Culver City, Los Angeles, California, is a satellite town that combines nostalgia with current trends, and like Burbank, it is home to many Hollywood studios, large and small, the most famous of which is Sony Columbia Pictures.

Robert Lee sat in a café on West Washington Avenue and asked the waiter to refill a cup of coffee for Chris, who was across the street.

"The copyright of Sony Columbia Pictures' new film, as long as the price is right, licensing is not a problem. Chris added sugar to his coffee and said, "Internet licensing, if you want to do it, Sony Entertainment is willing to cooperate with you." ”

Robert Lee laughed and said, "Is it possible to reach a written agreement?"

Chris thought for a moment and said, "No problem. I'm an old friend of Ronan, and I can introduce you to that. ”

Compared with the offline traditional disc and videotape market, the Internet licensing area, Sony Colombia's business volume is not large, the current market volume is limited, Chris knows very well, if the price is right, the company is not a problem to hand over to Ronan's Internet company.

"It's a win-win partnership, with Netflix leading the internet DVD rental industry and second only to Amazon in terms of sales," said Robert Lee. ”

is in the same circle in Hollywood, and many things are very convenient to talk about, and Chris does not go around in circles, and said directly: "Robert, Ronan's new acquisition of this Netflix website is leading, and the main reason is that the scale of this industry is small. ”

This is not the first company Robert Lee has talked about licensing, and several companies that have been approached before, including Warner Bros., have similar views, and he smiled and said, "Netflix is a new company and it will take a while to develop. ”

Representing Netflix and Ronan in licensing negotiations with companies in the industry, there were not many difficulties, and as a company in the Hollywood circle, it is not difficult to get the relevant licenses for new films in the industry at the right price.

The main reason why it has gone so smoothly is that the licensing fees associated with new Hollywood movies are very high.

Because of Ronan's relationship, Chris is also very familiar with Robert Lee, and said: "In this way, you wait for me to give you a notice, and then let your people talk to the copyright department of Columbia Pictures about the specific details, I dare not guarantee otherwise, it is not a problem for Sony Columbia Pictures to license the new films released by Sony Columbia Pictures in the next five years to Netflix." ”

Robert Lee smiled and asked, "Can you get to the bottom of the cost?"

If it's a company outside the circle, Chris won't say it anyway, but this kind of thing is not hidden in the circle, and the six major companies have tacit standards.

Chris shook his head: "It's not that you don't know, why bother asking?"

Robert Lee said: "Netflix is a new company, the funds are limited, the wholesale price of $10 per unit is still a bit high, and there are related licensing fees......

"For details, you should talk to someone from Columbia Pictures' copyright department. Chris said directly: "$10 is the wholesale price in Hollywood. Robert, if you and Ronan are not part of the Hollywood industry, the wholesale price will not be lower than $15. ”

Robert Lee nodded slightly: "Okay, let's talk to the people from the copyright department again." ”

He knows that it is unlikely that the price will be lowered again, after all, he is talking about new films launched by Sony Columbia Pictures in the future, not those old movies that are outdated.

If you want to win the latest film in the future, the price you pay will definitely be relatively high, but the new film also has an advantage, the licensing fee can be spread into the rental commission of each DVD, thereby reducing the company's huge upfront investment and effectively alleviating the financial pressure.

Chris suddenly said: "In the rental business, the source is very important, and you are only interested in new films?"

Although I have never been in contact with the Internet rental business, I think I should have something in common with store rental, there are only a few films, even if they are the latest hit movies, but they cannot continue to attract customers.

"The price of DVDs for old films is too high. Robert Lee said: "Not only is it the same as the new film, but it can't be picked and chosen, and the good film is packed ...... poor."

Chris was not embarrassed: "Don't we all do this?" He said deliberately: "A few years ago, Ronan sold me the overseas distribution rights, and it was also a good movie with a bad movie. ”

Robert Lee was momentarily speechless, because similar things were done by Relativity Entertainment.

Everyone is all the way, and no one really needs to say anyone.

"If the price of DVDs for old movies can be reduced to less than $5. Robert said, "We package the Sony Columbia Pictures library. ”

Chris shook his head directly: "You know it's impossible. ”

Robert Lee looked at the time and decided to end the interview, saying, "Chris, thank you so much for your help. ”

Chris shook his hand and said, "You're welcome, it's a win-win for Sony Columbia Pictures and Relativity Entertainment, and I've been friends with Ronan for many years." ”

He asked with concern: "How are you going to solve the problem of film sources? Relying on new films alone cannot support the rental business, and other Hollywood companies will not have lower prices than I said." ”

Robert Lee knew that Chris had good intentions and said, "Ronan has thought it through. ”

Chris didn't say anything more: "Good luck with your business." ”

"Thank you. ”

Robert Lee has collected a lot of relevant information, some things do not have to be obtained from Hollywood-related companies, since the popularization of videotapes, Hollywood studios have taken out the old films that are in the library and moldy, and profited from the home entertainment market through direct distribution or various licensing.

