"Good afternoon, Fox Searchlight? I'm an independent producer, Yunik Gu, who recently made a film called "The Exorcism" and was looking for a distributor for a thriller, pseudo-documentary remake of an old film for $500,000. Yes, it's the Blair the Witch way, but it's a lot different...... OK, well, goodbye. ”

Santa Monica, the office of the headquarters of the Weiduo Image and Dream Chaser Alliance, Ye Wei was making a phone call with his new work mobile phone, and before he finished "goodbye", the operator of the distribution department over there hung up, and his attitude changed from hearing the "pseudo-documentary", and the tone of his smile was almost the same as Price's.

I have contacted ifc before, even if "The Wedding is Coming" is ifc's highest-grossing film this year, with a North American box office of 38.56 million, much higher than the 4.59 million of the second place "Ultimate Adventure" and the 1.22 million of the third place "Metal Band: Some Kind of Monster", after half a year of overseas distribution, there are now 23.92 million overseas box office, and the total box office has reached 62.48 million.

Even so, IFC is not interested in it, and without viy, it can be released in theaters...... Try two or three theaters, but the publicity fee is zero.

This is likely to lose money, ifc's worst release this year's "Deep Forest Desire" received a total of $8,106 at the box office in the largest 4 theaters in 3 weeks, 10,000 is not enough, and the money for four copies cannot be earned.

Ye Wei doesn't think that "Exorcism Video" can only get this kind of treatment, ifc and DreamWorks will regret it, and there are hundreds of distributors waiting to see the treasure, although there are powerful ones.

"Hello, Universal, I'm an independent producer, Yunik Gu, and I have a thriller film film "Exorcism Video" in my hand to find a ...... for distribution."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Gu, I went to ask our manager, and our company is not interested in buying pseudo-documentaries now. We recommend that you participate in some film festivals first, and if the film can win any awards, you can contact us again. ”

"Good afternoon, Warner Bros. Hello, my name is Yonick Gu, I'm an independent producer, and I've recently made a film ......."

When he put down his phone after getting a "no", Ye Wei smiled, a giant is a giant, and he didn't say a few words.

If in the 70s and 80s, you shouted in Hollywood, "I have a movie to sell", everyone would be very interested, because at that time, it was still more expensive and difficult to make movies, and it was said that movies must have been made on 35mm film, and now you can make a mini DV, and there are so many digital formats, making movies is no longer a high threshold, and you can see the rapid increase in the number of films registered at the Sundance Film Festival every year, so it is difficult to get attention to shouting "I have a movie to sell" now, especially a small-budget pseudo-documentary.

Even if he emphasized that it was a film film, the six major companies shook their heads.

The deadline for entries for next year's edition has long passed, and if you want to participate, you'll have to wait until 2006. The AFM (Film Market of America) organized by the IFTA (Independent Film and Television Alliance) will end in early November. Other film festivals and markets?

Ye Wei can't come forward in person, he can't use the name of "Ye Wei", it will only be Grande and Potter Cole who will come forward, and use their career achievements to sell fake documentaries, it's really better to call first as a newcomer, he doesn't believe that no distributor wants to see it, there are not many old stubborns.

Come on, come on, hope is on the next call!" he continued to look at the list of publishers on his desk, and continued to call the next one.

"Hey, Miramax, I'm independent producer Yunik Gu......"

"Mr. Gu, pseudo-documentaries are not within the scope of our business, not now, you can find us 5 years earlier, good luck. ”

"Hello, New Line Pictures, I'm ......"

"Sir, we're already on vacation, you can call again after the holiday, but you don't have to be a pseudo-documentary. ”

......

"Here's an interesting thing to tell you, an independent producer just called to sell his exorcism pseudo-documentary, "Blair the Witch" and asked about theatrical release!"

New York, at the end of work, the spacious office of the distribution department of New Line Pictures is still lively, and the North American box office of "The Lord of the Rings 3", which has not been released for a week, has exceeded 100 million, and this time the global box office has exceeded 1 billion US dollars, which can be said to be no suspense, and it is another brilliant year!

