Heads Up Hollywood

The emergence of new media has brought about a new round of reshuffle in Hollywood.

Among the most successful are New Universal and Comcast.

Needless to say, the former is the boss of Hollywood.

During this change, Comcast successfully entered the content provider industry from an operator and formed the entertainment giant NBC Columbia Group.

To say that the most frustrated is Viacom, followed by Time Warner.

Recently, another big news came out of Hollywood.

New Line Cinema, an independent Hollywood filmmaker with a history of nearly 40 years, has been merged by Warner Bros. Pictures!

New Line Cinema was founded by Bob Shea in 1967. After more than 20 years of tepid development, it finally ushered in a big explosion in 1990!

At that time, Golden Harvest of the Hong Kong government made a movie "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", which was bought by 20th Century Fox.

However, Fox was hesitant to release it, fearing that the box office would not be as expensive as the distribution cost, resulting in a loss.

New Line Cinema chose to take a big gamble and bought the copyright of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" from 20th Century Fox at a price of 3 million US dollars, and released it boldly.

As a result, the film earned $130 million!

It directly made the name of New Line Films resound in Hollywood, and established its status in the world in one fell swoop.

Affected by this, Turner Group, the entertainment giant at the time, offered $550 million to acquire New Line Films and gave New Line Films the right to operate independently.

Later, Time Warner acquired the Turner Group, and New Line Pictures naturally became a subsidiary of Warner Bros.

However, the contract has not changed and is still operating independently.

Bob Shea is also vigorous enough to lead New Line Pictures to the peak. Because of the great success of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", New Line Films and Golden Harvest Films formed a good relationship, and then the two parties cooperated and decided to launch the second Bruce Lee!

Then, Jack Chen was born.

The "Rush Hour" series made Jack Chen a first-line star in Hollywood.

The "Lord of the Rings" trilogy brought New Line Cinema to its peak!

However, success is also "Lord of the Rings", and failure is also "Lord of the Rings".

"Lord of the Rings" made too much money for New Line Cinema, these three films made more money than New Line Cinema has made in the past 30 years combined.

Because the copyright of "The Lord of the Rings" is very complicated, there are many dividend parties, which led to a series of copyright lawsuits.

Including Harvey Weinstein, Peter Jackson, Tolkien Heritage Foundation, and Harper Publishing are all suing New Line Films, saying that they did not pay enough dividends and have a lot of fiddly accounts.

In particular, the complaint of the Tolkien Heritage Foundation is really eye-popping.

They claim that according to the copyright agreement, 7.5% of the income from the "Lord of the Rings" series will be paid to the Tolkien Heritage Foundation as copyright dividends. The "Lord of the Rings" trilogy's global box office, video discs and peripheral product revenues have reached 6 billion U.S. dollars. The council should get 423 million U.S. dollars in compensation. paid them $62,500. (Actually, the contract states a 7.5 percent profit share, or about $150 million.)

Shameful!

If the copyright lawsuit can still be tolerated by Warner, then the development of the "Hobbit" movie project will fail, which will make Warner very angry.

Warner has reason to believe that New Line offended all the key people, so that the "Hobbit" project was lost. Rumors have spread that when Sal Zaenz's licensing contract with New Line Pictures expires next year, he will turn to New Universal and cooperate with Tang En Pictures to jointly develop this series!

Infuriating!

Moreover, the streaming media website Hulu is in full swing, but there is no Warner's share, which makes Warner feel a huge sense of crisis and frustration.

Reform is imperative.

The first thing to do is to use the new line!

For good reason, cut expenses!

New Line Cinema is an independent operation, which means that New Line Cinema has its own many organizational departments, especially the distribution department, which has nearly a thousand employees!

Warner has the best film distribution system in the world, but New Line has developed one by itself. Isn't this full of food?

Just to have independent marketing rights?

Now, Time Warner is facing a very serious debt crisis, and it needs to make substantial layoffs and sell related assets to maintain the company's daily operations and meet shareholders' dividend requirements.

Even Warner Music Group was sold.

Is there a problem with completely merging New Line Cinema?

This time, Barry Meyer acted resolutely and quickly came up with the charter. After the merger, New Line Cinema can still produce its own films, but the number will be greatly reduced, from 12-14 films per year in the past to half. More importantly, New Line Cinema will lose the distribution and marketing rights of the films, which are run by Warner Bros.

