Chapter 595

These past two days, funds had been continuously flowing into the company’s project account. The director, looking at the ever-increasing amount of money, couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.

The actual profits were much larger than he had imagined. After all the shares were paid, the total income had already exceeded 1.3 million, and it was still increasing intermittently.

It wasn’t impossible to reach 1.5 million. According to the contract they had signed with the cinema chains, the production company would now get 70% of the film’s broadcast revenue, while the cinema chains could only get 30%.

For the cinema chains, this kind of split was still profitable, but the profit was no longer as much.

To prevent the cinema chains from directly pulling the movie after the period where they took the larger share, the company had a binding requirement when they signed the agreement.

The period where they could take the larger share was actually only one week. Then, starting from the second week, the ratio would drop sharply and be continuously adjusted at a certain rate.

In the end, the share that the production company got from the box office would be higher than the share that the cinema chain could get.

At this point, if the cinema chain was still willing to continue showing the movie, then the production company would continue to get box office profits from it, but the ratio would not change again.

If they were unwilling to continue showing it, then the movie would be completely pulled from that cinema.

The movie was the private property of the production company. Once it was pulled, it was not allowed to be shown again, unless a new agreement for a re-release was signed.

This was different from the buyout system. Under the buyout system, once a cinema chain had bought out the film reel, they could show it whenever they wanted, which was actually a huge infringement on the interests of the production company.

But in the past, a ticket was five cents, and it was mainly based on film. Not all cinema operators who spent a few hundred dollars to buy a film reel could make a profit.

So this was also considered… a benefit under special circumstances, but now, it had been terminated, at least on Wanli Pictures’ side.

The director was happily calculating these figures. On his desk was a newspaper he had already read, which was also the newspaper with the largest circulation and number of issues in the federal film industry, the Movie News.

The Movie News was a bi-monthly publication, but this issue was clearly not a first-half or second-half monthly issue; it was a special issue.

For the sake of the 20,000 sponsored by Wanli Pictures, the newspaper office directly issued a special issue, and the front-page headline was indeed worth the extra issue—

The First Film in Federal Film History with an Income of Over One Million, and its Behind-the-Scenes Story

This report was written by someone the director had hired with money at Lance’s instruction. Most of the descriptions in it were facts, with only a small part that might be slightly exaggerated.

In this report, it was stated that The Mystery of Angel Lake was deeply loved by movie fans because of its excellent quality and the new film genre it created, creating a box office miracle.

At the same time, this movie adopted a box office sharing system. This system, which had never been looked upon favorably by people, was a great success at Wanli Pictures and had achieved huge success.

In the report, the director admitted that after deducting various expenses, their actual profit was over one million!

This was definitely an astonishing number. The announced rate of return was over 450%.

At this time, the investment in a movie was about 200,000 to 300,000. A return on investment of 450% had already made many people’s eyes turn red.

In the Q&A with the reporter, the director believed that the excellent quality of the movie was part of the reason for the gratifying income, but the other part of the reason, and the most important part, was that the movie adopted a sharing system.

He gave the example of the film festival. Some cinemas were very optimistic about their movie and had even offered a single-cinema price of 900 and 1,000.

The lowest-priced cinema had also offered a price of 400.

Of course, those cinemas that gave low prices were all in relatively remote places, cities with not many moviegoers. They couldn’t afford to pay too much, otherwise they might face losses.

If it were the previous buyout method, they might only be able to get a profit of 700,000 to 800,000 from these buyouts. This was the best-case scenario.

After deducting costs and expenses, the rate of return might only be around 200%. This was still because its quality was excellent and people were willing to give it a try.

But they had changed their distribution strategy, making it a win-win situation for the cinemas and the production company. The cinema chains only needed to bear the almost negligible costs of electricity, staff salaries, and venue depreciation during the screening to get a huge advantage in the box office share.

And the production company would not be limited by the low price of a one-time buyout. As long as they believed their movie was good enough, then the more popular the movie, the more their income would be.

This was a win-win.

He explained these things in it, giving people a clear understanding of box office sharing.

With the release of the special issue, he believed that the entire film circle would soon be shaken.

At a little after ten o’clock, he began to review some of the recent film projects. Before he had reviewed a few, the phone rang.

The moment he picked up the phone, a hearty laugh came from the other end of the line, which made the director lean back in his chair and become very relaxed.

He knew this person, a director and producer. This kind of role was almost everywhere now.

Especially for those production companies that had gradually developed from small-investment films, the director held multiple positions.

He could be the producer, the screenwriter, the cinematographer, or even an actor.

