Hollywood legendary director

In the morning in Cannes, the sun is shining and it is easy to sweat on the forehead while walking.Lehman looked at the high-rise building with a modern business architectural style, and walked forward without hesitation.

Just yesterday, Thomas also rushed over from Paris. After the trio assembled again, he couldn't wait to start the next job.

If a movie wants to be shown in theaters, naturally, it needs to negotiate between the distributor and the theater, and then the theater will arrange the schedule for its movie theaters. Finding a suitable movie distributor is the purpose of their trip.

In France, in the Alps, there are many film companies that have theater distribution channels, but they are roughly divided into two types. One is some subsidiaries established in France by major Hollywood companies that distribute their films globally, including Paramount, Columbia, Warner Bros., MGM, and French Film Federation-Fox Distribution Company, etc.; the second is the local film companies in France, such as Barker, Europa, EMI and other powerful companies, and then there are many independent distributors. , That's the Erdao trafficker who is shown in that area.

Lehman's ideal choice is of course those big companies. After all, big companies not only mean strong strength, but also richer film and television resources.

So his first choice was the office of Warner Bros. in France.

With so many large companies, the reason why the first goal is it, there is nothing special, because the office of Warner Bros. is near Cannes.

Well, the distance is the closest and convenient.

"Hello, welcome to the Warner Bros. France office!" The lady at the front desk greeted people with a smile. She was a white woman in her twenties. Although she smiled fakely, she was unexpectedly pleasing to the eye.

Lehman glanced at the work card hanging on her chest, and knew her name was Sivir-Woma, and said: "Hello Miss Sivir, this is Lehman. Yesterday I made an appointment with your company to buy a movie. Department manager Gaiman meets."

"Okay, please wait a moment." Sivir turned around and started broadcasting and calling to confirm related matters.

When the three of them saw this, they were also casually sitting on the benches waiting for news.

Touching the sturdy seat under his butt, Lehman looked around the surroundings. For some reason, his heart suddenly became a little nervous.

At this time, the receptionist Sivir finished the phone call and said in a friendly and kind manner: "Mr. Lyman, our manager is already waiting in the projection room on the second floor. I will take you up. Please follow me."

"Okay." The three of Lyman also stood up. Among them, Ryan and Thomas each took a briefcase, which contained various materials of the movie "Buried alive" and a copy of the final edited version.

On the second floor, I first passed the Warner Bros. office area. It seemed that there were not too many people inside, but it seemed very busy. Everyone was working hard, or was just talking on the phone.

Sivir brought three people to an independent office. She stepped forward and knocked on the door. The sound of "coming in" came from inside. She opened the door and reported inside: "Mr. Gaiman, Director Lehman is here. That's it." After that, she turned and went back to the front desk.

When the three of Lehman entered, they saw a middle-aged white man in his forties, with an appearance that is common in the United States, with thin hair, very bald, wearing a gray suit and black tie, sitting Behind the desk, looking at something.After seeing them coming in, he raised his head, smiled and got up and stood up, "Hello. Director Lyman, hello."

"Mr. Gaiman, hello." Lyman smiled and shook hands with him, and said politely: "It's nice to meet you."

Thomas smiled and didn't say anything. Instead, he asked: "Mr. Lyman, you look so young. Take the liberty to ask, how old are you?"

"25." The answer was very concise.

After Gaiman heard this, he frowned slightly, obviously a little dissatisfied with the young director who said he wanted to work with him.At 25, I just graduated from university. This so-called movie won't be a ridiculous "play house" game.

Although I didn’t want to see you and felt a waste of time, I agreed to meet and people came, so I couldn’t avoid it directly. So he said, "Then, let me enjoy your movie first. Hope it will be. A pleasant experience."

"I have brought the film to copy." Lyman said, taking the briefcase from Ryan who was standing by.

"Well, let us see."

Gaiman took the copy of the movie, put it in the player in the office cubicle, and pulled down the curtains installed in the room.

The four of them sat in comfortable chairs and looked at the small screen in front of them.

Gaiman pressed the start button of the remote control and saw a black screen lit up on the small screen.

As time went by, there was still nothing left on the screen, and it was still full of darkness.

"Wow, this..." Gaiman pressed the pause, looked at Lyman, and questioned: "Director Lyman, are you sure this is a movie? Why doesn't the picture appear, is it a full movie? ?"

