"That's right, universal behavior," Vladimir seemed to have not chatted so pleasantly for a long time, and immediately spoke with great interest, "Who framed Roger Rabbit", with a cost of about 70 million, a global box office of more than 300 million, and a loss on the books; "Rain Man", a cost of about 25 million, 3. The global box office of more than 500 million is losing money on the books; "Forrest Gump", a cost of about 55 million, 6. More than 500 million global box office, with a loss of ...... on the books"

"Wait, wait!" The more he listened, the more wrong Sean became, hurriedly interrupted, "You said that these classic productions are all written on the books with losses? How is this possible! Otherwise Paramount, and Tom? Hanks: How do they profit from this?! ”

"Of course they make a profit," Vladimir said unhurriedly, "and you should know that the profits are divided before the accounts are made." ”

“…… Yes, I roughly know," Sean took a deep breath, "but...... What about Wall Street investors? ”

"Of course it's a loss, the ledger is there, they can check it." Vladimir laughed, "Every expense is clear, although the box office and cost are so different, the production company is indeed losing money." Making movies is inherently gambling, and no one can guarantee that a movie will be a 100% hit, so since you are involved, you must abide by the rules of the game and be willing to gamble. ”

"Hell." Sean couldn't help but cover his forehead, he never thought that the Hollywood-style ledger could be used not only for ordinary actors, but also for Wall Street, film companies...... Especially the big studios are too greedy.

"Of course, it's not that there are no investors who don't make money at all, but that's not much, and the cake is not big." Vladimir raised his hands at this time, "On Wall Street, they have the final say, and in Hollywood, we have the final say." ”

Then, he changed to a seductive tone: "That's the Hollywood rule, Sean, we're used to making movies with other people's money." ”

"So you hired a financial director with an annual salary of 200,000, right?" Sean, who adjusted Haode's mood, asked.

"That's right, an accountant who is good at keeping accounts is a good accountant," Vladimir shrugged, "I've worked at Bowei for so many years, and I've seen and known more than you think. ”

"It seems that I am very lucky to have you as the general manager." Sean said in a half-joking tone.

"So, why don't you try, Sean, find your relationship with the bank, set up a production company, and then use it as collateral to take out a loan? Of course, you can also get investment, but the first one doesn't need to worry about the box office. Vladimir smiled meaningfully again.

Sean, who was thinking down, didn't notice it, and only raised his head after a while: "If the production company invests alone, there shouldn't be the situation we just restarted, right?" ”

"Hmm...... Of course," Vladimir was stunned, "for an independent film like this, if the production company invests its own money, the ledger is made by itself, and no matter how it is arranged, the profit is its own, isn't it?" ”

"So be it," Sean said, "take the script, and make a budget, and then calculate the actual cost of the various reductions based on this budget, and tell me the number, and I'll come up with it." ”

"Do you out on your own?" Vladimir was even more surprised, "You're not kidding, Sean, you have to know ......"

"I'm serious, Todd," Sean smiled slightly, and then stood up, "I've learned a lot from communicating with you, and it's clear that those investment methods and financing methods are not appropriate, and if we co-produce with other small companies, if we can't get the right to do the accounts, then we are likely to be excluded from the core of the cake." As for financing, the pre-sale of the issuance rights can be considered, but I don't have that many connections, and now I am only attached to Miramax; The conditions of the mortgage with the delivery contract were too harsh, and I didn't want to spend a lot of time and energy and be taken away by the big studios; As for the loans, and the way you say passing them on to the bank, it's tempting, but there's no doubt that it's a game that only the big studios can afford, and for my small production company now, the first thing to do now is to make the first film and then get it out. ”

Vladimir looked at him with some surprise: "You really plan to pay this money yourself?" Isn't there any other way to think about it? Even if it's ......"

"I know what you're trying to say, Todd," Sean smiled meaningfully this time, "but, I'm very optimistic about this movie, very much." ”

He said as he walked out: "That's it, give me news as soon as possible." ”

After Sean left, Vladimir came back to his senses, and the surprised expression still did not subside.

"Funny fellow......" he said, tapping his fingers on the table.

