Director Stanton," Jones Butler opened his notebook and held a pen in his right hand, "Miramax Studios and I are very interested in your Fruit Hard Candy and are interested in pushing it into the theatrical market."
Hearing this, Murphy's heart inevitably flashed a trace of joy, after working so hard for so long, he finally saw the light.
He revealed just the right amount of surprise, "Thank you! This is my honor."
Murphy's attitude was right in line with Jones-Butler's expectations, she added, "I'm very serious about this cooperation with Stanton Studios, but we'll have to discuss the specific ways in detail."
Bill Rossis interjected, "We have plenty of time to talk."
He, too, was eager for this collaboration to come to fruition.
"Way?" Murphy could roughly guess what the other party meant by this, but still asked with a puzzled look on his face, "Isn't it the case that Miramax becomes the publisher of Fruity Hard Candy?"
Although he knew that it was unrealistic, he still had some fantasies in his heart that Miramax would just become the distributor of the movie, and then sign a distribution contract with Stanton Studios, so that in the future, no matter whether it was the box office or other copyright income, Stanton Studios would be able to get a share of the pie.
Even Murphy suppressed in the deepest part of his heart, there are more ideas.
"Of course Miramax will release Fruity Hard Candy." Jones Butler's right hand holding a pen gently tapped, completely grasping the initiative, "Provided that we own all the rights to this movie."
Murphy frowned slightly, "You're buying out the movie?"
Bill Rossis gave Murphy a surprised look, wasn't this the most normal situation?
"Can we work together in another way?" Murphy said tentatively.
Jones Butler made a gesture of invitation, "You can propose it, as long as it is sensible and reasonable and beneficial to both of us, we can consider it."
This was said in a grandiose manner, as if she was very much looking out for Murphy and Stanton Studios.
Although she knew that those ideas were unrealistic, but if she didn't try it, how could Murphy die, in case the other party's head was in the water and agreed?
Even if he didn't agree, he didn't have anything to lose.
He considered for a while and slowly spoke, "Stanton Studios and Miramax sign a distribution contract ..."
Murphy was still considering his next wording, when Jones Butler took over his words, "And then like the mainstream commercial movie distribution in Hollywood, Miramax takes a cut from inside the box office and copyright revenue as a distribution fee?"
Without waiting for Murphy to react, Bill Rossis looked his way in slight surprise, how was this possible?
After half a second of silence, Murphy nodded his head gently.
"It's impossible." Jones Butler shook his head without hesitation, "Buying out the rights is the premise of our cooperation."
She spoke decisively, clearly not having any room to back down.
Murphy hadn't died yet, he was in an absolutely weak position in the negotiation yes, and still wanted to maximize the benefits for himself.
"The buyout method of cooperation is also possible." Murphy continued to talk about his unsupportable ideas, "But Miramax needs to sign an agreement with Stanton Studios, and both of us negotiate a suitable figure, if the North American box office of Fruit Hard Candy exceeds this figure, as the director, I have the right to enjoy a share of the box office."
"We can pay you the box office share." Jones-Butler seemed to be really dumbfounded, but her next words showed that she was sober enough, "The figure set by the director's union."
According to the agreement signed between the Directors' Union and the Producers' Alliance representing the major Hollywood companies, directors who belonged to the union were able to get a share of the box office and video of the films they directed, and this was the explicit rule of the game.
The percentage of the agreement is certainly low.
"I'm not a member of the actors' union."
Hearing this, Jones-Butler shrugged, "All we can say is sorry."
Murphy frowned.
Jones Butler looked at him and mentally shook his head, this young director's idea was too childish.
She decided to break the other party's illusion, ''Director Stanton, the scenario you are talking about will not be accepted by any distribution company. I would like to remind you of one thing, 'Fruit Hard Candy' is a niche independent film, not a mainstream commercial production with tens of millions of dollars invested."
Of course Murphy was aware of all of this, and he said those words more to see if he could drill a hole in the ground, in case the other party's head was in a flood, he would definitely profit more.
Now it seems to be able to sit across the table to lead the negotiations, Jones-Butler head is not in the water at all.
"Your movie won't cost more than three hundred thousand dollars at the most." Jones-Butler did not stop, but seized the advantage to continue to pursue, "Miramax pushed to the theater market, let's not talk about other things, before the release of a certain amount of publicity, as well as printing prints, just these expenditures will be more than three hundred thousand U.S. dollars! What guarantee do you have that Miramax will recoup its investment? Do you have a complete program? Why should we trust your program? Have you had success in the past?"
She looked at Murphy and said word by word, "If all the distribution costs are borne by Stanton Studios, we can agree to your participation in the share of box office and other revenues, and we can also sign a distribution contract with Stanton Studios."
A director without any credentials who wanted to take such a small budget film and sign a split agreement or a distribution deal for a mainstream commercial film, was he treating Miramax as a charity? Or do you think all of them are wrong in the head?
After listening to these words, Murphy sighed in his heart, Jones Butler is not an idiot and did not make a brain-dead decision, and these unrealistic ideas of his should end here.
That hint of fluke was broken, and he too decided to return to a more practical course.
As for all the distribution costs being covered by Stanton Studios, Murphy wasn't in over his head and couldn't have accepted it anyway.
"There's no point in continuing like this." Jones-Butler pressurized at the right time, "Our negotiations can end now."
It didn't feel good at all to be treated like an idiot, did she look like such an idiot?
"Hey Jones," Bill Rossis hurriedly came out to round up the situation, "Murphy was just presenting some of his own ideas, we can totally take our time to talk if you have a different opinion."
Jones-Butler wasn't really trying to terminate the negotiations either, and once again emphasized, "Miramax buying out the rights to Fruit Hard Candy is a prerequisite for this negotiation!"
She looked at Murphy, and in her heart she inevitably felt that this young director did not know the sky, "If you don't agree, there's no point in talking about the rest."
It was true that she was optimistic that Fruit Hard Candy had a certain market prospect, but she was far from the point of chasing after such an independent niche movie, and this kind of movie didn't have such a value.