The Lord of the Rings series has brought great success to the new line, giving the company the demeanor of a mainstream giant after more than 30 years of development, and the company is feeling proud from top to bottom.

Now when they hear this, the whole office bursts into laughter, and everyone is full of joy, not just for the upcoming holidays, but for a laugh that will make them laugh for a year.

There are a lot of smart people in the film industry, and there are a lot of stupid people, and here's one.

Exorcisms, pseudo-documentaries, what a joke!

Today, not long after the box office failure of "The Exorcist Prequel" (80 million production fees, 41.81 million North American box office), the exorcism genre is not worth anything at all. This exploitation film should be a work that follows the trend, and wants to take advantage of the effect of "The Exorcist Prequel" to make a fortune, but the wind did not follow suit, and it is still rotten in my hands. It's stupid, like this kind of follow-up and copycat exploitation should have been the first to strike.

What age is it, and there is still a pseudo-documentary, "Blair the Witch" can succeed because the Internet landscape was not developed at that time, so it can deceive the public, who can it deceive now?

"Unlucky poor producer. "Did he say how much money he spent? 500,000 yuan!? He was probably going to go bankrupt. "No one will pay attention to him. ”

"It sounds like he doesn't think so, and he tells me about market demand, 'Why don't you take a look at it first? Maybe it's a surprise like The Lord of the Rings?'"

"Hahaha!", "I knew there was still a laugh!"

......

"Mr. Gu, let's give you a suggestion, you can participate in film festivals, or go overseas for distribution, the North American market has been hollowed out by "Blair the Witch". ”

"We can watch movies, but we are only interested in disc distribution, Mr. Gu, this genre can't be released in theaters, and there is no second miracle. ”

"I'm sorry, sir, we're going to start the holidays. ”

"Listen to your voice, you're not that old, are you? I personally give you a piece of advice, don't waste time on this pseudo-documentary, you will lose more. Young people don't always think about taking shortcuts, trying to replicate success will not make you successful, no one is stupid. ”

Newmarket, Dygate Pictures, IDP, Magnolia, Fine Line, Thinking Pictures......

no，no，no，no，no，no......！

On this afternoon, Ye Wei was rejected by almost all the distributors who were active in the market, except for those who had already gone on holiday and no one answered, only 5 of the nearly 40 distributors who were connected were willing to see how the movie would be: Lionsgate, Rogue-pictures, Alliance, Wellspring, and Zeitgeist.

Among them, Lionsgate is a mini-mainstream independent company that has just made a splash with "Chainsaw"; Rogge is a subsidiary of Universal that specializes in low-budget action and horror films, and this year it has released "Shaun the Zombie" and "Ghost Baby"; and the other three are mediocre small distributors.

And other companies directly refused without even an interview, or for those reasons, pseudo-documentaries are not good, even "Blair the Witch 2" follows the style of a feature film, and no one believes that it can be done again, even if it is not like "Witch 1" 60,000 production fees are charged 2. 4.8 billion global box office, even if it is just 108,000, no one believes it.

Group psychology is sometimes really amazing, it can make people invisible even when they open their eyes, at first one or two people say no, then three or four...... Then a group mentality is formed, and they conclude that it will never work, until they are severely taught a lesson by the facts.

But fortunately, there will still be people who look at things without being affected by group psychology, and it may also be because there are too few people who call and say, "I have a movie to sell", and they are idle and have nothing to do and wait for the holidays, so they don't watch it in vain. The five companies agreed at different times, and tomorrow before the festival there will be two, and Grande and Potcoe will go to one each.

Now the atmosphere of Christmas can be seen everywhere, and the same is true of Ye Wei's house, there are all kinds of decorations inside and outside the house, and when she has time, she goes to the backyard to look at the giant Christmas tree full of ornaments, for fear that it will slip away, and let Toto guard by the side.

Under the starry night, Duoduo and Toto went to inspect the Christmas tree again, and in the boys' room on the second floor of the house, Ye Wei was using the computer to make a video call with Nina.

