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- On Friday, January 27, the annual Sundance Film Festival is being held jointly in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden City, Utah, and the Sundance Resort.
In the ten days from the 19th to the 29th, 120 films will be screened. This is a grand festival of independent films, and film buyers from large and small distributors have already gathered at Sundance, looking for the next "Blair Witch" film. ¡±, ¡°April Fragments¡±, ¡°Super Size Me¡±, ¡°Big Shot Napoleon¡±¡
These independent films cannot be produced by the Hollywood assembly line. They are full of surprises, treasures and nothing. It depends on people's discernment.
Last night, the organizer suddenly received exciting news: Ye Wei arrived in Park City!
Anyone can come and watch movies, but viy is already a banner of independent film, and his appearance actually adds to the brilliance of this film festival.
"I just came to watch the movie." Ye Wei told the festival chairman Jeff Gilmore, and had no intention of attending events and accepting media interviews. "If there is a suitable opportunity, I will also buy the film."
Film trading was not the original intention of "Sundance Kid" Robert Redford to found the Sundance Film Festival, but it seems that everything will become commercialized. In recent years, it has become a major film trading market and a stage for new talents.
The films that get the most attention every year are naturally the opening film, the closing film, and about 16 feature films each shortlisted for the Jury Prize and World Cinema.
This year's opening film is "Friends with Money", starring Jennifer Aniston, Catherine Keener; the closing film is "Legacy Dog", starring Ben Foster, Bruce Willis, Justin Timberlake, etc. wait. The latter's lineup is particularly strong, and it has already been fiercely pursued by a number of film producers even before it was screened.
And films like "Coming of Ages" and "Shirley's Baby" are also popular, but not "Half Nelson."
"I dare say that your movie is the best movie at Sundance this year! If not, that would be terrible. What have I watched all these years?"
In the morning, the Red Rock Theater in Park City had just finished another screening of "Half Nelson". The small exhibition hall was not full, with less than 20 people sitting in the front rows. In the front row were the film's creators and a young man Great God.
"Thank you! This praise is too much for us." The 29-year-old white director Ryan Fleck was thanking him repeatedly. His face with a bit of stubble was full of joy. I don't know whether it was excitement or natural. His big nose was red. Like drinking a lot of wine.
Next to him, his wife Anna Bolton also laughed happily, and her black-rimmed glasses almost fell off.
¡°The producer James Patricoff and the two publicists Linda Dove and Chris Libby sitting on the other side were all extremely surprised.
"Half Nelson" has already been screened in Japan. This is the highest rating it has received so far, the best this year! It was really flattering for them, who were all at the bottom of the industry. With the compliment of genius viy, the film's distribution path would be easier.
He was sitting in the middle, wearing a black hooded long-sleeved sweatshirt and blue jeans, with a pair of black gloves on his hands. He was applauding and exclaiming: "It's incredible! 700,000 production fees, 10-day shooting period ,marvelous!"
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????In fact, speaking of it, it is far behind "The Exorcist Video" and cannot be compared to the remake of "The Wedding Is Coming".
"We need to talk!" Ye Wei looked around as if he had decided something, "I want to buy this movie."
Everyone was stunned.
¡¡
"Half Nelson" is a typical independent film, and its production process is as standard as a textbook.
As early as 2004, Ryan Fleck, who graduated from NTU, wrote the script for "Half Nelson" with his classmate and wife Anna Burton, who he began dating and collaborating with in college, with a budget of US$1 million.
In order to find financing to start the project, the two made a short film version of "gowan, brooklyn".
The short won the 2004 Sundance Short Film Award and caught the attention of attorney Erin McPherson, who recommended it to Traction Media producer Rozan Kornberg. Craig Kestel of William Morris Independent Films is also on board.
The two began actively raising money, and soon met James Patricov together, who and his partner Alex Orlovsky agreed to join. Then there was a series of financing, and the production team became stronger and stronger, but it has not yet been finalized. What is missing?
A star.
They targeted Ryan Gosling, a 24-year-old handsome Canadian actor who had just become popular because of "The Notebook". His new film was "Stay" with a budget of 50 million, and he starred with Ewan McGregor and Nao M. Watts' big project, a micro-scale project with a budget of 700,000Project?
join in. Ryan Gosling was impressed by the script.
Dan Dunn, a young white teacher, teaches in a poor public high school in Brooklyn, New York. During the day, he has ideals and passion and tries his best to educate the mostly black students. But at night, he struggles with the disappointment of reality and the emptiness of being unable to change the status quo. , he took drugs to escape his confusion.