At the same time, nearly 800 employees in Los Angeles and New York will be forced to leave their jobs.

Including founder Bob Shea, and his longtime partner and New Line co-chairman Michael Lynn have left the company.

This asset reorganization is also a side reflection of the general trend in Hollywood, reflecting the overall market of the current American film industry.

In recent years, with the emergence of new media, the traditional movie market has also been impacted, movie audiences are losing day by day, and movie DVD sales are getting weaker.

At the same time, the management expenses of film companies are increasing day by day, and the cost of film production and marketing continues to soar. These conditions are constantly reducing the profit margins of film companies.

The general environment is sluggish, but it can't hide the brilliance of New Global!

Time Warner is busy selling businesses, reorganizing assets, and cutting expenses, while New Universal is trying to find ways to spend money.

Tang En and George Lucas have already negotiated.

New Universal wants to acquire Lucasfilm!

Such a large-scale merger and acquisition will definitely not be completed in a short period of time. The real merger will have to wait until New Global goes public.

This is also good, after the listing, New Global will have a definite market value.

As long as the price of Lucasfilm is negotiated, the transaction will be very smooth.

However, this does not prevent Tang En from visiting Lucasfilm in advance as the host!

This time, Tang En went to Industrial Light and Magic.

Industrial Light \u0026 Magic is not in Hollywood, but on a hill in San Francisco's Presidy Park. It has a very rural atmosphere, which is a standard Silicon Valley temperament.

From a distance, you can see a big sculpture standing on the hill - Master Yoda!

After Tang En and his party got off the car, they saw many tourists taking pictures beside the sculpture.

Well, it has become a tourist attraction!

Tang En has been here many times, and each time he came here as a director to communicate with the special effects artists on film processing. This time is different, he is the owner to appreciate this laboratory for exploring future technological development.

"Dennis! John!"

As soon as he reached the door, Tang En saw an old acquaintance coming out to welcome him.

The former is Dennis Mullen and the latter is John Knoll. They are the top special effects artists of Industrial Light and Magic and the best special effects artists in the world today.

Dennis Mullen is a god-level existence in the special effects industry. He has won the Oscar for Best Visual Award nine times. He is the first special effects artist to be named on the Avenue of Stars. He is the queen of Spielberg and George Lucas Special effects artist, also worked with Tang En on "Spider-Man" and "Avengers".

John Knoll is not far behind. He is the special effects director of the "Pirate Alliance" series, and he has been appointed as the special effects director of "Avatar" that Cameron is preparing. What is particularly amazing is that 20 years ago, he and his younger brother developed a photo editing software when they were idle and free, which was later renamed-photoshop.

Dennis Mullen is very old, he doesn't speak much, and he rarely goes to the front line personally. He is mainly responsible for the management of Industrial Light and Magic. John Noel was still very young and full of energy. When he saw Tang En, he smiled and said, "He will be our boss in the future?"

Tang En waved his hand, "We are all old friends!"

Afterwards, surrounded by everyone, he visited the special effects studio of Industrial Light \u0026 Magic.

Have been here many times.

Mainly to shake hands with everyone, get to know each other, and make a statement.

Let everyone understand that the owner of Industrial Light \u0026 Magic has changed, and it will be a subsidiary of New Universal in the future.

There are more than 900 special effects artists working here. Of course, it is impossible for Twain to shake hands with each one of them. The main thing is to have a simple communication with some grassroots leaders.

"How many projects do you have now?"

"17."

Tang En opened his eyes slightly, "17?"

There are about 20 commercial blockbusters that Hollywood can release in a year. Is this a round?

Dennis Mullen followed Tang En, and said, "There are 11 projects with an investment of over 100 million US dollars, of which New Universal has 6. The investment of the remaining 6 films is also around 70 to 80 million US dollars."

"Who is it outsourced to?"

Tang En knew that a blockbuster special effects movie required thousands of special effects artists to work around the clock. With the ability of Industrial Light and Magic, it is impossible to complete so many projects. They will only be responsible for the core special effects production in the movie, and simple special effects will be outsourced to overseas special effects companies.

Dennis Mullen said: "It is mainly France, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Israel and the Netherlands. In the past two years, South Korea has made great progress in this area and is seizing the market. The level is also good."

Tang En nodded, and said calmly: "We can strengthen some cooperation with China, which is in line with the group's overall strategy."

