American Peanuts

Chapter 232 Failed Producer, Hollywood's Throat

After Natalie Portman agreed to perform, Jon Avnet became more and more confident in this "Black Swan". As someone who has been on the set since the New Hollywood era in 76, he is well versed in Hollywood's game rules.

Multiplex theaters need those commercial blockbusters that can "create audiences" with precise positioning and large-scale advertising before release. Only these movies can bring in a large number of young audiences who are generous and willing to buy popcorn and Coke in the theater.

These commercial blockbusters have always come from the major Hollywood film companies.

This is also the most fundamental reason why the Big Six in Hollywood can control the distribution process.

For example, Julia Roberts had two identical chick flicks released at the same time.

One is "Everybody Says I Love You" released by Millimax, which opened with $13.2 in its first week.

The other one is "My Best Friend's Wedding" released by Sony, which took in $2170 million at the box office in its first week.

For the producers, they had no choice.

Jon Avnet has already accepted this rule and has achieved certain results. He once served as one of the co-producers of "Titanic", but considering that James Cameron can directly take over from the adjusted president, He received a share of the revenue, and his share would become the cost of the film. He only received a mere 22 million in net profit share from this movie with a box office of 300 billion US dollars.

Once upon a time, he also tried to take a different path, just like the movie "The Wire" before Black Swan, which was produced and distributed by several independent film studios. The nominal budget was as high as 6000 million US dollars, and Al Pacino was assembled. and Robert De Niro, two movie stars, but the global box office is only a pitiful US$7000 million, and the box office split cannot even cover the actors' salaries.

Therefore, the next day he knocked on the door of the office of Twentieth Century Fox President James Ginapolis.

"Look who is here. I thought you would never step foot in this company again. Why, Wuxiang and Millennium Movie kicked you out?" James said with a very friendly look on his face. The smile is actually a serious sarcasm.

"We have terminated our cooperation." Jon Avenay forced a stiff smile on his face.

There is no way, in order to get the potential investment that may arise, I have to endure some sarcasm.

"Don't worry, we will still take in your old friend. The premise is that you have to come up with a good project. I have a sub-network drama adapted from a police novel..."

Subnet episodes?I'm a film producer.Jon Avenay thought in his mind.

If the screenwriter in a movie is the least important person among the main creators, then in the production of a TV series, it is just the opposite. The screenwriter is the absolute core. There are many mature TV screenwriters who are named as producers and can even decide on the roles. .

For the experienced Jon, this was a complete "exile". Obviously, James resented himself for taking work from an independent production company, even if the film did not create any waves. This was a kind of revenge.

"Actually, I came here today not to actively look for a job, but to talk about investment. I have a new film in preparation..." Jon began to introduce the specific situation of "Black Swan".

When he heard that Natalie Portman could be the heroine of a movie with a budget of only $1500 million, James smiled even more.

"Good job, Jon. Although I don't know how you persuaded the other party, Fox is willing to invest in this movie, provided that Natalie is the absolute leading lady, not some cameo role or vase, Do you understand?" He looked at Jon and spoke word by word.

In order to prove his innocence, Jon took out the script: "I prepared in advance this time."

James took the script and threw it on his desk without reading it.

"You'd better not lie to me, or I'll stretch your neck as long as a swan." He sat on the soft chair again and said with a smile.

"Now it's time to talk about specific remuneration, profit sharing, just like "Titanic", what do you think?"

"I have been preparing for this project for half a year, paid the screenwriter in advance, and found a director and starring role. I should get a higher salary, and the producer's salary should increase by [-]%." Jon tried to say.

Although Jon's offer was not high, the smile on James' face suddenly disappeared.

"You are the first producer I have ever met who dares to ask for high remuneration before the investment is confirmed." His tone was displeased.

That fleshy face had one sentence written all over it: How dare you!

"I deserve this." Jon tried to explain, but was interrupted.

"Nothing is deserved. In Hollywood, you only care about the results. No one cares whether you worked overtime at three o'clock in the morning. If you want more compensation, fine, you can invest in the whole film by yourself." All the profits will be yours, now you should be satisfied, right?" James tilted his head.

