Chapter 227： foresighted superiority

The matter of the ban is just a struggle at the top of Hollywood, and it has no impact on the ordinary class.

The acquisition of Good Machine Pictures and Dick Clark Television Production Company by Dunn Pictures is operating in an orderly manner.

The acquisition process of Good Machine Pictures is very smooth, and it will definitely be completed within this month; because Dick Clark Television Production Company is a listed company, the privatization process is relatively long, and it is estimated that it will take more than three months.

When he arrived at the company, Bill McNick told Dunn that he had talked with the heads of several major film companies, and everyone generally expressed their support for Dunn Films.

This is the result that Tang En had long expected, and he snorted coldly, "The cat is crying and the mouse is fake mercy!"

Bill McNick was slightly startled, "You are..."

Dunn said: "Let this matter be handled by Mr. Ovitz. The inside story will be discussed later. Bill, I need a document now. Help me prepare it. I will go to Michael Ovitz in the afternoon."

"Preparing Files?"

Bill McNick was a little surprised. He was the president of Dunn Pictures, and he wasn't Dunn's secretary. For such trivial matters as preparing documents, he didn't need to appear in person, right?

Dunn explained: "You have been in charge of 20th Century Fox in the past, and I need a copy of Fox's earnings over the past few years, not necessarily trade secrets, but mainly the film's internal rate of return. And you have a lot of connections, it's better to put the other few The situation of a movie company is also well understood.”

...

At 2 o'clock in the afternoon, Tang En went to the amg agency with the sorted documents and accompanied by the secretary.

Michael Ovitz also sorted out a thick stack of documents and waited for a long time.

Today's meeting is very important, not only to come up with a plan to help Tang En Pictures to solve the current predicament, but also to plan a correct development path for the amg agency.

When the two met, they briefly exchanged a few words before entering the topic, Michael Ovitz said: "The situation of Dunn Pictures is very serious now, the six major companies are likely to cooperate invariably, and the momentum will be stronger than the suppression of DreamWorks. Also violent."

The little secretary Ella Fisher, who was sitting beside Dunn, looked a little nervous, and the pen that recorded the content of the conversation in his hand was shaking a little.

Tang En's face was as usual, and said indifferently: "There are no permanent enemies, only permanent interests. There is no room for easing the conflict between Tang En Films and Disney. Even if Disney stops, I will not give up! Therefore, we must let others Big five, seeing real potential benefits."

Michael Ovitz glanced at Dunn with admiration, "Yes, that's what it means! These old-fashioned film and television companies have a huge foundation and a very wide audience, and they may not pay attention to the benefits of petty troubles. "

Tang En nodded, "Yes, you must come up with enough interests to make them tempted!"

"Film company, what are you missing the most?"

Michael Ovitz didn't rush to give the answer, he glanced at Dunn, and Dunn also smiled slightly, and the two said one word in unison: "Funding!"

That's right, it's money!

Don't look at the movies produced by Hollywood, which account for almost one-third of the total global box office every year, but can movies really make money through the box office?

Dunn has obtained clear data showing that in the past few years, less than 7% of Hollywood movies have been profitable through box office revenue!

That is to say, if there is no peripheral copyright income, more than 93% of Hollywood movies will lose money!

This is also the reason why traditional film companies are either acquired by media giants or transform themselves into media giants. Because movies want to make money, they rely on the income of intellectual property driven by a wide range of channels.

Therefore, for large groups such as Sony, Time Warner, Viacom, and Disney, they do not rely on their film companies to make money. In fact, the income of the film market including Columbia, Universal, and Paramount is not optimistic.

The reason why these large groups are keen on the film industry is because films can bring unparalleled advertising effects and company prestige. In other words, making films is the "image project" of these companies!

This kind of reason leads to a result: the head office will not invest money in the film company, anyway, the film company produces very little in a year, and can survive, keep making movies, and do a good job of "image project for the head office" "That's fine, don't expect this industry to make money.

Therefore, the problem of funding is a problem that every film company has to face.

Tax rebates and pre-sale copyrights are the best financing methods.

For example, the disaster blockbuster “Perfect Storm,” released this summer and produced by Warner Bros., had a budget of $140 million!

Even the well-established Warner Bros. could not make such a big bet. In fact, Warner paid only $65 million of the $140 million cost.

Where did the remaining $75 million come from?

In Germany and the United Kingdom, Warner got $25 million in tax rebates. In particular, the German tax refund is very important. When Dunn was filming "Spider-Man", he took advantage of this legal loophole because of insufficient funds.

