This year, because the Winter Olympics were to be broadcast, the Oscars didn't want to steal the limelight, so the awards ceremony was postponed for a week.

Of course, this is just the official statement.

As an industry insider, Don understands the real reasons, one is because of interests, and the other is because of politics.

The so-called benefits are because the broadcaster ABC and local stations have not negotiated the broadcast fees and advertising shares.

Over the years, the Oscars have been broadcast by Disney's ABC television network, and the two sides have established a good relationship.

This time ABC is in trouble, and Oscar is naturally willing to cooperate.

Not only the Oscars, but in fact, the problems faced by ABC are the problems faced by national television networks such as CBS, NBC, AND FOX.

Television stations in the United States are divided into national and local television stations.

National television stations such as ABC can be spread all over the country, and local television stations can only be confined to one place and cannot expand their operations.

Of course, this refers to free stations.

There is no standard Mandarin in the United States, and although both speak English, they have different accents. ABC and CBS speak New York accents, which are commonly known as "American English" around the world.

However, the accents of the local languages vary greatly.

As a result, local TV users prefer to watch local stations because the accent is more acceptable and the content is more relevant to local life.

Therefore, in this case, large TV networks such as ABC, NBC, CBS and local stations have very close cooperation, and will authorize some film and television content for them to broadcast, and local stations will give them broadcasters and advertising revenue dividends.

In recent years, as the local stations have become more and more powerful, there are more and more small and medium-sized entertainment companies, and their appetite has also grown, and they have asked to reduce the advertising dividend requirements of large TV networks in order to increase their own profits.

Hollywood has become a giant group, and in this regard, it is naturally a community of interests.

During this year's Oscars, the organizer ABC set up 58 advertising seats, each 30 seconds for 1.5 million dollars!

Although the price was high, the supply outstripped demand, and the advertising seats were sold out in November last year.

In addition, when local stations are authorized by ABC to broadcast the Oscars, they can insert their own advertisements on their own, and they can also receive a second-level advertising fee, and then give ABC dividends.

Finally, the Oscars will be open to the world.

In addition to ABC, a national television station in the United States, and some local stations, more than 60 countries around the world will also broadcast and generate broadcast revenue.

In total, the revenue in the United States was $104 million, and the broadcast cost in overseas markets was $28 million, for a total revenue of $130 million.

Naturally, this money will not all belong to Disney.

ABC wants to give 40% of the total revenue as a royalty paid to the Oscars!

A total of $52 million.

The host of the Oscars is the American Film Institute. The unit's annual budget revenue is about $55 million, which shows that most of it comes from Oscar broadcast rights.

Of the remaining $78 million, ABC will spend about $25 million on renting venues for the awards ceremony, hiring security guards, and decorating the red carpet.

In addition, about $9 million is spent annually on administration, education, and philanthropy to demonstrate the Academy's and ABC's sense of social responsibility and the Oscars' political correctness.

Coupled with ABC's channel overhead and expenses, this year's ABC TV network ...... Be able to make a profit of $10 million by broadcasting the Oscars!

The reason why I say that I am fortunate is because ABC often loses money.

In 2002, due to the impact of 9/11, it lost $2 million.

Many times, this kind of ceremony is not broadcast to make money, but more to build a brand.

Now the whole country knows that the Oscars are broadcast on ABC.

ABC's brand image has naturally improved.

This is a decisive decision made by Michael Eisnali after buying ABC against the crowd, giving the Oscars a large concession, and then leaving the awards ceremony at ABC.

Sure enough, the cooperation between the two sides over the past few years has been very pleasant.

ABC has received strong support from the Hollywood industry and the Oscars in this dispute over advertising dividends, and local stations either can't lose the opportunity to broadcast the Oscars!

Although there was a little trouble, the award ceremony was delayed for a week, but fortunately everything was as usual.

In contrast, the impact of another farce was even worse.

The Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film was "Paradise at This Time", from Palestine. The problem is that in the minds of the Jews, Palestine is not a state at all, it is a seizure of the land of Israel.

The move was met with several demonstrations and opposition from many of the industry's biggest names, including Spielberg and George Lucas.

When calling this movie, you can't use the country code name of "Palestine" to introduce it!

The Academy quickly made a decision to consider the film an entry from the Palestinian National Authority.

The political dimension is very strong.

Don can also be regarded as seeing the domineering and arrogant style of Jews in Hollywood.

In contrast, his slight trick to get Lionsgate to voluntarily withdraw "Crash" is not worth mentioning.

Anyway, under the ups and downs, the new Oscars have begun!

……

According to the practice of the Oscars, Donne, as last year's actor, will be the guest of honor to deal with the best actress at this year's Oscars.

There are always exceptions, though.

Don has a special status, and he did not have any works shortlisted this year, so he simply did not attend the Oscars.

I threw a small party and invited some people in the industry to watch the ceremony while drinking.

The main thing is to comfort George Lucas.

As last year's most anticipated movie, "Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith" did not receive any nominations in this Oscar!

The box office failed to break $1 billion, and there was not even a nomination for the Technology Award at the Oscars, which was too shameful.

George Lucas was very disappointed, and he really had the heart to retreat.

On TV, a video of five films nominated for Best Picture was played, followed by a voice: "This is the Kodak Theater on Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Boulevard, broadcasting the 78th Academy Awards live for you!"

Loud applause and cheers soon erupted on the television.

The party scene was also much quieter.

After all, this is a viewing party, and everyone must whisper when communicating, so as not to affect others to watch.

Leonardo came over at this time and whispered: "It's open over there, are you betting on the first award for Best Supporting Actor, going to play two?"

Don waved his hand impatiently, "What's there to bet on? The best supporting actor must be George Clooney!

Leonardo said shyly, "Who is that model?"

"Which one?" Donn frowned, with a not-so-good premonition.

Leonardo pointed in one direction.

Don turned his head to look at it, and suddenly felt a little angry, it was Du Chen Kolos!

"Pretty good, your friend?"

"That's mine, you don't have to make up your mind!"

Don admonished, too lazy to talk nonsense with him, he didn't go to the Oscars tonight, but had a small party, not to judge Leonardo's pretty women.

He has more important things!

"Are you really going to retire?"

"Really!"

George Lucas has decided. He is now the richest man in Hollywood after Donn, with a net worth of more than $2 billion and enough capital to enjoy retirement.

Don said, "Then hand over Lucasfilm to me." ”

George Lucas glanced at him and said funny: "Are you really going to wipe out Hollywood?

"Public enemy?" Don shrugged lightly, "It's been a long time coming, and you don't know it." If there are more lice, I am not afraid of itching. Besides, apart from New Universal, which Hollywood company do you think is still qualified to eat Lucasfilm?"

The two have talked about this kind of thing many times.

George Lucas also confirmed that he really considered selling Lucasfilm to New Universal, and he was happy to be an independent director in the New Universal Group.

However, he understands the situation in Hollywood.

New Universal is a thorn in the side of all giants.

George Lucas has been worried for some time. I am afraid that after Lucasfilm sells a new Universal, New Globe will be targeted by the Hollywood Group, and it will be over, and Lucasfilm will also lose everything.

But with the end of the Big Five Alliance, everyone saw Donn's true strength.

single-handedly sacrificed the big move of the streaming media, and immediately dismantled the situation and turned the tide.

As far as the current situation is concerned, the New Global Group has become the trend of the times, and Hollywood, which is leading the new era, has become the inevitable of the times.

George Lucas's is a lot more reassuring.

I really want to cooperate with Don En, and I have some business dealings.

"There are some historical legacy problems, which will be more troublesome!"

"What?"

"Copyright issues. ”

After a pause, George Lucas began to explain slowly.

