Simon returned from Cannes, and the media discussion and controversy about "Pulp Fiction" winning the Palme d'Or became more and more noisy as the film approached its release, even overshadowing Ronald Reagan's upcoming state visit to the Soviet Union at the end of the month.
There was too much work accumulated during the two weeks he was away. Simon didn't have time to fully adjust to the time difference and quickly immersed himself in the busy company affairs.
In addition to "Pulp Fiction", "Basic Instinct", which is scheduled to be released on July 15, has entered the final editing stage since it started filming in February. As an investor, screenwriter and the person who is most familiar with the selling points of this project, Simon naturally wants to participate.
Fox Pictures, which is responsible for the distribution of "Basic Instinct", has already released the film's first TV trailer while Simon was attending the Cannes Film Festival. The film will be submitted to the MPAA for rating in early June.
During this time, Dustin Hoffman made some impromptu changes to the script of "Rain Man". The filming period of the film was inevitably extended again, and it is not expected to be completed until the end of June.
When Simon heard the news in Cannes, he could only hope that the project would not exceed a production budget of 25 million US dollars. He also realized that Tom Cruise's own team of writers would make all films starring him, no matter how good or bad the ending was. Where do the bad things about 'Tom Cruise movies' come from.
In addition to "Rain Man", projects such as "Scream", "Steel Magnolias" and "Dead Poets Society" are progressing much smoothly. The selection of the male lead of "Batman" has entered the third round, and Simon has also begun Get involved yourself.
After attending numerous project demos, production meetings and casting auditions, Simon flew to New York again on May 30 to participate in NBC's "The Johnny Carson Tonight Show" to promote "Pulp Fiction" During the recording, Amy Pascal also rushed to the East Coast with Simon because of several reality shows.
At the same time, competition for summer slots has begun to intensify.
Due to the weak reputation and box office of the special effects blockbuster "The Gathering" jointly produced by Lucasfilm and MGM, Paramount and Samsung unanimously chose to advance the release date of "Crocodile Dundee 2" and "Rambo 3" Available until Wednesday, May 25th.
As the runner-up sequel to "Top Gun" at the box office in 1986, "Crocodile Dundee 2" was finally released on 2,837 screens. "Rambo 3" starring Sylvester Stallone also opened on 2,562 screens.
During the week from May 20 to May 26, the seven-day cumulative box office of "The Gathering" was US$11.05 million, ranking first in the weekly box office rankings.
"Crocodile Dundee 2" ranked second, with box office figures reaching US$4.75 million in its first two days.
"Rambo 3" ranked third on the list, with a two-day box office of US$4.46 million.
It is worth mentioning that the production budget of "First Blood 3" completely reached an out-of-control level of US$63 million. In comparison, the production cost of "Crocodile Dundee 2", which had a box office of US$174 million in North America only two years ago, was still well controlled at US$14 million.
Moreover, this summer is followed by another movie with a seriously out-of-control budget, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit."
Disney originally prepared a budget of US$45 million for "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", which was a rare large-scale production level in the 1980s, but Robert Zemeckis ultimately pushed the production cost of this project to US$70 million. Dollar.
Now Disney simply cannot afford the failure of a project with a budget of $70 million. Although Simon knows that the final box office data of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" is very good, during this time, internally at Disney, this project has become a popular choice. In panic, several people in charge publicly or secretly revealed themselves in advance to shirk their responsibilities.
Let’s not mention the release date of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” on June 24th.
Squeezed by three new films, "When Harry Met Sally", which has always had a very bright box office curve, saw its box office decline reach 33% this week, far exceeding the single-week decline of only 120% since its release.
In its 11th week of release, "When Harry Met Sally" collected another US$4.11 million, bringing its cumulative box office to US$94.23 million, one step closer to breaking 100 million.
While arriving in New York to tape "The Johnny Carson Tonight Show," Simon also had to take care of the Westeros business.
Jennifer's father, James Raybould, has already settled the loan matter during this time, Westeros' investment in Cisco and other companies, as well as some important matters of the many technology companies in which the company has stakes, and many related contract documents and memorandums Simon needs to discuss with James Raybould in person to review and sign.
