Rustle – As September draws closer, the summer is coming to an end, students are returning to school, and Santa Monica's beaches are deserted. This pleasant coastal city is home to the headquarters of many film companies, one of which is the recent boom in flame films.

In the headquarters building of Flame Film, the employees of each office are busy in laughter, and the whole company is full of happiness, and the generous and good treatment and the company's bright prospects make them very satisfied with this job;

Anyway, no matter whether "District 9" can get any Oscar nominations or awards, it is already a huge success for Flame Films. Its production cost is 100 million, of course, the real number is more than 97.83 million, and the global publicity cost plus miscellaneous expenses such as copy transportation is about 60 million, and the total cost of 160 million is definitely not cheap, but in front of the global box office of 606 million in the three weeks of release, it seems that it is not a big deal.

The highest-grossing R-rated movie in history! The chairman of the board of directors who grabbed money is reappeared! How much money can "District 9" make for a flame movie? If the global box office is 700 million, the flame movie can get at least 300 million; the predictable hot DVD sales have an excellent reputation and are well received, and one of the benefits of cult movies is that cult movie fans like to collect DVDs; in addition, the original soundtrack CD, TV copyright income, and so on...... Another mouth-watering vault.

However, the fly in the ointment is that this is a vault, not a gold mine, and it will be removed all at once. Because everyone knows that everyone in Flame Movies said that the chairman of the money-grabbing board said that "District 9" will not make a sequel, at least not for the time being, and maybe a sequel will be filmed ten years later;

Just like at the beginning, everyone originally thought that he would continue to direct "Youth Musical" and make a trilogy to establish the title of "magical baby director", but things went in an uncontrolled direction.

In three years, "Wonder Baby" became "Mr. Wonder". The cover tagline of Time magazine represents an attitude: "Amazing Young, welcome to the Big Directors Club!"

What is a great director? If you talk about rights, it means that you have absolute control over directing a movie, the selection of roles, the details of the script, and the way of shooting...... What's more important is the right to final cuts. The decision on what the theatrical version of a movie looks like in theaters is in the hands of the producers, who hand over the scissors to the producers, editors, and even the big-name male lead in the film.

The directors who cut with them often had to shout helplessly and angrily, "Man, listen to me, my cut version is better!" and then the producer said, "Great! "Is the director's cut version all better? Not necessarily, there are theatrical versions that are scolded and the director's cut version is classic, and there are also cases where the theatrical version is popular and the director's cut version is spit.

In any case, the big directors have the final cutting power, and it is up to them to decide the theatrical version and the director's cut version. There aren't many people in this ranks, Stephen Spielberg, James Cameron, the Coen brothers, Quentin Tarantino, Tim Burton, ...... And every film has a director who has the right to cut it, and it is enough for the whole of Hollywood with only ten fingers.

Wang Yang's situation is of course special, he is not only a full investor, but also a producer and director, it can be said that every film is an "independent film" no matter how much it costs, so he has always been able to enjoy the rights of a big director.

But what the title of "big director" needs most is the recognition of the media, which is very simple, an absolute classic in film history. "Ghost Record" and "Youth Musical" will go down in film history as one of the symbols of '98 and '99, but they are not qualified, "When Happiness Knocks" and "Juno" are not unique, and there are no "big scenes" that are difficult to control, and "District 9" clears all obstacles.

Praised by critics, IMDB's score of 8.8 ranks in the top ten in film history, the global box office is 600 million, and it is recognized as a science fiction classic that has not been seen for many years...... There is also a total box office of 2.1 billion for individuals, with an average of 420 million per piece. In addition to his young age, the current Wang Yang is already a recognized director by fans, but he is also the most immature, the most unconvincing, and the easiest to be kicked out.

The lack of a second classic? the lack of various directorial awards? the possibility of being too young to suddenly encounter Waterloo and become a belated "director"? Playing life lost like Robert Downey Jr., and then waking up to middle age and rising again? These are all reasons. In the hearts of the media public, he still has a long, long way to go to establish the title of "Mr. Fantastic" as a great director.

