On Friday, January 27, the annual Sundance Film Festival is being held in conjunction with Park City, Salt Hu, Ogden and Sundance Resorts in Utah.

With 120 films screened over the 10 days from the 19th to the 29th, it's a festival of independent films, and distributors large and small have already gathered at Sundance to find the next "Blair the Witch," "April Pieces," "Super Size Me," "Napoleon," and ......

These indie films are impossible to produce on the Hollywood assembly line, full of surprises, treasures, and nothing, and it depends on people's eyes.

Last night, the organizer suddenly received an exciting news that Ye Wei had arrived in Park City!

Anyone can come to visit and watch the movie, but VIY is already a banner of independent cinema, and his presence really adds to the light of this year's festival.

"I'm just here to see the movies. Ye Wei told Jeff Gilmour, the chairman of the festival, that he had no intention of attending the event and being interviewed by the media, "If there is a suitable opportunity, I will also buy the film." ”

The film deal wasn't what Robert Redford founded the Sundance Film Festival in the first place, but it seems that everything is going to be commercialized, and in recent years it has become a major film marketplace and a stage for emerging talent.

The films that attract the most attention every year are naturally the opening film, the closing film, and about 16 feature films each shortlisted for the Jury Prize Unit and the World Film Unit.

This year's opening film is "Old Friends Are Rich" with Jennifer Aniston and Catherine Keener, and the closing film is "The Leading Dog" with Ben Foster, Bruce Willis, Justin Dimberlake, and many more. The latter lineup is particularly strong, and it has been fiercely chased by a number of filmmakers before it has even been screened.

And films like "Adult Style" and "Shirley Baby" are also popular, but they are not "Half Nielsen".

"I dare say, your movie is the best Sundance movie of the year! If not, it would be terrible, what have I watched for so many years?"

In the morning, the Park City Redstone Theater had just finished another screening of "Half Nielsen", and the small exhibition hall was not full, less than 20 people sat in the front rows, and the first row was the film's creators and a young god.

"Thank you! That's a lot for us. Ryan Flake, a 29-year-old white director, was thanking him repeatedly, his somewhat scumbag-faced face full of joy, I don't know if it was excited or natural, and his big nose was red, as if he had drunk a lot of wine.

His wife, Anna Burton, was also smiling happily, and her black-rimmed glasses were about to fall off.

And the producer James Patrickoff, two publicists Linda Doff and Chris Libby, sitting on the other side, were all pleasantly surprised.

"Half Nielsen" has already begun to be screened on the 23rd, which is the highest rating it has received so far, and this year's best! It really flattered them who are all at the bottom of the industry, and with the praise of genius VIY, the film's distribution will be easier.

He was sitting in the middle, wearing a black hooded long-sleeved sweatshirt and blue jeans, wearing a pair of black gloves on both hands, clapping and applauding with emotion: "It's incredible! 700,000 production fees, 23 days of filming, great!"

Everyone is happy, but in fact, it is far from being as good as "Exorcism Video", and it is not as good as the remake of "The Wedding is Coming".

"We need to talk!" Ye Wei seemed to have decided something, looking left and right, "I want to buy this movie." ”

Everyone was stunned.

......

"Half Nielsen" is a typical independent film, and its production process is textbook-like.

Back in 2004, Ryan Flake, a NYU graduate, wrote the script for "Half a Nielsen" with a budget of $1 million with his classmate and wife, Anna Burton, whom he had started dating and working with in college.

In search of financing to start the project, the two made a short film version of "Gowanus, Brooklyn".

The short won the 2004 Sundance Award for Short Film and caught the attention of lawyer Erin McPherson, who recommended it to Rozan Kornberg, a producer at "Traction Media," who was later joined by Craig Kestair of "William Morris Independent Films."

The two began to actively raise funds and soon met James Patrickoff together, and he and his partner Alex Orlovsky agreed to join. Then there is a series of financing, and the production team is getting bigger and bigger, but it has not been decided, what is the difference?

A star.

They targeted Ryan Gosling, the 24-year-old Canadian actor who had just become popular because of "The Notebook", and his new film was a 50 million budget like "Stay", partnering with Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts's big project, a micro project with a budget of 700,000?

Join. Ryan Gosling was struck by the script.

Dan Dunn, a young white teacher who teaches at a dilapidated public high school in Brooklyn, New York, tries his best to educate mostly black students by day, but at night he struggles with disappointment with reality, the emptiness of not being able to change the status quo, and he uses drugs to escape his confusion.

