The matter of the ban order is only a struggle at the top of Hollywood, and it has no impact on the ordinary class.

The acquisition of Good Machine Pictures and Dick Clark Television Production by Down Pictures is all in an orderly manner.

The acquisition process of Good Machine Pictures is very smooth and will definitely be completed within this month, while the privatization process of Dick Clark Television Production Company is a public company, and it is estimated that it will take more than three months.

When he arrived at the company, Bill McNick told Donn that he had talked to the heads of several major film companies, and everyone generally expressed their support for Don Pictures.

This was the result that Tang En had expected a long time ago, and snorted coldly, "Cat Crying Mouse Fake Compassion!"

Bill McNick was slightly stunned, "...... are you?"

Tang En said: "This matter, let Mr. Ovitz deal with it, and the inside story will be discussed later." Bill, I need a document now, you can help me prepare it, and I'll go find Michael Ovitz in the afternoon. ”

"Prepare documents?"

Bill McNick was a little surprised, he was the president of Down Pictures, not Donn's secretary, so he didn't have to come forward in person for such a trivial matter as preparing documents, right?

"You've been at the helm of Twentieth Century Fox in the past, and I need a copy of Fox's profitability over the past few years, and it doesn't have to be about trade secrets, mainly the internal rate of return of the film," Donn explained. And you have a lot of connections, so it's best to find out the situation of several other film companies. ”

……

At 2 p.m., Don took the sorted out papers, accompanied by his secretary, to the AMG agency.

Michael Ovitz also sorted out a thick stack of papers and waited for a long time.

Today's meeting is very important, not only to come up with a plan to help Tangen Pictures solve the current predicament, but also to plan a right path for AMG's agency.

When the two met, they exchanged a few words of greeting, and then got to the point, Michael Ovitz said: "The situation of Down Pictures is very grim now, and the six major companies are likely to cooperate with each other, and the momentum will be more fierce than the suppression of DreamWorks." ”

Ella Fisher, the little secretary who was sitting next to Donne, looked a little nervous, and the pen that recorded the conversation in her hand was a little shaky.

Tang En's face was as usual, and he said indifferently: "There are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests." There is no room for relaxation in the conflict between Down Pictures and Disney, and even if Disney stops, I will not give up! Therefore, we must let the other five major companies see the real potential benefits. ”

Michael Ovitz glanced at Donn appreciatively, "That's right, that's what it means! These old film and television companies have a huge foundation and a very wide audience, and they may not take the benefits of small fights to heart." ”

Don nodded, "That's right, you have to come up with enough benefits to make them tempted!"

"Film companies, what is most lacking?"

Michael Ovitz didn't rush to say the answer, he glanced at Donn, and Don also smiled slightly, and the two said one word in unison: "Funds!"

That's right, it's money!

Don't look at Hollywood-produced movies, which account for almost one-third of the world's total box office every year, but can movies really make money through the box office?

Don has clear data showing that in the past few years, less than 7% of Hollywood movies have generated profits through box office revenue!

In other words, if there is no peripheral copyright income, more than 93% of Hollywood movies will lose money!

This is also the reason why traditional film companies are either acquired by media giants or transformed into media giants themselves. Because movies want to make money, they rely on the income of intellectual property rights, driven by a wide range of channels.

So for large groups such as Sony, Time Warner, Viacom, and Disney, it is not at all dependent on their film companies to make money. In fact, the film market, including Columbia, Universal, and Paramount, is not optimistic about its revenue.

The reason why these large groups are keen on the film industry is because of the unparalleled advertising effect and corporate prestige that movies can bring, in other words, making movies is the "image project" of these companies!

This reason has led to a result: the head office will not invest money in the film company, anyway, the film company has very little output a year, and it can survive and keep making movies, just do a good job of "image engineering" for the head office, and do not expect this industry to make money.

Therefore, the problem of funding is a problem that every film company has to face.

Tax rebates and pre-sale of rights are the best ways to raise funds.

For example, the disaster blockbuster "The Perfect Storm" produced by Warner Bros., which was released this summer, has a budget of $140 million!

Even Warner Pictures, which has a deep heritage, cannot make such a big bet. In fact, Warner paid only $65 million of the $140 million in cost.

Where will the remaining $75 million come from?

In the tax rebates of Germany and the United Kingdom, Warner received $25 million. In particular, the tax refund in Germany is very important, and when Donn was filming "Spider-Man", he took advantage of this legal loophole because of insufficient funds.