The other side.
Negotiations between Amy and the network continue.
The four major TV networks have all expressed interest in the four reality show plans proposed by Daenerys Films. However, because Daenerys Films wants to gain the initiative as much as possible so that it can share more profits later, things are not progressing. It was so smooth.
Television networks generally classify these reality shows as traditional variety shows. This type of program is usually created by industry production companies or producers, and the television network buys the ideas and personally invests in them and owns the copyright. Even if it is outsourced, the production company responsible for the program often only earns simple labor fees. If the program has higher ratings, it may receive an additional bonus, and that's it.
Simon would not accept this condition under any circumstances.
Phenomenal reality shows such as "Who Will Be a Millionaire" and "Survivor" were enough to support the ratings of a TV network in the original time and space. In my memory, the annual advertising revenue alone can bring hundreds of millions of dollars to the TV network. Profits, the boosting effect of the program on the ratings of the entire TV network is even more immeasurable.
Moreover, once this kind of reality show is successful, the overseas production licensing fees will also be a very considerable income in the future. Just like "Who Will Be a Millionaire", this reality show had remakes in dozens of countries around the world at its peak, all of which had to pay royalties.
If the copyright is handed over to the TV network, the profits that Daenerys Pictures can share in the future will definitely shrink significantly, and the overseas licensing fees that can continue to bring income will have nothing to do with the company.
Upper East Side, Raybould's apartment.
It’s already June 1st. Last night, “The Johnny Carson Tonight Show” aired a special interview with the creator of “Pulp Fiction”, and the film is one step closer to being released. All pre-publicity and marketing work has been completed, and the next step is to see the market performance of the film.
Tonight is a dinner invitation from the Raybould family. In addition to Simon and Amy, the Raybould family's friends Robert Egger and his wife also came together.
After a period of tug-of-war, Daenerys Pictures finally reached its first contract with ABC yesterday for "Who Will Be a Millionaire".
ABC Television Network will acquire the North American rights to "Who Will Be a Millionaire", while Daenerys Films retains the rights outside North America and is solely responsible for the production of the show. According to the terms of the contract, ABC Television Network cannot get rid of Daenerys Films to produce this program alone. At the same time, Daenerys Films cannot transfer this program to other television networks in the United States.
It can be said that this is a contract that neither party can kick out.
In addition, the project production budget and competition bonuses are borne by Daenerys Films, and ABC pays the program subscription fee for each season based on ratings. Daenerys Films will next pre-produce a one-week pilot to test the program's effect, and determine that it will be broadcast the following week starting on June 20.
If the show meets the ratings standards, the two parties will negotiate the subscription price for the first season.
This year's autumn schedule has been severely affected by the writers' strike. Once the pilot of "Who Will Be a Millionaire" is passed, ABC plans to order 69 episodes of the program at one time and broadcast 3 episodes per week, which will exactly fill the 23 hours of the TV network's traditional autumn to spring period. Weekly schedule.
As an indoor quiz-type reality show, the production budget for each episode of "Who Will Be a Millionaire" is actually not high. Basic venue recording and other expenses only cost about US$200,000, and the bonus of US$1 million is not that good either. The average total bonus payout of US$100,000 per period is more than enough.
However, even if calculated based on the expenditure of US$300,000 per issue, the cumulative production cost of the entire season of 69 episodes will exceed US$20 million, which is obviously a considerable expense.
The break-even line given by ABC is 10 million viewers in the fall season.
The audience size is less than 10 million, and the subscription price of the programs that ABC can provide will also be less than 20 million US dollars. Within the viewing range that the television network can tolerate, if Daenerys Pictures wants to retain this program, it can only rely on self-raised in-program sponsorship fees to make up for the production budget.
In this era when cable television has not yet become popular, although the threshold of 10 million viewers is not low, it is definitely not high. This also shows that ABC does not have high expectations for "Who Will Be a Millionaire".
In addition, because the pilot time is the most unpopular summer season for TV networks, ABC's standard for the number of viewers of the pilot episode is 6.5 million.
