I’m in Hollywood

After the analysis of the distribution department, the reason why Blair Witch is so popular mainly depends on the voyeurism and curiosity of the audience, and the content of this film does not have much to be commended. If we want to make this In order for a film to get a better box office, it is necessary to keep the audience hungry as much as possible. Therefore, I don’t think the scale of the following screenings is suitable for expanding too much at one time, and 1,000 screens is enough. In the second and third weeks, the number of screenings will remain at around 1,000. If there is still room to spare, we can further expand the scale of screenings starting in the fourth week.

At the company's regular meeting in the new week, Kenneth Horn reported the box office data of the first weekend of Blair Witch, and then talked about the follow-up release of the film again.

An ultra-low-cost film with a total budget of only US$60,000 generated a box office of US$11.2 million in just three days on the first weekend. Not only was the outside media an uproar, but the Firefly Group was also amazed. Therefore, this matter has also become the most important topic at the company's regular meeting this week.

After carefully reading the project materials about Blair Witch, although Robert Thompson, president of Bowei Publishing Company, was not in charge of the matter, he still raised an objection: I don't think so, Ken, the previous month, the company targeted The promotion strategy of this film is to mix the fake with the real, but since we stated that this is just a film marketing, coupled with the public release of the film, the truth has been revealed one after another, and the popularity base brought by the original marketing strategy has begun to dissipate. Fortunately, The box office miracle created in the first weekend of the film happened to bring the topic of the film to the highest point again. Therefore, we should seize this opportunity to expand the release scale to more than 2,000 screens at one time, and take advantage of the film as much as possible. More box office gains while popularity is still alive.”

Simon Parker, President of Consumer Products, listened to Robert Thompson, and joined in the fun: I still agree with Kenneth's plan. The popularity of Blair Witch is enough to support a long box office curve. It backfired, and Hasbro's stumble in the Star Wars prequels has only just given us a bad case.

As soon as Simon Pike finished speaking, Thomas Schumacher, head of Firefly Pictures, said: However, I have to remind everyone that the next two weeks without any competitors should be the best for Blair Witch. The key. Two weeks later, the Easter schedule opens, and I remember that it was only March 26th, and three new films were released, Paramount's Sweeping Three, Universal's Ed Private Channel and Warner's Lola Run, and the competition for new films in the next few weeks will be more intense, leaving no long run time for Blair Witch at all.”

Hearing Thomas Schumacher's words, everyone paused and looked at Eric, who was sitting at the top.

That's right, Lola Run was eventually snatched up by the far more deep-pocketed Warner Bros. for $12 million. Moreover, thanks to the popularity of watching the movie in person during Eric Sundance, in order to strike while the iron is hot, Warner Bros. simply put the movie on the Easter schedule.

Eric didn't care too much about it. Lola Run is only a relatively alternative low-cost independent film after all, with limited box office potential. Even if his subordinates wanted to grab the film because of his optimism, Eric would not agree. His attention was still on Blair Witch. In order to prevent the management from getting into a dispute, he whispered a few words to Katzenberg, and Eric made a final call: Let's roll it out as soon as possible, this film really doesn't have any. enough strength to go the long way.

Next, let's discuss the topic of setting up a special network marketing department. I think everyone has already realized the effect of network marketing. However, I must remind you that online marketing is only a supplement to the traditional film marketing model, at least, for a long time to come. Blair Witch can only be regarded as an example, and it is difficult to replicate. I mean, New Line and Bowei each set up a special network marketing office. Everyone should remember that we are a big film company, and upright operation is the foundation. Don't fall into this kind of slanted business thinking just because of a temporary profit.

Eric made the decision, and everyone no longer objected. Kenneth Horn said: So, Eric, about the sequel, do you need to set up a project as soon as possible?

No, this movie, we don't think about any sequels in five years.

In the past, there were two relatively well-known low-cost pseudo-documentary films in Hollywood, one is Blair Witch and the other is Ghost Records.

Compared with Ghost Records, which has been filmed a lot and has been a big hit, the sequel to Blair Witch can only be described as a failure.