"But I..."

Jon was interrupted again.

"There's nothing wrong with it. Either you keep your script with me and maybe I'll find time to read it, or you take your script and get out of here with your damn ballet! Go find your Russian audience." James gave an ultimatum.

For a moment, Jon actually wanted to go back to the script and punch him in the face.

But this thought only lasted for a moment.

The moment he walked out of the office, Jon whispered, "F**k you!"

Arriving at the parking lot, Jon, who was looking for his car keys, heard the harsh ringing of his cell phone, so he could only answer the call in a hurry.

"I don't need to subscribe to paid channels!" Jon said impatiently.

"Actually, I'm not a telemarketer for pay channels." A strange voice came from the other end of the phone.

"I heard that you are looking for investment? Do you want to make a thriller movie about ballet?" The other end of the phone asked questions one after another.

Jon glanced at the number again, and then said into the phone: "Who did you listen to?"

"The director you appointed, Darren Aronofsky, is looking for actresses with ballet skills all over Hollywood. I found out about it through an intermediary."

"who are you?"

"Kevin Feige, Mr. Jon, you probably don't know me. I'm..." The other end of the phone was ready to explain.

"Of course I know you." Jon couldn't help but stop looking for the keys. He understood that Hollywood now only likes unoriginal works.As a well-known IP manufacturer, Marvel has great potential.

"My boss is very interested in this film. He wants to talk to you. I heard that you haven't secured investment yet?" Kevin Feige did not reveal much.

"It was like this 5 minutes ago, but now, Fox is ready to invest 1500W and let its Searchlight distribute this film as the opening film of next year's Venice Film Festival."

"However, this is just a preliminary impression. If your boss is interested, I am willing to have a chat with him." Jon felt comfortable with having his revenge, and if he was given a chance, he would be eager to leave the greedy big studio.

But having said that, which of the powerful forces in Hollywood is not greedy?
With this special idea in mind, Jon came directly to Marvel's office. Looking at the young man opposite, this new entertainment industry tycoon with a legendary experience, Jon did not dare to show any slightness, despite his age. He can almost be his grandfather.

"this movie……"

"I have already learned the basic information from Kevin Feige. You only need to give me a copy of the script. Skip this link and talk about the specific investment." Charlie Rossi said calmly.

Without the slightest hesitation, it seems that he has already planned to invest.

When did this movie become such a hit?Jon was a little surprised.

On the surface, he looked solemn: "Fox has confirmed their intention to invest, and they have offered me a producer's remuneration of 100 million."

"Why did I hear that your salary is lower than before?" Charlie looked a little confused.

How did he know?Even within Fox, this matter has not been officially finalized yet, right?It was impossible for him to just stay in James' office.

In a moment of hesitation, Jon revealed his embarrassment.

Charlie smiled: "You are indeed not good at business negotiations."

Now Jon heard it, and touched the back of his head embarrassedly.

"You also know that since the financial crisis, it has been hard to find investment, and everyone has been having a difficult time during this period." He talked about his difficulties.

"But you shouldn't lie to me. You are the producer, and even you are lying to me. How can I trust you with the investment?" Charlie changed the subject.

"Sorry, sir, I..." Jon was speechless.

"However, considering your key position in the entire film, I am willing to give you the remuneration you deserve. On the original basis, I will set up a split bonus based on the box office."

Based on the box office?Jon couldn't believe his ears.

What kind of concept is this? Not to mention Robert Downey Jr. who plays Iron Man, even Arnold Schwarzenegger in "Terminator 3" did not receive this treatment. Although he received a fixed salary of 2950 million in the film, It also has the right to share revenue, but that is after deducting a series of expenses such as theater chains and distribution costs.

From a share of box office base, this has never happened in the history of Hollywood.

"0.5% of the domestic box office and 0.2% of the foreign box office." Charlie gave his conditions.

Jon made a calculation in his mind. If the domestic box office reached 50 million US dollars, the share he could get would be [-] US dollars. Of course, this was not stingy at all, but it could not be called that generous. In fact, in In "Agents", he also has a similar bonus, which is similar to the conditions given by Charlie.

