Chapter 299： Rose Pictures

The phenomenon-level blockbuster "Spider-Man" has been fully rolled out, with a North American box office of 510 million US dollars, an overseas box office of 750 million US dollars, and a total box office of 1.26 billion US dollars.

Although the North American box office performance lags behind "Star Wars Episode 1: The Menace of the Ghost Man", the global box office is second only to "Titanic" and ranks second in film history!

Just by splitting the box office account, Dunn Films got 420 million US dollars, which is definitely a big profit!

Even the "Spider-Man" soundtrack, which was released early, sold 280,000 copies and earned $5.5 million, which is already negligible.

Of course, more income means higher taxes.

Hollywood has a set of general rules. In the face of such a big-selling and lucrative movie, the company's daily operating expenses, shareholder dividends, and labor union dividends are all planned as movie expenses, which will greatly increase the movie's budget on the book. cost.

The higher the cost, the lower the profit and the lower the tax.

Therefore, in addition to some industries specially approved by the state, such as environmental protection, national defense, and waste recycling, investing in movies in Hollywood is definitely the industry with the lowest tax rate.

No matter how ugly the data on the ledger is, at the end of the year, Dunn Pictures had an extra $400 million on the book because of the movie "Spider-Man".

In addition, it includes the box-office share of "Ghost Girl", "Memento", and "Chainsaw", as well as the sales and rental income of "My Big Greek Wedding" and "Wedding Crackers", and the sales and rental of CD-ROMs. Dunn Pictures Net income for the year reached $490 million!

In particular, the disc rental income of the two films "My Big Greek Wedding" and "Wedding Cracker" was as high as more than 28 million US dollars, which is a real surprise.

Because the income from the rental business is tax-free, this kind of long-term income is indeed the greatest value of the film company!

For example, the aging MGM, the film performance of the filming in the past year is mediocre, but with the huge inventory of more than 2,200 films, the annual rental income is as high as 300 million US dollars.

IP, intellectual property, will stand out in the big screen of the times, and it is not without reason.

The harvest of Tang En Pictures is gratifying, but the expenses... are equally complicated and huge!

Since May, Dunn Pictures received a capital injection of $1 billion, and successively acquired starz TV, Focus Pictures, dcp TV production company, and invested in Siliwood Animation, costing a total of $259 million;

Movie investment is even bigger. The total investment of films such as "Drug Web", "The Chronicles of Narnia", "Mrs. & Mrs. Smith", "Unsinkable", "A Beautiful Mind", "Pirates League", "New York City", etc. has exceeded $700 million!

There are also two TV shows, "Band of Brothers" and "Six Feet Under," which cost another $70 million...

The investment expenditure of Dunn Films this year is as high as 1.03 billion US dollars!

So much so that Tang En Pictures made a big hit at the box office this year with "Spider-Man" and "The Chainsaw", which made many equally envious eyes red, but the actual operating result was a sharp decrease in book funds.

Now Dunn Pictures has only $450 million in cash flow...

From the financial situation of Dunn Films, it can be seen why investing in films can make a lot of money, but the operating conditions of film companies will get worse and worse.

Including MGM, Lionsgate, Paramount will face bankruptcy crisis, Warner, Fox will also face the end of the acquisition.

It’s true that making movies makes money, but the film company’s book will never have excess funds.

For example, making a movie with a total cost of 30 million US dollars, after two or three years of operation, earned 40 million US dollars. On the face of it, it made 10 million US dollars.

In fact, this part of the money can't stay on the books at all. If the film company wants to operate, it must invest in more new films.

With the development of the times, the production cost and publicity cost of movies are getting higher and higher. A movie that could be shot at 30 million two years ago may cost 40 million US dollars two years later...

Such a result means that the movie did not make a penny!

And once the new film fails to invest, it will face the end of debt.

The return of funds for the film is slow, and various expenses are increasing year after year, and various labor unions are still fighting from time to time, making it more and more difficult for film companies to get along. Even Hollywood giants can only operate bleakly, attracting funds from Wall Street, the Middle East, and Asia to maintain the shooting of new movies.

If Dunn does not play two big votes in the stock market, and then gets enough funds to invest in several high-tech companies, then just relying on Dunn's ability in Hollywood, even if he has foresight, even if he can get all Hollywood Big IP, it is impossible to create a media group like Disney.

Now Dunn, of course, is not short of money.

Because of Jobs' requirements, Apple's stock price cannot be lower than 10 US dollars. Dunn has been silently inhaling Apple's stock, which has occupied 6.1% of the total share capital, which will be an amazing wealth in ten years.

So money is not very attractive to Tang En, he cares more about his personal career pursuit.

No matter how rich Apple is, it is Jobs who really runs Apple, not Dunn Walker. Even if he were to replace Jobs, he would not have the ability to run Apple.

