Reborn Action Star: Starting in Hollywood

Chapter 40 Young man, are you betting on your future?

"Then tell me, what am I worried about?" President Smith said.

"If I'm not mistaken, you're worried about the theater schedule and film scheduling issues caused by insufficient publicity and promotion funds?" Lin Yuan said.

The release of a movie mainly involves three parties: the producer, the distributor, and the cinema.

The distributor is responsible for the film's publicity and marketing costs, as well as the overall marketing plan. Universal Pictures generally shoulders the responsibilities of both production and distribution.

In order to secure popular time slots and a higher screening rate in theaters, distributors need to use various means to enhance their persuasiveness: such as big-name star appearances, huge publicity and promotion costs, and even guaranteed box office promises that are like gambling.

All of this is to increase the confidence of theaters.

Lin Yuan agreed to director Sommers' request and gave up nearly 4000 million US dollars in publicity and promotion costs.

This will result in the two films, "The Fast and the Furious" and "Jurassic Park 3", facing insufficient publicity and promotion costs.

Under such circumstances, even theaters are reluctant to schedule screenings during popular periods.

It's no wonder that President Smith would stop this behavior.

"Which movie are you going to sacrifice? Haha, Director Johnston, you knew that the box office would fail, so you deliberately cut the publicity and promotion costs to pass the blame, right?" Director Sommers sneered.

Director Sommers sneered and prepared to watch the show. Since the publicity and promotion funds were insufficient, the two films would have to fight each other and snatch each other's resources.

Otherwise, it would be impossible for theaters to schedule movies during popular seasons such as the summer vacation.

"It's okay, Mr. President, just promote these two movies together. I will give you a basic plan." Lin Yuan gave his own solution.

"Joint promotion? It's possible, but there are still risks." President Smith still refused cautiously.

"Let's put it this way. If my plan fails to satisfy the theaters, we will increase the investment in publicity and promotion until the theaters' requirements are met." Lin Yuan said confidently.

"If you can't manage the cinema, will you make additional investments?" President Smith suddenly remembered that Lin Yuan was Mr. Eisen's representative.

Although Mr. Eisen has not directly invested in movies in recent years, he still has a huge influence in the film industry.

But cinemas also have business to consider, so it’s unlikely that they will make an exception for Mr. Eisen, right?

However, since Lin Yuan has promised a guaranteed solution, he has no reason to refuse.

So President Smith said, "Okay, then I'll wait for the results of your negotiations with the cinema."

"Mr. President, please believe that my joint promotion will give you a surprise."

"Young man, I look forward to seeing your miracle."

In fact, President Smith is still not optimistic about joint promotion. Although it saves money to promote together, the effect will generally be worse.

Unless the two movies can produce some kind of chemical reaction and achieve the effect of 1+1>2.

Are there any aspects of "The Fast and the Furious" and "Jurassic Park 3" that can complement each other?

"Now that the promotional budget is set, let's finalize the release date." President Smith continued, "There are two dates: May 5th and June 4nd. How will you allocate them?"

"Director Sommers is the protagonist and should be the first to appear on stage. We should follow behind and take advantage of the opportunity. The time of June 6nd is reserved for us." Lin Yuan replied.

"no problem."

"I agree."

Both directors agreed immediately.

In the North American film market, the summer and Christmas seasons from May to September each year are the most popular periods, with the total box office accounting for more than 5% of the annual revenue.

During these two time periods when every inch of space is valuable, the competition among major film companies is extremely fierce.

In theory, May 5th was definitely a better date than June 4nd, so Director Sommers didn't object. "I have no problem with the release date, but I have a suggestion," Director Sommers said.

"You say." President Smith frowned slightly.

"These three films were made with huge investments from the company. If they lose money, someone has to take responsibility, right? Otherwise, anyone can just randomly come up with a joint promotion or something."

It was obvious who Director Sommers's target was. Even though he had obtained the largest share of publicity and promotional resources, he still refused to give in.

"What do you want to do?" Director Cohen was angry and stood up from his chair. His shiny bald head turned red with anger.

"Director, it's okay." Lin Yuan pulled him to sit down and comforted him.

"You are right. Adults should pay for their mistakes." Lin Yuan looked at Director Sommers with a smile, but his eyes were extremely cold.

"Whoever's movie loses money will have to get out of Hollywood and never come back!" Director Sommers was very surprised that Lin Yuan dared to respond to his words.

So he immediately showed his true colors and used his killer move. He had been unhappy with Lin Yuan and his gang for a long time.

In the eyes of director Sommers, Hollywood should be a white man's Hollywood.

Director Coen, who uses a large number of mixed-race people, and director Johnston, who actually uses Asian people as the leading actors, are both cancers of Hollywood.

It is an object that must be cleansed and purified.

Today is a very good opportunity, as long as they dare to take it.

Faced with Director Sommers's aggressive attitude, Lin Yuan remained silent.

He could gamble his own safety on the success or failure of an action scene, but he could not risk the careers of two directors.

Even if he believes he will win, he is not qualified to gamble with other people's future.

"Lin Yuan, we believe in you." Director Cohen said.

"What's there to be afraid of when betting with him? The worst that can happen is you can retire early!" Director Johnston also said.

They had long been unhappy with Director Sommers and were filled with rage.

Even if it wasn't for Lin Yuan, I still wanted to teach him a lesson.

What if you really lose?
The two directors didn't mind. They were already in their 50s. If they lost money on two more big-budget productions, they probably wouldn't have any more opportunities in the future, so they might as well retire.

So, it is actually a business with no capital.

"Okay! Whoever's movie loses money will get out of Hollywood." Lin Yuan became confident and replied formally.

"Let me add one more thing. Even if the movie doesn't lose money, the party with low profits must leave!" Director Sommers was afraid that his goal would not be achieved, so he added another point.

This isn't quite fair. "The Mummy Returns" is a big production and took up the most publicity and promotion costs, yet it's not making as much profit?

How shameless!
After hearing what Director Sommers said, President Smith's face turned ugly.

Although he and Director Sommers have always had a good personal relationship, his performance today was really terrible.

It also made President Smith re-evaluate this person and whether he should maintain his friendship with him.

In fact, strictly speaking, President Smith also holds white supremacist views.

But he will put interests first. If there are enough benefits, everyone will cooperate instead of completely excluding and rejecting them.

He would not make such a game that would harm others and benefit himself like Director Sommers did.

Lin Yuan smiled and nodded: "Then it's a deal. Cherish every day you have left in Hollywood."

(End of this chapter)