Chapter 99

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Standing opposite the young director, Jones-Butler realized she had indeed underestimated him. His progress was not only evident but astonishing. Before the end of the film, she thought it was just very good, but after watching the ending, the feeling of amazement lingered no matter what.

The beginning and ending of a film are very important. In the highly commercialized system of Hollywood, the beginning and ending can account for more than 60% of the film's attention. Her boss, Harvey Weinstein, once said that if a film has a well-coordinated and outstanding beginning and ending, the middle content can be filled in随意, as long as it's not too bad, the audience will buy it.

The beginning of this film was decent, and the ending was beyond amazing. The middle content was not only not bad but also quite outstanding.

Jones-Butler took a deep breath. If this film were to be handled by Miramax, what would its market value be?

She couldn't estimate it for the moment, but it would definitely be far higher than "Hard Candy."

"Great movie, Director Stanton." Jones-Butler shook hands with Murphy, glanced at her watch, "It's getting late, I have some things to do, I should go."

Murphy stood in front of the cinema, not trying to retain her, "Goodbye."

Watching Jones-Butler drive away, Murphy turned to look at the theater entrance. It was now empty. The people he and Bill Roche had invited seemed eager to leave, giving him a quick greeting and fleeing as if he, the director of the film, were Jigsaw.

"This is a good thing." Bill Roche walked over from behind and stood next to Murphy, "From my observation, this film has completely exceeded their expectations. A few of them gave it very high praise in private. They must have gone back to their companies."

Murphy nodded. He had been in this circle for some time and had some understanding of how film companies operate. Unless it was a few top-tier executives, any project involving millions or even hundreds of thousands of dollars couldn't be decided on a whim.

From the attitudes of Merton Johnson, Tony Guzman, and Jones-Butler as they left, he could see that they were very interested in "Saw."

Distribution companies occupy the upper echelons of the industry chain. A project with enough selling points can fully realize its market value.

Paul Wilson, Seth Rogen, and Jonah Hill then brought out the film copy. Murphy waved to them, "Go store the copy at the security company, and let's go have lunch."

During the screening, he had also seen everyone's reactions. Although it was far from time to celebrate, they could have a drink to relax a bit.

Just as Murphy stored the copy and called James Franco, and they all walked into the restaurant, in the Lionsgate Films office in Santa Monica, many people from the marketing and distribution departments rushed to the meeting room.

The meeting room was quiet. A dozen people sat on either side, with Merton Johnson standing at the front of the conference table, "Does anyone know about Stanton Studios and the director, Murphy Stanton?"

Everyone looked at each other. Where did this small company and new director come from? They had never heard of them.

Merton Johnson pulled out a chair and sat down, tapping the table lightly with two fingers, "From now on, you must immediately find information about him and establish a complete director's file."

Hearing this, many people looked at Merton Johnson in surprise. Directors who could be given a dedicated file by Lionsgate Films were usually potential partners with some reputation in the industry. Completely unknown directors were not unheard of, but they were very rare.

"Jamie..." Merton Johnson looked at a middle-aged man, and after the female assistant handed him a business card, he said, "This is Murphy Stanton's contact information. Contact him as soon as possible, and you must all see his new film within three days at the latest."

"His new film?" Jamie Winstone was a bit puzzled but said, "I'll start right after the meeting."

"To everyone here!" Merton Johnson said extremely seriously, "After Jamie arranges the screening with Stanton Studios, I require you to temporarily put aside all your work and go see that film, evaluate it, and the marketing and distribution departments must give me a complete report as soon as possible."

Thinking that they might not be able to secure the film, he added, "Have the editorial department participate as well."

With Merton Johnson saying this, these people couldn't help but take it seriously and began to work busily after the meeting.

Just as the meeting ended, the female assistant received a call and walked over to Merton Johnson, "I asked a friend to look into Murphy Stanton. He has been in prison, has some entanglements with the LAPD, and has offended Sumner Redstone..."

"Hmm..." Merton Johnson just nodded but didn't care, "These are things that gossip media should be concerned about, not us."

As for Sumner Redstone, Lionsgate Films wasn't a Viacom company, so he didn't care. With such a film that looked quite marketable in front of them, who would care if the director had offended Sumner Redstone?

In an office building near the Century City Fox Tower, Tony Guzman was pacing anxiously in front of a meeting room, occasionally checking his watch. The executives of Fox Searchlight were in a meeting, and it was about time for it to end.

The door of the meeting room suddenly opened, and serious-looking executives walked out. Seeing his boss, Godin Clyde, coming over, Tony Guzman hurriedly approached.

"What are you doing here?" His boss's tone was a bit harsh, clearly in a bad mood.

He followed his boss into a quiet corridor, "I just saw a film. In the low-budget category of under five million dollars, I think it's worth five stars."

"What?" His boss turned around. He knew that Tony Guzman was a veteran in the company, always cautious and rarely gave such high praise to a film, "You're not joking, are you?"

Tony Guzman said very seriously, "When have I ever joked about work?"

His boss nodded, "Can you contact the other party to arrange another screening?"

Fox Searchlight, especially the distribution department, had a terrible first quarter with no films to show for it. The parent company had put enormous pressure on them, and during the meeting, the board members had already lost their temper.

He, as the head of the distribution department, was the first to bear the brunt.

Tony Guzman took out his phone, "I'll do it right now."

Jones-Butler returned to her hotel, sat in the living room of the suite, and recalled the film she had just watched. She flipped through her notebook and thought seriously for a while. Thinking about the success of "Hard Candy," she finally made up her mind.

She picked up her phone, dialed a few numbers, and when the call was answered, she said, "Boss, I have a film here. If you have time, it would be best if you could come and see it."

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