Hollywood Road

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Because of the impact of 9/11, Hollywood was deserted in September. Not many people pay attention to any new film releases, and no one cares about which male celebrity and which female celebrity is. The focus of the United States and the world is on New York. Above the ruins of Manhattan, and the films released in early September and now, regardless of the cast and production scale, there will be no second result except for the street.

Although the movie market is deserted, and many distribution companies are all alone, Fox Searchlight has a rare excitement this year.

Although "Chain Saw" was screened in theaters for eight weeks before being forced to go down, the dazzling results are enough to excite many people and benefit from it at the same time.

"Sit down, Tony."

Seeing Tony Guzman walking into the office, Godin Clyde was extremely kind, "What is Murphy up to lately?"

Tony Guzman blushed, as if he was a teenager, "In addition to asking us for a box office share, he is preparing for a new project."

"Oh?" Godin Clyde became interested immediately, "Do you know the specific content?"

"He didn't disclose." Tony Guzman shook his head, "I went to Stanton Studio yesterday, and he said that after the script and the general plan are completed, he will show us."

Godin Clyde said categorically, "Keep in touch with Murphy!"

Obviously, Murphy Stanton is a director on the rise.

"I understand." Tony Guzman said.

A small-cost horror film with a production cost of only 800,000 US dollars, finally won 61.89 million US dollars in the box office from North America, and it is not the way of "Blair the Witch" relying on the tricks of the distribution company. Such a director deserves the attention of any company.

Just as Tony Guzman thought so, Godin Clyde suddenly changed the subject, "The marketing department has a new position of deputy director."

Hearing this, Tony Guzman's eyes lit up. This is his own opportunity!

Sure enough, Godin Clyde said again, "You were the first to recommend "Chain Saw". You have done a great job for the company this time, and I have recommended you to the board of directors.

Tony Guzman was overjoyed, "Thank you, thank you, BOSS."

Godin Clyde waved his hand, "Without you, there would be no "Chain Saw", and there would be no cooperation between the company and Murphy Stanton. This is what you deserve."

Nodding vigorously, Tony Guzman was overjoyed, and he suddenly thought of the name Murphy Stanton. If he chose to cooperate with him when he was in Park City, he bought "Fruit Hard Candy" and said I might have been promoted a long time ago.

The opposite Godin Clyde stopped talking, and Tony Guzman knew that it was time to go out.

Thinking of keeping in close contact with Murphy Stanton, he moved his boss in advance before leaving, "Murphy has urged the box office to be divided several times."

Godin Clyde frowned slightly, thought about it, and said, "Tell him that the money that belongs to Stanton Studio will not be less than a penny, but it will be paid in installments after the company completes the process. It will be next year at the latest. In February, all payments from the North American box office will be credited to Stanton Studio’s account."

This is already a relatively fast payment speed in the Hollywood industry. He and Fox Searchlight have no plans to do anything. The box office split in North America is relatively transparent, and Murphy Stanton is clearly in a period of rapid growth, which is an excellent potential cooperation. Subject, not to mention that the story of "Chain Saw" is obviously not finished. There should be a sequel. It is by no means a wise choice to have an irreconcilable conflict with Stanton Studios.

Having said that, if the other party is directing a film like "Blair the Witch", he really has to think about the number of shares and the time of payment. A director in the overdraft market...

Although you may not be able to do tricks, it is not difficult to drag it for a year or two. This can also ease the pressure on the liquidity of the film company.

Just like Godin Clyde considered, Hollywood film companies always make appropriate adjustments according to the different targets. This is a standard business circle, and business reputation is necessary, but intrigue methods are also not less.

One week after the 911 incident, Fox Searchlight sent a financial statement to Stanton's studio. Murphy’s lawyer Robert and accountant Bill conducted an audit. There was basically no problem. However, the report of the North American box office split was passed, and the split was required. It takes a long time to pay the bills in installments.

This is a practice between Hollywood distribution companies and production companies. When the strength and status of the two sides are very different, sometimes the payment time can be dragged to a point of collapse. It is not uncommon for things like relinquishing accounts and finally going to court.

Murphy doesn't have much opinion on the half-year billing period of the Fox Searchlight. The contract between the two parties originally stipulated that the payment should be paid within ten months after the downgrade in North America. The Fox Searchlight is not delaying the account, but showing goodwill.

Compared to the accounting period, he is more focused on the financial statements of "Chain Saw".

