"This is Mr. Schmidt Lawley, the owner of Green Valley Films in the United States."After the media meeting, Tom White took Schmidt Lawley to meet the creators of "Road to Glory" and introduced him to Lu Yanhe and others.
Although Lu Yanhe had never heard of the American Green Valley Film Company, since it was introduced by Tom White, it must not be a shell company.
Everyone chatted with each other and exchanged contact information. Because Lu Yanhe and his friends had other plans later, they could only chat briefly and then left in a hurry.
After leaving, Fu Kai said, "I thought Schmidt was interested in our film and wanted to discuss copyright purchase and distribution."
Lu Yanhe said: "He may have this idea."
"Huh?" Fu Kai was a little surprised, "Why? He didn't mention it at all."
Lu Yanhe: "These film producers won't talk business with you right away. They have to bargain with us, so when we meet for the first time, they won't show much interest - unless it's a movie that has been popular for a long time and is in great demand at first glance."
Fu Kai has no experience in selling films at film festivals.
Shang Yongzhou added: "Another thing is that our film has only received enthusiastic feedback from the audience, and the media reviews have not yet been officially released. The film company will choose to wait and see and wait for the media's reviews."
Why do film critics always play a less important role in Chinese-language films than in Europe and the United States?
There are many reasons, one of which is that their comments and attitudes do not really participate in the economic industry chain of the film.
In the past, when online media had not yet emerged, their attitude was that they were one of the limited channels for a large audience to learn about a movie. Therefore, no film company wanted to offend film critics. On the contrary, they would try their best to maintain good relations with them.
After the rise of online media, their influence has been greatly weakened, and their impact on a movie's box office has been visibly reduced, but there are still places like film festivals where they can play a role. Media ratings are the most important evaluation criteria for film festivals besides the final grand prize. Movie fans all over the world are waiting for media ratings to adjust their expectations of them. And film producers from all over the world cannot wait until they have thought it through before making a decision.
When a movie comes out, many people are scrambling for it. No one will give you a month or two to slowly decide whether to buy it or not.
At this time, we rely heavily on the vision of the film selectors and media ratings.
Fu Kai was also very nervous about what kind of media ratings "Road to Glory" would get.
After watching the movie, Lu Yanhe had a clear idea of what was going on.
The basic base of this movie is there, and how high it can go in the future depends more on luck. Whether a good movie can become a good movie known by many people depends on the right time, right place and right people. A movie like "Glory Road" cannot achieve the box office and influence of commercial movies even if it does a lot of marketing. It is destined to take a longer road, and the only way to shorten the long distance is to take the shortcut of this type of movie by winning awards, relying on the recommendations of the media and famous film critics.
Several film critics have already posted their opinions and attitudes on their social media as soon as possible.
Judging from the feedback collected so far, except for Yongshan Hesan who vaguely said that "Glory Road" seemed like an old movie dug out from 20 years ago, everyone's evaluation was positive. It's not to say that there are no criticisms, but overall it is still positive.
French magazine Film commented: "If Glory Road is shortlisted for the main competition unit, this year's Best Actor will most likely come from this film. The director has maintained restraint in the camera and the picture from beginning to end, and through the restrained and precise performances of the two actors, a sense of flowing balance is presented. If its flaw is that the theme is expressed too directly and not advanced enough, then its advantage lies in its high degree of unity and completeness in scheduling, performance and film style."
Italy's The Guardian magazine commented: "It has been about four or five years since Shang Yongzhou brought his new work to the film festival. He has been appearing in commercial comedies in recent years, and he has returned to his best field, playing a person with a terminal illness and facing death. His performance showed unprecedented restraint, and under his extremely restrained and calm appearance, there was an emotional tension that seemed to erupt like a volcano. It seemed that he was evenly matched with another actor in the rivalry, but in fact he was firmly in control of the initiative from beginning to end."
Variety magazine commented: "Lu Yanhe, the darling of major film festivals in the world in the past two years, and Shang Yongzhou, a once-popular Chinese actor, teamed up to bring this masterpiece, which touched many people. I think the most competitive film in this year's Horizon Unit has already appeared. In addition, it is said that an American film company has taken a fancy to this film and wants to purchase the North American distribution rights and develop an Oscar-winning plan for it. Let us wait and see whether the news is true."
