Miles kept changing the subject during the chat, never daring to look Leon directly in the eyes.
This was a sign of a guilty conscience.
Leon lit a cigarette and leaned back. "I'll give you some time to consider. If you're not interested, don't waste my time."
He cursed the greed of film companies in his heart.
With the investor fully funding the project, it might seem on the surface that the film company would just earn money passively, only a question of how much.
But during the film's promotion period, the film company would have to invest resources more or less.
Relying solely on the investor couldn't handle the massive promotional work.
In new media promotion channels, a high-quality soft marketing article costs more than $2,000; if it's a well-known film critic, the price is even higher.
In traditional promotion channels, including but not limited to major online media, newspapers, interviews, offline roadshows, offline billboard advertising, etc., are all money-burning tasks.
Materials need to be distributed to more than 10,000 cinemas across the US. The costs for screening schedules and ticket subsidies rely entirely on the PY transactions (under-the-table deals) between the production side and the cinema chains.
All these require the film company's resources to connect; time and labor costs are also costs.
Based on the above considerations, a biopic about gangsta rap really finds it hard to interest film companies.
Miles was in a dilemma because the company executives had been planning a big move recently.
They bought the rights to the best-selling novel The Hunger Games, and all company resources would be prioritized for this big-budget movie in the coming year.
Leon couldn't hide his disgusted expression. "Alright, stop wasting my time. Director James and I will look for other studios. I think there are plenty of companies willing to cooperate."
After saying this, Miles's attitude suddenly underwent a huge reversal.
"Are you talking about that Chinese kid from Australia, James Wan?"
"Yes."
"You mean, this Straight Outta Compton will be directed by James?"
"That's right, James is my friend."
This ignited Miles's interest.
Their collaboration Saw created a return on investment ratio of over a hundred times and remains Lionsgate's most successful project to date.
But the foolish Lionsgate executives shelved James Wan behind the scenes after the huge success of this movie.
This was the fuse that eventually led to James Wan's departure to Universal, and the executive who made the major mistake was fired within the next two years.
For Lionsgate, whether Straight Outta Compton succeeds at the box office is no longer that important.
This would be an excellent opportunity to win back James Wan, the cash cow!
"That's simply wonderful! James maintains a good relationship with Lionsgate; our cooperation will be seamless!" Miles said excitedly.
Leon snorted coldly.
Seamless?
James Wan had long roasted this group of incompetent management thoroughly in front of him. This bunch of guys in suits all day who didn't understand movies at all were just a bunch of useless people who only knew how to sleep with actresses.
Since the other party was so interested, Leon went straight to the point and raised the core question.
How to split the box office?
To this, the experienced Miles directly played the "broken window effect," asking for a 20% cut right off the bat.
"Go fxxk yourself."
Leon got up and left without thinking. Miles, disregarding humiliation, hurriedly stood up.
"Mr. Leon, these can be discussed..."
"I don't think there's anything to discuss between us. You know the news that Disney is filming the superhero movie The Avengers, right?"
"Of course."
The news of Disney launching the Marvel Cinematic Universe was known to everyone in the American film circle.
For this highly anticipated The Avengers, the wealthy Disney invested $220 million right off the bat.
Looking through film history, such lavish spending is rare.
Warner's The Dark Knight and Paramount's Iron Man both achieved huge success at the box office.
Therefore, big-budget, big-scene superhero movies are considered the biggest trend in the film industry today.
"Do you know, according to the current negotiation progress, how much Paramount Pictures, holding the screen images of Captain America and Iron Man, can get from the final box office share?"
Facing Leon's sharp question, Miles lowered his head.
As an insider, he certainly knew better than the other party. Paramount and Disney had already conducted negotiations.
Although knowing the other party was playing dumb, Leon knocked on the table and said in a deep voice, "Let me tell you, currently Paramount proposed a 10% box office share, but Disney hasn't agreed yet."
"Paramount holds two heavyweight IPs. What do you have?"
"Stop wasting my time, idiot! I suspect some strange virus carried in some actress's tunnel has damaged your brain."
