Arizona.
Coolidge is a small town in the south of Phoenix.
The time is February 3rd.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, Catherine Bigelow was standing in front of the hotel where the crew was staying, and saw a black Chevrolet SUV approaching from the end of the street. When the car stopped, she subconsciously stepped forward.
Simon pushed the door and got out of the car, and looked at Catherine, who was wearing a close-fitting black cardigan and jeans in front of him. Then he opened his arms and hugged the woman and said, "You look more flavorful in black."
Catherine glared at Simon with a slightly annoyed look, and then said: "I heard the news on the "Hollywood Reporter" yesterday. Is it really okay for you to come over like this?"
"Of course not. Everything is basically done. I will wait for the release. Moreover, I think I should leave for a while. Some things are still too late."
Catherine nodded seemingly, and gestured behind her back, saying: "I have prepared the room for you. Besides, have you eaten lunch?"
Simon shook his head and said with a smile: "Not yet, I want to come over and let you treat you."
Catherine glanced at him again, looked around, and pointed to a short distance across the road: "Let's go over there, there is a restaurant."
The two crossed the wide asphalt road in the small city. Simon looked at the streets where there were few people in sight. He remembered the endless Gobi Desert on both sides of the intercontinental highway when he drove all the way, and said with emotion, "There is a vacuum here."
"There are about 6,000 people in Coolidge. There are already a lot," Catherine said as she walked beside Simon, and said, "Didn't you originally intend to cooperate with Fox Pictures? Why did you become Orion again?"
"Can't talk about it," Simon said in a somewhat helpless tone, "Orion is easier to communicate."
Catherine nodded in understanding, and then asked, "What conditions did Orion give?"
When he came to the restaurant, Simon helped the woman to open the door and said: "They only take away the distribution rights of the theater in North America for the time being, and other channels are reserved first. Our share ratio is 15%."
Catherine walked into the restaurant and was a little surprised when she heard Simon say this: "15%, very good."
Hollywood film companies that have channels for publicity are very strong. When an agent distributes a film, it costs more than 30% of the box office for a film to spend on promotion, distribution and commissions.
On the other hand, due to attendance rates and other reasons, non-mainstream art films get generally low share from theater operators, and some films can only get less than 30% of the box office from theaters.
Combining the two, Simon was able to win 15% of the box office share for a low-cost movie like "Lola Run", which surprised Catherine a little.
The two sat down at the table. Simon ordered a lunch and asked the waiter to bring a pot of coffee. Then he explained: "It's not as good as you think. This is conditional. The cost of copying must be paid by us. I made it myself. Moreover, I signed a package contract with Orion for a screenwriter and director."
In order to win the 15% share contract, Simon and Mike Medova spent a full day last Saturday and almost pushed one more decimal point.
Even with the two additional conditions, it's quite a see-saw.
Mike Medova believes that since Simon is willing to bear the cost of copying, he should pay the cost first. Simon couldn't get the money at all now, so naturally it was impossible to agree, and in the end, Orion Pictures would advance it first.
As for the packaging contract, Mike Medova first took a fancy to "Reaper Is Coming" and wanted to sign it for $500,000.
Among them, US$300,000 is Simon's director's remuneration, and US$200,000 is the cost of the script for "Death is Coming". Of course, although he is not a member of the two major trade unions, directors and screenwriters, according to industry practice, Simon can still enjoy similar sharing terms as trade union members.
"Reaper is Coming" has actually been taken by Fox, but the other party is still waiting for the response of "Butterfly Effect" and did not make an offer. Of course, according to the exception clause in Simon's contract with Fox, if he is willing to direct, it is indeed no problem to hand over "Reaper" to Orion.
It's just that Simon has no interest in directing the film personally. He just hopes to sign a blank contract that does not involve any details for the time being, and when he has a script of interest, he will talk about specific cooperation.
Mike Meadowa is naturally unable to agree.
In the end, both parties made some compromises. Simon signed a blank contract with a base salary of 500,000 US dollars, but reserved the right to renegotiate the share clause.
In the restaurant, Catherine was holding a cup of coffee, listening to Simon explain the details of her "matching wits and courage" with Mike Medova, and smiled and said: "500 thousand dollars, what else are you unsatisfied with, I only have 150,000 dollars It."
Simon retracted his arm on the table, asked the waiter to put down the lunch, picked up the tableware, took a bite of the pasta, and said, "When I get rich, I'll give you a blank contract. How much investment do I want and how much pay? , Fill in by yourself."
Catherine dodges Simon's gaze and said, "I don't need your money."
"Then I will help you get investment in the future."
"I will too."
Simon nodded quickly: "Oh, yes."