The film earned a total of US$61.89 million in the box office in North America. After deducting various taxes and fees, Fox Searchlight as the distributor received a share of US$30.5 million. Some of the money has been paid in place, and some are still in major theaters. On the account.

However, the report sent by Fox Searchlight already has a clear share ratio.

Starting from the publicity period after Stanton Studios signed a distribution contract with Fox Searchlight, Fox Searchlight has invested a total of 5.5 million US dollars in promotional and marketing expenses. In addition, more than 500,000 US dollars have been spent on storage fees, transportation costs, labor costs, Some complicated and small expenditures such as public relations fees and insurance fees.

According to the contract between the two parties, these costs will be calculated in the 25% North American box office distribution of Fox Searchlight. Stanton Studios do not need to pay separately, and they do not need to deduct another from the theater's box office.

In other words, the Fox searchlight needs to withhold 25% of the 61.89 million US dollars from the 30.5 million US dollars, which is about 15.5 million US dollars.

The remaining $15 million is not entirely owned by Stanton Studios.

There is a supplementary clause in the distribution contract between the two parties. All copies of "Chain Saw" will be printed by Fox Searchlight, and the fee will be temporarily advanced by Fox Searchlight, and finally deducted from the North American box office share.

Fox Searchlight adopted a conservative distribution strategy. At first, there were only 30 copies. It was not until "Chain Saw" showed enough market potential that large-scale printing began, and the final number of printed copies was as high as 2560.

A financial statement of the film processing plant is specially attached to this report. Because of the long-term cooperation with Fox Searchlight and the large-scale development of copies, the processing price of a single copy is not as high as Murphy’s estimate of $3,000. The unit price given is US$2,450, which is basically the average level of large-scale printing in the industry.

As a result, the cost of copying is as high as 6.27 million US dollars, and Fox Searchlight needs to deduct this amount from 15 million US dollars.

In this case, the North American box office share that Stanton Studio can get is around $8.7 million.

But this is not the real revenue figure.

After getting the financial statements of Fox Searchlight, Stanton Studio also made an expenditure budget here.

Of the 8.7 million US dollars, there is still a considerable part to be spent on various expenses.

Although Murphy's zero salary prevented Bill Rossis from getting the agent's commission, he did not complain. At the beginning, he actively worked for the preparation and release of this film. On the one hand, he was optimistic about Murphy's future, on the other hand. It is because he can get a certain box office rake.

This number is not high, but it is worth three times his annual income in CAA.

Bill Rossis can take away $250,000.

From the perspective of paying and rewarding, he is also worth Murphy's money.

On the other hand, "Chain Saw" has been filed with the screenwriters’ union, director’s union and actors’ union. It is a union project. While enjoying the protection of the union, it also needs to pay a certain amount of funds to the union. According to Hollywood practice, this part of the fund Most of them are paid after the film receives actual income.

The so-called registration and protection of trade unions is more like routine work for a small project such as "Chain Saw". The trade union will not pay much attention to it, and the role played by it is actually impossible to talk about.

But Murphy does not intend to reckless. Hollywood has already formed mature game rules. It is best to follow these game rules before having a certain level of strength.

After all, he is now a director, not a prisoner in a prison, let alone a freelance journalist.

Expenses are not limited to these. Murphy hired Philip Raschel, David Robbie, Helena, and James Franco, all members of their respective unions. After the screenwriter’s strike in 1988, several The major professional unions won the right to participate in the film's income share for its members.

Although the share ratio is very low, if you don't want to be troublesome, this part of the money must be paid.

In the production of "Chain Saw", Murphy hired people who did not have much qualifications, and there were not many dividends that needed to be shared with them. In many A-level productions in Hollywood, if the production team is strong enough, often Can share half of the profits with the production and distribution company.

This is also one of the reasons why many Hollywood companies use some shameless methods. No company wants to see its own costs being piled up indefinitely, and then the profit margin is compressed to a small amount.

Coupled with some other small expenses, after the payment of the Fox Searchlight payment is in place, not counting the complicated company taxes and fees that Murphy has not been able to fully understand until now, the actual North American box office of Stanton Studios is 8 million. Around the dollar.

Compared with the North American box office of 61.89 million US dollars, this figure seems very insignificant, but the box office cake is far from being shared by the producer alone, and the investment of 800,000 US dollars in exchange for the North American box office of 8 million US dollars, ten times the return on investment Bi is absolutely amazing in the film industry.

Moreover, this is only the North American box office, behind which there are TV copyrights, video tapes and overseas markets.