Arizona.
The small town of Coolidge, south of Phoenix.
The date is February 3rd.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, Kathryn Bigelow stood in front of the hotel where the crew was staying and watched a black Chevrolet SUV drive in from the end of the street. As the car stopped, she subconsciously took two steps forward.
Simon opened the door and got out of the car, sizing up Kathryn, who was wearing a form-fitting black wool sweater and jeans, before opening his arms and hugging the woman, saying, "You look even more flavourful in black".
Kathryn glared at Simon with a slightly chiding expression, then said, "I heard the news in The Hollywood Reporter yesterday. Is it really okay for you to just run over here like this?"
"Of course. Things are basically done, and now we just wait for the release. Besides, I think I should also leave for a while. Some things can be overdone".
Kathryn nodded, seemingly understanding, and gestured behind her, saying, "I've already prepared a room for you. Also, have you had lunch?"
Simon shook his head and smiled, "Not yet. I was thinking of rushing over so you could treat me".
Kathryn rolled her eyes at him again, looked around, and pointed diagonally across the street, not far away: "Let's go over there. There's a restaurant there".
The two walked across the town's wide asphalt road. Simon looked at the almost deserted streets, recalling the endless Gobi Desert on both sides of the interstate highway as they drove, and said with some emotion, "It's really empty here".
"Coolidge has about six thousand people; that's already a lot for the area" Kathryn said as she walked beside Simon, then added, "Weren't you originally planning to cooperate with Fox Pictures? How did it turn into Orion?"
"We couldn't reach an agreement," Simon said with a hint of helplessness in his voice. "Orion is easier to communicate with".
Kathryn nodded understandingly and asked, "What conditions did Orion offer?"
Arriving outside the restaurant, Simon casually pushed open the door for the woman and said, "They're only taking the North American theatrical distribution rights for now, with priority for other channels. Our share is 15%".
Kathryn walked into the restaurant and, hearing Simon's words, was somewhat surprised: "15%, that's pretty good".
Hollywood film companies with distribution channels are very powerful. When distributing a film, including publicity, distribution, and commission, they usually take more than 30% of a film's box office share.
On the other hand, due to attendance rates, the share that non-mainstream art films receive from theatre owners is generally lower, with some films only bringing in less than 30% of the box office from theatres.
Combining these two factors, Simon's ability to secure a 15% box office share for a low-budget film like 'Run Lola Run' still surprised Kathryn a little.
The two sat down at a dining table. Simon ordered lunch and asked the waiter to bring a pot of coffee before explaining, "It's not as good as you think. It comes with conditions. We have to pay for the print costs ourselves. Also, I signed a package deal with Orion for a screenwriter and director",
To secure this 15% share agreement, Simon and Mike Medavoy haggled for an entire day last Saturday, almost pushing it one more decimal place.
Even the two additional conditions were quite a struggle.
Mike Medavoy believed that since Simon was willing to bear the print costs, he should pay this fee first. Simon currently didn't have the money, so he naturally couldn't agree. In the end, Orion Pictures advanced the payment.
As for the package deal, Mike Medavoy first took an interest in 'Final Destination', wanting to sign it for $500,000.
Of that, $300,000 was Simon's director's fee, and $200,000 was for the 'Final Destination' script. Of course, although not a member of the two major guilds for directors and screenwriters, according to industry practice, Simon could still enjoy similar sharing terms as guild members.
'Final Destination' had actually already caught the eye of Fox, but they were still waiting for the reaction to 'The Butterfly Effect' and hadn't made an offer. Of course, according to the exception clause in Simon's contract with Fox, if he was willing to direct, handing 'Final Destination' over to Orion was indeed not a problem.
However, Simon had no interest in personally directing this film and only hoped to sign a blank contract that didn't involve any details for the time being, and then discuss specific cooperation once he had a script he was interested in.
Mike Medavoy naturally couldn't agree to that either.
In the end, both sides made some compromises. Simon signed a blank contract for a base salary of $500,000 but reserved the right to renegotiate the sharing terms.
In the restaurant, Kathryn held a cup of coffee, listening to Simon explain the details of his 'battle of wits' with Mike Medavoy, and smiled, "$500,000, what more are you not satisfied with? I only have $150,000".
Simon retracted his arm from the table, let the waiter put down his lunch, picked up his cutlery, and tasted a mouthful of spaghetti, saying, "When I have money, I'll give you a blank contract. Fill in how much investment you want, how much salary you want".
Kathryn avoided Simon's gaze and said, "I won't use your money".
"Then I'll help you find investors in the future".
"I can do that myself too".
Simon quickly nodded: "Oh, right".