Leon's triad of curses made Miles unable to lift his head.
An elite like him who received higher education felt the care from street culture in a business negotiation for the first time.
In the end, Miles compromised. Both parties drafted an agreement regarding Straight Outta Compton.
Leon serves as the producer and fully funds the filming, while the distributor Lionsgate takes a 5% distribution agency fee.
This was the first step in the birth of a movie. Next was waiting for Lionsgate to officially announce the project approval.
The specific budget amount would be obtained after discussion and precise calculation when the movie project was approved.
Miles would submit a filing application to the Motion Picture Association of America as quickly as possible.
During this period, Leon must settle the authorization issue of N.W.A and the casting issue as soon as possible.
Then, signing a series of contracts such as actor contracts, director contracts, distribution contracts, etc.
Returning to the office, Leon didn't have a moment to rest.
He first called Kendrick and James Wan to announce the good news about Straight Outta Compton.
At the same time, he asked Kendrick to settle Dr. Dre's authorization issue as soon as possible so as not to delay the official start of the movie.
According to his vision, a biopic without CG special effects, with simple scenes and a clear script, wouldn't have a long shooting cycle.
For the need to recoup funds, this shooting cycle also must not be too long.
Knock knock—
Just as Leon wanted to stop and drink a cup of coffee, a knock sounded outside the office.
"Come in."
Phil and Old Mike walked into the office guided by Bonnie, followed by a strange middle-aged mature woman.
"When did you two bastards start hanging out together?"
Leon teased while drinking coffee.
It was simply too normal for Phil and Old Mike to hang out together; these two were birds of a feather, with exactly the same taste.
They both suffered from a disease, a disease where they would die without women.
"This is..." Leon only then noticed the mature woman behind them.
Dressed in a capable blue suit, with blonde hair in a bun, stepping on high heels at least eight centimeters high, always maintaining a charming smile on her face.
It could be completely seen that she was a beauty when she was young.
Phil hurriedly went to Leon's bookcase, dug out a bottle of whiskey, and poured a glass for everyone.
"This is Ms. Kelly, the Marketing Director of Reckitt Benckiser Group I mentioned to you before. She is in charge of the Durex brand."
Only then did Leon react; he almost forgot about this matter.
"Hello Ms. Kelly, welcome to Apocalypse Music."
"It's my honor to meet you! My daughter and I both like your music very much!" After looking around, Kelly smiled and said, "The environment here is simply great, full of strong life atmosphere..."
When saying "life atmosphere," Kelly obviously emphasized the tone, feeling like she deliberately omitted a prefix word—"sex."
Downstairs was the One-Time Love Exchange. Every day at work, one could faintly hear moans coming from next door.
Could such "life atmosphere" be insufficient?
The subsequent conversation between the two parties went very happily. Kelly didn't have the domineering temperament of Sports Illustrated editor-in-chief Claire at all.
Long engaged in an industry that can enhance people's happiness, Kelly herself had also become a happy woman.
During the negotiation process, she was always sandwiched between Old Mike and Phil. The two big hands, one left and one right, were making small moves on her tail light.
And all this was seen by Leon.
"No wonder this woman is so easy to talk to..." Leon said to himself secretly.
In just ten minutes of negotiation, the endorsement fee was raised from the initial $500,000 per quarter to $700,000.
From beginning to end, Leon didn't utter a single dirty word, or even waste much saliva.
It seemed that in these days, Old Mike and Phil had put enough "oral" effort into Kelly.
The shooting requirements were simple. Leon only needed to pose for a few shots in front of the camera and say two advertising slogans.
This money came even easier than printing it himself.
Kelly took out a picture from her Chanel quilted bag.
The content of the picture was a mouth. From the lipstick, one could judge it was a woman's mouth.
The only highlight was band-aids stuck on both corners of the mouth.
Leon understood what this meant almost instantly and asked tentatively, "So our theme is Size?"
"That's right! You will endorse our upcoming large-size featured product. My colleagues and I unanimously agree that you are the best candidate!" When Kelly spoke, there was light in her eyes, involuntarily glancing at a certain part of Leon.
