director of the millennium

Chapter 29 VAM agreement, cooperation finalized

John really liked the script given by Wu Yuan, and submitted it to the company's review department immediately.

He was very satisfied with the young Chinese directors he discovered in Sitges. He felt that Wu Yuan was born to belong to Hollywood and should not have been born in a small place like China.

However, being satisfied with the script does not mean that Wu Yuan can go to Hollywood to make a movie right away.

Exactly, after the script is reviewed and approved, the tearing begins.

Next, Wu Yuan spent more than a month negotiating with John, and Fox Searchlight's film investment and production department, but they never came to a good result.

Wu Yuan knows that he is a newcomer and it is unrealistic to get a share of the box office for free, but he hopes to participate in film investment.

The asking price is not high, just invest 10% and get 10% of the box office revenue.

Logically speaking, this is not a very demanding requirement. Not only do some big Hollywood directors not need to invest a penny, they also receive remuneration and a share of the bills when making movies!

However, Fox Searchlight is not a fool.

Don’t underestimate the subsidiaries of the six major Hollywood studios.

As soon as they got the script of "Juno", the market analysis department of Fox Searchlight judged that the script would definitely be a movie that would attract American audiences.

In the North American market alone, the box office can get at least 5000 million US dollars!

As for the production cost of this movie, if you save a little, you only need to spend 600 million U.S. dollars to get it done!

This means that this movie can generate ten times the box office revenue!

Given that the movie is likely to make money, is Fox Searchlight willing to let Wu Yuan participate in the box office split?

Don't be kidding, I am a capitalist who runs a company, not a philanthropist.

Fox Searchlight was even willing to offer Wu Yuan $120 million as a director + screenwriter, but they were unwilling to let Wu Yuan offer $100 million to become one of the investors.

The negotiations have reached a deadlock at this point.

Fox Searchlight is unwilling to give Wu Yuan, a Chinese director, too much money that seems to be easy to get.

Wu Yuan is also unwilling to make a movie for Fox Searchlight that may have a box office of more than 1 million US dollars, but only get paid more than 100 million!
Some people will say, can't you shoot by yourself?
you can!

Leaving aside where Wu Yuan got the 600 million US dollars of funds, even if he had the money, the film would have been produced, how could it be distributed?

For North American distribution and global distribution, it is necessary to find a professional distribution company.

Whether it is the Big Six in Hollywood, or the second-tier companies such as New Line and Lionsgate, they all eat people without spit out their bones.

The lessons learned from "Little Miss Sunshine" are right in front of us.

After finally raising enough money to shoot it, Fox Searchlight chose to buy out the distribution rights for US$1000 million instead of agency distribution.

This equates to a production side earning only $500 million.

The film ultimately grossed over [-] million US dollars at the global box office.

This is how new directors and new works are treated in Hollywood.

Unless it is a movie that all major distribution companies in Hollywood are unanimously disliked, they will only charge you a sum of money to distribute it as an agent, and follow the account-sharing model.

Otherwise, as long as your movie has a little value, they will choose to buy it out and leave you with a sip of soup.

Of course, this refers to the first work of a new director.

This is bound to be exploited by major Hollywood film companies, which is equivalent to buying a ticket.

Even if Wu Yuan took the script to the other six major Hollywood companies, he would still be treated like this, and the capitalists would be pissed off.

The script "Juno" really looks like it will be a hit!

However, Wu Yuan still insisted on not letting go, negotiating hard with Fox Searchlight.

Just like this, the time soon came to December, and there was heavy snowfall in the capital.

Wu Yuan's home.

The heavy snow did not make the surroundings quiet, but the courtyard was filled with people.

In the huge front hall of the main house, two mahjong tables were set up.

Wu Yuan's friends, headed by Zhou Xun, Chen Kun, and Qin Hailu, are fighting fiercely here!

Ever since they found out that Wu Yuan had a courtyard house, his group of friends have taken aim at this good place, and often use it as a meeting place.

And more and more people came to the party.

In the beginning, it was only the leading actors of "The Night the Comet Came" would come to get together occasionally, and gradually their friends were also brought together.

Chen Kun’s classmates Huang Xiaoming, Qin Hailu and Zeng Li’s classmates Yuan Quan, Xia Yu and Liu Ye were all brought to play together.

Wu Yuan did not refuse anyone who came.

Since all his relatives passed away, Wu Yuan was alone in the big courtyard all the year round, so it was strangely lonely.

Now friends often come to party and have fun, which makes the courtyard much more lively.

I don’t even know where I learned it from, but students from the 96 batches of China Theater Academy and Beijing Film Academy 96 love to play mahjong when they get together!

Even Wu Yuan, who was not very good at playing mahjong, now his level of mahjong has risen gradually.
"Two biscuits!"

"Hey, touch!"

