My Animation Era

Gu Miao had actually mentioned the Superman live-action movie to Du Hao very early on.

Probably on the eve of Wanbao's decision to buy out the rights to the "Superman" series, Gu Miao told Du Hao that if Superman was really brought under Wanbao's umbrella, there would definitely be a chance to produce a live-action movie in the future.

Du Hao also laughed at him at that time, saying how could Weiler Company sell an IP of the level of Superman?

not to mention……

Even if it were to be sold, how could Wanbao, as a Chinese company, win over the North American film and television giants who are eyeing it?

The result was unexpected by everyone.

The "Superman" IP, which was said to be impossible to sell, was actually sold by Weller Company! Not only was it sold, but it was also unable to find a buyer and had to be sold to Wanbao, the only sincere person.

At this moment, Du Hao suddenly became excited.

When something goes from impossible to reality, he is undoubtedly the most excited person in Wanbao. After all, this is "Superman"!

He was so happy that he almost fainted just thinking about having the opportunity to direct a "Superman" movie, and it was also a live-action movie.

Nowadays, the animated remake of "Superman" has been broadcast around the world and has received good response in North America, Europe, Asia and other places.

With the preparation of Teacher Nan Tong, pre-sale of Superman's derivative comics and novels has also been launched on a small scale.

It can be said……

As the year comes to an end, Wanbao's "Superman" big IP strategy has initially revealed its impressive results. The next thing to do, in addition to continuing to create heroic characters such as Batman and Wonder Woman, is to bring "Superman" to the big screen. screen.

"Has Superman been in a movie before?"

"Been out!"

Facing the inquiry from the new group CEO Lao Zhang, Du Hao, general manager of Wanbao Pictures, replied: "In the 1970s and 1980s, there were many movies in the Superman series, both animated and live-action."

"So what are the box office results of these movies?" Lao Zhang asked.

"Hmm... not bad!"

Du Hao didn't know how to describe it, so he frowned and said, "Compared to other films released at that time, Superman's performance was pretty good."

"However, from today's perspective, the CG special effects at that time were not mature, so Superman at that time had the feel of a horror and suspense film, rather than a serious science fiction film."

This scores the background of the times.

At that time, when science fiction films were not particularly prosperous and CG special effects were extremely crude and inferior, a film like Superman would definitely not perform as well as the realistic singing and dancing films of the time.

But this time and that time!

Just because Superman movies didn’t work well in the past doesn’t mean it doesn’t work now.

You know, after entering the 21st century, with the development of computer special effects technology, science fiction films have become the most important genre in the film industry, and they are also the absolute main force in the box office every year.

In the global annual box office rankings, almost every year there are several science fiction films entering the top ten, or even winning the championship!

This is a major trend in the industry...

Under this trend, Du Hao believes that the time is ripe for making a new version of "Superman" movie.

But Lao Zhang still has concerns.

What he is worried about is not that science fiction movies are not popular enough, nor that "Superman" does not have enough box office appeal, but that Wanbao has never been involved in the field of "live-action movies" before.

Wanbao’s model is copied from Hollywood’s Disney.

As we all know, Disney’s animated films are great, but they also have a lot of failures in the field of live-action films. It can even be said that if Disney had not relied on its ability to buy money everywhere, the live-action movies would probably still be a piece of shit.

This is really not embarrassing!

Being able to make animated films well does not mean that you can make live-action films. After all, these are two distinct fields.

As Wanbao has grown to its current scale and size, it is indeed necessary to get involved in other fields, and it is also planned to launch a live-action film business.

But ideas are always ideas. As Wanbao's first live-action film, it is normal for Lao Zhang, as the CEO, to be more cautious.

"Star falls..."

"Can you please stop mentioning that thing?"

Hearing that Lao Zhang was talking about the tragedy of "Fall of the Stars" again, Du Hao suddenly had a head as big as an ox and said: "How many years have passed, is your impression of me still stuck in this dark history?"

He was really drunk.

Du Hao always talks about "The Fall of the Star" to everyone he meets. Apart from "The Fall of the Star" which is remembered by people, doesn't he have other masterpieces?

And "The Lion King"!

The fall of stars is indeed his dark history, but how many years ago was this? There is no need to shake out this old sesame and rotten millet stuff now.