……
For "Road to Glory", the praise from major media outlets gives it something to look forward to.
Because for a movie like "Paths of Glory", word of mouth and awards are its biggest reliance.
Lu Yanhe, Shang Yongzhou and Fu Kai all took the opportunity to accept some interviews. Through this most traditional way of publicity, at a film festival that has been traditional for decades, they tried to grab everyone's attention to the film, rather than letting its good reputation ferment for a short while and then naturally dissipate.
Of course, not being shortlisted for the main competition unit has its advantages.
People naturally don't judge films that are not in the main competition unit. Therefore, they are less scrutinized.
At noon that day, Fu Kai, Shang Yongzhou and Lu Yanhe invited all media friends from China to have lunch together and expressed their gratitude to everyone.
The meal was arranged by Shang Yongzhou and he paid for it himself.
As the meal started, Fu Kai started to smile and said, "I'm shooting this movie with a very tight budget. I can't even afford the normal PR funds to treat everyone to a meal. Shang Yongzhou has to treat us all."
Friends from the media laughed in a friendly manner.
They all know this industry well. For a film like Road to Glory, even if it has two big stars, Shang Yongzhou and Lu Yanhe, it is impossible to get much production funds - they are not some people on the Internet who don't understand the market and say "Such a big star, can it still lack investment?" In the art film market, there is really a shortage. No matter how big the star comes, the investors have to settle accounts. The ceiling of the box office of art films is there. The bigger the star, the higher the production cost. It can be said that if Lu Yanhe and Shang Yongzhou do not reduce their own pay to perform, the investors cannot afford to pay their salaries - because they cannot recover the cost.
"Thank you, Mr. Movie King!" Guan Suchen, a very active domestic entertainment critic, was also there today and raised his glass. "I am really moved. It has been a long time since I have seen a Movie King act in a movie like this. His acting skills are still as good as ever."
Shang Yongzhou had a smile on his face.
"I see many foreign media and film critics are praising your acting skills." Zhou Yuan, editor of "Movie Jianghu", also said, "It's such a pity. If "Road to Glory" had been shortlisted for the main competition unit, perhaps the Best Actor and Best Actress awards at this year's Venice International Film Festival would have been won by our Chinese actors."
Now Ning Xiu Lian from "Happy Time" still ranks first in the best actress guessing list of various media.
Fu Kai said: "It was mainly because of me that it was held back. If it wasn't my first time to be shortlisted for an international film festival, Glory Road would have been selected into the main competition unit."
This is actually one of the facts.
The biggest shortcoming of "Road to Glory" in the eyes of international film festivals is that the director is a director who has only made commercial comedies before, and no one knows him when he goes abroad.
Shang Yongzhou said: "'Road to Glory' is a work you wrote and directed yourself. Without you, there would be no such work. The Horizons section is also a competition section, and Venice is not its destination."
Lu Yanhe nodded and said, "Yes, this is just the beginning. Winning an award in Venice is not the only way to win an award. This movie will become our masterpiece in the future, which is more important than winning an award or not."
Neither actor wanted Fu Kai to think that it was their fault that dragged down the performance of "Road to Glory" at this moment.
At this moment when he should have been enjoying the peak of his career, the most unnecessary thing was for him to suddenly belittle himself.
At this moment, the cell phones of many people at the table vibrated or rang at the same time.
Guan Suchen picked up the phone in confusion, and then looked shocked.
"Yu Qin announced that her new movie will start shooting today, and it will be a brand new film with the Venice International Film Festival as the background?!" Guan Suchen read out the message she received in amazement, "Starring Ning Xiulian and Chen Ziliang? What?!"
Almost everyone at the table had expressions of disbelief and shock.
Lu Yanhe and Shang Yongzhou had known about this drama for a long time, so they were not too surprised to hear Guan Suchen mention it. They just didn't expect that the film would actually start shooting.
