Chapter 244 A piece of pie
There is no doubt that the two options proposed by Edgar are sincere, which really opened Anson's eyes and finally felt the impact of Hollywood blockbusters.
Not only bold, but even crazy.
However, Anson has different ideas:
Maybe these terms are too radical?
In Anson's view, William Morris treated him and this project as a tool, trying to use this opportunity to gain momentum, complete the overall layout, regain one victory in the head-on competition with innovative artists, and then win more customers. With more projects, the big profits will come from behind.
But have they really considered Anson’s position? How much room for negotiation does such a radical, crazy, and bold clause leave?
A hypothetical scenario, the negotiation fails and the worst case scenario becomes reality, what happens next?
Sony Columbia stopped its losses in time, gave up Anson, re-casted and auditioned again. Maybe with Tobey Maguire in place, they can still take the initiative.
William Morris can continue auditioning for Anson with other potential actors, renegotiate with Sony Columbia, and learn lessons to adjust his strategy.
The only one who was sacrificed was Anson.
In addition, Edgar’s hard work and hard work were all in vain.
Anyway, a young actor and a young agent can be discarded at any time by Sony, Columbia and William Morris.
Indeed, in the context of the entire story, Anson has a certain value, and William Morris is also willing to be Anson's backing, but in the face of greater interests, Anson is still just a pawn——
< br>At least for now.
In essence, William Morris and innovative artists, William Morris and Sony Columbia, they are all the same. In the face of corporate interests, personal interests can be sacrificed at any time.
Unless the chess piece can increase one's own chips, it cannot be sacrificed casually; it can even be upgraded to become a chess player.
So, what to do?
Anson has an idea.
“Box office dividends.”
He threw out a bait.
In 2000, box office dividends were not popular. Movie companies didn’t like it, actors and directors didn’t like it either, and fixed price was still the mainstream.
Things did not start to change until five years later, because of "Pirates of the Caribbean 3".
Disney found that Johnny Depp's salary was higher than the previous one. They had to pay the salary and bear all the risks of box office success or failure, which made them dissatisfied.
At the same time, Johnny Depp's agent also discovered that there is an upper limit to the one-price film remuneration no matter how much it rises. The 20 million club seems to be the limit. If the actor's remuneration wants to break through, he must include box office dividends.
For a long time, the box office of a movie has been divided among three parties: the film company, the distribution company, and the theater chain. Naturally, each party needs to bear risks.
In the 1980s and 1990s, when actors' salaries were still controllable, film companies were naturally unwilling to give away box office dividends to actors, directors, and screenwriters; however, as production costs continued to rise, actors' salaries also As it gets higher and higher, the risks that film companies need to take are also getting bigger and bigger.
So, the situation changed.
"Pirates of the Caribbean 4" is a typical example. Due to the success of the third part of the series, Johnny Depp shared Disney's profits. When it came to the fourth part, Disney was unwilling to divide the box office dividends. So he offered a record-breaking, unprecedented one-price film remuneration:
56 million US dollars.
This has also caused the film's production cost to exceed 250 million US dollars. Add in the cost of promotion and distribution, and the film's cost easily exceeds 300 million US dollars.
However, after the movie was released, the North American box office was only US$240 million. Fortunately, the overseas market was still strong, and the global box office finally barely exceeded one billion US dollars——
Excluding theater chain dividends, After deducting producer dividends, costs, distribution dividends in different countries and regions, etc., Disney barely made $50 million.
I didn’t lose money, but I couldn’t laugh either. After that, when actors and film companies negotiated box office dividends, the film companies were much more willing. Compared with the fixed price of $56 million, $10 million plus 5% or 10% of the North American box office Dividends are a lot more cost-effective for film companies, at least the box office pressure is reduced.
As for now, clauses for box office dividends have also appeared one after another. It is not that there are none, but most of them appear in independent film crews. Because they lack enough funds to hire the actors they dream of, they invite actors to become shareholders in the form of box office dividends, which can be regarded as a kind of Alternative investments.
But mainstream commercial movies?
Few, still very few.
Anson thinks so.
“The current situation is like this. Sony Colombia needs to conduct a risk assessment. They are under tremendous pressure. The cost of 100 million US dollars has already made them worried.”
"Part of the reason why I chose Sam Raimi as the director is because Sam is down-to-earth and every penny must be spent wisely."
"If I am willing to reduce the salary, I will bear part of it in the form of box office dividends. risk, and at the same time cooperate more actively with Sony Columbia's promotion; and then cooperate with the additional clauses. The salary of the next sequel will increase by the amount the North American box office exceeds; In contract negotiations, one is asking for high prices and then paying back the money, and the other is trying to brag each other -
In the final analysis, it all comes down to whose cake is more attractive, realistic and convincing.
Anson’s idea not only used the psychology of William Morris and Sony Columbia, but also cleverly found a balance point in the interest area.
First, reduce the risk and make sure that you will give your best effort 100%.
Secondly, by putting the sequel on the table to share the pressure, without talking about contract guarantees, Anson and Sony Columbia can take it one step at a time.
Thirdly, and most importantly, Anson cleverly exploited everyone's "lack of confidence."
William Morris and Sony Columbia both hope that "Spider-Man" can be successful, but judging from the current situation, superhero movies are really not special, and they are not confident that the movie can be successful——
< br>In other words, I am not sure how successful it will be.
Therefore, the box office dividend is not so painful. Instead, the salary check is visibly lowered by a level. Compared with the huge numbers and sequel bundles, it is much easier to accept psychologically.
In fact, it can be seen from Edgar's reaction.
Edgar thought carefully and did not hide his worries.
"Anson, do you know what this means?"
"It means that you and this project will become a community of destiny. If the movie fails, no, don't say it fails, even if the movie succeeds If you achieve success, but the success does not meet expectations, such as a box office of 200 million US dollars in North America, then everyone will blame you and think that you need to take responsibility.”
"This pressure...are you sure?"
Confidence is one thing, Edgar believes that the movie can be successful.
But it is another thing to be so blindly confident that you lose your correct judgment. Edgar thinks Anson is taking a risk.
If Edgar knew that the North American box office of "Spider-Man" in his previous life finally exceeded 400 million US dollars, maybe he would be able to understand Anson's determination.
Fifth update.
(End of this chapter)