Chapter 147
Eric had kept looking down at the documents in front of him. In fact, he was slightly distracted. He also thought about «Batman». Although the first «Batman» was a great success, in his memory Warner started down the endless hole that was the «Batman» series.
In the next ten years, Warner will produce several Batman sequels in succession, with an average investment of more than 100 million US dollars, but these only made just more than a 100 million box office in North America. It is estimated that with the global box office and the other earnings, Warner can only just manage to recoup costs. For a big productions that require investments of hundreds of millions of dollars, to approximately recoup costs, even if it is a small profit, is actually a loss, because if it was deposited in a bank, the money will be able to reap a large amount of interest in a few years. It may even make double if invested in other projects.
It wasn't until Amy poked his arm with a pen, that Eric found that he had become the focus of everyone in the conference room, and that many people were looking at him with obvious dissatisfaction.
Although the 《Running Out of Time》 project was snatched by Columbia from Fox at a price, it does not mean that Eric will be loved and welcomed by Colombian executives. In fact, there were few that liked him in the entire management. Even Amy Pascal, who has always had a good relationship with Eric, had a somewhat complex opinion of Eric.
This is mainly because of «Home Alone», as after the end of May, the box office of «Home Alone» will finally finish, and that Eric will receive a share of about 120 million US dollars is a well-known thing in the conference room, whilst Colombia can only take 40 million of the profits, and overseas distribution rights were also snatched by Fox for various reasons. Therefore, Eric took most of the profits, which means that all the executives will receive smaller bonuses at the end of the year.
Coupled with the《Running Out of Time》profit split agreement, regardless of the outcome of the box office of this movie, Eric is actually the biggest profit-maker, and this project does not have a penny of Eric's investment, but the other party will get a high proportion of the box office when it is divided. As such it's clear that the executives would be upset. Although many shareholders will also benefit from《Running Out of Time》pushing up the stock price of Colombia, most of the executives in the conference room do not have Colombia stock in their hands.
With such a complicated mood, it is not difficult to understand that the people would intentionally or unintentionally ignore the existence of Eric at the meeting.
Eric’s previous propaganda paper that he submitted did not receive a response. He had already predicted this situation today. Although he had prepared some rhetoric before coming, because of the cold reception at the meeting, Eric was too lazy to take the initiative to jump out and be reputed.
Anyway, according to the original signed agreement, after the film is released, regardless of the outcome, he is the biggest beneficiary, and this just determines the difference between earning more and earning less. There is no possibility of loss for Firefly that has not invested a penny. Originally Eric did have some concerns about the box office prospects of the film. After all, this was a new type of work that was completely unheard of and did not exist in Hollywood.
However, after the series of internal screenings the film critics had given good reviews, so Eric has let go of his worries.
The internal preview can basically determine the commercial value of a movie, although sometimes mistakes can occur, but in most cases, the professional filmmakers who have been immersed in Hollywood for decades will not be wrong, and the results of the reviewer's preview also indicate the reputation of a movie after the release of the movie. Before the Internet era, the establishment of a movie's reputation was mainly word-of-mouth and through various kinds of film reviews in the media. Many fans read the newspapers and after the reading the film reviews, they will decide whether to watch a movie or not.
Now that both have a basic guarantee, Eric is no longer worried that this movie will become his Kryptonite. As for the unfortunate timing with «Batman», it can only be said that his luck is not good, but it is not the end of the world.
Amy Pascal saw that Eric had stunned eyes after looking up and came over to whisper a few words in his ear.
"Sorry, everyone, I just got a little distracted." After Amy spoke, Eric sighed and said, "I actually sent a document with my propaganda advice directly to Columbia. The distribution department, maybe because I am an amateur in this regard, did not reflect content of that document in the《Running Out of Time》propaganda strategy as far as I have seen."
In the conference room, there was a loud discussion. Most people didn’t even know that Eric had submitted such a document, and the director of the propaganda department had a bit of a guilty conscience. He was originally raised by Blunt Cohen, although Blunt Cohen left the job, he has always maintained a good relationship with his old boss.
As a result, because of Blount Cohen, he didn't have much affection for Eric. After the secretary gave him Eric’s document, he laughed and tossed the document aside without even looking at it. He didn't want Eric to intervene in the propaganda of 《Running Out of Time》, nor did he think that Eric could have any new ideas.
