"Sorry, Director Guan, there is no signal during filming in the mountains during the day. How is the situation?"
Hearing Guan Jinpeng's relaxed voice on the phone, He Xin had an idea in his mind. Then his eyes lit up and he unconsciously raised his voice and said, "So both movies have been shortlisted, that's great!"
"One more thing I want to tell you, MK2 has taken a liking to your film." Guan Jinpeng said on the phone.
"ah?"
He Xin was stunned for a moment and couldn't even believe his ears.
MK2, of course he knows, is a famous French film production and distribution company, owns the third largest theater chain in France, and is especially famous for promoting literary and artistic films.
He once became popular with Kieslowski's "Red", "White" and "Blue" trilogy, as well as David Lynch's "Wild at Heart" and "Mulholland Drive".
He has a soft spot for Chinese-language films and has maintained good cooperative relations with literary and artistic figures such as Hou Xiaoxian, Yang Dechang, and Wang Jiawei.
As the birthplace of movies, France not only has the sixth largest movie box office market in the world, but also has nearly two hundred film production companies. However, most of them are small and medium-sized companies, such as France, one of the investors in "Landscape of Love"
Rosen Film Company is a medium-sized film production and distribution company.
Rosen Company is not only an investor in "Landscape of Love", it is also responsible for the overseas distribution of this film. However, such companies generally do not have their own theater chains, and theater chains in France are concentrated in the hands of a few large companies.
, such as Gaumont, EMI, MK2, etc., and of course the famous Woodpecker Company.
Previously, He Xin was thinking about whether he could sell the film "Incense" directly to Lawson Company. Unfortunately, they didn't take any fancy to it at all. They just wanted to help promote it for Guan Jinpeng's sake.
He Xin originally had little hope for this so-called promotion, but he didn't expect news to come out so soon, and it was also the famous MK2.
He quickly asked: "Then what do they mean? Buyout or share?"
There are generally three forms of overseas distribution of movies. But the most common ones are buyout and splitting. Buyout is a one-time deal, just like "Purple Butterfly", which sold to more than 30 countries, and all of them are buyouts.
Stay safe.
As for the so-called share, it mainly refers to those global blockbusters, which generally do not offer high prices to buy out. They usually give a guaranteed minimum price, which fluctuates according to the director's status, such as Xiang Lou Ye and Wang Xiaoshuai.
Prices range from hundreds of thousands to two hundred thousand dollars, and a rookie might only have twenty thousand dollars.
Then, on this basis, the film company will deduct all the publicity and distribution expenses and see how much can be recovered in the end. If there is still a surplus, it can be divided into shares. If not, you can only get a guarantee.
The third form is called agency, which means that you entrust the publisher with full authority to deal with it. You have no control over how they want to deal, whether it is a buyout, dividends, or showing in their own theaters. Then, the other party deducts a certain percentage from the gross profit.
The commission is counted as agency fee, and the rest is given to the producer.
This method is the least risky for the producer and is most likely to obtain the greatest benefits, but the premise is that unless the distributor has enough confidence in the film, it will propose this distribution model.
At this time, for He Xin, the fact that "Incense" was picked up by MK2 was already hitting the ceiling. He didn't even dare to think about the so-called agency distribution method.
At the same time, if a newcomer like Ning Hao is divided into shares, the guaranteed deposit will definitely be extremely low, and the cycle of fund recovery will be long. So from He Xin's perspective, of course it is best to buy out.
"Buyout! MK2 is willing to pay 200,000 euros to buy out the global distribution rights of "Incense"."
He Xin was immediately overjoyed. Two hundred thousand euros is equivalent to 17.8 million yuan! Not only can the cost be recovered, but also a small profit can be made.
But after all, he had opened a small grocery store and done business in his previous life. He knew that this was just their initial offer, and there must be room for negotiation. He hurriedly said: "Then we have been shortlisted for the Upstream Unit this time, and the buyout price must be
Do you need to go higher?"
However, Guan Jinpeng muttered on the phone: "Are you kidding? They must have known that this film was shortlisted, so they quoted this price."
He Xingwen said he was disappointed, but also thought about it. It would be easy for a big company like MK2 to know the shortlist in advance, but he was still a little reluctant and said: "Can't we negotiate the price with them?"
