China Entertainment: Director’s happiness is so simple

After landing in New York, after exiting customs, I looked up and saw David picking me up.

David knew that Lu Ping'an was coming to the United States, so he took the initiative to pick him up at the airport.

David's suit is straight today, which is very different from his previous appearance. Now he looks like a Wall Street elite.

"Boss, here, haha, we meet again!"

David laughed happily when he saw Lu Pingping.

"I heard that you became famous at the film festival. How does it feel to be famous?"

Lu Pingan asked him with a smile.

When David heard this, he was very happy again, and then silently held out three fingers: "They all took the initiative."

"Be careful of getting sick."

"Don't worry, boss, my career has just started and I will never do anything stupid!"

David looked confident. After so many years, he still had some ideas in his heart.

After getting in the car, David talked about the film festival vividly:

"Lu, few people watched our movie at the beginning, but on the second day, you know, starting from the second day, our movie had the largest number of viewers in every scene!"

"You know what I like to watch the most? It's when some viewers who don't know the truth go in, sit down, and the movie starts, and then their mouths slowly grow bigger, and the timid ones are so frightened that their popcorn is scattered all over the floor, hahaha..."

David's interest was extremely high.

Lu Ping'an is also very happy. The film has good prospects and can make money again.

The two then transferred to Utah.

The Saint Denis Film Festival is held in Park City, Utah, and tomorrow is the closing ceremony and awards ceremony.

After a while, the two got on the plane.

A few hours later, Lu Pingan dropped off his luggage at the hotel and then arrived at the film festival.

I didn't see Wattsberg because he was currently discussing things with the organizer and some publishers.

"Chainsaw" received a very good response at film festivals, so the distribution process will naturally be stepped up.

This is just right, Lu Pingping can visit the film festival.

"Boss, let's go to the theater and have a look. There should be screenings now. I guarantee you will be very happy after seeing the audience's reaction."

David suggested from the sidelines.

Lu Pingan nodded in agreement, he also liked to see this kind of thing.

But before he had taken a few steps, a white man recognized him and came up to chat.

"You must be Lu, hello, I'm William from Lionsgate Pictures."

William said as he handed over his business card.

Lu Ping'an's eyes lit up. Lionsgate was very famous and would be the leader of independent film companies for a long time to come.

"Hello William."

Lu Ping'an took the business card and responded politely.

William smiled and continued, "Lu, we invite you to join our Lionsgate Films. If you are interested, you can come to our company to chat. Our strength is not great, but it is still much better than Peak. We can meet your needs." Unexpected resources, if your "Source Code" had been handed over to us, the box office would never be what it is now."

"Okay, we can chat later."

Lu Pingping did not refuse.

This is a good opportunity to test out offers.

"Chainsaw" is a Hollywood film, and "The Source" was released before.

At this time, money is already deeply involved.

The future plans for Hollywood films will definitely not be limited to these two.

So it's time to make a decision on whether to get Wattsberg in the bag.

As for whether to accept Wattsberg or not, Lu Ping An has already made a plan, and that is to look at other suitable candidates.

Now that Lions Gate is coming, it is an opportunity to test.

This company is good.

If you really take someone under your wing, it would indeed be more appropriate than accepting Watts to take advantage of the peak.

Of course, the premise is to investigate first. If William is a minion, it will be meaningless.

Then it seemed that William from Lions Gate was here. He saw him chatting with Lu Pingan, a yellow man, so someone quickly recognized that this was Lu Pingan. Then other film producers and film and television company bosses came over to talk to Lu Pingan. Chat, among them there are eight major ones, such as Sony.

And the topic inevitably mentions "Source Code" and now "Chainsaw".

Obviously, as a director, Lu Ping'an has now become a piece of cake after producing good works and good results.

Lu Pingping did not refuse any of them. He accepted the business cards one by one, and after returning home, he investigated the situation and started testing.

We chatted for a while, collected more than twenty business cards, and watched another movie.

After seeing the audience reaction from David with his own eyes, Lu Pingan met Wattsberg.

Wattsberg's face was also glowing now. When he saw Lu Ping'an, he said: "Lu, this movie is more popular than I thought."

Lu Ping'an smiled and said, "It looks like we can make money again."

"Oh lu, this topic makes my heart hurt."

"Watts, if you think about it this way, you just paid 200,000 yuan, and you might make millions, which is equivalent to picking up for nothing. This will make you feel much better."

"You're right, but I can't convince myself."

"Then we can earn it back when we make the series."

"That's what you said."

"Of course, that's assuming the film is successful."

"Don't worry, many theater chains and distributors have contacted me. As long as we are willing, we can put it on at least 1,500 big screens in the first step."

As Watts spoke, he began to introduce the release plan.

Through the two films "Tune" and "Source", Wattsberg has already convinced himself that he can be bolder with Lu Ping An's film.

And now that "Chainsaw" has received a very good response, it is indeed worth gambling on a large-scale release to maximize profits.

After talking about the release, Watts talked about another thing.

"Lu, you will definitely develop in Hollywood in the future, right?"

"Pretty much, I will indeed continue to make movies in Hollywood in the future."

Lu Pingan nodded frankly.

After hearing this, Watts asked: "Come to our company, Lu. I formally invite you to join. The conditions are negotiable."

Winning over Lu Ping'an to become a director under the company is Watts' next plan.

He was convinced that no one in Hollywood could offer him a higher offer.

Lu Pingan did not refuse: "Okay, let's talk in detail later."

Whether you join or not will not affect the use of the offer. No matter who is locked by the offer, they will be his secret line in the future, so Lu Ping'an agreed quickly.

"good!"

