Los Angeles.
Daenerys Entertainment in Burbank.
The time is December 1st, Friday.
"The Gucci Mark" grossed US$9.55 million in its first week with 532 screens. The box office performance of this documentary, which was originally only for publicity purposes and not for profit, far exceeded everyone's expectations. Ella Deutschman started immediately Preparations are being made to increase the number of screening screens for this documentary.
However, Gucci has made a decision that is difficult for him to accept. The North American screening of "The Gucci Mark" will always maintain a scale of 532 screens, and no screen will be added.
"The Gucci Mark" earned US$9.55 million in its first week with only 532 screens. Word-of-mouth and popularity are also rising. If the number of screens is gradually expanded to about 1,000, the total North American box office of this documentary can easily exceed 50 million. Dollar.
Now, if it only maintains a screening scale of 532 screens, the total North American box office of "The Gucci Mark" is likely to be only US$40 million, a box office gap of at least US$10 million between the two.
In comparison, because the preliminary work has been completed and the additional 500 screens have been added, Gaomen Pictures only needs to pay US$500,000 in copying and transportation costs.
"Ella, this is actually a decision made by Mr. Westeros himself."
In Ella Deutschman's office, Angela Ahrendts, the president of Gucci USA, who personally came to Los Angeles to discuss the follow-up promotion of "The Gucci Mark" with Gomen Pictures, faced Ella Deutschman again. The doubts expressed were explained in this way.
When Ella Deutschman heard that Simon had decided not to increase the number of screens for "The Gucci Mark", she immediately gave up the idea of persuading Gucci to change its mind.
Before officially signing the employment agreement, Ella Deutschman and Simon had an in-depth face-to-face meeting. Simon told him clearly that although his salary agreement included a 5% net profit sharing clause of Gaomen Pictures, Gaomen The operation of the film industry must still obey the interests of Daenerys Entertainment as a whole, and the collaborative cooperation mechanism within the company will not change.
The same goes for other companies throughout Westeros.
Ella Deutschman's salary package includes a 5% share of Gomen Pictures' net profit. However, due to Simon's request, he is destined to not be able to put Gomen Pictures' interests first in everything, let alone It is possible to turn Gaomen Pictures into its own private domain.
Ella Deutschman was initially squeezed out of New Pictures by several partners. Now, his power and salary in Hollywood are beyond the reach of those previous partners. He is very satisfied with this, so he does not resist. Simon's decision.
He didn't dare to resist.
Working here in Burbank, Ella Deutschman could feel how difficult Robert Rem's life was during this period.
Although he failed to change jobs, Simon did not kick him out of the company and paid for the purchase of a Manhattan property for him.
However, Rem, who was originally the third most powerful person in Daenerys Entertainment after Simon and Pascal, has now had his power divided into three, and Pascal has also apparently begun to interfere in the company's distribution matters.
It is conceivable that as long as Pascal completes the takeover of the company's distribution network, Rem will be completely marginalized and can be kicked out at any time.
What makes Rem even more uncomfortable is that with Daenerys Entertainment's current influence in Hollywood, if Simon doesn't let go, he will have nowhere to go. Rehm is already in his fifties this year. He has left Hollywood and it is impossible for him to change his career to other jobs.
Therefore, knowing that he is being marginalized, Robert Rehm not only cannot resist, but must also complete his job conscientiously to avoid being fired early.
After completing the three-year term in the contract, the two parties broke up amicably. Rem can continue to find other jobs. If he is kicked out of the company early, there will be no place for him in Hollywood today.
Ella Deutschman didn't want to end up in Rem's situation.
However, Ella Deutschman still didn't understand Simon's decision and asked Ahrendts: "Angie, I understand that Gucci has no intention of making a profit in producing "The Gucci Seal", but as a brand promotion documentary, shouldn't we Shouldn’t more people see it?”
"Ella, Gucci is a luxury goods company, which means that our company's products are not intended for the general public. If "The Gucci Seal" does not sell well, we will definitely hope that more potential consumers will see this documentary. Now , we hope to create a state where everyone knows this documentary but not everyone can see it, so that Gucci can distance itself from the public and maintain its own brand style." Angela Ahrendts said , handed a follow-up marketing plan to Deutschman, and said: "So, Gucci plans to increase the publicity budget by 3 million US dollars to expand the popularity of "Gucci Seal" as much as possible."
Ella Deutschman took the information and did some simple mental calculations in her mind.
If the number of screens is not increased, based on the North American box office of "The Gucci Mark" of US$40 million, excluding all costs, Gucci's profit from the box office in the future will be approximately US$3 million.
