Chapter 135： The absolute authority of the Oscars

The Oscars are not just an awards ceremony. 【】

In February, after the announcement of the Golden Globes, it officially entered the Oscar season.

On February 5, the Oscar jury announced the nominations at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, and Sam Mendes' American Beauty was the biggest winner, with eight nominations.

The "Wedding Cracker" produced by Dunn Pictures was wiped out, and "Star Wars Prequels" directed by Dunn also received only a few nominations for technical awards.

Another Oscar, and Dunn missed.

Once the nominations were announced, "Wedding Cracker" missed the Oscars and officially rolled off the assembly line in North America. The North American box office was set at 210 million US dollars, and the overseas market has not yet been released, and it is estimated to be 90 million US dollars, with a total box office of 300 million US dollars.

February 15, Oscar nominees luncheon; February 25, Academy Awards ceremony for science and technology; March 12, final voting officially begins; March 19, final voting closes; March 20, Oscar concert ; March 26, the 72nd Academy Awards ceremony.

Dunn went to the UK to continue post-production on Spider-Man.

For the first time, Bill McNick, as the president of Dunn Pictures, has launched distribution negotiations with Universal Pictures, not just a "Spider-Man", but a strategic cooperation for the next three years.

Bill McNick and Universal had a good relationship, and Brian Lord was a matchmaker, and the whole negotiation went very smoothly. On February 10th, Dunn returned to Los Angeles with the first cut version and later team of "Spider-Man".

"How was the negotiation?"

Looking at the new look of the studio, Tang En secretly praised that he still needs professional people to do professional things. Bill McNick's ability to manage the company is indeed better than him.

Bill McNick sat in Dunn's office, lit a cigar, and said indifferently, "It's a small matter."

He hadn't dealt with this "little thing" in years.

Tang En smiled bitterly, "How about the specific conditions?"

Bill McNick said: "Three years of cooperation, Universal is responsible for the distribution of all films produced by Dunn Pictures, and the distribution fee is 10% of the omni-channel."

"That's not bad!" Dunn's eyes lit up. He cooperated with Fox in the past, and the distribution commission reached 15%.

Bill McNick waved his hand, "It's not worth mentioning. But there are still some details. The distributor is responsible for all the distribution, transportation, labor and other related expenses of the A-level production produced by Dunn Films. For a feature film or a small investment produced by the industry, the producer bears all the costs of publicity and distribution, and the distribution strategy should be based on the world.”

Dunn nodded, expressing approval.

A-level large-scale productions have high returns, especially the films produced by Dunn Pictures have always had a high box office. 10% of the lottery is already a huge sum of money, and it is reasonable to bear the expenses related to distribution.

As for some small investment or feature films, the market risk is high, and the distributor is definitely not willing to bear the distribution cost of tens of millions of dollars. If Dunn Pictures wants to release it on a large scale, it needs to pay for it out of its own pocket.

Dunn is very relieved to Bill McNick, "When will I sign?"

"Next Monday, when you need to come forward." Bill McNick's work is indeed orderly and handled properly.

Tang En tapped the table with his fingers rhythmically, "By the way, I see a lot of new employees in the company, is it your team?"

Bill McNick sighed, and rubbed his forehead with a headache, "There are 22 people in total, but there are some departments where Dunn Pictures is temporarily absent, and the work is not well arranged."

Tang En waved his hand, "If there is any deficiency in the department, then make up for it! Tang En Films has great ambitions and can never be satisfied with a small studio. By the way, do we need to build our own office building?"

"what?"

Bill McNick froze for a moment and opened his mouth.

Tang En said lightly: "If you need it, you can mention it. As I said, you are responsible for the management, and for the funds... I will handle it! If you need to build the office building of Tang En Films, you will start preparing for this work."

"I'm afraid this is a lot of money." Bill McNick sternly reminded.

Tang En said: "I said, in terms of funds, I will find a way. By the way, the budget for the office building, don't be too stingy, you must leave enough space, the company's future scale... will definitely be very large, this is our headquarters. It must be built magnificently.”

"In Hollywood? I mean... do we need to build our own studio?"

Bill McNick considered it very well. If it is just to build a building, no matter how spectacular and luxurious, 100 million US dollars is enough, but if you want to open the Dunn Film Studio, it will cost more.

The space for dozens of studios alone can't come down without $100 million.

The price of land in Hollywood today is very different from when it was founded. When MGM bought half of Hollywood, the result is that Warner Bros. has moved out of Hollywood. (Hollywood is an industrial park, and with the development of the times, Hollywood has become synonymous with American movies and even the entertainment industry.)