Then there is the copyright pre-sale.

When the "Perfect Storm" project was established, Warner relied on its global influence and heritage, and relied on the appeal of George Clooney, the male lead, to play the routine of pre-selling copyrights.

Through the pre-sale of copyrights to Japan, Britain, Australia, Italy, France and other countries, it successfully obtained 50 million US dollars.

Although "Perfect Storm" will not be able to gain box office revenue in these countries in the future, this greatly reduces the risk Warner will take after "Perfect Storm" fails.

Warner's strategy proved to be very successful.

"Perfect Storm" has now earned $150 million at the North American box office, and Warner Pictures has already paid for itself through the North American box office market alone.

The rest of the box office revenue from other overseas regions and the revenue from peripheral copyrights such as DVDs, video tapes and TV broadcasts will all be net profits.

But... "The Perfect Storm" doesn't represent every Hollywood movie.

This type of "financing game" is only aimed at commercial blockbusters with strong casts and top production teams.

Because the tax rebate policy is aimed at the future profitability of movies, niche movies, how likely is it to be profitable in the future?

And pre-sale copyrights are usually made by overseas filmmakers after watching the samples. Only commercial blockbusters with a strong lineup can give overseas filmmakers enough confidence to give money when the project is launched.

"Hollywood's financing methods are too powerful." Dunn sighed.

Michael Ovitz shook his head disapprovingly, "Dawn, it's already the 21st century, the times have changed!"

"Oh? How do you say it?"

"I can give you a set of data. Ten years ago, Hollywood movies could get up to 80% of their budgets through movie pre-sale! Even some movies, Hollywood didn't even need to spend a penny to start the project. . But by this year, do you know how much this figure has dropped to? 47%!"

Tang En nodded suddenly, "This is the trend of the times. Ten years ago, Hollywood films were synonymous with blockbusters, and the whole world was flocking to them. But now, the film market in many countries has developed, especially Korea, Japan, Australia, and Germany. , and some Eastern European countries, the film industry is developing very rapidly, and Hollywood films have lost the appeal of the past.”

"Yes, in order to encourage the development of domestic films, many countries have introduced policies to suppress Hollywood films, which makes it very difficult for Hollywood films to play the 'financing game' of pre-sale copyrights as in the past."

Michael Ovitz's words reminded Dunn of something, "I heard... Germany is actively changing the "Tax Law" so that film investment can no longer be hidden behind the "Copyright Law". If this road is dead , it will be impossible for Hollywood movies to get a lot of money through the tax rebate policy in the future.”

"Indeed!" Michael Ovitz nodded again and again, fully recognized, "After more than ten years of development, the Germans have figured out Hollywood's routine, and the German mark is a big deal for Hollywood movies. For example, "In the Disc" In the first part of "Spy", one-third of the budget was paid by German investors, but after Paramount saw the benefits, it kicked out the German investors directly in "Mission Impossible 2"~www.novelhall .com~ Tang En sighed, "Money is the root of all evil, and if Hollywood continues to develop like this, it will be difficult to obtain financing from overseas! "

Michael Ovitz said with a smile: "I just saw this sign, so on the basis of the original caa integrated packaging service, I plan to create a one-stop shopping full service for amg."

Tang En praised: "This is a good idea, I support it!"

Now, overseas funding is tight, and Hollywood faces financing problems.

Financing here refers to financing movies, not companies.

Rich people in the Middle East and Asia are of course willing to finance film companies, and they have entered the board of directors. With the help of the platform of big film companies, they have gained a voice in Hollywood.

But financing a movie is different. To put it bluntly, this is venture capital. Investors have no right to interfere in film production, let alone company operations. They can only get dividends, not even copyright.

In this case, even if they can make money, the rich people will not look down on it.

If Dunn can join forces with Michael Ovitz to solve financing problems for the major film companies, let alone suppress Dunn Films, they can't wait to treat Dunn as an ancestor!

Michael Ovitz said bitterly: "This is a good idea, but the basis of one-stop shopping is to have enough stars and excellent brokers. If you can't even do this, how can you attract investment?"

Tang En's eyes flashed slightly, and a smile crossed the corner of his mouth.

For the first time since he met Michael Ovitz, he felt superior to others.

The forward-looking vision made Dunn have enough capital to "guide" the other side even in front of the powerful Hollywood legend Michael Ovitz.

This is the superiority of foresight.

(Sanqi Chinese)