"Of course you can, but I don't think it will be a big increase. Unless your film can win an award or something, it may go up a bit more. But, Ah Xin, you have to think about this carefully."
He Xin knew what Guan Jinpeng's last reminder meant. At the beginning, MK2 bought out the global distribution rights of "Lan Yu" except Hong Kong and Wanwan for US$500,000. Although this price made Guan Jinpeng and Zhang Yongning small
A fortune was made, but more than a year later, the global sales of "Lan Yu", excluding Hong Kong and Wanwan, had reached nearly 20 million US dollars.
This result made Guan Jinpeng regretful. What he didn't expect was that as this niche literary film entered the new century, LGBT became more and more politically correct and naturally became more popular.
If he had gritted his teeth and refused to buy out and chosen a share, even if he didn't need a guaranteed deposit, the share he could get now would have been several half a million.
"If you think about it, buy it out and save yourself a lot of nightmares." Although there are lessons learned from "Lan Yu", He Xin is still decisive.
On the one hand, the main reason is that he has the character of being a rich man at heart, so even if he is reborn, he will not be able to achieve anything big. On the other hand, he also has self-awareness. The film "Incense" is both artistic and topical.
Far inferior to "Lan Yu".
And now he is gradually coming back to his senses. MK2 may have liked this film not only because it is an art film. After all, "Incense" also contains many religious and political comedy elements. You must know that comedy films are particularly popular in France.
popular.
After hanging up Guan Jinpeng's phone, He Xin quickly called Ning Hao. This guy had been jumping up and down anxiously recently, calling him every three days to ask if there was any news.
But the phone rang for a long time and no one answered it. Just when he was about to hang up, he suddenly heard a panting voice: "A Xin, is there any news?"
"What took you so long?"
He Xin has often communicated with director Lu Yue these days, and He Xin was also infected with some Tianjin accents without knowing it.
But he heard Sister Na's voice on the other end of the phone again, and he immediately laughed and teased: "You kid, you started making villains so early!"
"Idle time is also idle, have you all been shortlisted?" Ning Hao was obviously the same as himself before, and he immediately guessed the result from the relaxed tone on the phone.
"That's right, the upstream unit!" He Xin didn't sell out.
"Haha! So we can go to Venice next month?" Ning Hao said excitedly on the phone.
If He Xin initially invested in this film on impulse and now wants to get the money back quickly, then Ning Hao did it purely for fame, and of course he does not deny his pursuit of art.
"Of course! The shortlist will be announced on the official website tomorrow, and there will also be an invitation letter by then!" He Xinye said with a smile.
Not only was he happy that "Incense" was shortlisted, but "Landscape of Love" was also shortlisted for the main competition, which also made him a Grand Slam player whose works were shortlisted for three major European film festivals as an actor, which was extremely satisfying.
He is vain.
"Then can I take my wife with me to see the world?"
"Of course, there is no problem in walking the red carpet together, but you have to pay for your own travel expenses, food and accommodation. There is also good news to tell you..."
He Xin couldn't suppress the smile on his face and told Ning Hao the good news that MK2 had chosen the film "Incense" and wanted to buy it out.
As a result, this guy was silent for a long time after hearing the news, and then he suddenly said: "If it is sold for 200,000 euros, how much can I get?"
"Uh... let me do the math!"
That’s right, brothers will settle the scores tomorrow!
He Xin did a rough calculation and said politely: "If you exclude taxes, I will get the whole amount and you will get the fraction."
"How much is the fraction?" That guy must have been taught math by a physical education teacher, but he didn't even realize it yet.
"About six to seven hundred thousand. If the price can be negotiated higher, the amount could be a little more."
"Damn, there are so many!"
Then I heard Ning Hao scream strangely and said excitedly: "That's enough for me to make a movie. This time I want to make a real film movie."
It's pitiful to say that when Ning Hao used DV to shoot "Incense", he didn't pursue new things like Chief Jia, but purely to save money. Otherwise, with his 200,000 yuan, he might not even be able to buy film.
After all, in an era when digital movies have not yet become popular, film movies are real movies. Although "Incense" was color corrected and transferred to film in the later stage, I am afraid that it is not a real movie in Ning Hao's mind.
