Reborn Tycoon Rise

The time soon came to the end of October, and in a villa in northeastern California, the movie Home Alone was being filmed.

After the crew started shooting, although Xu Zhi often left for other official matters, he would still stay on the set part of the time. However, he has been trying to reduce his presence and maintain Terry's directorial authority during normal filming.

Xu Zhi himself is still self-aware and does not know how to shoot. What's more, this is Hollywood and the culture is completely different. Even if there is a big gap with some minor plots in later generations, he will discuss it with Terry alone and then solve it together.

Professional people do professional things, and unprofessional people invest in professional people. This is Xu Zhi's principle of doing things.

Moreover, the main things within the studio are still under his control. Large financial expenditures require his signature. As for the small aspects, it is basically the director who lets himself go.

The plot of the movie Home Alone is simple. The main scenes are shooting inside and around the house. After more than half a month of shooting, more than half of the movie has been shot, and the first half of the movie has been cut.

According to Terry's estimation, the film will be completely shot by early November, and Xu Zhi must also start preparing for another extremely important work for the film. This work is related to the success of the film and can only be done by him, the boss. Go talk.

What's the most important thing after making a movie?

"issued!!!"

Without distribution and channels, no theater chain will know about the movie and will not arrange for the movie to be released. Then the entire investment will be in vain!

If it is an old film company, as long as it has not been so aggressive in the past, when the film project starts, some distribution companies will come to discuss cooperation matters. However, Xu Zhi's company is a newbie and can only go there to find cooperation on its own. Issuer!

In 1948, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that the Paramount monopoly case was established, and the impact on Hollywood was that the film company must divest itself of theater chains.

There are three industries: production, distribution, and cinema. If a company can participate in production and distribution, it cannot participate in cinema, and vice versa.

This bill did not slowly loosen its cracks until Reagan came to power in the 1980s.

At this moment, companies including Paramount actually have distribution channels, but these basically only serve their own companies. In many cases, because of the need to share risk costs, even several major film giants often outsource distribution to other companies.

Second-level production companies have no distribution channels and generally rely on other professional distribution companies.

The cost of distribution is very high. Under normal circumstances, the distribution company needs to take 20%-35% from the box office. Don't think it is very high. The risk is also high. For the entire film promotion and distribution work, contact the theaters for scheduling and press conferences. Premieres, etc. In this era, another major investment is the investment in film copy disks. Many distribution companies misjudge the performance of the film and copy a large number of film disks, so bankruptcies abound.

…

Xu Zhi drove around Hollywood. He had already met with several distribution companies. After watching half of the movies he brought, they were also very interested. However, the negotiations were not smooth. It was not a request. Too high is due to insufficient distribution capacity and too few screens available.

He even went to Paramount's distribution company, but although he knew a few of Paramount's middle managers, they were basically people from the production department. In such a large company, there was no overlap between the two departments. Not to mention that the interests involved in issuance are too great, and my relationship is simply not enough.

Paramount's distribution department was also optimistic about the film and initially asked for a buyout, which meant paying a sum of money. The rest of the matter had nothing to do with the producer. Of course Xu Zhi would not agree, and then the other party proposed a high price. At the same time, various requirements for overseas, peripheral, and future sequels were put forward.

This is not to say that Paramount is very optimistic about this movie, and the policy of big companies is to cast a wide net. Most of the movies produced by the producers who cooperate with him will always have some hit movies. This is also done to really make a long-term success. .

Xu Zhi did not refuse directly, but withdrew first on the grounds that he had to consider it.

Following the agency's introduction, he came to the last company he needed to visit today: Columbia Pictures.

Columbia Pictures has actually disappeared in later generations. Three years later, in 1981, Coca-Cola will buy the company, and in 1989, Japan's Sony Corporation will take over at a high price, and Columbia Pictures will become Sony Entertainment.

But at this moment, Columbia is one of the eight giants in the United States. Although it is the weakest one, it is only because of serious losses in production in the past ten years, but its distribution capabilities are among the first-level players, which is stronger than some of the following. On a lot.

Receiving Xu Zhi was David Klein, head of the distribution department of Columbia Pictures.

After watching half of the movie and the follow-up information that Xu Zhi brought over, David Klein asked curiously: "Mr. Xu, can I ask a question?"

Xu Zhi smiled: "Of course you can, just ask?"

David Klein immediately asked: "Mr. Xu, you are a Chinese and you do not live in the United States. How could you come up with such a movie story that has American culture?"

Xu Zhi said without even thinking: "Actually, the main plot of this story can be filmed in any culture, but for American audiences, I specially watched a lot of American comedy movies and added some cultures that Americans understand. , so this movie was formed.”

"I see. Although I haven't seen the complete version of this movie yet, this half of the plot and the subsequent plot introduction are indeed somewhat attractive. So if this movie is handed over to us for distribution, what conditions do you need? "David Klein asked.

Xu Zhi said: "Mr. Klein, you also know the content of this movie, so you should also understand that this movie is actually focused on Christmas, and the story and style are also suitable for Christmas, so I hope this The movie can be released on Christmas Day so that the movie's box office potential can be fully unleashed, so that both your distribution company and me, the producer, can get the best benefits!"

David Klein nodded and said: "Mr. Xu, you are right. In fact, when watching this movie, anyone can tell that this is a Christmas movie, but it is also during the Christmas period. All the producers and distributors are competing for the slots, and I can tell you that all the Christmas slots are full now!”