Hollywood Drawing

Sitting in the right corner of the back row, Wayne patiently observed and waited for the screening to begin. This is a small screening room on the sixth floor of the Fox Building. He, Luke Jimmy, and three other people arrived here at eight in the morning.

Terry led them to this screening room with only a dozen seats and asked them to wait quietly for a while. The screening meeting was scheduled for nine in the morning.

Wayne raised his left hand and looked at the time. It was already nine o'clock, but now, except for himself, Luke Jimmy, and a staff member who was showing the film, no one came into the room.

He tried hard to suppress the anticipation and irritability in his heart. Now he couldn't do anything except sit back quietly and wait. It was obvious that Luke was even more nervous than Wayne, and he kept tapping his fingers on the box containing the copies.

Just when he was trying to think of something to talk to Jimmy about, the door was pushed open by Terry. The first person to enter was a middle-aged Latina beauty with chocolate-colored skin and dressed in women's professional attire.

Then an obviously Jewish executive walked directly to the front row, sat next to the Latina beauty, and whispered something. Terry stopped Jimmy and the others from saying hello and closed the door to indicate that they could go straight to the show.

Luke saw Wayne nod, handed the box to the staff, and helped him load the movie copy onto the projector. As the lights went out, the movie began in silence.

Wayne observed the middle-aged Jewish man sitting in the front row, and he was very sure that he would decide the distribution treatment of "Happy Holidays", whether Fox would release it or let him get out with the copy, it was all in his mind.

Yuliana Avdeva, who was sitting next to Townsend in the front, tried hard to suppress the impatience in her heart. This impatience was not directed at Townsend Rothman, but at the film that was about to be screened.

Juliana knew before entering the door that this was a trial of favors, and she specifically asked Terry for news, feeling that this was a waste of her time. She would never have any hope for a work by a twenty-year-old director. Such a work by a novice director is simply not worth the scrutiny of a top player in the industry like her.

Although her eyes were looking at the curtain, Juliana's mind was on Townsend beside her, wondering who could ask Townsend to help. But a few minutes after the film kicked off, this situation immediately changed.

At the beginning of the movie, this mean girl wakes up and forgets the name of the man she spent the night with. Then she becomes sharp-tongued and sarcastic all the way. She meets a classmate who she dated on the way and is unabashedly sarcastic. If it was just this, it wouldn't attract her attention.

After the fast-paced narrative, the heroine was bloody stabbed to death, which made her eyes light up, and then the seamless resurrection gave her a huge surprise. Julianna began to take out her notebook and looked at the screen intently.

"with potential?"

Townsend's whisper came to her ears, and Juliana nodded and said softly: "It has some potential. This is not a traditional horror film. Please watch it first."

The preview session passed slowly for more than ninety minutes in this silent atmosphere, and during these ninety minutes, Wayne could clearly see that the two people in the front row were attracted to his film.

After the screening, Luke packed away the copies, while Wayne watched the two people in front of them discussing something. They spoke very softly, and he was too embarrassed to say hello now.

After packing up the copies, Terry came over and took the three people out of the room. "Wayne, you can go take a rest first and come back after lunch to talk about the distribution issue. We need some time to discuss it."

"Of course, we're in the lounge area downstairs." Jimmy took over. "You can come downstairs and find us anytime."

Terry nodded, and when he returned to the office of the head of the distribution department, Yuliana Avdeva was talking to Townsend about the film's opinions.

"Of course, as for the other selling points of the film, I think you can see that the core of this film wrapped in black style surprised me very much. I can talk about my feelings after watching this film.

First of all, the theme of this film goes in the opposite direction. He does not praise Jessica's series of bad behaviors, but instead believes that these invisible "evil" factors are destined to bring "evil" results. Only "good" people who truly want to change their hearts can break through the confusion and gain the qualifications to lead to tomorrow. In the world, light can defeat darkness after all. As long as people work hard, there will always be a way back.

It has a very old-fashioned core, right? But this kind of old-fashioned thing has always been the thing that most impresses the audience. The director is very immature in some places, such as comedy scenes that relieve emotions. It is obvious that he is not good at these, but these will not affect the story. "

"Yuliana, you rated him very highly. Okay, I understand, you go ahead and do your work first." Townsend nodded after listening to her words. Then he said to Terry, who had just come in: "The announcement will be based on the C-category imported films."

"Okay, Mr. Rothman." After Terry agreed, he asked: "What kind of distribution contract should we sign with him? Buyout or?"

