As soon as Mike Medavoy arrived, he expressed his concerns to Ronald. Orion invested a huge amount of 35 million in the movie "Valmont", which is the largest movie that Orion has made in so many years since its establishment.
project.
Coupled with the previous box office failure, this year Orion has been losing money on all its movies from the beginning to the end of the year. Now this "Valmont" can't even last two weeks, and the most panicked ones are Mike Medavoy and other Orion movies
of senior executives.
Their richest boss, John Kluge, finally couldn't bear the consecutive losses and announced that he would no longer pay for failed movies and would seek to sell Orion Pictures.
And for all these failures (John Kluge admitted that his purchase of Orion was a failure), someone needs to be responsible.
"I'm carrying a black blame now, Ronald. Now they want me to take all the responsibilities on the pretext that I agreed to give the green light to this project..." Mike Medavoy knew that Ronald liked China.
Culture, there is a miniature garden in the courtyard of my home, so I used an idiom that I vaguely remembered when I was a child to make an analogy.
"Black pot, black pot, right?" Ronald understood. Mike Medavoy's worries were actually more about his own future. No, he came to ask Ronald to fulfill his promise and introduced him.
He went to Colombia to find a job.
"I don't believe this reason, why can't we make a movie with the same structure and plot that others have made? There is no such thing..." Ronald wanted to ask Mike McDavoy how the movie ended up like this.
?
"Hey, let me tell you, movie distribution now is completely different from when Orion was founded."
Mike Medavoy said something that Ronald did not expect. It turns out that medium-sized production companies like Orion generally do not have nationwide or even global distribution capabilities.
Compared with the seven major nationally unified distribution companies, production companies like Orion still use the traditional method of finding wholesalers by zoning to reduce distribution costs.
In other words, they do not organize a unified distribution company to take charge of nationwide orders, but have long-term partners in different regions. These film producers order copies based on the quality of their films.
After the movie is released, they will slowly settle the settlement with the theater chain. After receiving the share, they will then settle the settlement with Orion.
This is also a last resort. Unlike a low-cost production company like Daydream, which is a simple wholesale business with the theater chain. The theater chain does not expect Daydream's B-level movies to have any box office breakthroughs.
It is used to fill the gaps between movie schedules. Occasionally when there are current events (such as the Star-Spangled Banner Act), I can buy a few more movies and let them go to see which one is better at the box office.
The quality of movies like Orion varies greatly, which requires theaters to sign a release schedule that is decided long in advance so that they can arrange a good and long enough schedule to obtain maximum benefits.
However, such a model must ensure the quality of the movies. This is why the Big Seven have their own distribution companies. They can produce more than 20 movies a year and place them at the Las Vegas order fair a year in advance.
Display it publicly so that film producers across the country can see the good and bad.
As for Orion, unlike Daydream, where the quality is stable at the level of B-movies, you can just buy whatever you want. Nor is it like a big studio, which can place all orders nationwide in advance. Because their production principle is to let the director decide everything.
Many times, it is difficult to determine the schedule for Orion movies. The schedule you have set may be suddenly postponed due to the director's ideas.
In this way, these movies can only be distributed through wholesalers in various places, and they are handled piece by piece.
The advantage of this is of course saving money, but the disadvantage is also huge. Even those theater chains and scattered movie theaters usually put Orion movies at the last place they consider.
Because movies like the Seven, whose schedules are confirmed long in advance, are in the first echelon. They have the highest priority and must ensure the number of films made. Daydream movies are in the third echelon, and they can be inserted at will.
As for Orion, they fell into a dilemma of being unable to move up or down. With the third-echelon model, they could not return to their roots. The first-echelon had to invest heavily in building its own distribution channels. In the end, they were kicked out under the attack from above and below.
Already.
For example, "Harlem", which was released together with "Valmont" last weekend and was written, directed and starred by Eddie Murphy for the first time, is not as good as "Valmont" in terms of quality. But the release led by Paramount,
It can still fill the schedules of 2,180 cinemas during the first weekend.
