Chapter 543: Cooperation

Zhang Ran said unhurriedly: "Mr. Murdoch, I believe you know that in China, the share of domestic films is 41%, and the share of Hollywood films is only 13%, but if Hollywood films can get the treatment of co-productions, then they will get 41% of the shares." Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info”

Murdoch didn't speak, but Wendi Deng said: "It's not easy to get the treatment of a co-production, the Chinese side contributes no less than one-third, and there must be Chinese actors to play important roles, and it also needs to be filmed in China." ”

Zhang Ran knew that Deng Wendi was very interested in the entertainment industry, as can be seen from her frequent appearances on the red carpet of major film festivals and award ceremonies, and later she also invested in the filming of "Snow Flowers and Secret Fan", nodded slightly: "It is indeed more difficult, but it is not impossible to solve it, using Chinese actors as the protagonists will indeed affect the box office in Europe and the United States, but it is not a big problem to play a supporting role, and it is easier to shoot in China." Hollywood has been making platter investments for the last two years, and I hope to join Fox's platter. ”

Wendi Deng suddenly realized: "You want to invest in Fox's films, but Fox has signed a platter agreement with Dune Entertainment." ”

In the 90s, Hollywood films could get as much as 60 percent of the budget through overseas pre-sales, but in 2005, they could only get 30 percent or even less.

At the same time, because of the stock market recession and low bank interest rates, Wall Street is very well funded and urgently needs to find new profit points, and Hollywood, which has a stable market performance, has entered their sights.

As a result, the two sides hit it off, and Wall Street Capital's "platter investment" project in Hollywood movies came into being.

In 2003, under the leadership of Paramount's vice president of commercial operations, Isaac Pammer, Merrill Lynch and others reached a partnership with Paramount to establish a private equity fund called "Melrose", planning to invest a huge amount of money in Paramount's films within two years.

At the end of 05, Warner cooperated with the newly established Legendary Pictures and signed a 7-year cooperation agreement, which stipulates that in the next 7 years, the two parties will each contribute 50% to invest in and produce 40 film and television works.

So far, each of the six major Hollywood studios has signed at least one platter financing agreement, except for Disney, which insists on investing in movies with its own funds. 20th Century Fox reached a cooperation agreement with Dune Entertainment in January 05 involving 28 films and 325 million funds. In December, the two companies announced the addition of 16 co-financed film projects, with an additional $325 million investment from Dune Entertainment.

Zhang Ran smiled indifferently and said, "There may not be only one platter agreement, some companies have two or even more agreements. In addition to bringing investment, Dune Entertainment does not increase Fox's income, and with my cooperation, some films can get co-production status, which can increase a lot of income. With 1.3 billion people in China, the market potential is huge, and the number of screens in China is increasing at a rate of 30% per year. I believe that in 5 years, it will be easy for Hollywood's top blockbusters to break through $100 million at the box office in the Chinese market. The revenue of a film is $100 million, divided between 13% and 41%, which is a difference of more than $2,000. ”

Murdoch nodded slightly: "Your suggestion is very tempting, is there anything else?"

Zhang Ran smiled and said, "I also have some film projects in my hands, and at the same time that I invest in Fox film projects, Fox can also invest in projects in my hands, and I hope that Fox can distribute these films." ”

Zhang Ran cooperated well with Lionsgate, but there was a big flaw in cooperating with Lionsgate, Lionsgate did not have overseas distribution capabilities, and most of the overseas copyrights were bought out, which was not cost-effective for commercial blockbusters. Fox has a strong distribution network overseas, branches in many countries, and can distribute its own, and more importantly, News Corp. has a strong television network, which is extremely beneficial for film promotion.

There is another important reason, the Asian Film Academy will open in September, and cooperating with Fox will allow students to enter the Fox crew for internships, really enter Hollywood, learn Hollywood's production concepts and genre film skills, and then combine with Chinese stories and humanities, and then promote the development of Chinese genre films.

Wendi Deng was stunned: "Invest in Chinese films?"

Zhang Ran shook his head: "No, American movies." I have the copyright of the recently popular American novel series "Twilight", and there are also many good science fiction copyrights, which can be made into top commercial films, just like "Time Soldier". ”

Murdoch said noncommittally: "You're so successful doing YouTube, why don't you continue to do the Internet?"

Zhang Ran smiled and said, "The Internet will definitely continue to do it, but movies are my biggest hobby and what I am best at!"

Murdoch laughed: "You are really a smart person, and when I see you, I think of me when I was young." ”

Zhang Ran hurriedly said: "Mr. Murdoch has lifted me, where can I compare with a media king like you." You are a true legend, maybe in the future I will make a biopic of you. ”

"Hahaha, I'm looking forward to this day!" Murdoch laughed, and then he stared at Zhang Ran, his eyes flashed, and he said coldly, "You are very smart, and you are very courageous, you know the relationship between News Corporation and Disney, but you dare to come to me to cooperate, this courage alone is better than countless people!"

