"Of course, I just want to make a TV series, how about it?"

"Of course I'm interested, but you should know how much I'm worth?"

The Twenty Million Club...

starring in a TV series must be in line with his worth!

The most expensive TV actor at this stage is Jim Parsons, whose salary for a single episode is as high as $1 million, but "The Big Bang Theory" is a short film, converted into more than $24 million in a single season...

The most expensive TV cast of all time are, of course, George Clooney and Charlie Sheen, both of whom earned more than $25 million in a single season

If Xiao Lizi is invited, his price cannot be less than 30 million US dollars!

In addition, the supporting actors cannot be too bad, and the expenditure on actors' salaries is estimated to exceed 80 million US dollars, plus the production costs, it is estimated that the cost of a single season will exceed 200 million US dollars!

Zhang Junsheng smiled indifferently: "You should also know my worth!"

The production cost of "War in the Pacific" was $217 million, and HBO said it would be filmed!

The final season of "Friends" burned a total of $180 million in 20 episodes;

The fifth season of "ER" burned $270 million...

It's not that you can't afford to burn money after reading it!

Leonardo joining, can definitely drive a bunch of VIP members...

Three million dollars is not much!

However, after thinking for a few seconds, Leonardo shook his head: "I need to think about it again..."

“… Are you worried about the propensity of the project?"

"Of course, according to you, blacks are responsible for the depravity of Baltimore, and I dare not act in such a TV series!"

“… I'm just stating the facts, and I've never said that blacks are responsible for a city, and besides, don't you think they're not to blame for the fall of Baltimore? Baltimore, where the American national anthem was born!"

"I'll think about it again..."

It's tantamount to a disguised refusal...

This is normal, like Leonardo, he must consider his own image, he can play a liar or a gangster movie, but he must not stand on the opposite side of political correctness!

Even "The Wolf of Wall Street" was because Lao Mei was prevalent in anti-Wall Street at that time...

……

Leonardo's refusal did not affect Zhang Junsheng, he told Wen Ziren his idea, and Wen Ziren helped him contact several screenwriters, and then, the project was officially established.

Of course, political correctness is important, so "Baltimore" stands entirely on an objective standpoint, without subjective tendencies.

The media, the blacks, the police department, in short, not a single good thing!

Martin Scorsese is very good at this kind of subject.

Martin Scorsese isn't a Hollywood commercial director in the traditional sense, he's a great storyteller!

Hollywood doesn't need a director who is particularly good at telling stories, most Hollywood movies are assembly line products, yes, Hollywood is in need of creativity, but everyone knows very well that creativity and stories are the least valuable, Hollywood-level blockbuster movies, the stories are very simple, similar to "Titanic" and many other works, in terms of the storytelling of the script alone, at most it is the level of second-rate or even third-rate screenwriters.

There is nothing creative about such a story.

If a newcomer goes to a film company with this kind of story, no one will pay attention to it at all.

It's important to build a brand!

For example, James Cameron, Tom Cruise, and Tom Hanks, to name a few.

Whether it's a producer, an author, an actor or a director.

Hollywood doesn't value talent, it's the potential to make a profit.

When a person's name has the ability to attract the audience, or the money in the audience's pocket, then he is the so-called "genius" that Hollywood is looking for.

This doesn't apply well to American dramas!

TV series attach great importance to rhythm, logic and plot, especially after the intervention of streaming media...

A good idea can really affect the value of a work.

Of course, a good team is also needed, and I believe that Martin Scorsese will definitely be able to shoot "Baltimore" in his heart!

……

On February 25, Zhang Junsheng packed his things and prepared to return to China.

Liu Sisi obviously hasn't played enough: "... You're going back home?"

“… By the way, go back to China to do some business, and by the way, do some interviews, but what about you? Are you still in Australia?"

"Well, Ye Qing and I will go to New Zealand tomorrow!"

“… All right. Zhang Junsheng thought for a while: "I have a house in Orange, you can live there when you go to Orange, and there is a housekeeper to clean it every day!"

"You also bought a house in New Zealand?"

"I didn't buy it, it's my mom... She bought five sets and sold three sets the year before last..."

Liu Sisi's eyes lit up: "Made money?"

Zhang Junsheng replied casually: "It should be earned, there have been a lot of immigrants in New Zealand in recent years, most of them are concentrated in Orange, and housing prices are said to have risen two or three times..."

"Auntie really has an investment vision!"

“… She has an investment team, Canada, New Zealand and Greece, and she has bought a lot of real estate... Wait. ”

The phone rang...

"Hey, Frank?"

"Walter, Netflix is bankrupt, why?"

"Okay, I see... How much debt? $14 billion... it!"

“… Amazon wants to take over? Let him accept it, what can we do?"

"Okay, I'll check..."

Hanging up the phone, Zhang Junsheng turned on the phone, and sure enough, there was an e-mile, which was sent to him by Frank.

detailed the process of Netflix's bankruptcy, to put it simply, they wanted to burn it after learning to read it, make a self-made drama, and then lose money...

They invested in four works, "Hemlock Grove", "Marco Polo", "Holy City", and "New Era of Prehistory", all of which failed!

Especially "Holy City", which wants to create a "Game of Thrones" belonging to Netflix, has an investment of $70 million, and has lost all its money;

"Marco Polo", an epic drama, an investment of $90 million, a poor reputation...

"Prehistoric New Era" spent 20 million dollars and invited Spielberg to press the formation, but it was useless;

The self-made drama did not become as popular as it burned immediately after reading, and Netflix's paid membership did not increase much.

For the sake of these four dramas, Netflix poured everything it had, a big gamble, and if the bet was lost, it could only declare bankruptcy...

Of course, Netflix is still the largest DVD rental service provider in the United States, and in addition, Netflix has a market penetration rate of 24% for home video streaming services in the United States, which is a very strong historical resource.

According to Netflix's current market capitalization, $13 billion plus 14 billion in debt, close to 27 billion, if you want to swallow Netflix after reading it, you have to spend at least one billion to build...

Is it a good deal?

Moreover, the operating costs of burning immediately after reading are getting higher and higher, for example, the licensing fee for film and television dramas produced by HBO TV has risen directly from $30 million to $300 million.

If you don't buy it, users won't be able to see HBO's work if they burn it after reading it...

Lao Mei's cable TV station is not only HBO, at least dozens of TV stations that have signed contracts with them after reading them before, and they have greatly increased their licensing fees...

Yes, the burning after reading represents the new development trend of streaming media, but its market value has not yet reached its peak, and now the burning after reading can only move forward in debt, and there is really no money to buy Netflix.