The first part of the global box office was 411 million, the second part was 221 million, and the third part was 257 million, with a total box office of 889 million US dollars in the trilogy, as well as considerable peripheral income, it is a stable gold mine for flame movies in the past few years.

However, after the end of the trilogy, this gold mine seems to have been hollowed out. A long-term profitable series is very important to a film company, and it is something that many independent film companies "eat for a lifetime", relying on this series for ten years, such as "Youth Musical", until it finally fails, until it is completely ruined.

Now on the big corporate side, Warner Bros. is working on the Harry Potter series, Sony has just ruined Men in Black but has Spider-Man, 20th Century Fox has Star Wars Prequels, X-Men, ...... Independent film companies also have their own magic weapons, the new line has "The Lord of the Rings" and "Rush Hour", Dimen has "Screaming" and "Screaming", and is ready to hold on to "Very Little Spy...... But Flame Movies lacks such a long and powerful franchise today, and of course the animated film "Ice Age" is not counted. However, "The Hangover" is likely to become the new gold mine of flames, although it will not be released until Christmas this year, the whole company has great confidence in it and the chairman of the money-grabbing company, and even the second part has been discussed, but the chairman still will not direct a sequel.

Although there are no series, but with "Sweetheart", "Ice Age", and "District 9", the performance of Flame Films this year is already very scary; another distribution brand, FM Company, has also performed well, launching several small profitable and low-budget films on the screen; and its current main rental and copyright market is full of surprises, the biggest one is "Death Illusion", which was purchased at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.

This thriller and suspense film, like "Fragments of Memory", has received praise but no one cares because it cost 6 million to make. Peter Wilkes, the investment director of FM, boldly bought the film for 8 million in line with the company's philosophy of "don't be afraid of losing money and have the courage to try". In November last year, Halloween was tested in 150 theaters, but the results were very unsatisfactory, with only 1.2 million box office in four weeks.

I thought it was going to lose money this time, but I didn't expect that after investing in the video rental and sales market, its sales gradually increased month by month, and it turned out to be very popular during the summer vacation; this also attracted the attention of FM company, and it was rearranged to be released in foreign theaters, and now it has received 6.5 million box office. Counting all the projects, it has generated more than 7 million profits for FM and counting.

"Actually, I didn't expect the box office to be so good. ”

In the elegantly furnished chairman's office, Wang Yang, who was wearing a T-shirt and pants, sat behind his desk, turned his pen in his hand, looked at Mark Slunt in a black suit on the chair opposite, and said: "I thought it would be good if the world could collect 400 million, after all, it is very depressing." Mark Slant smirked and said, "My boss, if you're 32 years old, or if we put it in May, that's 400 million." Wang Yang smiled and nodded.

These two reasons are indeed very important, otherwise "District 9" would have high reviews, but it would not have the current box office results.

Excellent viral marketing and the popularity of the "Magic Young" brand led to the first-week box office of "Spider-Man"-style commercial blockbusters, but also because there was no opponent in August, if it met with movies such as "Spider-Man" and "Star Wars Prequel 2", it would inevitably divert many fans;

"Jan, a lot of companies are jealous of us right now, and that's not a good thing. Mark Snent's tone became serious, and he said, "Those guys were still able to hold on before, but you know that Ice Age and District 9 are too eye-catching. I'm not saying they can stop us from making movies, but in terms of publicity and distribution, we need to maintain good relations with those big media groups, we need allies. ”

He paused, looked at Wang Yang, and seemed to say very heavily: "We have to share some benefits with them." ”

The so-called profit sharing, that is, the joint production of the film, gives them a certain distribution right, domestic, international, DVD, etc., so that they can earn a layer of distribution fees. Business is like this, when you make a lot of money, others will not pay attention to it for the time being, but when you make a lot of money in a row and break their psychological endurance, you have to return to the rules of the game, and it is impossible to take all the benefits forever.

