The movie Roger Corman was talking about was "Heathers", a youth movie about high school students. After Ronald watched the newly completed preliminary version at New World Company, he felt that he was in the same boat.
The debut film I filmed, "Fast-paced Richmond High," which was also a teen movie, was completely different.
Although there are many common confusions among teenagers in the movies I shot, there are also some cruel aspects, and many sensitive themes, but the overall tone is still upward. In the end, the future of each protagonist is also upward, bright, and full of hope.
But this "Sid Sisters" is completely different, with a dark tone from beginning to end. The heroine, the black-haired Veronica, has always wanted to join the four social wasps in high school, Sid.
Sisters Gang. These rich girls all have the word "Sid" on their names, which is a sign of joining the gang.
At this time, a very rebellious boy Jason came to the school. He asked others to call him JD, and Veronica dated him. When the Sid Sisters tested Veronica, the too difficult project made Veronica...
Veronica refused. In the end, Chandler from the Sisterhood vowed to ruin Veronica's reputation.
At this time, JD came out and thought of many ways to help Veronica get revenge. In an accident, Veronica drank sewer cleaner to Chandler, causing the latter's death. JD simulated the notes and pretended to be Chandler.
Le's suicide.
After that, JD became even more unscrupulous. He semi-coerced Veronica into killing several of the sister gang and the boys she was dating, and seemed to be preparing to fake Veronica's own suicide. Veronica began to panic.
When Veronica was about to expose JD's true face, she discovered that JD had brought a bomb to school. In the madness, JD blew himself up. Veronica also said goodbye to the sick social mentality of high school girls.
"This movie..." Ronald chose his words. The Sid Sisters gave him a very strange feeling, "It's like a teenage version of Kubrick's 'A Clockwork Orange'..."
"Well, if you're not satisfied, we can talk about the price, or you can watch other movies?"
The distribution department in New World is currently in a very low position. The downturn in Hollywood has implicated many companies. Now that there is someone willing to buy the film distribution rights, everything can be easily negotiated.
Because of the legal dispute between Roger Corman and the boss of New World, Ronald took over the joint venture between the two to buy the film distribution rights. He left it to Michelle Cannold to do research.
Soon Cannold came to Ronald with the information and said that the movie was worth buying.
In order to show his sincerity that he really wanted to buy it, Ronald also attended the movie viewing in person. Who knew that what he saw was a very dark movie. Although the film's technical level was very good for the director's debut, the dark
The girl's hairstyle is also very distinctive, and it is easy for the audience to remember it.
These are all factors that contribute to the movie's success, but the biggest disadvantage is the content of the movie, which makes people wonder how to market it well.
Romance movie? It was too exaggerated to see the male protagonist carrying a bag of explosives to school and blowing himself up. Horror movie? Is there any monster that scares people from the beginning? This movie mainly targets the psychological factors of teenagers in school.
, gradually putting aside the normal school life, showing an alternative kind of fear.
"Please give us a moment, I want to discuss it with my deputy," Ronald politely asked the New World people to discuss it privately with Cannold.
"Do you still think this movie has the potential to be a hit?" Ronald asked Cannold.
"Yes, I still insist. This movie will sell very well in the video market. As for the box office in the theater, I'm not sure."
"Is that so? Why?" Ronald couldn't understand the difference.
"Do you know why there were so many colorful genre films in Hollywood before the 1950s? Especially the 70-minute B-level films, many of which were the inspiration and origin of the new Hollywood era."
Cannold did not answer Ronald, but asked him a question. However, he did not really want to test Ronald's film history knowledge, but answered quickly himself.
"Because at that time, going to the cinema was not an option, but a necessity on weekends or at night. When we arrived at the cinema, we decided which movie to watch. Men could watch westerns, women could watch comedies, and young people could watch romantic dramas.
Middle-aged people can also watch ethics dramas. In short, everyone has their own hobbies, and it's not too late to decide where to go.
Therefore, studios can tailor-make various movies to meet the needs of various audiences. As long as your movie has characteristics, there will always be some audiences who like it, and low-cost productions can also make money. So there are many second-tier movies.
A studio specializes in making a certain type of movie."