One time he was taking drugs and was discovered by one of his black female students, Deli, and the two of them were in trouble, so they started a friendship and their lives changed.

This is a story about teachers and students, race, society, ideals and reality, life and love, etc., and it is also a story about a person's human nature is opposed and life is contradictory. Stories are not the same, but everyone will have a "half Nielsen" time.

There is no character named Nelson in the film, and the title originally originated from a song by Miles Davis, which originally meant to be a wrestling term.

Ryan Flake put it this way: "It's a stalemate in wrestling, you're controlled by your opponent, but you have a chance to escape, even though it takes skill. It's just a metaphor about struggles, such as drug addiction or different socio-political, class struggles, and so on. Every character in the film struggles. ”

Anna Burton, on the other hand, said: "We knew we were going to make a very subtle and thought-provoking film, and we didn't want to be too straightforward, so we felt that the title fit the style of the film." ”

Lost in change, struggling in pain, you may be thrown to the ground, or you may escape and regain your life, this is yourself and your own wrestling.

"Half Nielsen" is the kind of film that can't be made in a hundred years according to Hollywood's commercial rules, an independent film.

Sometimes it's commercial, and sometimes it's just an independent literary film. Ryan Gosling's arrival allowed the project to be financed smoothly, and three months later, filming began and was completed 23 days later, one day earlier than planned, and the $700,000 budget was not spent at all.

It was already last year, and then the team moved on to the Sundance Film Festival, where the team held a screening for Jeff Gilmour and others last October, and they all gave it good reviews, and Half Nielsen was selected for Sundance 2006.

When the festival came, Patrickoff hired a PR team, and Dove and Libby worked on the film for a month at a cost of 1 to 1 to 1. $50,000.

On the fifth day of screening, the film was well received, but not many distributors were interested because it was difficult to make money.

The veteran producers, Lina Rosen, wanted to buy it, but the price offered was much lower than the film's budget, so they were turned down.

Miramax and Thinker Pictures were the most serious, the former wanted to buy out, but the price was not high, and the latter's plan was a low upfront payment, but there was a gross profit share, and there was no publicity commitment, but there was a promise of a theater distribution in at least 15 cities.

Patrickoff and others tend to choose ThinkPictures, because Miramax, although a big distributor, lacks sincerity in comparison, and the price is only enough for them to recoup their costs. How can you trust a film to a filmmaker with such an attitude?

At this time, Ye Wei suddenly arrived in Park City, and after watching the movie, he was full of praise, and seemed to be deeply touched, and he wanted to buy this movie.

......

"Isn't this a price increase?"

People who think about the film industry are very helpless, talking about Ye Wei, in addition to sighing or sighing, "Exorcism Video" once asked them to release it!

Now he likes this "Half Nielsen", but VIY suddenly kills, what does he want to do?

The first conclusion of their discussion was that Ye Wei was helping to raise the price, and suddenly came to Park City, suddenly praised it, and suddenly threatened to buy it, what did he do when he bought it? He didn't have a distribution company, he was definitely not self-operated, how much could he make if he was a second-class dealer?

He spent this time, it is better to make a B-grade film and sell it himself.

So the most likely thing is who is a friend of Ye Wei and HN, who came to raise the price, but they made the wrong idea.

"Half Nielsen" obviously won't have much box office, such a depressing, heavy, and thought-provoking literary film is destined to be niche. Thinking Pictures is not willing to spend money to buy it out, but chooses to share with the producer, because it is starring Ryan Gosling, just to try.

The company makes more than 20 such attempts a year.

When the cost of this attempt is too high, it is not necessary.

Ye Wei wants to buy it, let him buy it.

......

"Guys, let me tell me my plan, after I buy it, I will use my connections to get a decent distribution of it, there is no reason why such a good movie does not even have 10,000 thousand publicity dollars. It can do more than Si Si Pictures thinks!

I don't know exactly what publisher it is, IFC, Lionsgate, or whatever. But I can promise you that the maximum screening scale will be at least 100 theaters, just this year. If no one is interested, I will finance and pay for this distribution myself, artistic, commercial, it is absolutely deserving.

Maybe I'm a little 'half Nielsen' now, but I really appreciate your films and really want to be a part of them, so you can leave it to me.

Time is precious, so you can give me an offer that everyone is happy with, how much?"

