Recently, sound films have driven the rapid development of the entire film industry, attracting the attention of a lot of capital.
The entry of capital naturally brings a series of changes. To cope with these changes, at the initiative of some screenwriters, directors, and actors, a “Film Practitioners’ Guild” was formed.
Any practitioner related to film can join this guild, and the organizers claim that they will integrate and efficiently utilize the resources of the entire industry.
Many newcomers to the industry have no connections or relationships, and the birth of the Film Guild has compensated for this very well.
They can get more opportunities for various types of work through the guild. Actors have more ways to get to know directors, and directors also have more opportunities to get to know actors.
The scripts written by screenwriters no longer need to be submitted to those production companies one by one. They can be sent directly to the screenwriting branch of the guild, and after registration, they can be shown to most production companies.
From drafting to deciding to do this, it only took four months, which was already very fast.
Gerald, as the star of a movie, was naturally also invited. He, the director, and the entire crew were in Valley City.
When he heard Lance’s call and its content, he was obviously a little surprised, “I’m not clear about this matter, Lance. We entrusted the distribution business to a company that specializes in distribution. The other party promised to guarantee our number of screenings.”
“I’m completely unaware of what you’re talking about!”
He paused as he spoke, “I have to communicate with the director. Please wait a moment.”
Soon, there was no sound from the phone. After waiting for about four or five minutes, the sound of two sets of footsteps appeared in the receiver, from far to near, and then the microphone was picked up.
“Mr. Lance?”
“Yes, I’m still here.”
“Just now Gerald said our movie wasn’t shown. What’s the situation?”
Lance explained what had happened. The director breathed a sigh of relief, “Mr. Lance, I don’t think there’s any problem.”
This made Lance feel a bit incredulous after hearing it, “Why is there no problem?”
“They are selling our tickets but showing other people’s movies. People can’t see Gerald’s performance on the big screen at all, nor can they see your results. I think the problem here is very big!”
Listening to Lance’s words, although he refuted the director’s point of view, the director was not annoyed at all because these words were essentially for his consideration. He explained for Lance.
“Mr. Lance, you may lack some understanding of the current film market.”
“Currently, we are using a buyout system for screenings. To put it simply, after our movie is produced, we will invite cinema chain companies and cinema owners to watch it.”
“When they think our movie is brilliant, they can move on to the next step with us, which is the price negotiation stage.”
“We will trade our finished movie at a price that both parties can accept. As for how many times they show it, how they show it, it has nothing to do with us.”
“Because they have already bought it out. We only need to worry about one thing, and that is that the cinema will not pirate our movie.”
“As for whether they show it after buying it?”
“I believe they will show it, because it is related to whether they can make money.”
Lance felt a bit incredible after hearing this. This was not quite the same as the box office sharing system in his memory, “But I heard that in some places… the production company and the cinema chain divide the money according to the box office.”
The director laughed heartily and said, “That’s right. The movies of a few major production companies are indeed divided according to the box office, but Mr. Lance, they are they, and we are not them.”
“Before our movie has proven its market value, there actually won’t be that many cinema chains signing contracts with us.”
“And even if we sign such a contract, it’s very difficult for us to guarantee whether they can truly fulfill it. We also have to arrange for people to travel all over the country.”
“To go to their cinemas and collect some data. This is a very complicated job, Mr. Lance.”
“And we don’t have any particularly good means to confirm whether they have stolen our box office.”
“Currently, our main targets are some small and medium-sized cinema chains and private cinemas.”
Hearing this, Lance roughly understood, “That is to say, what they show has nothing to do with us, including their income?”
“Yes, Mr. Lance. But as long as we can prove that our movie can attract more people to the cinema, then the price of the next movie will have a qualitative leap. If we can continue to maintain success, we can talk about profit sharing with the cinema chains.”
In fact, after saying so much, Lance also understood. It roughly meant two things.
First, they had no reputation. In this environment which was clearly a buyer’s market (introducing film sources), they had no qualifications to set conditions.
Second, to change from a buyout system to a box office sharing system, they had to become very famous at least. Only when they had proven that “our movie has a dominant position during its run” would those cinema chains talk about profit sharing with them.
Lance actually hadn’t expected the current situation to be so complicated. He asked again, “So how much did our movie sell for?”
