Hollywood Hunter

Arizona.

Coolidge Township, south of Phoenix.

The time is February 3.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Catherine Bigelow was standing in front of the hotel where the crew was staying and saw the black Chevrolet SUV coming from far away in the street, waiting for the car to stop and subconsciously take two steps forward.

Simon pushed the door out of the car and looked at Catherine, who was wearing tight black cardigan and jeans in front of her. Then she opened her arms and hugged the woman, saying, "You look more tasteful in black."

Catherine glared at Simon with a slight expression, but instead said: "I heard the news from "The Hollywood Reporter" yesterday. Is it really okay for you to run like this?"

"Of course not, things are basically done, and then wait for the next release. And, I think I should also leave for a while, some things are still too late."

Catherine nodded inexplicably, gestured behind her, and said, "I've prepared the room for you. Besides, have you eaten lunch?"

Simon shook his head and smiled: "Not yet, thinking of hurrying over and letting you entertain."

Catherine gave him another white look and raised her finger to point across the road, not far away: "Let's go over there, there is a restaurant there."

The two crossed the wide asphalt road of the small town. Simon looked at the streets where few people were seen. Thinking of the endless Gobi beaches on both sides of the intercontinental highway when he rushed all the way, he felt some emotions and said, "Here can be a vacuum."

"There are about six thousand people in Coolidge City, there are already a lot of them," Catherine walked beside Simon, saying so, and said: "Aren't you originally planning to cooperate with Fox Pictures, how did you become Orion again?"

"I can't talk," Simon said in a helpless voice, "Orion is easier to communicate with."

Catherine nodded understandingly and asked again: "What conditions does Orion give?"

Coming outside the restaurant, Simon helped the woman open the door, and then said: "They only take away the right to issue theaters in North America for the time being, other channels retain priority, and our share is 15%."

Catherine walked into the restaurant and heard Simon say it, but was a little surprised: "15%, it's very good."

Film companies in Hollywood with a distribution channel are very strong.Agents release a film, and all aspects of publicity, distribution, and commissions are spent. They usually have to take more than 30% of the box office share of a film.

On the other hand, due to the low attendance rate, the share of non-mainstream art films from cinema dealers is generally low, and some films can only get less than 30% of the box office from the cinema.

Combining the two, Simon was able to win a 15% box office share for a low-cost movie like "Rola Run", which surprised Catherine a little.

The two sat down at the dining table. Simon ordered a lunch and asked the waitress to bring a pot of coffee before explaining: "It's not as good as you think. This is conditional. The copying fee must be paid by us. Go out by myself. And, I also signed a packaging contract with the writer and director of Orion."

In order to win the 15% share, Simon and Mike Medova spent a full day last Saturday, almost pushing one decimal point.

Even if it is the two additional conditions, it is a lot of sawing.

Mike Medova believes that since Simon is willing to bear the cost of copying, he should pay this fee first.Simon can't even pay this amount of money now, so naturally it is impossible to agree. In the end, Orion Pictures will advance in advance, and will be deducted from the box office in the future.

As for the packaging contract, Mike Medova first took a fancy to "The Grim Reaper" and wanted to sign it for $500,000.

Among them, 300,000 US dollars is Simon's director's remuneration, and 200,000 US dollars is used as the cost of the script for "The Grim Reaper".Of course, although not a member of the two major unions of directors and screenwriters,

"The Grim Reaper" has actually been spotted by Fox, but the other party is still waiting for the response of the "Butterfly Effect" and did not make a quotation.Of course, according to the exception clause in the contract between Simon and Fox, if he is willing to direct, it is really no problem to hand over "The Grim Reaper" to Orion.

However, Simon is not interested in personally directing the film. He only hopes to sign a blank contract that does not involve any details for the time being. When he has an interesting script, he will talk about specific cooperation.

Mike Medova naturally cannot agree.

In the end, both parties made some compromises. Simon signed a blank contract with a basic salary of $500,000, but reserved the right to renegotiate the sharing terms.

In the restaurant, Catherine held a cup of coffee and listened to Simon explaining the details of his “fighting with wisdom” with Mike Medova. He smiled and said: “$500,000, what else are you not satisfied with, I only have $150,000 What."

Simon withdrew his arm on the table and asked the waiter to put down the lunch, picked up the cutlery, and tasted a bite of pasta, saying: "When I have money, I will give you a blank contract, how much investment and how much I want , Fill in yourself."

