Within an hour, Ranley and Drake were back in the same hotel to visit another giant of the independent film world. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

If the Weinstein brothers were born for the Oscars, with a single goal in mind: the Golden Man, then Focus Pictures and Fox Searchlight were created for independent films, both of which are also affiliated with the top major studios and specialize in independent fields as independent labels.

The goal of these two labels is not to win the Oscars, but to be able to continuously tap more promising works and filmmakers from the independent film industry. To put it simply, it is brand effect, setting up a sign for the brand of one's parent company that cannot be measured in money, and the Oscars are just an add-on product.

The style of Fox Searchlight is relatively smaller and fresher, and the warm and healing route is the mainstream, all of Wes Anderson's works are released by them, in addition, "500 Days with Shamo", "127 Hours", "Slumdog Millionaire", "Juno", "Little Sunshine Beauty" and other works are also operated and distributed by them, although there are occasionally dark works such as "Black Swan" and "Shame", but after all, there are only a few.

Rumored, at this year's Sundance, Fox Searchlight is chasing two productions, "Another Earth" and "Double-Faced Martha."

In contrast, Focus Pictures' style is a bit more open, and there are often some unexpected choices. In their distribution history, you can see orthodox independent films such as "Motorcycle Diaries", "Survival in the Wilderness", and "Atonement", as well as works that challenge conventional notions such as "Brokeback Mountain", "Promise of the East", and "Pirate Radio". Of course, there is also Lan Li's first large-screen work, "Buried Alive".

However, the overall propaganda methods of Fox Searchlight and Focus Pictures are more formal and traditional, and in layman's terms, they are above board and win with absolute strength, while the Weinstein brothers will not compromise their means to win, even if they have dirty hands.

This can be seen from some practical cases. In 2005, Focus Pictures' "Brokeback Mountain" lost to Lionsgate's "crash", and in 2007, Focus Pictures' "Atonement" lost to Miramax's "Old Man and No Land" -

Miramax was a company founded by the Weinstein brothers and later merged with Disney, but the two brothers broke up with Disney in 2005 and left the company to start their own business.

Standing at the door of the hotel room, Drake nervously adjusted his tie, then faced Lan Li, and asked nervously, "How is it? Do I look formal enough?" Although this is not the first time, Drake's nervousness has not been relieved much.

"You remind me of a waiter in a restaurant. Lan Li replied solemnly, causing Drake to nod contentedly, and then raised his hand and knocked on the door of the room.

In about fifteen seconds, the door of the room opened, and a middle-aged man of about forty years old appeared in front of him, with a kind smile on his face, indicating that he was greeting.

The head was shiny, but the back of the head still had a half circle of short dark gray hair, which should have a slight warmth effect in winter, the stubble on the chin was neatly trimmed, a pair of gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of the nose, and a lake-blue shirt, which looked less like a film industry practitioner than an assistant professor working at a university.

"Welcome, welcome. The man opened the door and made way of the passage, "Thank you for agreeing so quickly to my request to meet." I was worried that I wouldn't be able to make a reservation for dinner tonight. The polite words were a little intimate and funny, "The weather in Park City has been really bad in the past two days, it only snowed in the morning, and it is too troublesome to go out." ”

The man led Drake and Lan Li to sit down in the hall, "I'm about to make a pot of coffee, do you need it?" or do we have a little afternoon tea according to the British tradition?"

Lan Li replied with a polite smile, "It's not a good idea to have afternoon tea in Park City. The tail note rose gently, and there was a hint of banter in his eyes, and the taste of ridicule couldn't help but flow out:

The area where Salt Lake City is located is a holy place for Morocists, and more than 80 or even 90 percent of its residents are Catholics. Therefore, the customs here are very different from those of other cities. Most notably, alcohol is not sold here, not in any public place, not even on the supermarket shelves, where the beers are non-alcoholic.

The man immediately tasted the humor in Lan Li's words and nodded, "It's good that my wife doesn't know where I'm on a business trip this week." Another well-known doctrine of the Morocians is polygamy.

The vague humor in this sentence immediately made the scene harmonious, and the humor frequency of both sides was on the same channel, which was really helpful. The man turned around, told his assistant to make coffee, and then sat down across from Lan Li and Drake, "Nice to meet you, I'm Douglas-Fellner, and I'm in charge of the distribution department at Focus Pictures. ”

"I've heard my colleagues talk about the movie-going scene in Toronto, and I always want to see the people who have been the focus of the recent discussion with my own eyes, and today I finally saw it in Park City. Douglas looked at Lan Li with a smile, his familiar and enthusiastic appearance, coupled with the topic of "buried alive", easily eliminated the estrangement between the two sides.

