Best Actor

    "That's right, common behavior," Vladimir seemed to have not had such a pleasant chat for a long time, and immediately began to speak with great interest, ""Who Framed Roger Rabbit", 70 million The cost of about 300 million yuan at the global box office, the loss on the book; "Rain Man", the cost of about 25 million, the global box office of more than 350 million, the loss on the book; "Forrest Gump", the cost of about 55 million, More than 650 million global box office, losses on the books..."

    "Wait, wait!" Sean interrupted, the more and more something was wrong, "You said that these classic productions all have losses written on the books? How is this possible! Otherwise Paramount , and Tom Hanks, how do they profit from it?!"

    “Of course they make a profit,” Vladimir said calmly. “You should know that the profit has been divided up before the accounts are made.”

    “…Yes, I know roughly,” Sean took a deep breath, “but…what about Wall Street investors?”

    "Of course it's a loss, the ledger is there, they can check it." Vladimir laughed, "Every expense is clear, although the box office and cost are so different It’s big, but the production company is indeed losing money. Making a movie is a gambling act, and no one can guarantee that a movie will sell 100% of the time, so since you are involved, you must abide by the rules of the game and be willing to admit defeat.”

    "Damn." Sean couldn't help covering his forehead. He never imagined that in addition to ordinary actors, Hollywood-style ledgers could also be used by Wall Street, film companies...especially big producers The studio must be too greedy.

     "Of course, it's not an investor who doesn't make money at all, but it's not much, and the cake is not big." Vladimir raised his hands at this time, "In the On Wall Street, they have the final say, and in Hollywood, we have the final say.”

    Then, he put on a polite tone: "This is the rule of Hollywood, Sean, we are used to making movies with other people's money."

    "So you hired a financial director with an annual salary of 200,000, right?" Sean, who had adjusted his mood, asked.

    "Yes, an accountant who is good at making ledgers is a good accountant," Vladimir shrugged, "I've worked at Bowei for so many years. More than you think."

    "It seems that I am very lucky to have you as the general manager." Sean said in a half-joking tone.

    "So, why don't you try, Sean, find your relationship with the bank, set up a production company, and then use it as a mortgage to get a loan? Of course, you can also get investment. Yes, but the first one doesn't need to worry about the box office." Vladimir once again showed that meaningful smile.

    Shawn who bowed his head and thought did not notice it, and then raised his head again after a while: "If the production company invested alone, shouldn't the situation we just said about restarting happen?"

    "Well...of course," Vladimir was stunned for a moment, "If the production company invests its own money, the ledger will be made by itself. No matter how it is arranged, the profit will be made by itself. isn't it?"

    "Then that's it," Sean stood up, "Take this script, then make a budget, and then calculate the actual expenses after various deductions based on this budget, and tell the number to Me, by myself."

    "You do it yourself?" Vladimir was even more surprised, "You're not kidding, Sean, you need to know..."

    "I'm serious, Todd," Sean smiled, then stood up, "I've learned a lot from talking with you, obviously, those investment methods and financing The methods are not appropriate. If we make joint production with other small companies, if we cannot get the power to do accounting, then we may be excluded from the core of the cake by the other party. As for financing, pre-sale of issuance rights can be considered, but I don’t have that many connections, and I’m only under Miramax now; the conditions of the mortgage on the delivery contract are too harsh, I don’t want to spend a lot of time and energy, but the big studios take away the fruits of my victory; as for the loan And the way you're talking about passing it on to the bank is really tempting, but there's no doubt that that's a game that only big studios can afford, and for my small production company now, it's the first thing to do now to make the first movie and then let it come out.”

    Vladimir looked at him with some surprise: "You really plan to pay the money yourself? Don't you think about any other way? Even..."

    "I know what you're trying to say, Todd," Sean smiled meaningfully this time, "but, I like this movie very much."

    He said and walked out: "That's it, give me a message as soon as possible."

    After Sean left, Vladimir recovered, and the unexpected expression still did not subside.

    "Interesting guy..." He tapped his fingers on the table and said so.