The director’s voice sounded a little high, and he was clearly in a good mood, “It has already sold for $135,000, Mr. Lance. You have already made money from this.”
He thought for a moment, “After deducting taxes, it’s probably about… $15,000.”
“$15,000?”
Lance was a little confused, but the director was still so enthusiastic, “Yes, and there may be a few more cinema chains that will buy in later. The income at that time will be relatively pure profit.”
“This movie can bring you an income of at least $30,000. In fact, this income is already not low. Although it can’t compare to the movies of those big companies, in our scale, it’s already in the first tier.”
Lance was suddenly a little speechless, and also felt like cursing. Just this?
If it was all a buyout system, how could he use movies and cinemas to launder money?
“Listen, director, $30,000 is less than my income from selling a little more liquor tonight.”
“I will continue to invest, but I hope our influence can be greater. At the same time, the next time you go to talk to the cinema chains, tell them we’ll talk about a profit-sharing system.”
“No buyout system, I don’t like it!”
The director was a little confused after hearing this, but as the investor, Lance had the final say. He still understood this principle.
“It’s just that this way, I can’t guarantee how many cinemas we can negotiate with, and whether we can ensure that they won’t steal the money that should belong to us!”
Lance interrupted him, “This is not something you need to consider. This is something I need to consider, okay?”
“Also, is there a plan for the next movie?”
The director was in high spirits at this time and immediately stated the shooting plan for the next movie. Lance then told him to talk again after he came back.
Originally, he thought this matter would be very simple, but now it seemed that this matter was not that simple.
Box office sharing did exist, but small companies simply couldn’t afford to play. Just arranging for supervisors to check the box office situation in cinema chains across the country was a considerable expense.
Not to mention other aspects, such as piracy. For a small production company, a buyout was the most reasonable way.
And the return was very fast. You could get the full payment as soon as you finished filming and the deal was settled, which was much more convenient than waiting for the screening to end and then sharing the profits.
After ending the conversation with the director, Lance gave Vice President Vaughn another call. After confirming that he was at the dockworkers’ union, he immediately took a car to the docks.
In the office of the workers’ union, Lance saw Vaughn.
“When is Scott getting promoted?”
A month had passed since the skills competition, but President Scott seemed to have not left yet, which made Lance feel a little strange.
Vaughn had his secretary bring a cup of coffee. He sat on the sofa next to Lance, “At the end of this month, the beginning of next month.”
Lance looked him up and down. He could see that he was in a very calm state now, without any uncertainty about whether he would take over the power after the president left.
“So you’ve already been internally selected?”
A very faint smile appeared on Vaughn’s face, “This still needs a vote. The workers’ union is a democratic group.”
The more he said this, the more Lance understood that this matter had already been settled, it just wasn’t convenient to disclose it to the outside yet.
“Is there any way to rush Scott to leave early?”
Vaughn looked at Lance with some confusion, “What’s wrong?”
“Because at the end of this month, the beginning of next month, there might be a riot, at the docks, or even in the entire city.”
“If he doesn’t leave, there’s a high probability he won’t be able to!”
Vaughn was stunned for a good while after hearing this. If Scott couldn’t leave, wouldn’t he, the designated president, have to go back to being the current vice president again?
He quickly pursued, “What on earth is going on?”
Lance briefly explained the general situation to him, “…So this is due to multiple factors, and it’s related to the future of this city.”
“Actually, I shouldn’t have told you about this matter, but we are friends, Vaughn. I have to tell you in advance.”
“But you don’t have to worry that this is a bad thing. In fact, for you, for the dockworkers, it may not be a bad thing.”
“The capitalists will give the workers higher incomes, the dissatisfaction within the dockworkers will be greatly alleviated, the immigrant community can also voice their calls for fair treatment, and those illegal immigrants.”
“If you can cooperate with me to handle these things and do them beautifully, Vaughn, you will also have a chance to go to the national union!”
“And after you go, your status will definitely be higher than Scott’s!”
“Because you will be the one walking at the forefront of the times, and you will also be a person with great influence!”
Lance swore that he was not trying to make Vaughn be on the front line. He just felt that this was an opportunity, and it would be a pity not to try!
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