In the restaurant, everyone was enjoying the food and naturally discussing these reality shows.
Robert Iger happened to be placed opposite Simon, and after chatting about "Who Will Be a Millionaire", the ABC executive turned the topic to "Survivor": "Simon, actually I think "Survivor" More interesting than "Who Will Be a Millionaire". However, this show is too risky. Because of the continuity of the plot, it must be produced for one season at a time. It cannot arrange a pilot episode, and it cannot be immediately released if the ratings are not good. Cut off. Therefore, I think it is best to arrange it to be broadcast in the summer schedule. In this way, if it succeeds, it can be moved to the autumn schedule, and if it fails, it will not have much impact on the TV network."
Simon nodded in approval, then shook his head and said: "Unfortunately, Bob, although we have done a lot of preliminary preparations, we are definitely too late in time."
Many popular reality shows in my memory were actually first put on the summer schedule for trial broadcasts, and only after success were they re-adjusted to the popular schedule. The ease with which Robert Iger could see this, before the rise of reality TV, undoubtedly shows the network executive's keen professional acumen.
"Actually, now is an opportunity. Everyone has no programs to broadcast this year, so we can only take some risks." Robert Iger continued with a smile: "So, Simon, if you can make some concessions on the terms of cooperation, , I can call Daniel right now to finalize this.”
Now that "Who Will Be a Millionaire" has been signed, Simon is no longer so eager for the other three reality shows. As long as the pilot episode next month can be successful, there will naturally be no shortage of buyers for these projects, and Daenerys Pictures will also be able to gain more initiative.
Of course, if it fails, there's nothing you can do about it.
"Bob, the conditions for cooperation on "Survivor" that I can accept are similar to those on "Who Will Be a Millionaire?" This is a win-win cooperation plan. I don't think I have room to compromise," Simon shook his head and refused. Then he said, "Speaking of which, Bob, if Daenerys Pictures' TV business develops well, would you be willing to jump ship and help me?"
Simon had only done some testing through James Raybould before, but now he proposed it in front of everyone, and everyone in the restaurant looked at Robert Egger.
Robert Egger was also a little surprised, but he quickly said: "Simon, if there is a better career development platform, I would be happy to change my job. But I can't see this kind of situation in Daenerys Films yet." potential."
Simon smiled and said, "Can I take this as a promise?"
"You are a very amazing young man, and I am also curious about what will happen when I work for you. So, why not," Robert Egger shrugged, and in the eyes of everyone's surprise, he asked Simon again: "I remember Did you try to acquire New World Entertainment at the beginning of the year?"
Unexpectedly, he received an answer from Robert Egger. Simon did not hide the matter and said: "Yes, I still have not given up this effort."
"New World Entertainment is still very strong in the field of television program production," Robert Iger commented: "It's a pity that the pace of expansion is too large, and they have encountered stock market crashes and strikes one after another. They are destined to be unable to escape this disaster."
Simon nodded, looked at James Raybould, and asked: "Jim, what is the recent stock price of New World Entertainment?"
James Raybould thought for a moment and said: "It's unclear in the past few days. The closing price last Friday was 8.5 US dollars, and the total market value was about 210 million US dollars."
When trying to acquire New World Entertainment at the beginning of the year, the company's stock price once soared to nearly $17. Later, Simon made a gesture of giving up completely. Coupled with financial deterioration and strikes, New World Entertainment's stock price has declined in recent months. It fell back to a low state.
After James Raybould finished speaking, he glanced at Simon meaningfully.
During this period, according to Simon's instructions, Westeros Company secretly bought another 1.23 million shares of New World Entertainment stock, still stuck below the public reporting line of 5% shareholding ratio. Westeros Corporation can continue to draw heavily from the open market as long as it needs to.
There is no need to be as frank as Robert Iger on this point.
Robert Iger didn't seem to think too much, but said: "Simon, if you want to get New World Entertainment, maybe you can get in touch with General Electric."
Before Simon could react, James Raybould subconsciously said as if he suddenly woke up: "What a great idea, I should have thought of it a long time ago."
