America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM

Chapter 131 Preparing for the Lion Heart Network

After being affectionate with Nicole for a whole day, the two lived a day-to-day life just like a real couple.

The other person's tenderness made Eric a little addicted. If he was really a 20-year-old young man, he would most likely not feel this kind of family feeling and would not cherish it.

After all, young people are restless and have not yet polished their character. It is instinct and nature to pursue excitement and happiness.

But inside Eric's young body is actually a soul in his 30s, and a soul that has been in the entertainment industry for more than ten years.

In an extremely realistic place like the entertainment industry, he has seen too many human relationships and the world's ups and downs.

The more I see and experience, the stronger my desire for a warm home becomes. After wearing the mask for a long time, I naturally need a harbor to live in.

And Nicole is a good candidate in terms of personality, ability, or other aspects.

Unfortunately, when Eric saw the clothes he was wearing, the idea of ​​​​stopping was extinguished unconsciously, because the clothes were specially bought for him by Gadot.

Wearing clothes bought by one woman, and then dating another woman, at the same time, there are third, fourth, fifth, sixth or even countless women hidden in places that neither of them know about.

There are also twins among them, who will develop into triplets in the future, and possibly triplets plus aunts.

What's even more outrageous is that there may be mother, daughter and cousin.

Sometimes Eric feels that he is a scumbag and evil, a complete scumbag.

But what can be done? Being too good is also a worry.

Eric even imagined a scenario where he would gather all the women in a room, tell them the truth, and let them choose whether to stay or go.

I think most of them will choose to stay.

And even if they haven't reached this point, Eric feels that they are not stupid, and they more or less know that his man must still have someone outside.

However, if you are not caught in bed with a rock hammer, you can selectively ignore it.

Even if you are stoned, you may continue to selectively ignore it. There are too many such things in the entertainment industry, such as Xiao S, Jin Qiaoqiao, Xu Fan, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, etc.

So in order to make it up to them, all Eric can do is work harder on the ship and help them in their careers.

Last night, he worked hard for several hours, until he was exhausted, and then the two of them called it quits.

In the office, Eric called Billy over.

"Billy, do you remember what I told you at the last party?"

Billy recalled for a moment: "You mean the Michael Dobbs thing?"

"Yes, I plan to send you to England again to talk to him about the adaptation of "House of Cards". Of course, this is just an excuse. The real purpose is to seek his help.

"Boss, what exactly is going on? I'm totally confused by what you're saying right now."

Eric pointed to the sofa and Billy sat down.

"Do you know about Michael Jackson's child molestation case?"

Billy nodded: "I probably know something, but not in detail. Are you talking about that time in 1993 or this year?"

"This year, the controversy originated from a BBC reporter named Martin Bascher. It was because of the documentary he shot that led to this incident."

"But I don't believe this is just his personal behavior. According to the information I have learned, Sony Records is likely to be involved behind the scenes."

"Sony Records? Isn't it Michael Jackson's contract company? Why is that?" Billy asked in confusion.

In order to facilitate the work, Eric simply told the grudges between McQueen and Sony Records.

After chatting about the inside story, Billy also sighed: "So that's it. If Sony really did it, these guys deserve to die."

"Do you feel like two atomic bombs are too cheap for them?"

"Yes, it is best to bomb this country and let them sleep in the Pacific Ocean forever."

Eric laughed loudly, and he was happy from the bottom of his heart when he heard RB being scolded.

"Billy, in short, you have to handle this matter no matter what, and you have to give me results even if you spend money on it."

"Don't worry, even if Michael Dobbs is a wall, I can still make a hole. His wife, Evelyn, is not a politician and will be much easier to deal with."

"I don't care what method you use, just give me the result as soon as possible."

"I promise to complete the task, but the adaptation of "House of Cards" you just mentioned, are you really planning to start filming this novel?"

Eric nodded: "Yes, it will start within one or two months. You can use this excuse to get close."

After Billy left, Eric wrote down a few numbers on a piece of paper.

