Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 315 Excited Senior Brothers

There wasn't much room for negotiation regarding the renewed cooperation with Colombia.

It's not that negotiations are difficult; on the contrary, when both sides are sincere and market principles are followed, negotiations are actually easier.

Even if Cao Yang doesn't direct or invest, but only contributes the novel's copyright and personally adapts the screenplay, and even if he gets the positions of producer and supervisor, there's still a cap on the percentage of revenue the production company will offer.

This upper limit is 20% of the total global box office revenue, and the subsequent merchandise revenue will be roughly the same.

Hollywood's top producers, after finalizing a project, finding someone to write the script, and securing directors and actors, can only get a maximum of 20% investment from studios.

Of course, if there are superstars in the 20 million club among the actors, that's a different story. However, the profits of these superstars are not squeezed out of the producers, but negotiated with the production studios.

It will be difficult for Cao Yang to break the 20% revenue share, since Hollywood film companies aren't working for him.

Even if Cao Yang were to direct a low-budget film like "Inception" or "2012," which typically cost at least $1.5 million, it would be difficult for him to receive 20% of the total box office revenue.

If he takes the lead in managing projects and seeks investment from several smaller studios bit by bit, it might be possible. But it would be a bit difficult to work with major studios, especially the seven major Hollywood studios.

Most of the larger film studios in Hollywood have a cost control system.

For big-budget films with production costs reaching a certain scale, the controls are particularly stringent.

Generally, the total investment of producers, directors, actors, scriptwriters, and staff should not exceed 40% of the total cost, and the remuneration of the main actors should not exceed 70% of the total remuneration.

The box office revenue sharing ratio is generally controlled within 30% of the total share, and the individual share is not allowed to exceed 20%.

A percentage exceeding 20% ​​would break the unspoken rules of Hollywood.

As for actors, even superstars in the 20 million club will not receive more than 20% of the total box office revenue in a movie.

If it's about box office profit sharing, then it doesn't matter. The production company is willing to pay any amount, because this can be "manufactured".

Even truck drivers after Avatar haven't broken this rule.

It's no secret that Cao Yang received 20% of the total box office revenue from "Juno," so Tom Rothman knew it too.

Now that Inception is a huge success, it shows a lack of sincerity to offer such a small percentage of revenue to a film like The Beautiful Pain, whose production cost can be kept under ten million dollars.

So, Tom Rothman offered Cao Yang a 16% share of the total box office revenue right off the bat. He knew in his heart that this share might be a bit small, but what if Cao Yang agreed?

We have to try.

Of course, after a not-so-intense debate, the two sides reached an agreement on a 20% revenue share for the total global box office and subsequent merchandise.

Cao Yang was responsible for adapting the screenplay and served as the film's producer and executive producer, sharing final cut rights with Columbia Pictures.

As for directors? In Hollywood, an unknown director is just a senior technician in charge of filming. They have absolutely no editing rights. Once the movie is finished, the director's job is done.

The cooperation is now basically finalized, and all that remains is for both teams to sign the final agreement.

However, after some consideration, Cao Yang decided to try to get some more "benefits" for Beijing Film Academy and President Han.

After Tom Rothman finishes producing this film, he will soon be taking up the position of global vice president at Sony Pictures. In order to make a good start for Sony Pictures, he will most likely do his best to promote this film at the Oscars.

Given his relationship with Sid Garnier, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, whether he wins an Oscar or not, he's almost certain to get a lot of nominations.

This is a tremendous achievement for both the Beijing Film Academy and President Han.

Just think about it: in the current context, top domestic directors are scrambling for a single Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, and their co-productions have garnered a long list of Oscar nominations. Which leader wouldn't be excited in that situation?
In addition, this movie has no taboos and is somewhat positive, so it can be shown normally in China.

"Tom, I have a suggestion you can consider."

Tom Rothman suddenly became cheerful again, as if he wasn't the one who had been fixated on that one percentage point.

"Haha, Cao, you're right. I love hearing your suggestions. I bet it's something that will benefit both of us."

"Tom, have you ever thought about making this movie a co-production?" Cao Yang asked.

"A co-production?"

Tom Rothman frowned slightly. He was very familiar with co-productions; District 9 and Inception were both co-productions.

It was all thanks to Tom Rothman's approval that Columbia Pictures reached cooperation agreements with China Film Group and Qingdao Film Studio.

Of course, this model is called a co-production in China, but for Colombia, it just means adding a small investor.

However, for an adaptation like "The Incredible Pain," which has a small budget and almost no pressure to break even, is it necessary to make it a co-production and bring in a few small shareholders?
"Cao, what's the point of making 'The Incomparably Beautiful Pain' into a co-production when it's just a low-budget film?"