In the face of everyone's gaze, the supervisor could only stammer and argue: "I... I don't think Mr. Williams' plan is... there is nothing surprising, so I didn't care too much, just... Just..."
"Forget it, don't say anymore," the current president of Colombia, who sat on the front, waved and interrupted the other's defence. So many people can seen that you is lying, so arguing will only make people laugh. "Eric, everyone is here, so simply explain your... well, plan."
"Good, so I will," Eric stood up and came to the meeting room under the other's instructions. With the writing board in front of him, he picked up a black pen and wrote a word on the whiteboard: "I call my idea "topic marketing". Of course, this is just an appropriate name that I temporarily came up with as there is no such concept in the theory of orthodox marketing, so please don't mind." In his memory the concept of topic marketing gradually matured after the emergence of online blogs. Before that, there were some hype scandals. It was similar to marketing behaviours, but when this concept appeared, Eric does not know.
"The advertising before《Running Out of Time》has already reached the maximum, so we can't do anything else with the orthodox propaganda techniques, so if you want to make a breakthrough, you can only choose a topic that seems to have little to do with the movie. In fact, I think many movies have attracted attention of fans without advertising but with sex scandals between the male and female leads, and this can be classified as topic marketing.
After Eric finished, he waiting to take in everyone's reactions before continuing: “The focus of everyone’s debate before was whether the《Running Out of Time》should be delayed for a week. I think that my plan can just the best of both worlds. Without the delay, and if done properly, the second week's box office will have unexpected results, and you can maximize the compensation for the loss in the first week's box office that «Batman» brings.
As everyone in the meeting room watched with curious eyes, Eric wrote the words 'implanted ad' and 'television' on the whiteboard.
"Everyone knows that there are a lot of implant ads in《Running Out of Time》, so there have been some small disputes between us." Eric pointed at the 'implanted ad' with smile, the executives in the conference room also laughed in kind, because Eric had previously received a $6 million advertising fee with by using a large number of implanted advertisements in 《Running Out of Time》. After learning about this, Colombia wanted to take a share of it. After all, $6 million is not a small amount money and could be used to make the movie. However, Eric converted the advertising fee into his personal income through a specific contract, rather than the income of the movie《Running Out of Time》. As a result, Colombia did not get a penny.
When everyone's laughter fell away, Eric went on to say: "My plan is centered on the topic of implanting advertisements and the TV series I am about to make. I am confident that the implantation of these advertisements is still very clever, so even the film critics who participated in the screening didn't find anything wrong, and they didn't notice the TV series that appeared three during the movie. As even these film critics didn't notice, I believe the audience noticing is even less likely. I am betting that they will only be immersed in the story of the movie. The topic marketing that I am talking about is that after the film is released, we artificially create a topic that guides the audience to notice this. If it succeeds, a large number of fans will, in the second week of the movie's showing, return or even watch repeatedly."
Here, a senior executive Interjection: "Eric, you can try the topic of your TV series, but I remember that you specifically explained us before, when advertising to not mention any topic of product placement, in order to prevent the fans from being repulsed."
Eric explained: "Of course, so, I just said that we reveal it after the film is released. After the film’s first three days after first weekend, the reviews of《Running Out of Time》will have been confirmed. I believe everyone knows this to be right. The film's word of mouth will be full of confidence. Since the fans have already determined that this is a good movie, then when we will reveal the implanted adds, the fans will not be disgusted, but will treat it as an interesting thing, just like we are always tolerant of the shortcomings of those who are outstanding. No one will criticize Napoleon’s height, Einstein’s indifference, or Mrs. Curie’s cough. Of course, this is a must condition. The media is guided by public opinion. We must ensure that most of the media’s attitude towards this matter is based on ridicule rather than criticism. The specific plan, I have already written in the document I submitted, but of course, the professionals must revise this, after all, I am just a layman in this regard, and their may be many things I have not considered."
Eric finished, and once more sat in his seat. The president of Colombia turned his attention to the executive who was responsible for promotion: "Ryan, is Eric’s document still there?"
Ryan's hand under the conference table hit his knee and he responded with uncertainty: "Maybe ...... Still, I will ask my assistant to find out."
"Go in person, make a few more copies and send them to us as soon as possible."
"Okay, I will go." He stood up and left the meeting in a hurry. The meeting room was now in a tentative state, everyone talked about what Eric had just said, and Eric was no longer left out, as he was surrounded by people discussing with him.