Chapter 531 Is This to Promote My Brother? Is This to Help My Brother Get on the Grill!

Subona may not have much moral integrity, but through his explanation, Li Youzhi is sure of one thing;

This old Deng is really a talent!

Apart from anything else, this guy is absolutely a master at overseas cinemas and the operation of film and television works in the overseas market.

The reason why Li Youzhi asked the friends of Tongchen Society to detain this guy was that he originally planned to exchange some information about the overseas film market for the 100,000 US dollars that Subona was destined to fail to cash.

Now it is obvious...his goal has been achieved.

And with Subona facing the big cake that Li Youzhi can provide a job, this goal can be said to be exceeded.

After Subona's explanation, Li Youzhi has a clear understanding of the operation and operation of the North American film market;

Unlike the domestic cinema model, the overseas film market, especially the American film market, has strong regional differences, and does not have a relatively unified screening improvement standard like the domestic cinema alliance.

What is the situation of domestic cinemas?

Basically, when a movie is released, the distributor will first negotiate the profit sharing ratio with the theater chain. The ratio is about 40% for the distributor and 50% for the theater chain. The remaining 10% includes film development funds, taxes and agency fees.

However, the situation of theater chains abroad is more complicated. For example, there are large and small cinemas in the United States, and there are dozens of theater brands. Almost every theater chain brand has a different business model.

If you have to make a rough distinction, it can basically be divided into two categories; the first category is similar to the domestic theater chain based on box office revenue. The other category is personalized theaters that charge for additional services.

The former is easy to understand, and the latter type of personalized theaters actually do not expect to make money from the box office, but rely on membership fees, popcorn snacks, or cinema salons and various forms of film activities to make profits.

This type of theater is very tolerant of the types of movies shown.

In domestic theaters, basically all theaters like movies with high attendance rates and highly recognized casts, but for American Class B theaters, it doesn’t matter whether the movie sells well or not.

As long as it can provide the audience with a fresh experience, give the audience something to talk about in the cinema, and help them sell peripherals, snacks, or movie activities, it is qualified.

And this type of cinema, in order to provide the audience with an experience different from commercial cinemas, often provides a large quota for foreign, independent or art films.

Many domestic art films that Subona previously operated were released abroad through these theaters.

Of course, Subona's previous operation was mainly to sell these films to film distributors at film festivals, and then the film distributors would go to these Class B cinemas for promotion.

Now, through Subona's explanation, Li Youzhi has a complete understanding of the situation of these Class B cinemas, and he is really moved.

Why?

Although these Class B cinemas only account for 40% of the total number of screens in the US film market, there are nearly 17,000 screens in total.

And the best thing is that most of these 17,000 large screens are distributed in non-US first-tier cities and commercial centers.

They are also aimed at some young movie-watching groups that pursue individuality and community groups in metropolitan areas.

What is the situation of this distribution?

If we can really negotiate with all the theaters in this part of the United States, it will be the rhythm of surrounding the city with the countryside for Zhige!

"This is the basic situation, Xiao... ahem, Mr. Li, having said that, can I ask what type of movie you want to put into the American market? "Daydreamer"? God guarantee that if this movie is released in the American market, it should make quite good profits.

As you know, I have lost my job and am unemployed. If you need a professional and knowledgeable overseas film and television distribution agent, I think I can do this job."

In the private room of the small restaurant, seeing that Su Bona wanted to be reserved but couldn't hold it back, Li Youzhi was happy.

If you had this attitude and position before, why did you suffer so much during this period?

Facing Su Bona's eager eyes, Li Youzhi smiled and shook his head.

There is no need for Su Bona to remind him that "Daydreamer" is released in the United States, and it will definitely make a fortune now. But this film has been online for a month on the overseas version of Heguang Audiovisual, and the film has accumulated nearly 50 million views.

According to the standards of the American film market, it is considered a "re-screening" now. Whether it is the profit share ratio or other benefits, Li Youzhi really doesn't think much of it.

So his goal is very clear. If he operates, it can only be "Buried" which has not been launched on any platform and has not even received MDAA rating!

