America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM

Chapter 71 Conception of the prototype of the industrial chain

Eric had never cared about the Olsen sisters, nor their Double Star Entertainment.

The reason for suddenly proposing to buy shares stems from a meeting with Spielberg a few days ago.

It was the premiere of "Cat and Mouse", and Peter Jackson was invited. The two were studying the special effects of Transformers at Weta Digital, so Peter Jackson took Eric along.

After the premiere, the two chatted for a long time.

The first is the issue of Transformers. Spielberg said helplessly that DreamWorks has also contacted Hasbro, but the price he can afford obviously cannot satisfy the other party.

Now that the rights to Transformers belong to MGM, Spielberg hopes DreamWorks can get involved.

However, this request was politely rejected by Eric. The reason given was that the project had already started. If DreamWorks had made the request earlier, MGM would be very welcome.

Of course, the Transformers issue was just a sideshow. The two of them actually talked more about the development issues of MGM and DreamWorks.

Who doesn’t know in Hollywood that when Spielberg led Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen to found DreamWorks, the real purpose was to challenge the position of the seven major Hollywood companies. Of course, MGM was too weak among the seven major companies. .

But Spielberg wanted to make Tateshantou establish a new alliance with Liansheng. This approach was obviously not in line with the interests of the seven major interests. This cake has existed for hundreds of years and is no longer allowed to be divided.

So although everyone still cooperates, conflicts are inevitable. DreamWorks did prosper in a short period of time, but as time went on, its shortcomings were exposed, and that was distribution capabilities.

Even with the blessing of Spielberg and the other two big names, DreamWorks can only distribute in North America at most, and global distribution is always limited. This business must be left to the Big Seven, unless there is no money to be made, in that case Many movies fail to recoup their costs.

As a result, if things go on like this, it becomes DreamWorks working for Big Seven.

Want to build a new mountain?

Set up a shovel!

Eric and Spielberg were talking about cooperation. Now MGM is like a very weak martial arts master, lacking internal strength but still having tricks.

DreamWorks is just the opposite. It has plenty of internal power, but it can't fight without the right moves.

One is about to be kicked out of the top seven, and the other is desperately trying to become a new giant. If the two complement each other, it will obviously be of great benefit to both parties.

Among them, what Eric likes most about DreamWorks is its animation production capabilities, although it is slightly weaker than Pixar.

But even though Pixar has not been acquired by Disney, it is almost equivalent to its exclusive subsidiary.

In Hollywood, Disney is still the most powerful so far. No one can challenge its position, and no one can take Pixar away from Mickey Mouse.

But Eric has always had big plans for animated movies in his mind, such as "Kung Fu Panda", "Frozen", "Zootopia", etc., each of which is a super profitable IP.

Especially for the "Frozen" series, the direct profits of the two movies exceeded 2 billion U.S. dollars. Subsequent peripheral products were sold for tens of billions, and the net profit exceeded 6 billion U.S. dollars, which is terrifying.

In addition, Marvel must be acquired. After the acquisition, they will definitely produce big movies. It is obviously not possible to rely on MGM's old animation department.

In all of Hollywood, only Pixar and DreamWorks could afford this task, so Eric's eyes naturally fell on the latter.

That night, the old man and the young man chatted for a long time, and Eric was willing to give up part of the profits from overseas distribution in exchange for the full support of DreamWorks Animation.

At the same time, he also proposed his first cooperation plan, which was "Frozen".

The two parties are currently in a stage of secret contact. Although Spielberg is somewhat interested, he still has to communicate with the two partners.

But as long as they are smart people, they will make the right choice.

Once this cooperation is negotiated, the "Frozen" project will be launched immediately.

If all goes well, Eric estimates that the film can be started before this summer, but the production time is uncertain. It may take two years, or even three years.

As for the legendary seven years like the original time and space, it is just nonsense. If the time spent polishing the script and wrangling in the early stage is included, some movies can be counted as more than ten years.

When "Frozen" came out, Eric wasn't sure if it would make over a billion dollars at the box office like it would later, but even if it did, it wouldn't be that big of a difference.

Technology is not a limitation, because each era has its own technical characteristics. When the new technological revolution has not yet arrived, I will be the latest and strongest.

Perhaps viewers more than ten years later will feel that its pictures are not beautiful enough, but it no longer matters, because enough money has been made.

For "Frozen", the box office is not the focus, the real profit point is the peripherals.

By that time, MGM will most likely have obtained a certain say in Hasbro, and can use Hasbro to sell toys, and at the same time use these IPs to gain greater say.

But just like DreamWorks, Hasbro also has an obvious weakness, that is, it is best at making toys, but not at clothes, stationery, books, accessories, etc.

It’s not that it can’t be made, but the quality and sales are far inferior to toy figures.

But the core sales points of "Frozen" peripherals are clothes, stationery, audio and video products, etc. For example, the sales of just the clothes and skirts of the two princesses have exceeded 2 billion US dollars.

The profits in this area are very huge, and Eric doesn't want to share too much with others. No one would want to, so he needs his own factory and sales network.

Eric was still thinking about this issue before, but when the Olsen sisters appeared, he suddenly discovered that Double Star Entertainment could just make up for it.

Although Double Star Entertainment is small in scale, with a comprehensive value of only six to seven billion US dollars, it belongs to the type that is small but has all the internal organs.

This is also due to the fact that the two sisters were child stars, and most of the products sold are children's peripherals, including clothes, trinkets, stationery, etc.

Over the past ten years, they have had their own processing plant and built a complete sales network, not only in North America, but also in Europe.

So when thinking about the value of the two sisters, Eric suddenly realized this. Isn't Double Star Entertainment just what he needs?

As long as these resources are integrated together, MGM is responsible for IP production and distribution, DreamWorks is responsible for film production, and Hasbro and Double Star Entertainment can handle a considerable part of the peripheral sales, which will form the prototype of an industrial chain.

And now that Hasbro has won it, it shouldn't be difficult to negotiate with DreamWorks.

All that's left is for the Olsen sisters to pop up out of nowhere, and it's up to Eric to hook those two fish.

"Company shares!"

The faces of the Olsen sisters changed. This was their lifeblood, regardless of whether they had any.

"Yes, but it's not free. I'm not someone who likes prostitution for free. I will buy it at market price."

"Think about it, if MGM holds shares in Double Star Entertainment, it means that we are in the same boat, and the Cooper family will be deeply bound to the Olsen family."

"Only in this way will I spare no effort and go all out to build you and help you, because this is also in my interests, isn't it?"

"'The Life of Adele' is just the first step, and there will be another major production with an investment of more than 200 million US dollars. It also has two female protagonists and is expected to be launched before this summer."

"In addition, MGM is also planning to invest in a wedding-themed movie. It also has two female protagonists, which is very suitable for you. Last year, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" became a hit all over the world. You guys will know this."

The bait kept being thrown out, which made the Olson sisters feel itchy.

"Eric, although what you said is right, this is too sudden and hard to accept at the moment. We need to think about it carefully."

You can’t eat hot tofu in a hurry, but if you want to eat high-quality tofu, you have to be patient.

"I understand this. You have plenty of time to think about it, but you still want to make a decision as soon as possible, so that we can compete for next year's Oscars!"

boom! boom! boom!

When they heard Oscar, the two sisters' hearts beat wildly again.