"Star Wars" has been filmed in a total of six films, all of which were released by Twentieth Century Fox. Except for the first "Star Wars: A New Hope", the distribution rights of the other five parts all expire in 2020. And the first film "Star Wars: A New Hope", Twentieth Century Fox has the right to distribute it in perpetuity!

If a complete DVD set for the Star Wars franchise is released in the future, Twentieth Century Fox is an obstacle that cannot be bypassed.

It's like Warner wants to cooperate with New Universal to develop the "Hobbit" series of movies, New Universal has the distribution rights in hand and does not agree to the development, Warner can only stare dryly.

Judging from the current situation, the relationship between New Globe and Twentieth Century Fox is not bad, and the other party will not put up obstacles because of this.

However, Lucasfilm's other big ace, the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" series, is different.

The Raiders of the Lost Ark franchise is a film series jointly developed by Lucasfilm and Paramount, and both parties own the production and distribution rights. Paramount has a more proactive and assertive voice.

If New Universal wants to improve efficiency and reduce expenses, it will inevitably have to vertically integrate the rights of such film series, and Twentieth Century Fox and Paramount are both unavoidable.

Especially in the world of streaming in the future!

Donn also thinks that high-quality films like "Star Wars" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark" can become exclusive content for Netflix as a tool to compete with other streaming platforms.

The publishable rights are in someone else's hands, and Twentieth Century Fox and Paramount will definitely cast a wide net in order to make money.

"The Problem of Twentieth Century Fox...... It shouldn't be a problem. Don groaned for a moment, whispering in his ear.

George Lucas was slightly stunned, "What do you mean?"

If New Globe wants to buy Lucasfilm, it certainly can't be a wholly-owned acquisition, and for someone like George Lucas, too much cash doesn't make sense, and he will definitely ask for New Universal's shares.

When the merger is completed, George Lucas will definitely become a director of New Globe and will have access to the group's decisions.

In this case, there is no need for Donn to hide too much, and said: "Twentieth Century Fox has what New Universal desperately needs. ”

"Huh?" George Lucas was stunned for a moment, a little unresponsive.

Don said lightly: "Twentieth Century Fox is a television network with sports channels covering the whole United States. has good film and television resources and interpersonal relationships, especially the copyright of Marvel's "X-Men". ”

"You...... Are you trying to ......" George Lucas's eyes widened suddenly, revealing an incredible expression, "I thought Lucasfilm would satisfy your appetite, but I didn't expect that you had already set your sights on a bigger goal!"

If New Universal had acquired Twentieth Century Fox, the issue of Star Wars rights would have been resolved. As for Raiders of the Lost Ark...... If you can cooperate, you can cooperate, and if you can't cooperate, forget it, compared to "Star Wars", this is a chicken rib series. The treasure hunt genre is outdated.

Don smiled, "What do you think of it now?"

George Lucas pondered for a long time and did not answer directly, "By the way, what do you think of the Oscars this time...... Who's the big hit?"

Tang En said: "There is no doubt about it, of course it is "Brokeback Mountain"!"

"Brokeback Mountain" received a total of 8 nominations, which is the most nominated film this time.

"Controversy and praise coexist, and "Brokeback Mountain" will win some awards, but it is unlikely to win Best Picture. "George Lucas is a veteran filmmaker who knows the Oscars too well.

Tang En glanced at him and said with a smile: "There's a handicap over there, or ...... Let's make a bet too?"

"What bet?"

"I said that "Brokeback Mountain" will definitely win the Olympic Best Picture!"

"Bet on what?"

"I'm right, you're pushing for the merger of New Universal and Lucasfilm. ”

"What did you say wrong?"

"Then I'll push it. ”

"Haha. ”

George Lucas couldn't help but burst out laughing.

……

Two hours later, Jack Nicholson will take the stage as the guest of honor to present the last award of this Oscar - Best Picture!

"The winner of the best picture was ...... 'Brokeback Mountain'!"

In the Kodak Theater, everyone stood up and applauded.