Hollywood Road

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Due to the impact of the September 11 incident, Hollywood was deserted in September. Not many people paid attention to any new movies released, and no one cared which male star was involved with which female star. The focus of the whole United States and even the world was on New York. On 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 other than hitting the street.

Although the film market is deserted and many distribution companies are in mourning, Fox Searchlight has shown a rare uplifting situation this year.

Although "Chain Saw" was forced to be canceled after eight weeks of screening in theaters, the dazzling results are enough to excite many people, and at the same time, they will also benefit.

"Sit wherever you want, Tony."

Seeing Tony Guzman walk into the office, Godin Clyde was extremely friendly, "What has Murphy been up to lately?"

Tony Guzman's face was flushed, as if he was a teenager younger, "Apart from asking us for a share of the box office, he is preparing a new project."

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

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

Godin Clyde said categorically, "Keep close contact with Murphy!"

Clearly, Murphy Stanton is a director on the rise.

"I understand," Tony Guzman said.

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

Just when Tony Guzman was thinking this way, Godin Clyde suddenly changed the subject, "The marketing department has newly vacated the position of deputy director."

Hearing this, Tony Guzman's eyes lit up immediately, this is his chance!

Sure enough, Godin Clyde said again, "You were the first to recommend "Saw". You have made great contributions to the company this time, and I have already recommended you to the board of directors."

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

Godin-Clyde waved his hand,

"There wouldn't be Saw without you, and there wouldn't be a company with Murphy Stanton, and you deserve it."

Nodding his head vigorously, Tony Guzman was overjoyed. After being overjoyed, he suddenly thought of the name Murphy Stanton. If he chose to cooperate with him when he was in Park City and bought "Hard Candy", he said He might have been promoted sooner.

Godin Clyde on the opposite side stopped talking, and Tony Guzman knew it was time to go out.

Thinking of maintaining close contact with Murphy Stanton, he informed his boss before leaving, "Murphy has already urged the box office several times."

Godin Clyde frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and said, "Tell him that the money belonging to Stanton Studio will not be less than a penny, but it will be paid in installments after the company completes the process, at the latest until next year." In February, all proceeds from the North American Box Office will be credited to Stanton Studios."

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 obviously in a period of rapid growth, which is an excellent potential cooperation. Object, not to mention that the story of "Chain Saw" is obviously not finished, and there should be a sequel. It is definitely not a wise choice to have an irreconcilable conflict with Stanton Studio.

Having said that, if the other party is directing a film like "The Blair Witch", he really needs to carefully consider the amount of the share and the time of payment. A director who is overdrawn in the market...

Although it may not be tricky, it is not difficult to delay it for a year or two, which can also relieve the pressure on the working capital of the film company.

Just as Godin-Clyde considered, Hollywood film companies always make appropriate adjustments according to different targets. This is a standard business circle, and business reputation is necessary, but the means of intrigue will not few.

A week after the 9/11 incident, Fox Searchlight sent a financial statement to Stanton Studios. Murphy's lawyer Robert and accountant Bill reviewed it, and there was basically no problem. The installment payment method can only be paid in place within a relatively long period of time.

This is a common practice between Hollywood distribution companies and production companies. When the strength and status of the two parties are very different, sometimes the payment time can be delayed to the point of collapse, and it is not uncommon for things like bad debts to end up in court.

Murphy didn't have much opinion on Fox Searchlight's half-year billing period. The original contract between the two parties stipulated that the payment should be made within 10 months after North America was released. Fox Searchlight was not delaying the payment, but showing goodwill.

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

The film grossed a total of US$61.89 million at 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, on the report sent by Fox Searchlight, there is already a clear share ratio.

From the publicity period after Stanton Studio signed the distribution contract with Fox Searchlight, Fox Searchlight invested a total of 5.5 million US dollars in publicity and marketing expenses, and more than 500,000 US dollars were used for storage fees, transportation costs, labor costs, Some complicated small expenses such as public relations fees and insurance fees.

According to the contract between the two parties, these expenses will be included in Fox Searchlight's 25% North American box office release commission, and Stanton Studio does not need to pay separately, and they do not need to deduct additionally from the theater's box office.

In other words, Fox Searchlight needs to retain 25% of the US$61.89 million out of the US$30.5 million, which is about US$15.5 million.

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

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

Fox Searchlight adopted a conservative distribution strategy. At the beginning, there were only a few dozen copies. It was not until "Chain Saw" showed enough market potential that it began to print on a large scale. The final number of printed copies was as high as 2,560.

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

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

In this case, the North American box office share that Stanton Studio can get is about 8.7 million US dollars.

But that's not the real revenue figure.

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

Of the 8.7 million US dollars, a considerable part will be used for various expenses.

Although Murphy's zero pay prevents Bill Rosses from getting his agent's commission, he has no complaints. He worked hard for the preparation and release of the film, on the one hand because he was optimistic about Murphy's future, on the other hand It is because he can get a certain box office commission.

This figure is not high, but it is enough to be worth three times his annual income in CAA.

Bill Rossis could walk away with $250,000.

From the perspective of pay and return, he is also worth the money Murphy paid.

On the other hand, "Chain Saw" has records in the Screenwriters Union, Directors 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. Most are paid after the film earns actual revenue.

The so-called trade union filing and protection is more like a routine for a small project like "Chain Saw". The trade union doesn't pay much attention to it at all, and the role it plays is actually out of the question.

But Murphy doesn't intend to renege. Hollywood has long formed mature rules of the game, and it is best to follow these rules of the game until it has a certain strength.

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

The expenses are not limited to these. The Philip Raschel, David Robbie, Helena and James Franco hired by Murphy are all members of their respective unions. The big professional trade union won for its members the right to participate in the revenue sharing of the film.

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

In the production of "Chain Saw", Murphy basically hired people without too many qualifications, and there were not many bonuses to share with them. In many A-level productions in Hollywood, if the production team is strong enough, it is 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 shady means. No company wants to see their costs being piled up infinitely, and then their profit margins are compressed to a small size.

Coupled with some other small expenses, after the Fox Searchlight payment is in place, excluding the extremely complicated company taxes and fees that Murphy has found it difficult to fully understand, the actual North American box office revenue of Stanton Studios is 8 million. USD or so.

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

What's more, this is only the box office in North America, and there are TV copyrights, video tapes and overseas markets behind it. (To be continued.)