It is currently the end of the second quarter, and a new copyright fee will be recorded soon. In addition, the performance of "The Walking Dead" is very good. Under dad's lobbying, HBO rarely agreed to settle the payment in advance. The total of the two incomes It can be about US$500 million.

After deducting the subsequent investment in projects that have already been filmed, as well as the interest and principal repaid to the bank, the current liquidity on hand is enough to start several new projects.

There is no need to consider big productions like "Transformers". What is in front of Eric are low-cost movies, TV series and variety shows.

For the upcoming Lionheart Network, Eric must provide more and better works. The long-term viewership of TV series and variety shows is obviously better than that of movies.

So it would be good to film "House of Cards", "Hannibal", "Supernatural", "American Horror Story" and "Breaking Bad" first.

Among these movies, "House of Cards" has the highest production cost, but it should be able to earn around US$2 million per episode, assuming that the bulk of the money is used to hire actors.

The original "House of Cards" boasted an average cost of $4.5 million per episode.

That's because most of his money is spent on hiring actors, directors and screenwriters.

These three important positions account for more than 50% of the film's cost, which is somewhat similar to Chinese film and television dramas in the traffic era.

The difference is that he really has acting skills and standards, so this time Eric still wanted to ask Kevin Spacey to star.

"American Beauty" two years ago has already won him an Oscar.

For Kevin Spacey, his acting skills have reached their peak. There is not much difference between 10 years ago and 10 years later. There is no pressure to play Francis Underwood, the leading actor of "House of Cards", and even There is no need to change the makeup, just change the age of the characters in the script.

Now Kevin Spacey is 44 years old. In reality, there are countless 40-year-old congressmen. Ao Guanhai is already on the presidential throne at the age of 47. There is no age limit in the political rules here.

And if "House of Cards" was directed by Eric himself, it would not only be highly efficient, but also the cost would be greatly reduced.

As for "Hannibal", "Supernatural", "American Horror Story" and "Breaking Bad", judging from Hollywood in 2003, the average production cost of an episode of TV series was US$550,000.

"Hannibal" and "American Horror Story" can allocate a little more money, and "Supernatural" and "Breaking Bad" $550,000 is enough, and even more can be squeezed.

Eric plans to make these five dramas the driving points for Lionheart from the second half of this year to the first half of next year.

"The Walking Dead" was first introduced to attract a group of new users who had never watched it and old users who wanted to revisit it, and then "House of Cards" was the real first hit.

"The Force of Evil" does not need to be too elaborate, and the filming progress is relatively fast. It will be continued, but it can only be used as a transition, and it cannot be expected to attract too many audiences.

The key to the longevity of "Supernatural" and its ability to be filmed for 15 seasons is that the CW did not have good works to produce, and it was a helpless move to renew it in the first place.

What is very unique about this drama is that it successfully draws the audience's attention from the plot to the actors, which is somewhat similar to the fan economy.

The brothers often held meet-and-greets in private, and the merchandise sold well. In the end, "Evil Force" successfully transformed from a youth idol thriller into a longevity drama.

Then there is "Breaking Bad". The first season of Lao Bai's story is not attractive. The best way is to combine the first two seasons and shoot them together, speed up the pace and delete irrelevant links.

Then it's "Hannibal" or "American Horror Story," whoever makes it first gets to air it.

Then it will be supplemented by variety shows, such as "The Voice", and MJ will be invited to be a judge. The details will depend on the progress of Michael's lawsuit.

If it is launched next year, it will be good to compete on the same stage as Fox's "American Idol". In addition to MJ, it will also invite a few big-name kings and queens, even if it costs a little more.

Eric doesn't believe that he can't do "American Idol". It would be best if he can beat this senior to death on the beach within one or two seasons, become the number one music variety show, and monopolize the market share.

In addition, there are various popular variety shows such as "Talent Show", "Wild Survival", "Ninja Contest", "Take Me Out", etc. You can use whichever one you want, and then sell the copyrights all over the world to collect money.

The only problem is that the production cost of the variety show is relatively high. Eric also wants to complete preliminary contacts with Marvel in the second half of the year, so the production schedule is expected to be delayed a bit.