"Damn..."
Ever since Kanye spent money crazily to smear Leon, plus boasting about the nickname "White Ngga" on Conan, almost all fans knew Leon had a magical dick.
Therefore, in Kelly's heart, he became the best candidate to endorse large-size featured products.
"I shouldn't have to take off my clothes for shooting, right..." Leon asked with a bitter face.
"Of course not! Our marketing strategy has always focused on creativity rather than vulgarity!"
Leon breathed a long sigh of relief.
Next, Kelly took out a stack of photos from her shoulder bag. The photos featured dazzling beauties one by one.
Leon recognized many familiar faces at a glance.
Adriana Lima, Karolina Kurkova, and even Miranda Kerr...
These were all famous Victoria's Secret supermodels.
Kelly pointed to the photos and said, "These are the actress candidates decided by the company management after discussion."
"Considering this is a featured product focusing on large size, we framed the scope of actresses from the beginning."
Leon nodded deeply in agreement.
Large-size product matching large-size actress, this is very reasonable.
It's just that this group of blonde beauties, all at least 1.75 meters tall, gave him difficulty in choosing.
Phil also leaned over, providing guidance based on his seasoned experience with women. "I think Karolina is good; I haven't tried an Eastern European woman yet!"
Leon didn't even want to look at Phil, but this was indeed a reasonable suggestion.
Karolina from the Czech Republic had reached the top level in the modeling circle and was the hottest model in Victoria's Secret shows in recent years.
With a height of over 1.8 meters and looks full of Eastern European style, she won the title of "World's Sexiest Woman."
And she had twice worn the Fantasy Bra worth $6.5 million, made of 2,000 diamonds, symbolizing the darling of Victoria's Secret.
Kelly smiled and said, "As the male lead of the advertisement, your suggestion is crucial to us... Whether there is chemistry between you and the actress will ultimately affect the quality of the finished film."
Leon spent more time choosing the actress than negotiating the contract.
He finally realized that emperor selection of concubines in feudal times was also an extremely time-consuming task.
Finally, his gaze locked on a photo.
This girl might not have the best figure among them, but her looks indeed fit Leon's aesthetics best.
The key point was that they knew each other, so there would be a little more tacit understanding when cooperating.
"Let it be Miranda."
"Miranda?" Kelly picked up the photo and examined it carefully. "I have to say you have great taste; she is indeed a sweet and pure angel..."
Leon couldn't help curling his lips.
Does the word "pure" have anything to do with the modeling circle?
Phil smiled and whispered a reminder: "Aren't you afraid Robbie will trouble you?"
"It's just work. The world is either men or women." Leon spread his hands and said.
In the subsequent conversation, Leon finally figured out why Old Mike appeared here.
He had been designated by Kelly as the director and photographer for this commercial shoot.
She evaluated Old Mike very highly, claiming the other party was "the artist who understands how to show the beauty of the female body best in the world."
It wasn't hard to hear that Old Mike must have taken many photos full of artistic flavor for Kelly too.
After establishing all contract details, Kelly satisfactorily took back the materials.
A few days later, both parties would sign the endorsement contract at Reckitt Benckiser's North American headquarters in New York, after which the commercial would officially start shooting.
Time came to early January. Leon was sitting in the office chatting with Old Mike about details to note for the commercial shoot.
Except for MV shooting, he had hardly participated in any other form of shooting, so he had to ask for extra guidance from the other party.
Just as Leon wanted to ask Old Mike about Quincy Jones and Vibe magazine, Bonnie pushed the door open and walked in.
"The latest Billboard chart is out."
"Where does Demons rank?"
"Demons is at fifth place. Recently our radio data and record sales have been very stable; it shouldn't drop anytime soon."
"Very good. Who is number one now? Katy Perry? Or Rihanna?"
"Neither."
"Could it be Robbie?"
Bonnie sighed lightly and said, "It's Adele. Rolling in the Deep left everyone far behind."
Rolling in the Deep streaming downloads exceeded 2 million, completing the summit on music charts in nine countries.