"This is Mr. Schmidt Lawley, the boss of Green Valley Film Company in the United States."
After the media conference, Tom White took Schmidt Lawley to talk to "Path of Glory" " met with the main creator and introduced him to Lu Yanhe and the others.
Although Lu Yanhe has never heard of Green Valley Film Company in the United States, since it was introduced by Tom White, it must not be from some leather company.
Everyone chatted with each other and exchanged contact information. Because Lu Yanhe and the others had plans ahead, they could only chat for a few words and left in a hurry.
After leaving, Fu Kai said: "I thought that Schmidt was interested in our movie and wanted to discuss copyright purchase and distribution."
Lu Yanhe said: "He may have this idea."
"Huh?" Fu Kai was a little surprised, "How do you say? He didn't mention it the whole time."
Lu Yanhe: "They Film producers won't start talking to you right away. If you are interested, you have to lower the price with us, so when we meet and chat for the first time, you won’t show much interest-unless it is a drama that has already attracted much attention and is very popular at first glance.”
Fu Kai has no experience selling films at film festivals.
Shang Yongzhou added: "One more thing, now our film has only received enthusiastic feedback from the audience, and the media evaluation has not yet been officially released. The film producers will choose to wait and see at this time and wait for the media's comment. Evaluation.”
Why do film critics play a less important role in Chinese-language films than in Europe and the United States?
There are various reasons, one of the most important ones is that their comments and attitudes do not really participate in the economic industry chain of the film.
In the past, when online media did not rise, their attitude was that it was one of the limited channels through which a large number of audiences could learn about a movie. Therefore, any film company did not want to offend film critics. On the contrary, they had to try their best to Build a good relationship with them.
After the rise of online media, their influence has been greatly weakened, and their impact on a movie's box office has been visibly weakened. However, there are still places like film festivals where they can play a role. Media ratings are the most important evaluation criterion for film festivals besides the final award. Movie fans all over the world are waiting for media ratings to adjust their expectations for them. And film producers from all over the world cannot wait until they think clearly before making a decision.
When a movie comes out, there are many people competing for it. No one gives you a month or two to slowly decide whether to buy it or not.
At this time, it relies heavily on the vision of the film selector and media ratings.
Fu Kai is also very nervous about what kind of media rating "Road to Glory" will receive.
Lu Yanhe silently figured it out after watching the movie.
The basics of this movie are all there. How high it can reach in the future depends more on luck. Can a good movie become a good movie known to many people if the time, place and people are right? A movie like "Path of Glory" would never achieve the same box office and influence as a commercial movie, even if it uses fancy marketing. It is destined to take a longer road, and the only way to shorten the long distance is to take the shortcut of this category of movies by winning awards, relying on the recommendations of the media and famous film critics.
Several film critics have immediately published their opinions and attitudes on their social media.
Judging from the feedback collected so far. Except for Yongshan Kaizan who said that "Path of Glory" seems to be an old movie dug up from twenty years ago, everyone's comments were positive. That’s not to say there aren’t criticisms, but overall it’s positive.
French "Cinema" magazine commented: "If "Path of Glory" is shortlisted for the main competition, this year's best actor will most likely come from this movie. The director keeps the camera close from beginning to end And the restraint of the picture, through the restrained and precise performances of the two actors, presents a flowing sense of balance. If its flaw is that the theme is too straightforward and not advanced enough. Its advantage lies in its high degree of unity and completeness in scheduling, performance and film style."
The Italian "Guardian" magazine commented: "It has been about four or five years since I saw Shang Yongzhou with his film. A new work has come to the film festival. He has been appearing in commercial comedies in recent years and once again returned to his best field, playing a terminally ill man who faced death. He showed unprecedented restraint. Under his extremely restrained and calm appearance, there was an emotional tension that seemed to erupt like a volcano. In fact, he was firmly in control of the scene from the beginning to the end in a scene where he seemed to be evenly matched with another actor. "
American "Variety" magazine commented: "Lu Yanhe, the darling of the world's major film festivals in the past two years, and the once smash hit Zhong Yanhe Chinese actor Shang Yongzhou teamed up to bring this masterpiece, which touched many people. I think the most competitive film in the Horizon section this year has appeared. In addition, it is said that an American film company has taken a liking to this film. Let’s wait and see if the news is true about wanting to purchase the distribution rights in North America and prepare it for the Olympics.”
