I’m in Hollywood - Chapter 700
[Chapter 694 Power Penetration]
The taxi stopped on the side of a road at the top of Beverly Hills. The driver had a pleasant chat with the middle-aged black-haired passenger in a neat suit. He looked at the luxurious mansion outside the car window and joked: ” Dude, I never thought that the destination of your visit turned out to be here, a Beverly mansion of this size, either a superstar or a top Hollywood producer, you must be developed.”
Chris Wedge was also in a good mood, He was even a little excited and responded to the driver’s words with a smile on his face. After paying for the car, he turned around and walked towards the gate of the mansion with a briefcase.
After confirming the house number again, Chris Wedge reached out and rang the doorbell, waiting patiently, thinking of the phone call a few days ago.
It all started in 1987, when Chris Wedge was just 30 years old. He resigned from an animation studio where he was originally working, and with a few partners, he founded Blue Sky, a special effects studio on the second floor of a dental clinic. Studio, after eight years of development, although the current Blue Sky Studio is still far from being on a par with the industry overlords in the digital field and Industrial Light & Magic, it is already well-known in the film and television special effects industry. It has more than 100 employees and also Last year, I undertook part of the CG special effects production of “Jumanji”.
A few days ago, the producer who was in charge of contacting Blue Sky Studio suddenly called him and asked him if he was interested in computer animation. Chris Wedge has always been envious of his old friend John Lassey. With the success of 3D animation, he also made a similar attempt, of course he nodded yes without hesitation, so there is today’s meeting that people are looking forward to.
A female inquiring voice came from inside the door. Chris Wedge felt that the voice was a bit familiar, so he didn’t have time to think about it, so he quickly cheered up and responded.
The door opened, and a tall and slender girl with a little red on her face appeared in front of Chris Wedge. The girl’s long blond hair was somewhat fluffy and she was lazy.
She wore a loose beige knitted sweater on her upper body. The round neckline was wide open, revealing a small piece of white skin on her shoulders.
Although the hem of the knitted sweater was a bit wide, it did not conceal the two slender legs wrapped in white skinny jeans.
Chris Wedge was taken aback for a moment.
It wasn’t until the girl frowned slightly that she suddenly reacted and said a little embarrassedly: “Miss Roberts, hello, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m your fan.”
Chris Wedge said this, raising his right hand slightly, Looking at Julia’s slender hand clutching the doorknob, she was too embarrassed to reach out.
“Eric and Liz are waiting for you, come with me,” Julia replied, stretched out her hand to tug on the sweater, turned and walked inside.
Chris Wedge followed Julia through the hallway in the courtyard, calming down, recalling the moment he had just seen Julia.
Only then did I realize that the state of this Hollywood first-line actress was not normal just now,
a little bit like she just woke up, a little bit drunk, or, more like a bit… Hey, Chris Wedge must have just woken up I didn’t smell the alcohol, it was already four o’clock in the afternoon, and even the nap time had already passed, and it was impossible to just wake up.
Involuntarily thinking about it in my heart, I went around the path.
Seeing the two figures standing by the swimming pool in front of the mansion, Chris Wedge hurriedly put aside those messy thoughts, thinking about these things would not do him any good, in case the master guessed his thoughts.
That’s even worse.
Looking at a pair of young men and women walking by, Chris Wedge eagerly reached out to Eric walking in front: “Hello, Mr. Williams.”
“Hello, Chris, just call me Eric. , this is Liz. You should be on the phone.”
“Of course, Miss Murdoch, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Chris Wedge smiled again and shook hands with Elizabeth.
The three sat down at the round table in the courtyard, and Julia served the three of them coffee, not interested in participating in the conversation, but lazily walked to the beach chair next to them, lay down, and flipped through a magazine.
Although Chris Wedge was a little confused about the relationship between the man and the woman in front of him, he carefully controlled his eyes and tried not to look at Julia who was not far away.
“In general, you and Liz must have talked on the phone. I have also seen the special effects you did for Alien 3, Brave Game and other films, which are excellent. I also know that you are in the “Brave” During the production of “Game of Thrones”, Columbia had invested in an animated short film, but it didn’t work, right?”
Chris Wedge nodded: “Yes, Eric, the studio I was in used to do Disney in my early years. I have always been very interested in animated films.”
Elizabeth asked: “If it is an investment in animation, you should look for Firefly, why would you contact Columbia?”
Chris Wedge embarrassed He smiled and glanced at Eric, not knowing how to answer.
