Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 371

Two days later, Ronald, Gail Hurd, and Jim Cameron visited Roger Coleman, who had sold New World Productions and was about to retire.

Coleman kept several large cardboard boxes in the president's office, which was no longer his own, and they were all photos, recording the many memories he had accumulated during his 12 years in the new world.

In addition to some photos of his family, there are photos of him with many directors and actors, and some posters of movies he directed and produced.

"Is this Stallone?" Ronald asked when he saw a group photo.In the photo, Stallone is still very young, holding a submachine gun with his mouth crooked and looking cool.Beside him is a blond actor.

"Ah yes, next to David Carradine, this is when they did 'Death Drive 2000,'" Coleman replied.

"Is this when Ron Howard did Grand Theft Auto?" Gale held up another photo.Above is the famous actor and director Ron Howard, who still had a lot of hair at that time.

"Ah yes, I was the one who drove Mr. Coleman when he went to New York to sell the rights to CBS." Ronald remembers Coleman's hearty laugh when he was on the phone with Ron Howard in his apartment.

"These movies are very good-looking, don't the new buyers really want them?" Ronald felt that the movies in the library were all well-made, and there were some early works of famous actors, so they were all worth a little money. Not sure why buyers don't want it. .

"Hey, if it weren't for my good memories, I wouldn't want it either." Roger Coleman said, "Although the climate in California is not bad, but the humidity is high, the negatives are not well preserved, and they are prone to mold and deterioration. I rented To store the film in a library with constant temperature and humidity, you have to pay a lot of money every year.”

"You don't know, film film is easy to spontaneous combustion. When the film was in recession a few years ago, Warner destroyed the film in the early years on a large scale to recover the silver ions in the film." Cameron knew more about technology.

"Let's go, help me move these photos to my new office." Roger Coleman commanded the three of them to hold his baby and walked out of the New World building.

"I'm going to pick up the car." Ronald stood at the gate of the office and said to everyone.

"No, let's walk." Roger Coleman led everyone across the street at the entrance to a newly completed office area next to the theater named after the late actor Henry Fonda.

"Dangdang, welcome to my new office." Roger Coleman opened the door of an office. Inside was a large room filled with second-hand office furniture. His secretary had already cleaned and prepared it.

"Mr. Coleman, is your office ready?" Ronald looked at the former boss.

"Help me put these photos here..." Coleman instructed the three former subordinates to arrange the office for himself.

"Mr. Coleman, when did you find a good office and register a new company?" After putting up the photos, Ronald looked around. It was more spacious than the original New World office, but there was no such small screening room.

"Hahaha, after you left that day, I took that check and had fun in the office for a long time. But when I got up the next day, I finished the breakfast prepared by Julie and drove. Julie asked me what I was doing, and I Only then did I realize that I was unemployed.

I spent a morning at home and found that I couldn't help but work, and that morning of doing nothing was more uncomfortable than the movie 'Intruder' that I made that lost money.

So I hired a lawyer in the afternoon and set up a production company. Anyway, the distribution business can be left to the new owner of the new world. From now on, I will focus on producing films, and maybe I can regain my passion for directing. "

"What's the name of the new company, boss?" Cameron asked.

"Called the millennium."

"What?" Ronald didn't hear clearly.

"The millennium means the millennium after the birth of Christ." Coleman explained, and then asked the secretary to bring the coffee, "Tell me, what are you guys looking for?"

"I served as the producer of Jim's new film, and now I have found the investment and distribution commitment of Orion (Orion), and now I am still short of 350 to [-] million shooting funds."

Gail Hurd began to take out the proposal and introduced it to the former boss Coleman.Cameron unfolded the characters and storyboards for Coleman to see.

"What about your TV broadcast rights?" Coleman asked directly after listening to the introduction.

"It's in Orion's hands now, and it hasn't been sold yet."

"Gail, I'm afraid I can't invest. You know, all my film projects are based on the distributor's pre-sale revenue and the TV station's advance payment. If the film I invest in waits for the final box office split, I'm afraid It's already bankrupt."

"But this is..." Gail still wanted to fight for it.

"Your script is really good, and it fits the way of making low-budget movies, but I can't violate my business principles, sorry Gail, Jim."

"Nature is hard to change." Gail complained in a low voice.

"Mr. Coleman, why do you say that the box office with split accounts will go bankrupt?" Ronald didn't quite understand this sentence. The movies he shot for Universal still got split accounts.

