Chapter 122: Overseas channels

From the initial release of the news in front of the audience, to the downgrade of all theaters in North America, "Blair the Witch" has caused a violent shock among the audience. To some extent, the reputation of this film has been stinking.

But what makes many media and industry insiders feel weird is that even after the main creators were exposed to media interviews, a large number of viewers still entered the theater amidst scolding, to watch this movie, which is not even a movie, and then scolded. Watch.

This also creates an illusion that the heat brought by the curse can continue to the sequel.

When "Blair the Witch" finally left the theater, the North American box office stopped at $156.52 million.

US$156.52 million also made Blair the Witch temporarily ranked eighth in the North American box office rankings in 1999.

All of the first seven films are famous.

Temporarily ranked first this year is "Star Wars: The Threat of Ghosts", followed by "Supernatural Sixth Sense", followed by "Toy Story 2" and "The Matrix" and so on...

Along with these famous films, "Blair the Witch" has also been awarded by the media a title that may be recorded in the annals of film history-the ancestor of pseudo-documentary thrillers.

As the operator behind the scenes, Ronan is unknown.

This is also the effect he wants.

Anyone who wants to grab the limelight can do it, Ronan won't stand up stupidly anyway.

Not everyone sees it as clearly as Ronan, such as the film's director Daniel Melick.

The director, who was pushed to the front desk by Ronan, appeared on the cover of the new issue of Time Magazine, and almost robbed all the limelight brought by Blair the Witch.

Subsequently, Daniel Malik appeared on the Oprah talk show.

The director took all the credit to himself.

For a time, Daniel Malik was infinite.

If the 1999 "Hollywood Man of the Year" is selected, Daniel Malik will definitely be shortlisted.

DreamWorks Pictures also took this momentum to call a press conference to announce the start of preparations for the sequel to "Blair the Witch".

Only then did the media realize that the filming copyright of "Blair the Witch" had been transferred to DreamWorks.

For a time, quite a few media commented that the decision-making layer of Relativity Entertainment was flooded with idiots.

Some media reporters even wanted to come to interview, but Relativity Entertainment followed Ronan's strategy and remained silent, counting money in obscurity.

Don't let go of wretched development.

If this situation is going to happen, it is likely to be drowned by the spit star.

With the release of "Blair the Witch", the North American box office credits quickly arrived. This film does not involve foreign investment, and there is no need to make special accounts. The profit is only transferred between Relativity Entertainment and Embassy Pictures.

In the conference room of Embassy Pictures, Garcia looked at the report and said: "Yesterday afternoon, all the North American box office share was paid to the account, and we received a total of US$79.5 million in North American box office share."

As soon as the words fell, applause broke out in the conference room.

Theatrical distribution director Thomas, offline distribution director Terry, vice president Robert, publicity director David Villa, plus the financial director Fiana who had just been transferred from Mary, everyone applauded warmly and watched Xiang Ronan.

The reputation of the outside world is not obvious, but no one knows better than them. This is a victory for Ronan Anderson!

This kind of team leader with excellent ability, vision, brain and execution is so important to a company!

Ronan could feel the cohesion being formed by the management of the Embassy Pictures, and applauded, and waited for the applause to rest. He said: "The success of this film is the result of the company's collective efforts. I am trying to get people based on "Blair the Witch". Revenue situation, develop a reward plan."

The applause sounded again, and more enthusiastically.

As the leader of a company, there may even be a larger team in the future. If you want to let the team exert more powerful energy and truly achieve 1+1 greater than 2, in addition to the leader’s own abilities and personality charm, can you Bringing benefits to followers and bringing actual benefits is also a key factor.

After experiencing the great success of "Blair the Witch", Garcia had to admit that there is no doubt about the ability of the new boss. This $79.5 million is the best proof.

In the past ten years, all the revenues of Embassy Pictures have not been 79.5 million US dollars!

This is just a movie, and then there are two movies, "Ace Agent" and "Reaper Is Coming".

Garcia has worked in this company for many years, and the slow pace of work and the conservative operating strategy of the former boss are about to wear away his ambitions.

At this moment, he felt that he could do more and go to higher places to see better scenery.

"Talk about the financial aspects." Ronan said.

Financial Director Fijana’s voice was a bit hoarse: "During the entire operation of Blair the Witch, Embassy Pictures invested US$12 million in publicity funds, US$7 million in distribution funds, and US$1 million in film purchase costs and other expenses. The distribution cost of the disc was US$2 million, and the total expenditure for publicity and distribution was US$22 million."

None of the others, including Ronan, spoke.

Anyone with a bit of a brain knows that this small production with a purchase cost of only 80,000 US dollars is a success in the market with a huge amount of money.

