Chapter 63: Contract Details

Arizona.

In the small town of Coolidge, south of Phoenix.

The date was February 3rd.

At 2 PM, Katherine Bigelow stood in front of the hotel where the film crew was staying, watching as a black Chevrolet SUV, covered in dust, approached from the distance. As the vehicle came to a stop, she instinctively took a couple of steps forward.

Simon Westeros stepped out of the car and surveyed Katherine, who was dressed in a fitted black wool sweater and jeans, before opening his arms and giving her a hug. "You look even better in black," he said.

Katherine frowned slightly at him, then changed the subject. "I heard about the news in 'The Hollywood Reporter' yesterday. Are you sure it's okay for you to be here?"

"Of course, everything's pretty much handled now; we just have to wait for the release. Besides, I think I should get away for a while, sometimes more is less."

Katherine nodded, somewhat understanding, and gestured towards the back. "I've prepared a room for you. Also, have you had lunch yet?"

Simon shook his head, smiling. "Not yet. I thought I'd come here and let you treat me."

Rolling her eyes, Katherine pointed across the street. "Let's go there. There's a restaurant nearby."

As they crossed the broad asphalt road of the small town, Simon, recalling the vast desert flats he passed on the interstate highway, commented, "It's really empty out here."

"Coolidge has about six thousand people. That's quite a lot already," Katherine replied as she walked beside him. Then she asked, "Weren't you planning to collaborate with Fox Studios? How come it switched to Orion?"

"It didn't work out," Simon replied with a hint of resignation. "Orion was easier to communicate with."

Nodding in understanding, Katherine asked, "What terms did Orion offer?"

Reaching the restaurant, Simon held the door for her and said, "They're only taking the North American theatrical distribution rights for now, keeping other channels as a priority option for us. We get a 15% share of the revenue."

Katherine entered the restaurant, surprised by his response. "15%? That's pretty good."

In Hollywood, movie studios with distribution channels are incredibly dominant. Handling the promotion, distribution, and commission for a film typically means they take over 30% of the movie's box office revenue.

Additionally, due to lower attendance rates and other reasons, independent art films often get even less from distributors, with some getting less than 30% of the box office revenue.

Combining these factors, securing a 15% share for a low-budget film like "Run Lola Run" was somewhat surprising to Katherine.

They sat down at a table, and Simon ordered lunch and coffee. He explained, "It's not as good as you think. It's conditional; we have to cover the duplication costs ourselves. Also, I've signed a package deal with Orion that includes both screenwriting and directing."

To secure that 15%, Simon and Mike Meadow from Orion had negotiated hard all of last Saturday, nearly pushing the percentage to a decimal point.

Even with the added conditions, it was a struggle.

Mike Meadow argued that since Simon was willing to bear the duplication costs, he should pay this expense upfront. Simon couldn't afford it at the moment, so Orion eventually agreed to advance the payment, deducting it from future box office revenues.

Regarding the package deal, Mike Meadow was initially interested in "Final Destination," offering $500,000 for it.

$300,000 of that was Simon's directorial fee, with $200,000 as the screenplay fee for "Final Destination." Although not a member of the director's and writer's guilds, Simon would still enjoy similar profit-sharing terms according to industry standards.

"Final Destination" had already caught Fox's attention, but they were waiting on the reception to "The Butterfly Effect" and hadn't made an offer yet. However, under an exception clause in Simon's contract with Fox, it was feasible to hand "Final Destination" over to Orion if he chose to direct it.

However, Simon had no interest in directing the film himself; he merely wanted to sign a blank contract without any specific details, waiting until he found a script that interested him.

Mike Meadow naturally disagreed.

Eventually, both sides compromised, and Simon signed a blank contract with a base salary of $500,000 but retained the right to renegotiate profit-sharing terms.

In the restaurant, as Katherine sipped her coffee and listened to Simon detail his strategic negotiations with Mike Meadow, she joked, "Half a million dollars, and you're still not satisfied? I only get $150,000."

Simon withdrew his arm from the table as the waiter served their lunch. Picking up his fork, he tried some pasta and said, "When I have the money, I'll give you a blank contract. Fill in

 whatever investment and salary you want."

Katherine avoided his gaze and responded, "I don't need your money."

"Then I'll help you raise investments."

"I can do it myself."

Simon quickly nodded. "Oh, right."