Ronald nodded, he knew this. After the advent of television, cinemas are no longer a daily entertainment venue. The audience has to know that there is a movie before they will consider whether to go out to the cinema. This also makes the role of stars special. The audience listens
When you hear the name of a star, you want to go to the cinema, that's why they are so expensive.
"Nowadays, video rental stores are very large. They store various types of video tapes in different areas. Each area has hundreds of movies to choose from..." Michelle Cannold's next words revealed his thoughts.
"Is that so?" Ronald thought about it when he went to Blockbuster. It was true that the popularity of video tapes in American households continued to increase year by year. Recently, more and more Blockbuster chain stores were opened, which in turn increased the popularity of video recorders.
Sales volume has increased year after year.
According to the latest statistics, the number of video recorders in the United States has exceeded 57 million. New sales every year have begun to exceed 10 million. Audiences have also developed the habit of shopping at Blockbuster to see what is available when they come home from get off work. New movies can be rented.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! This is very similar to the audience's habit of going to the cinema in the 1930s and 1940s to see what movies were available.
Ronald decided to test the video market with "Sid Sisters". This low-cost, specific type of film is much easier to shoot than a blockbuster. If the sales are good, it can form an assembly line for large-scale shooting.
, won’t business pick up like this?
"We can buy the distribution rights and video rights of this film, as well as all subsequent derivative rights, but I have a request. The director must re-edit and add more comedy style to make the whole thing less dark."
"As for the price, should we follow our quotation?" New World's manager beamed. The movie was finally sold.
"You should talk to Mr. Cannold. He will discuss the details of the purchase with you."
Ronald smiled and threw the technical details to Michelle Cannold. The New World was in a lot of trouble right now. How much he could cut from it would depend on Cannold's ability.
Anyway, he will mostly handle this matter from now on.
"The three million U.S. dollars you mentioned is the shooting cost on paper. We are all in the industry. We cannot accept this price. Our quotation is 1.5 million..."
Michelle Cannold cut it in half when he came up. Ronald watched the other manager's smile disappear quickly, and then he and Cannold slowly discussed the details of the budget sheet, comparing item by item.
New World Pictures, which had been run by Roger Corman for more than ten years, abandoned Corman's cautious style after being acquired by a group of lawyers, and began to use the company's high-quality assets to package them and list them on Wall Street.
After going public, although they didn't make any big productions, they were still as popular as cannons on Wall Street. Just last year, they acquired several companies with different businesses in the film industry.
First, a pharmaceutical company called "Rhythm Industries" declared bankruptcy. New World acquired part of the assets of this company whose main business was buying Spider-Man chewable vitamin tablets. It was also the owner of the Spider-Man comic that Minahan Golan wanted to make.
of Marvel Entertainment.
Then they integrated these assets, obtained higher stock prices and stock indexes, and took advantage of the high stock market value to spend more than 4 million to acquire a studio belonging to the Canadian film company Lionsgate.
Then they bought an educational film producer, Learning Company. It was like a large-scale giant that included production, distribution, and various films was about to take shape.
The last piece of the puzzle is the spin-off of the movie - the toy company. Last year they also had the idea of acquiring Mattel and Kenner, two of America's largest toy manufacturers.
However, the sudden stock market crash shattered this dream that was about to take shape. The stock price of New World fell below one dollar and gradually slid into penny stocks. The huge interest brought by financial leverage in large-scale acquisitions brought the company to the brink of bankruptcy.
For this "Sid Sisters", it seems that New World can't even get out the funds for the issuance. Instead of going to court for breach of contract, it would be better to exchange for some funds while someone is interested in it.
This kind of continuous use of leveraged mergers and acquisitions is like a snowball. It acquires an asset and then hypes it up. Let the investment market accept the new assets, which will bring a synergy to the company as a whole, drive up the stock price, and then use the new high valuation to make mergers and acquisitions.
Other enterprises.
In the era of low interest rates, this tacit game was played again and again on Wall Street, using junk bonds as a tool. High-interest bonds were used to raise funds in the investment market.
However, this kind of game encountered last year's major stock market crash, and the cycle of continuous acquisitions was suddenly broken. Once it stopped, the interest alone could bankrupt the company.
New World suddenly died like this. Now its assets are available for anyone to choose from. It is simply a large-scale garage sale.
