Ronald heard about Tanin's plan, and after returning home, he contacted the two producers of "Top Gun" and asked about the sales of the video tape.
"Let me tell you this, the share you get from the sales of the video tape may be more than your director's salary and bonus."
Jerry Bruckheimer on the phone seemed to have had too much to drink. He laughed loudly at Ronald and then invited him to come to their Y conference.
"How much did you drink?" Ronald felt it was not simple.
Relatively speaking, Bruckheimer is the calmer one of the two producers. Even he talked openly about the Y conference on the phone, and it seems that he really sold a lot of video tapes.
"Come on, Ronald, there are a lot of chicks here, ah, hahaha..." Don Simpson grabbed the microphone, "Come on, all the chicks here want to see you. You also make them happy, and then we can talk about it.
Money, ah, hahaha..."
"Pa...", a crisp slap, followed by the teasing voices of several young girls.
"I have something to do tonight, so I'll see you tomorrow." Ronald felt that the other end of the phone had become a pool of wine and meat, and he had reservations about this indulgent lifestyle. A young body can bring endless joy, but Ronald
De likes to enjoy in a private place.
"Then if you don't come in the afternoon... tomorrow night, we will have to have fun until very late."
The phone seemed to have fallen on the ground, and no one picked it up. The sounds of men and women laughing continued to come through the phone.
Ronald hung up the phone and called his agent Niceta.
"How many video tapes have been sold? I watched the producer of 'Top Gun' and he was so happy as if he had made millions."
"It's not on sale yet? I heard that Paramount will start rolling it out across the country in mid-March. Many people are focused on their new pricing strategy, so it's impossible to get it on sale first."
Niceta hung up the phone in confusion, then made a round of inquiries with friends in the industry, and called Ronald again half an hour later.
"Right now, we've just gone through the pre-sale ordering process at some video rental stores. Maybe Simpson and Bruckheimer have learned that the pre-order numbers are good, so they're celebrating. I asked a senior executive at Paramount, and he said it will go on sale in March.
The plan is not advanced. If you go there tomorrow, let me know what happens."
"No way?" Ronald felt that just the pre-sale numbers were good, but it didn't seem to be enough for two people to succeed like this.
…
"Hahahaha...Ronald...come on...you should drink some too, there are some big bottles of champagne here."
Don Simpson was in a mansion in Beverly Hills. On the evening of the next day, with the help of the housekeeper, Ronald walked into the house and saw two producers.
Their faces still bore traces of yesterday's all-night party. The two of them seemed to have not yet woken up from the mixed effects of alcohol and drugs. Their unwashed bodies were emitting waves of tobacco, alcohol, and sensuality.
of stench.
There were also some women's underwear scattered on the ground, colorful, setting off the remnants of the champagne.
"How many have been sold? I heard that it won't go on sale until March?"
Ronald asked Bruckheimer, who was the more stable of the two. It turned out that the figure the two gave themselves was that they could sell eight times more, a total of 400,000 copies. Now it seems that it is far more than that.
"You have to learn to have fun, Ronald. In this industry, isn't it just for this moment that we endure so much pressure?"
Don Simpson came up and hugged Ronald, "Every one of those girls yesterday wanted to sleep with you, hahaha..."
"The pre-sale situation is very good. There are still three weeks before the official release. The pre-order volume of 'Top Gun' is already close to the sales record of movie video tapes in Hollywood history."
Bruckheimer finally had some sense and answered Ronald's question.
"Breaked the record?" Ronald was shocked. "What was the original record? I think it was the 'Flashdance' produced by you two, right?"
"Yes, yes, hahaha, you are our lucky star. Damn it, when Eisner and Katzenberg from Paramount were there, we didn't get much of the revenue from the 'Flashdance' video. Now.
If they get out, our pricing power will be much higher. Hahaha..."
"Ouch", Simpson stumbled and fell to the ground, then hugged the bottle on the ground and snored there.
"Butler", Ronald waved and asked the butler to bring his master a blanket so that Simpson would not sleep too cold.
"Jerry, tell me, this pre-sale broke the sales record. What happened?" Ronald pulled Bruckheimer over and pulled him to the sofa despite the unpleasant body odor. Details
asked.
It turns out that the sales record for video tapes in the American market is Jane Fonda's Aerobics. The original Aerobics in 1982, priced at 59.95, sold nearly one million copies that year (including other cheaper ones)
LD disc format).
From then on, she released a new aerobics video every year and was able to earn hundreds of thousands in video sales.
As for movie videotapes, because they are expensive, generally priced at 80-100 US dollars, the sales volume is far lower. The record for the highest sales is still held by "Flashdance" produced by Bruckheimer and Simpson.
That's also because Paramount started selling videotapes before the movie was released in order to experiment with the impact of videotapes on the movie's box office.
All in all, "Flashdance" sold 800,000 video tapes, a sales record that no movie could break even a few years later.
