Soliciting

When Jon left, he had a confident stride, and you couldn't tell that he was in his fifties.

Back at the office, he immediately called the chairman to report on the meeting and commend himself for his efforts.

Securing Firefly Films, led by Lyman, and establishing preliminary cooperation had been largely his achievement. This was because despite the company's seemingly steady growth in recent years, there was an underlying crisis. As their operations expanded, they needed better sources of films.

In any case, dealing with independent production companies was generally a good idea.

Furthermore, the industry could easily find information about Firefly Films' production projects. It wasn't something they could hide.

Many had approached them seeking collaboration, and Lionsgate wasn't the first.

The issue was that when everyone's offers were similar, Lyman was reluctant to change his stance and risk slightly offending Paramount by discussing cooperation with another studio.

However, Lionsgate had been genuinely committed: for "Hellboy", they would only charge an 8% distribution fee, but they would share the marketing costs, with Lionsgate covering 60%.

The underlying strength, support, and resources were what made this cooperation possible. Without these factors, no matter how good the terms were, Lyman would hesitate and likely decline.

Though Frank Giustra was somewhat unfamiliar with the film industry, he knew that Firefly Films was a company with potential for growth.

With the success of "Saw" as a foundation, Jon's efforts to secure the cooperation were highly supported.

Hearing the news now, Frank was in a great mood.

Once they established a preliminary relationship, it would be much easier to deepen the cooperation later. Moreover, Lionsgate's philosophy and goals for the business were entirely compatible with Firefly Films'.

The aim was to secure partnerships with various independent production companies, consolidate their strength, and develop overseas distribution channels.

During Jon's time at Columbia Pictures, after it was acquired by Sony, he had implemented a similar strategy in handling overseas business, so he was experienced in this regard.

The only difference was that the difficulty had increased. After all, Columbia's strength, even when it was acquired by a Japanese investor, was much greater than Lionsgate's is now.

...

At around three in the afternoon, Joseph walked into Lyman's office.

For the past few days, he had been busy securing sponsorship for the movie "Train to New York".

As a capable manager, such tasks naturally fell under his purview.

Joseph was quite competent, and with the production budget and shooting schedule in hand, he had visited several companies and had some success.

"The New York Railroad Company doesn't want to provide direct sponsorship funds, but they're willing to provide us with a decommissioned train for filming. As for Dior, because of the positive response to the recent advertisements you did for them, they're willing to sponsor $500,000, with the condition that their clothing appears for at least one second. There are also a few watch companies; only Omega is willing to contribute, offering $800,000 and requesting close-up shots."

Lyman stood up, took a look at the sponsorship contracts, and then waved for Joseph to sit down, instructing his assistant to bring some coffee. Finally, he asked, "Are there any other possibilities?"

"Some other companies are still considering it, but they're concerned about the effectiveness of this kind of promotion and fear that their brand's impact may be wasted."

"Securing funding is never easy. However, I have an idea. You can give it a try."

After sipping his coffee, Joseph asked, "Do you have any suggestions?"

Lyman retrieved market statistics for the "Effervescent" sponsorship from his drawer and placed them in front of Joseph. He smiled and said, "Take this with you for negotiations. Tell them that our movie, "Train to New York", has a relatively concentrated target audience, mainly between the ages of 16 and 50, with strong purchasing power. Moreover, I'm personally overseeing the production, so it's bound to receive attention. Furthermore, the success of "Effervescent" should encourage them to consider this sponsorship as a way to indirectly advertise to a large audience. Doesn't that sound like a good deal?"

With data as a foundation, negotiations would undoubtedly be more favorable. Joseph nodded and said, "Alright, I'll go talk to them later."

Lyman continued, "All the sponsorship funds will be credited to the company's account. You and the team involved in this operation will receive bonuses, details of which should be reported to the finance department."

Sponsorship was a way for production companies to earn extra income, and Lyman wasn't stingy. He willingly offered Joseph and the others bonuses ranging from $20,000 to $50,000, which provided them with a strong incentive.

After finishing his coffee, Joseph immediately took the market data for "Effervescent" and visited various companies that could potentially place advertisements in the film.

It took about two days, but Coca-Cola outbid Pepsi by offering a sponsorship of $700,000. They wanted their full-body poster to appear on the train station billboards in the movie. Dior, on the other hand, was even more generous, possibly tasting success. They voluntarily offered $3M in sponsorship and proposed a long-term contract with Firefly Films. The contract stipulated that for the next year, all clothing placements in Firefly's film projects had to be Dior.

This was akin to a subtle form of monopoly, effectively excluding any potential competitors.

Joseph returned to discuss with Lyman whether they should sign the contract. The benefits were clear – they would receive $3M. The potential downside was that, for the duration of the contract, they would exclusively feature Dior in their films. Even if other sponsors were interested, they wouldn't be able to accept them.

However, after careful consideration, Lyman didn't see this as a significant detriment to the company's interests. It was evident that Dior was serious about sponsoring their projects, and they wouldn't make unreasonable demands. Moreover, it was just for one year, and if the results weren't satisfactory, Lyman still had room to choose differently.

Yes, he believed that Dior had made this decision with similar considerations in mind.

Meanwhile, Christian Bale continued his physical adjustments and, after ten days, managed to regain a weight of 170 pounds to meet the physical requirements of his role.

Zack was continuously coordinating with the filming locations. After all, the movie was titled "Train to New York", but it might not necessarily be shot in New York. Filming scenes at a train station in New York could also be inconvenient, so they would need to shoot some exterior scenes and build sets for interior shots.

Apart from scouting locations, various props and preliminary camera experiments were also meeting Zack's shooting requirements. In no time, Eva also wrapped up her scenes for "The Day After Tomorrow" in Canada and returned to Los Angeles to join the cast for makeup tests.