This year's Sundance Film Festival opens on January 15th.
Robert Redford personally called Simon to invite Simon to attend the opening ceremony of the film festival. That day happened to be a Friday, and he planned to take Janet to Park City for the weekend.
The Westeros system is too huge. If Simon wants to work now, there will always be endless things to do. Therefore, although I will arrange as much work schedule as possible on weekdays, I will no longer fully devote myself to it, but reserve enough rest time.
The opening ceremony will be held at one o'clock on Friday afternoon as usual at the Egyptian Theater in Park City.
But Sundance is a different place than it was when Simon first appeared in Park City.
In the past six years, the Sundance Film Festival has successively produced "Run Lola Run", "Sex, Lies and Videotape", "Some Girls", "Metropolis", "Reservoir Dogs" and other films that were either well-received or well-received. , even the original super-grossing classic romance film "Pretty Woman" had its original script coming from Sundance. At the same time, the film festival has also cultivated a large number of emerging filmmakers, including Simon.
All of these have increased the attention of the Sundance Film Festival and thus formed a virtuous cycle, attracting more and more filmmakers to participate.
Simon and Janet arrived at the Egyptian Theater ten minutes early. Compared with the deserted time when "Run Lola Run" was exhibited in the memory, the outside of the Egyptian Theater this time seemed bustling. Although there is still no red carpet, it does not prevent media reporters and a large number of movie fans from gathering.
After passing through the crowd surrounded by screaming media and fans, as soon as he entered the theater, he was greeted by Robert Redford in person, and there was also Robert Redford who also came to attend the film festival.
When he called to invite, Redford had no expectations at all.
Simon's identity is no longer what it used to be. Even if the Sundance Film Festival develops equally rapidly, it will be difficult to gain much confidence in front of this young man.
Unexpectedly, Simon agreed.
Naturally overjoyed.
With Simon's current status, just showing up in Park City, even if he does nothing, can bring about a very powerful advertising effect. This not only means that the style of Sundance will be greatly improved, but the film festival wants to promote Many things will become easier.
After all, Westeros has already appeared, what else is impossible
After everyone briefly hugged and greeted each other, they temporarily went backstage.
Then came another series of greetings and pleasantries.
Robert De Niro appeared this time mainly because he starred in a film that will serve as the opening film of this film festival, the film is called "A Boy's Life".
This is a biographical drama that tells a series of stories about a mother and son who depend on each other and move to Seattle.
Simon, who plays 'boy' Toby in the film, is also very familiar to Leonardo DiCaprio. The actress who plays the boy's mother is Ellen Barkin, whom Simon also knows. Highgate Pictures also bought the rights to "In the Name of the Father" from Barkin's husband, Gabriel Byrne, last year.
The opening ceremony began soon.
Everyone entered the screening hall and took their seats, and Redford personally hosted the show as usual.
Simon has already seen relevant information about this year's Sundance Film Festival in advance.
Among the participating films this year, there are two films belonging to Gaomen Pictures.
One is a self-invested and produced film by Gomen Pictures called "Youth on Fire". The film stars Tim Roth, Phoebe Cates, Bridget Fonda and other stars, and tells the story of several young people in a small town in Arizona. of love, desire, promises and life.
The production cost of "Youth on Fire" was US$2.5 million, and it was not considered a key project of Gomen Pictures in 1993.
Simon has seen the finished film, which is neither bad nor excellent, but fits the atmosphere of Sundance very well.
Of course, the possibility of winning a prize is not too great.
Because there are several other really good movies this year.
The other one is called "The Elegy of a Killer".
This is a work completed by Robert Rodriguez, a new Mexican director, who raised $7,000 on his own.
Because of the close cooperative relationship between Daenerys Entertainment and Highgate Pictures, the film was noticed by the Highgate Pictures team as soon as it was submitted for selection and was purchased in advance for US$100,000. Not only that, Daenerys Entertainment also signed Rodriguez ahead of schedule for her next movie.
In addition to the two films under Daenerys Entertainment, Simon is also paying attention to "Beauty in the Box" and another newcomer director Bryan Singer's debut feature film "Media".