The seven major studios, looking at the video sales data of hundreds of thousands per movie, actually didn't pay much attention to it. Until recently, they discovered that companies such as Weston who were OEMs were making a lot of money, and they all entered the theater movie industry.
Only then did I discover the profit inside.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Therefore, starting from "Top Gun", Paramount first lowered the price, coupled with Pepsi's advertising subsidy, this time the price is 26.95, which is a new attempt.
Who knows, this attempt...
What a success!
Starting last week, anyone watching TV will be repeatedly bombarded with the Pepsi Diet Coke commercial shot by Ronald. At the end of the commercial, there will be another line reminding them of the "Top Gun" video tape, VHS format and Beta format.
All will be on sale.
In less than a week, viewers at major video rental stores, supermarkets, convenience stores, etc. have discovered that they can pre-order the "Top Gun" video that will be released next month.
By the weekend, pre-order sales figures compiled from across the country had broken the record for movie video sales, with "Top Gun" surpassing "Flashdance" to become the number one video sales record in history.
No wonder the two producers were as happy as flying into the sky after seeing the sales figures.
Ronald watched the two producers, who were staggering and still not awake from the hangover from the carnival, walking out of the mansion silently.
“How fucking much did they share!
ah!"
Bruckheimer told Ronald that based on the current pre-sale figures, as a director, Ronald can already receive a share of more than 200,000. It is estimated that this number can be doubled by the time it is officially released.
As for the total sales, Paramount's marketing experts estimate that it can exceed 2 million units. In this way, Ronald can get a share of more than 600,000 with a 1% share.
What if the two producers could get ten times their own, 10% of the sales? That would be more than 6 million.
No, definitely more than that.
After Eisner left Disney, the two producers became one of the few remaining producers at Paramount who could handle blockbuster movies.
With the shrewdness of the two of them, they will definitely get a big share of the movie's box office share.
As for the income from video tapes that was not taken seriously before, the two of them will definitely share more.
Or, even further, Simpson and Bruckheimer might even have the same control over video revenue that George Lucas had over "Star Wars" spin-off revenue.
At that time, the ownership of the "Star Wars" derivative toys belonged to Lucas. Because no one believed that anyone would buy toys derived from such movies.
At that time, derivative toys were usually made of characters from TV series or comics. Because those works were released for a long time, they could lock in a large number of fans to pay for them. Movies, on the other hand, had no chance to form a stable group of fans.
As a group, by the time the toy is made, the audience has almost forgotten about the movie.
Therefore, Lucas obtained the ownership of the derivative toys at a very cheap price. Instead, 20th Century Fox wanted to take a share of the toys from Lucas.
Everyone knows the rest of the story. Lucas became the richest director in Hollywood by relying on his Star Wars characters.
The video tapes of 1987 were like toys derived from the 1977 movie, and were not taken seriously.
Ronald was extremely jealous.
Who could have imagined this?
It would have been nice if I had asked for an additional 1% share, and they would have agreed, right?
A turbulent feeling kept tumbling in his chest.
So much money!
After working hard for so long, and with the help of dreams, the money I earned directly from Hollywood was only two to three million. I was lucky enough to make a fortune in stocks. Even so, it would be more than ten million.
And these two producers, who knew nothing, relied on the performances of Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis and others, their own directors, and the help of the Navy, and they were able to make more money than themselves from video tapes.
If you work hard for a few years, you will make ten times more money.
"I guess these two bastards can earn between 20 and 30 million." Ronald stopped the urge to hit someone and parked the Ferrari on the side of the road.
There was a Blockbuster video rental store right on the roadside. Ronald wanted to see with his own eyes who was buying the video tapes and why so many were sold at once.
A bust of Tom Cruise holding an aviation helmet is standing at the entrance of the store. Next to it is a poster that reads, "Take Top Gun home for only 26.95!"
"Bring me a box." Ronald asked the clerk for a box and counted out two 20-dollar bills to the clerk.
"Please leave your address and name." The clerk took out a reservation form and started filling it out.
"Bud, West Hollywood..." Ronald registered under little Bud's name.
While waiting for the clerk to write the reservation order and give him change, Ronald asked him, "This seems to be a great purchase?"
"Yes, there are a lot of people pre-ordering. We at Blockbuster have priority agreements with distributors, so we can get the goods earlier than you can in supermarkets and 7-11 convenience stores.
Now our manager is still placing additional orders, so we have to pay the full price to get the videotape as soon as possible."
"It's so expensive, but it sells so well?"
US$27 is still a lot of money for an ordinary middle-class family. After all, renting a video tape from Blockbuster and watching it for three nights only costs US$3.
"It's actually not expensive, sir." The clerk, a young man who looked like a high school student working here, said to Ronald.
"At Blockbuster, the rental fee for the first three days is $3, but starting from the fourth day, an additional $3 is added every day. Many people are busy with work and forget to check it out after renting it. By the time they return, it may already be the weekend.
Yes, the fine sometimes exceeds $12.
