Although there are considerable differences between the story of the script and the plot of the movies he has seen, Ronan can still be sure that this is "Avatar" from the background setting.

The project will not be completed for several years, and with James Cameron's character, the script is bound to change constantly.

A lot of Hollywood's general rules, such as the fact that a script can't be changed after it's finalized, simply don't apply to top directors.

Again, it doesn't apply to top stars.

It's not uncommon for big-name stars and directors to ask for script changes during filming.

In the communication with James Cameron in the next two days, Ronan did not express any comments on the script, but communicated with James Cameron on the technical aspects, especially after James Cameron mentioned that the heroes and heroines of "Avatar" were filmed almost entirely with motion capture.

Motion capture is a new filmmaking technology that has emerged in recent years, and it has been used in large roles in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Polar Express.

Therefore, Ronan solemnly recommended James Cameron's Weta Digital Studios, which is currently the best motion capture special effects studio in Hollywood, and its masterpiece is Smeagol in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

In addition, he also mentioned Andy Serkis, who played Smeagogh.

This one has a unique point in motion capture.

Andy Serkis currently uses motion capture to play King Kong in addition to the motion-captured role of Smeagow, and in Peter Jackson's "King Kong", which has moved to post-production.

Once, Andy Serkis also starred in motion capture as Captain Haddock in "The Adventures of Tintin", Caesar, the absolute protagonist in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes", and so on.

It was even called the "king of motion capture" by the media.

Motion capture technology used to develop rapidly, but looking back at Smergoll more than 10 years ago, I still have to admire the strength of the special effects company Weta Studios back then, as well as Andy Serkis's motion capture.

In terms of special effects, James Cameron has long given up the "digital field" created by the filming of "Titanic", and has not pulled the idea of the "digital field" in a bad situation, and soon decided to cooperate with Weta Studios and Industrial Light & Magic on the special effects production of new projects.

Compared to Ronan's communication with James Cameron, the negotiations between George Clint and Jon Landau, who represented Shahai Entertainment, can only be described as difficult.

Although the two bosses have determined the intention of cooperation and the atmosphere is harmonious, the people below must strive for greater benefits for themselves.

In the whole cooperation negotiation, there are dozens of major clauses that need to be negotiated, and there are many small items in each major item.

For example, James Cameron's remuneration involves basic salary, box office sharing, technology patent royalties, screenwriters' shares, director's shares, and so on.

For a top-level production project like this, which could have a future investment budget of $500 million, two months of negotiation between the two sides is fast.

If you slow down, maybe you have to talk about the end of the year.

For example, Warner Bros. owns the copyright of Richard Mattson's "The Last Man", although it has been adapted into a movie twice, Warner Bros. is ready to shoot the new rights and plans to invite Will Smith to play the leading actor.

The two sides have been talking for more than half a year, and no agreement has yet been reached.

"Jon Landau is a veteran producer in the industry and it's hard to deal with. ”

In the office floor of Relativity Entertainment, which belongs to Shahai Entertainment, George Clint accompanies Ronan towards Shahai Animation Studios: "He uses all possible conditions to fight for the interests of James Cameron's side. ”

Ronan said: "Cooperation is cooperation, negotiation is negotiation, and we cannot relax where we should fight." ”

George Clint said: "What we should strive for, of course we can't give up. ”

Ronan knows very well that compared to the number of moviegoers, "Avatar" is actually not as good as "Titanic", but compared to commercial revenue, "Avatar" is not inferior, or even stronger.

The peripheral projects that "Avatar" can do are more than the big ships.

"When do you think it's going to happen?" Ronan asked.

George Clint thought about it for a moment and said, "The negotiations are more difficult than expected, and Jon Landau is very difficult and can't be done in two months. ”

Ronan nodded: "It's up to you to decide the specifics." ”

The two enter the animation studio, and since Chris Renard goes to the zoo to visit the pandas, he is not in the studio, and his assistant accompanies Ronan and George Clint to look around.

The production of "Despicable Me" has entered the final stage, and it is expected to be completed around Thanksgiving this year, and the "Minions" project is officially advancing and has entered the on-site production stage.

In addition, DreamWorks Animation Studios has registered several copyrights.

Because he realized that DreamWorks Animation Studios would not cooperate with Relativity Entertainment for a long time, Ronan specifically listed a future plan, such as sending Robert Lee to the United Kingdom to buy the film and television adaptation rights of the children's fantasy literature "How to Tame Your Dragon" series from the famous children's author Cressida Cowell for five million dollars.