Kathryn watched Simon begin to eat, pursed her lips, and said, "You, you think I can't make good movies?"
Simon immediately shook his head: "Of course not. You will definitely become the first Female Director to win a best director Oscar".
Kathryn, however, still stared at Simon, completely disbelieving his words, and insisted, "You just think I can't make good movies".
Simon didn't expect the woman's intuition to be so sharp; he really wanted to swallow his last few words.
Looking up again, Simon earnestly gazed at Kathryn and said, "No one can walk as soon as they're born, so even if you can't make good movies now, you'll definitely be able to in the future".
Kathryn's eyes met Simon's again, and she suddenly felt like a pouting little girl just now.
Oh my god, she was really crazy.
She picked up her coffee cup, lowered her eyelids, and took a small sip, secretly glancing over. Only when Simon started eating again did she relax.
After a moment of silence, she found a new topic and whispered, "So, how many screens can Orion get for 'Run Lola Run' for its opening?"
Simon also seemed to have forgotten their previous conversation and said nonchalantly, "Around 200 screens. We can only get that many within two weeks, and that's because it's the off-season now. Also, these screens are mainly concentrated on the West Coast. The East Coast will only have some sneak previews in New York for now".
The media industry in the 1980s was far less developed than it would later become. Current discussions about Simon and 'Run Lola Run' were basically concentrated in the few West Coast counties that the Los Angeles Times could reach.
Therefore, Orion also temporarily chose to concentrate its publicity and distribution resources on the West Coast.
200 opening screens actually already exceeded Simon's expectations.
In an era where even 'Star Wars' only had 1,000 opening screens, Simon naturally couldn't ask for too much. Even if he cooperated with the Big Seven, they would only give around three or four hundred screens, but Simon would definitely not get a 15% share, nor would he be able to temporarily retain the distribution rights for other channels.
After a simple lunch, Simon and Kathryn left the restaurant together, and then he asked about "So regarding 'Near Dark': How is your shooting schedule arranged here?"
"The next month will be night shoots, starting at 6 p.m. until 2 a.m.," Kathryn said. As they walked across the asphalt road back to the other side, the woman suddenly added, "You, don't say those things to me again, okay?"
Simon feigned ignorance: "What things?"
Kathryn didn't look at Simon and threatened softly, "Otherwise, I'll tell Jenny".
Simon immediately raised a hand: "Alright, I promise."
Listening to Simon's insincere tone, Kathryn just gave him a chiding glare.
Back at the hotel, Kathryn first helped Simon settle into his room and then introduced him to some of the other main crew members of 'Near Dark'.
The male lead of 'Near Dark' was named Adrian Pasdar. Coincidentally, he was also a client of Jonathan Friedland. The female lead, Jenny Wright, was a short-haired girl with a doll-like face, very beautiful, but her temperament leaned towards purity, lacking the cold allure and strangeness that a vampire should possess.
Simon then met the film's producer, Edward Feldman, a man in his fifties. He had obviously heard about some recent events in Hollywood and was very polite when he saw Simon, showing no dissatisfaction with him joining the crew midway, and even personally signed an employment contract with him.
After getting to know each other, Simon quickly integrated into the crew's work from the evening onwards.
Simon's position was assistant director. Since it was a legitimate crew, the salary was decent, $500 a week. Of course, Simon was there to help, so he naturally didn't care about the money.
While Simon began working at night and resting during the day in Arizona, in Los Angeles, the promotion and distribution of 'Run Lola Run' were rapidly advancing.
Although Orion had some opinions about Simon's sudden departure at this time, they didn't ask him to return.
Because they didn't need him.
Simon had already completed the necessary posters and trailers before leaving, and the film had no plans for a premiere.
Orion's work basically involved contacting theatres, putting up posters, and airing trailers for 'Run Lola Run' on local TV stations in cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego a week before the release.
These tasks might seem simple, but without experience and connections, a newly established film company would certainly not be able to do them.
Moreover, Orion's total promotional and distribution budget during the short two-week distribution process easily reached $500,000, and this was based on the assumption that the print costs of 'Run Lola Run' were borne by Simon's side.
It's worth noting that the approximately 200 prints of 'Run Lola Run' also had a total cost of around $150,000.
This shows how expensive film distribution was in the era of film, which is also why many low-budget films basically couldn't make it to theatres and would only go directly to video cassette channels.
Due to the tight schedule of 'Run Lola Run', coupled with Orion Pictures' appropriate promotional and distribution methods, from the rise of media discussions about Simon to the film's release, related media discussions remained very active.
This continued until February 13th, Friday.
'Run Lola Run' finally officially opened in major cities on the West Coast and in theatres in New York on the East Coast, with an opening scale of 207 screens.