[Shout out to Alexis L. and Matthew!]
Hollywood What If Chapter 31
Hollywood. The ter of the film industry in the USA. The pce many actors yearn for. Even fn actors were willing to die just to get a glimpse of their faces being filmed in Hollywood.
This pce has been called paradise and sin city at the same time. It brings hope and despair.
"A pce you don't want to leave in the hope of reag your dream."
Kazir muttered.
He looked at the managers from Hollywood distribution patending the small sing.
He sighed, knowing that his first hurdle was over. The fact that even the infamous Harvey Weinstein attehe sing and gratuted him personally was enough to satisfy his vanity.
He could feel it, he was getting closer to his dream.
But he knew very well that this was just the beginning. He still had something to do. That was to sell his movie to one of these panies.
In Kazir's opinion, movies should be enjoyed. At the same time, the purpose of making a movie was to make money. It shouldn't be a free ticket, otherwise, his hard work as a director was useless.
'The best offer will have Napoleon Dynamite in their movie library.' He smiled.
"So what do you think?"
Nancy Utley asked her assistant. They had been io watch the sing after expressing their iion to buy the cht of Napoleon Dynamite. Tom Rothman had sent her here specifically.
She thought Napoleon Dynamite had a lot of good points. But she also had to listen to the opinions of others. They were running a business, and every step had to be scrutinized.
"If you ask me, this movie has potential. At least with a budget of 500 thousand dolrs, this movie will easily make a profit iers... As long as we bought it cheap. But," the assistant looked at the distribution managers around him.
They were all thinking the same thing, they want this movie.
"Everybody, if you're ied. We have coffee ter."
Salvatore, Kazir's agent, suggested and they nodded with clear iion.
Minutes passed and the first shot was taken. After the sing, the man tacted Kazir and Salvatore.
It was a manager from New Line ema.
"t, your offer is sincere and I see that New Line ema wants to work with me again. Give me some time to think about it." Kazir said respectfully.
"I hope to hear good news from you, Mr. Grey."
After the success of Se7en, the people at New Line ema began to respect Kazir.
The two shook hands.
"What do you think?"
As his agent, Salvatore listeo their entire versation, but he didn't join in. He respected Kazir's decision. He just hoped he would choose the best offer.
"You heard it yourself. New Line ema wants to buy out the entire cht and worldwide distribution of Napoleon Dynamite for 2.3 million. That's not bad, but that's just the beginning. We say that 2.3 million is the starting point."
Salvatore nodded in agreement.
"Worldwide distribution? They are pretty fident, aren't they?"
Even Salvatore felt like New Line ema was belittling the movie.
"To be precise, they are too damn arrogant." Kazir muttered after the manager left.
The film had a produ cost of 500 thousand dolrs. But in just a few months it could be sold for 2.3 million. That was a huge increase.
Have you ever seen a 500,000 iment turn into 2 million so quickly? Probably not. Even iock market and cryptocurrency, that rarely happens.
In a way, making a movie is a great iment.
As long as the movie is profitable.
The first day passed. Kazir and Salvatore were tacted by four panies ied in the movie.
They were sitting at the bar, a high-end bar to be exact. The peaceful jazz musi the background soothe them.
"New Line ema wants to buy the overall chts for 2.3 million."
"Universal Pictures, 2.5 million for North Ameri distribution."
"Miramax, 1.5 million. But they promise a 5% reve of the North Ameri box office."
hat the box office was different from the revehe revenue was much less.
"As for Fox Searchlight Pictures, they also want to buy it for 2.5 million."
To be ho, the first day was better than they expected. At least four panies showed i in the film.
"So their bottom line is probably around 3 million. They are just testing the waters."
Salvatore o him swallowed a gss of tequi after listing eapany's offer.
It was a clear fact that these panies were profit-driven. They want to buy the movie as cheaply as possible.
'What? Do you think a 2.5 million deal for North Ameri distribution is too small for Napoleon Dynamite?'
Napoleon Dynamite only cost 500,000 to make, and it didn't have any strong actors in the cast. No sane pany would buy it for 5 to 10 million, that's not how business works. This is not a fairy tale.
"At least they will buy it for cash upfront. So how much do you want to sell it for?" Salvatore was curious to hear Kazir's thoughts.
"3 million plus 10% box office."
"Pfft--! Are you crazy!?"
Salvatore almost threw up his drink.
"3 million might be acceptable, but 10% box office is an impossible task."
"I know." Kazir shrugged. He had just said his best offer.
"But let's not fet that I have Se7en under my belt. There might be someone who agrees with me."
"Maybe. If you really want a box office share, why not go for Miramax? Their ditio yours even though it's only reve. Harvey Weinstein personally offered an amount, the founder of Miramax. That meaakes you seriously."
"Indeed..."
Kazir could not say that Harvey Weinstein had a very bad reputation in his past life. Kazir was not sure he could trust Harvey Weinstein.
'I heard that he likes to cheat fn directors. I'm not a fner, so it's hard to cheat a man like me who's in Hollywood.'
Kazir was fident in his film. He k would do well at the box office. But he wao get a much better deal than the 5% reve Miramax was .
Anyway, it was only the first day. Maybe he could wait for the day and hope someone would make a better offer.
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