"Buy out the North American rights to the film, and you go and negotiate. Arrange the film's rating as soon as possible, skip the media preview, and directly arrange for the film to be screened."

"Okay, no problem, I'll notify them shortly."

Terry closed the door, left the director's office, walked downstairs and informed Wayne that negotiations for the film's distribution could begin.

The three of them all breathed a sigh of relief. As they went upstairs, Luke was still muttering in a low voice: "There shouldn't be any accidents this time, right?"

It was the same conference room as yesterday. The three of them were sitting across from Terry.

"Director Greenberg, first of all, if you want Fox to distribute the film, buying out the North American rights is the prerequisite." Terry looked at the young director and found it incredible that a director of this age could make a theatrical movie. Too rare.

Wayne didn't hesitate at all: "Of course, I agree to buy out the issue, as long as the price is right."

"It seems that we can easily reach a consensus, Director Greenberg. So let's talk about the price. Believe me, Fox has a dedicated market evaluation department, and the lion's mouth will not solve the problem."

"4 million US dollars to buy out all copyrights in North America including distribution, peripherals, and video tapes. I believe this price is not high. "Happy Holiday" will definitely bring more revenue to Fox." This is Wayne's inner price. Compared with the film In terms of the value that can be created, it’s not much at all.

Terry heard the quotation from the director opposite and thought silently for a while. He knew some things behind the release of this film, so he didn't lower the price: "Okay, just buy out the North American rights for US$4 million. The specific terms will be revealed to you tomorrow. You can call your lawyer and come to Fox to discuss it."

"Okay, that's it for today. I'll go back and make preparations. I'll bring my lawyer here tomorrow." Wayne suppressed the excitement in his heart and said goodbye to Terry in as calm a voice as possible.

From the Fox Building to the parking lot, the three people looked at each other, and the atmosphere was strangely silent. It wasn't until he got in the car that Luke opened his mouth to speak:

"It's just that simple? Damn it, it's just that simple and the negotiation is done!!!"

Wayne could no longer restrain his excitement, patted Luke on the shoulder, and answered him loudly: "Yes! Luke, yes! We succeeded, and we will send this damn movie to theaters soon. .immediately!"

After hearing what he said, Luke also patted Wayne's shoulder hard and shouted excitedly: "Now there won't be any of that shit to destroy us. Ha, we succeeded now."

In less than a week, Wayne, with the help of his lawyers, used the studio to sign a distribution deal with Fox.

20th Century Fox has purchased all North American rights to "Happy Holidays" for US$4 million, including distribution, video, peripheral, and television rights. Greenberg Studio retains the rights to subsequent creation and overseas distribution of the film, and 20th Century Fox has the right of first refusal to purchase subsequent creation and overseas rights.

The main cast members Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Naomi Watts, including director Wayne, must cooperate with all promotional activities of 20th Century Fox during the film's release.

Just one day after Wayne signed a contract with Fox on behalf of Greenberg Studios, the film's release schedule was given to Wayne.

Fox chose the safest distribution method. In the past two days, Wayne had imagined that the film could be released on a large scale in North America with a thousand or two thousand theaters. Only after receiving the schedule did he realize that this was just an unrealistic fantasy. .

It is impossible for Fox to invest a lot of money in publicity and marketing before seeing the response to the film. Even the cost of copying in this era is a large expense.

The two copies that Luke went to get printed cost about US$800 each. A large film and television company like this should have cooperated with the factory, so it was not much cheaper. The average cost of each copy was about US$600.

Now in 1991, each print of a 35mm film print costs $600. If the film is released in 2,000 theaters, that is more than a million. Fox will never spend this money until the market prospects of the film are clear.

The big companies in Hollywood are all about deception and abduction, but they can never be charities. Unless the film shows early market prospects, Fox will never spend a penny more.

The film will be screened on demand in 20 theaters around Los Angeles and New York. Fox will send observers to observe the market and audience reaction.

If the audience's reputation is good and the box office of a single theater is excellent, with 20th Century Fox's responsiveness, it can contact the factory to develop thousands of copies in a short time at any time, and the scale of the screening can be rapidly expanded.

This method is often used by distribution companies when releasing low-cost movies. The end result is: Fox can get a high share of the box office due to expanded screenings; if the film fails, Fox loses almost no upfront investment.

This is the rule of this industry. Even if the Fox film fails to be screened, it can easily recover the cost and even make a profit by relying on video tapes and TV rights.