Chapter 346： Acquired a special effects company

"Band of Brothers" has a place in the history of television, far surpassing "Titanic" in the history of film!

Because there are many classic movies alongside "Titanic", such as "Gone with the Wind", such as "e.t.", such as "Avatar".

However, in the history of television, no TV series can be compared with "Band of Brothers", even "Game of Thrones" with a global effect.

In a previous life, hbo and sho were once the two heroes in the cable TV market, rivaling each other.

Under the impetus of Chris Albrecht, hbo invested in the filming of two popular American dramas "Black D Family" and "Sex and the City", so it has a slight upper hand, but the lead is not obvious.

It was not until hbo invested in "Band of Brothers" and obtained the North American TV broadcast rights that the pattern of the cable TV field changed qualitatively.

As soon as "Band of Brothers" was released, it immediately caused a sensation, and the viewership of the hbo TV network... approached 15 million!

This is not the kind of user group who watched "Spider-Man" for free on the sta TV network a few days ago. Hbo counts all paid membership users!

That is to say, because of the TV series "Band of Brothers", the number of HBO members has more than doubled, which directly opened the gap with sho.

After 10 years, the gap has become more and more obvious.

The per capita monthly spending of hbo users is more than $7.9, while the per capita monthly spending of sho users is less than $1.8.

That is to say, users of sho TV network will not choose to subscribe for the whole year, but subscribe in special months that they choose, and only watch one or two hit dramas, which is completely incomparable with hbo.

The emergence of "Band of Brothers" became a watershed in the history of American cable television.

This is an epoch-making mini-series!

Now, "Band of Brothers" has become Dunn's bag, which is why he is full of confidence in the sta TV network.

Of course, this requires a precondition, that is, the sta TV network will not be under the influence of the Viacom Group led by Redstone during the period of power accumulation from May to September.

In today's North American market, the largest cable network is hbo, but the operator of hbo is Time Warner, which has no direct conflict with the sta TV network.

Even if it is competition, it can only start from the content.

It is precisely the content field that Dunn is not afraid of the most. There are too many classic ideas in his mind.

Starz TV's direct opponent is a TV station under the Viacom Group, so during this time period, paralyzing Redstone and letting him not start with the sta TV network is Dunn's top priority.

Then, Dunn used "Band of Brothers" to make a surprise attack, and in one fell swoop, he established sta's status and influence in the cable TV network with an airborne gesture.

When that time comes, it will be too late for Lei Shidong to repent again.

Unexpectedly, Tosca Musk has also considered this level.

And it also played a role with the only product animation version "Fantastic Four" in hand, the pattern is shocking!

Dunn put away the attitude of admonishing with a higher status, and for the first time had an equal discussion with her.

In the past, Tang En and people communicated with an equal attitude, all because of foresight, and they were able to be sure that the other party was a famous person!

Like Spielberg and Cameron, like Bill McNick and Ron Mayer, like Jobs and Elon Musk…

And Tosca Musk... In his past life, he was little known!

But obviously, through this nearly a year of contact, Dunn can almost confirm that this beautiful woman in front of her is the gold buried in the Hollywood beach in her previous life.

Dunn left his boss's seat, came to sit on the sofa opposite Tosca Musk, and smiled, "Go ahead?"

Tosca Musk couldn't be more happy, she clenched her fist secretly.

It's such a good feeling to be affirmed!

Even if Tang En didn't say anything, she could feel that Tang En's view of herself had fundamentally changed.

It's not easy!

Especially for a beautiful woman.

Tosca Musk took a deep breath and showed a charming smile, "The first two points are from the macro perspective, and the third point is from the long-term layout plan of Sillywood Animation."

"The broadcast fee of 8 million US dollars is not high, but it is only limited to North America. We also have overseas markets, as well as the DVD market. I believe that with the quality of "Fantastic Four", it is enough to recover the investment of 30 million US dollars."

"The important thing is that through the channel Nickelodeon, Slywood can open up and make a name for itself. With the integration of Disney Channel, Nickelodeon will have to lower the price if he wants to continue to occupy a place in the children's market. Reduced to cheap TV."

"In order to increase the appeal, Nickelodeon will also screen "Fantastic Four" several times in a short period of time. Don't ask me why I say that, I have enough confidence in my product. In this case, it can make more audiences know about us at Sriwood Animation Studios, and it's a wave of free publicity."

Tang En looked at her with a half-smile, "Publicity is more important than revenue?"

Tosca Musk replied: "For a business, of course, it's revenue that matters. But more important than revenue is bigger revenue, and that's what publicity does."

Tang En smiled and shook his head, "It seems that you are determined to make an animated movie."

"Of course, I'm very firm about this!" Tosca Musk's face was full of seriousness.

Tang En was no longer full of doubts like in the past, just nodded lightly, "Is that the manga adaptation?"