……
For "Path of Glory", praise from major media gives it something to look forward to.
Because for a movie like "Path of Glory", word of mouth and awards are its biggest dependence.
Lu Yanhe, Shang Yongzhou and Fu Kai all took advantage of the situation to accept some interviews. Through this most traditional publicity method, they used this most traditional method of promotion to capture everyone's interest in the film at a film festival that has been traditional for decades. Pay attention, rather than letting the good reputation ferment for a while and then dissipate naturally.
Of course, not being shortlisted for the main competition unit also has the advantage of not being shortlisted.
People naturally don’t look at films that are not in the main competition with a critical eye. Therefore, the scrutiny encountered is much less.
At noon that day, Fu Kai, Shang Yongzhou and Lu Yanhe invited all media friends from China to have dinner together to express their gratitude to everyone.
This meal was bought by Shang Yongzhou Zhangluo, and he paid for it himself.
When the meal started, Fu Kai smiled as soon as he opened his mouth and said: "I made this movie with a tight budget. I couldn't even come up with the normal public relations funds to treat everyone to dinner, and I still had to negotiate with Yong. Zhou is here for a treat.”
Friends from the media laughed kindly.
They all know this industry relatively well. For a film like "Path of Glory", even if it stars Shang Yongzhou and Lu Yanhe, it is impossible to get much production funding - they are not some people on the Internet who don't understand the market and just say "such a big star" , is there still a lack of investment?” In the literary film market, there is really a shortage. No matter how big a star comes, investors will still have to settle accounts. The box office ceiling for literary and artistic films is right there. The bigger your star is, the higher your production budget will be. It can be said that if Lu Yanhe and Shang Yongzhou did not reduce their salaries for starring in the film, the investors would not be able to pay them because they would not be able to recover the cost.
"Thank you, best actor!" Guan Suchen, a very active entertainment critic in China, is here today and raised his glass, "I'm really touched. It's been a long time since I've seen a best actor act in a film like this, and his acting skills are still as good as ever."
Shang Yongzhou had a smile on his face.
"I see that many foreign media and film critics are also praising the acting skills of the two of you." Zhou Yuan, editor of "Movies" also said, "It is really a pity. If "Road to Glory" "The finalists are in the main competition. Maybe the best actor and best actress at this year's Venice International Film Festival will be won by our Chinese actors."
Ning Xiulian from "Happy Days" is still at the top. No. 1 on the best actress guessing lists of various media.
Fu Kai said: "It's mainly because I was dragged down. If I hadn't been shortlisted for the international film festival for the first time, "Path of Glory" would have been selected into the main competition."
This is actually one of the facts.
The biggest shortcoming of "Path of Glory" in the eyes of international film festivals is that the director is a director who has only made commercial comedies before. No one knows him when he goes abroad.
Shang Yongzhou said: ""Path of Glory" is a work written and directed by you. Without you, this work would not exist. The Horizon section is also a competition section, and Venice is not its end. "
Lu Yanhe nodded and said: "Yes, this is just now Let’s start. It’s not just winning an award in Venice. This film will become our masterpiece in the future, which is more important than whether it wins or not.”
Neither actor wants it. At this moment, Fu Kai believed that it was himself that had dragged down the performance of "Road to Glory".
At this moment when he should be enjoying the glory of his career, the most unnecessary thing is to suddenly belittle himself again.
At this time, the mobile phones of many people on the table vibrated or barked at the same time.
Guan Suchen picked up the phone in confusion, and then showed a look of shock.
"Yu Qin announced that her new movie will start shooting today, and she will shoot a brand new movie with the Venice International Film Festival as the background?!" Guan Suchen read out the news she received in amazement , "Starring Ning Xiulian and Chen Ziliang? What?!"
Nearly everyone at the table showed incredulous and shocked expressions.
Lu Yanhe and Shang Yongzhou had known about the movie for a long time. When Guan Suchen said it, they were not surprised. They just didn't expect that the movie would actually be started.
