Chapter 54 Maximizing Benefits

Does Cao Yang have sincerity?

Of course he does. Otherwise, how could he have brought people over from Sony Pictures Classics and MK2 even before participating in the film festival?

If the goal were simply to maximize copyright profits, he naturally should have waited until the film won awards, making the copyrights more valuable and earning more US dollars.

However, doing so would be rather short-sighted.

Take Ang Lee's *Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon*, for example. It received ten Oscar nominations and ultimately won four—four out of ten.

Did the judges give him ten nominations simply because his film was brilliant after he submitted it to the Oscars?

That was impossible.

In America, if you don't lobby and spend big money, how could you possibly get nominated? How could you possibly win?

The public relations and operational expenses for an Oscar-winning film all cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and in US dollars at that.

Who pays this money?

If you sell the copyrights, the company that buys them decides whether or not to run the campaign, and they foot the bill. Of course, winning an award brings greater returns.

If you don't sell the copyrights, you have to find a PR firm yourself and pay out of pocket.

Cao Yang's purpose was very simple. Assuming he didn't bring in Sony Pictures Classics and MK2, and relied solely on the school, there was a strong possibility of winning an award, but it wouldn't maximize profits.

With Sony Pictures Classics and MK2 on board, maximizing profits became possible.

Assuming the film could win an award at Venice, its overseas copyright fees would be around 2.5 million to 3 million US dollars.

Why would it sell for less than his first film?

His first film won two Silver Bears, which guaranteed higher sales.

Even if this new film won an award, because the jury lacked insiders, it would be difficult to secure two major prizes. Even with the boost in his reputation, it definitely wouldn't be as valuable as the first film.

This assumed normal circumstances.

What was the special circumstance? Collaborating with Sony Pictures Classics and MK2.

Although MK2's home turf was Cannes, this year they definitely had the leverage to influence the Venice Film Festival.

At the recent Cannes Film Festival, Nanni Moretti, an Italian director supported by MK2, had won the Cannes Palme d'Or with *The Son's Room*.

According to reliable intelligence gathered by Old Tian, this year's Venice Film Festival was inclined to invite Nanni Moretti to serve as the jury president.

MK2 possessed the ability to influence Nanni Moretti.

What passed between Mikhalkov and Berman, Cao Yang did not know, but when Berman saw Cao Yang again, his attitude was much more enthusiastic than before. To show intimacy, he even addressed Cao Yang directly as "Cao."

However, due to pronunciation issues, Cao Yang felt it sounded particularly awkward and quickly stopped him, asking him to use both his first and last name instead.

One wanted to sell, the other wanted to buy, and this copyright negotiation went exceptionally smoothly.

Moreover, contrary to Cao Yang's expectations, Sony Pictures Classics offered a price twenty thousand dollars higher than his previous film, paying 1.7 million dollars for the copyrights excluding Europe and Greater China.

MK2's price for the European copyrights remained at 1.6 million dollars.

Cao Yang did not bargain excessively. At this price, if the film failed to win an award, it would definitely lose money.

Therefore, if you want to make a profit, go run your campaigns for me.

If you want to make a big profit, work hard on the lobbying and win a few more awards for the film.

If you want to make a massive profit, find every possible way to engineer a Golden Lion!

Once the deal was struck, Cao Yang informed Hou Keming that the overseas copyrights had been sold to Sony Pictures Classics and MK2.

Talking to smart people saved effort. Cao Yang merely dropped a hint, and Hou Keming understood immediately, stating directly that he would discuss the Venice matters with the two parties.

The three parties shared common interests, and Cao Yang believed they would certainly have very pleasant discussions.

At the same time, Hou Keming told Cao Yang that the film had been submitted for censorship, and he would keep a close eye on it, doing everything possible to get it cleared as quickly as possible.

Furthermore, Hou Keming purposely reminded Cao Yang to discuss the film's trip to Venice thoroughly with Tian Zhuangzhuang.

