Hollywood starts with a broker

Sidney Ganis was also in charge of production at Columbia Pictures and had his eye on "Ghost"!

Aaron smiled, "Thank you, in fact, Dawn is also very willing to cooperate with Sony Columbia."

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Originally, Columbia and Samsung have now merged, but in recent years, the two companies will definitely release some movies separately;

Last year, "Ghostbusters 2" and "When Harry Met Sally..." were distributed by Columbia;

"Radio Days" and "Listen Up Philip" were distributed by Samsung. This is all internal competition within the group and different focuses on film types.

"Castle Rock, you know, the producer of 'When Harry Met Sally...' has a distribution agreement with our Sony, as does Carolco!"

"Yes, I know, but let's talk about 'Phone Booth' first."

Sidney Ganis nodded, "Asian distribution rights, a buyout for $3 million, how about it?"

Aaron blinked, "Mr. Ganis should know that 'Phone Booth' has already grossed $28 million in North America, right?"

"It's predicted to reach $40 million, and Japan is the second largest market after North America, plus there's also South Korea, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, China;"

"$3 million, isn't that a bit too little?"

It's already been released in North America, and the word-of-mouth and box office have proven it, it's not like before filming, right?

"Aaron, you and I both know that 'Phone Booth' won't reach $40 million at the box office, and the Asian side is estimated to be only $5 or $6 million;"

"We still need to earn a little from subsequent videotapes or TV broadcasts, and that all takes time!"

Aaron shook his head, "No, now Hollywood and the international market are about 4:6, and international box office for this type of movie will be higher;"

"Asia will definitely have between $15 million and $20 million, so I think $5 million is a good price to sell the Asian distribution rights."

Sidney Ganis directly refused, "That's impossible, Aaron, these are just your guesses, many movies have higher North American box office than the international market;"

"Moreover, the big warehouse for international box office is Europe..."

Finally, after the two negotiated, Sidney Ganis was only willing to offer $3.5 million to acquire the Asian distribution rights!

"Okay, so, for this movie 'Ghost,' if Dawn Pictures plans to produce it independently and have Sony Columbia distribute it, how much distribution commission are you planning to charge?"

Sony and Castle Rock, Carolco are all in this kind of cooperative model, Dawn is the same, that's great!

"We charge a 15% distribution commission in North America, and in the international market, your Dawn Pictures can get 25% of the box office split;"

"Marketing expenses, Sony can pay in advance, and recover them in advance later!"

Aaron frowned. This was only slightly better than 20th Century Fox, with a concession on international distribution.

"Mr. Ganis, you know that 'Pretty Woman' was developed by Disney mainly on my recommendation, right?"

Sidney Ganis smiled, "Of course, many people know that you made a big speech to Warren Beatty back then!"

"So, for me, a 15% distribution commission is too high."

"Not high, Columbia is not those independent distributors, the distribution capabilities between the two are different."

Aaron tapped the table, "You charge a 15% distribution commission for anything under $50 million, 12% for anything between $50 million and $100 million, and 10% for anything over $100 million;"

"For international distribution, according to you, the production cost of the movie is my own, and Sony doesn't take any risks except for bearing a little publicity and distribution costs;"

"I don't believe that Castle Rock and Carolco wouldn't need financing from Sony. I'm now fully bearing all the risks myself. If Sony doesn't agree, I'll take this condition to other film companies, and someone will definitely be willing!"

Aaron had long ago taken down "Ghost" just to make a big splash, and it would take off directly after its release next year.

Sidney Ganis considered for a while. What Columbia Samsung needs now is influence. Since being acquired by Sony, facing the wealthy Japanese consortium, the most important thing is to promote Sony!

Sony's board of directors spent $200 million to poach Peter Guber and Jon Peters, the producers of "Batman," from Warner Bros., using the money to acquire the shell film company formed by the two;

Although this approach was incomprehensible to everyone, Sony did it. Now Time Warner is suing for unfair competition, and Sony compensated Warner Bros. with half of the Warner Bros. studio lot owned by Columbia in order to settle the matter.

In the early days, Columbia Pictures Group was also in Burbank. The current Warner Bros. studio lot in Burbank was jointly built by Columbia and Warner Bros.;

After Coca-Cola acquired Columbia Pictures, because it didn't value the film studio lot, and Warner Bros. wanted to renovate the studio, Coca-Cola directly moved Columbia Pictures Group from Burbank to the current Culver City studio.

"Okay, Columbia agrees to your terms!"

Sidney Ganis agreed. Anyway, Peter Guber and Jon Peters, who are now managing Sony Pictures Entertainment, are two weirdos;

Michael Ovitz had suggested not inviting these two, but the success of "Batman" blinded Sony.

Sony is now spending money like water. As long as the movie has box office, they can explain it. Whether they make money or not is not important.

The Japanese consortium has money, and Sony can spend a lot of money in Hollywood!

"The right decision!"

No mistake, one first, one inside, one capacity, one look!

Aaron then stood up, reached out his hand and shook hands with Sidney Ganis.

The next day, after Daniel Williams in Los Angeles looked at the contract fax, Aaron Anderson, on behalf of Dawn Pictures, signed the distribution contract for "Ghost" with Sony.

The Asian distribution rights for "Phone Booth" were sold for $3.5 million, and Aaron planned to use the distribution contract for "Ghost" to get a loan from the bank!

Now the stock market is sluggish, but Wall Street's funds are actually relatively abundant, and the growth of Hollywood's box office is also a reality;

Many investment banks and institutions on Wall Street have film investment funds specifically for Hollywood. Aaron took the distribution contract for "Ghost" and found a film fund at Credit Suisse First Boston Bank.

"Mr. Anderson, you have quite a reputation in Hollywood, don't you?"

The fund manager specializes in following Hollywood, and "Pretty Woman" and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" have been mentioned several times in the newspapers recently.

"So-so," Aaron took a sip of coffee, "You've also checked the works I've handled before. The production budget for 'Ghost' is $20 million. I want to use Sony Columbia's distribution contract to borrow $15 million, is that possible?"

The fund manager breathed a sigh of relief, "Mr. Anderson wants to independently produce this movie?"

Aaron clenched his fist, "I like to control my own works!"

The fund manager shook his head, "Mr. Anderson is producing a movie of this level for the first time. We can only provide a maximum loan of $12 million;"

"Three-year term, 9% annual interest rate. As you know, the bank is tightening credit now, and the economy is sluggish. 9% is already low."

The interest alone is $1.08 million a year, Aaron nodded!