For the next few days, Helen was in talks with Fox Searchlight.

One of the biggest differences is that the issuance fee starts at 25 percent and decreases little by little.

Sometimes it's just a 0.1 percent of the share, and it's a good idea to include the cost of promotion, as Ryan asks.

Once the distribution commission and publicity costs are calculated separately, you will often receive a sky-high publicity fee, and it is better to buy out the copyright of the film directly.

Fortunately, Helen is not in a hurry, but is in a hurry with Fox Searchlight Pictures.

Nancy Ertley was desperate to make her voice heard among Hollywood's independent film studios, so she made a big concession on the contract.

The North American distribution share was reduced from 25 percent to 20 percent, including all promotional costs.

As for the peripheral copyright, the right to distribute offline videotapes, the right to broadcast the first round of TV stations, etc., 30% of the income, and enjoy the right of first refusal for overseas distribution, as well as the right of first refusal for the next "Chainsaw" series of films.

Such a seemingly demanding agreement is, in fact, quite generous.

If it weren't for Fox Searchlight Pictures' eagerness, and Ryan's last film being a box office hit, it would have been almost a luxury to have a similar distribution share deal.

For example, publicity costs, labor costs, venue fees, transportation costs, insurance fees, etc., are all a lot of expenses, which are paid by Fox Searchlight Pictures.

The only thing Ryan Studio needs to pay is the cost of copying the film, which seems to be not very expensive, but it can't stand the large number and needs to be printed on a large scale.

Generally speaking, a 100-minute copy of a film costs about $650 each, 100 copies cost $65,000, and 1,000 copies cost $650,000.

Even if Nancy Ertley promised to print copies using Twentieth Century Fox channels, which would be much cheaper, it would likely still cost millions of dollars in the end.

All of this needs to be paid by Ryan's studio, which is Ryan's own money.

The box office share of the previous film has arrived, and he is not short of money for the time being, enough to pay for the copy.

In fact, Ryan has also made some concessions, such as the proportion of peripheral copyrights.

At the same time, Fox Searchlight Pictures will continue to hold fan screenings in the coming week, and according to the reaction of fans, the final decision will be made on the direction of the film's promotion and release time.

Considering that "Saw Horror" is a horror film, no critics were invited.

Ryan looked at the release plan in his hand, it was released at the end of August, just in time for the end of the summer season, and the picture was opened with 430 screens, and in general he was not very satisfied.

The campaign was similarly a bit of a mouthbreaker, with a total of less than $200,000 in promotional costs.

The TV pitch and trailer are expected --- $160,000.

The cost of outdoor poster posting, including manpower and materials, is estimated to be --- 5,000 US dollars.

The rental fee for outdoor large billboards, including printing and installation, is estimated to be --- $20,000.

The cost of promotional activities, press conferences, and preview screenings is estimated --- $15,000.

It's exactly $200,000, which is pitiful.

There are no premieres yet.

Ryan was speechless for a while, he didn't expect to be able to compare with the massive publicity money of "Blair the Witch", at least he had to get by.

What can you do with $200,000 right now?

However, he knew that this promotional expense plan was not so much made by Fox Searchlight Pictures as it was made by the distribution department of Twentieth Century Fox, so he didn't even bother to ask.

At the moment, Ryan made a phone call to Helen, even if he paid out of his own pocket, he would have to increase the publicity expenses, and the publicity cost of one million may be a bit exaggerated, but it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to say the least.

Otherwise, the mere $200,000 publicity cost is in the summer file, and I am afraid that it will not even be able to make a splash.

Helen did not dissuade her, but immediately dialed Nancy Utley's phone with a slightly dissatisfied tone.

"Ms. Nancy, I want you to give an explanation of what you can do with a mere $200,000 in publicity!"

"And, Ryan just called me and was prepared to pay out of pocket if Fox Searchlight Pictures couldn't increase the publicity costs. ”

Nancy Ertley suddenly understood what Helen meant, was not satisfied with the publicity plan, and was even ready to pay out of her own pocket.

There's nothing she can do about it, Fox Searchlight Pictures is just an empty shelf, and a lot of things depend on the distribution department of Twentieth Century Fox.

"I'm sorry about this. ”

"I'm going to try to increase the amount of publicity as much as possible, and at the same time increase the number of screens. ”

Getting what she wanted, Helen's tone couldn't help but soothe and chat with Nancy Utley for a while before hanging up.

Nancy Ertley put down the phone, her face was slightly ugly, as a distribution company, she was very embarrassed to let the director of the film pay for the promotion out of her own pocket.

The next moment, Nancy Ertley suddenly shouted to his assistant: "Immediately help me contact Robert of AMC Cinemas, Kim of Cinemark Cinemas, and Mr. Guise of MTI Cinemas, and say that I want to discuss with them personally about the release plan of "Chainsaw". ”。

At about three o'clock in the afternoon, more than 20 people came, in addition to the heads of several large cinema chains, there were also many owners of small cinema companies, as well as some advertising merchants.

At the moment, Nancy Ertley didn't talk nonsense, saying: "You don't need me to say anything, I need more screens, advertising space." ”

"Don't talk nonsense with me, I know you're going to have a way, and as long as Saw is released, then everyone here will make a lot of money. ”

Robert of AMC Cinemas looked embarrassed and said: "The summer screens have long been full, and there are no more free screens, unless after September, AMC Cinemas can increase the number of screens on a large scale." ”

Nancy Utley said firmly: "Not enough. ”

"It's not enough. ”

Everyone can only continue to negotiate, and at the same time, they have to call back to the company to inquire.

More than three hours passed, and the night went dark, and the theater companies agreed to free up some screens, which together barely had 650 screens.

That's the number of screens released on the first day, and as long as the box office results well in the first week, it's likely to continue to increase to more than 1,000 screens.

The reason is very simple, the release time of "Saw Horror" is set on the Friday of the penultimate week of August, and there is only a little more than a week, which is considered to be in the summer file, and as soon as Labor Day passes in early September, the deserted autumn block will arrive.

At that time, there will be more and more screens vacated by theater companies.