Catherine dodged Simon's eyes and said, "I don't need your money."

"Then I will help you invest in the future."

"I will too."

Simon nodded quickly: "Oh, yes."

Catherine looked at Simon and began to eat down, pursed her lips, and said, "You, do you think I can't make a good movie?"

Simon immediately shook his head: "Of course not, I believe you will be the first Oscar best female director."

Catherine still stared at Simon, completely disbelieving him, insisting: "You just think I can't make a good movie."

Simon didn't expect a woman's instinct to be so keen, and he really wanted to swallow the words he had just said.

Raising his head again, Simon looked at Catherine seriously and said, "No one will 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 touched Simon's eyes again, and suddenly felt like she was just a little angry girl.

God, I'm crazy.

Holding the coffee cup, she lowered her eyes and took a sip, Yu Guang sneaked over, and waited until Simon began to eat again, before she felt relieved.

After a moment of silence, Catherine just found a topic again, and whispered: "Well, how much can Orion draw the screen for "Rola Run"?"

Simon also seemed to have forgotten the conversation just now, if nothing happened: "It's about 200 yuan, you can only pull so much in two weeks, this is because it is the off-season. And these screens are also mainly concentrated on the west coast and east coast. For the time being, only New York will have some spots."

The media industry in the 1980s was far less developed.The current discussion about Simon and "Rola Run" basically focuses on several West Coast states that the "Los Angeles Times" can radiate.

Therefore, Orion temporarily chose to concentrate its resources on the west coast.

The 200-screen painting screen has actually exceeded Simon's expectations.

In this era of "Star Wars" where there are only 1,000 screens, Simon can't naturally demand too much. Even if they cooperate with the Seventh Party, they will only give about three or four hundred screens at most, but Simon can't get it. With a 15% share, it is impossible to temporarily retain the distribution rights of other channels.

After having a simple lunch, Simon and Catherine left the restaurant together and asked about the "Blood Corpse Night": "How did you arrange the shooting plan on your side?"

"The next month will be night shots, starting at 6 pm until 2 am," 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 again?"

Simon pretends to be stupid: "What?"

Catherine did not look at Simon, threatening little: "Otherwise, I will tell Jenny."

Simon immediately raised a hand: "Well, I promise."

Listening to Simon's disingenuous tone, Catherine just gave him a weird look.

Back at the hotel, Catherine first took Simon to settle in the room, and introduced him to some other members of the main crew of Bloody Night.

The leading actor in "Blood Corpse Night" is named Adrian Pasta, which 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 her temperament is pure, and she lacks the coldness and demon that a vampire should have.

Simon then saw the producer of the film, Edward Feldman, a middle-aged man in his fifties.The other party apparently also heard about some recent events in Hollywood, and when he saw Simon, he was very polite and did not show any dissatisfaction with his entering the team midway. He also signed an employment contract with him personally.

Familiar with each other, Simon began to quickly integrate into the work of the crew from the evening.

Simon's position is a director's assistant. Since he is a regular crew, his salary is not bad, at $500 per week.Of course, Simon originally came to help, and naturally would not care about the money.

When Simon began to go out in Arizona day and night, Los Angeles, the announcement of "Laura Run" was also rapidly advancing.

Regarding Simon's sudden departure at this time, Orion had some opinions but did not ask him to return.

Because it doesn't work.

Simon had finished the posters and trailers he might need before leaving, and the film had no intention of holding a premiere.

Orion’s work basically involves contacting the theater, rolling out posters, and posting a trailer for “Laura Run” to local TV stations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and other cities a week before the release.

These seem simple, but lack of experience and connections, a film company that has just started can certainly not do it.

Moreover, in the short two-week release process of Orion, all the advertising budgets invested easily reached 500,000 US dollars. This is based on the cost of copying "Roller Run" on the Simon side.

You know, the total cost of about 200 copies of "Laura Run" also reached about $150,000.

This shows how expensive the film distribution is in the film age, which is why many low-cost films are basically unable to land in the cinema and will only flow directly into the video tape channel.

Due to the compact schedule of "Rola Run" and the appropriate publicity methods of Orion Pictures, from the rise of Simon's topic in the media to the release of the film, the relevant media discussions have been kept in a very active state.

This continues until Friday, February 13.

"Laura Run" was finally officially released in major cities on the West Coast and New York and other theaters on the East Coast at the opening scale of 207 screens.