After Elizabeth said what she just said, she immediately understood that Firefly already has the industry’s top 3D animation technology, and under normal circumstances, it is impossible to see Blue Sky Studio.
Eric didn’t seem to hear Elizabeth’s question, and chatted directly with Chris Wedge about 3D animated movies. Chris Wedge has also been quite well prepared these days, skillfully dealing with Eric’s various He also took out a set of prepared animated short storyboards to show Eric again.
Even if it already has some technical accumulation, an animation studio still has to start with animated short films in the production of 3D animated films. At the beginning, Pixar produced short films such as “Jumping Lights” and “Tin Iron Soldiers” in succession. After accumulating enough experience, I started to get involved in animated feature films.
Half an hour later, Chris Wedge put away the drawings and said, “Eric, this short film only needs an investment of 3 million US dollars. As long as the funds can be obtained, I promise to produce enough to prove us within half a year. Works with the ability to control animated feature films come out.”
Eric shook his head and said, “Chris, I don’t plan to invest in Blue Sky Studio.”
Chris Wedge just showed a disappointed expression, thinking he prepared it accurately The short animation script was not approved by Eric, but Eric continued: “I plan to acquire Blue Sky Studio.”
Chris Wedge immediately raised his head: “Eric, you mean…acquisition?”
Eric nodded with a smile on the corner of his mouth: “Yes, acquisition.”
Although not in the Hollywood circle, Chris Wedge Qi still knew something about Eric’s relationship with Elizabeth, as he had always thought.
It must be that Fox is more interested in Blue Sky Studio. Even if it is to acquire Blue Sky Studio, it should be Elizabeth who represents Fox.
But after this half-hour exchange, Chris Wedge realized that Eric still played a leading role in this matter.
This made him feel suspicious again.
Firefly already owns two animation studios, Pixar and Disney Animation. Even if Firefly wants to continue to expand in the animation film field, it should be limited to these two studios.
Although he knew that he would not reject the acquisition offer, Chris Wedge asked cautiously: “Eric, can I… know why?”
“Of course.” Eric explained: “Although the animation Movies are always rated within PG-13 because of the audience. But for Disney, there are still many good ideas that don’t fit Disney’s core values, and if they’re distributed by Disney, they will hurt To Disney’s established brand image. So, I plan to take these ideas out and hand them over to an animation studio that is completely independent of the Disney system to produce and distribute to other studios.”
Chris Wedge asked : “Isn’t there a lot of film companies under Firefly?”
“Disney is a very important brand in Firefly’s system. If other Firefly film departments release animated films, the audience will naturally think of Disney. What I want It’s a complete divestiture.”
Chris Wedge nodded, glanced at Elizabeth, and said, “So, Eric, what are the acquisition conditions?”
“In order to express the sincerity of long-term cooperation, we do not intend to acquire a wholly-owned capital. Firefly and Fox will each pay 5 million US dollars to acquire 45% of the shares of Blue Sky Studio. You can continue to retain 10% of the shares. In addition, Firefly will give Blue Sky Studio’s animation technical support. The future animated films produced by the studio will be distributed by Fox.”
The asking price of $10 million to acquire 90% of the shares is far lower than Chris Wedge’s expectations. After all, this studio is He has worked hard for eight years, but Eric will give the promise of technical support to Blue Sky Studio.
However, Chris Wedge did not hesitate too much immediately. You must know that the top 3D animation technology mastered by Firefly cannot be bought with money. This is the basis for Firefly to monopolize the 3D animation film market in recent years.
After thinking for a moment, Chris Wedge nodded decisively and said, “Eric, I agree to this deal.”
“Very good. I hope we can cooperate happily in the future,” Eric got up and shook hands with Chris Wedge Started, the two sat down again, and Eric began to talk about his detailed plan.
Talking to sunset, Chris Wedge took the initiative to say goodbye.
The specific acquisition contract will be negotiated in more detail in the coming period.
After sending Chris Wedge away, the two returned to the swimming pool. Elizabeth looked at Julia, who was still leaning lazily on the beach chair, and said, “Eric, look at her, Chris Wedge just now. Qi Ke glanced at Julia more than once, I think he must be guessing that Julia seems to be high, and it is big news if it gets out.”
Julia seemed to suddenly come to life, and turned the magazine in her hand towards Elizabeth threw it over and retorted: “You’re so high, I’m just a little tired.”
