"Sir, please keep an eye on it. ”

Walking through the streets of Burbank, a man dressed in volunteer clothing handed Ronan a missing person notice: "There are five college students missing, if you have relevant clues, please call the number above, we will be rewarded heavily." ”

Ronan took the missing person notice and walked inside the supermarket to roughly browse it.

The missing person notice is similar to the one issued during the promotion of "Blair the Witch" last year, in which five college students got the idea of Blair Witch again and disappeared into the jungle of Black Mountain.

When you come to the audio-visual products section of the supermarket, the missing person notices printed with the heads of the characters are posted in the most conspicuous position, but these missing person notices are different from those used by the embassy pictures last year, so that people can know that they are movie posters at a glance.

DreamWorks isn't stupid either, this sequel is called "Blair the Witch 2: The Book of Shadows", but anyone who knows "Blair the Witch" will not think of it as a real videotape.

Because he sold the sequel rights to DreamWorks for a high price of $12 million, Ronan looked at each poster specifically, and the time spent in the audiovisual production area was inevitably a bit long.

This is a crowded supermarket, and Ronan is not the only one who pays attention to the poster.

"There's a sequel to 'Blair the Witch'?"

The companion snorted and said, "Super bad movie, the last time is enough, are you going to be a second time?"

The man hurriedly shook his head: "With such a poor quality film, is it crazy to watch a sequel again?"

The two men scolded how bad "Blair the Witch" was, and left the audiovisual production area.

Ronan deliberately came to the hanging TV screen, and after waiting for a while, the trailer of "Blair the Witch 2" appeared, a commercial for dozens of seconds, which felt exactly the same as "Blair the Witch".

First-person handheld shooting, frequently shaking lenses, messy images......

It can only be said that DreamWorks is worthy of being a Hollywood film company, and the sequel completely follows the successful model of the first part.

Most of Hollywood's successful sequel movies do this, and this is the most reliable way to shoot a sequel.

But "Blair the Witch" is not a typical Hollywood movie after all.

Ronan bought some daily necessities and food, went out of the supermarket to go home, and as soon as he came to the main entrance of the supermarket, he saw that the volunteer who had previously distributed the missing person notice was blocked, and the four or five people who blocked him were all scolding the so-called volunteer for being a liar.

The volunteer looked innocent and a little confused: he also accepted the hire last year, and when he handed out the missing person notice, he only felt that there were enthusiastic people everywhere, and many people would take the initiative to help, so why did he become a liar this year?

This reversal is too fast, isn't it?

Ronan took a few looks, got in the car, and quickly returned to his apartment in North Hollywood.

After frying a steak by himself and having a brief dinner, he went to the study to check the laws and regulations of the United States regarding foundations and other aspects, and there was a thick stack of materials on the desk, all of which were relevant cases and analysis.

At present, film investment funds have appeared in Hollywood, but they are not popular for the time being.

The computer is also turned on, and Ronan can always look up relevant information on the Internet.

Although the Nasdaq index has plummeted and Internet stocks have been hit hard, it cannot change the fact that Internet penetration and utility are getting higher and higher.

Of course, there are real and fake things on the internet, no matter which side you are.

After reading the relevant information, Ronan opened his mailbox and checked the new emails, one of which was sent by Random House, "Twilight: Twilight" has passed the review and is ready to communicate with the author for revision, and it will be able to enter the book market as soon as September.

Ronan forwarded the email to Lindsey Beale through the company's in-house office software.

It is also necessary to publicize it, and the publishing and distribution is still mainly based on professional companies such as Random House.

In this day and age, business is very dependent on publicity, such as the Harry Potter series, which has long been published, but before Warner Bros. bought the rights, sales were very mediocre, and Joanna Rowling even still had to live on handouts.

But two or three years before the filming, Warner Bros. invested huge resources to promote the series, and the situation changed immediately.

Ronan looked at Lindsay Beal's latest draft of The Hunger Games, and there was nothing to suggest in this regard, just to remind Lindsay Beale to add elements that young readers like appropriately in her subsequent writing.

After doing this, Ronan landed on several movie forums to take a look, and as expected, as during the promotion of "Blair the Witch", the stories about five college students and Blair Witch had to tell were full of forums.

The sequel's various hype tactics, except for not emphasizing that this is a real event, are simply the same as the first one.

The urine nature of the business model operation of Hollywood film companies is vividly expressed.

Unfortunately, the most conspicuous thing on the website is not these troll posts used for propaganda, but various calls that abuse the crew of "Blair the Witch" as liars.

It is very obvious that the reputation of "Blair the Witch" has long been notorious.

