Chapter 525: never satisfied

At five o'clock in the afternoon, a restaurant near Sunset Boulevard.

Along the way, Lehman was thinking about something, but when he got to the meeting place, he saw Barry Mayer already waiting there.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Mayer, I'm a little late because of the traffic jam on the road."

"It's okay," Barry Mayer smiled, "I just came here."

Lehman greeted a few words, sat down opposite Barry Mayer, and listened to him: "Want something to eat?"

"A pasta is fine."

When the waiter next to him heard it, he went to the kitchen to say hello.

At this time, Barry Mayer suddenly changed the subject: "I heard that Firefly Pictures has partnered with Paramount for a new project?"

"Yeah." ——It really is about this.

"Why? Can't the new project cooperate with Warner?"

Barry Mayer still smiled, as if he was just curious about this question.

Of course, since Lehman did this, he didn't intend to deny anything. He replied easily, "Mr. Mayer, this is just a normal cooperation. Paramount is very sincere."

"Warner is also sincere, and the conditions we gave are already first-class, aren't they?" Barry Mayer said slowly: "The cost of publicity and distribution of "New York Tour" is almost close to the production cost, and Warner paid more than 70 million US dollars. , but we only take less than half of the profits of the film, and even the offline copyright market is only 30%. Is there any problem with such a division of interests? I don’t think the top directors in Hollywood are worth more than this. How much higher."

When Barry Mayer said the end, there were already questions that could not be hidden in his tone.

When he first heard the news last week, he was so calm on the surface, but in fact he was already suppressing his anger.

"Firefly Pictures is not a subsidiary of Warner. How does it operate without Warner's approval?" Lehmann was still very relaxed, not at all frightened by Barry Mayer's explosive momentum, "If the cooperation cannot be a win-win situation, Presumably we won’t be able to cooperate. You just say how much you paid, but you don’t say that “New York Row” has already exchanged more than 75 million income for Warner, and the long-term copyright operation has not ended, so the return is fully doubled, most of the It's not necessarily profitable for any of the movies. Also, today we just sit down and talk about it, and it's boring to talk about other things."

"Then what do you want to say?" Barry Mayer quickly calmed down again. He was just dissatisfied with Lyman's sudden change of mind and got together with Paramount, but he didn't want to cut off the relationship.

Of course, Lehman didn't want to be too stiff, which didn't do him any good.

"Mr. Mayer, I don't want to get better terms from Warner when I work with Paramount. In fact, I always believe that it can bring sufficient profits to all stakeholders, which is the most direct way for Hollywood. The reason for this. Cinema, distribution, and production, none of these three parties can be missing, and, as someone said is right, Warner’s production capacity is not lacking, and the inclination of internal resources will always make people worry.” Lehmann Quite sincerely: "If Warner wants to release two movies in the summer, one is its own and the other is cooperating with other studios, can Warner really treat them equally?"

Barry Mayer was silent for a moment, then shook his head wordlessly.

He disdains lying in this regard, even if it is treated differently, Warner is still Warner.

However, now that Paramount has persuaded Lehman to cooperate, what we need to think about now is how to obtain new benefits as much as possible to make up for it.

After things are irreversible, any emotional action is useless.

"Does Firefly Pictures still have any plans to set up a project?"

"Well, that's what I just wanted to talk about."

"So, is it to be distributed by Warner?"

"I personally am very happy, but the script still needs a little time to perfect."

"..."

In the end, Barry Mayer came in with anger and left with satisfaction.

This made Ryman feel that it was too wise not to hand over all the film distribution business to one studio.

The so-called Shengmien fights against Miqiu, if you give benefits to a person alone, it will seem to be a matter of course for a long time. If you don't give it, it's not a problem to keep a good relationship, and you will be inexplicably hostile.

Paramount, it seems, Warner.

Lehman's behavior is obviously just making choices based on the situation that is in line with his best interests, and Barry Mayer will feel uncomfortable.

He also understands why there are so many splits and splits in Hollywood.

It is true that the publishing company is used to being domineering, which once again reminds Lehmann of the correctness of "channel is king".

……

Lehman returned home, calmed down, and decided to study the subject matter of the work he wanted to shoot. Of course, he must have the participation of visual effects in the digital field-because after Firefly Pictures entered the digital field, The company's operating conditions are much better, and at least there will be no layoffs due to lack of wages, but in the long run, it is still not optimistic.

After all, such a special effects company, of course, needs to occupy more share in the special effects business market, not to mention how much to earn first, self-sufficiency should be achieved can not be a drag.

But now, there are many heroes in the special effects field, and the digital field is not the strongest party. Lehman has to learn from Cameron and find some jobs for his own special effects company. In this way, he can not only experiment with technology, but also make profits ——Doesn’t fertilizer flow to the fields of outsiders, killing two birds with one stone. Therefore, Lehmann has long thought about making more movies with CG special effects.

However, what are the works that are suitable for the current digital field?

Anyway, there is no need to worry about the announcement. Although Blue Butterfly Pictures is still weak, his relationship with Warner and Paramount is still good.

Just as he was thinking, the phone rang suddenly.

Ryman took it, but Shirley Lansing came to him, or asked about the director of the "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" project.

Originally, one was ruled out, so there is no need to be so entangled in choosing one.

However, the two directors were not very impressed with Lehmann. They seemed to be able to do it, but they didn't seem to be able to.

But after all, this matter cannot be delayed. Lyman and Shirley Lansing chatted for a while, and decided to meet with the two to discuss and finally determine the candidate.

In any case, if I personally check the shooting and post-editing, the quality will not be so bad. Lehman thought so, still quite confident.

After all, the plot of "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" is not complicated, and there is nothing fancy about the shooting, and it is not difficult to schedule the main scenes that are laid out directly.

Furthermore, the two director candidates have very rich experience in the circle, and there is no situation that they cannot grasp. I am afraid that they like to mix private goods in the film, but they are not beautiful...

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