Dunn pondered for a while, "Bill, does Universal have a studio?"

"certainly!"

"Then we don't need to waste too many resources, we can rent it from them."

Bill McNick thought for a moment and shook his head, "It may be feasible in a short period of time, but if Dunn Pictures really develops as you expect in the future, producing dozens of movies every year, Universal Studios may not be able to arrange it. "

"Let's talk about it later. You can set up studios in other cities, and the preferential conditions may be better."

"This... Dunn, now the executive departments of Warner, Universal, and Disney have all moved out of Hollywood and gone to Burbank or New York, but the studio must be in Hollywood. This is the consensus in the circle, the studio is The sign of Hollywood." Bill McNick glanced at Dunn, "Hollywood people must safeguard the interests of Hollywood, this is the rule."

Tang En smiled, hesitated for a moment, and suddenly changed the subject, "I heard... Seagram, Universal's parent company, suffered a huge loss?"

Bill McNick nodded, "During this negotiation, I also talked about it with Universal. The Seagram Group sold its shares in Dupont Chemical Company, and then borrowed to buy Universal. However, the film industry is like this, a temporary boom, It's over in a hurry. Seagram is said to have lost $13 billion last year and another $2.8 billion in the first two months of this year, and is looking for mergers and acquisitions."

"Huh? You mean... the Seagram Group is looking for a merger?"

"Yeah, with such a serious loss, unless a large group company takes over, it can only go bankrupt."

"Do you have a goal?"

"I heard... it seems to be the Vivendi Group in France."

Tang En opened his mouth wide and was stunned.

Bill McNick looked at him in surprise, "Dawn, what's the matter?"

Tang En said in a daze: "If so... Bill, do you think I missed the opportunity to acquire Universal?"

"What?" Bill McNick thought he had heard it wrong. "You're buying Universal? Where did you get so much money?"

Tang En waved his hand, "Don't worry about how much money I have, I just want to know, is it possible for me to take action now? Oh, no, my funds will not be credited until at least April."

Bill McNick was confused by Dunn and frowned: "Don, I don't know what secrets you have, but at present, it's impossible for Dunn to acquire Universal Pictures!"

"why?"

"First of all, the status of Tang En Pictures is not enough. Even if you have enough funds, with your current achievements, you will not give the management of Universal's confidence. Once Tang En Pictures completes the acquisition, the management of Universal Pictures will definitely leave a lot of people. ."

"Second, Universal Pictures is the core asset of Seagram Group. The reason why Vivendi can take a fancy to Seagram is not their ability to make red wine, but the Universal Pictures and Universal Music under Seagram. That's a precondition for the two companies to work together. Unless you're priced high enough for Seagram to cover its massive losses of more than $10 billion, it's impossible to change the board's resolve."

"Thirdly, Universal Pictures is different from Marvel Entertainment. It is a symbol of Hollywood and has been integrated into the efforts of a large number of filmmakers. If you are an outsider, of course it does not matter to acquire Universal, because everything in Hollywood has nothing to do with you. But you are Filmmaker, you complete the acquisition with far from enough qualifications, status, and influence will definitely cause a large number of people in the circle to be dissatisfied with you."

Dunn was at a loss for words.

He thought he made a lot of money in the bubble crisis and he could run Hollywood.

But I didn't think that there are so many mysteries behind this, so much to say.

Dunn is a newcomer after all, and it will definitely cause controversy to let him step on a large number of filmmakers who have worked hard in Hollywood for decades and become the master of Hollywood.

At that time, big-name producers and directors will avoid Universal with their projects and seek cooperation from other film companies. It is impossible to rely on Tang En alone to support Universal, right?

Qualifications, status, influence!

"How can we improve at the fastest speed?"

This is the biggest problem hanging in Dunn's mind, and Bill McNick gave a standard answer - Oscar.

"There are more than 5,000 Oscar judges, although they come from all over the world, most of them are Hollywood filmmakers. If you can win an Oscar, it means that you have been recognized by them, and then there will be no jealousy caused by qualifications. Instead, they will praise you as a Hollywood genius."

Bill McNick paused, then added: "Oscar also represents influence, which is completely different from the box office hit. Old Hollywood guys, conservative thinking, they care more about the artistry of the movie, if you can Satisfy them in this regard, and they will get wider support."

Dunn suddenly realized.

This is the same as flattering.

Do what you want, and you will naturally get their favor.

With their goodwill, the acquisition of Universal Pictures is no longer an obstacle. [This chapter is the first to be published on Love Audio Novel Network, please remember the URL ()]