Chapter 322： What is upstream

May 18, the fifth day of "Troy" in theaters.

Roberts-Deney walked into the company with an expressionless face, nodding coldly to the employees who greeted him on both sides, and said nothing.

As one of the executives of Warner's distribution department, the failure of "Troy" cannot escape responsibility anyway.

Push the door and walk into the company's conference room.

As soon as he saw Barry Mayer sitting at the top of the conference table, he didn't seem to be affected by the bad news in recent days.

"President?"

Roberts Denis was about to speak, but was interrupted by Barry Mayer, "Now that everyone's here, let's talk."

In the conference room, in addition to these two people, there were several other department executives.

"Propaganda funds are no longer invested, and now major newspapers and media are reporting negative news about the film."

Well, at the beginning, I promised to invest 50 million for publicity, and I spent more than 20 million in the early stage, but seeing that the situation is not right, the remaining 30 million will naturally not continue to be invested.

Can the loss be recovered in time? This is why the media is one-sided. Warner himself gave up.

"What about the transfer of public opinion?"

"Pitt and CAA and others are more anxious than us, and they have already shot." Another executive reported.

"Well, since we have missed this time, we can't lose too much profit." Barry Mayer continued: "Overseas, hurry up and release it, and the offline market is also. The more you delay, the worse the impact will be."

"Don't worry, our people are already making arrangements."

"That's it. Also, inform Ryman that the "Million Dollar Baby" project also needs planning."

"Cannes?"

"Well." Barry Mayer had already planned, "First participate in a few film festivals to accumulate word of mouth, screen in North America at the end of December, successfully strive for the momentum of the awards season, compete for the Oscar, and finally release it on a large scale."

This is also a very common method of operation in the industry. As for why you choose Cannes, it is also because of Lehmann's identity.

If he wasn't French, he might have chosen the Venice Film Festival.

A few people discussed the small meeting again, and then the meeting broke up.

For a huge platform like Warner, they are also very experienced in dealing with project failures.

What's more, although the publisher of "Troy" is them, the source of funding for the producer is diverse.

Wall Street investment banks, foundations, and even studios like Plan B are the big money.

In terms of loss, it is also their biggest, and even Warner is only paying for channels and some time and energy.

Of course, the failure of the originally conceived project must have had an impact, but it was not as serious as imagined.

Distribution, as the upstream of the entire film industry, is not so simple to summarize.

Take this incident for example.

No matter how much the final box office is, and how much the investment in the comparison project loses, it is necessary to make up for Warner's loss first, and then other investors.

These are the conditions of the release that are truly written into the release terms.

Even Lehman's projects with Paramount and Europa.

If the box office is 100 million, 40 million will be distributed to the theater, and the remaining 60 million will be calculated first by the publisher, and finally by the producer.

This is why sometimes a project is not profitable on the surface, but in fact the issuer is still not at a loss.

Of course, if you think about it from a different angle.

The channel itself is the investment of resources, which is not profitable or even a small loss. From the perspective of the issuer, it is a big loss.

After all, the schedule is limited. If you give you this movie, other movies will be moved later, so you can’t make a lot of money from the movie with a certain schedule. The delayed movie or the waste of the schedule itself must also be integrated into Calculate inside.

So is Troy.

On the surface, after the situation was difficult to recover, Warner tried its best to reduce investment, and even stopped spending the promised follow-up publicity funds. As everyone knows, this is also a relatively helpless method.

Participating in such a lucrative market market in the summer season, but not getting too many box office results. Warner itself was heartbroken.

But things have happened, and this "failure" is clearly not the most affected by Warner.

Yes, channels are also resources, but compared to producers who have suffered more losses, and investors who want to cry without tears, and look at Warner's words, such a comparison seems to be passable.

They take the smallest production risk, and if the situation is bleak, and they hold the largest compensation, they can't help but feel overbearing.

It's a pity that Hollywood works like this. Especially for a film and television tycoon like Warner who is accustomed to taking risks and making money for everyone, it is so normal that it can no longer be normal.

Even for its own projects, Warner seldom takes the risk of producing it independently.

Why, is there not enough liquidity?

In fact, for a film and television company like Warner, never losing money is more important than making a big profit.

It needs to maintain such a situation, and even come up with the best annual financial report to stabilize the hearts of shareholders and even maintain the stability of the stock market.

Therefore, as early as after the movie was released, through the data collection of the screening and the forecast of the audience market, after knowing that it was impossible, they withdraw faster than anyone else.

The first to give up.

Even the person who takes the blame diverts the focus of attention is initiated by others, they can just push the boat with the flow.

Otherwise, the actor and the director, whoever bears the same responsibility, as long as the presence of Warners is diluted and the goal is achieved.

Sure enough, this time it was the actors who banded together and wanted the director to be the focal point.

Everyone has their own calculations, but Warner is not stable.

In the entertainment industry, stars are different from directors. This kind of infamy is really untouchable for a person who wants to eat with impression points.

Brokerage companies such as CAA also have no choice. If they can successfully minimize the negative impact, who is willing to spend money to divert their attention?

It's like the money is blown by the wind.

But otherwise, Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom and other leading actors have suffered even greater losses in their acting careers, and they are still idol stars. They cannot re-prove themselves with their acting skills like the powerful ones, which means they will eat more from the audience. good feeling.

The temporary investment can only comfort myself and say that I can recover more in the future.

Of course, if you really want to give up, there is no value to cultivate, and the brokerage company is not open.

Don't you see, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and others have more black material, what is the problem of belief, cheating, the junior third and the upper position plus touching things that should not be touched, this kind of release As for the average actor, it is the news of the stone hammer that can be fatal or even directly destroy the actor's career. It has always been suppressed and constantly washed.

For example, Angelina Jolie was scolded in a mess in the later period, and turned to the "charity route" of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

If you have nothing to do, send supplies to the Middle East, and appeal for anti-violence and anti-war. You see, will everyone keep focusing on her scandal?

There are always people who are unaware and forget.

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