Even, many people still remember director Daniel Mailik, and the abuse has a tendency to change from the film to personal attacks.

Ronan specifically checked that the public production cost of "Blair the Witch 2" was $18 million, and according to Hollywood's production rules, DreamWorks must have included $12 million in the purchase of the sequel rights.

It's actually a production expense as well.

Looking at the scale of publicity, Ronan is also a professional now, roughly calculated, with such publicity, it is estimated that even if DreamWorks' expenditure is less than $10 million, the difference will not be too much.

The scale of distribution is not known, and it is estimated that 2,000 theaters are not a big problem.

At this time, news came from MSN, and the person who sent the message was Jessica Felton.

"Blair the Witch 2 is going to be released this weekend, will you go see it?"

Ronan didn't answer, but asked, "You're going?"

The message came back very quickly: "I'm going to check it out." I heard that DreamWorks has hired a master to do the sequel editing. ”

Ronan thought for a moment and sent a message: "I'll go check it out too, let's go together, and I'll pick you up from your apartment after work on Friday night?"

"No, I don't. Jessica Felton is still sending fast: "We'll see you in the theater at Santa Monica's Commercial Plaza. ”

Ronan had no objection: "Okay. ”

He guessed that Jessica Felton's house must be very messy, and she didn't bother to clean up, so she simply didn't let people go.

After a short break, Ronan found a specially collected case and studied it carefully.

Friday came quickly, and after getting off work in the afternoon, Ronan rushed to Santa Monica Commercial Plaza and met Jessica Felton at the arranged theater.

I haven't seen it in a while, and Jessica Felton seems to have lost some weight.

"I took another job in March. Jessica Filton still has dark circles on her face: "It's been busy for more than three months, and it was only done a few days ago." ”

Ronan suggested, "Give yourself a vacation." ”

Jessica Filton said: "It's a holiday, and it's been all about eating, sleeping, and eating these days. She rubbed her chest, as if her underwear was not very comfortable, and said, "It will be adjusted soon, and it will be in your crew at the end of the month." ”

Ronan came to the entrance and lined up and said, "The filming of "Human Removal Project 2" is almost finished, and the editing of this film is relatively simple and will not be so tiring. ”

"It's still easy to work with you. Jessica Felton was deeply touched: "Those inexplicable producers have too many personnel, and they don't give me room to play at all, and I am simply a scissor in their hands." ”

The editor is the scissors in the hands of the producer, and Ronan knows this very well, but he doesn't say so: "So, Jesse, if you want to have a certain degree of editing freedom, you must have the corresponding power and responsibility, and the position of post-producer is very suitable for your next development." ”

Jessica Felton smiled, "I'll take the opportunity you offer me." ”

The two entered the theater together, Ronan habitually chose the last row, which was conducive to observing the situation of the entire theater, they came in late, but there were few people in the theater.

Even when the film starts to be screened, in the theater that can accommodate more than 100 audiences, there are only seven or eight people to talk about.

Ronan had taken a closer look before, and in addition to him and Jessica Felton, there was also a somewhat well-known film critic among the remaining audience.

According to the tacit understanding between the Film Critics Association and the film company, most professional film critics can watch the film for free as long as they show the relevant documents, and the specific cost will be borne by the film company.

That is, in the vast majority of cases, film critics do not contribute to the box office.

The real audience was only four or five people.

Ronan also learned before that the premiere scale of this film is as high as more than 3,300 theaters, that is, DreamWorks will prepare at least 3,500 copies.

This is completely the scale of distribution that only A-level big productions have.

If the average attendance rate in the United States is this kind, the film will not only hit the streets, but also lose a lot of money.

"Good editing. Jessica Filton suddenly whispered: "It's a pity that the camera is as bad as the first one, and this director's ability has not improved at all." ”

Ronan lowered his voice: "I guess it's not the director's business, it should be the effect that DreamWorks deliberately pursued the first part." ”

Let's follow the model of success.

Jessica Felton nodded slightly, and Ronan stopped talking and focused on the movie.

Strictly speaking, the storytelling of this part is much stronger than the first one, with a bit of a taste of youth horror films, and the true and false plots should actually be good if they are polished again, but it is still that problem, in order to pursue the mode of the first part, the camera is too rough.

Ronan couldn't help but think of the post he saw on the site the other night about insulting Blair the Witch 2.

"The first part gave the audience a dim sum that tasted bad but was still fresh, and the second part told everyone that it was actually made of......"

The success of this kind of film does not depend on the production cost at all, but on the publicity.

If you want to succeed, you can only take the road of large-scale publicity.

Watching a film with a very low budget, sometimes the risk is not small at all.