“Hehe, come, let me check for you if you’re really tired,” Elizabeth said, rushing to catch her. Julia’s waist support was flexibly lifted by Julia’s feet and kicked away.
Thump –
Elizabeth fell into the swimming pool without any preparation for a while.
“Ah, woohoo…”
Elizabeth, who was kicked into the swimming pool by Julia, quickly stuck her head out, lay on the edge of the pool, and said angrily to Julia: “But, I won’t let you go, you vicious woman, murder My husband.”
Eric pulled Elizabeth out of the pool with a smile, urged her to change clothes, turned around and sat down on the beach chair Julia was lying on, and stretched out his hand to hug the girl and put it on his lap.
After being teased by Elizabeth, Julia, who had just recovered her energy, felt the movements of Eric’s hands, and whispered a few times, like a cat whose bones had been taken out, and quickly returned to laziness. misty state.
Elizabeth came back after changing her clothes, wiping her wet hair with a large towel in her hand, and looked at Julia who was soft on Eric’s body.
This time, I didn’t provoke the cat that could go mad at any time. I sat down next to me and said, “Eric, you have been talking about some animated movie ideas that don’t fit the Disney release style. Do you already have an idea?
” Rick picked up the magazine in Julia’s hand and looked at it casually, and said, “I read a picture book that was completely anti-fairy tale some time ago. The author is William Steiger, and you can start it recently. The right to adapt this album is taken down.”
“What, you didn’t make it clear.”
Eric smiled.
Dao: “You can buy a copy tomorrow and have a look. That picture book is basically a complete subversion of Disney’s past fairy tale routines, but I think it is very interesting and can be made into a special animated film. An animated film can’t be released by Disney or any of Firefly’s film companies, otherwise Disney’s carefully crafted brand image will be greatly affected, so I came up with the idea of forming an animation studio outside of Firefly.”
Elizabeth Interested: “Oh, what is the name of this album?”
Eric said: “Shrek.”
The original “Shrek” by DreamWorks in Time and Space is an animation work by Katzenberg in order to retaliate against his old club after he ran away from Disney. It can be seen from the quality of the film.
The film’s investment was not high and the production was rough, but what I didn’t expect was that this low-cost animated film parodying Disney’s fairy tales unexpectedly exploded at the box office. .
Now that Katzenberg hasn’t left, and DreamWorks has changed into a different look, Eric is almost certain that if he doesn’t intervene, an alternative 3D animated movie like “Shrek” will not even appear again. in this world.
Recently.
In order to find a project for Firefly next summer, Eric also sorted out some of the films in his memory, and naturally thought of these.
Although “Shrek”, “Ice Age” and other series have achieved box office results no less than Disney’s animation in their previous lives, these animated films are somewhat deviated from the core spirit of Disney’s animation.
Moreover, the 3D animation film market is far from being saturated. Cooperating with Fox to win Blue Sky Studio, it can not only put animation projects that are not suitable for Disney into this studio, continue to bring huge profits to Firefly, but also can Through cooperation with Blue Sky Studio.
Keep Firefly’s influence on Fox.
Thinking of this, Eric thought of another thing again, and said to Elizabeth: “Liz, there is one more thing, since there is a blue sky studio, are you interested in buying a toy company?”
Elizabeth wondered Said: “Toy company, why?”
“In the future, the animation produced by Blue Sky Studio will definitely produce peripherals.”
Elizabeth stared at Eric for a few seconds, then pouted: “You are talking nonsense again, few people will Buying a restaurant after eating a steak?”
“Okay,” Eric smiled and said, “It’s actually because of the copyright in this toy company, Hasbro, you know?”
“Transformers Well,” Elizabeth blurted out, but immediately picked herself up: “You mean Transformers?”
Eric nodded: “Look, when it comes to Hasbro, you immediately think of Transformers. You can see how well-known this toy series is. If it is developed into a live-action movie, it will definitely have unlimited potential.”
“That’s not necessary.
Buy Hasbro, can’t we just buy the copyright of Transformers?”
“Of course not, the copyright will always have an expiration date, and Hasbro will not be stupid enough to sell you the perpetual copyright, so , you will be able to do it once and for all if you win Hasbro. After a few more years of special effects technology, I believe that the copyright value of Transformers is not
much worse than that of “Star Wars”.” “You are exaggerating, what movie copyright can Better than “Star Wars”,” Elizabeth shook her head almost subconsciously, the influence of “Star Wars” was deeply ingrained in the minds of Westerners, and even Julia, who was resting on Eric’s lap, shook her head gently. .