This is mainly because although Ghost Records also adopts the pseudo-documentary mode, it is a real horror movie that creates a very good horror atmosphere. Therefore, the sequel to Ghost Records will still be bought by the audience.

Blair Witch is different. This film, if there is no rich background story carefully forged by the main creator, the film is completely just a few surprises of the main characters, and it seems that there is not much horror. Most of the audience watching this film is just a kind of inquiry psychology under the influence of overwhelming discussion. Once the interest passes and they find that there is nothing special about the whole film, they will no longer have any interest, even , many people will feel cheated.

In this case, start the sequel immediately, except for failure, there is really no other possibility.

However, five years later, or even longer, when the project is launched, the results will definitely be different.

As for the reason, it boils down to two words, nostalgia.

At the end of the two-hour regular meeting, everyone returned to their jobs, and Eric and Katzenberg remained in the conference room.

This afternoon, Katzenberg will rush to Washington to participate in a consultation meeting with the entire information and media industry initiated by the Federal Department of Justice on the AOL and Time Warner mergers.

As the first large-scale merger of emerging and traditional media, the scale of which has reached an unprecedented $140 billion, the Department of Justice is very cautious about this merger. Of course, this is also full of secret games of various forces.

According to the merger announcement issued by AOL and Time Warner, once the two parties merge, the new company will rely on AOL's huge user base and Time Warner's content advantages to build an integrated network access, cable TV, and landline services. comprehensive media group.

At that time, AOL-Time Warner will be involved in mainstream businesses in all information media fields, from channel services to content production. If it can really develop according to Steve Case's vision, the new company in the future will undoubtedly develop into a super media oligarch.

So, in theory, any company that competes with AOL and Time Warner should try to block the merger.

The Firefly Group and Yahoo Network, the two companies of the Firefly system, both have very direct competition with AOL and Time Warner, but Eric has no plans to stop the merger. It is possible to use its own influence to facilitate the completion of this merger as soon as possible.

According to Eric's expansion plan, Firefly Group's next step will be to enter the field of cable TV service providers, which is actually a step that Firefly's system must take.

After all, whether it's Firefly, MGM or 20th Century Fox, all of them operate multiple cable channels. With the further popularization of cable television networks in North America, if the Firefly system does not get involved in the business of cable television suppliers at all, it is likely to encounter the dilemma of the channel business being stuck in the neck in the future.

If AOL's merger with Time Warner is rejected by the Justice Department, it will be even more difficult for us to get involved in the cable operator business in the future. I have talked to him on Ian's side, and he originally wanted to talk to AOL ahead of time. Reach some restrictions, but I don't think it's necessary at all. It's not a time to fight for a moment, helping AOL acquire Time Warner, or helping ourselves, Eric rubbed the bandage on his arm through the fabric of his shirt. After thinking for a while, he said to Katzenberg: In addition, after you arrive in Washington, you can meet with the president and his wife in private, and after so many things, I think he should be able to see the reality clearly, instead of slamming it now. Fighting a war to divert domestic attention from his personal political stains, I think Hollywood's attitude will help him even more.

In February, after the final round of impeachment votes in the Senate, Clinton finally survived the zipper door without a hitch.

At this time, in order to divert domestic attention from the zipper door and reshape its own image and political influence, the White House is vigorously lobbying the Federal Department of Defense to launch a war against Kosovo, even a full-scale ground war.

Katzenberg nodded earnestly, but said, Eric, don't you worry about the impact of the AOL-Time Warner merger on us?

What's there to worry about? Eric smiled and said, Look at Steve Case's personnel arrangement for the new company. After the merger, although AOL's management leads the new company, Time Warner's internal There is no change in the power structure of the company. You can't even control 100% of the new company. Do you think Steve Case can successfully implement his development plan?

Katzenberg thought about it for a moment, clearly agreeing with Eric's point of view, and said, What about you, Eric, if you were to dominate AOL-Time Warner, what would you do?

Eric stopped rubbing his arms with a bit of coldness in his expression, and said, First of all, of course, it's a big purge. Either all the disobedient people get out, or I get out myself. Phoenix Nirvana, not broken or standing .