In the ever-changing film and television industry, Yu Qin’s behavior of filming as soon as she wants, acting resolutely, and forming a team immediately will more or less shock those practitioners.
If every director or producer had her level of execution, many projects might not die midway.
Guan Suchen looked at Lu Yanhe and the others and asked, "Have you... known this news in advance? Why do I feel that the three of you are not surprised at all?"
Lu Yanhe Tell the truth: "We've heard about this before."
Guan Suchen asked in surprise: "So, is this true?"
She even didn't believe it.
The main reason is that it sounds unreliable.
Come to the film festival and suddenly have to make a movie?
The media people present were a little stunned.
Regarding Yu Qin's film, Lu Yanhe and others were not involved, so it is difficult to say much.
But Guan Su Chen and the others really wanted to get some news.
After all, "Happy Days" is now the favorite to win awards at this year's Venice International Film Festival. Yu Qin and Ning Xiulian are collaborating again to make a new film. Any relevant news will definitely be discussed by many people. focus on.
Lu Yanhe said in a joking tone: "Friends, our "Path of Glory" is inviting everyone to dinner at noon today. Everyone is interested in their new drama and will wait until the meal is over before asking for news. Come on! All the Chinese media who came to Venice are here, no one can be ahead."
When he said this, everyone came back to their senses.
"Yes, yes."
"Yan He, don't worry, "Path of Glory" has such a good reputation here, we will definitely help you promote it."
" Of course I'm relieved, I recognize each of you "I have read all the manuscripts you have written." Lu Yanhe said, "No one is allowed to be perfunctory. I will read them one by one. If they are too perfunctory, I will not reprint them."
He was deliberately joking.
But saying this is actually a reminder to these media people.
Everyone agreed happily.
-
Because of the good reputation of "Path of Glory" at the film festival, the distribution company has also communicated with Fu Kai. Should they simply take advantage of the popularity and rush to release it in the near future?
It happened that the two leading actors were there, so Fu Kai also asked Lu Yanhe and Shang Yongzhou for their opinions.
Lu Yanhe looked at Shang Yongzhou.
Shang Yongzhou shook his head directly and said that he didn't understand this.
He just acts.
Lu Yanhe thought for a while and said: "Actually, if "Path of Glory" doesn't win the grand prize, I think it's better not to take advantage of the popularity of the film festival to set a schedule. September itself is not a big deal. A month with high box office, domestic film festivals are paying attention After all, there are only a few people who know the news, and only some movie fans who are really interested in film art will pay attention.”
“Such a short promotion time may not be able to push this film to most potential audiences. I think movies like "Paths of Glory" Son, you can do more advance screenings and special screenings.”
“Because once it is released to the public, the attendance rate of our movie will definitely not be high, and there will be many people who don’t know the truth and will blame the director for your previous filming. Movies, or maybe it’s for seniors like me and me Audiences who come to watch as celebrities may not be able to accept this non-commercial narrative style. They will feel cheated after watching it, which will affect the reputation of the film. It is better to use special screenings or advance screenings to slowly spread the film. Word of mouth.”
Lu Yanhe has some understanding of the film industry.
Now Lu Yanhe gradually feels that the domestic theater release model is actually quite "one size fits all".
No matter whether you are an action film, a comedy, a visual blockbuster or an art film, they will all be released on a large scale across the country in one go. If you can withstand the fight, you can defend your position by keeping your film schedule. Some literary and artistic films were beaten, and they were not scheduled for the second day after they were released, and they were immediately declared failures.
Like the North American practice of showing small-scale screenings and slowly increasing the number of theaters, people have their own historical traditions and industry models, and it is impossible to copy them to China.
But Lu Yanhe feels that films like literary films that are destined to fail to attract a large number of audiences in a short period of time should actually adopt a long-term screening model.
For a movie like "Path of Glory" starring him and Shang Yongzhou, it would be a huge success to have a box office of 20 to 30 million on the first day. If the final box office exceeds 100 million, it would be a huge success. In fact, it is very likely that the final box office will only be 30 to 40 million yuan - given the subject matter of the movie, except for true fans and true movie fans, not many people will buy tickets to see the two of them in the theater.
