Hollywood Starts with Animation

Wald Pictures.

As soon as Zucker entered the company's doors, he was warmly welcomed by Wald's employees.

Not just because Zucker is the boss, but because of the success of "Lola Run".

Twenty days have passed since "Lola Run" was released on April 5, and the box office is quite good, at least for the company Wald. I just received yesterday's box office report this morning. "Lola Run" has already made a box office of 13.7 million US dollars in North America; compared to its cost of only 800,000 US dollars, and the results of Wald Pictures' first theatrical film That said, it is brilliant.

"$13.7 million at the box office?"

"Where does this go? When I raise money and shoot "Spider-Man 1", the box office of nearly 1 billion US dollars will not scare you to death!"

Although Zu Ke was happy in his heart, there was not much fluctuation.

It's been almost a year since I've traveled over, and I've seen many big scenes, but I'm no longer jumping up and down as excited as I did at the beginning.

Walk into CEO Victor's office.

Zucker directly threw him four scripts: "Victor, this is the result of my recent struggles, four scripts."

Hearing this, Victor took over and browsed roughly.

It didn't take long for Victor to exclaim: "Boos, are these scripts you wrote in the last ten days?"

"That's right!" Zhu Ke nodded arrogantly.

Be cool, old man!

Well, it's cheating though.

"Boss, I don't dare to say anything else. The movie "The Sixth Sense of Spirituality" is really wonderful, especially the turning point at the end.

"Of course, we can't shoot right now, the cost is too high."

"However, the other three scripts are also good, at least the cost is low. Especially the "Deadly Bend" series, not much else to say, filming one a year can at least make a steady profit of two million US dollars for the company every year. "

Victor continued to comment on the script.

Zucker nodded in agreement.

At the moment, the two chatted for a while, and then stopped talking. They immediately summoned several screenwriters from the company and began to supplement and modify the contents of the four scripts.

Zucker also has no objection to this.

"I only have the ability to do these three or two things. I don't want to find a professional screenwriter to revise it. I really shoot according to the script. Maybe I will suffer." Zu Ke said in his heart.

What does the company keep these screenwriters for?

Isn't that what they do? !

Hollywood is called by later generations the film industry of the assembly line, and it is most vividly reflected in the screenwriting of the script. Generally speaking, a script is often completed by several people.

If you are good at emotional dramas, that's fine, you are responsible for the screenwriting of emotional dramas;

If you are good at action scenes, you are responsible for the action fighting part;

If you are good at the content of the story, you are responsible for the dialogue story;

........

In short, everyone is a member of the assembly line, and they work together to create a relatively perfect work.

"Victor, then watch more here, I'll leave first, I have to go back and have a good sleep."

Just when Zu Ke was about to leave, Mrs. Martha, the head of the company's legal department and finance and accounting department, called to stop Zu Ke: "Boss, did the scriptwriting fee for "Lola Run" also go to your salary card? "

Zu Ke thought for a while, and said in deep thought: "You leave it alone. I will give you a new card number in a few days. You will enter a new card for future producer fees, screenwriter fees, and script copyright fees."

"Okay, boss."

Miss Martha leaves.

That's right, as the boss, Zucker is paid every week and every month.

Hollywood is like that,

Or the whole of America.

Wald Pictures is a company wholly-owned by Zucker, yes, but Zucker also receives a salary. Not only that, the movie "Lola Run" was directed by Zucker, and he also got his own director's remuneration, including script transfer funds.

Public and private distinction!

transparent!

Individuals and companies should be calculated separately.

There is a popular saying in America: "The company is yours and everyone's!"

It means: you are the boss of the company, you have the right to decide anything about the company, but the use of your funds must be subject to professional statistics, which is to protect the interests of the company's owners.

For example, in "Lola Run", Zucker's director fee is $30,000, and the script transfer fee is $20,000. Similarly, there is also a 3% share of box office profits as a producer.

The funds went to Zucker's personal account, not the company's.

For the four films "Deadly Bend", "The Sixth Sense", "Juno" and "Hard Candy", Zucker also charges for the script.

......

Back home and after a good night's sleep, Zucker lay on the bed and began to think about the future.

The two films, "Hard Candy" and "Deadly Bend," were low cost to shoot, adding up to $3 million. But in the short term, only two films will be made. For Zucker, the development is still a bit slow.

"Isn't there a low-cost, short-run film that's sure to make a profit?"

"Hey~! What am I thinking? How could there be?!"

"what?"

"It seems there really is!"

Thinking about it, Zu Ke suddenly had a flash of inspiration, and there really is a movie business that can make a profit without losing money.

- Shanzhai Movie!

Zucker thought of a Hollywood story he knew in his previous life.

"100 million years before history", "Transfiguration", "Da Vinci Treasure", "Atlantic Rim", "30,000 Leagues Under the Sea"... These movie titles are familiar to me at first, but they are not Not feeling right?

Yes, it is both familiar and unfamiliar!

The above films are all produced by a film company called The Asylum. They are based on the "popularity" and "Porcelain IP" works produced by Hollywood blockbusters every year.

Since the earliest copy of Spielberg's "War of the Worlds" sold 100,000 copies, they have been adhering to the concept of "high concept" (excellent creativity) and "low cost" (50 cents for special effects), focusing on the cause of copycat blockbuster movies. .

"10,000 Years Before History" became popular, so they filmed "100,000 Years Before History";

"Transformers" became popular, and "Transformers" was filmed;

When "Pacific Rim" became popular, "Atlantic Rim" was filmed;

......

In a word, whatever is popular, whatever movie is made.

Because of the low cost, it is definitely a safe and profitable business to make a little effort to rub the heat up and down.

Not only that, taking the original Hollywood blockbuster "Super Battleship" as an example, the main actor ultimately failed at the box office and lost 200 million US dollars, while the "American Battleship" produced by The Asylum Company, which focuses on cottages, actually made a profit on the basis of recovering the cost. 50% off, $250,000.....

Interestingly, most of the company's "copycat films" were completed before the originals were released and were able to be released early.

Of course, too many copycat movies will definitely lead to lawsuits.

But don't be afraid!

People have the means!

For example: In 2012, The Asylum's "The Age of the Hobbit" was released and sold on DVD on November 11, three days before the original "The Hobbit" was released in North America.

'The Hobbit' filmmakers take The Asylum to court. However, the company believes that the hobbit in their film is not Tolkien's hobbit, but based on a real human subspecies (Flores, discovered in Indonesia in 2003), a human race. Known in the scientific community as "The Hobbit".

In the end, they were ruled legal!

......

"It's great, it makes no sense that I can't touch it. The Asylum company can make copycat movies in the future, so I can do it now!"

Zucker couldn't help but think of this year's box office champion "Independence Day".

Your name is "Independence Day", then my copycat movie is called "Not Independence Day".

Who can't be hot!

Well, it's really impossible for ordinary people to do this. This is a rudeness!

But who made Zucker's "bottom line" low!