Especially in the eighties and nineties, when the videotape industry was extremely prosperous, there were many companies that got a large number of old film rental and sales permissions.

Not every one of them has been as successful as Pepsi and Hollywood Video.

In the days that followed, Robert Lee represented Netflix and Relativity Entertainment, with more Hollywood movies to make a preliminary end.

Relativity Entertainment reorganized the former Legal Department and Copyright Department, merging Robert Lee's team into the Legal Department, with Robert Lee as the director, specializing in copyright and legal matters.

Robit Lee has also taken on more work, and Ronan has given him full responsibility for this negotiation with the Hollywood industry.

The main purpose of the project is to negotiate the purchase of new DVDs and related copyright licensing issues for large and medium-sized Hollywood studios.

Most of the negotiations went relatively smoothly, especially the Big Six Hollywood companies, which did not rule out working with companies in the industry as long as the price was right.

After Robert Lee reached a few agreements, he quickly sent a problem to Netflix, after all, a problem of funding, if Netflix bought DVDs for $15, these studios, led by the Big Six Hollywood, would not refuse them at all.

But this price was simply unaffordable for the previous Netflix.

The negotiations were not all smooth sailing, and there were also many companies that Hollywood did not pay attention to, and when Robert Lee approached New Line Pictures, he wondered if New Line Pictures had put forward unacceptable conditions because of the huge confidence brought by the success of "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings".

New Line Pictures can reach an Internet license with Relativity Entertainment for new films in the future, but there is one condition: New Line Pictures will participate in the investment of two sequel films, "Spy Shadow 2" and "Human Removal Project 3".

Robert Lee directly refused, which is simply a cake to grab the entertainment of relativity.

"It's not Relativity Entertainment and Netflix that they want from New Line Pictures!"

Such an unreasonable request also made Robert Lee push back: "This is a new peripheral sales channel, and the cooperation is a win-win situation, which can increase the income of the new line of pictures in peripheral copyrights!"

In addition to New Line Pictures, negotiations with Lionsgate and DreamWorks have also not been smooth.

Lionsgate made a similar request to New Line Pictures, and Spielberg of DreamWorks outright declined to work with Relativity Entertainment.

While the negotiations were underway, Robert Lee made several contacts with a man named Stuart Coleman.

This is something that Ronan had specially explained before he left for San Francisco.

Stuart Coleman's Reo Video Services is one of Ronan's options for solving the Netflix library problem.

A large number of materials have already arrived in Ronan's hands, and Ronan has also communicated with Mark Randolph, just like the earliest plan, there are basically two ways for Netflix to buy DVDs of film and television works and get relevant authorizations.

The first is to talk directly to the film companies led by the six major Hollywood companies, who are the copyright owners.

The second is to talk to Pepsi, except for the new films in recent years, Peskind has the right to re-license those old films.

This is also the choice made by major Hollywood companies in North America when they did not have a sound video peripheral channel.

To put it bluntly, it is that the manufacturing company sells to large agents, and then relies on large agents to sell to scattered small agents.

But Ronan's research found that there was a third option — buying a rental company with many film licenses.

Across the U.S., Passcard is the industry's supergiant, followed by Hollywood Video, followed by countless companies large and small in related businesses.

Some of these companies, which were very well developed in the eighties and nineties, could directly negotiate peripheral rights with Hollywood companies.

But some companies have grown, and some have decayed over time.

Stuart Coleman's Ruiou Video Services, headquartered near the University of Southern California, operates a videotape rental chain in Southern California, with a total of 18,500 film and television titles from around the world.

However, Ruiou has been in decline since 1998, and the situation is not good today.

The reason for the company's decline is interesting – they are in pretty much the same business as Netflix.

In 1998, Stuart Coleman also saw an Internet business opportunity and used the copyright in his hand to create a Ruiou online store to engage in video rental business.

Both companies have invested heavily in this business, but Ryo and Netflix have completely different choices in the choice of rental materials, with Netflix opting for DVDs that represent the trend, while Ryo uses bulky and obsolete videotapes.

Maybe it's the difference between videotapes and DVDs, or maybe it's more difficult for Hollywood's peripheral industry companies to start a business on the Internet, and after several years of development, Ruiou has only 20,000 registered users, which is only one-tenth of Netflix's.

(The real company was Ryo, which had 18,500 video tapes to rent and sell, and was later swallowed up by Hollywood Videos for $100 million.) ）

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