"Beauty in the Box" starring Julian Sanders and Sherilyn Fenn tells the story of a surgeon who amputates the limbs of a woman he is obsessed with and keeps her in a box.
As for "Media", I remember it as the winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance this year.
Simon actually noticed in advance that this film was produced by an independent film company, but did not instruct Gaomen Pictures to buy the rights.
Mainly not interested in Bryan Singer.
It’s not because of Bryan Singer’s private affairs. There are countless people in the circle who are worse than him.
At the end of the day, Hollywood is very much a hunting ground, with a cruel food chain from the top down. If you can't climb up the food chain to become a hunter, and you don't want to leave the circle, you can only accept your fate.
Simon just didn't like that Bryan Singer had too many personal preferences mixed into the films he was responsible for.
For example, in the "X-Men" series, not to mention the starring roles, the supporting roles in the film are full of elusive and beautiful young men, who are simply overflowing with gayness.
Since there were no other arrangements, Simon did not leave after the opening ceremony and continued to stay at the Egyptian Theater to watch the opening film.
We left the Egyptian Theater in the evening, had dinner with Redford and others, and then rushed to the opening party of the Sundance Institute at the foot of the ski resort on the west side of Park City.
"Regarding "The Lie", Simon, this time it is really a pity. Of course, I would prefer to do it with Daenerys. However, Michael is leading and responsible for the project, and you also know his relationship with Eisner."
At the crowded party scene, Redford and Simon talked about his next movie, with a slightly apologetic tone.
"Lies Behind the Scenes" is adapted from a TV competition scandal in the 1950s when the television industry was just emerging. It tells the story of a producer of a quiz video game who, in order to gain ratings, did not hesitate to cheat and reveal the answers to the contestants in advance.
Robert Redford collaborated with Daenerys Entertainment on two films last year, "The Deal" and "River Down."
Needless to say, the two movies, "The Deal", were huge hits. "Da River" was released in September last year and eventually made more than 40 million US dollars at the box office, which also brought good profits to Daenerys Entertainment. , and also initially made the new Superman actor Brad Pitt famous.
Redford's management contract has been with CAA over the years, and the success of two consecutive works has made Redford's next work "The Lie" also highly sought after.
After news of the project came to light, Daenerys Entertainment immediately expressed interest.
Then, of course, other studios weren't outdone.
After some competition, "The Lie" was eventually won by Disney due to the personal relationship between CAA president Michael Ovitz and Disney head Michael Eisner, as well as the price.
The film has also started filming recently and is expected to be released on a popular schedule at the end of the year.
Speaking of which, movies are all business after all.
If Daenerys Entertainment is willing to increase the price, it is not impossible to get this project.
However, Simon actually had no interest in this movie that was doomed to failure in memory from the beginning, and deliberately showing interest was just a strategy.
In the final quotation stage, Simon personally stopped the possibility of increasing the price.
Although Disney grabbed the film, due to everyone's competition, the production cost of the film increased from the initial US$30 million to US$40 million.
The production cost is US$40 million. Considering the promotion and distribution, the film must achieve at least a box office equivalent to the production budget in the North American market to ensure that all investments can be recovered across all channels.
In Simon's fragmentary memory, the box office of "The Lie" was only about 20 million US dollars.
Now that the project is in the hands of Disney, the studio will not only lose money, but also bear the loss of its popular year-end schedule.
This is actually something Simon is promoting intentionally or unintentionally.
Simon had never forgotten the idea of suppressing Disney step by step.
This time, "Lies Behind the Scenes" is just a chess piece dropped randomly.
Of course, on the surface, Simon would not show any flaws, and he also showed a regretful expression on his face, saying: ""Lies Behind the Scenes" is a very exciting project, and I also feel it is a pity. However, there will definitely be opportunities for us to cooperate in the future. .”
The two parties chatted for a while, then Redford left to socialize with others, and Simon walked over to De Niro, wanting to talk to him about another project.
Janet held Simon's arm, and when Redford walked away, she said with a smile: "You are actually not optimistic about that project, are you?"
