Hollywood Director 1992

“Let's continue the meeting!”

Link took a sip of tea and continued to discuss the publicity and distribution of 《Paranormal Activity》 with Daniel DeVito, Michael Leeson, and Jon Gordon, the newly appointed head of the distribution department.

First of all, before the film is officially released, the publicity department must do a good job in promotion and distribution.

One of the strategies is to revive the 'Connecticut haunting incident' that was hotly debated two months ago.

At the same time, take the paranormal events that have occurred in the United States in the past few years and decades, add new material, reinterpret and hype them, and make them into a delicious paranormal feast, trying to let everyone taste the flavor of this feast.

The purpose of the hype is to promote superstition and create some fear in the whole society.

When everyone is afraid of 'paranormal events', the documentary 《Paranormal Activity》, which captures traces of the paranormal, will make a brilliant debut.

This documentary can satisfy many people's curiosity and cognitive needs about the paranormal.

The more people who are interested in the paranormal, the better the box office results will be.

“Boss, now is the summer season, and the publicity efforts of other movies are also very strong. If we want to turn these anecdotes into social hot news, the cost may be very high.”

Jon Gordon is a German-American with slicked-back blond hair and a hooked nose. He speaks crisply and has a serious expression. He is a stern person.

“Don't worry about the cost. The company will provide as much money as you need. What I want is the publicity effect.”

“Okay, I can do it.”

Jon Gordon nodded.

“Secondly, I have another suggestion on publicity.”

This suggestion is the cinema shooting plan that has already begun to be implemented.

After the movie is released, you can arrange some photographers in various cinemas to capture those scared audiences.

Afterwards, find the audience and buy the rights to use their portraits.

After the movie is released, edit these shots into trailers and broadcast them on TV to arouse the audience's curiosity.

“Daniel, I'll leave this to you.”

“No problem.”

Daniel DeVito nodded and adjusted his glasses.

The remaining work, such as communicating with the MPAA Motion Picture Association to rate the film, contacting film critics, and arranging the film to participate in recent film festivals, is mainly the responsibility of Michael Leeson and others.

“Are there any other questions?”

Link looked at his three capable subordinates.

“Boss, it's okay to do as you said, but the budget will be very high, and the market potential of 《Paranormal Activity》 is not easy to evaluate. It may be a big hit, or it may lose money. If the publicity budget is too high, and the box office results are not ideal afterwards, it will have a great impact on the company.”

Daniel DeVito said cautiously.

The other two also nodded in agreement.

All of Link's arrangements are based on the premise that the movie will be a hit, investing a lot of money and energy, and then recouping it after the movie is released.

However, more than 240 films are released in Hollywood every year, of which more than 60% lose money. Not only the production costs will be lost, but also the publicity and distribution costs, which also leads to the bankruptcy of many film companies every year.

For example, United Artists Pictures, New Century Pictures, etc., many film companies have been implicated in bankruptcy by a movie because they bet on the wrong chips.

Guess Pictures is a newly established film company, and it lacks funds and channels. If it spends too much on this movie, and the movie loses money afterwards, it will seriously affect the company's development.

“Your considerations also make sense.”

Link recognized Daniel's words.

The reason why he dares to engage in publicity and distribution costs at all costs is because there are box office subsidies, so he doesn't worry about losing the money invested.

Daniel DeVito and others don't know the truth. From their perspective, these concerns are also reasonable.

“First, make a budget for publicity and distribution costs. The initial investment is about 2 million. After the movie is released, if the box office data is good, increase the publicity funds. If the box office results are not ideal, reduce the publicity costs.”

“2 million? Isn't that too much? This is just a low-cost experimental film. According to the box office calculations of similar low-cost horror films in the past two years, the best box office results are only more than 8 million US dollars. With an initial investment of 2 million US dollars, it is difficult to recover the cost.”

Jon Gordon frowned and said.

“Yes, boss, the success of 《Buried》 is very accidental. We should be cautious when promoting 《Paranormal Activity》. We should not set the goal too high, and we should also be prepared to lose money.”

Michael Leeson said.

Link shook his head, because the three of them are veteran Hollywood filmmakers. Considering from their perspectives and thinking habits, the suggestions and worries they put forward are all fine.

However, if the movie 《Paranormal Activity》 wants to be a big hit, the publicity must be in place.

There are three reasons why the original 《Paranormal Activity》 was a big hit.

First, the quality of the movie itself is good.

Nothing wrong, one first, one hair, one inside, one capacity, one look, one look!

Before its release in theaters, 《Paranormal Activity》 sold well in the DVD market, selling 230,000 copies in three weeks, ranking among the top three in sales for two consecutive weeks, and also won the honorary award equivalent to Best Picture at the 'Screamfest Horror Film Festival'.

Second, the original director Oren Peli is Jewish and is appreciated by the Jewish director Spielberg. Spielberg also personally helped to modify the ending of the movie, and later received care from relevant media during publicity.

Third, the distributor Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks did a good job in publicity, spending about 10 million US dollars on publicity.

Finally, with good quality and distribution capabilities, 《Paranormal Activity》 grossed 102 million US dollars in North America and 197 million US dollars in 52 countries around the world.

Director Oren Peli also made more than 20 million US dollars from this movie.

Now 《Paranormal Activity》 is distributed through Guess Pictures. Without the support of those external allies, Guess Pictures can only rely on its own efforts and spend money to buy publicity resources.

If too little is invested, the effect will definitely be very poor.

Link also considered investing a little less. Anyway, there are box office subsidies. As long as the movie is released, the box office will definitely be available.

But there is also a problem here, the cyclical nature of box office recovery.

Some movies are well distributed and recoup their costs within three or four months after their release.

Some movies are not well distributed and only receive box office revenue after several years or more than ten years, such as 《A Chinese Odyssey》, and 《Léon: The Professional》, which was released in mainland China after decades.

Due to publicity and other issues, the speed of global box office recovery is very slow.

And the reason why Link made this movie was to earn a lot of cash to make movies and make investments.

It is not meaningful for him to recover tens of millions of box office dollars after more than ten years.

“The initial publicity budget of 2 million US dollars remains unchanged.

What you should think about next is how to do the most effective publicity with the least amount of money,

Instead of worrying about how to deal with box office losses before the movie is released, it's useless to think about these now. I hope you can be more positive and optimistic about this movie. Can you do it?”

“Understood, boss!”

The three got up and left.

Link leaned back in his office chair, thinking carefully about what else he could do before the movie was released to increase the movie's influence.

Let the box office return from the movie market as soon as possible and become a number in the bank account.

Thanks to '亚克亚克西', '书友号 40925' for the reward.