Chapter 566： Paramount Project

Steven Spielberg welcomes a heavyweight visitor at DreamWorks headquarters in Glendale, California.

The CEO of Paramount Pictures and the most famous female power figure in Hollywood, Shirley Lansing, personally came to DreamWorks headquarters to visit his old friend Spielberg.

But the atmosphere in the office is definitely not friendly, even a bit tense.

Shirley Lansing kept smiling: "Steven, how are you thinking about it?"

Spielberg vaguely said: "I haven't considered it yet."

Shirley Lansing seems relaxed, but in fact it is also under great pressure. Last year, Paramount Pictures ranked last among the top six in Hollywood. Even Sony Columbia, which has always been a crane behind, has stabilized and stabilized. For the film industry, this makes Viacom, the parent company, very dissatisfied.

This really embarrassed her, the head of Paramount Pictures.

Shirley Lansing is not the kind of woman who will be easily beaten down. She quickly analyzed Paramount Pictures' operating conditions in 2003. The online and offline distribution and peripheral operations are not bad. The biggest problem lies in content production. Above.

Without outstanding film and television works, there is not much room for distribution and surrounding operations.

Paramount Pictures invested heavily in the production of "Tomb Raider 2" and "Reminiscence" all failed miserably. The most successful film was "The Day of the Day", which even failed to make it into the top ten of the 2003 North American box office charts.

Looking back, Shirley Lansing horrified the discovery that, apart from the "Mission Impossible" series, Paramount Pictures now does not have any commercial series that can arouse strong market response.

And the copyright of the "Mission Impossible" series is shared with Tom Cruise...

The problem is clear at a glance, Paramount Pictures lacks marketable works in film production.

Shirley Lansing has been doing corresponding work since last year. There was a problem with content production. Paramount Pictures has increased its efforts to find new projects on the one hand, but it lacks excellent producers and collaborators. Resolved within.

On the other hand, it is solved from the outside. The solution is very simple. Find a suitable production company and let them provide the content.

The six major companies of the same grade don't have to think about it. They can't hand over their films to Paramount for distribution, and the medium-scale production companies controlled by the six major companies naturally don't have to think about it.

Shirley Lansing's gaze was naturally placed on the two companies-DreamWorks and Relativity Entertainment.

The latter’s shareholding is concentrated and it is not easy to speak up, and Shirley Lansing only knows Ronan at best and doesn’t know much about him.

Therefore, it is most convenient to kill the ripe.

The six major companies also have a silent tacit agreement. It is in their own interest to suppress DreamWorks.

"Steven, we are old friends for twenty years, and I am helping you too." Shirley Lansing said with a slight smile: "How much money and personnel DreamWorks invested in overseas distribution channels, the result? Not only? It has affected your distribution channels in North America, and even started to drag down the film and television production business."

These are the real conditions of DreamWorks, and Spielberg does not refute it.

Shirley Lansing added: "If you leave the distribution to Paramount, DreamWorks can save a lot of resources and invest in the film and television production you are best at, and bring more outstanding films to the audience to the world. works."

Spielberg held his glasses and looked at the depths of Shirley Lansing's eyes, never cold before.

I've been an old friend of twenty years, so I chose to come over and make trouble at this time.

Just proposing that DreamWorks' film distribution is handed over to Paramount Pictures, Spielberg would not have such an idea. However, after the New Year, a group of people from the DreamWorks distribution department resigned to join Universal Pictures, and Shirley Lansing Come here again.

It was as if there was a silent understanding between them.

But the real problem lies here, and Spielberg can't ignore it and said: "Shirley, I'm thinking about it for a while."

For the time being, it can only be dragged.

This is Spielberg after all, and Shirley Lansing is not too persecuted, saying: "Steven, Paramount Pictures and I are looking forward to working with you again."

Spielberg smiled: "Believe that I and Paramount will work together again."

He emphasized the individual as the director, not the boss of DreamWorks.

Shirley Lansing understood the meaning and said, "Steven, I understand the situation of DreamWorks. I will say a few words as a friend, and I will strive for more conditions while DreamWorks still has enough value. "

Spielberg's attitude suddenly became tougher: "Shirley, DreamWorks will not go bankrupt."

Shirley Lansing smiled and said, "Of course not. As long as you are here, DreamWorks will always have hope." She suddenly mentioned another thing: "Steven, I will send a team over to talk to you." The release of "World War"."

The sci-fi giant "War of the World" starring Tom Cruise, as early as the beginning of the project, Spielberg, under certain pressure, promised to distribute it to Paramount Pictures.

Spielberg deliberately wanted to go back. After thinking about it, he decided to keep his promise, but was determined to strive for the best release conditions for DreamWorks, saying: "I will personally participate in this release negotiation."