Simon nodded: "Yeah, a trap for Disney."
"Did Eisner mess with you?"
"No," Simon said, greeting Denzel Washington who came over, and then continued in a low voice: "If Daenerys wants to continue to expand, she can only squeeze as much as possible from other studios. There’s room for survival.”
In the past year, films produced by Daenerys Entertainment accounted for close to 40% of the box office share in the North American market. For the film industry, this is definitely a ceiling level.
Hollywood still has seven major studios coexisting, and has been strongly impacted by Daenerys Entertainment. In the past year, the average market share of the other six major studios was less than 10%.
For example, Columbia Pictures, a subsidiary of Sony, had the best box office performance last year: Coppola's "400". As of December 31, 1992, the box office was just over 80 million U.S. dollars, and 15 films were released throughout the year. With the exception of "400 Years of Mystery," the box office of all other films was less than $50 million. The overall box office of all 15 films was only $330 million, accounting for only a pitiful 6.1% of North America's annual box office share of $5.36 billion.
After the annual box office statistics were released, news once again spread in the media that Sony planned to withdraw from Hollywood.
There is also Paramount. Last year's top-grossing film "Patriot Games" was released in the summer. The final box office was also only 83.35 million U.S. dollars. It released 16 movies throughout the year. In addition to "Patriot Games" and the box office of more than 80 million U.S. dollars. The Eddie Murphy comedy "Boomerang" made more than 70 million US dollars, and other projects were tepid. The total box office for the year was 310 million US dollars, with a market share of 5.7%, which was even more bleak than Columbia Pictures.
Except for Columbia and Paramount, which are at the bottom of the seven major companies, the other four companies are in better situations, but they are incomparable to the strength of Daenerys Entertainment.
Outside of the top seven, due to Daenerys Entertainment's involvement in niche areas such as horror films and literary films, other second- and third-tier film companies such as New Line and Orion only hold an overall market share of 11%, among which are the blockbusters. There is no video at all.
It is obvious that the seven major competitors in Hollywood have been squeezed to a certain limit by Daenerys Entertainment.
In this case, if Daenerys Entertainment wants to continue to expand, it can only take measures to completely eliminate its competitors.
It is certainly impossible to 'eliminate' big studios like Disney in the short term, but some measures can be taken to make these film companies even weaker.
Simon's short-term goal is actually to clear out as many second- and third-tier film companies in Hollywood that have independent distribution capabilities, such as Miramax, which was completely killed by Simon a few days ago, and Orion and Orion, which were deteriorating and were reversed by Simon. Therefore, Troubled New Line Cinema.
If Hollywood's second- and third-tier film companies want to develop and grow, the key is to have independent distribution capabilities. Otherwise, they will always become vassals of big studios.
When Daenerys Entertainment was first established, Simon hoped to break the monopoly of large studios.
Now, with the status change, the concept will naturally change accordingly. What Simon needs to do is to further strengthen his monopoly on the distribution channels of Hollywood movies.
After the planned clean-up is completed, second- and third-tier small film producers can of course continue to exist, but they can only exist as independent production companies attached to large studios, only participating in production and providing content supplements to large studios. If these companies show ambitions to enter the publishing field, Daenerys Entertainment will mercilessly suppress them.
At the party, Simon and Janet chatted quietly and came to De Niro. The two stopped talking, and Simon and De Niro discussed another recent project.
Having collaborated with Michael Mann on "The Last of the Mohicans" last year, the TV drama director has submitted a new project called "The Wire."
"The Wire" is one of Simon's favorite Hollywood movies.
When he first broke into this industry and attended a party at Brian De Palma's house, standing on the hillside of Beverly and looking at the bright lights of Los Angeles, Simon thought of this movie inexplicably.
Many things have changed over the years. The project "The Wire" was not swatted away by his big butterfly, because like many films with a bumpy fate, Michael Mann had already had the idea for this project in the 1980s. , it wasn’t until the box office success of The Last of the Mohicans that the project, which bounced around among many studios, was greenlit by Daenerys Entertainment.