If you want to talk, let’s talk about The Lion King!

Du Hao only admitted that "The Lion King" is his masterpiece. As for "Starfall"? Feel sorry! He didn’t recognize it, and he refused to admit that it was his masterpiece!

"Okay, okay, if you don't want to say it, don't say it."

Seeing that Du Hao didn't want to talk about "Starfall", Lao Zhang curled his lips and said: "Then let's talk about "The Lion King". This is an animated movie, right?"

"Yes, so?"

"So for the new version of Superman, can we make an animated version first and then consider a live-action version?"

"no!"

Du Hao shook his head crazily and said: "The real-life version is something that Mr. Gu promised me. Mr. Gu nodded. How can you disagree?"

"Xiao Du..."

When Lao Zhang heard this, he immediately said in an official tone: "You don't understand the principle of once the emperor and his ministers, right? Mr. Gu? That is all in the past tense. Now it is Mr. Zhang who has the final say!"

Mr. Gu? Just the emperor!

Now Wanbao has the final say, Mr. Zhang has the final say. Mr. Gu has never heard of such intrigues. Don't use the sword of the previous dynasty to kill the officials of this dynasty.

"You're playing this game, right?"

Du Hao laughed angrily and said, "Just wait, I will call Mr. Gu to confront you and see who is better, you, the CEO, or the chairman!"

"Ahem, it's just a joke."

"Why do you always make snitches? Did I say I disagree? I just think this is a serious matter and needs to be studied carefully." Lao Zhang stopped.

He just became CEO!

You can't just be replaced by Director Gu just a few days after taking office, right?

"Since it is a project approved by Director Gu, in principle I will not object, but..."

Lao Zhang rolled his eyes and said: "The ugly words are ahead. The company can't come up with much money now, so you have to plan the budget for your movie in advance."

"Who are you lying to?"

"You really think I don't know. How much did you approve for the Gundam project? How much did you approve for Martin's Morning? There's also Dragon Ball The Movie and World of Animation 2..."

Du Hao counted the circles on his fingers, then rolled his eyes and said, "These projects are throwing money at them so hard that I will have no money at all, right?"

"It is precisely because we have invested in so many projects before that we have no money!"

Lao Zhang was telling the truth now. Seeing that Du Hao didn't believe it, he immediately frowned and said, "I can't sell the company building to raise money for you to make a so-called live-action movie, right?"

What are you implying?

Du Hao's face turned dark when he heard the description of selling a building to make a movie, as if he thought of some bad memories.

"Don't worry, it won't cost much."

"Although the target film is a Hollywood blockbuster with an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars, we are not that exaggerated. The bulk of the budget is mainly the salary and special effects."

Du Hao explained: "For special effects, we can absorb part of the orders ourselves, and the outsourced part will not be too much."

"As for the actors' remuneration, I guarantee you that you won't spend too much money, and you will definitely hire powerful new stars who have acting skills but are not well-known."

If "Superman" is to be made into a live-action movie, the most critical aspect of casting is the actor who plays the protagonist "Clark Kent".

Mr. Gu has already spoken on this.

Instead of hiring big-name movie stars who have been famous for a long time, let's hire talented newcomers who have some acting skills but are not worth a lot, enough for Wanbao to continue filming.

Selecting new people is a must.

Because the IP of "Superman" is bound to be long-lasting and it is impossible to break up after just one movie, the actor's contract must be signed for many movies.

Under this premise, if you hire a well-known actor, the package price will be exaggerated and shocking.

Only newcomers are willing to sign a contract with Wanbao to star in multiple films at a bargain price, given that such a big screen opportunity is rare.

Why sign multiple films?

Of course, I'm afraid that if the movie becomes a hit, the actors will raise their prices and Wanbao will have to replace them.

Marvel also follows this pattern when it comes to signing most of its royal actors. Once they sign a contract, they sign for multiple films. It is impossible to break up after just one film.

…

After getting funds from Lao Zhang, Du Hao quickly boarded a flight to Hollywood, planning to go to Hollywood to find suitable actors.

By the way, please sponsor!

The Superman IP is very well-known around the world, especially since the animation is still popular. I believe that many companies are willing to sponsor the production of the movie.

Gu Miao only had a brief understanding of Du Hao's activities, and then stopped paying attention.

