China Entertainment: The happiness of being a director is as simple as that

Chapter 33 Clean Money, Shangmei Factory
They know the situation in the mainland market, more than 3000 million, already in the top five or even top three levels of the year, and they know the quality of the movie better, so the offer was delivered again.

Finally, on the fifth day, the national box office was locked at 800 million. According to this trend, China Film gave a forecast. The dealers also determined the buyout price of the overseas distribution rights, which totaled about 3000 million US dollars, and were sold to a total of 8 film companies in 180 countries and regions. Among them, the distribution rights in North America were sold to Summit Entertainment for 17 US dollars.

Judging from the huge market in North America, the price is actually very low, not even comparable to the sum of the two European countries.

But this also has a lot to do with the movie-watching culture of their respective countries.

Hu Qingquan said that North American audiences prefer their own films, and currently they only prefer Kung Fu and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"-style kung fu and martial arts for Chinese films.

Unlike Europe, their viewing preferences are more extensive. In addition, "The Tuner" won the Silver Bear Award, and its influence in North America is very different from that in Europe, so the price difference is understandable. .

However, North America does not value the release of original films, but values ​​adaptations.

In Wattsberg's view, even if the plot of "The Tuner" remains the same, and all the actors are replaced by Hollywood stars, the box office is expected to be able to pull out an unknown number of times the price of the adaptation rights.

So Wattsberg and the others spent money on the adaptation rights very simply. In the end, Summit Entertainment also bought the exclusive adaptation rights of "The Tuner" for 120 million US dollars, with a real payment of 78 US dollars, because the short film has already given 42 US dollars. , The copyright of the short film and the feature film is exclusive to Lu Pingan, and it does not share the account with China Film Group.

So in this wave, according to the share ratio, Road Ping An earned 72 US dollars for distribution rights, 78 US dollars for copyright, a total of 150 million US dollars, equivalent to 1230 million RMB, another blood profit!
And China Film Group earned 108 million U.S. dollars in distribution rights, a total of 890 million yuan. Compared with the cost of more than 200 million they invested, it is also a blood profit!
The deal was concluded and everyone was happy.

It's just that the tax issue is really painful for Lu Pingan. He watched helplessly that he was going to be slashed, and after the big knife, there was a small knife. By the time the money was in his pocket, he had already spent nearly half of it. No wonder so many people in the circle wanted to make small moves.

Lu Pingan naturally knows what the red line is, he only earns clean money, so he just doesn't think about it.

. . . . . . .

The next publicity mission for "Tuner" is only two stops, first in Hangzhou, then in Shanghai.

One theater in each city is newly opened, relatively advanced, and attracts a large number of audiences.

The film screening, without any surprise, won the house again.

As for the two shows, 8 days have passed since the film was released, and the total box office has reached 1200 million. Because of the summer vacation, the box office may still rise in the future, and the situation of breaking through 3000 million box office is very good.

After finishing all the activities, the main creators left separately, and agreed that if the box office breaks 3000 million, then see you at the celebration banquet.

Then Lu Ping'an came to Shangmei Factory, and it was time to start the production of several animated short films that had been prepared for a long time.

On the morning of July 7st, Lu Pingan and Hu Qingquan came to Shanghai Animation Film Studio.

The person who came out to greet him was Cao, the deputy director of the factory, with a very high standard.

Because he had greeted Shanghai Film Group before, and Lu Ping'an's reputation has soared, and the most important thing is that he came this time to talk about the cooperation of the award-winning works, so Shangmei Factory attaches great importance to it.

Under the leadership of Director Cao, Lu Pingan and Hu Qingquan visited the exhibition area of ​​Shangmei Factory.

"Havoc in Heaven", "Nezha Trouble the Sea", "Book of Heaven", "Black Cat Sheriff", "Calabash Brothers", "Lotus Lantern" and so on.

The classic works that have accompanied the growth of several generations of Chinese people are introduced one by one.

A feeling of years of precipitation rushed over.

It's all childhood memories.

Director Cao was very proud when he introduced it.

He should also be proud, and Shangmei Factory should be proud.

This is the place to make a pilgrimage to, after all, Hayao Miyazaki, the former overlord of Asian anime!

It's just a pity that the Shangmei factory will fall into a trough for a very long period of time in the future.

After the 90s, the emerging animation products of the United States and Japan had an impact on the domestic art film market in China, and audiences with more choices would naturally prefer fresher and more interesting imported products.

And the traditional Chinese animation represented by the above American factory, which has always used children as its audience, did not intend to expand its audience, and lost a large number of young audiences in vain.

The "Lotus Lantern" in 1999 condensed the wisdom and rigorous creative spirit of the older generation of artists, and achieved the final glory of the Chinese art chapter. Its strong production lineup and the use of 3D effects in the film made the film famous in China An epoch-making significance in animation production.

