Chapter 212: Publicity determines box office

'Mr Zhou Ming and Mr Tang Lin, we are very happy to be working with you on the co-release of Toy Story. If you have any great promotional ideas, I think we will definitely work well together. Finally, I wish Toy Story a big hit in the future!'

In the Disney film department office, Roy, the Disney film manager, and Eg, the distribution manager, warmly shook hands with Zhou Ming and Tang Lin to say goodbye. After the previous negotiations, they had already reached an agreement on the co-release of Toy Story. It was pointless for Ming and Lin to stay at Disney, and Roy and Eager had no intention of keeping them around for a visit. They simply let them go.

'Mr Zhou Ming, you can rest assured that this will be written into the terms of the contract, and we have no right to fight for it,' said Eiger.

In the face of Eiger's assurance, Zhou Ming let out a sigh of relief, but he was still relentless and asked, 'So if Toy Story is a big hit, and we want to increase the number of screenings and the scale of the screenings, what should we do?'

Roy and Eager both gave a dismissive smile, and Roy casually gestured: 'I can understand Mr. Zhou Ming's confidence in his film, but the screening times arranged for you at that time will definitely be considered. . Disney has been distributing films for a long time and is therefore very experienced in judging the market. The arrangements for the number of screenings are also very scientific, so please don't worry about this.'

'I understand what you're saying, but I just want to maximise my box office. If the film does well at the box office, I'll definitely increase the scale of the screenings. But now the box office is bought out, and you're not willing to increase it. Won't that be a lot of trouble?' Zhou Ming said.

Roy and Eager were both a little annoyed by Zhou Ming's persistence, but there was nothing they could do if he wanted an answer. They had no choice but to reply, 'How about this I will add a clause to the contract stating that if you want to increase the number of showings, you will have to pay a higher buyout fee in proportion to the increase. Of course, it will be slightly higher than the initial buyout fee. Is that acceptable?'

Zhou Ming then broke into a smile. He nodded and said that it was fine, and then left the office with Tang Lin.

Roy and Eiger just watched them leave without any intention of seeing them off themselves. After Ming Zhou and Lin Tang had left, Eiger frowned and said, 'Roy my friend, why do I have a bad feeling? It seems as if we have lost out badly.'

'Clearly you're worrying for nothing, because I don't think we've lost out anywhere,' Roy told him, shaking his head. 'Maybe they can get in touch with the vice-president. This is way beyond our expectations, but the end result is still the same . 500,000 dollars for the co-distribution fee, plus 500,000 dollars for the box office buyout, we still get a co-distribution contract worth millions in total.'

'I know it's half of our initial estimate of 2 million, but it's enough, isn't it?'

Roy thought for a moment and then said, 'Buying out the box office does reduce the company's income, but the 500,000 buyout fee is also a lot. You are the distribution manager, I think you should know the situation on the cinema circuit very well. If the attendance is not good, they will stop showing it the second week. This is also the reason why the box office of many small films is very dismal. I have seen a lot of rubbish that only has a box office of a hundred thousand or even tens of thousands of dollars. Even for some commercial blockbusters, at some point, they have also had the embarrassing situation of barely making over a million at the box office.

'So the box office is really amazing. For their amateurish film, how do you think we can get half a million in revenue? Or do you think their so-called animated film can get more than 3 million at the box office? That would be a real fairy tale!'

At this point, Roy suddenly changed his tone and continued, 'But even if their box office is a little better than our expectations, it doesn't matter. you saw the arrogance of that Chinese second-generation rich kid, it was just stupid arrogance. I think as long as the box office exceeds expectations, he will definitely ask for more screenings, and then we will have the opportunity to charge more buyout fees, which is a kind of compensation.'

But what if the animation film does particularly well at the box office, with an average attendance rate of more than half?

This thought suddenly popped into Eiger's head, but he immediately shook his head and dismissed the ridiculous idea. After all, it was just a film made by two rich second generation kids for fun nature. And from the information they gave, there was no famous actor or director, the script sounded very ordinary, and more importantly, it was an animated film.

You should know that animated films are more difficult to make a profit than other commercial blockbusters. Even Disney, a major company with a high level of expertise in animated films, treats animated films with great caution. What makes them so confident? Nothing but blind arrogance.

At this point, Roy said again, 'But I don't think they will have a good box office, because the basis of a high box office is publicity, but the publicity budget we have given is only 200,000, which means they won't have TV, there will be no posters in high-traffic areas such as train stations and subways, and there won't even be a trailer for the film shown in cinemas. What do you think the expectations for the film's box office can be under these circumstances?'

