The next morning, Zhang Ran arrived as promised and knocked on Luc Besson's door.

Luc Besson lives in the Presidential Suite Suite, which has a living room. After Zhang Ran entered the living room and sat down, Luc Besson asked, "Zhang, what do you drink?"

Zhang Ran said: "Coffee, no sugar!"

Luc Besson greeted him, and the beautiful female assistant quickly took the coffee and placed it in front of Zhang Ran.

Zhang Ran took a sip of coffee, took out his business plan, and put it in front of Luc Besson: "This is the script and detailed plan of the movie, please take a look at it first." After reading it, let's talk about it!"

Luc Besson nodded, picked up the script and read it. Script, script, a play. A bad script, no matter how good a director is, it is impossible to make a masterpiece. If the script sucks, then you don't have to read the plan. Luc Besson looked down at the script in his hand, only to see that the cover said "Time and Space Warrior", the name is a bit old-fashioned, but it's okay. He flipped through the script, looked at it slowly, and without seeing two pages, he was intrigued.

At the beginning of the story, the male protagonist is tracking down the "Maple Leaf City" he saw in his dream on the Internet, attracting heavily armed police officers and triggering a thrilling street chase.

As the story progresses, things get more and more exciting. A shocking conspiracy, six different worlds, and a killer who is able to travel freely through six parallel worlds.

At the end of the story, when the battle between good and evil arrives, Luc Besson watches the most imaginative battle. The hero and the killer fight from the first world to the second world, and then to the third world......

After watching "The Burst Drummer" a few days ago, Luc Besson felt that the rhythm, scheduling, and camera movement of the movie were of a very high level. Zhang Ran has the ability to direct commercial films. Now he was more convinced of his judgment and closed the script. He looked up and smiled at Zhang Ran: "This story is very cool, great!"

Zhang Ran smiled: "I'm very happy to hear you say that." That means we can move on. ”

Luc Besson laughed, said to Zhang Ran, and then began to read the plan. Zhang Ran's entire plan analyzes in detail the selling points of the script, how it works, market prospects, etc., and of course, the most important thing is how to raise money.

The budget for the entire film is 90 million, and the funding source consists of four parts. The film was sold to companies in Germany and the United Kingdom, and then leased back to solve 20 million, advertising placement solved 10 million, Zhang Ran contributed 15 million, consumption and labor cost tax rebates 15 million, and the remaining 30 million was solved through financing.

It is not difficult to settle 20 million through a leaseback agreement between a German and British company, and the first thing a big Hollywood company does after setting up a project is to find a German company.

It is difficult to solve the tax rebate of 15 million yuan for consumption and labor costs. However, judging from the data listed by Zhang Ran in Canada, New Zealand, and some states in the United States. It can still be done.

The real hard thing to solve is the problem of pre-sales!

Luc Besson put down the financing plan and said calmly: "The whole plan is very meticulous, and it is completely Hollywood's financing method." Excluding tax refunds and the 15 million you prepared yourself, you need to raise 50 million. It is relatively easy to make leaseback agreements with German and British companies, but the remaining 30 million funds need to be pre-sold to realize, which is very difficult. You also know that if you take a pre-sale contract to the bank for a loan, the bank will only lend 60% of the funds of the pre-sale contract, so you must get a pre-sale contract of 50 million to get a loan of 30 million from the bank. The pre-sale of 50 million must be achieved by a star lineup!"

Zhang Ran slapped his head. Took out a report from the bag: "We have organized people to conduct research on the script, and in the process of research, the selection of the leading actor has also been investigated. Here's the result, look at it!"

Hollywood movie marketing runs through every link. Marketing experts are often involved in the script review stage, and screenplay-based audience research is an important reference for companies to decide whether to set up a project.

After Zhang Ran got 20 million funds from IDG. Let Neil find an investigation company and start researching the script. The research company breaks down the script into short episodes and concepts, and reads them to the respondents. The places and elements that interest them the most will be located.

The selection of the protagonist is also an important part of the investigation, and through the survey of the audience, we can understand their market value. and how well they fit into the role.

Zhang Ran and they listed two candidates, Keanu Reeves and Hugh Jackman. Judging from the results of the survey, the audience is more inclined to Keanu Reeves. At the same time, the research company analyzed the data of the two actors in the past three years, and from the data, Keanu Reeves's 99 "The Matrix" was a box office hit, but after that, he took on several small-budget independent films, and these films all lost money, which means that his salary will be lowered accordingly.

Luc Besson also feels that Keanu Reeves is the best choice: "Next year, the two sequels of "The Matrix" will be released, and Keanu Reeves's popularity will be raised again. It's also a sci-fi action movie, and we can expand our reach with The Matrix. However, Keanu Reeves has a strange personality, and he always likes to pick up a bunch of non-mainstream independent movies after making big productions, and it is not easy to convince him!"

Zhang Ran nodded and said: "Keanu Reeves is an alternative among Hollywood stars, but the name Luc Besson is attractive to any actor, and he is interested in Chinese culture, I can convince him!"

Luc Besson glanced at the plan in his hand: "Your plan is very good, everything has been considered. There is one problem, though, Keanu Reeves wants at least 10 million. What should I do with the money guaranteed by the third party? You said that you want to settle 15 million yuan by yourself, how much money do you have now?"

