Chapter 58: Be Sharp
Harvey Weinstein looked at the flickering cigar in his hand, and the rich aroma relaxed his irritable brain a little. Through the hazy smoke, he remembered the bad things of these days again.
Although Lyman was not impressed by the cooperation he proposed, he went to meet George, the representative of Europa Pictures, in private, but in the end he was not able to get the chance to enter.
This time, he was completely indifferent.
It is said that since the premiere of Three Silly Bollywood on January 21, the number of people watching the movie has not decreased in the past week.
At the same time, Sundance officials are also very optimistic about the film.
They did a survey. During this year's exhibition, the top three works that were most impressed by the audience were Three Silly Bollywood, Personal Speed, and The Last Kiss.
In terms of film critics, Three Silly Troubles in Bollywood overwhelmed the remaining two works with absolute praise.
It can be seen that the more enthusiastic the discussion and the more viewers, the higher the reputation of the film.
In other words, if Sundance is the Toronto Film Festival, it is almost a certainty that the audience chooses this award to belong to Three Silly Bollywood.
And during this period, George has interviewed the negotiating teams of Universal Pictures and Warner Bros., and then, under the recommendation of the host, Robert Rayford, talked to the distribution departments of Columbia, MGM, and Fox Searchlight.
Except for Disney, which is not good at operating live-action movies and has no plans to do this business, Hollywood's top distribution companies have all joined the game.
But only the team at Europa Pictures still does not plan to contact Miramax.
Yes, contact, not even a chance to hear the conditions of the two sides, this is the reason why he is in such a bad mood.
He took a sip of the cigar, and the mellow taste began to spread in his body and mind. He turned around and shouted, Corris, come in!
The middle-aged man named Chris, who had been waiting outside the door for orders, came in respectfully.
Mr. Harvey Weinstein! he said in a deep voice, bowing his head slightly.
Well, Chris is the film buyer who was played by Lehmann at the Venice Film Festival, and he is also a middle-level executive with a good position in Miramax.
There was a rare trace of tension in the words.
Corris knew that his boss had a really bad temper, not to mention the extremely bad mood right now.
He needs to be more careful, even after speaking, he doesn't even dare to lift his head.
What do you think of Lyman?
Just a lucky, ignorant young man. Corris said as much as he could with the situation. In fact, he still thinks that he is a very good director, but this sentence is obviously not something that can be said on this occasion.
Huh! How's the movie going now? Harvey leaned back on the sofa and asked his subordinates.
Paramount Pictures still took over the distribution rights of Three Silly Trouble in Bollywood. Although we have no way of knowing the specific negotiations, the news from Europa Pictures is that the transaction price between the two parties is $8 million plus a 40 percent box office bonus.
Harvey took a deep breath of the cigar in his hand, anticipating this situation.
George is looking for cooperation everywhere, and the biggest pressure is not the old friend Paramount Pictures who has been working with him all the time.
For Paramount Pictures, it is obviously not what they are willing to do to easily give up this French ally.
Even if you know it's a pit, you have to jump down willingly.
Of course, the premise is that the pit cannot be too large, otherwise, it is normal to give up cooperation every minute.
business dealings,
How to choose depends on the judgment of interests and prospects.
Corris, do you know why we at Miramax always lead the way in awards season?
It's not because you're shameless, Chris thought silently, but when it came out of his mouth, it turned into a pleasing meaning, It's because of your good eyesight, sir, that you can always choose the movies that the judges like very much!
Creating rumors, smearing opponents, elevating oneself, and getting closer, this is one of the combo punches that Comrade Harvey Weinstein used to hit the Oscars. At the beginning, Miramax used this method to defeat the opponent Saving Private Ryan, let Shakespeare in Love succeed, and won the most water Oscar actress since the 20th century - Gwyneth Silk-Paltrow.
Sure enough, the benefits of having a subordinate are reflected, and he is still a very talkative subordinate.
Harvey Weinstein had a smile on his face and chuckled, How's our action going?
Director Rebecca Miller has agreed to our terms that Personal Speed will be distributed by our company.
That's good, Chris, you did a good job.
Chris smiled and said nothing.