Watts was delighted.

Things went smoother than he imagined.

It seems that Lu is indeed a standard Chinese, nostalgic.

Then the two of them went shopping again, and in the evening, after making an appointment with Watts to talk about all the business after the award ceremony, they returned to the hotel safely.

That night, the organizer of the Saint-Denis Film Festival called and invited me to attend the awards ceremony tomorrow.

This is expected.

How come the Saint-Denis Film Festival is just like the three major European companies?

Or is this the case for all foreign countries?

In doubt, Lu Pingping fell into sleep.

The next night, as the film festival host called out Lu Ping'an's name.

"Chainsaw 1" won the Special Jury Prize.

Not a grand prize, but not bad.

Lu Ping'an came on stage amidst a round of applause.

The scale of the audience is not comparable to that of the three major players in Europe.

After all, the Saint-Denis Film Festival is not a large-scale film festival, but a local one in the United States.

But Lu Ping'an is still happy.

After all, this is also the first time his feature film has won an award.

After receiving the trophy, Lu Ping'an stood facing the microphone, looked at the people in the audience and said slowly: "I want to say sorry to the cleaning staff of the film festival hall. I saw many audiences were scared and dropped their popcorn while watching the movie. It’s all over the place, I’m sorry, it’s burdensome to your work.”

Hahaha.

The guests present laughed in unison.

Lu Pingan continued: "I will give feedback to the film festival and give you some salary increases. If you don't agree, then he will be put through a torturous test (chainsaw line) when passing each level."

The laughter was even louder this time.

The effect is pretty good, everyone seems to have seen it.

Amid the laughter, many people also had surprised looks in their eyes.

The safe road on stage seems to be different from the impression of Chinese people.

No, it seems to be about the same.

Because the big man who came to play in the United States seemed to have such a sense of humor.

Are all Chinese people like this?

So interesting.

"Thank you, thank you to the Saint-Denis Film Festival, thank you for your love!"

The road is safe and it's okay to stop.

Then he left the stage with warm applause.

At the end of the film festival, Lu Pingan received many more business cards.

After accepting some interviews, Lu Pingan and Wattsberg sat down to talk about business.

The first is the income from "Source Code" this time.

The actual release of "Source Code" was actually five weeks.

There were only 100 screens in the first week.

The next four weeks are 1,000 yuan.

In the first four weeks, "The Source" took in $42 million at the box office.

In the last week, it won another 8.5 million, so the total box office of "Source Code" in North America reached 50.5 million.

In terms of account sharing, it is a stepped account sharing model.

The first two weeks will be 70%, the third week will be 40%, and the fourth week will be 20%.

Therefore, the final 8.5 million US dollars that Lu Ping An can get is negligible.

So after calculating all the accounts of "Source Code", minus Peak's promotion share, the final figure is: 14.62 million US dollars before tax.

After tax, half of the money on the American side still has to be paid for attorney fees and supervision fees.

The final after-tax total was $6.8 million.

Otherwise, as per the contract.

The box office revenue exceeded 50 million US dollars, and Wattsberg voluntarily gave up the adaptation rights.

In addition, if the box office is more than 30 million US dollars, Wattsberg will pay Lu Ping'an 5 million for the disc copyright. This is also before tax, and after tax, it will be less because it is an overseas copyright transaction.

So the total is about 10 million US dollars.

"I will pay you the copyright fee first, and I will pay half of the split amount first, and I will pay the final balance after the first installment is paid."

Wattsberg said.

Lu Ping'an smiled and sighed: "It's so straightforward, a bit beyond my expectations."

Wattsberg also laughed: "I can play Hollywood's game, but not now, and not with you."

"You are very sincere."

"Thanks."

"Okay, let's talk about "Chainsaw" next."

"no problem."

After "Chainsaw" won the award at the film festival, the process was the same, which was the distribution rights deal.

That's the best thing about Lao America. Let's talk about dividing the accounts first, and then talk about selling out.

The power of speech is great.

"Chainsaw" certainly needs to be split.

Of course, some places cannot avoid selling out.

Also, "Chainsaw" is an R-rated film and cannot be screened in many countries, so the range of sales will be smaller than that of ordinary movies.

In the end, "Chainsaw" first determined the distribution of accounts in 12 countries and regions, and then negotiated distribution buyouts with 11 countries and regions.

The total buyout price is $800,000.

Not high, but not bad.

What matters is the division of accounts.

Then the release date was set, and it was placed on February 22.

There are no blockbusters during this period, and the space is relatively large, suitable for dealing high damage.

As for the summer release or other popular releases, it can definitely be confirmed, but as a low-cost film, there is no capital to negotiate with theaters.

For a blockbuster, high-cost, large-scale production, or a work by a famous director, no matter how poor the quality of the actual film is, it still has the right to speak. At most, it is just a film about emission reduction after the situation is not good after release.

Very realistic, but that's the rules of the game.

The matter is finalized.

Wattsberg said firmly: "This time, I must make "Chainsaw" a hit!"

"Wish us success!"

The two clinked cups of coffee.

Finally, there is the issue of Lu Ping’an’s work.

This is easy to talk about.

Lu Pingan and Dingfeng signed a management contract, and their respective works have two-way priority. In addition, Lu Pingan must produce at least two movies within three years, and the copyright will be shared according to the investment ratio. It is that simple and very loose.

The most sensitive thing involves copyright, but it is no problem for Lu Ping An.

He can definitely make works with low copyright value.

And if he uses the offer to win Wattsberg, or later invests in Peak, these will not be a problem at all.

If the article does not match the title, there is no need to be surprised, because it has been corrected and does not affect reading.