Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 358 Chapter 3 Introduction to the Producer

"Now I have appeared on the live broadcast, and now everyone knows that I am Ronald Lee's girlfriend." Helen hugged Ronald at the check-in area of ​​the airport. A little time to warm up.

"That's just a live broadcast on the local TV station. If you really want to become famous, you have to watch the release of 'Supergirl'. At that time, everyone knew you as Helen Slater." Ronald heard the hall broadcast reminding Deng Xiaoping for the last time. When he got off the plane, he quickly kissed Helen lightly, and carried the suitcase to send her to the boarding gate.

"Sir, you can't send it in anymore." The flight attendant of the airline stopped him.

"Bye! I'll visit you in New York again at Christmas." Ronald blew a kiss.

"bye!"

After sending Helen away, Ronald will devote himself to the production of "Night of the Comet" next.After setting his goals, he began to feel motivated again.

First of all, the president of New World Productions and his own leader in the film industry, Roger Coleman, will be meeting.He promised to invest 50 yuan to film "Night of the Comet".Co-production, determination of distribution, and investment ratio all require his approval first.

"Please wait a moment. Mr. Coleman has ordered that you will be the first to receive you as soon as you arrive. But he is currently talking with important guests. Please sit in the lounge for a while, Mr. Li."

The new assistant to the president took Ronald to the lounge.

Looking at the familiar interior decoration, Ronald revisited what he was going to say to Coleman then.

Half an hour passed, and Roger Coleman finally finished seeing the last group of guests. Three middle-aged men in suits and leather shoes with meticulous hairstyles retreated from the office.

"Mr. Coleman, we will come back with a new proposal."

"It doesn't look like someone from the entertainment industry." Ronald, who heard the movement and slipped out of the lounge, thought to himself when he saw this scene.

"Welcome, Ronald." Coleman found Ronald beside him, and embraced him with open arms.

"I heard you became a producer?" Coleman asked.

"Gail told you, right?" Before Ronald came to the new world, he had a chat with Gail Hurd and had some preliminary understanding of the co-producer.

"It was a title associate producer given to me by the producer of Paramount's new film 'Lightning Dance' to recognize my contribution to the filming. I heard that Paramount is satisfied with the dailies filmed, and they may give me a joint Producer's title," Ronald replied.

"But I do want to be a producer. This is the main purpose of my meeting with you today." Ronald said that he wanted to make "Night of the Comet" a multi-party co-producer. The production model of "Lightning Dance" inspired him.

"Cameron and I have carefully and carefully calculated the money needed for the shooting, and saved all the places that can be saved. In the end, we found that it should not be less than 130 million. I also need to prepare some extra money to prevent when the shooting There was an unexpected situation, so I made a budget of 150 million."

Ronald handed over his production budget list, "I hope to use New World's distribution capabilities to find more investors, and then reward them after the film is released."

"How to repay? Is the box office divided?"

"Is this what I intend?"

"Then what kind of funds do you use to make up for the filming? Find foreign bank investment, domestic bank loans, or fund investment, and what percentage of advance payment should you use?" Coleman popped up many questions at once.

"Uh, I don't seem to understand the answers to these questions." Ronald was a little confused when Coleman asked him.He began to understand that he seemed to be thinking hastily.

"Investors are optimistic about my movie, first give me a sum of money, I will shoot it, and then after the movie is released, I will return it to them with interest, or share it in proportion. Isn't that the case?"

"Hahaha... This is a good idea, and it's very simple. I can't say you're wrong, but it's not suitable for your movie." Roger Corman took a sip of coffee, "Let's put it this way , Ronald, do you know why I promised you 50 to make a movie?"

"Because I have a successful track record in teen films, do you think I can finish the film according to the budget and schedule?" Ronald thought for a while and replied.

"Of course, this is the reason why I am optimistic about you. But for this optimism, I can only give you a maximum of 50." Coleman raised his palm and made a five sign in front of Ronald.

"I don't know."

"Because this is the most advance payment I can get for your movie from distribution channels."

"Oh." Ronald understood a little bit, and continued to listen to Coleman's "Film Producer II 10 Minutes from Beginner to Master".

The film industry is in a downturn, and all investors are not fools. Not many people are willing to invest in a film first, then wait for shooting, editing, release, and finally collect interest on their investment or dividends from the box office revenue.

There are too many variables in the middle, and investors can't afford to wait for such a long time.Moreover, there are countless risks in the filming and release of the film. If you invest 200 million US dollars, after more than a year of filming and editing, and then sell tickets for half a year after the release, you may not only lose interest, but even lose the principal.