He utterly despised riddlers who only spoke in half-sentences!

Two days later, Mikhalkov, Berman, and their group were set to leave. Before departure, Mikhalkov specifically sought out Cao Yang to offer some personal advice.

He told Cao Yang that if a film wanted to win top honors at the "Big Three" European festivals, aside from luck and having sufficient backing, one should not strive for perfection. Instead, one could try taking an unorthodox, even extreme approach, which might actually yield results.

Go to extremes?

Cao Yang understood Mikhalkov's meaning. Taking an extreme approach might strike a chord with certain high-level members of the film festival, earning their staunch support and making it easier to capture the top prize.

The more extreme your approach and the more eccentric your play, the easier it was to gain support. These European artsy snobs really were all a bit abnormal.

Although Cao Yang hadn't quite grasped the deeper meaning behind Hou Keming's words from two days ago, now that the people from Sony Pictures Classics and MK2 had left, he had free time and could simply ask Old Tian to find out.

At the same familiar restaurant, the two ordered four dishes and a few bottles of beer, eating and chatting.

"How wonderful it would be to have some hard liquor; this stuff has no kick at all," Old Tian said, taking a sip and shaking his head in complaint.

"Teacher told me to keep an eye on you while we're out and not let you binge drink. I certainly can't knowingly make a mistake," Cao Yang said, taking a sip and picking up some food.

Old Tian took a bite of food, chewing while asking indistinctly, "You've only had two days of peace; don't tell me you've got another idea already."

"How could that be? I'm no deity; polishing a script takes time."

Old Tian raised his cup, intending to drink, but paused upon hearing this, put the cup down, and asked in surprise, "You kid don't actually have an idea brewing, do you?"

"I do have some thoughts, but not that soon. Even if we shoot, it'll have to wait until after the Venice Film Festival. Let's drop that for now. Dean Hou told me you have connections in Venice and asked me to consult you."

Cao Yang decided to probe Old Tian to see if he was really as Hou Keming had claimed.

Old Tian's hand holding his chopsticks paused, he let out a chuckle, put the chopsticks down, picked up his cup, and drained it in one gulp.

So there really were special circumstances?

Cao Yang poured a full glass for Old Tian and said, "Senior brother, if this puts you in a difficult position, just pretend I didn't ask."

Old Tian fell silent for a moment, then sighed and said, "Actually, it's no great secret. I have a very good friend who deeply appreciates my talent and values me highly. Because of certain reasons, I was banned from directing for ten years, so I feel a bit embarrassed to ask him for a favor."

Before Cao Yang could press further, Old Tian drank another half-glass of beer and continued, "His name is Muller, an Italian. He came here to study abroad in 1974 and loves domestic cinema. Because a few of us are around the same age, he's friends with almost all the Fifth Generation directors you always talk about..."

"Wait, wait..."

Cao Yang reached out to cut Old Tian off and asked again, "What did you just say the person who appreciates you is named?"

"Appreciates, values! Values! He values me! We're good friends, a pure friendship!"

Old Tian emphasized this several times before saying, "Muller, his name is Marco Mueller. We all call him Old Ma. Otherwise, how do you think I had the ability to know in advance who the Venice jury president would be?"

"Holy crap! Not bad, Old Tian."

Cao Yang looked at Old Tian in surprise. He truly hadn't expected that while Hou Keming was still dropping hints, Old Tian had already taken action.

He asked again, "Marco Mueller, the head of the Asia programming selection committee for the Venice Film Festival since 1986, and he still holds the concurrent position of Asia programming head to this day—is that him?"

Old Tian nodded and asked with some perplexity, "He has indeed always been the Venice Film Festival's Asia programming head, but what do you mean by 'still holds'? Is he running another film festival now? Rotterdam or Locarno?"

Oh, Old Tian, your information is far too outdated. It seems that during these years of not directing, you really haven't been keeping up with these things.