Thinking of this, Li Youzhi turned his attention to Su Bona:

"A low-cost thriller that I directed and acted in myself."

Hearing the answer given by Li Youzhi, Su Bona smacked his lips.

Low-cost... thriller, this type is not lacking in the American film market. From the perspective of a distribution agent, this type of film may not have a strong market performance in the American film market.

"Well, with all due respect, Li. Although you are well-known in China, you don't have much box office appeal in the American film market. Thrillers are not scarce in the American film market, at least as far as I know, Hollywood There are approximately 30 to 65 thriller movies released to the market every year, many of which are thriller masterpieces by well-known directors.

However, the market performance of thrillers has generally been sluggish in recent years. Even classic thriller IPs such as "The Thing" and "Alien", as well as big-name star-studded productions, have not performed well at the box office and in the disc market. As expected... even "The Thing", which invested US$120 million last year, only recovered a global box office of US$500 million. If you look at the US market alone, even this movie lost money. Your movie How much does it cost to produce? "

Li Youzhi had also heard of what Subona said. Facing his unintentional inquiry, Li Youzhi thought for a moment and stretched out five fingers.

"Fifty thousand yuan."

"Oh, the cost of this kind of production is about..."

Subner originally wanted to help Li Youzhi calculate the box office return in detail based on the floating share of American theater chains. But when the vertical equations in his mind were listed and half a million yuan was entered into the calculation, his cerebellum shrank...

What is the concept of five hundred thousand RMB?

In U.S. dollars, that's almost seventy thousand dollars.

In Hollywood, let alone a feature film, shooting a serious commercial MV would cost 108,000 U.S. dollars!

In horizontal comparison, this cost is almost negligible!

For a film distribution agent, a thriller costing $120 million may be full of flaws, but a thriller costing $70,000...it has advantages everywhere!

Why?

Without cost pressure, even if it fails at the box office and is taken off the shelves by theaters after one round of screenings, then it is all a bloody profit!

Why do you say that?

The box office distribution plan of Class B theater chains in the United States adopts a stepped reduction system, which means that after deducting the theater's fixed costs from the box office revenue, the box office is returned to the distribution agent in a weekly decreasing ratio.

In the first week of a film's release, after deducting exhibitor-related expenses, the distribution agent usually gets 90% of the box office revenue, and the theater gets 10% or less. Then, the box office revenue available to distributors decreases by 10% every two weeks, while exhibitors increase by 10% accordingly. The longer the show, the higher the proportion of box office revenue.

Of course, this is for those commercial blockbusters. But even for small-cost independent films, according to this decreasing distribution plan, they can at least get more than 70% of the box office revenue in the first week of release.

Even if it is a one-stop tour, as long as the advertising and promotion are in place and the attendance rate is acceptable, it will be a considerable profit!

"Li, you didn't make a short film, did you? I wonder if I can watch this... low-cost film first?"

Subona said, forcibly suppressing the excitement in his heart.

Facing his hot gaze, Li Youzhi smiled and nodded, waving to Liu Meng who was standing beside him.

After a while, a laptop and a mobile hard drive containing the master tape of "Buried Alive" were placed in front of Subona.

Sitting in a private room of a small hotel, watching the entire story of "Buried Alive" that was extremely depressing and the tension of the story was stretched to the extreme, Subona could no longer remain calm.

Having worked on film and television copyright operations for Warner for so many years, he must know the standard of a movie. This can be seen from his ability to discover "Daydreamer" in the first place.

Halfway through the plot of "Buried Alive", he had already determined that although the cost was small and the scene was single, the plot and performance would definitely wow the audience.

Now, looking at the credits of "Buried Alive", he stood up with a bang on the table, looked at Li Youzhi, and clasped his hands together;

"Li, if you can trust me... Well, maybe you need someone who really wants to get out of the quagmire and help you push this movie to the American market. I can definitely do the job! I promise you, if this Leave the movie to me and I can bring you no less than 20 million dollars! I swear to God!”

Wuhu?

Li Youzhi raised his eyebrows when he heard the guarantee given by Subona.

Good guy, you can earn more than 100 million yuan just by asking. Lao Deng, you are quite full of words...