"Let them eat!" Wang Yang sneered disdainfully, not all media are engaged in movies! He turned his pen and thought for a while, and said with a playful smile: "Is anyone interested in the films of Anne Fletcher and Sarah Schulman? How about a joint venture with them?"

The two female directors made their screen debuts at Flame Films, and the company is now ready to work with them again to make two new films. Although the producer, script, etc. have not been finalized, Anne Fletcher will definitely make dance films, Sarah Schugman will shoot youth themes, and Jessica is likely to play the starring role on or off campus.

"If you are a screenwriter and producer, of course they are interested, otherwise they are not interested, so what is the difference between it and their own investment?" Mark Slunt shrugged helplessly, seeing his tough attitude, he already knew some of the thoughts of this chairman, and said calmly: "What they want is Magic Young, what they want is you! They are also jealous of you, Mr. Magic." ”

It is difficult not to make other film companies jealous, not counting the quietly developing FM company, FF Company has released a total of "Youth Musical" trilogy (1999, 2000, 2001) since its establishment, "When Happiness Knocks on the Door", "Memory Fragments", "Juno" in 2000, "Sweetheart", "Ice Age" and "District 9" in 2002, all of which have made money.

On the list of the top ten North American box office movies in Flame's own, the first place is 253 million for "District 9", the second place is "Ice Age" with 215 million, the third place is "Juno" with 212 million, followed by the fourth 203 million "When Happiness Knocks on the Door", and the fifth 201 million "Youth Musical...... What about other companies? Let's take a look at Lionsgate, which is the same independent film company as Flames, its top movie is "Ghost Shadow" with 163 million, and then it is not worth mentioning less than 50 million movies; Dimen Company, the highest is "Scream" with 103 million in 96, "Scream 2" with 101 million in 97, "Scream 3" with 89 million in 00, and then "H20 Ghost Catcher" with 55 million in 98...... Of course, in Paramount's 600 million "Titanic", 320 million "Forrest Gump", 20th Century Fox's 430 million "Star Wars Prequel 1", Universal's 350 million "E.T.", Sony/Columbia's 403 million "Spider-Man", ...... In front of large companies, flame movies don't seem to have anything to be jealous of, everyone is just about the same level.

The problem is that everyone else is a big company, and to make a film, you have to make a joint venture, share the distribution rights, etc., while Flame is an independent film company, but every time it takes all the risks, but also makes all the money.

"Flame Movies is like a gambler who is crazy about gambling, they always have a strong confidence, they don't let others come in to invest, and they pay for it all every time. What you have to know is that a movie with a budget of 5 million usually has more than three production companies. —The Wall Street Journal.

This is the kind of topic that has been discussed many times in business newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal, because Flame Movies makes a lot of money every time, and many people are waiting to see when it will fall hard, but after a few years, it is getting better and better, and many investors and institutions are waiting to buy shares in Flame Films, but it just refuses to go public.

In the beginning, media conglomerates didn't care what a small company did, you just wanted to promote your movie and pay according to the market price, but now that the flames are soaring, they want to get more benefits.

This is also the reason why independent film companies are struggling, they lack the support of the media group's television networks, newspapers and magazines, and they have to put more effort into publicity, and their films will be ranked behind the mainstream studios produced by the media groups in terms of publicity opportunities, unless everyone has a share in the investment in that film.

Fortunately, Flame Movie has found some emerging publicity channels before, such as the Internet, the biggest weapon, and bathroom advertisements in small aspects, so that they can "do whatever they want".

Of course, even if the flames continue to have their own style, they will not fall, the distribution department already has its own complete system, and there will not be any "media groups boycott the flame movies", this will not happen, but their cold attitude is inevitable, you want to buy the Super Bowl trailer, at the bottom of the line, you want to be on the talk show, at the bottom...... If you have a long-term ally of a big media group, it seems to be a better choice to compete with other companies.