As Katherine watched Simon eat, she bit her lip and asked, "Do you think I can't make a good movie?"

Simon immediately shook his head. "Of course not. I believe you could be the first woman to win the Oscar for Best Director."

However, Katherine continued to stare at him, unconvinced. "You think I can't make a good movie."

Simon was taken aback by her intuition and wished he could take back his words.

Looking up sincerely, he said, "Nobody is born knowing how to walk. So even if you can't do it now, you will be able to eventually."

Katherine met his gaze again and suddenly felt like she was being petty.

God, she thought, I'm crazy.

Lifting her coffee cup, she took a sip, casting a stealthy glance at Simon as he resumed eating. Only then did she relax.

After a moment of silence, Katherine brought up a new topic in a soft voice, "So, how many screens is Orion planning for 'Run Lola Run'?"

Simon, seemingly forgetting their earlier conversation, casually replied, "About 200 screens. We can only pull that many in two weeks, especially since it's off-season. Plus, these screens are mainly on the West Coast; the East Coast will have some limited screenings, mainly in New York."

In the 1980s, the media industry was not as developed as it would later become. The discussion around Simon and "Run Lola Run" was mostly concentrated within the reach of the "Los Angeles Times" and a few West Coast states.

Therefore, Orion also chose to focus its marketing resources on the West Coast.

200 screens for the premiere was actually beyond Simon's expectations.

In an era where even "Star Wars" opened on only about 1,000 screens, Simon could not expect too much; even collaborating with the Big Seven would have only netted around 300 to 400 screens, but Simon definitely wouldn't have secured a 15% share or temporarily retained other distribution rights.

After a simple lunch, Simon and Katherine left the restaurant and discussed the filming plans for "Night of the Blood Zombie": "What's the schedule like for your shoot?"

"We're shooting nights for the next month, starting at six in the evening until two in the morning," Katherine explained as they crossed the road back to the hotel. Then, suddenly, she added, "And you, no more saying those things, okay?"

Pretending to be confused, Simon asked, "What things?"

Katherine didn't look at him but playfully threatened, "Otherwise, I'll tell Janet."

Simon immediately raised a hand in promise, "Okay, I swear."

Hearing Simon's less-than-sincere tone, Katherine just glared at him.

Back at the hotel, Katherine showed Simon to his room and introduced him to some of the key members of the "Night of the Blood Zombie" crew.

The lead actor, Adrian Pastore, coincidentally, was also a client of Jonathan Friedman. The lead actress, Jenny Wright, had a youthful, short-haired look; beautiful, but her innocent demeanor lacked the vampiric allure required for the role.

Simon also met the producer, Edward Feldman, a man in his fifties. Feldman had heard about the recent developments in Hollywood and was very courteous to Simon, showing no displeasure at his joining the crew mid-production and even personally signing an employment contract with him.

After getting acquainted, from the evening onwards, Simon quickly integrated into the crew's work.

His role was as an assistant director, and since it was a formal production, the pay was quite decent at $500 per week. Naturally, Simon, who was just there to help, wasn't concerned about the money.

As Simon began his nocturnal lifestyle in Arizona, back in Los Angeles, the promotion for "Run Lola Run" was rapidly advancing.

Despite some reservations from Orion about Simon leaving at this crucial time, they didn't require him to return.

Because they didn't need to.

Simon had already prepared everything necessary, such as posters and trailers, before leaving, and there were no plans for a premiere event.

Orion's job was primarily to coordinate with theaters, distribute posters, and, in the week before the release, broadcast trailers for "Run Lola Run" on local TV stations in cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego.

These tasks might seem simple, but a fledgling film company without experience and connections would definitely not be able to manage them.

Moreover, in just two weeks of distribution, Orion's promotional budget easily reached $500,000, even accounting for the fact that Simon bore the cost of film copies.

Considering that the duplication costs for approximately 200 copies of "Run Lola Run" also amounted to around $150,

000, the expensive nature of film distribution in the era of physical media becomes clear, explaining why many low-budget films went straight to video instead of theatrical release.

With "Run Lola Run's" tight schedule and Orion's apt promotional tactics, the media buzz around Simon and the film remained highly active until its release.

Finally, on February 13th, Friday, "Run Lola Run" officially premiered on 207 screens across major cities on the West Coast and select theaters in New York on the East Coast.