Chapter 104: The Appeal of Profits

"Sorry," said Jones Butler as she found the spot where Murphy and Bill Rosis were seated in a coffee shop in Century City. "The traffic was terrible. I'm late."

Murphy smiled and replied, "It's no problem."

Jones Butler ordered a latte from the approaching waiter. "What have you been up to lately?" Bill Rosis asked at the right moment. "I haven't seen you in a while. Last time I went to Miramax to chat, you weren't there."

"What else could I be doing?" Jones Butler adjusted her chair and said, "Running around looking for valuable films."

"The work you do is very meaningful," Murphy chimed in. "Thanks to you, many low-budget independent films get to meet their audiences."

Jones Butler smiled. "Thank you."

Murphy then got to the point. "Do you have some time soon? My new film is finished, and I'd love for you to take a look and give me some pointers."

The waiter brought her coffee. Jones Butler waited until he left before saying, "What genre?"

She remembered clearly that he had taken a million dollars from Miramax to make his film, which must have been produced on a similar budget.

"A horror film, 'Saw.' It's a very interesting horror film," Murphy said confidently.

Bill Rosis added, "It's much better than 'Hard Candy.' To be precise, I haven't seen a better horror film in recent years."

Hearing this, Jones Butler nodded. "I'll be in Los Angeles for the next two weeks. You can call me anytime."

Although the profits from "Hard Candy" were only in the million-dollar range, far less than some of the company's major projects, this unexpected profit had pleasantly surprised the Miramax higher-ups, and she had even been praised by the Weinstein brothers.

Moreover, the revenue from "Hard Candy" was still growing.

These were solid numbers, the most convincing kind. While it wasn't uncommon for a director to flop after a successful film, there was enough reason to continue paying attention to his work.

Hollywood firmly believed that those who succeeded once would continue to succeed.

This belief was widespread, not just with Jones Butler at Miramax but also with Tony Guzman at Fox Searchlight.

One sunny afternoon, Tony Guzman was hiding in his office, having just declined a screening invitation from a small production company, when he received a call from an unfamiliar number.

"Hello, this is Tony Guzman from Fox Searchlight." He listened to the somewhat unfamiliar name on the phone and thought hard. "Murphy Stanton?"

Who was this? Had he ever interacted with him before?

"Hard Candy, Park City."

With the reminder, Tony Guzman immediately remembered who Murphy Stanton was and chuckled. "Director Stanton, congratulations on the success of your first film."

Internally, he felt a twinge of regret for not acquiring "Hard Candy" and missing out on a promising project. He had left the Sundance Film Festival empty-handed.

While chatting, Tony Guzman focused as he heard the invitation. "Your new film? It's finished? Great, I have time. Once you confirm the time and place, please let me know."

Having missed the first opportunity, he didn't want to miss a second one.

Indeed, the director's first success could have been a fluke, and the second film might be a complete failure. But he had succeeded once, and watching his film was better than seeing those by unknown directors.

After hanging up, Tony Guzman thought for a moment and asked his assistant to get the latest market statistics for "Hard Candy" from the market research department.

As a senior figure at Fox Searchlight, he held a certain status within the company. After a while, his assistant returned with the data, freshly obtained from the research department.

"Leave me alone," Tony Guzman told his assistant, "and don't disturb me unless it's important."

After the assistant closed the door, Tony Guzman flipped through the thin report. A quick glance filled him with more regret.

While he had handled projects with multimillion-dollar profits before, those were rare and could be considered strokes of luck. For a professional film scout in the independent film circle, encountering such profitable projects once in several years was like being kissed by fortune. A few million dollars in profit was not insignificant.

Even the annual profit of Fox Searchlight's parent company, 20th Century Fox, was just over a hundred million dollars. Fox Searchlight, a subsidiary distributing independent films, fared even less.

In this regard, they couldn't even compare to Miramax.

Tony Guzman had heard rumors that the higher-ups were very dissatisfied with Fox Searchlight's poor performance, especially in the first quarter of this year, applying immense pressure on the company's leadership. If there was no improvement by year-end, a major shake-up was inevitable.

Those responsible for sourcing films, like him, would inevitably be affected, possibly even dismissed.

He didn't believe being a veteran at Fox Searchlight would save him. In the face of capital, what did small figures like them count for?

Shaking his head, Tony Guzman carefully reviewed the data. "Hard Candy" had already been pulled from theaters in North America but was still showing in some overseas markets.

"North American box office—$1.48 million!"

"UK box office—$1.86 million, still showing."

"Argentina box office—$970,000, still showing."

"Australia box office—$870,000, pulled."

"Germany box office—$690,000, still showing."

"Spain box office—$550,000, still showing."

"France box office..."

Despite the film's sensitive subject and explicit content preventing distribution in many countries, it had still grossed over $4 million in overseas markets.

According to Stanton Studios, the film's production cost was only $300,000.

Miramax had undoubtedly made a highly profitable deal!

Tony Guzman continued reading. "Hard Candy's" North American TV and video rights were also sold by Miramax, the former fetching $150,000 and the latter, excluding video royalties, bringing $200,000.

These were all profits!

Closing the report, Tony Guzman resolved to see the director's new film.

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