Dennis Mullen frowned, "The technology over there... I have been to the Hong Kong government, and the level is very poor, and the gap with Korea and Japan is too big. I watched "The Promise", and the special effects are a mess. I heard that it is at this level, It is also higher than the mainland? There is no way to cooperate.”

Tang En choked for a moment, "It will get better gradually in the future."

Dennis Mullen said, "Let's talk about it later."

Tang En glanced at him amusedly, then shook his head. This old man is like this. When the two co-produced "The Avengers", there were many disputes. Instead, he said: "Recently, the MPAA is putting forward a proposal to the parliament. A leading position in this field must also be given policy support."

"Oh? Export tax rebate?"

"Yes, but only for blockbuster special effects."

"That's enough!" Dennis Mullen brightened, "How much?"

Tang En shook his head and said, "It depends on the results of the parliament. The initial estimate... should be between 20% and 25%."

"This is a lot of money!" Dennis Mullen exclaimed.

Considering that Hollywood spends 2 billion a year on special effects blockbusters, 60% of which is 1.2 billion U.S. dollars. If 20% is refunded...that's $240 million.

Of course, this money will not fall into the pockets of the producers, but the support for the special effects industry, which can further improve the salaries of special effects artists, so that the best special effects engineers in the world will be poached to the United States to ensure the industry's leading position Advantage.

Bearing the brunt of course is Industrial Light and Magic.

According to the special effects market in the United States, 240 million US dollars per year, at least 200 million US dollars will fall into the pockets of Industrial Light and Magic.

Um!

This is a good thing!

Soon, Dennis Mullen also reacted.

What did Tang En mean by this sentence?

yes!

The special effects industry in the United States has been lingering for so many years, and the federal government has not issued any policy support. Why is there suddenly an export tax rebate?

Is it because New Universal is buying Lucasfilm?

Very likely!

What is a parliament?

It's a playground for capitalists!

The former Lucasfilm was an independent film company with no power and power, and even a crime.

As a subsidiary of Lucasfilm, Industrial Light and Magic naturally lived a tight life.

Even though Industrial Light \u0026 Magic is the industry leader, it hasn't enjoyed too much profit.

But now that George Lucas and Tang En have reached an agreement, things will be different soon.

The MPAA came forward and proposed a bill to Congress to apply for support for the special effects industry.

This is obvious!

This is Tang En's handwriting!

It is the proposal of New Universal, and then the MPAA applies! Operate national policies to help Industrial Light \u0026 Magic live better!

Sure enough, leaning against a big tree can enjoy the shade!

The ability of the giant group is really extraordinary.

Far from Lucasfilm can compare.

A definite acquisition agreement has not yet been reached. When the merger is completed, with the support of New Universal, Industrial Light and Magic will only enjoy more benefits that it could not enjoy before.

Dennis Mullen was very excited, thought for a while, and said: "The South Korean government has a lot of support for special effects, and will subsidize directors and professionals to study in Hollywood. Industrial Light and Magic has a study group from South Korea. It's $800,000."

"Tuition fee of 800,000 US dollars?" Tang En curled his lips, you are really dark enough.

Dennis Mullen took it for granted that Industrial Light and Magic has this capital, "I know that New Universal is strengthening cooperation with China and wants to take the lead in entering that potential market. Since Industrial Light and Magic is going to be merged into New Universal, naturally It must be in line with the group's strategy. Let's do this, we also provide an opportunity for Chinese filmmakers, they can come to learn and enhance exchanges."

"What about tuition?"

"800,000 dollars!"

Tang En twitched the corner of his mouth.

Koreans can come to study because of the support of the government, and the government takes money. What about those filmmakers in China? at your own expense? Who can afford $800,000?

That's enough money for them to make two movies!

If he told the Chinese side the news that he came to Industrial Light \u0026 Magic with a tuition fee of 800,000 US dollars, they would not appreciate it at all, and would only think that Tang En was trying to extort money.

"Forget it, pretend I didn't say it."

After Tang En thought about it, he sighed and waved his hands, feeling very helpless.

In fact, China is currently fully supporting the development of the special effects industry, and the state's funding in this area is not small, but the direction is completely different from South Korea.

South Korea sends professionals to Hollywood to study, and all expenses are paid by the government. The Chinese approach is to enclose land, build buildings, and build all kinds of beautiful special effects industrial parks...

$800,000 is enough to build a building!