Shirley Lansing nodded and said, "I won't bother you. Goodbye, Steven."

Sending away Shirley Lansing, Spielberg couldn’t help but have a headache. Last time he met Tom Hanks and talked about "The Da Vinci Code", he told an old friend about the launch dilemma of DreamWorks and the actual situation. It is more serious than he said, especially after the publishers were dug into the corner, it has affected the distribution of DreamWorks in North America.

After ten years of hard work, DreamWorks has not only failed to develop into a top entertainment group company as expected, it has become increasingly difficult.

Spielberg stood in front of the office window and looked down. The car Shirley Lanxi was riding in was heading towards the gate of the DreamWorks Park.

Does DreamWorks really want to hand over the films it produces to Paramount for distribution? Sign a long-term distribution agreement with Paramount Pictures?

Thinking of this, Spielberg shook his head slowly but firmly.

Tom Hanks is right. Once it loses its distribution capabilities, DreamWorks will soon become the plaything of the Big Six.

The distribution channel is stuck in DreamWorks' throat!

Spielberg is more determined and must find a way to solve the issue problem.

A black business car drove out of the gate of DreamWorks. Shirley Lansing glanced back. DreamWorks is not doing well recently. As long as it doesn't solve the issue of distribution, it will not take long before it will become a production company.

Paramount Pictures needs production companies, especially high-performance production companies.

Thinking of this, Shirley Lansing asked the assistant on the co-pilot: "I want you to pay attention to Ronan Anderson and Relativity Entertainment. Are there any specials on their side recently?"

The assistant hurriedly said: “Recently, there has been an uproar at Relativity Entertainment. They competed with Lionsgate to buy Artisan Pictures.”

Shirley Lansing raised her eyebrows: "Acquiring Artisan Pictures?"

"Yes, the news has been public for a few days." The assistant hurriedly introduced: "There was relevant news last year, saying that the shareholders of Artisan Pictures were going to package the company for sale. Capital acquisition, but Artisan Pictures made the news, Lionsgate also joined in, and now the two companies are bidding for Artisan Pictures."

Shirley Lansing seems to be talking to herself: "What does Relativity Entertainment do to acquire Artisan Pictures? Shahai Entertainment has very strong production capabilities, and the distribution capabilities of Embassy Pictures are not much worse than Paramount..."

The assistant whispered back: "Relativity Entertainment has no film library."

Shirley Lansing came to understand: "Ronan Anderson is very ambitious."

The assistant said: "Relativistic Entertainment has developed rapidly in recent years, much faster than DreamWorks."

"This is a very good company." Shirley Lansing thought of something: "Unfortunately, the background is much worse."

The assistant answered, "With the film library, the gap in the background is narrowed."

Of course Shirley Lansing understood this, and sat here blankly, seeming to be thinking about things.

Relativity entertainment has risen so fast. In the past and even now, more eyes were focused on DreamWorks. When it was time to pay attention to Relativity Entertainment, it was discovered that it turned out to be a behemoth no less than DreamWorks.

If there is a film library, Relativity Entertainment will be more confident.

Shirley Lansing thought of Paramount’s weakest production link, and recalled the big-selling movies produced by Relativity Entertainment last year, and suddenly came up with an idea.

If Paramount Pictures can swallow DreamWorks and Relativity Entertainment, will it become the top company in Hollywood?

Shirley Lansing did not consider the problem of being unable to eat, because the emerging companies that appeared in Hollywood in the past had only two results, bankruptcy or becoming part of the Big Six.

Relativity Entertainment is expanding too fast. Taking down the film library means having a stable source of copyright income, which is definitely not conducive to acquisition.

Shirley Lansing quickly came up with an idea can't let Relativity Entertainment smoothly swallow Artisan Pictures.

This is also in the interest of the group company Viacom. Relativity Entertainment's Netflix and Viacom's subsidiary Blockbuster are in full swing in the leasing market.

But then there is a headache. The equity concentration of Relativity Entertainment, the acquisition and differentiation set is not useful at all.

Then find something troublesome for Relativity Entertainment as soon as possible, so that they can't concentrate on acquiring Artisan Pictures.

After making a decision, Shirley Lansing thought for a while, and said to the driver: "Go to Viacom headquarters." She said to the assistant again: "Call Mr. Redstone's assistant. I want to see Lei Shi today. Mr. Dong."

After the assistant finished the phone call and agreed to meet, Shirley Lansing said: "Call Relativity Entertainment, I want to see Ronan Anderson tomorrow."

After arriving at Viacom headquarters, Shirley Lansing directly approached Summer Redstone and expounded her thoughts.

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