In the ever-changing film and television industry, Yu Qin's behavior of shooting as soon as she says she will, acting decisively and setting up a team immediately will more or less shock these practitioners.
If every director or producer had her execution ability, many projects would not have died halfway.
Guan Suchen looked at Lu Yanhe and the others and asked, "Did you...already know about this news in advance? Why do I feel like you three aren't surprised at all?"
Lu Yanhe told the truth: "We have heard about this before."
Guan Suchen asked in surprise: "So, is this true?"
She didn't even believe it.
The main reason is that this matter sounds weird and unreliable.
You come to the film festival just to attend it, but suddenly you have to make a movie?
The media present were somewhat stunned.
Lu Yanhe and his team did not participate in Yu Qin's film, so it is difficult to say too much.
But Guan Suchen and the others really wanted to find out some information.
After all, "Happy Time" is now the favorite to win an award at this year's Venice International Film Festival. Yu Qin and Ning Xiu Lian are working together again to shoot a new work, and any related news will definitely attract the attention of many people.
Lu Yanhe said jokingly, "Friends, our Road to Glory crew is hosting a lunch party today. If you are interested in their new play, wait until the meal is over before asking for news! Anyway, all the Chinese media coming to Venice are here, so no one can get ahead of anyone else."
After he said this, everyone came back to their senses.
"Yeah."
"Yan He, don't worry. Road to Glory has such a good reputation here. We will definitely help you promote it."
"Of course I'm relieved. I know every one of you and I've read all your articles." Lu Yanhe said, "No one is allowed to be perfunctory. I will read them one by one. If they are too perfunctory, I will not reprint them."
He was deliberately joking.
But saying this is actually a reminder to these media people.
Everyone responded with laughter.
-
Because of the good reputation of "Road to Glory" at the film festival, the distribution company also communicated with Fu Kai, wondering if they should just take advantage of the popularity and release it in the near future?
It just so happened that the two leading actors were there, and Fu Kai also sought opinions from Lu Yanhe and Shang Yongzhou.
Lu Yanhe looked at Shang Yongzhou.
Shang Yongzhou just shook his head and said that he didn’t understand these.
He just acted.
Lu Yanhe thought for a moment and said, "In fact, if Road to Glory doesn't win the grand prize, I think it's better not to use the popularity of the film festival to schedule a release date. September itself is not a month with high box office sales. After all, only a few people in China pay attention to film festival news. Only some fans who are truly interested in film art will pay attention."
"With such a short promotional period, it may not be possible to push this film in front of most potential audiences. I think films like Glory Road could do with more advance screenings and special screenings."
“Because once it’s released publicly, the attendance rate of our film will definitely not be high. In addition, there will be many viewers who don’t know the truth and come to watch it because of your previous films, or because of my celebrity status. They may not be able to accept this non-commercial narrative style. After watching it, they will feel cheated, which will affect the reputation of the film. It’s better to use special screenings or advance screenings to slowly spread word of mouth.”
Lu Yanhe has some understanding of the film industry.
Now Lu Yanhe has gradually come to feel that the domestic theater release model is actually quite "big pot" and "one size fits all".
No matter whether you are an action film, comedy, visual blockbuster or art film, they were all released nationwide on a large scale in one go. Those that are successful can hold their ground by maintaining their screening rates, while those that are not, such as some art films, lost their screening rates on the second day of their release and were directly declared failures.
The practice of starting with small-scale screenings and then slowly increasing the number of theaters, like in North America, has its own historical traditions and industry models and cannot be copied to China.
But Lu Yanhe feels that art films, which are destined not to attract a large number of audiences in a short period of time, should actually be screened over a long period of time.
For a movie like "Road to Glory", it would be great if it could make 20-30 million yuan on the first day, and it would be a huge success if it could make over 100 million yuan in the end. In fact, it is very likely that the final box office will only be 30-40 million yuan - given the subject matter of the movie, apart from true fans and moviegoers, not many people would buy tickets to the cinema just to see their faces.
As a result, the number of days that this movie can actually survive in theaters may be less than two weeks, and even after the first week, the daily box office will fall into seven figures.