"Have you ever thought that we would do it ourselves?" Wang Yang raised his eyebrows with interest and said with a smile: "Why do you want to look at other people's faces? This is not a flame movie." Mark Slunt was stunned for a moment, and wondered: "What do you mean?" Wang Yang aimed the pencil in his hand at the pen holder on the table, and said with a smile: "Those media groups are powerful, isn't it because they have TV networks and paper media networks?"

Mark Slunt spread his hands with an "obvious" expression, and immediately reacted, and said in surprise: "Do you want to set up a media group?

"No, we can't afford a full media conglomerate right now. Wang Yang smiled and threw the pen in his hand, the pencil was thrown into the barrel and bounced out, he rolled his eyes, picked up the pen and shook it, and said with a smile: "But we can launch a paid cable TV channel first." ”

Mark Slunt couldn't help but be dumbfounded, an independent film company to launch a pay TV channel, this idea is much more exaggerated than the acquisition of Blue Sky Studios, the acquisition of graphics engine.

It's not how difficult it is to set up and manage, if you want to run a satellite channel, it's the same as stc, dish-www.xstxt.orge-www.xstxt.orge and other paid channels.

But the question is, what is the scale of this channel? If you want Flame Movies to have the ability to promote independently, it must be very large. How many customers will subscribe to this new channel?How to entice them to subscribe?How to make a profit?Does Flame Movie have enough money to survive the start-up stage before it becomes profitable?

"Our positioning is a TV and movie channel, first of all, we will launch a few good dramas to attract and stabilize the number of users, and usually broadcast some movies and music; when it is almost over, maybe this time will take a few years, more than ten years, twenty years, who knows, then we will slowly add some reality shows, variety entertainment programs and the like; the ultimate goal is to become a comprehensive TV channel. ”

Wang Yang talked about the idea, of course, it is easy to say, but the actual operation is full of difficulties. He smiled again and said, "We don't do it ourselves, we can join forces with independent companies such as Lionsgate, Dimen, and MGM, and a large group of people to do it, and their films have also benefited." ”

"Money!" Mark Slant shook his head and said coldly, "How much money are those companies willing to take? What about us?" After a pause, he shrugged his shoulders and smiled: "My boss, I must remind you that 95% of that money is yours, and this is another extremely risky investment." ”

"Well, I don't care. Wang Yang's face was full of casualness. When Flame Movie finishes its accounts next year, it should be able to get 1 billion out, which is enough to create a small channel. But if all this money is used to develop TV channels, then how will the flame movies, which are still in their infancy, develop? Won't they make new movies? And how long can 1 billion yuan last? Can the channel quickly make a profit? These are the main questions.

He thought for a while, almost had an idea in his heart, and said with a smile: "But we do have a little little cash now, in another four or five years, let's do a good job of the flame first, and when everything is on track, we can steadily occupy 10% of the total box office every year." He smiled and turned the pencil in his hand and said, "When the time comes, our cash will be almost gone, and if we go public to raise funds, how can we get 3 billion out?"

"3 billion? wow!" Mark couldn't help laughing, and analyzed: "Even if the listing is 500 million, this is already a high estimate; the remaining 2.5 billion, we need a net profit of 500 million every year, and that's almost all your money; and then such a big decision, those shareholders will be noisy after the listing." ”

"Mark, what do you know? Then I'll do it myself and leave 500 million liquid assets for the company to go public. Wang Yang leaned back comfortably on the back of the chair, put his hands around his chest, and pouted: "I take 2 billion out to play a big one, who cares?" Mark Slunt was full of emotion "You are amazing!", and said with a smile: "I have to say that 2 billion is enough for you to play for a long time." ”

"It's not like I'm playing alone, independent companies like MGM and Lionsgate will be interested. Wang Yang thought about it, and suddenly thought of something, his eyes lit up, and he said: "Oh yes, the Internet! It makes the traditional media lose its dominance! Those websites that can provide an audience, we can gradually acquire some potential websites, such as the women's website ivillage, Jessica likes it very much." ”

He rolled his eyes, thought about it and muttered: "There will definitely be online paid videos in the future, and movies and TV can be seen on the website." And Yang Zhiyuan and I are good friends, and we can cooperate with Yahoo to build a video website. He raised his fist with great interest and said with a smile: "Haha, who cares about those media groups when the time comes?