Everyone looked at James Raybould in confusion.
Realizing his gaffe, James Raybould smiled awkwardly and said to Simon: "General Electric is the main creditor of New World Entertainment. Simon, this company is now insolvent. If we make a public acquisition, it will be insolvent in the future." We will definitely have to bear a huge debt that is almost equivalent to the market value of New World Entertainment. However, if we can buy out the debt in the hands of General Electric and then put pressure on New World Entertainment to conduct a debt-for-equity swap. Based on the scale of the debt in the hands of General Electric, we You can get at least 90% of New World Entertainment stocks and save half of the fees.”
After listening to James Raybould's explanation, Simon quickly understood.
Of course, if this is done, retail investors in the circulation market, and even the Westeros Company itself, which secretly holds shares, will undoubtedly become the biggest victims. A 90% debt-to-equity swap ratio means that the stock in the hands of the original shareholder has directly depreciated to one-tenth of the original stock price.
but.
If New World Entertainment ends up in bankruptcy and liquidation, the shares held by shareholders will also become worthless. Investments are all risky, but Simon did not sacrifice my dedication to help thousands of families, and he quickly made up his mind.
After dinner, it was already ten o'clock in the evening when they left Raybould's house. Simon and Raybould agreed to go to the company to discuss New World Entertainment in detail tomorrow morning and took the initiative to open the car door and let Amy Pascal into the car.
Simon was returning to his apartment on Lexington Avenue in Midtown and took Amy back to her hotel.
Neil Bennett in the front row started the car, Simon and Amy were chatting casually, and suddenly remembered something, and said: "Amy, starting from tomorrow, stop negotiating with NBC about our reality shows. "
Amy Pascal was a little confused: "Huh?"
Simon thought for a moment and said: "Stop it all, not just NBC, but also other companies. You can go back to Los Angeles tomorrow."
Amy Pascal felt that she understood something, but she failed to completely sort out the joints. However, she gradually got used to not asking the details of Simon's decision, and just said: "Where are the preparations?"
Simon said: "Of course we still have to continue this."
According to the current shaky state of New World Entertainment, Westeros' purchase of General Electric's debt can definitely help the other party avoid a large loss. However, compared to a behemoth like General Electric, Simon's strength is still too weak. Who knows whether General Electric will have other ideas.
"Who Will Be a Millionaire" will be piloted next month. If this reality show can be as successful as the original space and time, the other three reality show projects in the hands of Daenerys Films will also become Simon's bargaining chip.
General Electric is the parent company of NBC Television Network. The original intention of this aircraft carrier-level corporate giant to invest in New World Entertainment was to provide NBC with more content resources. At that time, Simon can completely rely on the reality show project that has the potential to be a hit in exchange for GE's cooperation with Westeros' debt-for-equity swap plan.
After sending Amy to the hotel, Simon rushed back to the penthouse on Lexington Avenue.
Opening the door, the living room was quiet, but the lights were on.
Simon took off his shoes and walked through the hallway. Catherine was sitting on the sofa facing the door. She was wearing a slim-fitting light blue wide plaid shirt and crisp white casual pants, and was looking down at a magazine.
She quietly turned behind the woman, and it wasn't until Simon leaned down that Catherine noticed that he was back. She shyly turned her head slightly and let the man kiss her on the cheek, then rubbed her neck, and then whispered: "Drinking? "
Simon sniffed the woman's delicious fragrance and said, "It's just some red wine."
Catherine felt Simon's two hands coming from behind. She dropped the magazine in her hand and reached out to hold him down. There was a slight tremor in her tone: "I, I just made coffee."
Simon just responded: "Yeah."
Those two hands were still doing mischief. They seemed to be very interested in the buttons of her shirt, and even pulled one off. Damn it, here are the newly bought clothes. I had known for a long time that I couldn't stop this strong little bastard. As expected, I couldn't, but I still continued to show my attitude.
I was reluctant.
After letting him fiddle with her helplessly for a moment, she felt her body being hugged... well, carried like a robber, and then she hammered him a few times in dissatisfaction.
little bastard.
How could this be