Exploiting Hollywood 1980

  Chapter 943 Videotape is the new movie

  The movie Roger Coleman is talking about is a teen movie "Heathers" that reflects high school students. When Ronald was at New World Company, after watching the first-cut version that had just been completed, he felt that it was completely different from his debut film, "Fast-paced Richmond Middle School", which was also a youth film.

  In the films I filmed, although there are many confusions common to teenagers, 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.

   This "Sisters of Sid" is completely different, with a dark tone from beginning to end. The heroine, the dark-haired Veronica, always wanted to join the foursome of social female Wasps in high school, the Sid Sisters. These rich girls all have the words Sid in 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 made friends with him. When the Sid sisters were testing Veronica, Veronica refused the project that was too embarrassing. In the end, Chandler of the Sisters vowed to discredit Veronica.

   At this time, JD came out and thought of many ways to avenge Veronica. In an accident, Veronica drank sewer cleaner for Chandler, causing the latter to die. JD mocked up the notes, faking Chandler's suicide.

  After that, JD became even more unscrupulous. He half-coerced Veronica to kill several sisters and the boys they dated in a row, and seemed to be preparing to fake Veronica's own suicide. Veronica started to panic.

   When Veronica was about to expose JD's true colors, she found that JD brought a bomb to school, and JD blew herself up in the madness. Veronica also said goodbye to the sick high school girl's social mentality.

   "This movie..." Ronald chooses words, the Heed sisters give him a very strange feeling, "like a teenage version of Kubrick's 'A Clockwork Orange'..."

   "Well, if you're not satisfied, we can still talk about the price, or do you want to see other movies?"

  The distribution department at Shinsegae has a very low profile right now. Many companies have been implicated by the downturn in Hollywood. Now there is a person who is willing to buy the distribution rights of the movie. Everything is easy to negotiate.

  Because of the legal dispute between Roger Coleman and the boss of New World, the joint venture between the two to buy the film distribution rights was taken over by Ronald. He dropped it off to Michele Cannold for research. Soon Kannold came to Ronald with the information, saying that the movie was worth buying.

   In order to express his sincerity in wanting to buy, Ronald also attended the screening in person. Unexpectedly, it was a very dark movie. Although the director's debut work, the technical level of this movie is very good, and the black-haired girl is also very characteristic, which is easy for the audience to remember.

   These are all factors that help the movie sell well, but the biggest unfavorable factor is the content of this movie, and people don't know how to market it well.

   Romance? It turned out that it was too exaggerated to see the male protagonist carrying a dynamite bag to school and blowing himself up. Horror film? Are there any monsters that are scary at the beginning? This movie mainly focuses on the psychological factors of teenagers in school, and gradually breaks away from normal school life, showing a kind of alternative fear.

   "Please give us a little time, I want to discuss with my deputy", Ronald politely asked the people in the new world to discuss with Kannold in private.

   "Do you still think this movie has the potential to be a big hit?" Ronald asked Cannold.

   "Yes, I still insist. This film will sell well in the video tape market. As for the box office of the cinema, I am not sure."

   "Is that so? Why?" Ronald couldn't figure out 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 themes are the inspiration and origin of the new Hollywood era."

   Cannold didn't answer Ronald, but asked him a question, but he didn't really ask for knowledge of Ronald's film history, but he quickly answered it himself.

"Because at that time, going to the cinema was not an option, but a necessity on weekends or evenings. When we got to the cinema, we decided to see which movie. Men could watch westerns, women could watch farces, young people could watch romantic dramas, Middle-aged people can also watch ethical dramas. In short, everyone has their own hobbies, and it’s not too late to decide when they get there.

  So the studio can tailor various movies for various audiences to meet their needs. As long as your movie has characteristics, there will always be some audiences who like it, and low-cost productions can also sell for money. So there are many second-tier studios that specialize in making a certain type of film. "

   Ronald nodded, he knew all of this. After the advent of television, movie theaters are no longer a daily entertainment venue. Audiences have to know that there is a movie before they consider whether to go out to the movie theater. This also makes the role of the star special. When the audience hears the name of the star, they will want to go to the cinema, so they are so expensive.

