Hollywood legendary director

"Warner Bros. Are you sure you want to start Batman?"

Two days later, in the driving Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicle, Nolan was still a little surprised when he heard the news, "Is there anything going on so fast?"

As the so-called care is chaos, this is the first time in Nolan's life that he has participated in front-line production.

In addition, he has dealt with Warner before, and he understands that the other party is very difficult. He also didn't shoot "White Night Chasing the Murder" very well.

Cooperating with big companies is always on the passive side for directors like him who have not really made their mark.

"It's okay, it was Warner who informed us of the past. Even if it doesn't work, if you have any good ideas, I am willing to support you." Lehman said with a smile: "My company is small, but I am happy to provide a comfortable shooting environment. You are capable, but the worst is opportunity."

Lehman didn't worry about any changes in the preparation of the project, even if he couldn't participate in Batman, Nolan was a trump card.

What's more, he is now in a very good situation, having passed the first step of professional accumulation.

Whether it is to continue making movies, or to gradually improve distribution channels, rely on film and television resources, and establish a more comprehensive media group, it is a relatively bright source.

And the director talents in the circle can undoubtedly make this intention quickly realized.

"Arrived."

Lehman, who was driving, said, and parked his car outside a business office building.

The office of the law firm he invited is here.

Upon entering the building, the office is well prepared.

They will send a three-person team to initiate preliminary contact.

They have already figured out all the procedures, filings, and even relevant laws and regulations. They have prepared the terms of cooperation in accordance with Lehman's wishes to ensure that there are no loopholes in the subsequent division of interests.

This is a necessary means of negotiation and can provide good protection for Firefly Pictures without any copyright.

The group left the business building, and each drove to the Warner Pictures Building in Burbank.

This is a negotiated negotiation between the two parties, and Barry Meyer and Joshua Bloomer have long been waiting.

After a set of adult greetings, a group of people gathered in the conference room.

The internal area is large, with an oval table in the middle.

Barry Meyer took the first place with some seriousness, obviously showing a formal attitude, "Since everyone intends to cooperate, then set up a cooperation charter." He waved to Lehmann and said again: "You What do you mean?"

"of course."

Lehman took out the cooperation terms drawn up by the lawyer team from his briefcase and handed it to Barry Meyer.

This contract is mainly about the judgment criteria of investment and income sharing, and it covers all aspects in detail.

It can be said that it basically represents the main cooperation idea of ​​Firefly Pictures. If there is no agreement on this aspect, other aspects will not be discussed at all.

Although many terms have been discussed in the project plan or when the two parties were in contact, Lehman emphasized once again: "The new Batman movie will be jointly produced by Warner Pictures and Firefly Pictures, and the two parties will establish a special The film studio in charge of this project, according to the pre-preparation estimates, the total production cost of the project will be around 120 million to 160 million, of which Warner participates in the production of the project itself, divided into 20 million, and the rest The quota will be invested by Firefly Pictures, right?"

This is the most commonly used multi-company co-production method in Hollywood, and it is not surprising.

Barry Meyer looks at the investment contract.

Nolan stared at his face nervously.

Lehman's attention was on another person the whole time, Joshua Bloomer, Warner Pictures' production director.

He was sitting on Barry Meyer's right hand, and he had been listening very carefully from the beginning to now.

For a company as big as Warner, if Joshua doesn't nod, the so-called cooperative shooting is also very difficult.

The approval of the project requires the approval of the review committee and the DC department, and the approval of the production department is required for shooting. When it comes to the release, it is also the plan of the marketing department and the publicity department to implement the distribution department.

Decentralized powers, Warner is so proficient in playing, it is worthy of a three-power separation system that even state policy pays attention to each other, Lao Mei just knows how to play.

However, this guy was stern and unsmiling throughout, and he didn't know whether he agreed or had any opinions on the cooperation plan.

"Ok......"

Barry Meyer put down the file in his hand and thought about it seriously.

For him, he definitely supports this kind of cooperation, but he can't be so urgent.

Although his heart has long been extremely urgent for the development of the Batman project, otherwise he would not find a way to speed up the review of the project.

When it comes to negotiations, you can't lose the momentum.

"How much does the announcement account for?"

Lehman replied: "The income share is calculated based on the investment ratio. Warner has already used the project to account for 20 million investment. This money will be provided by Firefly Pictures, but Firefly Pictures will not participate in the release. The announcement is It’s up to you to judge based on the film’s quality, market prospects, and box office format after the film is filmed. However, Firefly Pictures will not enjoy the copyright of the film, and all copyrights belong to Warner Bros."

"What about offline revenue? How about Firefly Pictures as a producer?"

"Three years, after the film is downloaded and entered the home entertainment market, Firefly Pictures can only enjoy a three-year validity period, and the share is still calculated based on the production ratio. After three years, all offline revenues will have no more than Firefly Pictures. connection."

The typical distribution sequence is: theater, DVD, video tape distribution, TV broadcast, and its profit margin is gradually decreasing.

The latter two are long-term gains, and there is no problem after 20 years. Firefly Pictures only needs the first three years, which is a relatively concessionary move.

But in Lehman's view, the revenue of a film is still optimistic in the first few years, and the rest is to make money at the cost of time. If you give up, you will give up. It can leave some points for these senior Warners. Good impression of the negotiation.

The North American film market has developed to the present and is very complete.

Movies, as the locomotive of an entire profit chain, may not even make money by themselves, but can make money from other aspects.

For example, later generations invested four to five billion yuan, and the box office always lost money. Why did Disney insist on shooting the "Star Wars series" in order to make box office money?

Toys, licenses, theme parks, these are more worthy of money. Isn't it fragrant?

The same is true for Warner Bros. In their view, it is very cost-effective to get the copyright of a long-term benefit movie with only a small risk.