Once the few movies on hand have completed their box office returns, the era of variety shows will begin on a large scale.

With MGM's development route in mind for the next six months, Eric called Chen Xing in.

"Is the president here?"

"exist!"

"Well, I'll go over there and call you last time. Now contact the other party and inform them to come over."

"Okay, boss!"

I took the elevator to my father's office floor. Also coming up were Hu Leo from the production department and a cute girl with good looks who looked like she was in her early 20s.

Seeing Eric coming in, the two of them hurriedly stepped aside and said hello at the same time.

Eric nodded slightly, then looked at the cute girl he met: "New here?"

"Yes boss, my name is Jenny, Jenny White."

The girl immediately reached out her hand, and Eric was too embarrassed to reject her directly. He had always had a good reputation within the company, so the two simply touched their palms and parted immediately.

"What are you going to do?"

"The president wants to hear the overall situation of the production department in the second quarter. I will come over and report."

Eric snorted, feeling a little guilty. He seemed to have become a little inflated recently, and many new projects or plans were not discussed with his father.

Although there is no dispute between father and son, they should at least inform them. Otherwise, respect or disrespect will be put aside. As the president, it is still necessary to have a comprehensive understanding of the company's operations.

"Let's get together then, I happen to have something to do," Eric said.

"No, please go ahead."

"Then you may have to wait a while, this conversation isn't going to end anytime soon."

The elevator door opened and Eric walked to Charlie Cooper's office. The big wave female secretary hurriedly opened the door for him.

Seeing his boss walking away, Julio said in a reproachful tone: "Jenny, what you did just now was so ill-considered. You shouldn't take the initiative to reach out. This may embarrass Eric. Ignoring him will hurt your self-esteem. Be aware that you may be gossiped about."

"This is a company, not a party or restaurant. You are facing our boss, not friends and customers. You must know how to maintain respect and awe, do you understand?"

As a newbie in the workplace, Jenny nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.

What I was thinking about was that he was indeed as handsome as in the photo. I actually shook hands with Eric Cooper. I was so excited, hahahaha

In Charlie Cooper's office, the secretary closed the door and left.

"Eric, is something wrong?"

A son is better than a father. When he saw his son, an old man like Charlie Cooper could tell at a glance that he must have something to ask for.

Eric nodded: "Dad, I may need to borrow a favor from you."

"Tell me if you have anything to say. Is there an actor or director who can't be hired and needs my help?"

"That's not the case. There may be some insistence. I'm thinking that Lionheart will be online in a few months. I'm going to film "House of Cards" as a show. I want to hire Kevin Spy as the leading actor. West."

"But after winning the Oscar, he is now at his peak. It would be best if the script can impress him, but if the salary cannot be negotiated by then, you may need to come forward."

Dad thought for a while and said: "As for Kevin Spacey, his current film salary is 10 million U.S. dollars, but the friendship price can be less, but the film and TV series are two different tracks. Are you planning to film this show?" Few sets?"

"It won't exceed 15 episodes, probably around 12 or 13 episodes."

"How much do you want to pay Kevin Spacey for an episode?"

"$350,000, the less would be better."

Hearing this, my father shook his head: "It's too little. Even if the quality of the script is high enough, the price is too little. I suggest raising the price to 400,000 US dollars per episode."

"If 15 episodes are filmed, Kevin Spacey can get a salary of 6 million. I can negotiate this friendly price."

"After all, the shooting time of TV series is much shorter than that of movies. He can definitely use it as a break between two movies."

"With a good book, I shouldn't refuse."

"Dad, is it the lowest?"

Eric still thinks it's a bit expensive. He remembers that in 2013, Kevin Spacey's salary for taking over the filming of "House of Cards" was only $500,000 per episode.

I was 10 years ahead of schedule and wanted to keep the price down.

"There's nothing I can do about it. He's an Oscar-winning actor. The big screen has always discriminated against the small screen. It's not like you don't know that."

"Well, when our streaming media starts, I will make sure these film and television celebrities rush to star in it."