¡°One time he was taking drugs and was discovered by one of his black female students, Deli. The two people, who were both in trouble, began a friendship and their lives changed.
This is a story about teachers and students, race, society, ideals and reality, life and love, etc. It is also a story about the opposition of one's humanity and the contradiction in life. The stories vary, but everyone has their "Half Nelson" moments.
There is no character named Nelson in the film. The title originally came from a Miles Davis song and was originally a wrestling term.
Ryan Fleck said this: "It's a stalemate in wrestling, where you're controlled by your opponent, but you have a chance to escape, although it requires skill. Just a metaphor for the struggle, such as drug addiction or different societies. Politics, class struggle, etc. Every character in the film is struggling.¡±
Anna Burton said: "We knew we wanted to make a very subtle and thought-provoking film, and didn't want to be too straightforward, so we thought this title fit the style of the film."
Confused in the changes, struggling in the pain, you may be thrown to the ground, or you may escape and regain your life. This is your wrestling with yourself.
"Half Nelson" is the kind of independent film that would not be produced for a hundred years if it followed Hollywood business rules.
Sometimes, it¡¯s commercial films; sometimes, it¡¯s just independent literary films. The addition of Ryan Gosling enabled the project to be successfully financed. Three months later, filming began and the film was completed, one day earlier than originally planned, and the budget of US$700,000 was not spent at all.
That was last year, and then we headed to the Sundance Film Festival. The team held a screening for Jeff Gilmore and others in October last year. They all gave positive reviews, and "Half Nelson" was selected. Sundance 2006.
When the festival came around, Patricov hired a public relations team, Dove and Libby to work on the film for a month at a cost of $10,000 to $15,000.
On the fifth day of screening, although the film was well received, not many distributors were interested because it was difficult to make money.
Senior producer Lina Rosen and his wife wanted to buy it, but the price they offered was far below the film's budget, so they were rejected.
Miramax and Sisuo Pictures are the most serious. The former wants to buy out, but the price is not high; the latter's plan is a low advance payment, but there is a share of gross profits, and there is no publicity commitment, but it promises to have at least 15 Distribution to one theater in each city.
Patricov and others tend to choose Thinking Pictures, because although Miramax is a large distributor, it lacks sincerity in comparison, and the price is only enough for them to recover their costs. How can you trust a film producer with such an attitude?
At this time, Ye Wei suddenly arrived in Park City. After watching the movie, he was full of praises. He seemed to be deeply moved and even wanted to buy the movie.
¡¡
"What is this if I'm not raising the price?"
People at Sisuo Pictures are very helpless. When talking about Ye Wei, they sigh. They were once asked to distribute "Exorcism Video"! I declined on the phone.
Now I am interested in the movie "Half Nelson", but viy suddenly shows up. What does he want to do?
The first conclusion of their discussion was that Ye Wei was helping to raise the price. He suddenly came to Park City, suddenly praised it, and suddenly threatened to buy it. What would he do if he bought it back? He doesn¡¯t have a publishing company, so he definitely doesn¡¯t publish it himself. How much can he earn by being a second-tier dealer?
????????????????????????????????????????????He might as well make a B-level movie and sell it.
So the most likely thing is that Ye Wei and hn were friends and came to raise the price, but they made the wrong decision.
"Half Nelson" will obviously not have much box office. Such a depressing, heavy, and thoughtful literary film is destined to be a niche film. Thinking Pictures was not willing to spend money to buy it out, but chose to share it with the producers, because it stars Ryan Gosling, so it was just a try.
The company can have more than 20 such attempts every year.
When the cost of this attempt is too high, it is not necessary.
Ye Wei wants to buy it? Let him buy it.
¡¡
"Everyone, let me tell you my plan. After I buy it, I will use my contacts to get it distributed decently. There is no reason for such a good movie to not even have tens of thousands of promotional fees. It can There is something bigger than Thinking Pictures thinking!
I don¡¯t know what it is exactly.??Hongshang, ifc, Lions Gate or others are all possible. 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 release myself. Artistically and commercially, it is absolutely worthy of it.
Maybe I¡¯m a little bit ¡®half Nelson¡¯ right now, but I really appreciate your movies and really want to get involved, so feel free to leave it to me.
Time is precious, so just give me a quote that everyone is happy with. How much is it? "
In a Starbucks near the Red Rock Theater, Ye Weizheng, Patricov and Fraker were drinking coffee and discussing business.