"[-]!" Wu Yuan smiled and took away Qin Hailu's two cakes, threw out a piece of [-], and deliberately provocatively said: "Sister Hailu, I can listen to cards, be careful!"

Qin Hailu rolled her eyes: "As long as you are so unlucky, what's the use of hearing it?"

"Hey, Yuan'er, is there any drama in your Hollywood business? Why have you been playing mahjong with us recently?"

Wu Yuan frowned and sighed: "We're still talking. I've already made a lot of concessions, but the other side just doesn't agree. Let's grind it out a little more. There's no rush."

Just as he was speaking, Wu Yuan's cell phone rang again.

The caller was an overseas phone that Wu Yuan was very familiar with.

Pulling Liu Ye, who was watching them playing mahjong, to replace him, Wu Yuan walked out of the yard with his mobile phone and answered the call.

"Hi, John, is it two o'clock in the morning in Los Angeles?"

"What is so urgent?"

On the other end of the phone, John said in a very helpless tone: "Wu, your company has accepted the proposal."

"We can sign a betting agreement."

"If "Juno" grosses over $1 million worldwide, the company can give you 10 percent of the box office."

"But if it doesn't hit $120 million worldwide, then you're only paid $[-] million, OK?"

"I have to say that you are a very good negotiator."

A satisfied smile appeared on Wu Yuan's face.

After arguing with Fox Searchlight for more than a month, they finally negotiated a fairly satisfactory condition.

From the very beginning, Fox Searchlight did not want Wu Yuan to share the proceeds of the film, only willing to give him a constant remuneration.

Wu Yuan wanted to participate in the investment from the beginning, and then asked for 500 million US dollars in director + screenwriter fees, but he didn't get Fox Searchlight's consent.

In the end, he proposed a VAM agreement, which finally made Fox Searchlight hesitate.

According to research and predictions by Fox Searchlight's marketing department, the global box office of the movie "Juno" is expected to be between US$5000 million and US$8000 million.

Let's put it this way, although Fox Searchlight thinks it's a good script, it doesn't think the movie can make over [-] million at the box office.

Even in the global market, there are not many movies with a box office of over [-] million a year, and it is even less likely to be a small-budget movie with an investment of only a few million dollars.

When Wu Yuan proposed a gambling agreement to share the box office split if the global box office exceeded [-] million US dollars, Fox Searchlight felt that this was really something that could be discussed.

If the final box office of this movie can exceed 1000 million U.S. dollars, then it seems acceptable to give Wu Yuan, the director + screenwriter, [-] million U.S. dollars.

If Wu Yuan can make a movie with a box office of over [-] million US dollars, then such a director and screenwriter will definitely become a guest of the Big Six in Hollywood!
In this case, his identity as a Chinese is not important, what is important is the benefits he can bring.

Giving such an excellent director a treatment in line with his status and value, rather than maintaining a good cooperative atmosphere, is definitely more cost-effective than earning millions more!

Of course, if the global box office of "Juno" does not exceed 120 million, then Wu Yuan can only get [-] million US dollars, most of which are from Fox Searchlight.

This is a gambling agreement that is acceptable to both parties.

Since Wu Yuan is confident that the box office of this movie will reach hundreds of millions, then Fox Searchlight doesn't mind taking a gamble!
After all, Fox Searchlight is making a lot of money anyway!
And Fox Searchlight is also worried, if they disagree, if Wu Yuan really decides not to cooperate with Fox Searchlight and chooses another production company, then their work will be in vain.

Although Wu Yuan would end up losing both sides even if he did this, but isn't it nice to be able to make money with kindness?

"Wu, it's time for you to leave for the United States. The contract is ready for you."

John on the other end of the phone urged nonchalantly: "The preliminary preparations of the crew, the selection of actors, and the scenery are all waiting for you, the director!"

"OK!" Wu Yuan said in a relaxed tone, "Then I wish us a happy cooperation, and I will leave for Los Angeles as soon as possible."

"By the way, Director Wu, I think you should choose an English name." John said with a smile, "Your Chinese name is really difficult to pronounce."

"What do you think of the name Johannes? It's like my name!"

　What Wu Yuan signed was "box office split" and not "profit split", which is popular in Hollywood.

　　10% means directly taking 10% of the total box office. This way it is less likely to be fishy and makes it difficult for the producers to tamper with the film.

　　For example, superstars and famous directors generally sign a contract for remuneration + box office split, and take money directly from the box office instead of calculating the profit after deducting costs with the production company and then dividing the money.

　　The superstar effect in Hollywood is much higher than in China. In those superhero movies, the protagonists start with a salary of more than 2000 million US dollars + a percentage of the box office share.

　　This is also the reason why Marvel couldn’t continue filming after the first stage of filming. You take a little and I take a little. After the filming, the actors get more money than the production company earns. I really can’t afford it.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)