The guy on the other end had made several successful films and had achieved some success. In this booming industry, he was more or less a minor celebrity.

After some simple pleasantries, the other party asked a question, “…I read today’s newspaper. It gave me a lot of inspiration, and at the same time, it gave me a question.”

“How do you ensure that the cinemas faithfully divide the profits with you according to the contract you signed?”

“Previously, some people had also tried it, but they encountered many problems.”

Refusing to pay the box office share, withholding and altering the real box office data, and also including various private copying and the like.

It could be said that it was basically very difficult to make money with this model.

The director laughed twice and said, “We have our own distribution channels and can ensure that no one deceives us on these issues.”

“And… the boss above said that the entire channel supervision system will be strengthened in the future to ensure that there will be no problems with every single movie ticket for every show.”

“We actually haven’t sent this movie to too many cinemas. As people’s understanding of us and the construction of more cinemas, I believe our income will only increase.”

“The first movie with a profit of one million is just the starting point for us and the entire industry.”

“Two million, three million, five million, and even ten million are our future goals!”

“I firmly believe that we can do these things. It won’t be too far away from us!”

Listening to the director’s passionate speech, the producer on the other end of the line also breathed a little heavier.

They had just finished filming a movie recently and planned to release it in the fall.

The company had discussed it internally. With the increase in the price of movie tickets, they could appropriately raise the average buyout price to over 800.

This way, as long as they could complete the sales of 500 cinemas, then there would be a gross profit of 250,000.

After some simple operations, their net profit might be around 200,000.

With a total investment of 150,000, a net profit of 100% was already far ahead in the industry.

But this was just their prediction. If they couldn’t sell 500 copies, or if the average price didn’t reach 800, then their net profit would not be so much.

Originally, he didn’t have many good ideas about this situation. After all, everyone had been doing it this way. It wasn’t until he saw today’s special issue of the Movie News that he suddenly realized that they actually had another opportunity.

If before the phone call, he had just wanted to understand and test the waters, then this phone call from the director had already persuaded him. He was moved.

“If… I’m saying, if we use your channels to get the movie shown in major cinemas, what do we need to pay?”

Hearing the other party say so, the director’s face was already full of smiles, but his tone did not seem so positive.

He said in a very calm and emotionless tone, “We need to get a share of the box office revenue.”

“The head office has already talked to me.”

“For a total box office of less than one million, we charge a fee of 9%.”

“Between one and two million, it’s 8%.”

“For every one million increase in the box office, the percentage is reduced by one percent, with a cap of five million, which is 5%.”

“If your box office can reach ten million, then the share is 4.5%. Twenty million is 4%.”

“If you have confidence in your movie, I think you can give it a try.”

The producer was listening while taking notes of these detailed data with a pen. He was just a producer. There were also investors and shareholders behind him. He still had to discuss with them.

But he had a premonition that this model would soon become popular.

“I am personally very willing to choose this distribution model, but I have to discuss it with them. I’ll call you when I have a result.”

He paused for a moment. “When are you coming over? We can chat privately. We have two movies that need casting recently. You can help us with your reference.”

This was a typical hint. The director did not refuse. “I’ll call you when I have time.”

The two chatted about some other things in the film circle for a few more sentences and then hung up the phone in a hurry.

Not long after he hung up, it rang again. A vice president of a film company called, asking the director about how they guaranteed their income from the box office sharing.

Until three or four o’clock in the afternoon, almost all the calls were about these issues. They all wanted the assistance of this distribution method.

After all, they were too envious. Who could refuse to make money, to make big money?

Capitalists are never philanthropists. If making people eat dirt can make them big money, then tomorrow 95% of the people in the world will be sitting at the dinner table eating dirt.

After a clearly more profitable plan appeared, they could not refuse.

Especially when they couldn’t do it themselves, they could only rely on Wanli Pictures.

The director planned to talk to Lance and see if they should split off a company to specialize in this matter.

At the same time, Jordan and his men had already entered Golden Port City.

The Death Angels were a large-scale criminal group. They had their own logo, just like the members of the Lance Family who would have a red armband on their left sleeve.

The characteristic of the Death Angels was a winged skull. There was a black flame in the eyes of the skull, and in each flame, there was a blue bright spot.

Death, angels, souls, and evil flames. Such a pattern was extremely impactful for the people of this era!

They didn’t rush to find trouble with that what-the-hell Wanli Pictures company, but instead found a small restaurant to sit down and fill their stomachs.

“The food here is filled with a kind of countryside fishy smell. I really can’t stand it!” Jordan ate a few things and then did not continue to enjoy the food.

In fact, the food itself was no different from the food in New Golden City, but he just felt that the food here was not as delicious as the food in New Golden City.