Cao Yang knew that the best starting point for negotiating with foreigners was interest, which was also the approach they could best understand. "Tom, haven't you thought about showing this movie in China? This kind of low-budget film isn't a blockbuster, so we generally don't consider importing it domestically. Co-productions are different; they can be shown normally."

Cao Yang glanced at Tom Rothman, who was deep in thought, and continued:

"Think about the growing film market in China today. District 9 broke box office records, and Inception broke the box office record held by District 9 again."

Tom Rothman was immediately smitten.

He is very optimistic about the Chinese film market, believing that it has yet to fully develop and will definitely be better in the future.

Clearly, maintaining good relations with Cao Yang and China Film Group, which holds the film distribution rights, is the most important thing right now.

Tom Rothman is very ambitious. The reason he was willing to become the global vice president of Sony Pictures was to take a roundabout route and then have the opportunity to be "demoted" to Columbia Pictures as CEO.

It might be difficult to be promoted from vice president of Columbia Pictures to CEO, but it's much easier to become CEO of Columbia Pictures from its parent company, Sony Pictures.

In addition, co-productions offer Tom Rothman another benefit.

He knew that with Cao Yang's influence, as long as he used Cao Yang's name, he wouldn't have to worry about box office success in China.

For Hollywood, awards are one aspect, but the biggest criterion for measuring the success of a film is still its box office performance.

Good box office performance can generate profits from both box office revenue and subsequent merchandise sales, and it can also be reflected in the stock market.

"Haha, Cao, I knew your suggestion would benefit both of us. I love co-productions the most."

Since Tom Rothman had agreed, Cao Yang called Hou Keming and told him about the co-production. Hou Keming immediately understood what he meant—it's normal to include some interns in a co-production.

This is something Cao Yang has always done; he always tries his best to secure these opportunities for the Beijing Film Academy.

To be honest, these interns are more likely to succeed than others. Interning in Cao Yang's films is currently considered a very good resume, recognized by the film and television industry.

Afterwards, Cao Yang called Xie Xiaojing again. Xie Xiaojing is now also the director of Qingying Film Studio, and co-productions will definitely be inseparable from Xie Xiaojing.

Cao Yang never considered leaving Xie Xiaojing out, after all, she was his senior brother.

Xie Xiaojing finally enjoyed the same treatment that Hou Keming used to receive.

When Xie Xiaojing was still the head of the directing department, he looked down on Hou Keming, thinking that the guy wasn't very good at making movies and didn't have much real talent.

If it weren't for the fact that many of Cao Yang's films were affiliated with Qingdao Film Studio, Hou Keming would be... well.

Xie Xiaojing held this view until she took over as director of Qingying Film Studio.

Now that Xie Xiaojing has taken this position, he suddenly realizes what it feels like: awesome!

It feels so damn good to have achievements just piling up in your pocket without having to do anything extra!
The small school-run film studio used to mainly serve as a teaching base for teachers and an internship base for students. Now, although its responsibilities have not changed, who would dare to say that the film studio is "small"?

In recent years, Qingdao Film Studio has won numerous awards, including world-class ones, and achieved record-breaking box office success. Qingdao Film Studio has become quite impressive.

Xie Xiaojing has already begun to consider the "upgrade" plan for Qingying Film Studio.

A studio that has won all three major European awards in just a few years, as well as Hollywood's Golden Globe and Oscar awards, is now positioned too low.

School-run enterprises are not necessarily unable to become large, successful companies in their respective industries.

Other countries have Peking University Founder Group and Tsinghua University Tongfang Group, so it's not like we can't have Beijing Film Academy and Beijing Film Academy.

In short, Xie Xiaojing is now full of ambition and wants to make Qingying Film Studio bigger and stronger, with Cao Yang as the center, and create new glories.

Finally, Cao Yang made another call to President Han.

Upon hearing this, President Han was overjoyed to learn that Cao Yang had once again presented him with "achievements."

This junior brother is such a good friend. He always thinks of me when there are good things. With his current status, he's unlikely to encounter any trouble in China. So I'll do my best to protect his reputation for the rest of my life.

President Han and Tom Rothman are old friends. As for the specifics of the cooperation, let the three parties hold a meeting. Cao Yang will not interfere.

When Mr. Han first heard that the film's investment was only around ten million US dollars, he thought that the production cost was too low and wondered if the investment could be increased and more big stars could be invited.
However, Cao Yang told him to be prepared that after the film was completed, it was very likely that additional investment would be needed, possibly two to three times the production cost.

At first, President Han didn't realize why so much additional investment was needed after the product was already completed. Was such a large amount of advertising money required? Even if it was, did Cao Yang need to specifically mention it?
Upon realizing this, President Han was startled and slapped his thigh hard, his hand trembling with excitement.

This is fucking Oscar-nominated!
My dear junior brother, you have made me... made me...

(End of this chapter)