[US Entertainment] Superstar

Chapter 383 Breaking the Monopoly

The box office of a movie is only so small, the theaters have to take part, the distributor has to take part, and the producer has to give some to the actors, so naturally there is not much left in their hands.

However, there are too many profit-making methods for Hollywood movies. For example, Focus Pictures voluntarily gave up its distribution commission at the North American box office and only took 15%, which is the least in the industry practice.

Even if the North American box office of "Little Miss Sunshine" exceeds [-] million, Focus Pictures will not get much money from distribution, because the real money is in places that people can't see.

For film distribution companies, the profits from home video tapes, DVDs, and cable TV are much larger than those from the box office, and at the same time, the companies participating in the sharing will be much smaller.

Just like now "Shrek" seems to have a North American box office of 2.8 million US dollars, but in fact under the operation of DreamWorks, its videotapes, DVD sales and rental income are much higher than the box office.

The online awards season for movies in theaters is actually an advertisement to facilitate the sale of discs.The production cost of discs is very low, and Focus thinks that Eve's film has a very good prospect in the disc market, and would rather make concessions on the box office share than get a high share in the disc market.

This is almost proving with practical actions that they will try their best to help "Little Miss Sunshine" charge in the awards season.

An art film, nominated for an Oscar and not nominated for an Oscar, the final disc sales can be said to be very different.

Even if it is for its own future interests, Focus Pictures has to do its best to promote it, otherwise the movie will not be famous, and the disc will definitely not be sold.

Eve is not an impulsive person. She nodded after hearing what James said, and said solemnly: "In fact, the contract of Focus Pictures is indeed superior, but I personally doubt the operation of Focus Pictures."

It is very difficult to choose a suitable issuing company. On the one hand, it is necessary to compare contracts, and on the other hand, it is necessary to compare hard power and soft power.

Even if a little-known small distribution company lowered its distribution commission to 10% or even 5%, Eve would not dare to sign the contract.

Who knows if it will be an empty glove white wolf!

Focus Features is only now established, without any past history to check, and whether it can help "Little Miss Sunshine" win the favor of the judges in the fiercely competitive Oscar battle is the key.

Hollywood is a place full of alcohol and fear of deep alleys. Excellent movies must be publicized before they are known to everyone, otherwise they may become hidden jewels in the sea.

Fortunately, after many years, it was gradually accepted and liked by the audience by virtue of word of mouth, and it was injustice.Almost lucky, maybe not many people know about it, and it is overwhelmed by the vast sea.

Eve didn't hide her purpose, "Little Miss Sunshine" is aimed at Oscar.

Mark Johnson was business-like, "Eve is right, how much support will Universal give you to Focus Pictures?"

Empty words have no basis, and things like contacts are hidden behind the scenes.

James knew that this was the biggest test he faced. As the first CEO after the merger, he was under a lot of pressure.If he can't do well, then Universal will definitely find someone to replace him. The president is just a senior wage earner.

"This is my tailor-made Olympic strategy for Miss Campbell. It may be a bit rough, because I have only read the script, and I don't know the performance of your actors and the specific quality of the film. Everything is carried out according to the premise of smooth shooting .”

The implication is very obvious, if the quality of the film is bad, then even if he is a god, he will not be able to publicize Oscar.

Eve took the bound A4 paper, and there were some more conventional methods on it, such as sending movie albums and posters, specialty chocolates and other gift packages to the members of the academy.

It even said that if the quality is very good, it will take a very expensive way to send the disc to the members of the academy with a projector.

This is equivalent to playing around the edges of the rules. Many of the judges are older members of the academy, and they rarely go to the cinema to watch movies.

But what if there is no projector to send the disc?Just send the machine in the past.

Now a projector is worth hundreds of dollars, and there are tens of thousands of members of the American Academy of Motion Picture Sciences and Arts. Of course, it is impossible to give away every one of them.

Even sometimes I can't find the way at all, I don't know who to give it to, and where is the specific address.

In essence, the selection of the Oscars is the same as the US presidential campaign, so some public relations teams are simply members of the presidential campaign team.

In the plan of Focus Pictures, Eve saw their tentative awards. The most likely to be nominated is the best original screenplay, followed by performances, and there is also a blockbuster, which is to help Eve Get nominated for Best Director!

As a ensemble movie, "Little Miss Sunshine" has limited space for good actors to perform, so the male and female protagonists are definitely unrealistic, and we can only see what will happen to the male and female supporting actors.