    In the past, it was about bank mortgage financing, and then deliberately created a high deficit and passed the loss on, so as to lose the loan... Well, it should be a clever way of accounting to transfer the loan. In short, those remarks are largely testing Sean. If you really use loan financing to make a movie, it is a very complicated operation process. It does not mean that you can get a loan by setting up a company.

    As I said at the beginning, as I have worked in the production department of United Arts, I have worked in the distribution department of Bowei Pictures for many years, and I should have been able to compete for the position of director Todd Vladimir , The reason why I came to serve as the general manager of such a newly established small production company is because I think Sean is interesting.

    At the same time, as Sean thought, he didn't plan to do it for too long. With Vladimir's qualifications, although he was forced to resign because of a power struggle, even if he couldn't go to a big studio, a film company like New Line would definitely be rushing to get it.

    However, the arrogant Vladimir has nothing to do with Hollywood. He took a rest for more than a year before he came out again. It is inevitable that he hopes to make achievements to show himself first, tell me All are still great on their own.

    So, what better way to promote it than to make a great movie for a small, fledgling company? Of course, there are also risks. Success is of course "Vladimir proves himself again", but failure will become "Vladimir has been devastated after leaving Bowei."

    This is a big win. For Vladimir, it is either a vigorous re-appearance or a complete departure from Hollywood, and Sean looks very ambitious and his eyes are quite lofty, don't The actors of 2019 did not want to fully equip their shell companies with the basic departments.

    But when I started talking about the first movie today, the other party seemed quite naive in some aspects, such as knowing the meaning of the Hollywood-style ledger, but also harboring unrealistic ideas. Therefore, he deliberately expressed the means of loan financing in a way of exaggerating the results but understating the previous operation, and wanted to try Sean to see how he would choose.

    The result was a surprise to him. He originally thought that even if Sean would refuse, he would choose to jointly invest with other companies, but he did not expect that he would actually want to invest solely by himself. This is too strange, not to say that there are no wholly-owned films. Many low-cost independent films are wholly-owned. However, the investor has to bear a huge risk. If there is a loss, he has to bear it completely; , also has a certain impact on the prospects of the film.

    The production of a movie is only one link, and the distribution is another link. The North American film industry produces many movies every year, but not all of them can be released in theaters, which requires strong 's publisher. Often, a film that is funded by several companies can not only share the risk, but also expand the network and connect with a good distributor.

    Similarly, inviting big names to play roles in movies can easily gain the favor of distributors, and movies with stars are always more likely to generate profits than movies without stars. Unlike big studios, independent films can sell their distribution rights before they start production, so they won’t be able to attract distributors, so in order to release them smoothly, they try their best to invite big-name actors, and big-name actors Also happy to be able to participate in low-paying performances, on the one hand to show acting skills, on the other hand to earn word of mouth.

      .

    "Could it be that he plans to let Miramax publish it?" Vladimir thought so, but then shook his head, according to the information he got, Sean and Miramax have not yet So close.

    "That's... wanting to use my connections?" He thought again, and nodded.

    After all, Vladimir was the deputy director of the distribution department of Bowei Pictures, and he must know a lot of people in this regard. If Sean pinned his hopes on him, it might not be a channel.

    "No wonder when it comes to financing by means of pre-sale of distribution rights, there is no mention of using my contacts to pre-sell with publishers. Do you want me to play a role at a critical time? Leaning on the high-backed chair, Vladimir said this, and then laughed, "It's very insightful, even if I go around to solicit favors, I can't guarantee that the distribution rights will be sold first. Human affection is used in key links."

    Sean's appearance reappeared in his mind, accompanied by the phrase "I am very optimistic about this movie", quite confident, and he had only been exposed to the script for a few hours.

    "Interesting guy..." Vladimir put away his smile and said this again.

    Is there a future for this script called My Big Greek Wedding? Of course there is. He said before that romantic comedies will always have a market. The key is whether they can produce new ideas. This script just shows a completely different style from the American wedding. Even if it won't sell well, the chance of losing money is still there. Should be small.

    Even so, even if Vladimir decides to use this to win, he will not be as decisive and confident as Sean said. It is really interesting, how much confidence does he have?