As a result, the number of days this movie can actually survive in theaters may be less than two weeks. Even after the first week, the daily box office will drop by seven figures.
As the movie slowly spreads, more and more people learn about the movie through accidental channels, or become interested because of good reviews from people around them. When they are ready to watch it, the cinema has already There is no more filming. The market has announced its departure.
Lu Yanhe’s proposal is to lengthen the front.
In the beginning, there may only be one or two movie shows a day in a few major ticket warehouse cities.
In this way, only one hundred to two hundred spectators in a city may be able to grab tickets a day.
If it is screened in such a small scale, not only the attendance rate will be high, but also the people who will grab tickets to see this movie will most likely be the real audience of this movie. Therefore, the early reputation of the audience will be slowly accumulated. ,diffusion. As the discussion about this movie increases, naturally, fewer viewers will enter the cinema without knowing the circumstances, and more viewers will enter the cinema who are interested in this type of movie. And the agglomeration effect formed by word-of-mouth will It will also show up slowly.
At this time, if it is released nationwide, the effect may be much better.
Pushing a movie to the market is the logic of operating a product.
How to make it sell well is the core thinking. At this time, good reputation is not its talisman, but its advertising slogan.
Fu Kai listened to Lu Yanhe's suggestion.
Fu Kai was very serious about communicating this model with the people at the issuing company.
Clicking is something every movie does.
However, taking up to two weeks or even longer to organize screenings is a time-consuming and labor-intensive thing that may not be effective. Because it has not become an industry practice. If there is no industry practice, it means the cost of communication cost, coordination cost and operating cost is superimposed.
However, after careful study, the people from the publishing company gave Fu Kai feedback that they believed "Road to Glory" was suitable for such an attempt.
Especially in the United States, Schmidt Lawley of Green Valley Film Company officially proposed to the producers of "Path of Glory" that he wanted to purchase the distribution rights in Europe and the United States, and arranged for "Path of Glory" to be released this year. After the North American awards season, domestic distribution companies firmly decided to try this.
"If "Path of Glory" can really make a splash during the North American awards season, the screenings of "Path of Glory" can be arranged according to the rhythm of the North American awards season." said the distribution company.
Based on Lu Yanhe’s idea, they put forward a bolder idea.
Starting very small-scale screenings in the country in September.
Wait until October, when the North American awards season begins and the nominations for the frontline awards will be announced and awarded. If "Path of Glory" really gets one or two nominations, then it will continue to be specially screened to take advantage of the influence and publicity of the North American awards season. If "Path of Glory" really gets one or two nominations, If "Path of Glory" fails to make any splash, it will be released nationwide after the National Day holiday in October and rely on domestic film awards at the end of October and November to hit the box office.
“Since this is an award-winning film, don’t let the awards just add glory, let the influence of those awards bring some real box office revenue to the film.” Distribution company That's what the people said.
-
“One and a half million dollars to buy out the European and American distribution rights.”
This is the condition proposed by Schmidt Lawley.
Because Fu Kai really had no experience in this area, and the people at his production company had no experience in international transactions. In the end, it was Lu Yanhe and Shang Yongzhou who helped Fu Kai with ideas.
Lu Yanhe shook his head.
Fu Kai said: "Don't you agree? This price seems to be quite high."
Indeed, converted into RMB, it is nearly 10 million.
It can almost cover the production cost of "Path of Glory".
Lu Yanhe said: "The buyout means that any future copyright income from this film in Europe and the United States has nothing to do with you. Whether it is theater release, online copyright, or some home entertainment copyright income such as DVD, they will be zero. The total sum is definitely not just this number. If we don’t say anything else, HP’s purchase of our global streaming rights outside mainland China is not just this number.”
This is nothing. A small film that really has no selling point.
The names of Lu Yanhe and Shang Yongzhou are worth more than just such figures in the European and American film markets. Not to mention, it also received such high media reviews at the Venice International Film Festival.
“One and a half million US dollars, if the buyout is only in North America, I would be relatively acceptable, but if you add Europe? He is underestimating the success of such a film at the Venice International Film Festival. What price can a movie with high attention and reputation be sold in the European market? ”
And soon, film producers from other countries and regions came to quote.