The actor Toni Collette, who played the role of mother Cher, had been nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress before.

Playing the role of grandfather Alan Arkin is even more experienced, and at the same time he can play the old card and nostalgic card.In the 60s of the last century, he was nominated for two Oscar winners. He was about the same age as many of the judges, and he was the group of actors who accompanied them when they got old.

From time to time, the Best Supporting Actor Oscar will give veteran actors a little slant in recognition of their outstanding performances in the past.

In many cases, this award is not given to them now, but to make up for some regrets in the past.

Oscar female supporting roles are generally awarded to young actors, and male supporting roles are generally awarded to older actors. As for Keanu, one more nomination is already the limit.

Last year's "Almost Famous" was so popular that he was brought into the nomination round under such circumstances.

This year, although his acting skills have improved, the judges will definitely give priority to choosing Alan Arkin instead of him as a superstar in the face of the film Alan Arkin.

If two people are really shortlisted, it may lead to split votes. The issuing company is not willing to see this and will only choose one of them.

"You want to help me get nominated for the best director?" Eve asked abruptly, "I'm afraid this will be very difficult."

James smiled and said: "Movies belong to the art of directors. Everyone pays attention to "Little Miss Sunshine" because you directed it. If you were any other director, even if Mr. Reeves played the leading role, there would not be so much attention."

Mark Johnson added on the side: "I and Evan specifically asked Focus Pictures to add this one. You are the soul of this movie, and you must be pushed out."

"Then do you think I have a good chance of being nominated?" Eve didn't expect to win the award at all, she knew it would be too difficult.

The Oscar is about to have a century-old history, and more than 90 winners of the best director have been born, but there is not a single woman among them.

Among the hundreds of directors nominated, there are even only two female directors, which shows how harsh Oscar is on this one.

What's more, Eve is still an actor, a big star with an Oscar for acting, and the judges will not send her the statuette for the best director, unless they want to create a god in Hollywood.

"Getting nominated for best director is our ultimate goal, and it can even be said to be a gimmick. Because the last female director nomination has been far away, whether you can achieve the goal or not, your momentum in the awards season will be very big, and it will attract media coverage. Follow up."

As James said, it is of course best for Eve to get nominated. If she doesn’t get it, the media and the audience will help her complain. At the same time, she noticed that female directors have been ignored for a long time.

With attention, the box office and disc sales will naturally not be less.

Oscar has indeed been ignoring the contributions and contributions of female directors. All walks of life are calling for equality between men and women, but the best director has not changed.

From an objective point of view, the number of female directors in the entire film industry is indeed very small, and the number of outstanding female directors is even rarer.

But no matter how few people there are, there are still many works that can be achieved, and there will not be only two nominations in the past century.

As for the first woman to win the Oscar for best director, it will have to wait until 2009, when Catherine Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" will pull down ex-husband James Cameron's "Avatar" at the Oscars Come.

"After the release, we will use the early word-of-mouth and evaluation to see if you can bear the title of the third person in history, otherwise you will be backlashed by public opinion."

At this time, Eve thought of another movie, "I shot the movie "Lost in Translation" directed by Sofia before. The whole script and shooting are excellent, and it is said that the quality of the finished film is also very good. It has been confirmed as the main competition unit of the Venice Film Festival .”

"You mean that Sofia is likely to be nominated for the best director?" James Shams suddenly realized, and at the same time frowned, muttering to himself: "That's right. She is the only director in Coppola's next generation, as long as The film is not bad, and the Coppola family will definitely work hard in this regard."

The last female director to be nominated for an Oscar was in 1994. It has been a long time since now, and it is time for a new candidate to be born.

Mark Johnson was a little unexpected. If Sophia is as popular as "Lost in Translation", the two female directors will be on the same path.

According to the urgency of the Oscars, it is unprecedented to have one nomination for a female director, and it is even more unimaginable to have two nominations.

The most important thing is that Eve is the leading actor of "Lost in Translation", which means that it is impossible for the publicity side to discredit this movie, otherwise the loss outweighs the gain.

"Actually, I have no competitive relationship with her in essence. We both want to win the fixed nomination position of male directors. Only by cooperating can we raise the momentum, otherwise we will be alone."

Eve doesn't want to see scenes of mutual attack. She is more willing to see female directors who are weak in themselves unite and move towards a goal together.

James nodded, "Maybe you two will make history, let's wait and see!"