Lehman was thinking about this interruption, but when he came back to his senses, he quickly explained: "This period of more than 20 seconds was drawn by sound. You will know what it means later."

Suffocating the farce, Gaiman pressed start.

On the screen, the camera zoomed in, and Heath Ledger, who was trapped alone in a coffin and buried alive, was hidden in a large shadow, his eyes full of panic and doubt turning uneasy.

The background music gradually sounded, adding to the atmosphere.

Lehman didn't cut a single shot for this highly difficult one-shot shot, which was close to 30 seconds.It was a shocking appearance.

Time passed slowly, and after ninety minutes, it suddenly went dark, the film ended, and the subtitles gradually appeared.The film screening is over.

At this moment, Lyman, Ryan, Thomas, the eyes of the three of them all focused on the bald man sitting next to him.

They watched this movie many times, but still found it wonderful.

The first time, you think it is abusive, the second time, you think it has some deep meaning, and the third time, you can find that this movie vividly shows the despicable methods of the US government and the public opinion as a whole, and truly analyzes international politics. The interests clash on the battlefield.

All in all, in short, it's pretty good!

But the three of Lehman said nothing. In this house, Gaiman had the most decision-making power.He thinks that it is true.

"How? Mr. Gaiman." Looking at the quiet atmosphere, Ryan couldn't help but speak first.

His eyes were fixed on the film purchase manager, for fear that he would hear "No" in his mouth.

"Director Lyman, what do you say about your movie..." Gaiman's hesitating words made Lyman on the side even more nervous, "It's surprising, and indeed interesting, at least it makes me feel at ease. Watch the whole movie."

Immediately, he laughed at himself: "However, this extremely strong personal style, coupled with the fact that there is only one character and scene in the whole film, is really crazy. I have never met such a... such an alternative. Movie. You know, I'm just an office manager, and I don't have any rights in my hands, but you handled the whole story very well, but..."

As soon as Lehman heard the uncertainty in Gaiman's words, he knew that the results of this action might not be too good. Sure enough, Gaiman said, "I can only buy the copyright and put it on the offline market and distribute the video tape. Love belongs to love, business belongs to business. Director Lehman, I am willing to persuade the company to spend a sum of money to buy the distribution rights of this film, but I can't push it to theaters. What do you mean?"

Lyman's heart sank.The meaning of Gaiman’s words is that the style of this movie is too strong. Instead of taking a lot of risks and persuading movie theaters to arrange screenings, it is better to directly enter the offline market for distribution. From that point of view, the up-front cost is compared to theaters. Say, too much ease.

To put it bluntly, the film may be valuable, but they do not want to take risks.

"I know, but the market is always elusive. Maybe we can try to order the show first and try it out in more than a dozen theaters to see the audience's reaction before deciding on the follow-up release. How about?" Lehman was not reconciled. Make your own suggestions.

But Gaiman shook his head, "I saw the film investment. It costs 500,000 Euros for the shooting cost. Isn't it? Our company is willing to spend 1 million Euros to buy the distribution rights of this film and guarantee the profit in the offline market. How about you, as a producer, have a 25% share ratio?"

Five hundred thousand became one million, and in a blink of an eye he earned back the benefits of the entire investment amount. It stands to reason that Lehman should be happy. When he first crossed over, he didn’t think about making a movie to make money. Here Do you want to go on?But why, he is so unwilling.

"Can't you really give this movie a chance?"

"Sorry, this is beyond the scope of my rights, and I can't do anything." Gaiman cut off the last faint chance of screening cleanly.

As the film purchase manager of Warner Bros. Pictures in France, he certainly has the right to push a film to various theaters. After all, he has the opportunity to intervene in the release of film sources from the head office in France every year. of.It is not difficult to build a good relationship with theaters, let alone the distribution channels of the head office spread all over the European and American continent.

But he doesn’t want to take a risk. The director style of "Buried Alive" is too prominent. It is more like an author’s film. It is not a so-called "artistic" film with pornographic balls. This kind of thriller and niche type is not available in France What kind of welcome he will receive, this is his long-term experience in buying movies.

There is value, but the prospects are not clear. There is no need to risk his dereliction of duty. Instead, he will release offline video tapes. For him, he will be able to pay back his costs and create benefits.

Which is lighter and heavier, at a glance.

"Can you give me some time to think about it?"

"Of course, you can call me anytime during the next few days."

"Thank you."

......