Listening to viy¡¯s sincere words, the three Patricovs became more and more excited. Although Ye Wei was young, he was famous for his boldness, loyalty, and trustworthiness. With the same promise, they could trust him even more. Besides, he wanted to buy out the deal and spent a lot of money, so he wouldn't just put it in the warehouse and ignore it, right?
For a micro-niche literary film with an uncertain future, a buyout at a reasonable price is better than a gross profit share. Let¡¯s just talk about the key collection time, issuance, dividends, and payment. Even if there is no deduction or delay in payment by the issuer for several years, even if the capital can be recovered or even make money, it will not be seen until 2007.
As for the spot transaction, it can be done this month. They also have money to start the next project, and they don¡¯t have to worry about whether hn¡¯s box office will not even reach one million, so what money can be divided?
The key is that the price is fair and cannot be lower than the budget. Many investors are watching; the most important thing is distribution. They want this movie to shine, and they also want to improve their industry status and have the next movie and the next movie. Compared with Small profits are more important.
The hn team had already set a target price. Patricov looked at Ye Wei across the coffee table and asked in a sincere tone: "1.5 million?"
At first they wanted to sell it for 2 million, but today, 1.2-1.5 million is an acceptable range. Naturally, we had to start from a high price point, but we were afraid of offending Viy, thinking that he was being taken advantage of, so Patricov didn't ask for 2 million, after all, the other party was so sincere.
"OK! 1.5 million." Ye Wei nodded.
The three of them were stunned for a momentreally? Is that okay without bargaining?
"Really?" Patricov had to ask stupidly. This is really the first time I have done this. This is the second film he has produced. The first "Point & Shoot" was a lower-cost mini-film for the DVD market.
"1.5 million, you are happy, and so am I." Ye Wei said with a smile, lifting the coffee cup with his right hand still wearing black gloves, and took a sip, "Personally, it is priceless; from a business perspective , 1.5 million will take about 7 million at the box office to make my money back, no problem, I can bear this risk, and there are still DVDs and a lot of copyright fees, right?¡±
¡°I think we can accept this plan!¡± Anna Burton, who is also a producer, said hurriedly, fearing that Patricov would be greedy and do bad things.
? 1.5 million can not only make considerable profits, but also more than double the pre-tax net profit!
What viy said is actually clear. You and the distributor share 50% of the gross profit, and the distributor and the theater chain also share 50% of the gross profit. You have to collect 7 million box office to achieve this figure. In fact, it is impossible, because the three-party sharing ratio will not be like that, and distribution and publicity costs have to be deducted. It may take 10 million box office for you to earn 800,000. Don't be shameless.
With the promise of distribution in at least 100 theaters, Fleck almost wanted to give this debut feature film to Ye Wei for free, but he couldn't make the decision.
With his face flushed, he looked at Patricov and said, "James, we are lucky!"
Patricov, who was also blushing, knew how much he had taken advantage of. Lina Rosen and his wife's bid was 500,000. They were not joking or being stupid. It was just the estimated commercial value of hn. Good movies are not necessarily Have high commercial value.
But viy promised 1.5 million. Damn itif he had just shouted 1.8 million, would he have nodded and said OK? But now it has been quoted 1.5 million. It would be too offensive if it were raised any more. Who knows whether it would anger this willful young genius?
Patricov didn¡¯t dare to try it, so he said with mixed feelings: ¡°viy, thank you! Your plan is our first choice.¡±
"Cool, your team has thought about it and let me know. I can sign the contract at any time." Ye Wei said for a moment, then suddenly laughed and said: "Just kidding! Not at any time, my lawyer is in Los Angeles, and so are my parents. I can only sign it when I return to Los Angeles. ¡±
He smiled and looked at the three people who were startled into a cold sweat, "Don't worry! I'm serious! I won't negotiate the price anymore. If it's 1.5 million, it's OK. If it's not OK, it's OK."
The three of them didn¡¯t know how to react other than giggling.
¡¡
The two publicists were working. At noon that day, the news spread to Sundance that Ye Wei wanted to buy "Half Nelson", with a buyout price of more than 1.5 million!
Of course, the new situation must be publicized to give people confidence and attract more buyers to compete. Things haven't been decided yet, business is business. If someone offers 1.8 million or 2 million to buy this movie, that's a different story. viy is good, but the bigger the return, the better.
News is spreading, and we don¡¯t know how publishers will react. - Didn't finish reading? Add this book to your favoritesI'm a member and bookmarked this chapterCopy the address of this book and recommend it to your friends for pointsChapter error? Click here to report
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