Even now, Time Warner's various media resources are not weaker than Firefly Group.

Warner Bros., Time Media, Warner Cable, Turner Broadcasting, even DC Comics, CNN, HBO, etc., are all very high-quality media assets. However, even if it is a premium acquisition, the price AOL offers to Time Warner is only At $63 billion, it is only half of the popular valuation of Firefly Group by most media.

The reason for this situation is ultimately due to the endless internal struggle of Time Warner Group.

Speaking of which, if Steve Ross, who first founded Time Warner Group, could continue to live and breathe for 20 years like old men like Murdoch and Redstone, Time Warner would never have the current situation. It's a pity that Steve Ross tragically passed away in 1992.

As for Steve Case.

Even if there is no memory of the past, just seeing that the other party has begun to compromise on the issue of control before the two companies have completed the merger, Eric is very optimistic about the future of this new company.

Entering the working day, in the 200 theaters in North America, the popularity of Blair Witch has not diminished at all. Because of the strong demand, almost all the theaters continued to be full.

On March 12, when Blair Witch was released at the box office in its first week and seven days, it once again shocked many people's attention.

Although it fell behind the box office of Dangerous Man by three days in the first weekend, but after the accumulation of working days, Blair Witch relied on 200 theaters, and finally reached an astonishing $21.27 million at the box office in the first week, successfully achieving the success of Dangerous. People overtaken it and won the box office champion of the week.

Affected by the sharp drop in attendance on weekdays, Dangerous People only had a box office of $20.54 million in the final week, which unfortunately ranked second. The production cost of this film is as high as 90 million US dollars, and the total box office is only more than 46 million in two weeks, and it is almost doomed to huge losses.

At the same time, after intense operation, starting from March 12, the screen size of Blair Witch was increased to more than 2,100 at one time, and it was officially rolled out in various theaters in North America. New Line also temporarily allocated a $10 million promotional budget to begin advertising Blair the Witch through traditional media channels.

After the first meeting, it took a full week for Universal Music to respond again.

Eric scheduled a meeting with Edgar Bronfman again Friday morning, but this time Universal Music CEO Doug Morrison didn't show up.

Firefly Studios, inside Eric's office.

After a few simple greetings, Edgar Bronfman made his request straight to the point: Eric, since the Yahoo Music Store needs to get a commission from digital music sales, I think the record company also has the right to buy from Firefly. Electronic hardware sales get certain benefits.

Eric put down the coffee cup he just picked up, shook his head and said, Ed, there's no such thing. Have you ever heard of the fact that the equipment company that sells projectors gives the film company a profit share?

It doesn't make sense, Edgar Bronfman said calmly. But, I'm sure you know what I mean.

Eric naturally understood what the other party meant. Seagram wanted to invest in Firefly Electronics.

However, if Firefly Electronics is just a portable music player company, Eric may agree, but in fact, this company involves too much Eric's layout of the future electronics industry.

Eric was thinking about what to say next, when someone knocked on the office door, Caroline pushed open the door, gestured to Eric with a mobile phone in her hand, and said, Sorry, Bronfman. Sir, and Eric, but there's an emergency call from New York.

Eric looked at Caroline and asked, Wait a minute?

It's Mr. Paul Rowland from wm, Caroline said. He said that there is a very urgent matter. He is already rushing to JFK International Airport and is about to fly to Europe.

Hearing that it was Paul Rowland, Eric knew that it must be related to Carmen Keith.

I don't know what happened to this girl, Paul Rowland needs to rush to Europe in such a hurry.

Wouldn't it be biting someone else again?

Thinking in his heart, Eric stood up apologetically and said, Then, Ed, I'm so sorry, just wait a moment.

Although Edgar Bronfman was a little unhappy in his heart, he didn't show it, and laughed a lot: It's okay, you go to answer the phone first.

Leaving the office, Eric took the mobile phone that Caroline handed over, looked at the girl with clear eyes standing quietly beside him, walked to the corridor outside with a little guilty conscience, put the phone to his ear, and asked: Paul, what happened?