The second is the pre-sale of copyright.

When the project of "The Perfect Storm" was established, Warner relied on its global influence and heritage, and relied on the appeal of the male number one George Clooney, to play the routine of pre-selling the copyright.

Through the pre-sale of copyrights in Japan, Britain, Australia, Italy, France and other countries, 50 million US dollars were successfully obtained.

Although "The Perfect Storm" will not be able to make box office returns in these countries in the future, it greatly reduces the risk that Warner will take if "The Perfect Storm" fails.

Warner's strategy proved to be very successful.

"The Perfect Storm" has now earned $150 million at the North American box office, and Warner Pictures has recouped its costs through the North American box office market alone.

The rest of the box office revenue from other overseas regions, as well as the income from peripheral rights such as DVDs, videotapes and TV broadcasts, will be net profits.

However...... "The Perfect Storm" does not represent all Hollywood films.

This kind of "financing game" is only aimed at commercial blockbusters with a strong cast and a top-notch production team.

Because the tax rebate policy is aimed at the future profit of the film, what is the possibility of future profit for niche films?

Moreover, the pre-sale copyright is usually purchased by overseas filmmakers after watching the sample film. Only commercial blockbusters with a strong lineup will give overseas filmmakers enough confidence to dare to give money when the project starts.

"Hollywood's financing tools are too powerful. Don sighed.

Michael Ovitz shook his head disappreciatively, "Donn, it's the twenty-first century now, and times have changed!"

"Oh?

"I can give you a set of data, ten years ago, Hollywood movies could get up to 80% of the budget through movie pre-sales! There are even some movies that Hollywood can start without even spending a penny. But this year, do you know how much that number has dropped? 47%!"

Tang En nodded abruptly, "This is the trend of the times. Ten years ago, Hollywood movies were synonymous with blockbusters, and the whole world flocked to them. But now, the film market in many countries has developed, especially South Korea, Japan, Australia, Germany, and some Eastern European countries, the film industry is developing very rapidly, and Hollywood movies have lost their past appeal. ”

"That's right, in order to encourage the development of their own films, many countries have introduced policies to suppress Hollywood films, which makes it very difficult for Hollywood films to play the 'financing game' of pre-sale rights as in the past. ”

Michael Ovitz's words reminded Donn of something, "I heard...... Germany is actively changing its Tax Code so that film investment can no longer be hidden behind the Copyright Act. If this road dies, it is unlikely that future Hollywood movies will want to get a lot of money through the tax rebate policy. ”

"That's true!" Michael Ovitz nodded again and again, very recognized, "After more than ten years of development, the Germans have figured out the Hollywood routine, and the Deutsche Mark is the one who has been wronged by Hollywood movies." For example, in the first part of "Mission Impossible", one-third of the budget was paid by German investors, but after Paramount saw the benefits, he directly kicked out German investors in "Mission Impossible 2". ”

Don sighed, "Money is the root of all evil, and if Hollywood continues to develop like this, it will be difficult to get financing from overseas!"

Michael Ovitz laughs: "I just saw this sign, so I planned to create a one-stop shopping full service for AMG on the basis of the original CAA integrated package service." ”

Don praised: "It's a good idea, I support it!"

Now, with overseas funding tightening, Hollywood is facing financing problems.

Financing here refers to financing films, not companies.

Of course, the rich people in the Middle East and Asia are willing to raise money for the film companies, enter the board of directors, and with the help of the platform of the big film companies, they have the right to speak in Hollywood.

But financing a film is different, to put it bluntly, it's venture capital. Investors have no right to interfere in the production of films, let alone the operation of companies. They can only get dividends, and they don't even have copyrights.

In this case, even if they can make money, the rich people can't look down on it.

If Don and Michael Ovitz join forces to solve the financing problems for the major film companies, let alone suppress Don Pictures, they can't wait to treat Don as an ancestor!

Michael Ovitz said bitterly: "It's a good idea, but the basis of one-stop buying is to have enough stars and good agents." If you can't even do that, how can you talk about attracting investment?"

Tang En's eyes flashed slightly, and the corners of his mouth crossed a little smile.

For the first time since meeting Michael Ovitz, he developed a sense of self-confidence.

The forward-looking vision allows Donn to have enough capital to "guide" the other party even in front of the capable Hollywood legend Michael Owitz.

This is the superiority of the prophet.