They had already planned to travel to Europe this holiday, and when Christmas Day was over, Nina would come to Los Angeles to meet and play for a day before setting off, which was really a trip to look forward to.

"Awesome!" Nina smiled happily when she heard him say that "The Exorcism Video" had successfully impressed the big shots and that "Little Sunshine Beauty" could be filmed on film instead. Becoming more and more accepting of the fact that Yunic equals viy, because nothing really has changed.

Of course, she was more concerned about "The Exorcism Video", and asked with great interest: "Then when will it be released?"

"Uh, it will ......" Ye Wei's voice paused, Nina obviously didn't understand the movie distribution, she didn't know what the problems were, she thought that the movie was made, and then it was released? It's normal to think so, how can he be viy, it's not that he hasn't released a movie.

Looking at her expectant smiling face on the screen, he smiled and said, "Maybe it won't be so fast, the release will take a process." ”

Nina was surprised: "Is there any publicity you want to do?Yunik, have you thought about it these days...... her smile was a little more shy, but there was a leap, "Do I want to be like a star, being interviewed by the media and appearing on TV shows...... I don't know if I can do it well, what can I say? I can't think of it. ”

"Haha. Ye Wei laughed, although he was very disappointed, he still had to say: "You know that because my identity has to be kept secret, our relationship should be as low-key as possible, and this is a pseudo-documentary, and we have to create a sense of reality inside and outside the screen, so there shouldn't be much publicity, and you don't have to deal with the media for the time being." ”

"Oh. Nina nodded slightly, as if relieved and a little lost.

"Do you want to do publicity?" Ye Wei couldn't help asking.

"Somewhat thought. Nina lowered her eyes even more shyly, as if she had done something bad, and looked directly at the screen, her eyes were full of affection, "I just want to talk about it...... Your set is the best set. Ye Wei said warmly: "There will be a chance." Nina asked vigorously, "Is there a time then?"

Ye Wei raised his eyebrows, after all, he didn't say that there was not even a publisher for the time being, "It's not decided yet, but there will be." ”

......

Santa Monica, Headquarters of Fountain Pictures.

"Mr. Potkoe, I really have to say, this is not a good beginning. ”

The DVD of "The Exorcism Video" was playing in the small screening room, and the middle-aged face of Robbie Swinton, the head of department who met Potko, was already showing impatience, and before Potko could say anything, he took the remote control and pressed fast forward.

"Hey!" Potko's face couldn't help but change color, and he had only been watching it for less than two minutes before he was fast forwarding. He hurriedly said, "Mr. Swinton, you can't fast forward......"

"Why can't you?" Swinton disagreed, and continued to fast-forward and stop for a minute, and in less than six minutes he reached the end, saying with great certainty: "This kind of exploitation film will know whether it is good or bad after watching it for five minutes, basically just watch the beginning and the ending." ”

Potko looked at the other party with a look of self-righteousness, fortunately it was him who came today, if it was viy, he might have punched this guy. Is this a movie? This person didn't even think about watching it well, he didn't look at the story he wanted to see with a fair and peaceful attitude, he was just looking for the clip he wanted, and the difference between the two was too great.

"The ending doesn't work either, the audience likes more bloody scenes, you can't do that. Swinton crossed his chest with his hands, looking like a big man.

"No, that's not how normal viewers watch movies, and when emotionally engaged, it's a very shocking ending as the story progresses to the end. "It's not the first time that Potko has been angry, and it's impossible for the producer to find a distributor not to be angry, and he wants to convince the other party to look good from the beginning.

"Huh. Swinton's laughter was a little disdainful, and his expression seemed to say, "It's already very face-saving to watch these few minutes, what do you want to do, watch it all? Who do you think you are, who do you think I am? Historian? It's not just you, that's how I watch it." ”

As he stood up, he said, "I'm sorry, I don't have much time, in fact, I am looking forward to this meeting, but unfortunately your movie is too bad." The story itself is boring and poorly filmed, with not enough commercial elements and nothing exciting about. Isn't the protagonist a liar, why is there an exorcism in the middle?"