As the movie slowly gained popularity, more and more people learned about it through accidental channels, or became interested in it because of a favorable comment from someone around them. When they were ready to watch it, the cinema had no more screenings. The market had already announced its departure.
Lu Yanhe’s proposal was to extend the battle line.
At the beginning, there may only be movie showtimes in a few major box office cities, with only one or two shows a day.
As a result, only one hundred to two hundred spectators in a city may be able to get tickets per day.
If the film is screened on a small scale like this, not only will the attendance rate be high, but those who rush to watch the film are likely to be the real audience of the film. Therefore, the word-of-mouth of the early audience can be accumulated and spread slowly. As more discussions about the film arise, naturally, the number of audiences who enter the cinema without knowing the situation will decrease, and the number of audiences who enter the cinema because they are interested in this type of film will increase, and the agglomeration effect formed by word-of-mouth will gradually show up.
At this point, if the film is released nationwide, the effect may be much better.
Launching a movie into the market is the logic of operating the product.
How to make it sell well is the core thinking. At this time, good reputation is not its amulet, but its slogan.
Fu Kai took Lu Yanhe's suggestion to heart.
Fu Kai seriously communicated this model with the people at the publishing company.
Preview screenings are something that every movie does.
However, it takes two weeks or even longer to organize preview screenings, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive but not necessarily effective. This is because it has not become an industry practice. If there is no industry practice, it means the communication cost, coordination cost and operation cost will be added up.
However, after careful study, the people from the distribution company told Fu Kai that they thought "Road to Glory" was suitable for such an attempt.
Especially after Schmidt Lawley of Green Valley Films in the United States formally proposed to the producers of "Road to Glory" that he wanted to purchase the distribution rights in Europe and the United States, and arranged for "Road to Glory" to sprint for this year's North American awards season, domestic distribution companies were determined to make such an attempt.
"If 'Path of Glory' can really make some noise during the North American awards season, the preview screenings of 'Path of Glory' can be arranged in accordance with the rhythm of the North American awards season," said the distribution company.
Based on Lu Yanhe's idea, they came up with a bolder idea.
Starting in September, the film will be screened on a very small scale in China.
Wait until October, when the North American awards season begins and the nominations for the outpost awards are announced and presented. If Path of Glory can really get one or two nominations, it will continue to be screened in special screenings to take advantage of the influence and publicity of the North American awards season. If Path of Glory doesn't make any splash, it will be released nationwide after the National Day holiday in October, relying on domestic film awards in late October and November to boost the box office.
"Since this is an award-winning film, don't just let the awards do the job of adding luster, but also let the influence of those awards bring some real box office revenue to the film." This is what the people from the distribution company said.
-
"One million and five hundred thousand dollars to buy out the European and American distribution rights."
This was the condition proposed by Schmidt-Lawley.
Because Fu Kai really had no experience in this area, and the people in his production company had no experience in international transactions, in the end it was Lu Yanhe and Shang Yongzhou who helped Fu Kai come up with ideas.
Lu Yanhe shook his head.
Fu Kai said, "Don't you agree? This price doesn't seem to be low."
Indeed, converted into RMB, it is nearly 10 million.
It can almost cover the production cost of "Road to Glory".
Lu Yanhe said: "Buying out means that any copyright income of this film in Europe and the United States in the future will have nothing to do with you. Whether it is theatrical release, online copyright, or some home entertainment copyright income such as DVD, all the sums added up are definitely not just this number. For example, HP bought our global streaming copyright outside of mainland China for this movie, and the amount is not just this number."
This isn’t some little film that really doesn’t have a selling point.
The names of Lu Yanhe and Shang Yongzhou are worth more than just these figures in the European and American film markets. Not to mention, it also received such high media reviews at the Venice International Film Festival.
"One million and a half dollars. If it's just for the North American buyout, I can still accept it relatively well. But including Europe? He underestimated how much a movie like this, which has received so much attention and reputation at the Venice International Film Festival, can sell for in the European market."
Soon, film producers from other countries and regions came with quotations.
