Chapter 517： About the film library

After returning to Los Angeles from New Hampshire, Robert Lee did not give up the copyright of "The Da Vinci Code". He had contacted Tom Hanks and the executives of Pretone Corporation several times, but Tom Han X himself was determined.

In the end, whether it is Ronan or Robert Lee, they can only choose to give up.

You can never hang yourself on a project.

First passed by Universal Pictures, then missed the "Jurassic Park" series, and then missed the copyright of "The Da Vinci Code". Ronan is also a normal person. Although he never showed it, he was somewhat disappointed. .

However, he soon figured it out.

Having already used the advantages of prophecy to obtain countless high-quality resources, it is impossible for Relativity Entertainment to grasp all the good things in its own hands.

In the future, more may be missed.

Ronan couldn't remember all the movies he had seen, what he could think of and got conditional copyright registration, he has done his best to do it.

He will continue to look for high-quality resources in the future, and those already in his hands must be operated well.

For example, first-line projects and plans that are already in progress or are in preparation.

It may not be a bad thing to pass away with Universal Pictures. This allows Relativity Entertainment and Pacific Investment Fund to maintain ample cash flow that can be used for other tasks.

The acquisition team formed by Robert Iger has not been disbanded. According to the plan that was made when the joint Hollywood Video obtained many rental and sales authorizations, he secretly began to evaluate the Artisan Entertainment Company. Robert Iger plans to take as much as possible next year. Xiayijiang Pictures.

This medium-sized film company has the most lacking film library in Relativity Entertainment.

Artisan Entertainment Company, once translated by many people as Artisan Entertainment, at that time, when artisans were mentioned, the first thing that fans thought of was "Blair the Witch" and "Vanilla Sky" starring Tom Cruise.

In addition, the film and television rights of the street superhero punisher under Marvel Comics are currently in the hands of Artisan Pictures.

If you win Artisan Pictures, you can also take the copyright of "The Punisher" into your bag.

In 1974, "The Punisher" first appeared in "The Amazing Spider-Man" and soon entered popular culture as a representative of "anti-hero" characters.

To be precise, this is also an alternative hero who has no superpowers and is bitter and bitter. He wanders in the urban jungle like a lonely wolf.

It seems that the Punisher also formed an alliance of defenders with superheroes such as Daredevil.

"Artisan Pictures' film library has complete copyrights for more than 6,000 films."

In the office of Relativity Entertainment, Robert Iger told Ronan some basic statistics: "There are many well-known works."

He handed a list to Ronan and continued: "The most well-known work in the library, the trilogy "First Blood", the Oscar-winning "Last Emperor", Arnold Schwartz "Terminator" and "Total Memories" starring Singer, and "Instinct" which was a sensation in the early 1990s. There are also two somewhat famous series, "Seals" and "Devil Roar."

Ronan has heard of these films, or even watched them. Those who know Hollywood movies basically know films like "First Blood", "Terminator" and "Instinct".

"I remember the "First Blood" series was filmed and produced by Samsung Pictures, right?" Ronan asked.

This Samsung Pictures has nothing to do with Bangzi's Samsung. It was one of the mid-sized Hollywood studios in the 1980s, but it had no distribution capabilities.

Robert Iger apparently did a detailed understanding and said: “Samsung Pictures has gone through a period of turbulence. Some of its works were resold to Artisan Pictures. Later, Samsung Pictures was acquired by Sony Columbia, but the copyright of these works remained in the art. Carpenter."

The copyright ownership of Hollywood movies is often very clear, but the resale situation is very complicated. The ultimate copyright ownership of many works often has nothing to do with the producers and distributors of the year.

When companies in the industry encounter difficulties and cannot continue to operate, the most effective financial solution is to sell film libraries and copyrights.

Behind every veteran film company, there is a large-scale film library, including famous films as a support.

Artisan Pictures is no exception.

This is different from the previous copyrights acquired in cooperation with Hollywood Video. Those are the rental and sales copyrights of the films. If you buy the library, all the film copyrights will be owned by Relativity Entertainment.

Robert Iger said half jokingly: "If we can win the Artisan Films library, we can call Stallone and shoot "First Blood 4".

Ronan nodded: "Stallone is a bit old."

Later, Stallone was known as a national father-in-law among the fans on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, and all three daughters were beautiful and beautiful.

Ronan asked again: "What about the copyright of "Terminator"? What's the matter?"

