Heads Up Hollywood

The National Security Strategy Report of the United States is usually issued at the end of May. This is a report that affects the international order.

In the past year, the "911 Incident" and the War on Terrorism took place, and the foreign policy of the Bush administration has attracted even more global attention.

After the end of the Cold War, the Clinton administration abandoned a series of radical policies in the past, adopted a passive "reactive" foreign strategy, shrunk finances, and quickly led the United States out of economic difficulties.

But ten years later, the international situation has undergone major changes.

Especially the new Bush Jr. administration is from the Republican Party!

More radical! More publicity!

Through prior media forecasts and internal information, it can also be seen that the Bush administration will cancel the previous "passive reaction" policy and change it to a "preemptive strike" external posture.

For example, Secretary of State Powell’s speech: “The serious threat we face is the combination of radicalism and technology”, “The 9/11 incident showed that even if terrorists do not have weapons of mass destruction, they can still pose a threat to the United States through other means.” , "The U.S. government must make greater progress in terms of military power, homeland defense capabilities, judicial system, and intelligence information"...

Tang En was not qualified to participate in the planning of the international political situation and military wars, but he was still warmly received by the White House.

Not only him, but Hollywood giants such as 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Disney, Warner Brothers, and MGM have also been invited.

Because, this time the "National Security Strategy Report", in addition to traditional aspects such as the military and international politics, also mentioned a common term during the Cold War - color revolution!

In the view of the Bush administration, military output alone is far from enough. While taking pre-emptive strikes against terrorists who may endanger the United States and its people, the United States will also launch an ideological war against international terrorism in order to win this war.

To put it bluntly, it is cultural output!

Let the ideology of the whole world closely follow American justice, instead of inciting public opinion to support terrorism when war breaks out.

During the Cold War, Congress would grant large sums of "democracy funds", but now it is much more convenient. With the advent of economic globalization, the trend of the United States is affecting the world.

Especially Hollywood movies, sweeping the world!

Movies are the most direct and effective cultural output.

During the meeting, many senior officials of the federal government expressed their opinions, persuading these Hollywood films to make more films that support "democracy" and "freedom" ideas, and less negative news about the United States.

The Ministry of National Defense also stated that if you shoot a military-themed film, as long as it conforms to the American spirit, you can apply to the Ministry of National Defense. If the application passes the customs, then all expenditures on military equipment can be included in the budget of the Ministry of National Defense and reimbursed by the Ministry of National Defense.

Tang En and others are not interested in what the White House said. They are businessmen and they are trying to make the policy match them, not them.

However, the plan of the Ministry of National Defense made the bigwigs from Hollywood very excited.

This is good news.

War movies, such as tanks, airplanes, aircraft carriers, and warships, cost too much. Even a few minutes of footage costs millions of dollars.

So much so that for a period of time in the past, the armament scenes in Hollywood movies were all edited from training videos inside the Ministry of Defense.

Immediately afterwards, civil affairs and other relevant departments also came up with a lot of policies to express their support for related color movies. They can provide benefits from multiple perspectives such as tax rates, policies, and local government support, so that Hollywood can actively cooperate.

Tang En laughed inwardly, "This is a gift from the state to Hollywood."

With the benefits, everyone of course readily accepted it, and expressed that they would increase the shooting of this type of film.

But now the federal government has demands from Hollywood, and it is not enough to give the country benefits. You big brothers, you must make more demands and ask for more benefits.

When it came to the Hollywood side to speak, Disney’s Michael Eisner brought up the issue of piracy again. He believed that piracy in the United States was rampant day by day, but overseas piracy was even more serious, and had already embezzled no less than 20 billion US dollars of intellectual property assets from Disney!

Many countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America are openly using trademarks such as "Mickey Mouse" and "Winnie the Pooh", and pirated DVDs are also flooded for sale. I hope the federal government will control them.

Barry Meyer of Warner Bros. said that he fully supports the federal "Democratic Spring" policy and is willing to let Warner's films cooperate here. However, the current global film market is not sound enough. Many countries are boycotting Hollywood films for domestic protection. This is a flagrant breach of contract and a violation of the WTO agreement. I hope the federal government can initiate diplomatic protests or economic sanctions.

According to the WTO's requirements for accounting for movies, the proportion of accounting for imported films is 35% for producers, 17% for distributors, and 48% for theaters.

This is the minimum requirement.

In other words, according to the agreement, all countries that have joined the WTO agreement, when showing Hollywood movies, film companies such as Universal, Disney, and Paramount that have distribution channels can get a minimum of 52% of the box office share in overseas markets!

This is comparable to the average share of 53% in the United States!