Although the average box office of a single theater is only US$7,000, and it declines rapidly, it may not be better than "Valmont", but the theater chain must first ensure Paramount's film schedule.
Of course, the main "Valmont" is indeed not that good. Under the attack of two movies with average box office potential and the very popular "Steel Mulan" and "The Little Mermaid", movie theaters generally have to first eliminate Orion, which has no long-term cooperation.
Already.
"Hey, I didn't expect that there are so many problems in distribution..." Ronald touched his chin. It seems that this distribution network should either be built by oneself and rely on low-cost B-level movie gangsters who will definitely get paid back, or it should be invested in
Use huge amounts of money to build your own...
"What, Ronald, I just came back from Europe, and I have initially stabilized the publisher there. Look, what happened to me..." Mike Medavoy looked at Ronald deep in thought, and he was worried.
Damn it, this young director wouldn't just slap his butt and deny the verbal agreement between the two, right?
"What's the matter? Ah, oh, it's okay. I've already contacted Dahe Sang's office. I'll take you to New York to meet him." Ronald woke up from his thoughts, "But, you have to have some meeting gifts.
...Now that Columbia Pictures has found a CEO, Dahe Sang must have a justifiable reason before he can come forward to talk about this matter."
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Is that so, the Japanese in Colombia are interested in the overseas distribution rights of Orion's previous films?" Mike Medavoy rolled his eyes, Orion was established ten years ago
, there are also many good films. It turns out that Orion has always held the copyrights of these films in its own hands and refused to release them.
But now, there is a cash flow crisis. Sony, the financial backer behind Colombia, is a wealthy person. If you are interested, buying it will relieve a lot of pressure...
When the time comes, Mike Medavoy has done something good for Sony, the new employer, and given an explanation to his old employer, and everyone will be happy when he jumps over.
"Of course it's nice... Orion?" Ronald asked.
"Of course, Mr. John Kluge has become angry and said at the company's high-level meeting that he would not wipe out Orion's mistakes again..."
…
The business jet landed at the New Jersey airport, and Ronald brought John Klug over to see the rightful owner. The car drove along the highway into Manhattan. Although this airport is in New Jersey, the commute is much busier than JFK Airport.
It's much more convenient, no need to wait.
As soon as the car entered Manhattan, Ronald noticed that the streets were full of various campaign slogans. Looking from the highway, in front of the houses along the way, many slogans of supporting candidates were planted on the lawns.
Represents the preferences of homeowners.
"It seems that this election is very popular..." Ronald said while lying on the window and watching.
He counted the number of people who supported him. Here in the suburbs of upper Manhattan, sixty-seven out of ten people supported Rudy, and few supported Dinkins.
"Your voter registration is also in Staten Island, right?" Ronald suddenly remembered something and asked the driver, Little Bud.
"Yes, our family's registration has been changed to Toteville on Staten Island. My four sisters and I, as well as their husbands, my mother, and the veterans groups will all vote for Rudy
…”
"Why? Isn't Dinkins black?" Mike Medavoy felt strange. He thought that black voters were not born to vote for black candidates.
"I don't like Dinkins' policies, Mr. Medavoy..." Little Bud didn't care to express his political leanings.
"I am a veteran of the Marine Corps, and I like people who obey order. Dinkins described the people who attacked my boss as heroes who were persecuted by the NYPD, which made me very angry. Besides, our family all has jobs.
We cannot enjoy the welfare policies of Dinkins. He will only take care of the unemployed black people in Harlem..."
Little Bud's words relieved Ronald's psychological burden. He had never wanted to talk to Little Bud about this matter because he was afraid of hurting his feelings.
But Ronald was overthinking it. Thanks to Ronald and his Aunt Karen, little Bud's family had jobs in the leg warmer factory and later in factories related to the film industry. Several of his
My sister and my husband both work in factories.