The praise from the media and film critics and the extremely high score of in the program book were all converted into clinking money at this moment.
Film producers in several countries, including Italy, France, Germany, Britain, Spain, and Russia, all offered prices of no less than $500,000. The highest price was offered by Britain, which offered $ million for the copyright for just one country.
Fu Kai never imagined that a movie like this would be so popular in the international market.
"For any top film festival, awards are secondary. The key is its influence, which can add one or even several zeros to the price of a film," said Lu Yanhe.
Effectively promoting film sales is the foundation on which major film festivals have remained standing for many years.
Many art films, if not as well received and well-received as "Road to Glory", may only sell for hundreds of thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars in a single market. But if they are sold in dozens of markets, it is still a considerable sum. For many art films, even if they are sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars, they can still make a lot of money.
Fu Kai just didn't understand, so he didn't realize that the movie he made had surpassed the domestic definition of art films.
In China, because movies basically rely on theaters to make money, there is an impression that "art films don't make money."
In fact, these art films have been in the market in Europe and the United States for dozens or even hundreds of years. They have complete and rich sales channels, from DVD sales to DVD rentals, from TV broadcasting rights to broadcasting rights on airplanes, trains and other special spaces, from traditional theaters to streaming media broadcasts. They have too many channels to collect money.
It’s not that art films are very profitable in Europe and the United States. This is of course unrealistic. What it means is that in Europe and the United States, art films have a complete industrial chain that can make money.
Fortunately, Chen Ziyan and Linyu were there.
One knows negotiation, the other knows film translation.
After three meetings and negotiations, Schmidt Lawley finally bought out all the North American copyrights of Road to Glory for $230 million. He gave up the European market, and it was only then that Lu Yanhe realized that Green Valley Films had not yet established a complete distribution channel in Europe. If they had agreed to buy out the rights to Europe and the United States directly, he would probably have sold it to a European company and made a fortune.
After Fu Kai found out, he cursed Schmidt Laurie as a bastard.
Lu Yanhe was overjoyed and said, "They are just doing business."
In the following few days, Fu Kai was busy negotiating with film producers from various countries.
Under Lu Yanhe's suggestion, Fu Kai basically chose the buyout model.
"If you choose to let them distribute the film and you and the production company continue to enjoy the share, to be honest, we are completely unable to ensure that they will give us the share that should be given to us." Lu Yanhe said bluntly, "They are all experienced film producers. They can do everything they can to make the film lose money in their country and region. In the end, we can't get a penny, and we have no place to seek justice. Under the current situation, you can buy it out in one go and get the money in your hands without any worries."
Because of Lu Yanhe's reminder, Fu Kai avoided selling the European and American copyrights to Schmidt-Lawley for US$150 million. He believed in Lu Yanhe's advice very much.
As a result, Road to Glory has negotiated copyrights in more than a dozen countries and regions in just a few days, and has begun drafting agreements, with the total amount reaching more than 7 million. If the follow-up goes smoothly, Road to Glory may be able to sell for more than 10 million US dollars in international copyright sales alone - not to mention domestic revenue, it will be a huge profit.
Fu Kai was so excited that he had a smile on his face for the past few days.
He even asked Lu Yanhe privately: "I can definitely continue to make a movie like Road to Glory for my next movie, right? I thought I would really lose a lot of money, so I was prepared to make a loss, but I didn't expect it to be sold in so many countries and places."
Lu Yanhe smiled and said, "Don't be impulsive, Director. The reason why Road to Glory sold so well is because it was shortlisted for the Venice International Film Festival and because it received good reviews and responses from the media. If it weren't for these, the number you sold would have to be reduced by one zero, or even more."
Fu Kai woke up immediately.
But after a while, he couldn't help but sigh: "Who said that art films can't make money? Who said that coming to a film festival is just to lose money and gain publicity? It's really like looking at the world from a well."
Lu Yanhe just smiled and said nothing.
-
"Path of Glory" has been well received by international film producers, and domestic distribution companies have also begun to slowly release news about it to warm up the film and maintain its popularity on social media.
