Seven Hundred and Forty-Nine - the Value of the Film Library
Hollywood Draws Los Angeles 1990749 - The Value of Film Library Bruce Rosenblum's trip to London only lasted three days. Except for a deep chat with Wayne on the first day, during the rest of the time, he They were both busy with business, and even when they left London, they didn't bother to sit down and talk again.
However, the Warner Bros. distribution executive moved very quickly. By mid-January, Wayne had just finished shooting all the scenes in London. After disbanding the crew on the spot, a studio about the Little Wizard was officially established.
This studio did not attract any media attention. If Nina had not been keeping an eye on this matter, I am afraid that even Wayne would have ignored this inconspicuous studio.
It is obvious that Bruce Rosenblum has, to a certain extent, completely conquered the female writer in one fell swoop. The establishment of the studio means that the promotion of Little Wizard will quickly spread on a large scale around the world. It also means that within Warner Bros., the film adaptation plan of this book series has been officially promoted.
Throughout the second half of January, Wayne was busy shooting scenes around the European continent, shooting the last bit of footage in the plan. At this time, the North American awards season had completely entered the high nest.
With "Shakespeare in Love", Harvey Weinstein has been jumping up and down since the official start of the awards season. He is not at all reserved like Weinstein. Of course, when he does something, there is no so-called bottom line.
But I have to admit that with his various public relations methods, he has become the darling of countless academy members during this period. Even in the occasional phone calls between him and Wayne, he bluntly stated that everyone has weaknesses or preferences, and what I have to do is to grasp them and then try my best to satisfy them.
Please the powerful members of the academy and satisfy some of their "little hobbies". After all, these powerful people represent far more than just their own votes, but a large vote of other members behind them.
However, these are only a small part of Harvey Weinstein’s public relations actions. He launched email bombings, phone bombings, targeted mailings of "Shakespeare in Love" video tapes to thousands of academy members across North America, and other crude but practical tricks, and he never missed a beat.
Don't underestimate these small tricks, such as purposefully mailed video tapes. Along with the video tapes, there is also a video recorder that is exquisitely made but does not have any brand printed on it.
Whether Harvey Weinstein casts a wide-area bombing net or holds frequent movie viewing parties in Los Angeles, there is no doubt that he is trying his best to spread the name of the movie "Shakespeare in Love" to all Academy members. in the ears.
There is no doubt that the average age of the thousands of members of the Academy is quite high, and most of them will not watch the nominated films at all. Their voting principles are actually based on the impressions in their minds. That’s why some people keep saying that Oscar voters all vote with their feet.
Of course, if "Shakespeare in Love" is to have a large enough impact, it must be inseparable from the media. There is no need to save this part of public relations funds, because every film with Oscar ambitions is vigorously promoting its name at this time.
Since January, many things have become clear, and Harvey Weinstein immediately identified his main competitor.
"Some movies can be used as entertainment before and after meals, while some movies are destined to become milestones in people's memory. There are also some movies that, since they were shot, have continued to challenge the bottom line of moviegoers under the guise of humanitarianism.
If you want to give "Saving Private Ryan" a position, as long as you patiently peel off the humanistic cloak of the film, you will find that this is a vulgar and bad movie that relies on bloody scenes to attract attention. "
"War always reminds people of epics, and epics will most likely describe wars. World War II is the largest war in human history so far, and it is also the closest grand epic to us.
This year's hit "Saving Private Ryan" undoubtedly wants to tell movie audiences how cruel real war is. It's a pity that what could have become a classic movie, under the lens of Steven Spielberg, has become a vulgar film that desperately piles on bloody scenes in order to attract box office..."
"The forced fanning, the forced fanning of the audience as if they were fools, was the most intolerable part of watching "Saving Private Ryan" for me. The film has nothing new, and the reflection on war is like a forced extravaganza. I have to say , Steven Spielberg is not suitable for shooting R-rated movies.
After watching "Saving Private Ryan", the biggest feeling that gave me is that in Steven Spielberg's mind, R-rated movies are equivalent to large-scale bloody scenes. I have to say that he should probably have a chat with his friend Wayne about how to make a good R-rated movie..."
Overnight, a large number of comments criticizing "Saving Private Ryan" suddenly appeared on the market. Fortunately, the larger media columns did not criticize the director himself by name.
However, the second- and third-rate movie media are not so easy to talk to. Many reviews have gone far beyond the scope of the movie. They not only described "Saving Private Ryan" as a movie that has nothing to watch after the first 20 minutes, but only relies on The vulgar movie, whose bloody scenes attract attention, also targets Steven Spielberg.
"Gene Era"
It seems that in just a few days, Steven Spielberg has become a "bad movie director." The media not only criticized "Saving Private Ryan" from this angle, but also made more unwarranted revelations about his private life. , also began to gradually circulate in gossip tabloids.
No one cares whether the news is true or false, but what is certain is that movie fans are very curious about the private life of Hollywood directors. This prompted more and more gossip tabloids to join this sudden media carnival.
"Harvey, I have to remind you, don't go too far with some things. Steven is not just what he looks like on the surface, he has always been an elegant and good man."
At the end of January, Wayne, who had just returned to Los Angeles, sat down with Harvey Weinstein in a business club in Beverly. The first words the two said when they met was Wayne's reminder to the big fat man.
This method of hiring hotshots in large numbers and trying their best to blackmail competitors, if you think about it with your toes, you will know that it was this big fat man who did it. Although the competition for Oscars has been fierce before, there has never been such a desperate effort to discredit competitors without regard for face.
"Don't worry, Wayne."
Sitting on the sofa, Harvey Weinstein said unceremoniously: "I am confident that Steven Spielberg will be so anxious that he will not be able to react for a while. Wait until after the Oscars are over , what he is doing, I’m afraid it’s too late.”