"How can you guarantee that you can do it?"

"The cost of this film is almost negligible. If we negotiate with the B-class theaters in the United States and give them 40% of the first week, and we only get 60%, I think they will be very happy to arrange it for us. Enough film schedule! Coupled with some innovative marketing methods, the audience walked into the theater with full curiosity... I even thought about the promotion in the promotional materials - the whole film is a masterpiece of only one actor, man. I woke up and found myself lying in a coffin!

As long as they enter the theater, even with 5% of the attendance and the lowest premiere ticket price of 10 US dollars, relying on more than 17,000 screens in Class B theaters... Think about it, it only needs to be shown for fourteen days, we You can get a share of the box office of more than 34 million US dollars! Excluding various taxes and fees, the pure income will definitely not be less than 20 million US dollars! "

Shall I wipe it?

Listening to the scene described by Subona, especially the movie promotion words that this guy casually said, Li Youzhi really looked at him differently.

Let’s not talk about anything else, just talk about this recommendation. It’s really a waste of talent for you not to work in UC’s shock department!

Although I know that Su Bona’s idea is a bit too idealistic, this profit expectation is still enough to make Li Youzhi excited.

Why?

Zhige has been making movies for so long, and he basically follows the suggestions of the sand sculpture music people. "Dear" is basically a charity, "The Wandering Earth" solicited a lot of investment, and his share as the main creator is actually not that high, and "Nezha" gave the bulk of the profit to his music people shareholders...

"Dear" is not to mention, "The Wandering Earth" and "Nezha", two films with box office revenues of more than 5 billion, and he can only make about 100 million.

But what is the scale of production of "The Wandering Earth" and "Nezha"? What is the scale of "Buried Alive"?

Either Dao Le is easy to make money... This is too fucking easy to make money!

It’s really exciting to win big with a small investment, isn’t it?

Li Youzhi even regretted it a little bit... The previous "Saved Island" and even "The Wandering Earth" should have found a reliable overseas agent and released them globally when they were released.

Thinking about it this way, I lost at least 100 million!

Information gap hurts people!

But in the face of temptation and regret, Li Youzhi still remained calm.

"Lao Su, you have seen this movie. The plot involves politics. Are you sure you can guarantee that this movie will be released smoothly in the US market?"

"What's the big deal?"

In response to Li Youzhi's caution, Su Bona snorted and raised his chin.

"You don't understand American theaters at all. The 60% share in the first week, let alone involving politics. As long as the box office revenue is enough, even if it involves the president's private affairs, the theater will never refuse! When capital has enough profits, their courage and courage will far exceed your imagination! Otherwise, how do you think Kennedy's imagination is open?"

Okay.

Looking at Su Bona's indifferent look, Li Youzhi admitted that his imagination was lacking.

"So, Lao Su, how much do you need in this business to show courage and spirit beyond my imagination?"

"Five percent, I can give all my energy and experience! Ten percent, Li... If you can pay me ten percent of the profit as my reward, you will get my soul!"

"..."

"Six percent."

Looking at Su Bona's old face, his greasy hair, and... his flattering eyes that have completely lost their moral integrity, Li Youzhi curled his lips.

Lao Deng'er, you overestimate the value of your soul.

...

Heguang Culture must need an agent to enter the US market.

In view of the operation of the old Americans on Chinese capital in the past two years, Li Youzhi is not confident to let Heguang Culture's friends go. But Su Bona is different...

This kind of gloves that only recognize money, let alone being detained, even if it is tortured to death by Foberle, Li Youzhi can accept it calmly while eating pig intestines.

The next day, Li Youzhi, who had negotiated the specific conditions with Su Bona, asked Wang Hui to advance the balance of the previous arrears to the decoration company, and asked the company to withdraw the lawsuit and take back Su Bona's passport.

Wang Hui was given a start-up fund of US$500,000 from the company account, and boarded a plane to the United States with several friends from Heguang Culture and Su Bona.

After a lot of hard work, the matter of "Buried" entering the American theaters was settled.

But for Li Youzhi, it was not over yet.

Why?