Minahan's Cannon Pictures was actually almost trapped. But fortunately, he also bought a lot of theaters, so the valuation of this part of the assets will not depreciate too much. Coupled with the capital injection from EMI in China, it can
Supported till now.
Cannold successfully negotiated the price to less than two million US dollars. Ronald felt that at least it was not a loss. The quality of the film itself was good. If he could find someone to promote it to a TV station, he would probably be able to make back his money.
"They also asked me if I would be interested in other assets of Daydream New World, such as Marvel Comics and Study Group?" Michelle Cannold brought a new inquiry to New World.
"I need to ask someone about this and do some research." Ronald knew that the copyrights of this kind of old-fashioned creative institutions are extremely complicated. I don't know how many hands they have been sold in history. The legal terms in the middle do not require hiring.
Even the top legal teams in Hollywood don't understand it. There are countless traps in it, and one clause may lead to millions of dollars in profits or losses.
…
After getting his publishing contract, Ronald went to see Roger Corman.
"It's great. I like this movie very much. As long as there are good reviews when it is released in theaters, the cost will probably be recovered in the TV station's pre-sale market." Coleman is very familiar with selling copyrights. You will know after watching it.
Approximately how many can be sold.
"I plan to ask the director to modify the tone of the film and add comedy elements. After all, the audience for this kind of youth movie likes horror and comedy, but they don't like heaviness." Ronald told Coleman his thoughts.
"I agree, I will talk to the director Michael Lehmann." Coleman thought for a moment and agreed with Ronald that for this movie that reflects the cruelty of youth, it is best to make the tone a little lighter.
It feels like a game, so at least it won't cause trouble like A Clockwork Orange and cause negative perceptions in society.
"By the way, New World is in bankruptcy and liquidation now. Do you plan to go to the supermarket?" Ronald remembered the invitation and asked Coleman.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "All my important things in the new world, the copyright of the movie, I took away when it was sold. He only has the emotional value of his name to me.
, and I happen to be a person who doesn’t worry about names. For the sake of box office, I can decide to change the name of the movie in two seconds.”
"Haha..." Ronald thought to himself that it would be a good idea to take a look at the movie rights that New World had newly shot and purchased after Coleman sold it. He gave the idea to his private lawyer Lindsay and asked her to work with the Los Angeles
The gray-eyed Mickey Kanter was approached to do a research report.
"Besides their office building, what else is New World selling? I know they have bought a lot of assets in the past few years." Roger Coleman fought a lawsuit with New World's new owner and won the lawsuit. From there,
After receiving hundreds of thousands more in compensation, he stopped having contact with them.
"An educational film company, a Canadian studio, and a comic company. Are you interested? We can bid jointly."
"Don't be kidding. I can't afford those things. Do you want me to make science and education films? Or run a studio in Vancouver? It's difficult to run an asset like a comic company."
"Ha, if you're not interested, I'll take a look at the new movies and video tapes you've made since you sold the company. It's a good business."
"Hey, it's true that video tapes have gradually replaced drive-in theaters and become my company's primary source of income." Roger Coleman lamented that the current video tape business is based on profit sharing after sales, unlike drive-in theaters that have a fixed advance payment.
His current filmmaking business cycle is too slow, and he cannot produce twenty or thirty films a year like before.
"When you were young, before there was a TV, what was it like to watch movies at that time? I heard that on weekends and in the evenings, you would go to the cinema if you had nothing to do. There are many choices. You can go and watch if you like it?"
"Ha, when I was young, television had actually begun to gradually enter the family. When I was a child, I went to the theater you mentioned." Roger Corman recalled the grand occasion of going to the theater as a child.
There was no TV at that time, so when everyone was bored, they would go to the cinema with their friends. At that time, the movies were not divided into screenings. You could go in and watch the movie after buying a ticket. What you saw was often halfway through, and you could continue watching after the movie was over.
, the plot is considered complete when you see yourself coming in.
And there is no limit to how long you can watch when you buy a ticket. If you want, you can sit in and watch several movies. This is indeed the best time for movie business.
"It looks like what Cannold said, video tapes are the new movies, the new Hollywood." Ronald became more confident in the business of selling video tapes.