Looking at the proud fat man in front of him, Wayne stopped mentioning the good old man. In fact, the matter was not complicated at all. The methods used by this big fat man were brutal, but the effect was unexpectedly good.
For example, demonize Steven Spielberg. As long as similar methods are shameless, the effect will be better than imagined.
He vaguely remembered that this fat man started to use this method frequently this year. Not only Steven Spielberg suffered, but Roman Polanski, the director of "The Pianist", was demonized by this fat man to the point where he was well-known around the world.
Movies are deeply affected by the social environment, especially movies that are intended to win awards, and the impact will be even greater.
Precisely what Harvey Weinstein did was to artificially create an illusion that his competitors were not in line with current social trends.
Demonizing competitors is only part of this method, and the ultimate goal of the large number of hot spots in his hands and the media space he spends to buy regardless of the cost is to make people think of those normal people when he mentions his competitors. Disgusting rumors.
Shaking his head slightly, Wayne put away the messy thoughts for a while, looked at the opposite side and asked: "Tell me, Harvey, why are you so anxious to ask me out?"
He just returned to Los Angeles yesterday and received a call from the other party early this morning. He had to wonder if there was something wrong with the award season plan.
"Don't worry, it has nothing to do with Shakespeare in Love's Oscar journey."
When it came to business, Harvey Weinstein's upper body instantly sat upright. Even in the private room of the club where privacy was relatively guaranteed, I couldn't help but look around before lowering my voice and saying, "If, I mean if. Bob and I leave Miramac, which we created Si, come out and re-establish a film company, are you interested in investing?"
His words stunned Wayne for a moment. Before he came, he never expected that the other party would actually say this.
Then, he frowned slightly, looked at the huge head in front of him, and asked: "Are you willing to give up Miramax's film library? Harvey, what happened?"
"It's Disney." Harvey Weinstein shook his head slightly and explained: "Since Disney has taken over more and more shares of Miramax, my voice on the board of directors has been gradually eroded.
It's the same this time. The distribution of "Shakespeare in Love" was neither done by Miramax nor Disney's Buena Vista Pictures. So, at last Monday's board meeting, the superficial representative of Disney actually questioned me and asked me to give a reasonable explanation why the publisher of "Shakespeare in Love" is Warner Bros. Shit..."
“So you’re going to cash out and start over?”
"That's right, who does he think he is? F**k, I'm done with it."
Wayne slowly leaned back on the sofa, his eyes gradually narrowed. There is no doubt that his appearance accelerated Harvey Weinstein’s departure from Disney’s embrace.
If he remembered correctly, although the Weinstein brothers eventually abandoned Miramax, which they had founded, the time would have to be delayed two years.
The rest is easy to say, as the fat man himself said, Miramax's greatest asset is the opponent's huge brain. But this involves the film library. Yes, the most valuable thing about Miramax is the film library accumulated over the years. Normal people would be reluctant to part with it.
In the 1970s, the Weinstein brothers founded the film distribution company Miramax Pictures. In the early 1980s, Miramax unexpectedly obtained the distribution rights for a British film. After re-editing, "Another Ball of the Secret Police" became an instant hit in North America.
It was this unexpectedly popular movie that opened up the Hollywood path for the Weinstein brothers. Since then, they have focused on independent films and art films, and have grown the company bigger and bigger. In this field, as long as the two brothers take action projects, the success rate is frighteningly high.
For example, later Stephen Nilberg's "Sex, Lies and Videotape", "Pulp", "The English Patient", "Crazy Clerk", "SWAT Ambition", "Draw Until Dawn", "Good Will Hunting", "The Police" Empire,” the “Scream” series, and so on.
In total, there must be at least hundreds of low-budget film rights, all of which are in Miramax's film library. Don't underestimate these low-cost genre films. These films are only available in the video tape market. Miramax releases them every year. Max's largest revenue within the company.
The film library is the real foundation of a film company. With proper copyright management, even if a film company loses money on its new projects throughout the year, there will still be a chance for a turnaround, although it will be tough.
"Harvey, you really thought about it."
To be honest, Wayne was indeed very moved. He knew that despite his clumsy acting style, this guy had always been an out-and-out talented producer in the special field of movies.
"After the Oscars, I'll start preparing."
Seeing what was revealed in the eyes of the man opposite him, Harvey Weinstein knew that the date seemed to have achieved his goal. "You know, Wayne, my name is quite valuable, so there should be no shortage of investors, but I thought of you first."
Wayne smiled and nodded, and said enthusiastically: "Of course, I understand, Harvey, we are friends."
In fact, both of them knew in their hearts that when they invited Wayne to invest and join, what they really valued was not his money, but his meticulous network of relationships and the huge platform Warner Brothers.
This is more like a test. Wayne believes that if he does not receive enough outside support, Harvey Weinstein will definitely not leave Miramax easily.
Until then, he suddenly figured out a lot of things. The reason why this fat man risked his life in "Saving Private Ryan" and threw dirty water on Steven Spielberg regardless of his face was because At this time, he already had thoughts of leaving Miramax.
It can be said that the performance of "Shakespeare in Love" at the Oscars will affect the direction of many people and things. Because of this, Harvey Weinstein did his best.
This circle has always been very realistic. Even though Wayne seems very excited now, it seems that if he doesn't invest in the other party's new company, it will be like losing 100 million.
But in reality? Whenever this fat man messes up "Shakespeare in Love", he will definitely forget everything he said, and even if he loses money, he will find a way to squeeze the oil out of the other person's body.
Obviously, both people know this in their hearts, and to some extent, there are really many similarities between them.
After a simple date, Wayne got in the car and drove towards the manor. The footage for "Wonder Woman" had been shot, and the thing before him was the post-production of this film.