China Entertainment King of Science Fiction

Chapter 382 Co-production Area 9

DreamWorks Chairman's Office.

“The Douban score has hit a new low.”

Tian Xinye looked at the phone screen and sighed.

Chen Jingxing was looking through the list of project teams for "District 9". Hearing this, he comforted: "The subject matter is limited, so there is nothing we can do about it, and it will definitely increase."

The premiere of "The Walking Dead" in China has aroused great enthusiasm. The plots of the first two episodes are both curious and heavy, but also family-friendly and touching. In terms of the number of views, it has exceeded the data of the previous DreamWorks TV series premieres. This is also because

This is because the DreamWorks web drama brand has indeed been established.

Although older people, or people who don’t pay much attention to web series and animated series, may not have any filters for DreamWorks.

In fact, when most viewers watch a film or television series, they usually do not pay attention to the producer and producer behind it. To them, each film and television work is isolated.

However, as a series of high-reputation film and television works have been released in the past few years, especially whether they are movies, TV series or animation works, they all have the DreamWorks logo in the title sequence, so the DreamWorks brand image has still taken root in the hearts of many people.

.

In this way, "The Walking Dead" itself, because of its subject matter and DreamWorks, had greater influence and popularity than ordinary TV dramas and online dramas before it was launched. Perhaps the coverage is not as good as some popular star dramas, but it is still very popular on the Internet.

Considerable.

However, the price of DreamWorks’ drama rights is getting higher year by year. How could it be willing to sell it to Netflix at a low price?

However, according to the observations of the DreamWorks marketing department, there have been some subtle changes in the Douban classification since the second episode was broadcast.

But what makes DreamWorks famous? "The Walking Dead" is also broadcast on three networks, and has triggered a very hot topic discussion, so it will inevitably become a popular drama viewing group.

Therefore, the score of 8.7 will definitely start to slowly rise. As long as the following episodes can always grasp the scale of entertainment and depth, heavy-duty and popular, it will not be a problem to become another 9-point masterpiece of DreamWorks.

In fact, Tian Xinye was not too worried about this, he just sighed casually. The goal of "The Walking Dead" is not to get a high Douban score.

Who can I go to?

When "The Walking Dead" was being filmed, Netflix and DreamWorks were already discussing overseas network rights, but the two sides never reached an agreement.

In addition, Netflix continued to purchase DreamWorks’ outstanding shares in the Hong Kong stock market. After “The Walking Dead” was launched, it became the second largest shareholder after Chen Jingxing.

After all, if "The Walking Dead" were to be adapted into a movie, it would face censorship issues in China. Although the censorship standards here are looser than those in Chen Jingxing's previous life. "Resident Evil" in his previous life could enter theaters, so this is not the case.

possible.

Chen Jingxing took out a pen and signed the document, and nodded at the same time: "It's almost done, there are only some minor technical issues left."

In addition to Netflix, the remaining overseas streaming media are a bit behind Netflix. Moreover, streaming media such as Apple and Disney, which are backed by big forces, also tend to make their own content and are very interested in purchasing drama series, especially from foreign countries.

The play is not very positive.

In this way, after negotiations between the two parties, DreamWorks became a special content contractor for Netflix in East Asia. Although Netflix cannot afford the sky-high price of copyrights for domestic video platforms, it has made a big difference to DreamWorks in terms of the share of accounts.

concession.

This is also the reason why DreamWorks' stock price continued to rise after the release of "Edge of Tomorrow".

But compared with DreamWorks' previous TV series, such scores are a bit unsatisfying. The drama versions of "The Signal", "Black Mirror" and "Person of Interest" all scored above 9 points, and "Battleship", "Star Gods II" and "Evolution"

Not to mention animated dramas like this, the ratings for animation themes have always been falsely high.

Zhang Yi is a relatively high-level acting actor in China, and he was also selected as the leading actor by Guo Fan in the currently filming "Operation Red Sea".

Chen Jingxing has been very busy during this period. He was filming "The Matrix II" during the day, and after finishing work, he had to go back to the company to handle the preparations for "Inception" and deal with the cooperation with Universal Co-Producers.

Chen Jingxing's authority on film and television drama projects is convinced by everyone in the company.

In this way, Netflix can obtain high-quality content produced by DreamWorks in the future without having to pay excessive procurement costs. For Netflix, which is rapidly expanding, opening up the Asian market, and increasing the number of members, high-quality content can bring about membership growth.

This is the biggest benefit, and it can also bind DreamWorks to the Netflix platform.

Similarly, Netflix is ​​not willing to part with high-quality content producers like DreamWorks, especially since it is also working hard to develop the Asian market. Netflix currently does not have many local dramas that can attract East Asian audiences.

Obviously, the first episode directly getting to the point is a bit hard-core for many viewers, but when the second episode begins to use Eastern narrative techniques to explore family affection, human nature and sensationalism, it enters a cultural comfort zone, which can make the Chinese

A story that Chinese audiences, both refined and popular, can accept and be moved by.

Domestically, you can still shop around, but overseas, except for Netflix, which is a big way to the sky, the rest are all narrow streets.

Because Netflix took the lead, Fantasy World and Penguin Pictures were both frantically buying shares of DreamWorks.

Cooperation with Netflix does not require his concern, this is Xu Wenshen's job.

Netflix's reduction in drama purchase costs and DreamWorks' high asking prices have naturally become irreconcilable contradictions.

Thinking of this, Tian Xinye was also concerned about the overseas distribution of "The Walking Dead": "Have you reached an agreement with Netflix?"

DreamWorks and Netflix seem to be reaching a strategic partnership.

However, they were all rejected by Tian Xinye.

