Hollywood Drawing

After the assistant director was selected, Wayne breathed a sigh of relief, and now he is waiting for news from Warner Brothers.

From the end of July to mid-August, he was preparing simple storyboards while communicating with Zack Snyder on the phone to discuss camera positions and shooting techniques.

Warner Bros. finally passed the risk assessment and gave the green light to the project review, notifying Jimmy that he could start negotiations on the director's remuneration at any time.

Although Wayne was anxiously waiting, he knew that investing large sums of money, even for such a giant company, would have to go through all the required procedures.

If, like the legend, the CEO of a Hollywood production company could easily decide on a movie project with an investment of tens or even hundreds of millions, it wouldn't be such a hassle.

But legends are legends after all. Any mature production company has its own set of inspection systems and power restrictions, and every investment will be very cautious.

"I'm going to ask Warner Bros. for a high price for your treatment as a director!" Jimmy was very confident when talking about the business he was good at, and Wayne was qualified to negotiate prices with them.

"Based on your commercial performance, you can basically get the rights of a first-line director, including the final editing rights."

"Leave it to you, you know my bottom line!" Professional things are left to professionals. Wayne has no objection to these. Jimmy and his interests are tied together, and he will definitely try his best to get rid of his previous company. Take a bite of meat.

And he is no longer the new director who can't find a distributor with his film. If Warner Bros. breaks his bottom line, he is not without the ability to resist.

Judging from his business performance, he already has the capital to negotiate with major companies.

"Okay, leave it to me!"

The two discussed the film for a while, and then Jimmy hurriedly left Wayne's house and went back to sort out the information and prepare to start negotiations with Warner Bros. as soon as possible.

After a long period of screening, "Get Out" has basically been removed from the global schedule. Only a few remote theaters in North America that Warner has greeted are still showing it once or twice a day.

All overseas screenings of the film have ended, and the global box office has accumulated more than 310 million U.S. dollars, which has caused a collective celebration in the major media.

The cumulative box office revenue in North America is 100 million. Although this number is still growing tenaciously, it will not increase to the million-dollar level in the end. It can be said that this is the final number.

Amid widespread media coverage, Wayne has quietly climbed into the upper echelons of Hollywood.

After two tentative contacts between Jimmy and Warner Bros., the two parties slowly negotiated many conditions. In the final analysis, everything was false, and only interests could make both parties compromise.

The global release of "Get Out" has given Warner Bros. great confidence, and they have relaxed their negotiation standards on some unnecessary conditions.

Time entered September, and after another two weeks of wrangling, Warner Bros. and Jimmy finally reached an agreement and negotiated a contract with the director.

The investment cost of the film "Joker" was wholly owned by the Na Brothers. Warner Bros. will also serve as the film's North American distributor and global distributor.

The reason why there was such a long period of wrangling was because Jimmy shouted out a sky-high remuneration for the director.

For the first time he negotiated the director's remuneration, he called for the 20+20 treatment for top commercial directors, which almost frightened Thomas Mendes, who was negotiating on behalf of Warner, to the point where he lost his temper.

20+20, which represents the director's basic remuneration of US$20 million, plus 20% of the global box office share. The price Jimmy shouted was indeed scary, but he also knew that the other party would not agree.

Are you negotiating? Asking for a high price and paying back the money on the ground!

His job is to strive for more profits for his clients.

In the testing of both parties, a consensus was gradually reached. Wayne was no longer a novice director, and could no longer rely on millions of dollars to spend, so he finally negotiated a share contract again.

Wayne can receive 10% of the total North American box office after the film is released as a post-director share. Of course, the premise is that the North American box office of the "Joker" project must exceed three times the production cost, which is US$18000.

The box office share is fixed and there is no incentive to fluctuate.

As the project initiator, screenwriter, director and second producer of the film, his basic salary is US$10 million. This money will be paid in three installments, before the film starts shooting, after production is completed and when the film is released.

In fact, Jimmy wanted to bite off a piece of meat around the film, but he was obviously a little fanciful. After feeling the other party's determined attitude, he immediately gave up the idea.

The red line for film companies is peripheral products. If you want to make this part of the revenue and cross this red line, you must be the top commercial film director and superstar in Hollywood. Otherwise, you don’t even have to think about it.

This type of income is different from a one-and-done deal such as basic remuneration and box office share. These movie companies are guaranteed profits. Peripheral income generally does not earn a lot in the short term, but it can last for many years.

As long as this film is still in the copyright library of the production company and brings income to the production company, the director who enjoys this part of the share will continue to receive income and can even pass it on to future generations...

The current contract may still be some distance from those top directors, but this is already a top director contract in this industry.

In order for the crew to run smoothly, Warner Bros. will once again send Wayne's old friend John Gray as the representative and producer of the production company, and will also send two deputy directors, mainly responsible for assisting the director and producer in the preparatory work.

One of the assistant directors is the casting director, who will help Wayne and John conduct the first round of auditions to weed out the unqualified actors.

In mid-September, Wayne and his team walked into the large conference room of the Warner Building, where a press conference on new projects would be held. This is a film with an investment of tens of millions, and it has already entered the publicity and distribution process since the signing of the contract!

Wayne would never compromise on the publicity work required by the production company. He came from decades later and knew very well how publicity and marketing could help a film, not to mention that it also involved his interests.

Normally, Hollywood has a general press conference process, and the media and production companies are just going through the motions and following the procedures. Wayne smiled and signed the contract with Kevin Tetsuhara under flashlights, then exchanged hands for the media to take photos.

In fact, the real contract was signed before, and the above terms cannot be shown to the media. The current contract is just a look-alike to fool people.

After taking the photos, the press conference came to the final stage, which was when reporters asked questions. The staff of Warner Bros. were the first to call on their own media, a female reporter from the news department of HBO Television Network, who stood up and asked questions.

"Director Greenberg, this film is still the same as your previous two films. Is it a horror thriller? Can you talk about the general theme?"

After hearing her question, Wayne turned the microphone to himself, shook his head and said: "No, this film is very different from his previous works. This is not a simple thriller. If not To differentiate, this should be considered a crime drama.

As for the theme, the name of this film is "Joker". Yes, it comes from the clown Arthur in DC comics. The theme is how Arthur became the clown later. The story of course takes place in Gotham. I will portray a real Gotham for the audience, a metropolis that blends chaos and order. "

"Wayne, doesn't this look like New York in reality?" Bella Grant, an old acquaintance from the Los Angeles Times and the beautiful reporter who wrote the details of "Get Out" stood up and asked him.

"Of course!" Wayne directly admitted the other party's guess. "If you say where modern Gotham is, 90% of people will think of New York. But it is still different. It is like an enlarged version of New York's emotions, and the people who live in it will be different!"

After thinking about it, she continued: "This film will be shot in real locations in New York, and we strive to restore a real Gotham to the audience."

Regardless of whether he can do it or not, his words have been spoken anyway, and the publicity effect will be produced.

In fact, Wayne knew that it was impossible to shoot all the real scenes, and he would have to use props and CGI synthesis. As soon as the preliminary preparations started, he would immediately contact Industrial Light and Magic. In this regard, no one can compare with those who only made "Star Wars" and "Star Wars". They are more professional in "Raiders of the Lost Ark"!

This aspect does not require too many lenses, so it does not take up too much of the budget.