And this movie is very exciting. I went to the cinema to watch it several times. Some of my classmates also went to the navy to join the army. Each movie ticket costs four or five dollars. If you buy it back, you can watch it every day.
Also, if your friends come to your house for a party, you have to show them some good movies, right? What could be more exciting than 'Top Gun'?
This chapter is not over yet, please click the next page to continue reading the exciting content! There are fighter jets dueling, falling in love with a beautiful teacher, and the interludes are also very good. Just buying the single record of the Berlin band is quite expensive. It costs 10
How many dollars is it?
Moreover, if you buy this video tape and play it hundreds of times, there will be no problem. After all, isn’t it very cheap?”
"When you tell me, it's really cheap." Ronald heard the clerk say this and immediately felt that the price was not expensive.
"Haha, let me put it this way." The clerk was very happy, "Is your video recorder VHS or Beta? VHS? Okay, I'll write it down for you. Here is your change, as well as the reservation receipt. You can present this receipt when the time comes.
Come and receive the goods."
"Thank you", Ronald put the receipt into his wallet.
"Actually, you can also watch more. If you have a video recorder at home, and relatives and friends come to your home as guests, you have to have some good movies to entertain you, right? In fact, you can prepare three or five video tapes, so that if your children come to your home as guests, you will
Their best uncle ever.”
"You're right, but other video tapes are too expensive. The cheapest one costs seventy or eighty dollars." Ronald looked around and looked at the extra code label.
"So the director of Top Gun is a good man, and he sells such a good-looking movie so cheaply. Look over there, those old Stallone movies from ten years ago cost $70 a box. After I watch them, theirs will be
It’s hard to sell. If there’s a 26, who would buy a 70, you’re right.”
Different from the chatty clerk, "nice guy" Ronald seems to have found endless motivation to move forward.
The first thing Ronald did when he jumped in the car and drove home was to call Mi, who was formerly the manager responsible for distribution of video tapes at Weston Pictures and is now the manager of Daydream Pictures and responsible for the distribution business of "Dirty Dancing".
Shell Cannold called.
"Michelle, who did you find to make the video tape when you were in Weston? How much did it cost? Are the sales channels still there?"
"What I'm looking for is the video tape factory in New Jersey. I still have the contacts of video tape rental vendors across the country. What, do you want to make video tapes?"
"Yes, Top Gun broke the sales record for video tapes in one week. After the price was reduced to 30 US dollars, the market was much larger than before. We also want to make a video tape for Dirty Dancing, which costs 30 yuan like them.
Price to sell.”
"It turns out that when I was in Weston, the sales of a movie were generally between 100,000 and 200,000. Occasionally, if a movie exceeded 300,000, it would be considered a big hit. At the price of 30 US dollars, unless the sales could exceed 500,000,
Otherwise, you won’t make money.”
"It must have exceeded one million. It has been on pre-sale for one week and is already close. I think a total of two million boxes can be sold."
"Boss, of course I hope you can produce video tapes. I have a lot of resources here. But I have to remind you that 'Top Gun' was the box office champion last year. This is the key to their success.
If Dirty Dancing is not in the top ten at the box office for the year, we add in marketing costs and the $30 price tag becomes unprofitable."
"Hi, I know..." Ronald calmed down a little, "You should contact the factory first and see how low the cost can be. Also, this time the video tapes are not only available through traditional channels, but also in department stores and supermarkets.
Convenience stores sell it, please help me test it out and make a plan.
If our video tapes can sell half, no, one-third of the sales of Top Gun, we can make a lot of money. You take the lead."
"Haha, I'm going to make a plan right away." Michelle Cannold also felt the smell of money, a lot of money.
"In short, we still need to succeed at the box office first, and let the market decide what happens next."
Ronald called his agent Niceta again, "Rick, damn it, they may have to sell two million boxes, and the two producers are sons of bitches, making a fortune."
"How much?" Niceta jumped up from the bed and asked, "So much?"
"I think this result will shock the industry. I see that the studios of your old films will re-make them on video tapes and sell them. I will look at the contract you signed with them at the time to see how much of the video revenue you can share.
I remember that the last time the Directors Guild and the Screenwriters Guild went on strike, the rights to divide the video tapes were written into the union agreement.
Doing this will create another huge source of income for directors and stars."
"Okay, hurry up."
Ronald immediately felt great. If there was a union agreement, at least the basic residual dividends would not be less. By the way, how did he sign the dividends from the previous movie contract and video tape that he directed?
"What's wrong? Are you going out so late?" Paula Wagner woke up in bed and asked her husband.
"Yeah, Ronald's movie Top Gun, the tape sold out, and I had to go to the office and check all his director's deals."
"Sold out? How much?" Paula also became energetic.
"Probably over two million boxes."
"How much? Two million?" Paula also jumped up.
"Be careful, don't be so excited when you're pregnant." Niceta felt like finding clothes for her wife to put on.
"I'll go to the office with you to look for a contract, and Tom will get one too."