At least judging from the current response from public opinion, the future of this drama is still very bright, and it seems that Chen Jingxing's original grand vision is not impossible to realize.

Both sides are considered winners.

The "villain agency" in the film is of course the United Nations agency that deals with the alien slum - "Area 9".

If it is a fierce competition among domestic video platforms, without Zhang Tufu and Li Tufu, the producers of superior content will have bargaining power.

The slum background itself is very suitable for Tianzhu or South Africa. The white slums in South Africa are very famous.

If "The Walking Dead" were a foreign drama, it would be difficult for it to enter mainstream attention and would only be spread among a niche group - viewers who like British and American dramas or Japanese and Korean dramas. Then it would be highly rated and even be regarded as a sacred drama.

.

The disadvantage is that he is not a star enough and is not well-known internationally. Universal's opinion is to hire Cheng Long, Jet Li or Luo Chen.

"District 9" has been officially approved. Tian Xinye is the director, and DreamWorks and Universal each have a producer. After discussions about perfecting the script, the background was decided to be in South Africa - the background of this movie cannot be placed in China. Initially,

I am considering South Asia or South Africa.

Netflix has also become the fourth largest shareholder of DreamWorks, behind Chen Jingxing, Fantasy World and Penguin Pictures.

"The Walking Dead" will naturally be sold to Netflix according to Chen Jingxing's vision. After all, Netflix's coverage is indeed the widest and most powerful among all current streaming media.

Therefore, overseas markets will be an important part of determining the commercial value of this IP.

However, in Chen Jingxing's view, this is the price of becoming a minority to the masses.

Under such an international background, except for the male lead Chen Jingxing who insisted on using Chinese actors, many other roles had to be played by Hollywood union actors.

Let Hong Kong stock investors and the media exclaim that it is a monster stock.

Tian Xinye was responsible for casting the male protagonist and his girlfriend.

A large part of these viewers rarely even watch foreign dramas, and usually watch mainstream domestic film and television dramas. The novelty and heavy emphasis of "The Walking Dead" will cause overload or discomfort for many viewers.

However, such quarrels and conflicts were given the opportunity to be resolved after DreamWorks went public.

The main problem is that Netflix’s development strategy conflicts with DreamWorks’ premium drama strategy.

Later, I considered co-production with Universal, so I decided to change it to South Africa.

The scale of drama viewing by mainstream audiences in China is highly consistent with that of star dramas and big screen dramas, and is much more conservative than that of many overseas countries. The scale of dramas produced by European and American cable TV networks is no smaller than that of online film and television dramas.

DreamWorks reached a share exchange agreement with Netflix shortly after it was listed on the Hong Kong stock market, and DreamWorks directly became the fourteenth largest shareholder of Netflix.

Netflix has set a strategic path to expand its own content since last year. It wants to reduce the proportion of copyright purchases and its budget for purchasing dramas has also been reduced.

DreamWorks' market value has increased from 48.6 billion on the first day of listing before the release of "Edge of Tomorrow" to more than 75 billion in less than a month.

The white and black actors are provided by Universal, and one or two of them are famous Hollywood actors and B-list stars.

Although the rating of 8.7 ranks among the top three among the TV series that have been aired this year, I have to say that the level of TV series this year has indeed exploded. Not only star-rated dramas, but also online dramas have produced some high-quality products, which greatly surprised the audience.

Very addictive.

Therefore, the viewing volume of "The Walking Dead" is on the one hand a breakthrough in the novel plot, and on the other hand it is standing on the shoulders of giants.

What he needs to make a decision today is the co-production of "District 9".

It will take time to prove whether "The Walking Dead" can create a subculture IP popular among young people around the world, and overseas is also an important part.

After Tian Xinye’s selection, Zhang Yi was finally chosen.

However, compared to creating the best premiere data in the history of DreamWorks, "The Walking Dead"'s Douban score is not that impressive.

The advantage of this is that Netflix does not have to spend a lot of money to compete with other streaming media for copyright, thereby raising the copyright price to sky-high prices and allowing its own profits to be eroded by competition.

Correspondingly, DreamWorks also allocated part of the funds raised from the listing to invest in Nasdaq, and continued to purchase shares of Netflix after the two companies exchanged shares.

What was placed in front of him was the preliminary list of main creative personnel for the "District 9" project.

But matters related to the movie must still be handled by him. Even if they are pushed to the president's office, Xu Wenshen will ask Director Chen to make the decision.

Chen Jingxing didn’t have the courage to say that Netflix couldn’t afford the price, so I’d look for someone else.

This is also an important reason why Chen Jingxing decided to co-produce with Universal.

Of course, its so-called self-made content is basically a "contracting system", which is nothing more than signing contracts with some production teams. The "teams" provide creativity and manpower, and Netflix pays. After the production is completed, Netflix pays the main creators and splits the accounts.

He believes that if "District 9" is to be filmed well, the starring role is crucial. The male protagonist should be a civilian employee assigned to District 9 by the UN alien processing agency to be responsible for demolition. He will be full of contempt for aliens from the beginning and look down on them.

They didn't treat them as human beings, and even burned the eggs of aliens who were "superborn".

After coming into contact with extraterrestrial materials, they began to gradually turn into aliens. They looked at their experiences from the perspective of aliens bit by bit. Their inner conscience was constantly being awakened. After going through various hardships, they realized

The changes in his mentality towards his own salvation are deduced.

This performance is quite difficult, and Tian Xinye believes that Zhang Yi is a very suitable actor for this role.

Chen Jingxing also agreed with Tian Xinye's casting. As the Chinese-faced male protagonist of the entire movie, his acting skills are indeed very important. Not only should he not be suppressed by other Hollywood actors, he should also be as outstanding as possible.

(End of chapter)