He needs to demarcate a sphere of influence that belongs to him!

An area he has the power to control!

The choice, of course, is Hollywood!

But just relying on the money earned in the movie is not enough for Dunn Pictures to grow rapidly and become a media giant comparable to Disney.

He needs the capital turnover transferred from other fields, through non-stop acquisitions, while developing the film industry, diversification.

movie...

It is Dunn's hobby, and his occupation is a director.

...

Rose Pictures has been registered and is still an empty shell.

However, Dunn knew that with the rise of feminism, feminist films would become a fad, and the status of Rose Pictures would rise.

It's an empty shell right now, but the future is promising!

The person at the helm of this company must be a woman, preferably... In the future, all employees of the company will also be women, which will become a unique landscape in Hollywood.

After the recommendation of Bill McNick and Michael Ovitz, Dunn confirmed the candidate for the president of Rose Films - Katherine Kennedy.

Katherine Kennedy has nothing to do with the famous "Kennedy" family. She came from a commoner and was a small secretary of Lucasfilm in her early years. In the process of cooperating with Steven Spielberg, she was discovered by him. embarked on the path of a producer.

Now, she and her husband founded the Kennedy-Marshall Film Productions, where she is president and runs the company.

But this is just a small production company that can't get any smaller, and it doesn't even have the ability to invest. The commercial blockbusters involved in the production can't even get a little copyright.

The main function of the company is to help the couple avoid income tax.

Because the federal government's tax rate for the film industry is very favorable, and the combination of various policies, the corporate income tax is only 25%, which is far less than the 39% personal income tax.

So in the face of Dunn's warm invitation, Katherine Kennedy has no reason to refuse.

Under the introduction of caa boss Kevin Howian, Dunn met the Hollywood strong woman for the first time, and had a frank conversation.

The exchanges between the two sides were very harmonious.

"Because Rose Pictures is a shell right now and has very little business, so ... you can continue to work with other studios, of course, preferably with our own company, or you can continue to work with Kennedy-Marshall Films. as president."

In the face of talents, Dunn will always show enough sincerity and friendliness.

Kathryn Kennedy smiled and said, "Dawn, thank you for your generosity, but... As the first Hollywood film company to focus on women's rights, I hope that Rose Pictures can get on the right track as soon as possible."

Dunn frowned, "This... I'm afraid it will be difficult. Catherine, you should know that feminism is just a trend, and there is no general trend. It will take time for Rose Pictures to have a go."

"Actually there is another way."

"Oh?"

"Under Tang En Pictures, even if there are very few movies that involve women's rights, Rose Pictures will participate in the production, whether it is an independent small production or a big commercial movie. This will allow Rose Pictures to open up the market at the fastest speed."

Dunn agrees very much, "It's feasible."

Kathryn Kennedy smiled, "Of course, if you can give me a sum of money to give Rose Pictures the opportunity to participate in the investment and production of other film companies' feminist works, the effect will be better."

Tang En smiled heartily, "There will be funds, but not too much. The new film I wrote "Juno is expected to invest about 8 million US dollars and hand it over to Rose Pictures for production. As for other funds... Fight with Bill, there's nothing I can do."

Dunn Pictures has $450 million right now, which looks like a lot and is actually pretty tight.

In the spring of next year, two blockbusters, "Spider-Man 2" and "Daredevil", will be launched, and "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" will be filmed in the summer.

Bill McNick talked to Dunn, and if he can't put more money into Dunn Pictures, it's best not to mess around.

Both parties have the sincerity of cooperation, and Kathleen Kennedy will not make excessive demands. Hearing Dunn say this, he understands, "There is one last request. I hope to work in the production department of Dunn Films."

Tang En glanced at her and said slowly: "The production department of Tang En Pictures is different from the production department of other film companies. It has limited authority and many constraints. It is subject to the market analysis department, the art analysis department, and even the screenwriting department. constraints.”

Kathryn Kennedy waved her hand and laughed dumbly, "Dawn, you misunderstood, I don't want power. Since Rose Pictures wants to participate in all of Dunn Pictures' works that involve women's rights, I play a role in the production department and will more convenient to operate.”

"That's it... That's easy to handle. I'll tell Bill when I get back, and you can take a temporary job as a deputy director in the production department."

In fact, in Dunn's view, with Katherine Kennedy's ability, it is more than enough to be a vice president in Dunn Films.

Don't worry, we must first establish mutual trust and understanding in a short period of time.

Katherine Kennedy stood up, looked at Dunn with a smile, and stretched out her right hand, "So... from now on, you will be my boss?"

Tang En laughed, stretched out his hands enthusiastically, and shook hands with her, "I wish us a happy cooperation!"

(Sanqi Chinese)