Gucci obviously intends to invest all the proceeds generated from this documentary into brand promotion.
Thinking of this, Ella Deutschman inevitably asked curiously: "Angie, can I ask how Gucci's revenue is during this period?"
Angela Ahrendts smiled and nodded, saying: "I don't know much about overseas. In the United States, Gucci's sales last week were US$8.03 million, an increase of 51% compared to the previous week. This week should be able to Breaking through $10 million.”
When Ella Deutschman heard this, she immediately understood why Gucci was willing to give up the box office profits of "Imprint of Gucci".
The profit margin of luxury goods is very high, but for Gucci in the United States, the gross profit generated by one week's sales is probably more than the money Gucci can earn from the box office of this documentary.
As the president of Gucci’s U.S. branch, Angela Ahrendts can directly appreciate the boosting effect of the “Gucci Seal” on Gucci product sales.
The end of the year is the peak sales season. Without "Gucci Seal", weekly sales in North America would basically remain at around US$5 million, which is enough for Gucci's US branch to exceed this year's sales target of US$150 million.
Now, affected by the release of "Imprint of Gucci", sales in Gucci stores have increased significantly.
The U.S. branch originally expected sales in December to be between 20 million and 25 million U.S. dollars, but now it is expected to reach 40 million, which not only far exceeds expectations, but also pushes the total sales of Gucci U.S. branch this year to 1.7 One hundred million U.S. dollars.
Because of the rapid improvement of Gucci's performance, many media have recently discussed that the Gucci family made a huge loss in business at the beginning of this year.
Based on Daenerys Entertainment’s US$170 million purchase of 63% of Gucci’s equity, the company’s valuation at that time was only US$270 million. In less than a year, many media believe that the value of Gucci has soared to 1 billion US dollars.
After talking about this, Ahrendts and Deutschman began to discuss the follow-up promotion of "Gucci Seal".
More than half an hour later, after the matter was discussed, Ahrendts was saying goodbye to Deutschman outside the office. Madonna, who was wearing a black short trench coat and black boots today and looked quite queenly, turned around from the stairs.
Angela Ahrendts naturally knew Madonna. After the two greeted each other with a warm hug, Madonna said: "I also said I would call you tonight, Angie, about the black metal buckle handbag that was just launched recently. , can you help me find one? It’s out of stock here in Los Angeles. I asked someone to buy it in New York, but the store there said they didn’t have it. It’s really bad.”
Angela Ahrendts explained: "This is a limited edition based on the recent documentary. There are only 100 pieces in total. The specialty stores here in North America put 30 pieces in, and they were gone last weekend. However, I can let people start from Europe will bring one to you.”
"Thank you, Angie, you're so kind," Madonna held Ahrendts' arm and asked, "But since it's so easy to sell, why don't you produce more?"
Angela Ahrendts smiled and said: "If it is produced in large quantities, it is no longer called a limited edition. These 100 handbags are all numbered. There are only 100 in the world. No one is more, and no one is less."
Of course Madonna didn't know what a limited edition was, she just made a casual joke.
The two agreed, and Angela Ahrendts said goodbye and left without mentioning money from beginning to end.
The handbag requested by Madonna is priced at $2,999, which is already 10 times the price of some basic Gucci handbags.
Gucci cannot compare with the 'King of Handbags' Hermès in the field of handbags. In the past, the price of high-end handbags was around US$1,000. This handbag priced at US$2,999 can be described as a very cautious attempt by Gucci to hit the higher end, so it only 100 units produced.
In order to avoid embarrassing situations such as slow sales, 100 handbags will also be sold in various markets in North America, Europe and Asia.
The results of the attempt were apparently very good.
The 30 handbags launched in North American specialty stores were actually sold out quickly last Saturday morning. Now nearly a week has passed, and celebrities like Madonna still remember it, which shows that this handbag has also been very successful in publicity.
Gucci has previously given this limited edition handbag to several actresses who work very closely with Daenerys Entertainment for street photography and promotion. Although Madonna attended the last Gucci show, she was not here. List.
However, Madonna took the initiative to ask for it, and Angela Ahrendts did not hesitate at all. Gifting the handbag to the singer will definitely be of great benefit to the Gucci brand promotion.
Madonna certainly doesn't show up in Burbank for no reason.
Angela Ahrendts left, and Ella Deutschman came to the office with Madonna to sit down.
"Maggie, regarding your concert documentary next year, Gaomen Pictures can take over the project. However, the advance payment of US$2 million plus 40% of the profit share you offered, unfortunately, I cannot agree to it. "
Madonna last spoke to Simone in Milan about making a documentary about her world tour next year.