When Hollywood agents negotiate with independent producers, they often require that the artist's salary be deposited with an insurance company that guarantees it before the actor's work begins. When the actor completes the contract, the insurance company pays the actor the money, similar to Alipay.

Of course, Zhang Ran will not ignore this problem, in fact, it is not only the third-party guarantee that needs money, but also many places need money before the project starts, such as hiring a research company to do research. This is the reason why he mortgaged his equity to IDG and borrowed 20 million. If there is no money. Zhang Ran is the commander of the light pole, and the project cannot be started at all: "I have 20 million US dollars in my hand. It's not too much of a problem to start this project!"

Luc Besson was taken aback, thinking that Zhang Ran was very sleepy to find 15 million. I didn't expect people to talk about it with 20 million funds!

With this money, you can directly talk to the actors about cooperation, and you don't have to take a year or two to finance like other movies, which saves a lot of work.

Luc Besson said: "Why didn't the heroine conduct research? There is Keanu Reeves, and it is a sci-fi action movie, so there is no big problem with pre-sales." But the larger the cast and the more stars, the more beneficial it is for us in the pre-sale process and the higher the price will be. The heroine is best also found in Hollywood. He groaned for a moment, the heroine in the script is Chinese. You must find a Chinese actor, the most famous Chinese actor in Hollywood is Lucy Liu, suggested: "Lucy Liu is very skilled, you can consider it."

Zhang Ran shook his head and said: "Lucy Liu's appearance is too Westernized, not a typical Dongfeng aesthetic, I hope it is more Chinese, and more importantly, Lucy Liu is an American, and the laws of our country have regulations on co-productions." The main actors can't all be foreigners. If you use Lucy Liu, you can't get the identity of a co-production, and if you can't get the identity of a co-production, it is a foreign film. The share of foreign films is only 13%, which is very low!"

Film policies vary from country to country. Luc Besson didn't think it was strange, and said with a smile: "Then what do you think about it, you plan to use your own girlfriend? You should learn from me." It's not about having your girlfriend as the protagonist, but about turning the heroine into your own girlfriend. ”

It's the truth. Luc Besson's first wife was the protagonist of "Nikita", and his second wife was the heroine of "The Fifth Element". In fact, many French directors are like this. They will always fall in love with the heroine of their own movie. In China this is moral turpitude, in France it is romantic.

Zhang Ran laughed and said, "I'm not as romantic as you French." I have plans to make her the heroine, but I am a little hesitant, using her words is not good for pre-sale!"

Luc Besson said: "Yes, using an actor who is not famous as a heroine is not good for pre-sales. Now that you've realized that, you should consider someone else, right?"

Zhang Ran nodded: "Zhang Ziyi, if you can't use Jing Chu, I plan to use Zhang Ziyi!"

Luc Besson also thinks Zhang Ziyi is good, after "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" became popular, he starred in "Rush Hour 2", and became famous abroad: "Zhang Ziyi is very good, what do you think of the villain?"

Zhang Ran said: "Adrian Brody is the starring role of "The Pianist" for two reasons, first, he is cheap, and his image and temperament are close to the character; second, although he is very famous now, within two or three months, his fame will grow explosively!"

Luc Besson was stunned: "Why?"

Zhang Ran explained: "Starting from the Gotham Film Festival at the end of the month, the awards in the United States are coming. "The Pianist" is the favorite for this year's Oscars, and Brody is the strongest contender for the best actor, and he will get a very high exposure in these months, and I am optimistic that he will win the Oscar. There are new Oscar-winning actors in the cast, what do you think will be the effect?"

Luc Besson's eyes lit up, if Brody could really win the Oscar, then signing him early would definitely be a good deal. He's seen The Pianist, and Brody did give an outstanding performance. This performance may not win an Oscar, but the nomination should be fine: "A wonderful candidate, as long as he can get the nomination, it will also be the highlight of the pre-sale!"

Zhang Ran looked at Luc Besson and asked, "Now, do you still have any questions?"

Luc Besson clasped his hands together and said with a smile: "No problem with the actors, no problem with the script, no problem with the director, this is an excellent project." I'm willing to be a producer! Now that I have the start-up capital, let's talk about the actors as soon as possible, and I can go to Berlin in February for pre-sales!"

Although Luc Besson agreed to be the producer, if the price offered was too low, the matter would have to be lost.

Zhang Ran said: "You know that our movie has a tight budget, so I can't pay you directly." I think about it this way, there are two options, first, you get the French rights, including box office, DVD, and movie rights, and second, you get a 15% share of the profits when the film is released. I don't know which one you think is more suitable?"

Luc Besson groaned for a moment and said, "I want a 15% profit share!"

Zhang Ran took out a production contract from his bag and put it in front of Luc Besson, and said, "It's settled, this is a production contract." You take a look first, if there is no objection, we will sign the contract!"

Luc Besson picked up the contract and looked slowly. A standard Hollywood production contract with very clear terms. He quickly read it: "There are no problems with the contract!"

After the contract was signed, both of them relaxed, and they talked and laughed.

The $9000 project has really kicked off! )