At the same time, after he listed the outline, the screenwriting department of Shahai Entertainment also came up with an animation script "Kung Fu Panda" that still needed to be carefully polished, and registered the copyright in the screenwriters' union and the copyright office.

This is also the feature film territory that Shahai Entertainment Animation Studio will expand next in addition to the "Minions" series.

Chris Renard's trip to the zoo to visit the pandas was a preliminary preparation for this project.

In addition, Ronan asked the screenwriting department to prepare a new animation script using a combination of primitive people and orogeny.

Although he is eyeing Pixar Studio, Ronan will not give up the development of Shahai Entertainment Animation Studio.

Peppa Pig is currently the most commercially successful production for an animation studio.

This summer, the animated series launched its third season, and after the first two seasons of warm-up and continuous broadcasting, the influence of Pink Pigs gradually spread, and by the end of the premiere of the third season, the Page family has become a star in the TV animation market.

This is directly reflected in the copyright fee of the third season.

NBC paid $7 million to Shahai Entertainment for the rights to premiere 35 episodes of the third season.

Due to the amazing ratings of the first broadcast among children, the copyright fee for the second round of broadcasts is still as high as $4 million.

Directly proportional to the number of viewers and copyright fees, there are also peripheral products of "Peppa Pig".

In the first seven months of 2004, the global market, including North America, was combined, and Shahai Entertainment received a total of $11.7 million in the merchandise market other than animated series.

This number is still increasing, and Relativity Entertainment has made internal market estimates that "Peppa Pig" may bring a total of $20 million in revenue to Shahai Entertainment in 2004 just for peripheral products.

Cartoons, especially the peripherals of popular cartoons, are often very profitable.

Even Hasbro, one of the two largest toy manufacturers in North America, was attracted to Pink Pig, and Hasbro had business dealings with Relativity Entertainment, so Hasbro Chairman Brian Goldner came to Los Angeles to visit Ronan.

"Hasbro is one of the most recognizable family brands in the world. ”

In the reception room, facing Ronan, Brian Goldner said confidently: "KidTreasure has always created a wide marketing channel for the children's product portfolio, bringing strong operational returns. ”

Ronan didn't answer, patiently waiting for Brian Goldner to continue.

Brian Goldner, who has a clear mind and has dealt with Ronan and Relativity Entertainment, knew that it was impossible to buy out the rights to the Peppa Pig series, so he had to settle for the next best thing: "Sand Sea Entertainment licensed Hasbro, and Hasbro used its channels around the world to sell Pink Pig's products to every market, and it would be a strong alliance and a mutually fulfilling cooperation." ”

Ronan asked, "What does Hasbro want to authorize?"

In fact, from the perspective of profit maximization, he has no objection to giving Hasbro a partial license.

Although Embassy Pictures has relatively strong offline distribution capabilities, has close business contacts with many related merchants, and can also obtain a variety of high-quality and low-cost peripheral products from the other side of the Pacific Ocean in the form of OEM, compared with traditional toy manufacturers such as Hasbro, there are still major shortcomings in some aspects.

And licensing is one of the main ways to operate around Hollywood.

Brian Goldner could tell that Ronan was not against the licensing, and said with a smile: "Hasbro has a business that covers toys, games and consumer products, and we hope to get the relevant licenses for these three categories of products. ”

"Yes. Ronan agreed: "Brian, you have someone talk to Shahai Entertainment about the authorization, and I will inform them." ”

Brian Goldner smiled even brighter: "It's going to be a successful collaboration. ”

Ronan said: "Hopefully we can win both. ”

I vaguely remember reading a report that "Peppa Pig" had generated $1.1 billion in annual revenue for his company.

This is definitely the most profitable pig ever.

Of course, without too much analysis, it is not difficult to come to a conclusion that more than 90% of these revenues come from animation peripheral products.

Relativity Entertainment still has a long way to go when it comes to the peripheral operation of animation products, and it is very necessary to cooperate with a company like Hasbro.

In order to show the importance of the partner, Ronan called the Sand Sea Entertainment side in front of Brian Goldner.

As for how to talk about it specifically, Ronan will not interfere, but the peripheral licenses will definitely not be sold out, but will cooperate in the form of a small basic license fee and a high sales commission.

After chatting about the licensing of "Peppa Pig", Brian Goldner suddenly changed the subject and said: "Ronan, you got the rights to the adaptation of "Transformers" and "Special Forces" a few years ago, when do you plan to start production?"