The film has a total investment of 1200 million, several years of preparation, and several drafts of the script. At the box office that year, "Lotus Lantern" defeated Disney's "Mulan" and became the runner-up of the annual box office, second only to Feng Xiaogang's "See You or Be Square". .

Afterwards, Shangmei Factory gradually entered a decadent stage. Art had to make concessions to profits. Coupled with the backwardness of operation methods, the talents of painters were also slowly lost, gradually making it unable to support.

It can be said that this is a product of an era, but it is a pity that the pinnacle of domestic animation is gone, and many people's childhood memories have faded along with it. Some beautiful things can only be doomed to recall the past.

After introducing the glorious history and current situation, everyone moved into the reception room.

Lu Pingan was thinking that the loss of personnel at the Shangmei factory began to be serious, should some people be recruited here?

Animated movies also have a lot to offer.

It would be much more comfortable if you have a team.

But this idea was quickly pushed down by him.

He felt that now was not the time.

Among them are market reasons, as well as his current financial strength and technology.

Wait a few years.

It's better to do this kind of risky thing after a few years when your wings are fuller.

Then everyone drank some tea in the reception room, and then went straight to the topic.

Lu Pingan gave his idea of ​​cooperation:
"I need to borrow equipment to help me complete the work. This is my manuscript. Director Cao please have a look."

Lu Pingan gave the first of his new short films.

Director Cao praised after seeing it: "This style of painting is interesting."

"The painting is not good and needs a lot of revision."

Lu Pingan has no modesty. Although he is an art student, he can do sketches and gouache. It is also okay to let him use CAD to make drawings and design, but the animation is different. The things involved in it seem to be separated from other categories of art. An industry cannot restore the original by itself.

"The drawing is already very good." Director Cao praised again, and then said directly, "We can do this kind of animation. When is Lu Gui going to start making it?"

Lu Pingan asked: "Can I go to BJ to make it?"

Director Cao said to himself: "Of course you can if you have the equipment, but I suggest you make it in our factory. We have everything here. If you don't like the effect of one production method, you can change it at any time. If there is any If there is any problem, the master craftsmen of our factory can help at any time.”

This is the truth, cartoons are different from real people, Lu Pingan is not familiar with it, and it will be much smoother with the help of a master.

After a little consideration, Lu Pingan made a decision: "Okay, I will trouble you after that."

Things were settled quickly and everything went smoothly.

The price was settled quickly, and it was reasonable. The production cost of a 7-minute short film will not exceed 10 yuan, and the details will be determined according to the script.

With the assistance of Shangmei Factory, the works are basically guaranteed.

It's just that Lu Ping'an will have to stay in Shanghai. After calculating the time, the first film will take about a month to produce.

It's a pity that it's summer vacation now, otherwise I can ask for leave again. . .

After the matter is finalized, Lu Ping'an and Shangmei Factory will come back three days later.

Back in the capital, Lu Pingan arranged various affairs immediately.

Star Company is temporarily managed by the newly recruited receptionist Xiao Liu, and the two hamburger restaurants are managed by the first store manager Xiao Li.

The most reassuring thing about copyright is that China Film is more concerned than him.

For a piece of "Tuner", China Film and Television Corporation earned more than 600 million yuan from the copyright, which is also a big deal for China Film and Television, which is currently under financial pressure.

You must know that under China Film, there are also many old-fashioned directors who always have to apply for funds to make movies.

They don't care whether it's a loss or a profit. They only care about art, but not many people can really make money.

So a movie that made a lot of money will naturally be taken seriously.

He handed over the decoration of the courtyard to Zhang Songwen and Zhou Yiwei.

Zhang Songwen has gained a lot of exposure these days because of the relationship with the protagonist of "The Tuner", and various brokerage companies, advertisers, and crews have come to find him.

But he felt that he had just finished his freshman year, and now his mentality was a little impetuous, so after communicating with Jiang Wen, he decided to push away all irrelevant things, only accepted a few suitable advertisements, made some money, and then prepared to study hard .

During this period, he knew that Lu Ping'an was going to stay in Shanghai for a month, so he took the initiative to take over the job of looking after the decoration, for the sake of helping and meditating.

Zhou Yiwei does not have such a high ideological level as him, but because of his few roles in "The Tuner", he didn't get much attention and didn't receive much work, so he was willing to stay and help. Yes, and by the way, I can earn extra money from Lu Pingan, a big money.

Lu Pingan didn't see Ning Hao when he returned to BJ, Zhang Songwen said that he might have gone to play with his friends.

The popularity of "Tuner" is very high this time, and Ning Hao has also been exposed. In addition, he showed his face in Cannes again, and his various friends seem to have increased.

Lu Pingan didn't worry too much, this kid didn't fall so easily.

After spending a day arranging everything about BJ, Lu Pingan returned to Shanghai, and the production of the third short film began.

(End of this chapter)