"Then tell me, what am I worried about?" President Smith asked.
"If I'm not mistaken, you're worried about the theater schedule and film scheduling issues caused by insufficient publicity and promotion funds," Lin Yuan said.
The release of a movie mainly involves three parties: the producer, the distributor, and the cinema.
The distributor is responsible for the film's publicity and marketing costs, as well as the overall marketing plan. Universal Pictures generally shoulders the responsibilities of both production and distribution.
To secure popular time slots and a higher screening rate in theaters, distributors need to use various means to enhance their persuasiveness: such as big-name star appearances, substantial publicity and promotion costs, and even guaranteed box office promises that are akin to gambling.
All of this is to increase the confidence of theaters.
Lin Yuan agreed to Director Sommers' request and gave up nearly $40 million in publicity and promotion costs.
This will result in the two films, "The Fast and the Furious" and "Jurassic Park III," facing insufficient publicity and promotion funds.
Under such circumstances, even theaters are reluctant to schedule screenings during popular periods.
It's no wonder that President Smith would stop this behavior.
"Which movie are you going to sacrifice? Haha, Director Johnston, you knew that the box office would fail, so you deliberately cut the publicity and promotion costs to pass the blame, right?" Director Sommers sneered.
Director Sommers prepared to watch the show. Since the publicity and promotion funds were insufficient, the two films would have to compete with each other and snatch each other's resources.
Otherwise, it would be impossible for theaters to schedule movies during popular seasons such as the summer vacation.
"It's okay, Mr. President, just promote these two movies together. I will give you a basic plan," Lin Yuan offered his solution.
"Joint promotion? It's possible, but there are still risks," President Smith replied cautiously.
"Let's put it this way. If my plan fails to satisfy the theaters, we will increase the investment in publicity and promotion until the theaters' requirements are met," Lin Yuan said confidently.
"If you can't manage the cinema, will you make additional investments?" President Smith suddenly remembered that Lin Yuan was Mr. Eisen's representative.
Although Mr. Eisen had not directly invested in movies in recent years, he still had a huge influence in the film industry.
But cinemas also had business to consider, so it was unlikely that they would make an exception for Mr. Eisen, right?
However, since Lin Yuan had promised a guaranteed solution, he had no reason to refuse.
So President Smith said, "Okay, then I'll wait for the results of your negotiations with the cinema."
"Mr. President, please believe that my joint promotion will give you a surprise."
"Young man, I look forward to seeing your miracle."
In fact, President Smith was still not optimistic about joint promotion. Although it saved money to promote together, the effect would generally be worse.
Unless the two movies could produce some kind of chemical reaction and achieve the effect of 1+1>2.
Were there any aspects of "The Fast and the Furious" and "Jurassic Park III" that could complement each other?
"Now that the promotional budget is set, let's finalize the release date," President Smith continued. "There are two dates: May 4th and June 22nd. How will you allocate them?"
"Director Sommers is the protagonist and should be the first to appear on stage. We should follow behind and take advantage of the opportunity. The date of June 22nd is reserved for us," Lin Yuan replied.
"No problem."
"I agree."
Both directors agreed immediately.
In the North American film market, the summer and Christmas seasons from May to September each year were the most popular periods, with the total box office accounting for more than 70% of the annual revenue.
During these two time periods when every inch of space was valuable, the competition among major film companies was extremely fierce.
Theoretically, May 4th was definitely better than June 22nd, so Director Sommers did not raise any objection.
"I have no problem with the release date, but I have a suggestion," said Director Sommers.
"Go ahead," President Smith said, frowning slightly.
"These three films were made with huge investments from the company. If they lose money, someone has to take responsibility, right? Otherwise, anyone can just randomly come up with a joint promotion or something."
It was obvious who Director Sommers's target was. Even though he had obtained the largest share of publicity and promotional resources, he still refused to give in.
"What do you want to do?" Director Cohen was angry and stood up from his chair. His shiny bald head turned red with anger.
"Director, it's okay," Lin Yuan said, pulling him to sit down and comforting him.
"You are right. Adults should pay for their mistakes." Lin Yuan looked at Director Sommers with a smile, but his eyes were extremely cold.
"Whoever's movie loses money will have to get out of Hollywood and never come back!" Director Sommers was surprised that Lin Yuan dared to respond to his words.
So he immediately showed his true colors and used his killer move. He had been unhappy with Lin Yuan and his group for a long time.
In the eyes of Director Sommers, Hollywood should be a white man's Hollywood.
Director Cohen, who used a large number of mixed-race people, and Director Johnston, who actually used an Asian person as a leading actor, were both cancers of Hollywood.
They were objects that must be cleansed and purified.
Today was a very good opportunity, as long as they dared to take it.
Faced with Director Sommers's aggressive attitude, Lin Yuan remained silent.
He could gamble his own safety on the success or failure of an action scene, but he could not risk the careers of two directors.
Even if he believed he would win, he was not qualified to gamble with other people's futures.
"Lin Yuan, we believe in you," Director Cohen said.
"What's there to be afraid of when betting with him? The worst that can happen is we can retire early!" Director Johnston also said.
They had long been unhappy with Director Sommers and were filled with rage.
Even if it wasn't for Lin Yuan, they still wanted to teach him a lesson.
What if they really lost?
The two directors didn't mind. They were already in their 50s. If they lost money on two more big-budget productions, they probably wouldn't have any more opportunities in the future, so they might as well retire.
So, it was actually a bet with no real loss.
"Okay! Whoever's movie loses money will get out of Hollywood," Lin Yuan said confidently and replied formally.
"Let me add one more thing. Even if the movie doesn't lose money, the party with lower profits must leave!" Director Sommers was afraid that his goal would not be achieved, so he added another point.
This wasn't quite fair. "The Mummy Returns" was a big production and took up the most publicity and promotion costs, yet it might not make as much profit?
How shameless!
After hearing what Director Sommers said, President Smith's face turned ugly.
Although he and Director Sommers had always had a good personal relationship, his performance today was really terrible.
It also made President Smith re-evaluate this person and whether he should maintain his friendship with him.
In fact, strictly speaking, President Smith also held white supremacist views.
But he would put interests first. If there were enough benefits, he would cooperate with anyone instead of completely excluding and rejecting them.
He would not make such a move that would harm others and benefit himself like Director Sommers did.
Lin Yuan smiled and nodded: "Then it's a deal. Cherish every day you have left in Hollywood."