Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 112 Negotiation Conditions

Behrman contacted Tim Robbins.

He comforted Cao Yang and said, "Tim Robbins is also a good choice. He is a low-key actor with a good temper. Unlike Sean Penn, he is a well-known bad boy with a bad temper and foul language. He is also a well-known domestic violence man and is very difficult to get along with."

Cao Yang chose Sean Penn not because of his acting skills. Tim Robbins is not necessarily worse than him. It was mainly because Sean Penn had played this role successfully before.

Now that Sean Penn has stood up, let's change someone else. Tim Robbins is also a good choice. It depends on whether Tim Robbins has signed a contract with Clint Eastwood.

After receiving the call, Tim Robbins met with Cao Yang as agreed.

"Hello, Director Cao Yang."

"Hello Mr. Robbins."

Cao Yang shook hands with Tim Robbins and then motioned for him to sit down.

The two met in a small conference room that Bellman rented in the name of preparing a movie.

"Mr. Robbins..."

"Tim, just call me Tim, that's what my friends call me." Tim Robbins said with a smile.

He does seem to have a good temper, unlike Sean Penn, who has a lot of ideas and is a bit rebellious.

"Tim, this is a gay movie, you should know that, can you accept the kissing scenes in it?"

Cao Yang must ask clearly, and this must be written into the contract in the future. In Hollywood, everything must be put into writing to reduce trouble.

Tim Robbins spread his hands and shrugged his shoulders, then smiled and joked, "As long as the other person is a handsome guy, I have no problem with that."

"In terms of pay?"

"How about four million?" asked Tim Robbins.

His current external offer is about 800 million to 1000 million. There is no standard pay for art films, but most of the time the pay is halved.

He has already quoted the lowest price.

The issue of pay is usually discussed with the other party's agent, but that is a commercial film. For art films, as long as they can win awards, the agency will support the actor if he or she quotes a low price.

Of course, only celebrities with great fame can enjoy this treatment. Little Karami should forget about it and just have to wait for the company's arrangements.

"no problem."

Berman said that as long as Tim Robbins' salary did not exceed six million, he would agree to it.

Once these are confirmed, everything else is just a side issue and you just need to negotiate with the other party's agent.

A few days after Tim Robbins returned, he received a call from his agent saying that Clint Eastwood had a movie and wanted to talk to him about it. He was interested in having him play one of the roles and asked for his opinion.

Tim Robbins was confused, so he asked his agent, "Haven't we already agreed to director Cao Yang? Why do we still need to meet Eastwood?"

The agent was silent for a moment, then reminded, "Tim, you haven't signed a formal contract yet. You know, that's Eastwood, the Oscar-winning director.

He is going to adapt the novel Mystic River and wants you to play one of the roles. I heard that Sean Penn has decided to join the film. It is obvious that this film is also aiming for the Oscars. "

"Sean Penn is joining too?" Tim Robbins hesitated. Sean Penn is famous for his good vision. He is nicknamed the Lucky Son in the literary and art circles. Most of the movies he likes win awards or at least get nominated. If he joins...

This is a good opportunity!

"But we have already promised Director Cao Yang. He is also a big director in the field of art films and it is not easy to offend him."

Got it, the agent immediately understood.

"Tim, you can go talk to Eastwood first and see how the role is positioned before making a decision. If Director Eastwood insists on having you join, you can call Director Cao Yang and tell him that I secretly arranged this movie for you. There's nothing you can do about it."

Tim Robbins thought for a moment and then said, "I haven't seen Eastwood for a long time. It's nice for old friends to get together."

Cao Yang didn't know about Tim Robbins's situation. The overall impact of changing the male lead from Sean Penn to Tim Robbins was not that big. Both of them are big stars, but neither of them can particularly carry the box office.

Film companies have their own evaluation system and they don’t care how high your artistic achievements are. What they value most is the box office ability and popularity. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be a so-called 20 million entertainment department.

The conditions that Berman negotiated with the film company were the result of Cao Yang's careful consideration.

Cao Yang is very clear-headed. He has just entered Hollywood and this is his first movie. Even as a co-producer, he might be able to get the editing rights, but it would be unrealistic to want to get more benefits.

As the initiator of the project, you can definitely ask for a share of the box office. The money that the producer can get is divided into the money before and after the movie is released.

Before the movie is released, the producer basically gets paid for his work. The average income of a Hollywood producer is around $75, which is related to personal fame.

It’s hard to say after the movie is released. It depends on how the specific negotiations are conducted.

Some powerful producers will get a share of the global box office. How much they can get is closely related to the box office and profits of the film.

For example, Simon Kinberg, the producer of "Deadpool", earned $5800 million from the $200 million budget film before the film was released, but after the film was released, he earned another $3800 million from box office sharing.

It’s not that Cao Yang doesn’t want to get a share of the box office revenue, but as an “outsider”, no matter how high the box office is or how much money is made, when it is reflected on the books, the movie is a loss. What can you do?
Is Bellman here?
Haha, in the face of huge financial interests, don't test Bellman.

Who can guarantee that after the movie makes a profit, he won’t work together with the film company to do the accounting?

So Cao Yang's request was simple. He told Berman directly: "As the co-sponsor, producer, director and screenwriter of the project, I don't care what you can negotiate with the film company. My bottom line is that I want the European copyright of the film."

Cao Yang has already made a lot of concessions. He is a realistic person and never expected to become a superstar in Hollywood overnight.

As the initiator of the project, one of the producers, director and screenwriter, Cao Yang is qualified to ask for a share of the film's profits.

But Hollywood film companies are well-known for their ability to do accounting in this regard.

Can you believe that the Harry Potter series of films, which has a total global box office of over 78 billion US dollars, is a loss-making business?

Actors and other personnel who were supposed to share in the box office profits didn't get a penny.

Although there are many reasons involved, Hollywood will not show mercy when it comes to cheating its own people, let alone outsiders who are new to Hollywood.

Cao Yang gave up his share of profits and only wanted the European copyright after careful consideration. The price he could get for the European copyright would not be less than the share of profits.

Hollywood film studios should also be happy to see this happen.

(End of this chapter)