But the difference lies in the way it is divided.

Not only is it more intuitive and simple to split accounts directly from the box office, but more importantly, the distribution company and production company can no longer interfere with it, and it will even increase the risk. If distribution costs increase midway, this part of the loss will borne by the issuing company.

In other words, compared to any other company in Hollywood, this kind of sharing method will be more attractive.

In the past, no matter how popular a superstar or a top player in the industry was, they were all relatively weak compared to the six major publishing companies.

The Big Six may promise a lower issuance share, but they will not make any concessions in terms of issuance costs, which reduces the risk of the issuing company to the lowest in the entire industry chain.

Now, these employees are on par with large companies.

"Is this a special case just for me? Or did you have this plan?" Jon seemed to have noticed something.

"This is a beginning, a brand new beginning." Charlie mentioned his thoughts.

In the middle of the last century, MCA was the first to propose post-production sharing in the industry. It was precisely because of this strategy that the agency suddenly emerged and once occupied more than half of the market share in the entire talent agency field.

Later, in the 70s, CAA proposed a platter plan and successfully enjoyed the interests of producers. Supplemented by other strategies, it quickly became the world's largest agency.

It can be said that every "innovation" can bring changes to the entire industry and give birth to new giants.

Compared with production, distribution is the "throat" of the film industry. If you want to break the monopoly of the six major companies in the distribution field, it may not be enough to just make good and blockbuster films. You must make breakthroughs in the business model.

Employees in the film and television industry have long complained about the dizzying financial operations and long settlement periods of major studios. If they heard that PB Pictures was using a new sharing method, would they be moved?
I don't know if it was the catalytic effect of potential profits, but Jon felt that the young man in front of him was much more reliable than the profit-seeking guy James.

Since Charlie Rossi was so straightforward, Jon didn't say much, and directly agreed to hand over the project to PB Pictures.

"I'll call James later. I don't need a dime from him." Jon tried to say.

"In addition, I have another request. This film must change the heroine." Charlie already knew from Kevin Feige that Natalie Portman had reached an agreement with Jon.

"Why? She is the biggest selling point of the whole movie. Without her, the movie will be greatly faded, and even the theater's scheduling manager will give up the movie." Jon quickly explained.

"The artistic quality of this film comes from ballet, not Natalie's face. Besides, she doesn't even have much dancing skills. If she were to be the heroine, it would take at least half a year of training. I have another one. The right candidate, her temperament is more advanced, the Cannes judges are more attracted to her, and she is French."

When he heard that Charlie had a more suitable candidate, Jon immediately stopped struggling. Obviously, without this actress, Charlie would not be interested in this movie at all, and he would not get a share.

Moreover, just listening to Charlie's narration, the actress does have an advantage over Natalie.

"Léa Seydoux? Marion Gloria? Or Eva Green? Astrid?" Jon immediately read out several French actresses in his impression.

"I think it's Eva Green. Her previous performance in 007 was amazing." Then she directly guessed Charlie's choice based on experience.

Charlie felt that this old man was quite sharp, and after asking, he found out that he was experienced in Hollywood and had participated in the co-production of Titanic, but he was not well-known.

The exchange between the two became more and more heated, and they talked about many details in the film.

·
In a dance training room in Los Angeles, Natalie was trying to spin on her tiptoes to the music, and then she let out a scream and her whole body collapsed.

Benjamin, as a coach, had quick eyesight and quick hands to support Natalie to prevent her from falling.

After the two looked at each other for a moment, Benjamin immediately looked away.

The smile on Natalie's face grew wider. This dancer was a bit childish to her.

Then, with a painful expression on her face: "I seem to have sprained my foot."

For a ballet performer, sprained ankles are no small matter, so Benjamin quickly checked.

Looking at his serious expression, Natalie felt more and more confident about winning.

Then, through the round glass on the door, I saw the assistant standing at the door with an anxious look on his face, as if there was something important...

(End of this chapter)