Now Potter Cole really wants to punch his donkey face, what is Cotton is a liar How can he exorcise demons, this is not a problem at all, it has been clearly filmed in the film, the reason why Cotton is a liar is not believed, and the practice of exorcism is to follow the practice recorded in the ancient family books, is there a problem?

For a person who only reads the synopsis of the script and then pulls the video and watches it for a few minutes, there may be a problem, not the film, but the person's brain.

"And that girl, she's not scary, you should ......"

"Shut up. Potko finally couldn't help it, he couldn't change his temper after so many years, and said to Swinton, who was stunned: "Sir, with the way you watch the film, you don't have the slightest qualification to evaluate it, do you know what the name of the role played by that girl is?"

Swinton's face also changed, and he watched Potko take out the DVD from the projector and leave, and suddenly shouted, "This bad movie can't be successful, what a waste of my time!"

......

At the headquarters of the Allians Company, in a small screening room, "The Exorcism Video" is being broadcast.

Ken Velman, the head of the department, watched patiently for nearly twenty minutes, and finally said to Grande next to him the first sentence since watching the movie: "No, the more you watch, the more inappropriate it becomes." The story unfolds slowly, and the atmosphere is not bad when it comes out, but how can this kind of editing technique and lens method be called a pseudo-documentary? It is neither a pseudo-documentary nor a feature film, no. ”

Grande frowned, Weige had already prepared for this kind of psychological situation of preconception and reluctance to change old ideas, and explained how to say: "This is the difference between it and "Blair the Witch", it is its own characteristics, the audience will not accept another "Blair the Witch", but it does not mean that they will not accept the pseudo-documentary ......"

"No, no, no, you haven't figured it out, we just want to see another 'Blair the Witch'!" Ken Velman shook his head and said earnestly, "It's not about exact copying, it's about the same rhythm, structure, style, and doing a good job of secondary exploitation." ”

"Ken, we're not exploiting ...... twice"

"No? Pseudo-documentaries are like that, that's what the audience wants to watch, why not? You can't change it, it's better to exploit it twice than it is now! You can re-edit a version, then we can consider doing a disc release. ”

Grande was helpless, and continued to say Ye Wei's words: "We should all look at everything new with a new eye, so that we can have new gains, isn't ......it?

"Hehehe. Ken Wellman couldn't help but laugh and shook his head again: "What are you thinking, what technology do you need for a thriller pseudo-documentary? Emotions? Do you think you're making 'The Silence of the Lambs'? I tell you how to do it, as long as the camera is shaky enough and the scene is scary enough." ”

"It's scary, it's not technical, it's emotional, it's not scary, it's even scary! We want to say that this is a high-quality pseudo-documentary, and you shouldn't look at Blair the Witch through the same eyes......

"Tell someone else about that, I'm sorry. Ken Velman stood up, not ready to watch any more, "Maybe it's a good movie, but it's not what we want, we want another 'Blair the Witch'." ”

You can't change it, it's better to exploit it twice than it is now! You can re-edit a version, then we can consider doing a video release. ”

Grande was helpless, and continued to say Ye Wei's words: "We should all look at everything new with a new eye, so that we can have new gains, isn't ......it?

"Hehehe. Ken Wellman couldn't help but laugh and shook his head again: "What are you thinking, what technology do you need for a thriller pseudo-documentary? Emotions? Do you think you're making 'The Silence of the Lambs'? I tell you how to do it, as long as the camera is shaky enough and the scene is scary enough." ”

"It's scary, it's not technical, it's emotional, it's not scary, it's even scary! We want to say that this is a high-quality pseudo-documentary, and you shouldn't look at Blair the Witch through the same eyes......

"Tell someone else about that, I'm sorry. Ken Velman stood up, not ready to watch any more, "Maybe it's a good movie, but it's not what we want, we want another 'Blair the Witch'." ”