Who are you calling "little fresh meat"? I'm the king.

Chapter 597 Plan (24)

In fact, Shen Yan knew that "Brooklyn" would ultimately make money...

But the cost exceeded the budget!

For him, the cost of making a film in the United States, unless he directs it himself, cannot exceed $2000 million!
After all, Shen Yan wasn't a rich man, and he wasn't a native of North America either, so he was easily taken advantage of.

Hollywood has many ways to rip people off!

Moreover, as an independent film production company, Shen Yan had absolutely no ability to get involved in distribution.

Its films are primarily handled by A24.

For example, the distribution and advertising costs for "Dallas Buyers Club" totaled $1300 million.

It was very dark.

But the underlying logic is based on channel monopoly, which means that you either have to give this money to A24 or to other companies. Relatively speaking, A24's fees are lower—after all, he is a shareholder of A24!
If he were to cooperate with the six major powers... he'd have plenty of ways to rip people off!
A film's box office revenue = box office revenue share (excluding theater revenue share, which accounts for about 40% of the total box office revenue, and even less overseas) + DVD royalties.

DVD royalties account for only 20% of the total revenue, with the other 80% taken by the Big Six studios. The reason given is that DVD distribution involves costs, pay-TV revenue, and merchandise royalties.

This portion of the revenue is first reduced by about 30% for distribution fees – which the Big Six studios take directly. This is mainly because films need to use their distribution networks to be shown in top theaters, and very few top content providers like Marvel and DreamWorks can secure lower distribution fees.
The remaining amount, after deducting distribution costs, generally equals 30-50% of the film's production cost, or even more. Most of this is spent on television advertising, and since the six major broadcasters are usually affiliated with these television networks, this portion of the money essentially goes into their own pockets.

Generally speaking, a normal movie starts to stop making money at this point. But don't worry, the total production cost hasn't been deducted yet. After deducting the production cost, interest, etc., what's left is the film's net profit, which can be distributed to ticket sales.

With this kind of algorithm, the vast majority of Hollywood movies would definitely "lose money," and investors who dance with Hollywood have basically paid their dues.

For example, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," a blockbuster that grossed $6 million worldwide (note, not its total box office), ultimately lost $1.7 million...

Yes, it's a loss!

However, there's one good thing now: Shen Yan isn't asking for DVD royalties, not releasing DVDs, and not taking the television rights; he'll just sell them directly to streaming services after the theatrical run ends…

That's why "Dallas Buyers Club" sold for $3500 million!

Oh, besides the three films "Carol," "The Danish Boy," and "Manchester by the Sea," Shen Yan is also thinking about further cooperation with Netflix this time, such as getting them to invest!
Anyway, Netflix isn't well-liked by Hollywood.

Shen Yan felt that he could have a good conversation with Netflix founder Reed Hastings!
Okay, we met and exchanged a few words...

We're completely different people!

Now that Netflix has experienced rapid growth thanks to its TV series, it's bound to make movies!

Reed Hastings has always wanted to invest in movies, but he doesn't care about theatrical releases; what he wants is exclusive online streaming—or even streaming directly without theatrical release!
Shen Yan disagreed for a simple reason—these films were all award-winning, so they definitely needed to be released in theaters…

Currently, movies produced by streaming media are still called online movies!

Until "Roma" won an award—"Roma" was filmed in 2016, but couldn't find a distributor, so Netflix bought the film…

By the way, Spielberg, along with Nolan and Cameron, protested Netflix back then, arguing that "movies should provide a theatrical experience, cinemas should be the only place to watch movies, and streaming services are just online movies!"

Then… two years later, Spielberg signed a deal with Netflix—Spielberg's Amblin Partners signed a multi-year partnership agreement with Netflix: Amblin Partners would produce multiple films for Netflix each year. Netflix was among the producers of *The House That Never Dies*…

Therefore, when evaluating a person, don't look at what they say, but rather what they do!
……

In the coffee shop, Shen Yan chatted with David Fenkel about their chances of winning the Venice Film Festival…

David Fenkel said, "I've worked with Alexandre Desplat once, and he likes slow-paced, realistic dramas... He and Wes Anderson are a perfect match... If we can get Wes Anderson to speak on our behalf, the chances of winning a major award are very high!"

Alexandre Desplat and Wes Anderson have a close working relationship. Starting with "Fantastic Mr. Fox", Wes Anderson has invited Alexandre Desplat to compose the score for every film he makes!
Upon hearing what David Fenkel said, Shen Yan immediately asked, "Are you familiar with Wes Anderson?"

“Not bad,” David Fenkel nodded. “I worked with him before when I was at Oscilloscope! After all, he’s a well-known director in the independent film industry!”

That's true. Wes Anderson's debut film, "Rushmore," grossed nearly $2000 million at the box office!

His second film, *The Trenchbaums*, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay at the Berlin International Film Festival.

It's not just his fame, but most importantly, he's incredibly frugal!
That means if you give him a budget of 30 million, he can produce results exceeding a budget of 50 million!

The Grand Budapest Hotel, with a total cost of $2500 million.

Much cheaper than Wang Xiaoshuai, who spent 3000 million on "The Intruder"!
The production cost of "So Long, My Son" was 6000 million RMB, and Jia Zhangke's "Ash Is Purest White" reportedly cost 8000 million RMB!
Through filming "Burning," Shen Yan gained a general understanding of the production process and costs of independent films…

—The film "Burning" had a budget of 2000 million, but only spent 1800 million…

For art-house films, actors will voluntarily lower their fees…

So how did they spend all that money?

Who knows?

David Fenkel then asked, "Should I help you make some contact?"

"...No need. I'll have my company buy the mainland China rights to 'The Grand Budapest Hotel.' As for having him act as a lobbyist... forget it. Anyway, Alexander will also be composing the score for 'Carol,' so he should understand what I mean!"

"Okay... how about 'Manchester by the Sea'?"

"Did Leonardo DiCaprio see the script?"

"I sent it to him yesterday..."

Kenneth Lonergan, the screenwriter and director of *Manchester by the Sea*, is a very famous screenwriter in Hollywood, best known for *Gangs of New York*, which starred Leonardo DiCaprio…

However, Kenneth Lonergan has been working closely with Matt Damon in recent years, and Matt Damon made a cameo appearance in his first film, "Margaret," which he wrote and directed.

In the original timeline, Matt Damon was the producer of *Manchester by the Sea*—he didn't act in it himself, but instead went to China to film *The Great Wall*, where he was even teased by host Jimmy Fallon at the Oscars…

Shen Yan's idea is to collaborate with Leonardo DiCaprio.
Even a discount would be acceptable!

After all, he's Leonardo DiCaprio!
(End of this chapter)