However, Elizabeth quickly reacted. If this sentence was said from other people, it would have no credibility, but Eric said it was different: “Eric, you won’t be serious, right? Eric nodded firmly:
”
Do you think I’m joking?”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes: “Why didn’t Firefly take down Hasbro?”
Eric shrugged: “Firefly’s The goal is too big, if we take action. Not only will someone jump out to fight, Hasbro will also open up. My plan is similar to that of Blue Sky Studio, Fox is in the light, and fireflies are in the dark. The treasure is taken down, and then we divide it in half, how about it?”
Elizabeth blinked shrewdly: “What if I don’t plan to divide it with you?”
Eric clenched his fist and squeezed the joints. Slapped: “Then I have to be rough.”
Elizabeth was not frightened by Eric’s actions, but Julia moved Eric’s fist to her cheek and rubbed it.
He shouted in a low voice, “Eric…”
Elizabeth looked at Julia with an unbearable expression: “I think you should drag her into the house and beat her first.”
Eric reluctantly pulled Julia up and stretched out his hand gently on the girl. There was a slap on the ass drum: “Stop pestering people, let’s make dinner.”
“Well, what do you want to eat?”
“Eat what you have in the refrigerator.”
Watching Julia stray away, Elizabeth shrugged and turned back to the topic just now. Since Eric looked so determined, she no longer doubted and asked, “How much does this company cost?”
“I checked. Hasbro The current market value is 2.9 billion US dollars. If a goodwill acquisition is made, it can be won by about 3.5 billion US dollars. Even a hostile acquisition should not exceed 4 billion US dollars. Moreover, I think with Fox’s influence, the goodwill acquisition may be successful. Sex is still very big.”
“But, $3 billion to $4 billion,” Elizabeth backed down again: “Eric, I think we’d better buy the copyright of Transformers first. Try to extend the copyright period. , 20 years, is it enough?”
Eric shook his head and said: “Hasbro’s operation is very stable. The net profit in recent years has been around 200 million US dollars. After the acquisition, with the surrounding of Blue Sky Studio, Authorized and Hasbro’s perfect toy production and distribution system, there is definitely still a lot of room for improvement in future performance, coupled with the huge potential of Transformers copyright, it can be said that Hasbro is the kind of company that is seriously undervalued, mergers and acquisitions Down, even if I don’t develop film and television copyrights, I can recover all the investment within ten years. If it weren’t for Firefly’s too many plans to carry out in recent years, I would definitely do it myself.”
Before Eric’s rebirth, it was just “Transformers”. “The global box office of the first four films in the series is already close to 4 billion US dollars, and the peripheral profits generated by the film are even more difficult to estimate.
In my memory, after Disney successively won Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm, it also made a takeover offer to Hasbro, but Hasbro’s price was too high, and the most important “Transformers” copyright was also assigned. With Ramon in his hands, the deal was never completed.
In recent years, special effects films have become more and more dazzling in Hollywood, and Eric believes that some people will soon notice the copyright of Transformers.
If you don’t take down the com in advance, you will only regret it at that time.
Hollywood-related copyright authorization is only 20 years in the longest case, but Eric knows that after 20 years, Transformers are still being filmed, even if this time and space will advance the production date, with the popularity of Transformers There is absolutely no problem with the length of the series exceeding Harry Potter, so 20 years of copyright authorization time is far from enough.
What’s more, Hasbro will definitely not agree to sell Transformers for 20 years. Instead of suddenly encountering the risk of copyright loss when the Transformers series is in full swing in the future, it is better to eat this company completely.
The reason why this cake was shared with Fox is that on the one hand, Firefly already owns Marvel, a huge copyright gold mine that has been developed for decades, as well as many developable animated film and live-action film copyrights. All profits are taken up, and it is impossible to have enough release time and schedule.
On the other hand, the development of Firefly itself has reached a limit. Due to the restrictions of anti-monopoly and other factors, Firefly will no longer be able to merge other film companies with great fanfare. The way of cooperation has become Eric to the entire Hollywood system. The best way to penetrate, so that while making profits, Eric can also expand his control over Hollywood step by step. Just like MGM at this time, with the cooperation of many film projects, Eric is in this company. The invisible power in the film company is not even lower than that of its CEO. If Eric speaks, MGM’s major shareholder, Credit Lyon, will definitely replace the helm of MGM without hesitation.
(To be continued.) SJGSF0916
[End of this Chapter]
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