'It seems that I've been thinking too much about it. They're just two unimportant Chinese people. I'm afraid they don't know that in the film industry, publicity determines box office!' said Eg.

As Disney's distribution manager, he is of course well aware of the decisive role that publicity plays in the box office success of a film. Although it is said that good wine needs no bush, if no one can smell the wine, how can it be sold?

Of course, they can also pay for their own publicity, which is also feasible, but the problem is that if they really had this channel, they would not have come to Disney to seek cooperation and distribution.

It's just that Eiger doesn't know why, but he still has some hidden worries.

On the other hand, Zhou Ming and Tang Lin left the Disney headquarters building and returned to the car. Tang Lin still seemed to be in a daze from what had just happened. He still frowned his brow furrowed, and he didn't want to communicate with Ming at all. Ming didn't seem to mind, either, and just waited for Tang to speak without starting the car.

Finally Tang Lin finally couldn't hold back any longer, and he questioned Zhou Ming, 'I don't understand, why did you do this?'

Compared to Tang Lin's anger, Zhou Ming seemed a little carefree, 'Do what? The co-distribution plan? Or the 500,000 box office buyout fee?'

'Yes the whole thing!' Tang Lin emphasised, 'You didn't even seem to want to discuss it with me, and you already decided on a co-distribution plan with them, and offered to pay the box office buyout fee of 500,000. What were you doing? Giving them money? Although we don't lack money, but this is not the way to spend it. This is not the right attitude to treat an investment!'

Tang Lin roared very loudly, and even pointed his finger at Zhou Ming's face, but Zhou Ming still didn't care.

'I I say, Mr Tang Lin, it seems a bit unreasonable for you to say that, doesn't it? It was only because you said you could really get in touch with the vice president of Disney that I threatened them with that, wasn't it?' Zhou Ming said innocently.

Originally Tang Lin had already calmed down a little, but these words made him angry again.

'It's fine if you don't say it, but since you've said it now, I'll say it too. Originally, I said that the vice president wanted to say that we could get better treatment through him, but what have you done? Seeking co-distribution, and you want to give one million dollars before anything is done. Tell me, does this look like someone who really wants to get things done?' Tang Lin angrily asked.

Facing Tang Lin's questioning, Zhou Ming still smiled and nodded: 'Why not? It seems that Mr. Tang Lin has already put our movie in a position where the box office will be less than 3 million, right?'

Zhou Ming's tone was very calm, but it made Tang Lin extremely surprised when he heard it.

Zhou Ming then said to him, 'You're so angry because you think our film will be terrible and that we can only get a better deal by signing the best contract. But have you ever thought that if the film really is terrible, then even if the contract is very favourable, Disney won't be able to pay us back the money. what is the point of those favourable terms? On the contrary, if our film is destined to be a big seller, then what does it matter if we pay them 500,000 or more for the exclusive rights?'

Speaking of Finally, Zhou Ming looked at Tang Lin and asked, 'What do you think?'

Tang Lin didn't know what to say at this point, so he casually agreed, "It seems that Mr. Zhou Ming is very confident in this film.'

'I am always confident in what I do," Zhou Ming said.

Tang Lin was unwilling to continue arguing with Ming on this issue, and changed the subject, asking, 'What about publicity? I know that you may not know much about the film industry, but I can tell you that, to a large extent, publicity can determine the box office of a film. However, I don't see any mention of publicity for the film in our contract.'

'This is indeed a problem,' said Zhou Ming. 'They are only willing to pay 200,000 yuan for publicity, which means that we cannot do any public publicity, nor can we appear on any highly-rated programmes, and there will not even be any street posters.'

Speaking of Finally, Zhou Ming also had a headache and scratched his head: 'But I believe that there is no unsolvable problem in the world, only a mind that is unwilling to work. Even if it is only 200,000, I think we will still find a way to advertise.'

Tang Lin was stunned. At first, he thought he had heard it wrong. He couldn't believe that Zhou Ming would say such a thing. He said incredulously, 'Are you crazy? Are you sure you know what you're saying? Or are you going to increase the budget later? Well I can now tell you very responsibly that since you have created this problem yourself, you will have to solve it yourself. I will not find a solution, and I will not invest any more money!'

Zhou Ming shouldered uselessly: 'I want to say that I never really expected you to come up with any solutions. You just need to wait and see a miracle.'

These words, coupled with Zhou Ming's casual tone, made Tang Lin want to spit out a mouthful of old blood immediately.

'I I'd rather see you lose face, even though it concerns the Tang family's succession rights and my investment,' Tang Lin said viciously.