Simon's performance was lukewarm, but Madonna kept it in mind.
After the success of "Imprint of Gucci" last week, Madonna had her agent hold preliminary discussions with Ella Deutschman. She is a very shrewd woman, and she understands that after the success of "The Gucci Mark", Daenerys Entertainment will definitely not mind taking on another similar documentary.
Moreover, because of "The Gucci Mark", it is certainly easy for Hollywood to attract investment for this type of documentary, but because of a young man who has continuously created miracles, Madonna firmly believes that she should cooperate with Daenerys Entertainment.
"Ella, "Imprint of Gucci" should be able to recover US$50 million from the box office alone, and this is only in North America. I believe that my concert documentary also does not lack this potential, so the advance payment of US$2 million plus 40% The profit share is very reasonable.”
Ella Deutschman shook her head and said: "Music documentaries and fashion documentaries are different. You must know that Michael Jackson's "Shadow Dancer" four years ago, MGM arranged 906 yuan for that documentary It opened to the screen with high hopes. But in the end it only took in $4.21 million at the box office."
Madonna looked at Deutschman and smiled: "Ella, MGM is in decline. It's hard for them to do anything well. Everyone knows this."
"Okay, Maggie, let me directly tell you the cooperation conditions that Highgate Pictures can accept," Ella Deutschman stopped talking too much nonsense with Madonna and said: "The budget of this documentary is preliminary. Calculated based on US$3 million. We have two options. One is the cooperation model between Gaomen Pictures and Gucci. Gucci participated in half of the investment in "The Gucci Mark" and advanced the publicity expenses, so it enjoys a corresponding share. Gaomen The film industry takes a 15% distribution commission from the revenue from each channel."
Madonna also knows that Gucci does not expect to make money when producing "Gucci Seal", but only to promote the brand, so she spares no effort to invest in it. She has seen the cost figures of "Gucci Seal" in some recent newspapers. With a total production and publicity budget of US$10 million, Gucci spent US$7.5 million. She was not willing to take this risk.
"What about the second one?"
"The second is the advance payment plus profit sharing model you proposed. Daenerys Entertainment bears all production and publicity costs. However, I can only give you an advance payment of US$500,000 plus a 20% profit sharing."
Madonna's original offer of $2 million in advance was roughly equivalent to buying out the rights to the documentary. Ella Deutschman reduced the advance payment to $500,000 at this time, which is equivalent to Madonna's current salary level.
After thinking for a moment, Madonna said: "1 million US dollars, 30% profit share."
Ella Deutschman shook her head and said: "20% at most."
Madonna seized on Deutschman's words and said, "Okay, $1 million, 20% profit share."
"Maggie, what I mean is 500,000 US dollars plus 20% profit sharing. You have to understand that if you don't choose the first option, Gaomen Pictures will bear all investment risks."
Madonna insisted: "One million US dollars plus 20% profit sharing, this is my bottom line. Ella, if you don't agree, I will find other film companies to cooperate."
Ella Deutschman had a troubled expression on her face. After hesitating for a moment, she reluctantly stood up and stretched out her hand to Madonna, saying, "Okay, Maggie, let's make a deal."
Madonna stood up and shook hands with Deutschmann. After sitting down, she felt that if she had persisted just a little longer, she should have gotten more.
It seems that Ella Deutschman shouldn't be so easy to talk to. Everyone in the circle knows that he likes to give people ultimatums. If it works, it will work, and if it doesn't work, forget it.
this time…
Suddenly the figure of a certain guy came to mind, and Madonna immediately regretted it even more.
Sure enough, I should hold on a little longer.
However, although she regretted it, Madonna did not go back on her word. An advance payment of US$1 million plus a 20% profit share should be the final plan acceptable to Gaomen Pictures.
If you think about it carefully, Madonna doesn't have high expectations for the box office level of "Image of Gucci". After all, she has the failure of "Shadow Dancer" before her. But as long as the North American box office of this documentary can reach 10 to 20 million US dollars, she will be able to reach a total of 10 to 20 million US dollars in the future. She can earn millions of dollars, which is a lot of money for her.
Moreover, although it is not an extravagant hope, who dares to say that it is impossible.
The team predicts that her concert box office revenue next year should exceed US$50 million, and she will personally receive 40%, which is US$20 million.
If the concert documentary under the management of Simon Westeros can really do as well as "The Gucci Mark" at the box office, just 20% of the omni-channel income of this documentary can catch up with the income brought to her by the concert itself.
This is also the fundamental reason why Madonna did not choose other Hollywood studios that could give her more advance payments.
Although shrewd, Madonna does not lack the adventurous spirit that she should have.