Not everyone was a freak like Lyman, who dismissed Miramax, who was best at running awards, and provoked it again and again.
When Rebecca Miller heard that Miramax, represented by Corris, was willing to help her film hit the Oscars, she even made extra concessions in the division of the film's revenue.
Not only did he only collect a nominal $800,000 as a buyout fee for the distribution rights, but he also promised to give up offline channel interests, as long as 30% of the box office revenue.
Are we really running this movie as an Oscar candidate for this year? Corris asked curiously, as he felt Harvey Weinstein was not one to make decisions so easily.
In the past, there was no time when a few seed players were not selected from dozens of movies to operate, and how could it be confirmed at the beginning of the year without comparison.
Corris was right.
I saw Harvey Weinstein pursed the corners of his mouth, and the words he said were as shameless as ever, Of course not, that film has no operational value, give it up.
Miramax never abides by the verbal agreement, what's more, the film really has no operational value.
On the contrary, the film Three Silly Troubles in Bollywood is indeed a rare masterpiece because of its special subject matter and far-reaching intentions. Moreover, as a non-English film, although it somewhat restricts the audience's acceptance in the distribution market, this disadvantage is also a rare advantage, for example, the impact of the Oscar for the best foreign language film - just as Harvey started Just like what he thought when he was in his heart, at first glance, he felt that the advantages of Three Silly Bollywood were unique in this regard.
It was first released at the Sundance Film Festival and was well received by audiences, film critics and even official judges. It is invested and operated by French producers. The cast is all from India, but most of the production lineup is of French origin. Neighbors in a cultural circle.
This makes the public relations promotion of Three Silly in Bollywood at the Oscars must be very popular. The old men of the academy judges are very old-fashioned, and they are too pedantic. After so many years of dealings, Harvey-Wei Ernstein figured out their routines and tempers.
Seeing such a black-skinned and white-hearted movie, can you still not give a ticket?
Believe it or not, putting a movie with a more twisted story in front of that group of people is indeed more appetizing than Three Silly Bollywood. Silly.
Not once or twice, each time, Harvey can use this aspect to achieve what he wants.
He is the King of Oscars!
It has to be said that after all these years of operation, as Harvey said, Oscar always finds the best point between political balance, games between parties, and relative justice.
In this set of operating rules on paper, there may be no possibility that a truly outstanding film will not be nominated, but it is very normal that the final winner is often unexpected.
The reason why Miramax has repeatedly won the Oscars is not how much Harvey has turned his hands and turned his hands into rain, but that in addition to the contacts he has accumulated, he has thoroughly understood the opinions of those jury members. appetite.
Think about it, you can always present a delicious dish that is politically correct, has three views close to the judges, and has a good idea. Who can resist this? To put it bluntly, this person has the best and strongest comparison of the data on the Oscars, Even after seeing the movie once, he can roughly estimate how many supporters such a work can win among the more than 1,000 judges, and how many nominations and awards can be expected.
Again, make good trade-offs.
Can't be greedy, can't delusionally control Oscar completely.
That's what Harvey Weinstein does best, he never goes overboard.
Even if I understand that I have a great influence on the Oscars, I never really choose for the judges.
Sometimes, making a choice for yourself and making a choice with others for you, there are always people who can't control the control between the two.
But, that doesn't exist in Harvey.
He is always sensible, and he can serve those masters well and win everyone's favor without being reckless.
Help me meet Robert Redford, just tonight.
Okay, sir.
Corris knew that his boss was going to take another shot.
Otherwise, at such a time, he would not take the initiative to make an appointment with the speaker of the Sundance Film Festival.
I just don't know, can Miramax satisfy that appetite? After all, he wouldn't believe it if Europa Pictures didn't take certain award-winning measures for Three Silly Trouble in Bollywood.
Seeing that Chris resigned respectfully and the figure disappeared completely, Harvey Weinstein silently extinguished the cigar and put it back in the box.
His eyes were illusory, as if thinking of Lyman's disgusting face.
Hmph, just let you, this ignorant boy, experience the power Miramax possesses.
Harvey thought so, his eyes gradually became fierce...