In the past, there was a mortgage financing from banks, and then they deliberately created a high deficit and passed on the losses, so as to rely on the loans...... Well, it should be a clever way to transfer the payment of loans. In short, those words were a big test of Sean, if you really use loan financing to make a movie, it is a very complicated operation process, not to say that you can get a loan by setting up a company.

As I said at the beginning, as Todd, who has spent time in the production department of United Arts and has worked in the distribution department of Bowei Pictures for many years, he should have been able to compete for the position of supervisor? The reason why Vladimir came to such a newly established small production company as general manager was because he found Sean interesting.

At the same time, as Sean thought, he didn't plan to do it for too long. With Vladimir's qualifications, although he was forced to resign because of a power struggle, even if he can't go to a big studio, the film company of the new line will definitely rush to ask for it.

It's just that the arrogant Vladimir has nothing to do with Hollywood, and he took a break for more than a year before re-entering the mountain, and it is inevitable that he wants to show himself first and tell everyone that he is still very good.

So, what better means of publicity than making a great film for a small start-up company? Of course, there are risks, success is of course "Vladimir proves himself again", failure will become "Vladimir will collapse after leaving Beauway".

For Vladimir, he will either make a bang again or leave Hollywood completely, and Sean looks very ambitious and ambitious, and other actors don't want to equip their shell company with basic departments.

But when I started talking about the first movie today, the other party seemed quite naïve in some ways, such as knowing the meaning of the Hollywood-style ledger while harboring unrealistic ideas. So he deliberately said the means of loan financing in a way that exaggerated the results but lightly described the previous operation, and wanted to try Sean to see how he would choose.

The result was very surprising to him, he originally thought that even if Sean would refuse, he would choose to co-invest with other companies, but he didn't expect him to be his own sole proprietorship. This is too strange, not to say that there are no wholly-owned films, many low-budget independent films are wholly-owned, but this is a very large risk for the investor, and if there is a loss, he has to bear it completely; Second, it also has a certain impact on the prospects of the film.

The production of a film is only one link, and distribution is another, and the film industry in North America produces many films every year, but not every single one of them can be released in theaters, which requires strong distributors. Often, if a film is financed by several companies, it not only shares the risk, but also expands the network and connects with good distributors.

Similarly, inviting big names to play roles in movies can easily win the favor of distributors, and movies with stars are always more likely to generate profits than movies without stars. Independent films are not like big studios, where they can sell their distribution rights before they start production, so they don't have to worry about attracting distributors, so in order to be released smoothly, they try their best to invite big names to star, and big actors are also happy to participate in the performances with low salaries, showing their acting skills on the one hand, and earning word of mouth on the other.

And the current script, because the screenwriter requires that she must play the heroine herself, it is estimated that there is no room for the star to play, and now it is a sole proprietorship, even if it is produced, the distribution is a problem.

"Could it be that he's going to have Miramax release it?" Vladimir thought so, but then shook his head, according to the information he received, Sean and Miramax were not that close.

"That's ...... Want to tap into my connections? He thought about it again, and nodded.

After all, Vladimir was the deputy head of distribution at Bowei Pictures, and he must know a lot of people in this regard, and if Sean pins his hopes on him, it will not be a channel.

"Is it any wonder that when I mention financing through pre-sale of issuance rights, I don't mention using my connections to go to the publisher to pre-sell, is it trying to make me play a role at a critical time?" Leaning back in the high-backed chair, Vladimir said this, and then laughed, "Very discerning, even if I go around to solicit favors now, there is no guarantee that the distribution rights will be sold first, it is better to use this favor in the key links." ”

Sean's appearance resurfaced in his mind, accompanied by the sentence "I'm very optimistic about this movie", quite confident, and he had only been in contact with the script for a few hours.

"Funny guy......" Vladimir said again, smiling.

Does this script, called My Grand Greek Wedding, have any prospects? Of course there is, he said before that there will always be a market for aiqing comedy, the key is whether it can produce new ideas, and this script just shows a completely different style from American weddings, even if it won't be a big hit, but the probability of losing money should still be very small.

Even so, even if Vladimir decides to use this to win a game, he will not be as categorical and confident as Sean said, is it really interesting, he has so much confidence?