These people's income level means they can't receive welfare benefits and they have to pay taxes. It's no wonder they like Dinkins' kind of welfare policy.
The most important thing is that Bud and his family are now settled in Staten Island. Dinkins’ main sources of votes are in Manhattan and Brooklyn. For Dinkins, no matter how good the welfare policy is promised,
It's also impossible to send it to a rural place like Staten Island.
"The voting will take place in two days, right? In this way, you go back with me and vote with my aunt and your mother..."
"Oh, okay. I originally planned to vote by mail, so it would be great to be able to go there..." Little Bud was also very happy to hear that he could go back to his hometown with his boss.
…
The next day, Norio Ohga met with Ronald Mike Medavoy in his office in New York, and Ohga thought there was no problem with his idea of selling Orion's overseas distribution business to Columbia.
After Medavoy went out, Dahe invited Ronald to smoke a cigar together, and then asked.
"Is Ronald Sang satisfied with arranging him with the position of Samsung?"
Columbia Pictures found Peter Guber and Jon Peters to pair up at the helm, and with Frank Price picking projects, now it's time to let them shine.
Dahe was very satisfied with Price recommended by Ronald. Guber was also very capable. Although he was the one chosen by Akio Morita and was trustworthy, he was the Jon Peters who had a background in combing the hair of female celebrities.
There is still prejudice against this kind of people in Japanese culture. Dahe doesn't like him very much.
But as the CEO of Sony, it is good to straighten out the general direction. The business brought by Mike Medavoy is good, but it is only good. It is not worth disrupting the management team that has finally formed a stable structure for him.
Fortunately, during the period when Columbia was operating in Coca-Cola, it had many vests and could use TriStar Pictures to place this person.
"I think he will be very satisfied..." Ronald replied with a smile.
"Well, Ronald, I've been doing a lot lately. It's really nice to have an old friend like you come to see me." Dahe wrote a note and gave it to his secretary, then ignored it and talked to Luo
Nader talked about some personal things about himself.
"What's wrong, Oga-san?"
"I've been in a lot of trouble lately..."
It turned out that Norio Ohga was a symphony lover, and he was good friends with Karajan, the former conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
A few months ago, Karajan suffered a heart attack at home and unfortunately passed away. But what the world didn't know was that Norio Ohga was at Karajan's house that day and happened to witness this unfortunate incident. Although he called on Sony's power to find
An emergency helicopter came, but could not save the famous conductor.
However, he did not let the media know about this, because at the beginning of the year, Karajan's dark history of getting close to some people who also loved Wagner operas during World War II was revealed again due to his disagreement with the German SPD.
I had no choice but to resign from the Berlin Philharmonic.
If the media knew that he was with a Japanese, they might write some gossip again.
However, the unfortunate incident that had been concealed for several months was recently revealed by a German media. Although the hidden dangers were eliminated through the public relations of Sony West Germany, Dahe was still a little depressed.
When the CD format was confirmed that year, Philips advocated the 60-minute format, but Dahe made the final decision, saying that Beethoven's Ninth Symphony conducted by Karajan would take more than 70 minutes, and finally set the length of the CD at 74 minutes.
Seeing his friend being found out after his death made him feel uncomfortable.
"It's already the eve of the 1990s, and it's time for these World War II events to come to an end..." Ronald could only comfort Dahe in this way.
"As you said, that's fine..."
Dahe was a little sad and invited Ronald to have dinner. Tomorrow is the voting day for the mayor of New York. Ronald had to rush back to Staten Island, so he said goodbye.
Along the way, there were NYPD employees in many places on the streets of Manhattan, taking photos in front of signs supporting Rudy. He had the support of many government employees and unions in powerful departments. Ronald felt that Rudy had a good chance of winning...
Dinkins owns Brooklyn and Harlem, Rudy owns Queens and Staten Island, and the decisive battle between the two sides is in Manhattan. Judging from the momentum of the promotional slogans of both parties today, Rudy has a clear advantage.