Basically one piece of news a day.
Green Valley Films of the United States won the North American distribution rights for seven figures of US dollars!
French Caesar Films won the French distribution rights at a high price!
Germany's XX company has won the distribution rights in Germany and announced that it will be released on a large scale in Germany!
……
In a word, these news and publicity are based on facts, but they are vaguely exaggerated to create an image that the movie is extremely popular and extremely popular, whetting the appetite of domestic audiences and making everyone start to accumulate expectations for the movie's release.
At the same time, the Venice International Film Festival is finally coming to an end.
At this time, a piece of news suddenly came out from the crew of Yu Qin's new film.
——Yu Qin seemed very dissatisfied with Chen Ziliang’s acting skills and wanted to replace him for a reshoot.
When Lu Yanhe heard the news, he was chatting with Shang Yongzhou in a bookstore cafe.
The two looked at each other.
Lu Yanhe said silently: "How come I am not surprised at all after hearing such news?"
Shang Yongzhou smiled.
Lu Yanhe asked doubtfully: "Who spread this news?"
Shang Yongzhou shook his head.
At this time, Chen Ziyan came in.
"Have you seen the news?" Chen Ziyan asked Lu Yanhe.
Lu Yanhe nodded.
It's obvious that he is asking about the crew of Yu Qin's new film.
Chen Ziyan said, "Do you know what Guan Suchen told me? Guess who spread the news that Yu Qin was not satisfied with Chen Ziliang's acting skills?"
Chen Ziyan's eyes were shining.
Lu Yanhe: "I didn't want to guess this way, but since you asked me, I think my previous guess was correct."
Chen Ziyan laughed.
"Teacher Ning really has... amazing skills." Lu Yanhe sighed.
Chen Ziyan: "It all depends on how determined Yu Qin is to continue making this film."
Lu Yanhe recalled what Ning Xiulian had said to her.
——If you have worked with Yu Qin on a movie, you will be like me. Instead of worrying so much, you might as well go crazy with her.
Ning Xiu Lian should know that with Yu Qin's personality, no matter how much she objects, she cannot stop Yu Qin from wanting to make this movie.
So, she didn't try to stop it in vain.
Once you join the crew, you, Yu Qin, can go crazy and make a movie to satirize me, and I can also go crazy and make your crew a mess.
Lu Yanhe sighed again, these two women are really not easy to deal with.
The closing ceremony is here.
The crew of "Road to Glory" received an official invitation from the film festival, which means they will definitely win an award in the Horizon section.
They also met Yu Qin and Ning Xiu Lian in the red carpet waiting area.
However, the two of them did not stand together, but chatted and laughed with the people around them, as if the other did not exist.
Even if they saw them, they would greet them in a different way.
Lu Yanhe: "..."
How would he describe his feelings?
He felt that after so many years, when he recalled this Venice International Film Festival, what impressed him most was definitely not the brilliance of "Paths of Glory", but these two women.
In the entertainment industry, he has seen some extremely good people.
For example, Chen Ziliang, who has completely different faces in and out of camera, Meng Li, who makes people feel mentally abnormal, Ma Zhiyuan, who has a bad character, and Zhou Changying, the director of "Behind the Golden Robe" who will do anything to achieve his goals.
However, Yu Qin and Ning Xiu Lian were the first two people he had met in such a long time who were truly talented, had strong personalities, and were even a little paranoid.
Lu Yanhe felt that some of the characteristics of these two people would definitely be eye-catching if they were put into a movie.
Of course, just like the story of the female star told by Yu Qin.
Lu Yanhe took a deep breath.
Fortunately, fortunately, the people he really makes friends with are still people who can get along harmoniously and have principles and bottom lines.
While Lu Yanhe was thinking about these things, he heard the award presenter announce that the best film of this year's Venice International Film Festival's Horizons section was "Road to Glory".
Lu Yanhe just came back to his senses and was about to congratulate Director Fu Kai. When he turned around, he saw Director Fu Kai's excited face and heard him sigh quietly: "Oh, it's a loss."
"..." (End of this chapter)