   "Nowadays, video tape rental stores are very large, with various types of video tapes in different areas, and there are hundreds of movies to choose from in each area..." 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 families continued to increase year by year. Recently, more and more Blockbuster chain stores have been opened, which in turn has increased the sales of video recorders year after year.

   According to the latest statistics, the number of video recorders in the United States has exceeded 57 million. The annual new sales also began to exceed 10 million. The audience has also developed the habit of browsing Blockbuster to see what new films are available for rent when they return home from get off work.

  This is very close to the habit of audiences going to the cinema to watch some movies in the 1930s and 1940s.

   Ronald decided to test the videotape market with "The Sid Sisters". This type of low-cost film is much easier to shoot than a large film. If the sales are good, it can form an assembly line for large-scale shooting, so the business will boom?

   "We can buy the distribution rights and videotape copyrights of this film, as well as all subsequent derivative rights, but I have a request. The director must re-edit and add more comedy styles so that the whole is not so dark."

   "The price is still according to our quotation?" The manager of the new world smiled, and the movie was finally going to be sold.

   "Talk to Mr. Cannold, he will discuss the details of the purchase with you."

   Ronald laughed and threw the technical details to Michele Cannold. The New World is in great trouble right now, and it depends on Kannold's ability to take advantage of fire and looting to cut off from it. Anyway, most of this matter will be handled by him in the future.

   "The three million 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..."

  Michel Cannold cut it in half when he came up. Ronald watched the other manager's smile disappear quickly, and then slowly discussed the details on the budget with Cannold, comparing item by item.

  New World Pictures, which was once managed by Roger Coleman for more than ten years, has abandoned Coleman's cautious style since it was acquired by a group of lawyers, and began to use the company's high-quality assets to package and list on Wall Street.

  After it went public, although there were no major productions, it was still sought after on Wall Street like a cannon. Just in the last year, they have acquired several companies in several different businesses in the film industry.

  First, a pharmaceutical company called "Rhythm Industries" declared bankruptcy, and Shinsegae acquired part of the assets of this company that bought Spiderman vitamin chewable tablets as its main business. That is, Marvel Entertainment, the Spider-Man comic that Minahan Golan wants to shoot.

  Then they integrated this part of the assets, obtained a higher stock price and stock index, and took advantage of this high stock market value opportunity to spend more than 4 million to acquire a studio of the Canadian film company Lionsgate.

   Then they bought an educational film maker, Learning Company. It seems that a large-scale giant including production, distribution, and various films is about to take shape.

  The final piece of the puzzle is the spin-off of the movie—the toy company. They also flirted with buying Mattel and Kenner last year, two of America's largest toymakers.

  But the sudden stock market crash shattered this soon-to-be-formed dream. The stock price of Shinsegae fell below one dollar, gradually sliding towards penny stocks. The huge interest brought by the use of financial leverage in large-scale acquisitions has brought the company to the brink of bankruptcy.

  This "Sisters of Sid", it seems that New World can't even get the funds for the release. Instead of going to court for breach of contract, it is better to take advantage of the situation where someone is looking at it and exchange some funds.

This kind of continuous use of leveraged mergers and acquisitions is like snowballing, buying an asset, and then hyping it up, allowing the investment market to accept the new asset will bring a synergy to the company as a whole, drive up the stock price, and then use the new high valuation to do the merger. other businesses.

  In the era of low interest rates, this tacit game was played again and again on Wall Street, using a junk bond tool. Raise funds in the investment market with high-yield bonds.

  However, this kind of game encountered the big stock market crash last year, and the cycle of continuous acquisitions was broken. Once stopped, the interest alone could bankrupt the company.

  New World suddenly died like this, and now its assets can be selected by anyone, it is simply a large garage sale site.