Even South Korea, Japan, Britain, Germany, Hong Kong and other countries that place great value on intellectual property rights have a share of 55%, which is more than that of the United States!

Of course, the United States implements a "double taxation" system. If overseas funds return, they will be subject to a wave of tax looting. Even if the film has a preferential tax rate, the real overseas share that Hollywood film companies can get is about 35%.

But China strictly controls the film market, only imports 20 foreign films every year, and the share of the bill is only a pitiful 15%...

After the "double deduction", American film companies can only get about 9% of the box office share, which is pitifully small.

Twain understands this situation very well. The WTO is a game between developed countries. If China wants to play here, there must be some special circumstances. This is not something that the United States has the ability to change.

Instead of focusing on this kind of market that cannot be changed, it is better... to focus on countries that the United States has the ability to influence.

Everyone here, Tang En is the youngest, even younger than the secretary of the meeting minutes.

At this time, he couldn't help but speak, "Well, let me say a few words."

Tang En's company is the smallest and has the least output, but he is the richest person present, and he has super influence.

"Mr. Meyer just said that I agree with the previous part. If you want to promote American ideology through movies, you must first have Hollywood movies to enter various countries smoothly. With the advent of the global economy, Hollywood movies The coverage is getting wider and wider, and the resistance is getting stronger."

"Germany, Britain, Japan, Australia and other film powerhouses can fully open up to Hollywood, but some countries with weaker film production must adopt some domestic protection policies. French film requires that each film be played in theaters for at least two weeks , the official statement is to give artworks a living environment, but in fact, it is to give French local films a living space.”

"Of course, what I'm talking about here is not France, but the biggest box office in Asia - South Korea! Many media say that Japan/Japan is the second largest box office, but it's not true. For Hollywood, the UK is the second biggest box office. Cang, Japan/Japan is not even as good as South Korea. Japan/Japan has its own cultural atmosphere, strong resistance to foreign cultures, and local movies are very strong. On the contrary, Koreans have no resistance to Hollywood movies.”

Tang En's words immediately aroused the approval of many Hollywood bigwigs.

In the current Korean film market rankings, the top ten are all Hollywood blockbusters.

This is still the case that the Korean film market has not been opened.

As early as many years ago, in order to join the WTO, South Korea signed a free trade agreement with the United States, which changed the original requirement of 147 days for movie theaters to play Korean movies to 73 days.

This aroused strong opposition from South Korean filmmakers, with non-stop marches, demonstrations, and even a sit-in protest at the Blue House.

The South Korean government had no choice but to cancel this agreement and continue to maintain the requirement that Korean cinemas must play local movies 147 days a year.

It's certainly not in Hollywood's interest!

With the WTO trade agreement, why can South Korea be an exception?

Tang En's intention is obvious, that is to unite with Hollywood, as proposed by the White House and the federal government, to let them put pressure on the South Korean government to revise the agreement of changing the 147 days to 73 days.

In this way, Hollywood can make more money!

...

Tang En became interested in the content of this meeting.

He didn't think that the federal government would have the energy to put pressure on the South Korean government under the current war situation for the sake of Hollywood's little money.

The harvest of this meeting is mainly some "special" movies in Hollywood, which have the benefit of federal budget endorsement.

To put it bluntly, it is the state that provides welfare.

Other proposals are less likely to be realized in recent years.

However, you can make a reminder in advance that it will be able to operate after the war situation becomes clear and the international situation stabilizes.

Hollywood wields enormous sway over parliament.

On the way back to Los Angeles, Tang En invited Lon Meyer to his special plane.

"Vivendi is going to die, you see it?"

Tang En was in high spirits.

Ron Meyer boarded the luxurious Boeing 747 and was so shocked that he was speechless. He regarded this kind of aircraft as a private jet, except for the presidents of various countries, there were no more than 5 people in the world!

"I heard some news that the Brown family is very dissatisfied with CEO Messier and asked for a replacement, but..." Lang Mayer shrugged contemptuously.

It is true that Messier almost bankrupted Vivendi, but he is a French national hero!

With the gathering of such national sentiments, it is difficult for French shareholders to move him.

This influence is too great.

Tang En lightly curled his lips, "Hurry up, if you don't explode in a collapse, you will perish in a collapse. When Vivendi can't hold on, even if it is a dirty trick, Messier will have to get out of class!"

"Using dirty tricks?"

Lang Meyer looked at Tang En in astonishment.

Tang En said angrily: "Where are you thinking? Can I still reach France? Even if I can reach France, do you think I can reach inside Vivendi?"

"You mean... inside?" Ron Meyer narrowed his eyes.

Tang En said calmly: "Someone will make a move."

Mall tricks, like politics, are never clean!