"Ah, are you planning to take pictures of crazy... big diamonds?" He Xin asked quickly.
"Hey, how do you know about big diamonds?" Ning Hao asked in surprise, but this time his reaction was very quick, and he immediately said: "Lao Shi told you, right?"
"That's right, I listened to him tell it, and it's a good story! If you plan to film it, then we can work together again and I'll act in it," He Xin said hurriedly.
He knew how popular "Crazy Stone" was back then, and he didn't want to miss this good opportunity. Although Bao Shihong, played by Guo Tao in the original version, was a bit older, this was not a problem at all, as long as the script was a little bit older.
Just add some modifications and it's done.
Especially this time, it is rare for me to have a movie that can be released in China, but the box office of "Purple Butterfly" is very unsatisfactory. It has only been released for just one week, and theaters in big cities like Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Beijing have already begun to download the movie.
Reflected.
Last night, he made a special call to Lou Ye and asked about the box office situation. It turned out that the total box office was just over two million. But when he heard on the phone, Lou Ye still had an understatement of not taking the box office seriously.
He was really worried that he had been wronged by Shanghai Film Studio.
You must know that the total investment in "Purple Butterfly" is as high as 30 million. Although the French accounted for the majority, after all, the overseas distribution was sold in more than 30 countries, which was enough for the French to recover their investment. But the Shanghai Film Studio also invested nearly 1,000
10,000, their profit is the domestic box office, I'm afraid they will lose everything this time.
At the same time, the popularity of "Conquest" and "Jade Goddess of Mercy" also made him realize that just making those literary films is not a long-term solution. If he wants to gain a foothold in this industry and continue to be successful, he must also have a career in the industry.
Works that have proven themselves at the domestic box office.
Just like Qin Hao in later generations. In my memory, he should be regarded as a grand slam player whose works were shortlisted for the three major European film festivals. But later on, if he hadn't married Yi Nengjing, who was ten years older than him, who would have known him?
Him? Of course, he later became popular because of the web drama "Undocumented Crime", but that's a story later.
Just when He Xin was full of expectations, Ning Hao on the other end of the phone said quietly: "I'm sorry, Ah Xin, I haven't finished the book "Big Diamond" yet. Nana and I have recently saved a new book.
I wrote a book about children on the grassland. Well, this... there is no suitable role for you."
Where did a new script appear?
He Xin couldn't help but ask: "Then you mean to make this book first?"
"That's what I think for the time being. After all, this book is almost ready, and it's relatively simple. Of course, we have to wait until we get the money." Ning Hao said.
"So next time you're going to ditch me and go it alone?" He Xin said a little uncomfortable.
"No, I don't mean that." Ning Hao said hurriedly, "I'm afraid you won't want to, after all, the risk is too great. Besides, before I received your call, I was still worried, for fear of losing the right
I can’t help you.”
Knowing that Ning Hao's subsequent plan was not the "Crazy Stone" as he imagined, He Xin's interest waned somewhat and said: "Okay, let's talk about this next time we meet."
…
"morning!"
"morning!"
The next morning, He Xin came back from running, took a shower in the room, changed clothes and went out to go downstairs for breakfast. He happened to meet Shu Qi in the corridor who had just gone out.
Speaking of which, he originally liked to taste local snacks at the stalls outside, but he still complained about the big star in front of him. It has been almost a week since the filming started, but there are still Hong Kong paparazzi wandering around, and they can't interview him.
Shu Qi actually came to harass him. He had been harassed by paparazzi twice while eating breakfast outside, and he was extremely annoyed.
"Axin, congratulations!" Shu Qi said with a smile.
He Xin was stunned for a moment, and then said in surprise: "Sister Huihui, you are quite well-informed!"
As the two became familiar with each other, their titles changed from Mr. He and Miss Lin to A Xin and Sister Huihui.
"Miaoxue and I are also friends!"
Only then did He Xin remember that Shu Qi also starred in "Sometimes Dancing" directed by Kwan Jinpeng, in addition to Li Jiaxin as the female lead. Moreover, the assistant director of that film was Li Miaoxue.
Then Shu Qi looked a little regretful and said, "Actually, when Miao Xue read this script to me, I didn't have the heart to act, so I didn't take it. Now that I think about it, I really regret it!"