The praise from the media and film critics and the extremely high score of 3.4 points were all converted into tinkling money at this moment.
Film producers from Italy, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Russia and other countries have all offered prices of no less than half a million US dollars, with prices as high as the United Kingdom, for the copyright of just one country. Just gave $1.2 million.
Fu Kai never imagined that such a movie he made would be so popular in the international market.
“In any top film festival, awards are secondary. The key is that its influence can add a zero, or even several zeros, to the price of a film.” Lu Yanhe said.
Effectively promoting film sales is the foundation for major film festivals to stand firm over the years.
Many literary and artistic films, if they had not achieved such excellent response and reputation as "Path of Glory", might only be able to sell hundreds of thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars in a single market. But if it is sold in dozens of markets, it is still a huge sum. Even for many literary films, if it is sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars in the end, it can make a lot of money.
Fu Kai just doesn’t understand, so he doesn’t understand that the movie he made has surpassed the domestic definition of an art film.
In China, because movies basically rely on theater chains to make money, there is an impression that "artistic films do not make money."
In fact, in Europe and the United States, these literary films have been in the market for decades or hundreds of years. They all have complete and rich sales channels, from DVD sales to video rentals, from TV broadcast copyrights to airplanes, For broadcasting rights on trains and other special spaces, they have too many channels to collect money, from traditional theater releases to streaming media broadcasts.
This is not to say that literary and artistic films are very profitable in Europe and the United States. This is of course unrealistic, but that in Europe and the United States, literary and artistic films have a complete industry chain that can make money.
Fortunately, Chen Ziyan is here and so is Linyu.
One knows negotiation and the other knows film translation.
After three discussions and negotiations, Schmidt Lawley finally bought out all the North American copyrights of "Path of Glory" for US$2.3 million. He gave up the European market. At this time, Lu Yanhe also knew that the American Green Valley Film Company had not established a complete distribution channel in Europe at all. If they had agreed to buy out Europe and the United States directly to him, he would probably change hands. Then sell it to European companies and make a lot of money yourself.
After Fu Kai found out, he scolded Schmidt Lawley for being such a bastard.
Lu Yanhe was overjoyed and said, "People are also talking about business and doing business."
In the next few days, Fu Kai was busy negotiating with film producers from various countries.
Under Lu Yanhe’s suggestion, Fu Kai basically chose the buyout model.
"If you choose them to distribute and you and the production company continue to enjoy the share, to be honest, we are still completely incapable of ensuring that they will give us the share they should give us." Lu Yanhe said bluntly Frankly speaking, “They are all experienced film producers. They can try their best to make the film a loss in their country and region. In the end, we didn’t get a penny, and we had no place to reason. In this situation, it’s best to buy it out in one go and get the money in your hands.”
Because of Lu Yanhe’s reminder. , Fu Kaicai avoided buying out the European and American copyrights to Schmidt Lawley for US$1.5 million. He believed in Lu Yanhe's advice.
As a result, in just a few days, "Path of Glory" negotiated the copyrights of more than a dozen countries and regions, and began to draft agreements. The total amount has reached more than 7 million . If the follow-up goes smoothly, "Path of Glory" may be sold for more than 10 million U.S. dollars just from international copyright sales - not counting domestic profits, it will be a huge profit.
Fu Kai was so excited that the smile on his face had not dropped in the past few days.
He even asked Lu Yanhe privately: "I can actually continue to make movies like "Path of Glory" in my next movie? I thought I was really going to suffer a big loss, so I was prepared to make a loss. I didn’t expect it to be sold in so many countries and places.”
Lu Yanhe smiled and said, “Don’t. Impulse, director, the reason why "Path of Glory" sold so well is because it was shortlisted for the Venice International Film Festival and because it received good reviews and good response from the media here. If not for these, you sold. The number to go has to be reduced by one zero, maybe more."
Fu Kai woke up immediately.
But after a while, he couldn't help but sigh: "Who said that literary and artistic films can't make money? Who said that coming to the film festival is just about losing money and making a fuss. It's really watching the sky from the bottom of a well."
Lu Yanhe smiled and said nothing.
-
The popularity of "Path of Glory" among international film producers has also begun to be slowly released by domestic distribution companies to warm up the film and maintain its popularity. Trending on social media.