He could also find many problems, for example, it was not fresh enough, not tender enough, not… he had many reasons.

As long as his prejudice still existed, he would have countless reasons.

The others were not so picky. As long as it was meat, and the taste was alright, they didn’t care.

Jordan walked over to the restaurant owner. He had a big cigar in his mouth. “How much?”

A total of four tables, more than twenty people. The owner did a simple calculation. “Sixty-seven dollars, sir.”

Jordan took out his wallet from his pocket, counted out ten dollars, and placed it on the counter.

The owner looked at him with some confusion. He said with a cigar in his mouth, “I want to ask about some things. As you can see, we are all from out of town.”

The owner glanced at the people behind him who obviously didn’t look like locals, nodded slightly, and then put the money from the counter into the cash box. “No problem, as long as it’s something I know.”

Who wouldn’t want to do a good deed of getting ten dollars for free?

Jordan had a smile on his face. These years of gangster life had taught him that he had to be careful when he should be.

“Do you know Wanli Pictures?” he asked.

The owner nodded. “I know. I really like the movie they filmed, The Mystery of Angel Lake. And it’s also very realistic. Everyone says there’s really an oil drum at the bottom of Angel Lake called Jason.”

The smile on his face made Jordan a little confused. The owner looked at his bewildered face and only then did he realize that this dark joke was too obscure for outsiders.

He quickly explained, “This is a local joke. I’m sorry, I forgot you were from out of town.”

“Anyway… I know this company.”

Jordan nodded. “Is it a local gang’s business?”

Thinking of his old friend Mr. Thurray’s severed little finger, this was obviously a gangster’s method and means.

To link Wanli Pictures with the Lance Family was definitely not an easy task.

In fact, he could completely deduce that the two companies might be owned by the same boss by inferring from Wanli Pictures and Wanli Labor Introduction Agency. But in the Federation, it was very difficult to look at problems this way without conclusive evidence.

Maybe there was no relationship between them?

So the owner shook his head. “I’m not very familiar with this company. I’ve only seen their movies.”

Jordan did not continue to ask this question, but changed to another question. “How many powerful gangs do you have locally now?”

“I hear the Five Families are finished?”

This was a topic the owner liked. He nodded. “Yes, four of the Five Families are almost finished. Only the Pasoretto family is still around.”

Jordan nodded again. “So who is the strongest in the city now?”

The owner sized up the man in front of him again, who had a cigar in his mouth and didn’t look so “honest.”

He thought for a while. “It should be the Lance Family. They are the undisputed strongest gang here, bar none.”

“Besides them, there are actually some small gangs, but those gangs only control a certain block and don’t have much influence.”

“Are you looking to find trouble with them?”

“Or to cooperate with them?”

“If it’s the former, I advise you to be careful. Messing with the Lance Family will be a big trouble for you.”

Jordan said “Ah ha,” with a look of indifference. “I really haven’t met a guy who can be a big trouble for me. I hope this gang can give me some fun!”

“But I still have to thank you for your information. You’ve helped me a lot.”

At this time, he had basically locked onto these two organizations, Wanli Pictures and the Lance Family.

The former was the film company that had injured his good brother, and the latter was very likely the group of people who had gone to New Golden City this time.

Jordan was not very interested in this kind of remote local gang, even if people all said that Golden Port City was the engine of the Federation’s economy.

But for someone who had lived in Golden State for decades, for most of his life, Golden Port City was still a new city, not something to be taken seriously.

Whether it was or not, he would know when he went to their door.

Soon the owner watched these people leave and also saw the winged skull pattern on their vehicles. Then he dialed his uncle’s phone number.

His uncle lived in the Empire District. The first generation of residents of the Empire District were actually locals. It was only later that more and more Empire immigrants lived there, and they gradually encroached on the living space of the locals, eventually making that place a place where Empire immigrants and immigrants gathered.

However, his uncle had not moved out. He had lived there for decades and had gotten used to it.

Last time he had also heard that his uncle was now working for Mr. Lance. If he found out any information, he should tell Mr. Bolton.

If this information was valuable, then he would be able to get a reward of varying amounts.

It was said that the minimum was five or ten dollars, and the highest, there was no upper limit!

The call was quickly answered. “Someone was just eating in my shop. One of them asked me about Wanli Pictures and the Lance Family. I didn’t say anything.”

“I think this is a bit strange. They all look like they’re from out of town, and their cars are printed with another winged skull. They might be here to cause trouble.”

“Do you think this information is useful to you?”

An excited voice came from the receiver. “It’s fucking so useful!”