บท 25: Prepared

With film being a business operation, their methods to crush the competition are justifiable, granted that it stays in the gray area.

However, when the methods they can think of and the dish are anticipated by the competition, the clash would become interesting.

Any other boutique film production company already knows of the major studio's methods but is too powerless to overcome them.

They could only earn through production and handing the rest to the issuing studios for them to profit. This is why most production companies that are established are mostly subsidiaries of majors, have a distribution deal with majors, or have a co-production deal with majors. The last method becoming extremely prevalent in the 21st century.

If they are dissatisfied with the abysmal earnings gained from that, they could also turn to selling their movies directly to Blockbuster or any other videotape retail chain. Unfortunately, the earnings from that are about the same as working with distribution companies for theatrical releases.

Without the widespread influence of theater releases, those direct to Blockbuster movies would not gain much audience. Ergo, pitiful profits in the end.

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Sullivan and his Creed Films are on the prepared side of the competition.

His kind grandfather's plea has already solved the trouble with the MPAA for at least 5 films. With Home Alone being PG-13, the studios' manipulation of the sequel to become rated R would be unlikely.

Although MPAA members have absolute control, abusing it would earn the ire of Home Alone fans which are gradually forming.

For the smear campaign against Home Alone, the Creeds did not worry much. 12.1 million dollars and counting had already established the movie to the community.

The bashing of critics and scandal of unknown actors won't stop much of their growing profits.

If their tactic can stop a Guinness-breaking movie of about 500 million in total box office from the original timeline, then Alexander can applaud them.

Even if the total box office would stop at 20 million due to the aggressiveness of critics, they'd still make money. The locked and loaded 4 sequels with ultra-low-cost would be another bonus in the making.

If all else fails in the movie industry, Alexander would have already jumped ship into the programming industry he could dominate without hassle.

It would be the worst-case scenario for Alexander whose looking for a new pace in life.

Conclusively, the smear tactic might work but it wouldn't damage much. The Creeds weren't at the level of Michael Jackson, after all.

As for the matter of overseas distribution, Alexander could already guess that his grandfather's 1,000 opening screens wouldn't be confined to North America alone.

The only question to answer by then is how and who his North American distributor is. If it isn't any established company or even a second-tier like New Line, there must be another company that Alexander's future foresight has missed out on.

Alexander has to admit that his general knowledge of the film industry is confined to what the general public of the future knows but that future knowledge is still enough to be an edge over the true industry experts.

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Curiosity can't be kept anymore and Alexander out front asked his old grandfather that is grinning madly when looking at the newspaper.

"Grandpa, what is the name of the distribution company that you used? Wouldn't it be less risky for us if we went with the more powerful kind?"

"As you said, it would have less risk but the profits wouldn't be ours. Even the 4 prequels as our trump card for further negotiations wouldn't amount to much." Sullivan did extensive research on distribution companies and their exploitation of pure production companies, so he knows what they would face.

"The first films of new production companies would always be a buyout contract when they hope for theatrical release. Only at the next few successful films would they be eligible for box office sharing."

Alexander added from his understanding. "So, with our 300,000 dollar movie, the distribution companies would just pay us higher than that and they'll have the rest. Isn't that just picking up a bargain? There are already 12 million dollars on the table, does that mean we have nothing to do with that earning?"

Sullivan shook his head. "It's much worse than you think. They would probably buy our 300,000-dollar movie for 250,000 or less. When they buy the movie at a bargain, they would include the sequel rights as well. If I went on with it, the already produced Home Alones would be theirs for free."

"Couldn't the film owners negotiate for a much more acceptable price?" Even Alexander felt dissatisfied with the underhandedness of distribution companies.

"Of course, you can negotiate but that is until you've proven yourself in the industry. An actor turning to film producing would have much higher chances of negotiating deals with issuance than novices." Sullivan exasperatedly shook his head.

This made sense to Alexander who read about how Tom Cruise earned more from the Mission Impossible series than the studio.

His success as a superstar and production company owner led the way for stars to follow suit and earn more through production companies of their own. 20 million dollars plus dividends weren't the peaks of their career but a threshold to overcome.

"I, myself could ask for favorable terms but it is too much of a hassle." Sullivan continued. "Me, having filming roots and five ready-mades can have a great shot but I ultimately decided against dealing with those distribution companies especially when the person who squeezed me out is still eyeing me."

"Who made the Home Alone release happen then?! Don't tell me that it was your kind heart that convinced theater companies to screen it without undergoing proper channels." The boy pointed out the glaring flaw in his grandfather's words.

Sullivan grinned at that. "I decided against 'those' distribution companies but not all of them. I judged that it would be better to not outsource stuff and dilute much of the profits. It is better to keep it to myself."

Alexander's black eyes reflected enlightenment and look towards his grandfather with admiration. "So, you actually built a distribution company for yourself!"