Chapter 319 The production of "Spirited Away" is completed, looking for theater release channels

The production of "Spirited Away" has been basically completed.

Fang Xing has already seen the first cut version and is very satisfied with the overall effect.

The total running time of the first cut is 150 minutes, which is a bit too long for a movie released in theaters.

However, it is normal for the first cut version to be a little longer.

Fang Xing hired another team that was good at editing animated films to edit again and requested that the film be cut to about 120 minutes.

Nowadays, theater movies usually have a duration of 90 minutes in order to keep the pace tight.

However, a 120-minute movie is not too long.

For the movie "Spirited Away", it is a relatively suitable length, about 125 minutes including the opening and closing credits.

The two-hour duration will not make the audience feel too dragged out, nor will it be too tight.

Once the final cut is released, preparations will begin for release.

Fang Xing plans to release it during the long holiday period of October 1, so during the editing period, he needs to find release channels.

The theater film industry has a standard process.

Usually, a movie requires three links from production to release.

Produced, produced, distributed.

Ark Culture is the producer of "Spirited Away" and Liang Jing Studio is the producer.

At present, Ark Culture has not obtained a "Film Distribution License" and cannot distribute movies. It needs to find another company with a distribution license to cooperate.

In fact, even if Ark Culture has a film distribution license, it does not have the resources and channels for theaters, publicity, and local promotion, so it still needs to find a film and television company to cooperate in distribution.

The movie theater industry is in deep water.

Ark Culture is far from reaching the strength to independently release movies.

Because the work of film distribution is not that simple.

The distributor needs to make a copy of the movie, send it to theaters across the country, apply for a key, and schedule it.

In addition, you also need to do publicity and purchase advertising.

Movie posters and signage in movie theaters in major cities across the country need to be arranged by someone. These are the jobs of the distributor.

Therefore, with the scale of Ark Culture, it is simply impossible to cover so many cities across the country.

In addition, during the movie's release period, people have to be sent to movie theaters across the country to do activities, promote, watch the show, supervise tickets, etc.

These tasks can only be done by specialized distribution companies, and general production companies cannot do them at all.

Therefore, if "Spirited Away" wants to be released in theaters, it must find a distribution company to cooperate.

The stronger the distribution company is, the more publicity resources the film can obtain, including local promotion and advertising space, which the distribution company needs to fight for.

Of course, the stronger the distribution company, the more movies it will share.

There is no free lunch in the world. If you want to get more distribution resources, you need to pay more money.

Ark Culture already has two hit TV series, but they have not achieved success on the big screen.

Therefore, in the film industry, Ark Culture is actually equivalent to starting from scratch.

Of course, having produced "Wulin Gaiden" and "The Beginning" successively, Fang Xing already has some connections in film and television.

At least he won't be blinded by a black eye.

Moreover, many film and television companies have previously taken the initiative to ask if Ark Culture has any new projects.

"Spirited Away" has actually been produced for more than two years and is not considered a new project, but it is about to be released and requires a distribution company to cooperate.

Therefore, when "Spirited Away" was undergoing final editing, Fang Xing arranged for the company's publicity department to contact film and television companies in the industry to look for possible cooperation.

Ark Culture has made many film and television companies remember its name thanks to its two hit TV series.

Therefore, many film and television companies are willing to contact us, but when they hear that it is a film project and an animated film, they are not so enthusiastic.

If Fang Xing is filming a TV series this time, there will be many film and television companies vying to cooperate.

However, movies are completely different.

TV series and movies are two very different industries.

It is very difficult for directors, stars, and film and television companies who have prospered in the film industry to enter the film industry, and many of them fail in the end.

In the TV industry, as long as a top star is hired to play the male lead and it is filmed, no matter what the plot is, at least you will not lose money and some fans will be willing to pay for it.

After all, the cost of TV series is relatively low, and if you are not in a hurry to catch up on the series, you can watch the entire episode for free.

However, it's different when it comes to the film industry.

Every movie ticket is worth real money.

It doesn't matter how famous a top star is, how popular he or she is, or how crazy his fans are, as long as he's in a theatrical movie, he's a bastard who's out of fashion, and it's clear at a glance whether he's a celebrity or not.

Therefore, the film industry is much more difficult than the television industry.

There are even many TV series that are popular in the world, have blockbusters every year, and are trending in the top searches every day, but they don’t work well in the film industry.

Therefore, after proving his strength in the television industry, if he wants to enter the big screen, he still has to start from scratch and will not receive much preferential treatment.

Of course, the name Ark Culture is not useless at all.

At least it allows the issuing company to sit down and discuss the project seriously instead of just sweeping the plan into the trash can.

During this period, Fang Xing took the first cut of "Spirited Away" and personally talked with several film and television distribution companies.

However, the discussion is more general.

Because the distribution company does not have enough confidence in animated films, and "Spirited Away" does not follow a sophisticated animation style.

Exquisite character modeling is popular in animated movies nowadays, with the purpose of making the audience think the characters are beautiful at first glance.

However, "Spirited Away" does not have this exquisite style, and it is not so mainstream in the current animated film environment.

Although the plot looks good, the distribution company has no confidence in the film.

Although I am not confident, I am not completely uncooperative.

However, because I have only a moderate interest in movies, the conditions for applying are generally relatively low.

According to the guiding opinions of the film industry regulatory authorities, the combined share ratio of producers and distributors cannot be less than 43% of the net box office in principle.

Therefore, for movies released in theaters, 57% will first be divided by theaters and theaters, and the rest will be divided by producers and distributors.

Ark Culture is the producer, and they had already signed a share ratio agreement with Liang Jing Studio when they invested in "Spirited Away".

Therefore, Liangjing Studio is only responsible for producing animations, and Ark Culture is responsible for the rest.

Among the remaining 43% of the account, the exact share between the producer and the distributor depends on how the two parties negotiate.

In addition, there are publicity and distribution costs.

Normally, the publicity fee is paid by the issuer, and the amount will be written in the contract.

How much the distributor is willing to pay for promotion depends on how much they value the film.

So far, Fang Xing has talked with several issuing companies. The conditions offered by these issuing companies are very average. The publicity fees given are very small, but the required account sharing ratio is very high.

In the film industry, this situation is very common.

You know, in the film industry, less than one-tenth of the films produced every year are eligible for theatrical release.

Of the ten films, only one has a chance to be released in theaters.

What about the remaining nine movies?

Don’t these movies compete with theaters?

Of course there is competition.

Therefore, the reality is that ten films compete for a chance to be released in theaters.

In order to get this opportunity, many producers can only take the initiative to lower the conditions and give the distributor a higher share of the share.

The competition in the film industry is so cruel.

The situation of Ark Culture is still good, at least we can discuss the specific accounts and details of the issuance from the beginning.

In other words, "Spirited Away" hasn't even been released yet, but it has already defeated 90% of the movies and has a chance to be released in theaters.

All that needs to be discussed is the account sharing ratio.

However, the account sharing ratios and promotional resources provided by these issuing companies are similar.

After all, distribution companies have a mature set of criteria for judging movies. There are conventions for what kind of movies should be given what kind of accounting and promotional resources.

A company like Ark Culture, which has never proven its strength on the big screen, will find it difficult to obtain good resources simply by relying on its reputation in the television industry.

…

On the contrary, if it is a movie produced by a big director in the film industry, the situation is completely different.
To be continued...