Because at the beginning, he planned to use the Heguang Audiovisual Online Platform for this film as a means of attracting traffic after cooperation and communication with TKTK.

For this commercial purpose, he did not even think about releasing this politically-charged film in China - anyway, domestic netizens who like to watch it will also go over the wall to the overseas version of Heguang Audiovisual APP, so it would be the same if it was released in China.

But now because of TKTK, this film has been released in theaters, so Li Youzhi cannot give up the domestic theater market.

If you drive one sheep, you have to drive two sheep, right?

Even if "Buried Alive" is a low-budget production, with Zhi Ge's current popularity, domestic box office appeal, and face in the theater alliance... right?

Why can't it get a screening in the upper-middle-end theaters?

With almost zero production costs, even without publicity, why can't it get a box office of 400 to 500 million?

Money, it's a waste not to make money!

With this idea, after sending Wang Hui and Su Bona on the plane, Li Youzhi sat in Wang Hui's Range Rover Executive and called Tu Zheng directly.

Tu Zheng was also quite surprised to learn that Li Youzhi had quietly made a new film in the past few days.

When he learned that Li Youzhi finally figured it out and wanted to take the new film through the theater channel, Tu Zheng immediately patted his chest and took over the distribution of the film.

In recent months, Qiangsheng Film and Television's work focus has been on Heguang Audiovisual. Whether it is going public or going overseas... the group's securities department has been expanding for half a year, and its scale has increased fivefold. In Tu Zheng's words, if they don't do something related to film and television, the outside world may forget that Qiangsheng Film and Television is a film and television production and distribution company.

After throwing the domestic distribution issue out, Li Youzhi finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing that it was exactly 6pm and the peak of Internet traffic, he sat in the car and skillfully opened Douyin, edited a dynamic and sent it out!

"Good afternoon, friends! I am very sorry to inform you that due to differences in ideas with TKTK, "Buried" originally scheduled to be released overseas by Wako Audiovisual has now been decided to be released in theaters. At present, domestic and foreign distribution companies have been entrusted to apply for scheduling, and I believe it will be seen on the screen soon. So... I continue to ask the almighty netizens, what can I do to make this movie with a cost of only 500,000 explode at the box office and gain both fame and fortune?"

Six o'clock in the afternoon is the time when most netizens get off work or have dinner. At this time, the traffic of Douyin has begun to climb to the peak.

As soon as Li Youzhi sent this dynamic, the comment area of ​​his Douyin...instantly boiled!

"What's the matter, brother? What do you mean by differences of opinion with TKTK? Didn't you say that you have reached a cooperation intention?"

"Yeah, I'm ready to go to Heguang Audiovisual Overseas to get "Buried" for free, but now you tell me to go to the theaters instead? Then what about the overseas version of the Heguang Audiovisual APP that I bought before? Oh, I'm a shareholder of Heguang Audiovisual... That's fine."

"Hahahaha, I didn't laugh at the stupid comments above. But I couldn't hold back when I saw the cost of "Buried". When I saw the brother's live broadcast saying that the movie only had one scene, I thought that the cost of this movie couldn't be that high. But it turned out that 500,000... It was all the lunch money of your Tongchen Society and Heguang Culture, right?"

"Don't slander my husband's work like that! Although the main cost of making this movie was lunch, it also cost my husband a lot, right? In order to make this movie, my husband lay in a wooden box for the whole scene. I guess his WeChat steps didn't even break ten steps during the whole shooting. Such a huge investment... Forget it, I can't make it up anymore,"

"Hahaha, a bunch of idiots. The 500,000 cost that the guy mentioned is just the production cost, he probably didn't add his own salary. With the guy's current popularity and his status as a 10 billion box office man, the salary for a normal movie will not be less than 30 million. Although I haven't seen the trailer of "Buried" yet, from the live broadcast before, the guy's acting skills are really amazing now."

"Since you have decided to go to the American market, theoretically this movie can impact the Oscars, right? When you go out, your identity is given by yourself. So I suggest that the brother promote this point, saying that the movie "Buried" is your Oscar-impacting work! With this gimmick, the box office will be a blast after it is released, right?"

