Chapter 126： Dividend Conference

The 75th Oscars came to an end, and the Oscar night organized by Vanity Fair also ended in everyone's friendly communication.

The media did indeed scramble to report the grand occasion of the awards, and for a while, the Oscars became a hot topic among the people.

But if you really want to say that the golden man who won the Oscar for best foreign language film also had a big impact on Lehman's life, it is not necessarily true.

He can say responsibly that the impact is really not big.

After all, life has to go on, and life won't stop just because of a so-called award.

Lehman celebrated in the United States for two days, and also thanked the people of CAA and Paramount, and further strengthened the relationship.

Then, he returned to France with Ryan, Thomas and George, ready to take a break or start a new film project.

Shooting new works has always been something he is very happy to do, which is hidden in his bones.

In a twinkling of an eye, the time has come to March, "Fury" has been drawn in the markets around the world, and the work of this film has also entered the final stage, waiting for the theaters around the world to send the film's box office proceeds to the distributor Europa Films When the account is on, the money-sharing conference can also begin.

On March 3, Lehmann took Ryan from Cannes to Paris, intending to settle a portion of their studio's earnings.

The box office share in North America was already calculated by Paramount Pictures under the supervision of all parties.

That's why it has been delayed until now.

At nine o'clock in the morning, the two went directly to Luc Besson's office, exchanged a few words with each other, and then got to the point.

"This is your income statement. You can read it first. If it is correct, wait for the finance department to sign it, and the money will be credited to your studio's account."

"Thank you, Mr. Luc Besson."

The two took it over, and with the help of the professional accounting team members hired on the side, they checked the various income.

Speaking of which, it is really difficult to track the details of the overseas box office this year. Even if the team hired by Lehman participated in the whole process, I would not dare to say that this part of the income is completely real. In an atmosphere that is not too big.

The details of the accounts in hand are very detailed, and even people like Lehman who don't know much about finance can understand them in general.

The total global box office of "Fury" is 542.3 million US dollars. According to the distribution agreements signed by various places, and after deducting fixed expenses such as taxes by local theaters, Europa Pictures received a total of 285.2 million US dollars. The box office share.

Although Europa Films used the tax rebate quota for "Fury" and cashed out a total of $3.5 million in tax rebates in Australia, one of the main filming locations, but according to the agreement, this part of the money is not included in the income that can be divided into the film.

In this way, Europa Films will take out the corresponding distribution fee and deduct a total of 33 million US dollars of publicity and distribution expenses, leaving 165.3 million US dollars in this part of the funds.

Among them, the remaining salaries of some cast members and other industry association expenses will also be paid, with a balance of 152 million US dollars.

Because the production funds include $6 million from Mann Studio, which Lehmann belongs to, $20 million from CAA and Paramount Pictures, and the rest is from Europa Pictures, so these three parties can follow their respective The proportion of investment investment, enjoy the due share.

According to the agreement, Mann Studio can get nearly 18.24 million US dollars from this box office revenue.

Although I still have to pay income tax and other messy taxes, I think the profit will be more than 15 million US dollars.

And after the movie "Fury" was released from France and the United States, Europa Pictures, together with Paramount Pictures, began to negotiate with the largest video tape chain in the Americas, Blockbuster, about the basic transfer fee for video tape copyrights and rental sales. .

The former is cash, the latter is long-term income, so the second half of the channel sales basically has little to do with Mann Studio, and there is not much that can be obtained, while the former is after their negotiations. Agreed on the numbers.

Then there is the use of TV broadcasting rights, secondary development of film rights and other peripheral applications. This is also where Mann Studio can enjoy a share as an investor. The basic licensing fee of 9 million US dollars is also in line with the value of the film.

Combined, these two aspects earned Mann Studios $2 million.

Adding up all the income, Mann Studio can get more than 16 million US dollars in the book number in the past six months, which has already deducted the employment fees of those professional accountants that need to be paid to PricewaterhouseCoopers and the agent Johnson There is a fee for the service in this.

As for the remaining long-term benefits, some will have to wait. If you think about it, you won't be able to see them in a year or two.

After checking the film's earnings, Lyman relaxed, and Ryan didn't wait too long, so he simply left and went to the finance department of Europa Pictures to go through the formalities.