Robert Iger briefly explained: "The copyright of the first "Terminator" was in the hands of Artisan Pictures. The first film was a co-production, which led to the split of copyright. Later, Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Came In order to shoot the sequel, James Cameron’s ex-wife Anne Hurd integrated the copyright of "The Ultimate". The copyright of the first film belongs to Artisan Pictures, and the copyright of the sequel belongs to Carlock Pictures. ."

Ronan understood: "In other words, no matter how many sequels of "Terminator" are shot, it doesn't matter to Artisan Pictures."

"Yes." Robert Iger said instead: "But we can shoot "Instinct 2."

Ronan shook his head: "Forget it, I don't like Sharon Stone. There are too many large-scale movies in theaters. Several people will be interested in an old woman in her fifties."

Robert Iger will not express too much opinion on the production of film projects.

Ronan quickly browsed the list of movies on the catalog. Most of the names are very unfamiliar. In fact, regardless of the Big Six companies or other film companies, the vast library of thousands or even tens of thousands of movies, most of the movies are unknown. Really famous works are rare.

But the copyright of each film means that it can be profitable for a long time, and the profits from the huge film base can be combined into tens of millions of dollars in revenue.

And this part of copyright income is basically net profit.

The series of movies on the list can continue to be filmed, such as "Sea Leopards", Ronan does not remember how many films have been made, it seems that they are all directly released on DVD.

In addition, Ronan also saw several familiar film titles from the list, such as the copyright of "Black Man" starring Jeter Lee, which is also in the film library of Artisan Pictures.

There is also a "Alice in Wonderland", which was directed by Nick Welling in 1999.

With this work in existence, it is possible to call for a 3D version of "Alice in Wonderland".

Ronan asked, "What about the difficulties? We must have sufficient predictions about the difficulties."

"We have designed a variety of records." Robert Iger is fully responsible for this work: "Difficulties mainly come from two aspects."

He said in detail: "First, once the news of our acquisition of Artisan Pictures spreads, it is likely to attract competitors. Artisan Pictures has been in poor business conditions in the past two years. The management and shareholders have the idea of ​​selling the company. As long as we contact them, Artisan Pictures will inevitably release news to get more transfer money."

Ronan nodded slightly, which is similar to the sale of Universal Pictures by Vivendi Group.

Robert Iger continued: "The second aspect comes from the business of Artisan Pictures. What we need most is Artisan Pictures' film library, but Artisan Pictures, as an established Hollywood film company, has production and distribution capabilities. Of course, Artisan Films has relatively weak production capabilities and outstanding distribution capabilities. It can not only distribute films in North America, but also has a wider range of distribution channels overseas."

Ronan understood what he meant, and then said: "Relativity Entertainment does not need the production and distribution business of Artisan Pictures, right?"

"Yes." Robert Iger further said: "Our production and distribution business has developed over the past few years and has become quite mature. If we integrate into the two aspects of the artisan film industry, it will not only be difficult to bring a substitute, but also Cause a lot of unnecessary trouble."

Ronan said slowly: "This is an ineffective business for us, but it is an important asset component of Artisan Pictures."

Robert Iger added: “These two businesses account for far more than half of Artisan’s assets. According to Hollywood’s past acquisitions and our contacts with the Vivendi Group, I want artisans to It is very difficult for the film industry to separate out the film library and sell it, and it is basically impossible. And we all acquired the artisan film industry, and we have to split it again, and then sell the invalid business If you have difficulty, you can't give up. The copyright of the film library will only become more and more valuable in the future. Robert Iger knows this, and Ronan also understands: "Do a few more preparations. Then when you contact Artisan Pictures, it is best to get the film library directly. If so, we will buy them all and we will split them after a big deal. "

Robert Iger said: "It can only be so."

Ronan asked: "You are responsible for all matters in this area, and you are responsible for it. Bob, you give me a time point when the acquisition can be officially launched so that I can ask Scott to do it for you at the foundation. Prepare funds."

In the acquisition, Ronan is very clear about his position, he is far less professional than Robert Iger, and he does his best to provide logistical support.

Faced with an acquisition that may be hundreds of millions of dollars, Robert Iger is confident and very cautious: "The team has already begun to make preparations. I need about three months to evaluate the assets of Artisan Films. Depending on the timing and the current situation of Artisan Pictures, it is expected to start early next year."

Ronan knew that he could not rush for success and said, "I am waiting for your good news."