At a Starbucks near the Redstone Theater, Ye Weizheng was drinking coffee with Patrickoff and Fleck, talking about business.

Listening to VIY's sincere words, the mood of the three Patrikovs became more and more excited, although Ye Wei was young, he was known for being bold, righteous, and trustworthy, and he was also a promise, and they could trust him even more. Besides, he wants to buy out the transaction, and he spent a lot of money, so he will never put it in the warehouse, right?

For a miniature niche literary film with an uncertain future, a fairly priced buyout is better than a gross profit share. Just talk about the key collection time, issuance, dividends, and arrival, even if there is no situation where the issuer has deducted or delayed the account for several years, even if it can recover the capital and even make money, it will only be seen in 2007.

And the spot transaction, it can be done this month, they also have the money to start the next project, and they don't have to worry about whether the box office of HN will not even be a million, so what money can be shared?

The key is that the price is fair, it is impossible to be lower than the budget, and many investors are staring at it; the most important thing is the distribution, they want this film to shine, and they also want the status of the industry to be improved, and there can be the next movie, the next movie, which is more important than a small profit.

The HN team already had a target price, and Patrickoff looked at Ye Wei across the coffee table and asked in a sincere tone, "1.5 million?"

At first they wanted to sell 2 million, and today, 1.2 million to 1.5 million is an acceptable range. Naturally, his own offer should start from a high report, but he was afraid of annoying VIY, thinking that when he was wronged, Patrikov still didn't shout 2 million, after all, the other party was so sincere.

"OK! 1.5 million. Ye Wei nodded.

The three of them were stunned...... Really, no bargaining, that's it?

"Really?" Patrikov had to ask so stupidly. It's the first time he's done this, and it's the second film he's ever made, and the first "PointShoot" was a lower-cost micro-film for the disc market.

"1.5 million, you are happy, and I am happy. Ye Wei said with a smile, his right hand, which was still wearing black gloves, raised the coffee cup and took a sip, "Personally, it is priceless, from a business point of view, 1.5 million probably needs a box office of 7 million, I can only return to the cost, no problem, I can bear this risk, and there are also DVDs and a lot of copyright fees, isn't it." ”

"I think we can accept this plan!" said Anna Burton, who is also a producer, for fear that Patrickoff would be greedy and evil.

1.5 million can not only have considerable profits, more than double the net profit before tax!

VIY's words are actually clear, you and the distributor share 50% of each other's gross profit, and the distributor and the theater chain also share 50% of each other's gross profit, and you have to collect 7 million box office to have this figure. In fact, it is impossible, because the three-party sharing ratio will not be like that, and you have to deduct the cost of distribution and publicity, and it may take 10 million box office for you to earn 800,000, don't be embarrassed.

With the release promise of at least 100 theaters, Flake simply wanted to give this feature film debut to Ye Wei for nothing, but he couldn't call the shots.

His face flushed, he looked at Patrickoff and said, "James, we're in luck!"

Patricko, who was also blushing, knew how much advantage he had, the Lina-Rosen couple's bid was 500,000, they were not joking or stupid, it was HN's commercial value estimate, and a good movie did not necessarily have high commercial value.

But VIY promised 1.5 million in one bite. Damn it...... If he had shouted 1.8 million just now, would he have nodded and said OK? But now that he has reported 1.5 million, it would be too offensive if he raised it further, who knows if he will anger this reckless genius boy?

Patrikov didn't dare to try, and said with mixed feelings: "VIY, thank you! Your plan is our first choice." ”

"Cool, your team has thought about it and notified me, I can sign a contract at any time. Ye Wei said for a moment, and suddenly laughed: "Just kidding! Not at any time, my lawyer is in Los Angeles, and so are my parents, and I can only sign when I go back to Los Angeles." ”

He smiled and looked at the three people who were shocked into a cold sweat, "Don't worry! I'm serious, and I won't negotiate again, 1.5 million, it's okay, if it doesn't work, it's not okay." ”

The three of them didn't know how to react except for giggling.

......

The two public relations were working, and at noon on this day, the news that Ye Wei was going to buy "Half Nielsen" spread to Sundance, with a buyout price of more than 1.5 million!

Of course, the new situation should be publicized to give people confidence and attract more buyers to compete. Things haven't been decided yet, business is business, if someone bids 1.8 million or 2 million to buy this movie, then it's a different story, VIY is good, but the richer the return, the better.

The news is spreading, and it is not yet known how the publishers will react.