He believed Du Hao could handle it well.

As the saying goes, knowing shame and then being brave, with the experience of "Fall of the Stars" and so many years of accumulation, he believed that Du Hao would seize this rare opportunity.

After all, this is most likely the only chance in his life to prove himself.

If you miss this time and try to prove yourself that you have the opportunity to direct a live-action science fiction blockbuster, you may never get it again.

Wanbao Animation, Konjac Studio.

Gu Miao is communicating with Mr. Qiu about issues related to the composition of the production team of "Martin's Morning".

There are many people in Konjac Studio, and most of them are the original members of the "Konjak Animation" team that Mr. Qiu once led.

But most of these people are responsible for the production of the third season of "Crayon Shin-chan". Gu Miao needs Mr. Qiu to allocate some manpower to him to fill the "Martin's Morning" production team that is currently just an empty shell.

The job is tricky.

Because there were so many people, Gu Miao had never had much contact with them, and he didn't know each person's special abilities or personality, so he could only ask Mr. Qiu to help him select suitable candidates.

"The list is made..."

Mr. Qiu wrote a list, handed it to Gu Miao and said, "Almost half of the elites in our Konjac Studio are on this list."

"Yo? So many people?"

Gu Miao was a little surprised: "I didn't expect that your Konjac Studio is quite talented. Half of the elites have so many people!"

"Some of them were recruited later, but most of them are old friends from Konjac Animation."

Mr. Qiu recalled with a hint of reminiscence: "Although Konjac Animation was not large in scale at the time, everyone came together because of their love for animation. Many people chose to stay at Konjac Animation even though they could get higher salaries."

This should be considered the norm for some animation studios.

Even for small animation studios, they may not have their own masterpieces and just outsource work for big studios to make ends meet, but there are still some elites within.

Why?

For these people, why should they stay in such a small workshop with no future when they can obviously switch jobs to a big factory and get higher salary or benefits?

Of course it’s because of love!

It may be that the team atmosphere is so good that they are reluctant to leave, or it may be that everyone has a common pursuit and is willing to generate energy for love.

What's more, it's simply a "brother studio".

The entire team is maintained by fragile emotions. We are all good buddies. You don’t mind me being a bad guy and I don’t mind your feet smelling bad. We all laugh and make animations without any unnecessary worries.

The original Konjac animation was a typical example of this kind of "brother studio".

The team atmosphere created by Mr. Qiu and the brotherhood of everyone laughing and joking have retained many talented elites with outstanding abilities.

"This kind of team is very fragile."

Gu Miao looked at it quite rationally: "A team that relies solely on emotion may create miracles, but after becoming famous or making money, no matter how good the relationship is, conflicts will arise until they drift apart."

"yes!"

"So I took everyone to leave the company I founded, and I came to join you!" Mr. Qiu said happily.

Gu Miao: "..."

He really didn't know how to evaluate someone like Mr. Qiu.

For Gu Miao, he will not have a "good buddy" relationship with his employees, let alone be like Mr. Qiu, who can treat every employee with empathy.

So he couldn't understand why Mr. Qiu was willing to give up the company he founded and then lead his people to join Wanbao.

All I can say is that this kind of person is too pure!

Pure love for animation and pure tolerance for employees have created Mr. Qiu’s character and management style.

Maybe you will feel particularly comfortable and secure working under him, and you are willing to trust him, but this kind of management method is destined to be a small studio and cannot become a group company.

"If there is a chance in the future, I may make an animation based on your experience and everyone at Konjac Studio!"

Gu Miao shook her head and said, "I don't approve of your management style, but I do envy the team atmosphere of your Konjac Studio."

This is so two-dimensional!

The people at Konjac Studio feel like characters living in the second dimension. It would be interesting to make their daily work into an animation.

A boss who has no airs, colleagues who make jokes, a relaxed and comfortable working atmosphere...

Gu Miao had already thought about it. She would find someone to make an instant noodle animation called "About the Company Leader Is a Shadbug" to seduce the new college students who are not experienced in the world.

Envy?

Join Wanbao and you can also have the same working environment as animation!

As for after joining the company, I found that only Konjac Studio was like this. I was deceived and could only do the work for Mr. Gu honestly, so there was no need to think about it.

Do you think that the company is your home, you can come when you want and leave when you want?