Watching Ryan leave, Lehmann smiled, and then he thought of business again, "Mr. Luc Besson, I already have a general idea about the new movie, the script has been perfected, and the shooting plan report has also begun. Done."

Hearing this, Luc Besson's eyes lit up.

He has always believed that those who succeed will always succeed. Besides, seeing Lehmann's progress step by step, he is naturally very interested in his new film.

"What subject?"

"It should be a crime movie."

This......

crime theme.

Lehmann really has a variety of styles, and each one has a relatively large span.

However, Luc Besson didn't care either. He was used to Lehmann's way of not being limited to one or two subjects. He became more interested when he heard the words, "How much to invest?"

"I like live-action shooting very much. Presumably, Mr. Luc Besson should know this."

Luc Besson nodded. The three films in a row were all in a similar situation. Even the tank scenes were filmed as real as possible, instead of just building models. Presumably this directing method is his own style.

"So, this play will involve many scenes and a large number of extras, which will be a huge expense."

"Can you give me a rough estimate of the production cost?" Luc Besson was not deterred, and his continuous success made him very optimistic about Lehmann.

"At least $100 million." Lehmann said slowly.

It seems that the number he said is really just a number, very calm, but there is great confidence in that calm.

"In order to achieve the effect I want, basically this number is almost the same." Lyman added.

Opposite Luc Besson fell into silence. Don't look at Europa Films who have made similar big productions, but most of the funds are not borne by them, but looking for financing. Even if there is a risk of losing money, it is not them. Take most of the stress.

To put it bluntly, even if the project fails, it will be the money of investors and overseas publishers. For them, it will have little impact, and maybe they will still be profitable.

But now, when Lehmann said this number, even if Luc Besson had predicted that the investment scale of the new film would not be too small, the large sum of 100 million US dollars still made him doubtful.

Such a scale of investment or financing requires careful measurement by Europa Films.

"You can make the relevant planning report first, and I will let the company's market analysis department approve the project." Luc Besson thought for a while and said this.

No matter what, let's get Lehman's new film over first, and we'll figure out the rest later.

After a few more chats, the two officially decided on the "Bad Guy" project, which currently only has a code name.

Ryan then came back to the office and signaled to Lyman that the payment procedure was complete.

Thinking that his studio was just an empty shell, Lehmann said again, "Mr. Luc Besson, I want to buy some film shooting equipment, can you please do it conveniently?"

It doesn't seem like a thing to rent equipment all the time to make a movie. Even if the two have no intention of taking care of the studio, they should try to be as good as possible.

What's more, the two of them have already planned on this aspect, and it just so happens that they have the money to buy it while the proceeds from "Fury" arrive.

"Is Lehmann going to buy the equipment himself?" asked Luc Besson.

"Well, I didn't have enough money before, and I've been borrowing your company's equipment. Now that the funds are better, I also want to make the studio's business more formal."

"It's a good thing." Luc Besson didn't care either. Their company has been in contact with major European equipment manufacturers all year round It is also common to purchase shooting supplies like this.

Getting goods from him is not only convenient but also saves money.

They are all old customers, so they can get a discount, give a discount or something, but it's very simple, and naturally they can understand Lehman's thoughts.

Luc Besson didn't say anything else, because if you have money, buying equipment is more cost-effective than renting equipment.

"Do you have a list? Or what needs?"

Lyman was prepared for this, and took out a small notebook from his pocket, which recorded the densely packed shooting equipment.

Luc Besson made a call, and then a staff member of the logistics department took it to account.

It didn't take long for the corresponding quotation to be released.

Lehmann took the list and looked at it carefully. If he went through the channel of Europa Pictures, the cost would be close to 2.3 million US dollars.

It’s really expensive, but it’s also expensive for its reasons. These are all made by first-tier manufacturers, and maintenance is guaranteed.

"That's fine, just buy it for me here, thank you, Mr. Luc Besson."

"Don't be so polite." It's just a trivial matter. Compared with a new movie project, it's not worth mentioning at all.

"I hope to come up with the project plan as soon as possible, our company needs to push forward the review." Luc Besson continued.

"I will......"

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