Of course, Yang Zhiyuan and him are not good friends, at most they are just "friends for a long time".

"My boss, it costs money to buy a website, and it costs money to run a TV channel...... Mark Slent's head shook as if he had been drugged, and said: "3 billion? Oh! Annual net profit of 500 million, oh! You are really a gambler, oh!"

"Let's take a look at the company's development in the past five years, we will first achieve the goal of becoming an independent film leader. Wang Yang smiled, sat up and pointed at him, and said: "But Mark, the website has to be bought first, because if the time is missed, there will be no more, just ivillage, we will get it within 150 million this year, but I don't know if I want to sell it." He remembered something, and couldn't help but shake his head and laugh: "Like a blogger, do you know that Google wanted to hit it a while ago?"

Mark Slunt shrugged his shoulders, and Wang Yang smiled: "Because it's just a preliminary contact, they came up with 200 million to buy, but sorry Page, we can cooperate, but we don't sell, it's not that we haven't seen Washington and Franklin's gang." ”

Both he and Evan Williams are confident in the future of blogging, with the number of users growing every month, the company's R&D team is full of energy, and bloggers are getting better and better, and the service is getting richer and richer.

"So what now? Suddenly want to buy ivillage, do you still want to cooperate with someone else?" Mark Slunt said with a serious face, "Young, I really suggest that "Mit-21-Team" can find another film company. Because the actor is Chinese, you are not talking about kung fu, a new screen image, and there will be many difficulties in publicity without the support of media groups. ”

Now all studios want to find "Mr. Fantastic" to make a movie, Paul Emory's film contract invites a bunch of heaps, Paramount continues that plan, the maximum production cost is 150 million, the flame movie can be invested 20%, and whatever you want to shoot; Warner Bros. is also very enthusiastic, they hope that Mr. Fantastic will activate a superhero on the big screen, "Superman", "Batman" and so on; Universal is also full of enthusiasm, they even have a "whimsical" idea, inviting Steven Spielberg to produce, Directed by Wonder Young, one old and one young, he made a sci-fi blockbuster...... Everyone is also paying attention to the mysterious work in which Natalie Portman is said to play the heroine, and the strongest director and heroine of the post-80s generation have reunited, naturally every manufacturer wants to enter the game, and has enthusiastically taken the initiative to contact Flame Films to ask about the possibility of cooperation. It is precisely for this reason that this office meeting was created.

"Okay, we don't suffer anyway. Wang Yang smiled and nodded, with better publicity, a good film will have a higher box office and earn more money for the company, and the relationship between Flame and NBC Universal is also quite good. But when the flame movie is full-fledged, no one can stop it from flying freely in the sky! He looked at Mark Slant and smiled, "Come in and have fun! Who is the lucky one?"

20th Century Fox is not a good choice, because Blue Sky Studios already has some holidays;

When the curtain came down on August 23-29, "District 9", which was released in the fourth week, collected another $29.86 million in 3,650 theaters, and the total box office in North America reached 282.8 million, ranking first in the North American weekly box office for the fourth consecutive week. In overseas markets, its weekly performance was $44.61 million. The 74.47 million new box office also raised the total global box office of "District 9" to 682 million, and it is just around the corner to reach the 700 million box office club.

This week's total in North America was $126 million, with "Tianzhao" receiving 10.71 million in second place and "Extreme Agent" in third place with 10.23 million.

The time is about to come to September, the summer is gone, and the hot summer vacation schedule is also announced.

(To be continued)