"Hey, my new world...it's not mine anymore, it's not a big company. The managers of those theaters always procrastinate as they can. It's likely that they will delay you for a year. It's not that they don't have money. Give it to me, just like to drag.

Several times, I threatened to sue them and they always gave me the check a few days before the court date.My lawyers always say to me, Mr. Coleman, you support the movie business.

The operators of those movie theaters are also having a hard time. With the one-year interest on this money, they can also renovate the seats and upgrade the popcorn machine.

But I always want to get the interest myself. A big production of 600 million yuan is actually quite risky, and I will not play this kind of game.A small company like mine cannot take the risk without an advance payment guarantee. "

"But you've always been making movies, and you got the money beforehand?" Ronald asked.

"It's a long story. When I used to make films for American International Pictures, I got a fixed income. I gave the film idea, and American International Pictures gave a price, such as 5 yuan. If I can If you shoot it at a cost of [-], you can make a net profit of [-].

That way I get a quick turnaround, and I get the money to buy film and rent equipment, and pay actors and cinematographers.Then the distributor makes money and orders movies from me.

Unlike those big studios that take a year to recoup their investment, I can get the money before shooting starts, so I can make twelve movies in the time they make one movie.

Later, American International Pictures didn't tell me and edited my film randomly, so I set up a new world to do the distribution work myself.All I'm looking for are drive-in theaters and theaters with relatively backward facilities. I can use the old method to collect their copy rental fees in advance.This money is also turned over much faster than the account method. "Coleman described his business model.

"But Mr. Coleman, your method is outdated. Today's blockbuster films, theaters must rely on the box office, otherwise they would not be able to pay expensive copy rental fees before screening.

There are many theaters in ET that cannot afford to rent copies, so they can only release pirated copies secretly, or wait until a year later to rent the second round of copies released by others. "Gail retorted when he heard this.

"You're right, Gail. But I'm investing my own money, not someone else's money like those big studio execs. So I can't take too much risk. At an average Hollywood production On an $800 million scale, I only have three chances to fail."

Coleman said here, holding up three fingers, "and there were less than 3000 films that managed to exceed [-] million box office last year."

"Hey, it's the limitation of the downturn in the film market." Ronald sighed in his heart. Big productions have difficulties in big productions. Although small productions don't make much money, they are much safer.

Roger Coleman was able to accumulate so much wealth by never taking risks and accumulating slowly.It is also impossible to ask him to change course and suddenly start taking risks in making big productions.

……

"What? Is the news accurate?"

In the New World office opposite.The three new bosses sat in the meeting room. They got a surprising news and began to discuss countermeasures.

"Coleman, old slick, does he know something?" asked a lawyer.

"Impossible. We are well-informed in the legal profession, so I can know in advance that the minority opinion of Justice John Paul Stevens is written in the tone of the majority opinion. It seems that these liberals have already expected that someone will The mutiny is over."

The other lawyer loosened his tie vigorously and thumped on the table.

"What are our legal chances of canceling this deal? Seventeen million dollars is not a small number."

"The check has been given to Coleman, he's already in the account. It's going to take a long time to sue for voiding the contract, and you think the people in Hollywood know we regret it? Then there's no chance of us selling. Must operate with confidence For a period of time, when the financial situation improves, there will be a chance to sell."

"Then what should we do? Now the operators of those theater chains are having a hard time. They often deduct the box office share, just to renovate the seats to earn some interest."

"It seems that the original plan did not take this accident into account. The operation of the cinema will definitely become more and more difficult. We have to find a master who not only knows how to make movies that meet the taste of the market, but also knows how to get money back from the management theater. to manage the company."

"Then we have to find an executive from the seven major studios. The original candidates either only know production, or only know theater distribution."

The three lawyers seem to have regrets about borrowing money to buy Coleman's New World Company.But it was a done deal, and they had no choice but to find an executive with experience in cost control of production and distribution to serve as CEO.

"Let's find a headhunter to invite those executives who were dismissed by Universal and [-]th Century Fox. We have to get this done as soon as possible, so that the media will report our good news. Otherwise, as soon as the Supreme Court's new judgment comes out , The capital market has insufficient confidence in the film industry, and our interest will be in big trouble."

"Coleman, you are really a lucky man." The lawyer who made the final decision sighed as he looked at the portrait of Roger Coleman on the public relations draft in which the three of them acquired New World in his hand.

(End of this chapter)