The relationship between the six major Hollywood studios is a bit like the alliance between the six countries except the Qin State of the Warring States Period, and although there is competition between them, there are a lot of cooperation in the fields of film, cable television, and videotapes, forming a rather complex alliance, such as Sony and Warner are alliances, and News Corporation is an alliance with Disney. When a new force threatens the status of the Big Six, it is often attacked by the Big Six.

The key to the alliance between News Corp. and Disney is the television network, News Corp. has many movie stations in the United States and overseas, but these TV stations basically have no children's programs, and these TV stations need children's programs to attract customers, while Disney's strongest is children's programs, but there is no satellite pay TV channel, so the two sides hit it off and formed an alliance.

Zhang Ran offended Disney, and the films he invested in had many obstacles to distribution in the United States, and if he could cooperate with News Corp., these troubles could be well solved. He smiled and said: "I have a conflict with Eisner, but he has left Disney, and the contradiction naturally does not exist." Disney wouldn't be so stingy and take care of a little person like me. Mr. Murdoch, I know that you have always wanted to enter the Chinese market, and working with me may make your wish come true!"

Murdoch began to lay out for China in the early 90s, and has spent more than $2 billion so far, but all he has reaped is various failures. At this moment, when he heard this, his heart moved, he stared at Zhang Ran tightly for a few seconds, and said, "I can promise you, but you also have to promise me a condition!"

Zhang Ran was slightly stunned, if he let himself sell YouTube to News Corporation, then he was afraid that it would be difficult for him to agree, he asked quietly: "I don't know what your conditions are?"

Murdoch smiled faintly: "myspace is in the process of globalization strategy, China is an important target of myspace, but the Chinese market is not easy to enter, in order to get an Internet license in China, you must be a Chinese company, we have been looking for Chinese partners recently." You're the founder of YouTube and you run another website in China, so I'm sure you'll be a great collaborator!"

Zhang Ran nodded thoughtfully, Deng Diwen returned to China in a high-profile manner last month, and it seems that he should choose a partner for myspace, and after News Corp acquired myspace, Deng Wendi was in charge.

In fact, Zhang Ran originally planned to do social networking sites, especially Weibo, and he would definitely do it, because these social networking sites are very important for the marketing of movies. The reason why Hollywood's six major companies are strong is that many of them are backed by big media companies. It is not possible to buy TV stations in China as it is in the United States, so it is important to master online media.

The benefits of working with Murdoch are obvious, myspace is very famous, and it is much easier to attract a group of fashion-conscious young white-collar workers with a name alone than to start from scratch. And a few years later, MySpace was half-dead by News Corp. and ready to get rid of it, and Zhang Ran could buy the entire MySpace in turn.

However, now in China's SNS market, Tencent and the school intranet have gained a large number of social users, and mainstream portals such as Xinlang and Sohu have always hoped to make breakthroughs in social networking, and it is not easy to survive in China. It's okay to work with Murdoch, but this matter must be led by Zhang Ran, otherwise Myspace China will die as easily as it did in the previous life.

Zhang Ran pondered for a long time before he said: "Yes, but myspace China must be controlled by me, and I want to account for more than 51% of the shares, and I must develop according to my ideas!"

Murdoch has taken great pains to enter the Chinese market, and even Wendi Deng is a card he has played into the Chinese market. Last year, he tried to land Star TV's program across the country through Qing1 Hai Satellite TV, but was quickly stopped by the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, and lost tens of millions of dollars. This series of failures made him understand that in order to enter China, he must find Chinese partners, but Zhang Ran's requirements are too high!

Murdoch doesn't want to lose control: "We each have a 50% stake, and I don't interfere in the management, I listen to you." ”

Zhang Ran didn't believe Murdoch's words, and he was clear about how Myspace died: "Now you say not to interfere, but what if the company's development does not match what you imagined? Yahoo has been surpassed by Google in many parts of the world, with the exception of Day 1. The reason is simple, Yahoo Day 1 was originally a joint venture between Yahoo and SoftBank Group, and Yahoo only has a 35.5% stake. The cooperation is in the form of Yahoo leasing its brand and technology, and allowing the local management team to operate the Yahoo Ri1 business. This form of cooperation makes Yahoo Day 1 more localized, and can gain faster insight into the market and respond quickly, so Yahoo Day 1 can fully suppress Google in Japan 1. The Chinese market is more complex than the Japanese market, and the opponents are more difficult, if you want to survive in the Chinese market, you must listen to me!"

Murdoch stared at Zhang Ran for several seconds, but still shook his head and said, "It seems that we can't talk about it today." He seemed to lament that the negotiations had failed today and that the two sides could not cooperate.

Zhang Ran shrugged his shoulders and said disapprehantly: "It's a pity, that's the only way to go!"

Deng Wendi was secretly anxious in his heart, but he couldn't speak, but Bai Yunfei showed a trace of disdain, not cooperating with Zhang Ran is your loss, and his judgment of the Internet is far beyond your imagination.

After a brief chill, Murdoch suddenly laughed and said, "Well, you win!"

Qingcheng Wuji said

In February 2012, Xi Jinping visited the United States, and China and the United States reached the "China-US Film Agreement". According to the agreement, the quota for films will be increased to 34, and the box office share will be increased from 13% to 25%.