Just when Lan Li thought that Douglas would continue to close the distance along this topic, he changed his words, "However, my personal situation can be put aside a little, and I hope there will be time to talk about it slowly and in detail in the future, but the enthusiasm of the Sundance audience can't wait." I'm inviting you over today to talk about the North American distribution rights of 'Love Crazy'. ”

Straight to the point, crisp and neat, and at the same time inadvertently reminded of the cooperation of "buried alive", and the point is up. It just sets off the atmosphere and expresses enough sincerity.

Judging from the short thirty seconds of the photo, Douglas and Harvey are very different styles.

Drake was still a little nervous, but he didn't have the feeling of being so excited that he couldn't help himself, he looked at Douglas seriously, and said cautiously but firmly, "Uh, excuse me, is Focus Pictures trying to buy the North American distribution rights of 'Love Crazy'?"

Douglas smiled and nodded in the affirmative.

Lan Li had almost guessed the content of Drake's next sentence, but before he could stop it, Drake said directly, "My only request is that Lan Li can get ten percent of the box office dividends." With that, Drake crossed his hands over his chest and made a defensive gesture, as if he would no longer accept any other form of negotiation.

Lan Li couldn't help but want to support his forehead, the real negotiation doesn't work like this, no one will show all their hole cards at the first time, which is equivalent to directly pushing himself into a passive position.

However, Lan Li can understand Drake's feelings. To be honest, Drake's firm friendship made Lan Li feel warmly touched. The salary is still secondary, and through the movie "Love is Crazy", I made a group of friends, which is the most rare.

"What Drake means is that we're more inclined to split than buyout. Lan Li had to take the initiative to stand up, although he couldn't undo what he said just now, but at least he could explain it briefly.

Douglas nodded in realization, his gaze fell on Lan Li, and then his smile went up, and he said to Drake, "Actually, I think so too. Lan Li is a very good actor, and he definitely contributed to the success of the movie "Love is Crazy". ”

Drake smiled contentedly, nodded repeatedly, and then patted Lan Li's shoulder, a flash of joy in his eyes, as if to say, "I told you." This made Lan Li also laugh dumbly.

"However, we still need to negotiate the proportion of dividends. Since Drake got straight to the point, Douglas didn't go around in circles, and took the lead in expressing his opinion, seeing Drake's posture of opening his mouth to defend himself, Douglas stopped Drake unhurriedly, "You listen to our proposal first, and then we will slowly express our opinions, how about it?"

The softening gesture made Drake think about it seriously, and then nodded in agreement.

Douglas leaned slowly back in his chair and crossed his legs, but he didn't have the air of a superior, but more like a professor's assistant in class, participating in an academic discussion. Sure enough, everyone's temperament is different, and the impression and effect brought are also completely different.

Before the negotiations, Douglas was naturally fully prepared, just now Drake made a temporary request, he needs to adjust the plan slightly, "We have three plans. First, buyout, we are willing to pay a copyright fee of five million to buy out the North American distribution rights of the work in one go. ”

Douglas noticed Drake's argumentative look, and he added unhurriedly, "As for how exactly this fee will be distributed within the crew, you can discuss it slowly yourself." Of course, Focus Pictures will be solely responsible for the follow-up publicity costs of the film. ”

Hearing this, Drake settled down a little and continued to listen.

"Second, divide. Douglas said methodically, obviously fully prepared, ready and bound to win, "We pay 2.5 million copyright fees, and the crew can get 25% of the box office dividends." This ratio includes the dividends of directors, actors, screenwriters, producers, etc., as for the specific proportion, it is an internal matter of the crew. But in this way, during the publicity period, the crew needs to bear part of their own expenses. ”

"The last option is also divided. The situation is slightly different, though. Douglas paused for a moment, looked at Lan Li, and then at Drake, "The copyright fee is four million, but the box office dividend of the crew is fifteen percent." Similarly, the crew members need to bear part of the publicity costs. Of course, Focus Pictures can guarantee that we will still treat the arrangement of the promotional itinerary with the highest standard. ”

After saying that, Douglas showed a big smile, "What do you guys think?"