So now only those small productions with hundreds of thousands of dollars can get prepaid shooting funds from distributors.Because the shooting cycle of small productions is fast, the box office is relatively fixed, easy to estimate, and the risk is small.

Generally speaking, Coleman's New World Company will charge about 20.00% of the producer's final gross box office as distribution fees.

In other words, Coleman is confident that his new film will generate at least 250 million box office after its release.So he is willing to invest 50 in advance for production costs, and under ideal conditions he will not lose money.

There is also Coleman's own profit, risk conversion, and some margin.In other words, Coleman gave a minimum estimate of 4000 to 500 million at the box office for his 50 million director's title, and gave Ronald [-] production funds backwards.

If it exceeds this number, the risk will become too great, Coleman will not invest more, and Ronald will have to find funds to fill the vacancy.

"Yes, the producer is the one who takes the final risk. Other investors only want to get a fixed income return, or the priority settlement right of the box office share, so as to ensure that their investment will not lose money, and they are willing to Invest in movies.

If the box office exceeds expectations, and everyone else can only get the capped income, then the producer will get the most lucrative piece of cake.If the box office is down, all the financial pressure will be on the producer's head.

This is why few directors in Hollywood invest their own money in movies. Being a producer is actually a very professional job, and few directors are proficient in it. "

"Then what kind of investors should I find to fill this gap?" Ronald asked Coleman humbly.

"The best way is to find a capable producer to cooperate with."

It's a pity that Gail Hurd has been captured by Cameron and concentrated on finding money for his "Terminator".Ronald shook his head.

"Secondly," Roger Coleman continued seeing that Ronald was still listening to his answer, "If you have a very rich friend who is willing to invest in film art..."

This is also unlikely, Ronald shook his head again.

"The rest are conventional options." Coleman pointed out several financing directions to Ronald.

"With my distribution ability, I can already get you about 30% of the filming funds. In addition, we have to sign a distribution contract, which can solve your biggest problem in the financing process. How do other investors determine your film? It will be shown in theaters.”

Ronald expressed his understanding that many movies are so poorly made that they cannot be shown in theaters.

"Once you get a domestic distribution contract, you have several directions to try hard.

If you have overseas distribution channels, especially theater distribution channels in English-speaking countries, you can use this contract to obtain overseas distribution contracts.The premise of their general contract is that your film will be released in America.

With this contract, you can go to the bank to try out a mortgage and get some of the money. "

Ronald shook his head secretly again. I'm afraid he can't do it himself. All the contacts in the film industry he knows are in China.

"There is another way, which is direct investment by overseas banks. Many European banks will invest in the film industry. If you have this relationship, you can try it. But there are many scammers and mafia shadows here, you have to be yourself protection, it is best not to deal with them directly."

It's kind of scary, making a movie and dealing with these people?Ronald shook his head again.

"Then there is only one way, which is to bring in big studios and big stars to participate in the performances, so that they have strong distribution capabilities, endorse with stars, and can get bank loans or Wall Street investment."

This is also unlikely, I just came to you because I couldn't find a big studio to invest in.Ronald felt that these three paths were hopeless.

"Let me think of other ways, Mr. Coleman." Ronald planned to go back to find an agent and try other small and medium-sized producers, to see if there was one who believed in himself and was willing to take risks.

"You don't invest your own money, do you, Ronald?" Roger Coleman asked Ronald.

"I have had this idea, but my cousin is still in high school, and I have to plan for the future, and it is impossible to put all my wealth into risk.

Now I am asking my agent to accept contracts for various scripts, hoping to get some of these extra income, and if there are some gaps in investment, I can make up for it. ’ Ronald told the truth to Coleman.

"That puts me at ease. It's not worth taking artistic risks with your own money. We have better ways to achieve our goals, don't we?"

"Thank you, I won't do anything reckless."

"That's good. You and Jim both came from the New World. I don't want to see you go bankrupt."

"No, I'm just making up for the small gap in investment at most." Ronald has made up his mind that even if he wants to invest, he must use the newly earned money and not use his savings.It does not exceed the upper limit of 30 to [-] US dollars, and any more will affect my life and future plans.

"It seems that you have made a lot of money, Ronald," Coleman said with a smile, "how do you handle your money, is there any investment?"

"I bought some stocks of big companies, hoping to use stock dividends to make up for the loss of inflation. Now I don't know what assets to buy to preserve their value."

"Very good, your investment philosophy is very good. The most important thing about investing is not to lose money. Don't be scammed by Wall Street for the money we earned from the camera with great difficulty."

(End of this chapter)