"Yes, "Adventures of Bone Treasure"."

Tosca Musk said with a smile.

Dunn made a soft "um" sound.

After the last chat, Tang En specially asked someone to check the information on "Adventures of Bone Treasure", which is currently the favorite set of cartoons by American children.

It mainly talks about the three brothers and sisters of the Gubao family, the obedient "Gu Xiaojiao", the adventurous "Gu Xiaojiao" and the endearing "Gu Xiaoxi". They escaped from their homes and started a fantastic and interesting scene. A comedy adventure.

It has certain adaptation value.

"Tell me what you think about this movie."

Tosca Musk's eyes gleamed, "In the process of making "Fantastic Four", we have accumulated enough animation production experience, and there are two patented softwares. However, there are not enough staff in Sillywood Animation at present. , if you're going to make a big movie, you need more special effects artists and animators, so ... I'm going to buy a special effects company outright."

Tang En's eyes widened and the corners of his mouth curled up, "No small ambition!"

Tosca Musk shrugged indifferently, "I gave up everything in Silicon Valley and came to Hollywood to develop, not to get a job."

Tang En smiled, "Which company did you fall in love with?"

There are four major special effects companies in Hollywood today.

First, it is naturally the Industrial Light and Magic of Lucasfilm, which is the originator of the special effects industry;

The second is pdi Pacific Digital Image Studio, because DreamWorks Animation was going to transform and develop computer CG animation, and completed the acquisition last year;

The third is the digital field founded by James Cameron, which is the main special effects company responsible for "Titanic", "The Grinch" and "The Unsinkable";

Fourth, the rhythm and special effects studio was established as early as 1987, and its qualifications and status are in the leading position in the industry. This company is responsible for the production of 20th Century Fox's "X-Men".

However, with the advent of the era of film special effects, there have been more than 30 special effects companies in Hollywood, and even the small British film circle has 7 special effects companies.

The competition in this industry is very fierce!

Tosca Musk said: "It is the Seineset special effects company under the Etuman Kodak company. It was responsible for the "Mission Impossible" series and also helped to produce some special effects for "The Chronicles of Narnia"."

Tang En raised his eyebrows, "Is it weak? I've never heard of it."

Tosca Musk laughed angrily, "Big boss, I also want to acquire a powerful special effects company, will you give me so much money at a critical moment? I want to make a big movie and buy a special effects company, I don't have 100 million U.S. dollar injection is simply not going to work!"

Tang En didn't seem to hear the sarcasm in the other party's words, pinched his chin, half-squinted his eyes and muttered to himself: "Sony Pictures created Sony's special effects, DreamWorks also acquired Pacific Digital Imaging Studio, two Blue Sky Studio under Tenth Century Fox, the main business is special effects services... special effects companies, it is necessary."

"Um?"

Tosca Musk's eyes widened, as if he had understood something from Dunn's words.

Tang En muttered to himself for a while, this was his thinking, and after two minutes, he opened his mouth and said, "What do you think of the 'digital field'?"

"Mr. Cameron Digital Domain?" Tosca Musk said with a look of surprise and excitement, "Of course, Digital Domain is recognized as the most professional fluid production special effect company in the industry, UU reading This is better than Industrial Light and Magic!"

"Fluid production?"

"It's dynamic special effects! This is the biggest supplement to animated cg movies!"

Tang En smiled, "If that's the case, then choose the digital field. It's boring to make small fuss. If you want to do it, you must do your best!"

Tosca Musk was so excited that he couldn't sit still. "But the acquisition is not a small problem, right? The operation of this company is at its best."

Dunn waved his hand, "You don't need to worry about this, James is a major shareholder in the digital field, just a word! As for the other two co-founders, Stan Winston and Scott Ross, they are all smart people. , I will definitely understand that relying on Dunn Pictures is far better than fighting alone."

Special effects companies were once a trend, but the scale of the industry was too small.

With the market demand of Hollywood, there is no need for more than 30 special effects companies. It is conceivable that in the next few years, a large number of special effects companies will collapse one after another.

In fact, it does.

In the next 15 years, three of the four major special effects companies in Hollywood have gone bankrupt, and the only surviving Industrial Light and Magic has also become the dowry of Lucasfilm and transferred to Disney.

The special effects are destined to be just a foil for the movie. Without an industry that dominates destiny, it is difficult to have room for survival.

For example, the difference between independent film companies and the six major film giants.

Distribution channels are the fundamental way that the six giants dominate Hollywood. Independent film companies can only serve as foils, and the living space will shrink step by step until they go bankrupt.

No independent film company can survive this fate, even MGM, which once swept the world.

Unless, like Sony Pictures, it acquired Columbia Pictures, and it seems that Dunn Pictures is playing the idea of ​​Universal Pictures...

(Sanqi Chinese)