  Minahan’s Cannon Films was actually almost trapped. Fortunately, he also bought a lot of theaters, and the valuation of these assets will not depreciate too much. Coupled with the capital injection from the EMI company in Hair Country, it can support it until now.

  Cannold successfully negotiated the price below two million dollars. Ronald felt that at least it was not a loss. The quality of the movie itself was good, and if he found someone to promote it to the TV station, he would probably be able to pay back the cost.

   "They also asked me if I was interested in other properties of Daydream New World, such as Marvel Comics and Study Group?" Michelle Cannold brought a new inquiry from New World.

   "I need to ask someone and do some research." Ronald knew that the copyrights of this kind of old-fashioned creative organization are extremely complicated, and he doesn't know how many hands have been sold in history. The legal clauses in the middle can't be understood without hiring the top Hollywood lawyers. There are countless pitfalls in it. One clause may lead to millions of dollars in profit or loss.

  …

   Got back the publishing contract, Ronald went to see Roger Coleman.

"It's great. I like this movie very much. As long as there are good reviews when it is released in theaters, it is estimated that the cost can be recovered in the TV station's pre-sale market." Coleman is familiar with selling copyrights, and he knows it after watching it Roughly how much can be sold.

   "I plan to ask the director to modify the tone of the film and add comedy elements. After all, the audience of this kind of teenage film likes horror and comedy, but they don't like heavy." Ronald told Coleman his thoughts.

   "I agree, I will talk to the director Michael Lehman." Coleman thought for a while, agreeing with Ronald that this movie that reflects the cruelty of youth, it is better to make the tone a little lighter. Treat it like a game, so that at least it won't cause trouble like A Clockwork Orange and cause negative perceptions in society.

   "By the way, New World is now in bankruptcy and liquidation. Are you going to visit the supermarket?" Ronald asked Coleman, remembering the invitation.

"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 the name to me, and I happen to be someone who doesn't struggle with the name. For the box office, I can buy two Seconds decided to change the name of the movie"

   "Hehe..." Ronald thought to himself, it would be a good idea to see New World's newly filmed and purchased film copyrights after Coleman's sale. He took the idea to personal attorney Lindsay, who approached gray-eyed Mitch Kanter in Los Angeles to do a research report.

"Except for their office buildings, 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 the new boss of New World, and won the lawsuit. From there He received another hundreds of thousands of compensation, and he stopped dealing with that side after that.

   "An educational film company, a Canadian studio, and a comic book company. Are you interested? We can jointly bid."

   "Don't be kidding, I can't afford those things, let me make science and education films? Or go to Vancouver to run a studio? Assets like comic companies are also difficult to manage."

   "Huh, if you're not interested, I'll see what new movies you've made since you sold the company. Videos are a good business."

"Hey, indeed, video tapes have gradually replaced drive-in theaters and become the primary source of income for my company." Roger Coleman lamented that now the video tape business is divided into sales, unlike drive-in theaters that have fixed advance payments. His current filming business cycle is too slow, and he can't start working on 20 or 30 films a year like before.

   "When you were young, when you didn't have a TV, what was it like to watch a movie? I heard that on weekends, at night, you would go to the movie theater if you had nothing to do. There are many choices, so you can go to see it if you like it?"

   "Ha, when I was young, television had already gradually entered the family. When I was a child, I went to the kind of theater you mentioned." Roger Coleman recalled the grand occasion of going to the cinema when he was a child.

  At that time, there was no TV, and when we were bored, we would invite friends to go to the cinema. Movies at that time were not divided into shows, you could go in and watch them after you bought a ticket, often what you saw was half-played, and then you could continue to watch after the show was over, and the plot when you came in was considered complete.

   And there is no limit to how long you can watch a ticket. If you want, you can sit inside and watch several movies. It is indeed the best time for the movie business.

   "It really looks like what Cannold said, the video tape is the new movie, the new Hollywood." Ronald has greater confidence in the business of selling video tapes.

  (end of this chapter)