video tape copyrights, script copyrights, director, actor, and producer brokerage contracts, etc.

Among them, Rob Reiner, the director of "A Few Good Men", is also one of the founders of Castle Rock Entertainment, and has repeatedly criticized Link and "Paranormal Activity" in the media.

The second one is 'Good Machine', a more well-known film company in Hollywood, founded in 1990. It is a film production company and has currently produced and distributed five films.

Including Ang Lee's debut film "Pushing Hands", founder James Schamus has almost participated in the production of all Ang Lee's films.

'Good Machine' is also the predecessor of Focus Features.

The current quotation is 12 million US dollars.

The third one is Artisan Entertainment, founded in 1982. It is a veteran independent film production company with a small production studio. It has participated in the production of 23 small-budget films and has almost no fame.

What made this company famous later was the distribution of the dark horse film "The Blair Witch Project."

Artisan Entertainment is not only a production company, but also has a certain distribution capability. It also owns the copyrights to many B-rated films. The price is a bit more expensive than Good Machine, with a quotation of 18 million US dollars.

Below are the materials of six other film companies.

Including Hemdale Film Corporation, which produced the first "Terminator". After James Cameron left, the company's situation has deteriorated in recent years, and the quotation is not high.

New World Pictures, founded in 1970, is a film and television production and distribution company. Its films are mainly horror films, including "Cries and Whispers", "Autumn Sonata", "The Slumber Party Massacre", and "Children of the Corn", etc.

There is also Trimark Pictures, founded in 1984.

The above film companies are all quoted at less than 40 million US dollars, which is no different from small shrimps compared to the Big Seven film companies with market values ​​of billions or hundreds of billions of dollars.

In addition to film production companies, Link focused on browsing film distribution companies and video tape production and distribution companies.

Among them, he selected two companies, Trimark Holdings Inc, a film and television distribution company, founded in the mid-sixties, with the copyrights of 350 film and television works, and has a complete video tape sales and production business, quoted at 38 million US dollars.

The founder of this company, Joe Feller May, is the future chairman of the board of directors of Lionsgate Films, but Lionsgate Films has not yet been established.

The second is Triumph Releasing Corporation, also a film distribution company, with a complete film and video tape sales and production business.

Triumph Releasing Corporation was founded in the 1970s and owns the copyrights to 130 films, including "Black Angel" and "The Courage Mountain", etc.

Although the film copyright reserve is not as good as Trimark Entertainment, the value of its film copyrights is relatively higher, with a quotation of 40 million US dollars.

The above film production and distribution companies are all in relatively suitable situations. Which one to buy mainly depends on the price and the willingness of both parties to cooperate.