Under normal circumstances, the publicity cost of Hollywood movies is half of the cost of film production, and some can be flat.

And what about this film? Garcia knew how much money was spent, but when he heard the figure of $22 million, he still felt crazy.

In retrospect, I was able to agree to and implement this seemingly crazy plan. One reason was the enthusiastic response from the initial market trial. Another reason was that the copyright of the film was completely in my hand.

The total expenditure of US$22 million for the announcement did not exceed Ronan’s estimate. With such a large sum of money, the North American box office revenue alone was US$79.5 million, followed by video tapes and DVDs, television rights, and Various overseas copyrights.

It's very worth it.

This is the advantage of having a distribution company and the advantage of standing upstream in the industry chain.

This $22 million, even if coupled with the $25 million spent on the purchase of Embassy Pictures, is worth the release of a single "Blair the Witch".

Robert has no sense of these costs, following Ronan's success in succession, let him believe that as long as Ronan spends money, it will inevitably bring more income.

His thoughts went elsewhere: "Why do you look forward to the plan in Ronan's hands so much? Do you look forward to the future trip to India so much?"

Fiana said at this time: "The 22 million U.S. dollars are all from Relativity Entertainment's borrowings. Within this week, the loan and interest will be repaid. The principal is 22 million U.S. dollars, and the interest is fixed at 15%. Ten thousand U.S. dollars."

"In addition, Relativity Entertainment transferred the 5-year offline copyright of "Blair the Witch" to Embassy Pictures for a total price of US$18 million.

Those present here are all Hollywood insiders, and they are no strangers to this kind of left-handed and right-handed capital operation.

"The remaining part." Fiana continued: "For the time being, it will be used as a reserve fund and working capital, and will remain in the account of the Embassy Pictures."

Ronan then said: "This part of the funds will be used first in Embassy Pictures to open up overseas distribution channels, and our next step is to extend our distribution tentacles overseas!"

The establishment of overseas distribution channels is much more difficult than North American distribution channels. Now, in Hollywood, except for the six major companies, only a few companies have overseas distribution capabilities, and even the ambitious DreamWorks is temporarily unable to do overseas. issued.

But if you don't try to establish overseas distribution channels, it is likely to be like DreamWorks, and until the end there is no overseas distribution capability.

Think about Lionsgate Pictures. At the beginning, it did not have the ability to distribute overseas. The overseas distribution channels in the back were really expanded through acquisitions and their own construction.

Needless to say, I want to remain independent like Lionsgate, instead of being swallowed up by large groups like those medium-sized film companies in Hollywood history, not only to be able to distribute films in North America, but also to distribute films on a global scale.

Afterwards, everyone discussed the preparation for the establishment of overseas distribution channels.

This work requires a dedicated person to be responsible. The Embassy Pictures currently does not have a suitable candidate. Ronan plans to find opportunities to go with his colleagues to dig people.

It is best to dig a team over.

The release of "Ace Agent" and "Reaper Is Coming" are also the topics of this conference.

Ronan once again emphasized that the publicity and distribution funds of these two films must be solved by borrowing from the Relativity Entertainment.

Relativity Entertainment will immediately have US$43.3 million credited to for the time being, regardless of the bank's repayment, it can fully lend to Embassy Pictures for the operation of new films.

There is also the sequel copyright that Theory of Relativity shot to DreamWorks, and the transfer money will soon be paid.

At that time, he will be able to take a large amount of interest from the income of the two films "Ace Agent" and "Reaper is Coming".

This is the legal income of Relativity Entertainment.

"Garcia, the previous business of Embassy Pictures can continue." Ronan suggested: "Go overseas to acquire independent small productions, and release or release discs and videos in North America. You have done well before. Don't give up this business."

Embassy Pictures used to live on this business, indicating that there is a certain profit margin.

Since it can be profitable, of course it cannot be given up.

Some overseas films are sold in North America, and the packaging may not fail to sell a good profit in the disc and video tape market.

If I have time in the future, I will go to the film festival more.

Two days before Halloween, the discs and video tapes of "Blair the Witch" were officially launched. Embassy Pictures has distribution channels. Chain stores such as Wal-Mart and Blockbuster have placed this film and related posters in prominent locations.

The psychology of the audience is sometimes really hard to guess. The reputation of "Blair the Witch" is stinking, and some people are still willing to pay for it. It went on the market for just three days in the first week, and even sold nearly 7 million dollars in rental income.

The TV premiere copyright of the film has also entered the negotiation stage.

After Halloween, Ronan was going to hold a celebration party. No media people were invited. In addition to the internal staff of the two companies, he also invited some people who have cooperated, such as directors, actors and other positions who have cooperated or are cooperating. Important candidates are also invited.

Of course, for this kind of activity, it is impossible not to invite the creators of the crew.