Basically one message a day.
Green Valley Film Company of the United States acquired the distribution rights in North America for seven-digit US dollars!
French Cesar Film Company has won the French regional distribution rights at a high price!
The German XX Company has won the distribution rights in Germany and announced that it will be released on a large scale in Germany!
......
In short, these news and propaganda are vague exaggerations based on facts to create an image of the movie being hugely popular and popular, and to arouse the interest of domestic audiences. Appetite, let everyone start to build up anticipation for the release of the movie.
At the same time, the Venice International Film Festival is finally coming to an end and coming to an end.
At this time, news suddenly came out from the crew of Yu Qin's new film.
——Yu Qin is suspected to be very dissatisfied with Chen Ziliang's acting skills and wants to replace the film with someone else.
When he heard the news, Lu Yanhe was chatting with Shang Yongzhou in a bookstore cafe.
The two people looked at each other.
Lu Yanhe said silently: "How come... I am not surprised at all when I hear such news?"
Shang Yongzhou smiled.
Lu Yanhe asked doubtfully: "Who released such news?"
Shang Yongzhou shook his head.
At this time, Chen Ziyan came in.
“Have you seen the news?” Chen Ziyan asked Lu Yanhe.
Lu Yanhe nodded.
This is me asking about the crew of Yu Qin’s new film.
Chen Ziyan said: "Do you know what Guan Suchen said to me? Guess who broke the news that Yu Qin was dissatisfied with Chen Ziliang's acting skills?"
Chen Ziyan and Chen Ziyan Every eye is shining.
Lu Yanhe: "I didn't want to guess like this at first, but since you asked, I think my previous guess was correct."
Chen Ziyan laughed.
"Teacher Ning is really... very skillful." Lu Yanhe sighed with emotion.
Chen Ziyan: "It depends on how determined Yu Qin is to make this movie."
Lu Yanhe recalled what Ning Xiulian said to her in his mind.
——If you have collaborated with Yu Qin in a movie, you will be like me. Instead of worrying so much, it is better to go crazy with her.
Ning Xiulian should know that with Yu Qin's character, no matter how much she objects, she can't stop Yu Qin from wanting to make this movie.
So, she doesn’t do useless things to stop him.
After joining the crew, you, Yu Qin, can go crazy and make a movie to satirize me, and I can also go crazy and make your crew miserable and restless.
Lu Yanhe once again lamented that these two women really did not have a fuel-efficient lamp.
The closing ceremony is here.
The crew of "Path of Glory" received an official invitation from the film festival, which means they will definitely win a prize in the Horizon section.
They also met Yu Qin and Ning Xiulian in the red carpet waiting area.
However, the two of them did not stand together. Instead, they chatted and laughed with the people around them, as if the other party did not exist.
Even if they saw them, they would greet them separately.
Lu Yanhe: “…”
How should he describe his mood?
He felt that when he recalled this Venice International Film Festival after so many years, what impressed him most was not the glory of "Path of Glory", but these two women.
In the entertainment industry, he has met some top-notch people.
For example, Chen Ziliang has two completely different faces inside and outside the camera, such as Meng Li who makes people feel that his mental state is abnormal, such as Ma Zhiyuan with a bad character, and Zhou Changying, the director of "Behind the Golden Coat" who does whatever it takes to achieve his goals.
However, Yu Qin and Ning Xiulian were the first two people he had seen in a long time who were truly talented and full of personality, and could even be said to be a little paranoid.
Lu Yanhe felt that some of the qualities of these two people would be absolutely catchy if they were put into a movie.
Of course, just like the story about the female star told by Yu Qin.
Lu Yanhe took a deep breath.
Fortunately, fortunately, the people he really has good friends with are still people who can get along well with each other and have principles and bottom lines.
Lu Yanhe was just thinking about these things when he heard the award presenter announcing that the best film in the Horizon section of this Venice International Film Festival was "Path of Glory".
Lu Yanhe just came back to his senses and wanted to congratulate Director Fu Kai. When he turned around, he saw Director Fu Kai's excited face and heard him sigh in a low voice: "Oh, I lost money."
"… …”(End of this chapter)