Huayu: From an ordinary person to a happy director

Chapter 46: Making money is important, but going home for the New Year is equally important

"Okay! 14% is 14%!" Shi Lei said helplessly.

In North America, the producers' share of the box office is 45~55%. If "Saw" is calculated as 50%, 14% belongs to Columbia and the remaining 36% belongs to Peach Company.

That’s how publishing makes money.

After returning to China, I will need to get a distribution license. I can’t rely solely on China Film. As the distribution costs increase significantly, China Film’s fees will also be very high.

Of course, the rental and sales of "Saw" discs belong to the company. The company he purchased used to be an independent film company, making low-budget movies that were not shown in theaters, but directly made into DVDs and put on the disc market.

The fact that North American producers make more money than domestic ones is also reflected here. North America has an additional source of income from discs. Some films cannot recover their costs at the box office, but can slowly recover their losses through the disc market.

"When do you want this movie to be released?" Hans asked.

"The sooner the better." If it was "Saw 2", some publicity could increase the box office a lot, but "Saw 1" can only rely on word of mouth.

Hans nodded and agreed: "Okay, I'll ask someone to arrange it when I get back."

Then he patted Shi Lei on the shoulder and said, "I will use my connections to get the film released as soon as possible."

"But this may take some time, probably a month."

"A month later?" Shi Lei calculated the time and said, "That's acceptable. I just happened to be back home for the New Year."

"Going back for the New Year? Shi, you should continue to follow Hilary Swank's training to prevent any accidents. What could be more important than the film?"

"Hans, going home for the New Year is the obsession of the Chinese people. Even God can't stop me from going home for the New Year." Shi Lei said very solemnly.

He hasn't been back to his hometown for a year since he started filming the movie, but he has to go back during the Chinese New Year.

In his previous life, he worked 996 hours a day, and for several years he didn't even go home for Chinese New Year. It was really too much.

"Okay! It's up to you." Hans said helplessly.

According to Shi Lei, this involves issues of faith, and North America is not allowed to interfere with other people's beliefs.

The next day, Shi Lei and Wan Zairen took a copy of "Saw" to Columbia and played the film in a screening room in Columbia.

In addition to Hans, there were also several film reviewers from Columbia who watched the film.

These people are all professionals, and after watching the film, they all think it is a very good suspense horror film, but they still need to discuss the details.

Four days later, Columbia officially signed the distribution contract of "Saw" with Peach Films.

There will be no more news about Shuimitao Film and Television from now on.

After seeing Hans off, Shi Lei took out the script of "Insidious" from the safe in his office and handed it to Wen Zairen, saying, "Study this script and see how much it costs."

"There's no money in the company's account. You'll have to wait for this film."

All the money of Taolin Film and Television was invested. Shi Lei's personal studio did have some money for the ringtone of "The First Snow of 2002", but Shi Lei did not want to use it.

Now Taolin Film and Television needs to make up for its losses. Fortunately, the copyright fee for the first round of broadcast of "Jade Guanyin" has been negotiated. Just like in the previous life, Kyoto Satellite TV purchased the first broadcast rights and the copyright fee is 1400 million.

This price is above average, allowing you to make money but not too much. The fact that you can make money in the first round shows that the TV station is very optimistic about the drama. Some TV dramas lose money in the first round, while others are not bought by any TV station.

Wan Zairen was flipping through the script, and Shi Lei did not disturb him. He walked to the desk, sat down, and started typing. He was adding storyboards to the script. He uploaded many scripts to the North American script library, but they were just outlines. The script in his hand was detailed, but lacked a storyboard script.

If you are looking for a tool director, it is best to make the shot-by-shot script better and more detailed, otherwise no matter how good the script is, it cannot guarantee the quality of the film.

……

"boss……"

Shi Lei looked up and saw that it was Wen Zairen calling him, so he asked casually, "What's the matter?" At the same time, he casually checked the time and found that two hours had passed.

"Boss, let me set up the crew first. Don't we still have $30 left from Saw? $30 is enough to prepare the crew." Wan Zairen suggested.

He was a little anxious when filming "Saw" because he was eager to prove himself. The crew was not very good, so he had to carry the camera himself to shoot many shots.

Now that he had received the double approval from his boss and Columbia, he decided to get a better crew.

"There are still 30 US dollars left?" Shi Lei was a little confused.

"It's written on the report, didn't you see it?"

"Oh, I didn't read it. I'll write you a note and you can take it to the Finance Department." Shi Lei didn't know what to say when the money was reported before it was used up.

Whether at home or abroad, if it is found that the budget cannot be fully used up in the later stages of shooting, some fancy tricks will usually be used up.

Perhaps because of his newcomer status, Wan Zairen doesn't dare to do anything fancy.

"Okay, thank you boss, I'll go now." Wen Zairen thanked him and got up to leave.

Most of the employees of Peach Film and Television are North Americans, but the key finance manager was brought by Shi Lei. In addition, there are several domestic employees placed in other departments of Peach.

Shi Lei can let North Americans manage the company, but they cannot be ignorant of everything.

It would be troublesome if North American employees bullied him because he was often absent and did all kinds of weird things.

-

On January 1, Shi Lei flew back to his hometown.

He bought all kinds of gifts for his family, ranging from daily necessities to clothes.

There was no other way, he gave money to his parents and let them spend it as they pleased, but they ended up saving it for him.

Giving them money to improve their lives won’t work, you have to do it yourself.

"Hey, you just came back, why did you buy so many things?" mother Ying Huimei scolded.

"That's right, if we need something, we will buy it ourselves." Father Shi Jiwei echoed.

"Dad, Mom, I've already bought it and I can't return it." Shi Lei replied casually.

My parents have thriftiness ingrained in them.

"By the way, I also ordered some furniture from the county. The TV at home should be replaced with a bigger one, as well as electrical appliances such as air conditioners, refrigerators, and microwave ovens. I will teach you how to use them when they arrive."

"You kid, you're just wasting money. Our house is made of tiles. Is it suitable for air conditioning? Besides, tile houses are very cool in the summer. It's a waste of your money to install air conditioning."

"Well...then let's install it in the new house." He also felt that installing an air conditioner in a tiled house was too much.

He had a set of drawings designed, bought land and built a small villa. The residential foundation was 150 square meters, with three floors in total, and the front and back yards were another 150 square meters.

It’s not that he doesn’t want to build a bigger house, but he is afraid that his parents won’t be willing to hire a nanny, and the two of them will have to do the housework themselves. The bigger the space, the heavier the housework will be for them.

"Yes, yes, that's right, I'll install your wedding room, but the construction team said there's some A or something, so it needs to be ventilated and left alone for a year."

Shi Lei nodded and said, "Listen to them." Then he reminded, "Don't go in even if you have nothing to do. It's bad for your health. You may not think it's a big deal, but you are the ones who want to live a long life and see your great-grandchildren, so listen to their advice and don't go in."

He talked to the two of them on the phone and knew that they would go over to check on them from time to time.

"Okay~~ We promise you." When the mother heard that she could see her great-grandson, she couldn't stop smiling.

(End of this chapter)