"Hey? Don't say shit, don't say anything about the previous one! Isn't this gimmick already there? Just execute it like this, brother, you don't have to promote it yourself this time, this matter is handed over to us, the shareholders of Leziren!"

"..."

Beep!

Received the surprise value, 3012900 points!

Beep!

Received a suggested task (promote "Buried" to win Oscars). No task difficulty 4 stars. After completing it, you can get a D-level reward treasure chest!

Seeing a group of stupid netizens taking over this matter, a poster of "Buried" made with AI and with the slogan "Li Youzhi's Oscar-winning masterpiece" appeared in the comment area in a short while... Li Youzhi smacked his lips.

Cou,

Zhi Ge didn't even think about the stupid Oscar award. Okay, you guys just signed up for it?

This is called promoting Zhi Ge?

I think you are setting a fire and want to roast Zhi Ge alive!

A bunch of scum, bad review!

Seeing that he didn't have time to refuse, the suggestion was already being implemented by a group of netizens who made suggestions... Li Youzhi covered his face.

(っ-)

It seems that Zhi Ge really needs to think about this Oscar.

Otherwise... this step can't be stepped down!

...

Just when Li Youzhi was depressed because a group of netizens who were just fun people put him on the fire.

Doushou Group, the president's office.

Looking at the new dynamics released by Li Youzhi on Douban, Yang Chenghao frowned deeply.

Is this guy's new film released in domestic and foreign theaters?

Did he have a disagreement with TKTK?

What's going on?

Didn't he and Guangshi Audiovisual have access to TKTK user data before? He was still waiting for the implementation of the plan to see the effect. Why did something unexpected happen?

With a head full of question marks, he picked up his phone and called Wen Ting, who had returned to the US branch.

The call was quickly connected.

"Wendy, what's going on with Li Youzhi? I just saw him post a public message saying that he had a disagreement with our TKTK about the original cooperation, and the work originally used for platform interaction and drainage went to the theater?"

Faced with Yang Chenghao's inquiry, Wen Ting on the other end of the phone seemed a little speechless.

"Mr. Yang, I was just about to report this to you. Yesterday, Li Youzhi handed me his film "Buried Alive," asking us to help him get it rated by MDAA and then prepare for release. I did not agree and rejected him."

"Why? Wendy, cooperating with Li Youzhi and Heguang Audiovisual was my strategy. I don't understand why you have such a strong resistance to Li Youzhi. I need a reason!"

In response to Yang Chenghao's questioning, Wen Ting's emotions gradually grew stronger.

"Mr. Yang, I'm not a person who likes to target others, but this person is so unreliable! I can't even figure out why you want to cooperate with such a person. Even if it's not about the right person, look at his... Movie!

The content of the film contains a lot of elements that attack the US administrative agencies and oppose the war. Once this kind of film is broadcast through our TKTK platform, we will definitely get into trouble!

I don’t know if you know, but the production cost of his film was ridiculously low. According to him, it only took more than ten days from shooting to completion. I cannot allow such a casual work to add pressure to TKTK, which is already being targeted by the US! "

"Mr. Yang, I have tried my best to achieve the current situation of TKTK. It can never get worse. I guarantee you that it is almost impossible for his movie "Buried Alive" to attract attention in the U.S. market. There is no need for us to take even a little risk for such a work! As for disrupting the cooperation process between TKTK and Heguang Audio-Visual, I am willing to take full responsibility for this time... …Absolutely not!”

In the office, Yang Chenghao hissed after hearing Wen Ting's decisive reply.

After re-reading Li Youzhi's post just now and confirming the production cost of the film, Yang Chenghao was a little confused for a while.

If you say this... it's indeed a bit outrageous.

Looking at the AI ​​posters that netizens spontaneously made for "Buried Alive" in the comment area of ​​Li Youzhi's dynamic comments, as well as Li Youzhi's frightened face on the posters, Yang Chenghao could only smile bitterly.

The content of the movie satirizes the US administrative agencies and anti-war... This is indeed a bit too harsh.

I want you to be a jerk,

You're good, you just put C4 into the manure pit as soon as you come up!