North American Chinese Normal Film Distribution Co., Ltd.

Su Ming had never heard of the name of this film company before, and compared with the eight major film companies in North America, this Huashi Film Company had no reputation at all.

After checking on the Internet, Su Ming found that this company was still a little expected.

In terms of scale and investment, China Normal Company is not only not comparable to the eight major film companies in North America, but also far inferior to ordinary domestic film companies.

However, the main business of this Chinese company is not to make films, it is currently the only company specializing in the distribution of Chinese films in overseas markets, especially in the North American market, and has a certain reputation.

Su Ming probably counted that in the past five years, about 30% of Chinese films have been released and distributed in North America through this company's channels.

"Yes, our company plays the role of a middleman, selling Chinese films to the North American market. You can think of it as a film agency that offers a full range of overseas distribution services, but of course, the intermediary fees are high. ”

The one sent to negotiate was a middle-aged man named Cai Liming, who worked as an assistant to the department manager of the company.

"It's not going to be a question of cost yet." Su Ming smiled: "Mr. Cai, I'm very strange, why did Huashi find me?" To tell you the truth, we have talked to several companies, and they are not optimistic about the overseas distribution of Animal City. ”

"To be honest, we are not optimistic about it." Cai Liming cupped his eyes and said frankly: "Or to put it this way, there is no difference between optimistic and unoptimistic about the prospects of Chinese films in the North American market, because the results are the same." ”

"Doomed to hit the streets?" Su Ming smiled.

"I don't dare to say 100%, but the box office is poor, which is a high probability event. Last year, we released a total of 25 Chinese-language films in North America, and these Chinese-language films together accounted for 85% of the mainland box office, but in the North American market, there were only $2 million in total. Cai Liming said.

"Then your company ......" Su Ming didn't finish speaking, and he understood that he wanted to be crooked.

He wanted to ask, why do you have to do it when your income is so small? But after thinking about it, from the standpoint of China Normal University, they are engaged in intermediary work, and they have to do it when they earn more and earn less. Just like a real estate boss with a scale of hundreds of billions, he will not ask the commissary owner with hundreds of thousands of income, why do you still have to do it when you earn so little? That's what people do.

Probably understanding what Su Ming meant, Cai Liming smiled: "Any movie with a domestic box office of more than 100 million, or a film directed by a big director, according to convention, we will negotiate overseas distribution cooperation, and we are in this business." Zootopia is just that. ”

When Su Ming heard this, he felt a little lost in his heart. At first, I thought it was someone who came here, but listening to Cai Liming's meaning, it was completely routine.

"How influential can your company's overseas cinemas be?" Su Ming asked.

"You can rest assured that we have connections to many of our theaters in North America, and the specific theater chains can be specified in the contract. However, it must be noted in advance that the film may only be screened in one or two cities initially, and if it is a box office success, it will be released in other major cities in a short period of time, otherwise, there will be no chance. This is also the practice of Chinese films to be distributed in North America. In addition, we not only do theatrical distribution, but also DVD and online on-demand, of course, if the theatrical performance is not good, these two will not have much income. Cai Liming said.

Hearing him say this, Su Ming was innocent all of a sudden, so many blockbusters with amazing domestic box office were outrageously poor at the North American box office of only tens of thousands of US dollars, which had something to do with the model. Domestic blockbusters, whether they are good or not, are released in major theaters across the country for at least a week, so many movie theaters, so many shows, even if the audience only watches it once and shouts that they are fooled, the accumulated box office is also amazing.

Released in several cinemas in a city in North America, the scale is smaller than that of domestic screenings, once the word-of-mouth box office fails, the life cycle of the film will come to an abrupt end, and there is no chance to cheat money.

"Yes, the North American market is even more brutal, especially for Chinese films that have always been unfavorable, there is almost no element of luck." Cai Liming nodded and said.

Although he didn't have a good word, this Cai Liming gave Su Ming a much better feeling than the previous Pantara.

Pantra talks business with people, which makes people feel that he is in a hurry to sell you a certain 'commodity', even if he is sincere and does not deceive, but he always feels uneasy, and after chatting with Cai Liming for a while, it is more like two people discussing how to do a good job from an objective point of view.

Su Ming looked at the time, there was nothing important today, and he was not in a hurry, so he refilled the water for Cai Liming, and said, "According to your experience, why can't we have a blockbuster here in North America?" ”

"Thank you." Cai Liming put his hand on the side of the teacup, nodded and thanked him, then thought about it and said: "The North American market is more strict with Chinese films, which is one reason, or the main reason on the surface. But in essence, I personally think, there are two reasons. ”

Su Ming nodded, looked at him and motioned for him to continue.

"First, it's nothing more than the problem of three views, this is a topic that is said to be bad, the cultural conflict between the East and the West this objectively exists, Europe and the United States pursue universal values, and many people think that the values of the East are too outdated and not accepted by Westerners. In fact, I don't agree with this, the West is very respectful of the traditional Eastern culture, especially the culture of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, but the vast majority of our movies do not capture the essence of it, but it is very puzzling. For example, some time ago, ......"

Speaking of this, Cai Liming closed his mouth, smiled, and raised his glass to drink tea. They are all peers, and he is not good at saying bad things about anyone behind his back, but Su Ming has already heard it, and Cai Liming is referring to the 'Taoist priest going down the mountain'.

Su Ming asked tentatively: "So films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Heroes, in fact, in our opinion, the thoughts are not profound, but it is better for him to make what he wants to express clear." ”

"Yes." Cai Liming nodded and smiled: "Pretending to be esoteric is not fun in foreigners, and the idea must be shown through a reasonable storyline that people can understand, rather than using a lot of inexplicable and flawed plots to prove the director's deep thinking, in my opinion, if a film is not understood by normal adults, it can only be said that the director's level is poor." ”

"I agree. And what about the second reason? ”

"The consumer groups are different, the main audience in North America who enters the cinema is the middle class with a certain economic strength, and in China, the middle class is reluctant to spend money and has no time for leisure, and the main force of the cinema is young people, which leads to the difference in movie viewing taste."

Cai Liming quietly pulled the topic back, "From this point of view, maybe, I mean maybe, Zootopia may have a certain box office in North America." ”

"Okay, Mr. Cai, let's talk about the issue." (To be continued.) )