Catherine watched Simon lower her head to eat, pursed her lips, and said, "You, do you think I'm not good at making movies?"
Simon immediately shook his head: "Of course not, you will definitely become the first Oscar for best female director."
Catherine still stared at Simon, did not believe him at all, insisted: "You just think I can't make movies."
Simon didn't expect a woman to have such a keen instinct, and really wanted to swallow the few words he had just said.
Looking up again, Simon looked at Catherine seriously, and said, "No one can walk when they are born. So, even if you can't shoot well now, you will definitely be able to shoot well in the future."
Catherine met Simon again, and suddenly felt like a little girl out of breath.
My God, I'm crazy.
Holding up the coffee cup, lowering her eyes and taking a sip, Yu Guang secretly swept over. When Simon started eating again, she was relieved.
After a moment of silence, I found a new topic and whispered: "Well, how many screens can Orion give "Lola Run"?"
Simon also seems to have forgotten the conversation just now, and if nothing has happened, he said: "It's about 200 yuan, you can only get so much in two weeks. This is because it is the off-season now. Moreover, these screens are mainly concentrated on the west coast and the east coast. For the time being, only New York will have some screenings."
The media industry in the 1980s was far less developed than later. The current discussion about Simon and "Lola Run" is basically focused on a few West Coast states and counties that the Los Angeles Times can radiate.
Therefore, Orion also temporarily chose to focus its publicity resources on the West Coast.
The 200 yuan opening screen actually exceeded Simon's expectations.
In this era when "Star Wars" has only 1,000 yuan on the screen, Simon naturally can't ask for too much. Even if they cooperate with the seven majors, they will only give three or four hundred screens, but Simon will definitely not get 15 % Of the share, it is impossible to temporarily retain the distribution rights of other channels.
After a simple lunch, Simon and Catherine left the restaurant together, and then asked about the "Blood Corpse Night": "How is your shooting plan arranged here?"
"The next month will be night shooting, starting at 6 o'clock in the afternoon and until 2 o'clock in the morning." Catherine said, the two crossed the asphalt road and returned to the other side. After a pause, the woman suddenly said: "You, Don't talk to me anymore?"
Simon pretended to be stupid: "What?"
Catherine didn't look at Simon, and threatened slightly: "Otherwise, I'll tell Jenny."
Simon immediately raised a hand: "Well, I promise."
Listening to Simon's insincere tone, Catherine just glared at him angrily.
Back at the hotel, Catherine took Simon to settle the room first, and then introduced him to some other major crew members of "Blood Corpse Night".
The leading actor of "Blood Corpse Night" is named Adrian Pasta, who happens to be a client of Jonathan Friedman. The heroine Jenny Wright is a baby-faced girl with short hair. She is very beautiful, but she has a pure temperament and lacks the glamour and enchantment that a vampire should have.
Simon also met the film's producer Edward Feldman, a middle-aged man in his fifties. The other party apparently also heard about some recent events in Hollywood. Seeing Simon, he behaved very politely and did not show any dissatisfaction with him entering the group halfway through. He also personally signed an employment contract with him.
After getting acquainted with each other, Simon quickly integrated into the work of the crew from the evening.
Simon's position is assistant director. Because he is a regular crew, his salary is pretty good, 500 dollars a week. Of course, Simon was here to help, so naturally he would not care about the money.
When Simon started the night out in Arizona, the announcement of "Lola Run" was also advancing rapidly in Los Angeles.
Regarding Simon's sudden departure at this point in time, although Orion had some opinions, he did not ask him to return.
Because it is not available.
Simon had already finished the posters and trailers that he might need before he left, and the film had no plans to hold a premiere.
Orion's job is basically to contact the theaters, roll out the posters, and release the trailer of "Rola Run" to local TV stations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and other cities a week before the release.
These seem simple, but they lack experience and connections, and a film company that is just starting out will definitely not be able to do it.
Moreover, in the two-week release process of Orion, all the publicity budget invested easily reached 500,000 US dollars, which still counts the copy cost of "Lola Run" on Simon's side.
You know, the total cost of about 200 copies of "Lola Run" also reached about $150,000.
This shows how expensive the cost of film distribution in the film era is, and this is why many low-cost films basically cannot enter theaters and only flow directly into the video tape channel.
Due to the tight schedule of "Lola Run", coupled with the appropriate publicity methods of Orion Pictures, from the rise of the topic of Simon in the media to the release of the film, relevant media discussions have been kept in a very active state.
This continues until Friday, February 13.
"Lola Run" is finally officially released in major cities on the West Coast and New York on the East Coast with an opening scale of 207 screens.