China Entertainment King of Science Fiction

Chapter 512 Costume Zombie Drama

Studio No. 1 of the National Film Beijing Suburb Digital Base is the largest of the shooting studios rented by DreamWorks.

It has almost always been Chen Jingxing’s dedicated studio for shooting.

Less than a month after "The Matrix III" was completed, Studio 1 was opened again.

A long and narrow streamlined spaceship occupies the center of the studio, about twenty meters long and three meters high.

The unprecedented and huge spaceship in front of us is the Ranger spacecraft that landed on the water planet in "Interstellar". It is definitely the largest spacecraft model ever built by Mo's visual effects department.

Although it is still not a one-to-one model, it is much smaller than the spaceship set in the movie.

Models of the Zhurong spacecraft in "The Martian" and the Navigator 1 space station in "The Wandering Earth" were also made, but they were all miniature, at most two or three meters long.

Even in heavy industry special effects blockbusters, many shots have similar principles to Japanese special effects films.

The preparations for "Interstellar" have actually started long ago, especially the design and production of models and the construction and arrangement of shooting locations.

Who wouldn’t want to be a part of an IP like “The Walking Dead”?

But in many cases, real shooting can give the director a creative feeling. For movies like "Gravity", after the director designs the storyboard script, he is no longer the leader in the rest.

It is estimated that the filming abroad will take no less than two months.

The global popularity of "The Walking Dead" will definitely attract followers. Chen Jingxing is naturally mentally prepared for it. The only way to deal with it is to cooperate with Universal to develop the world and expand the world view as much as possible. The game, movie and series will be fully covered to make the audience love "The Walking Dead".

world view.

After all, studio shooting and post-production visual effects assistance are the mainstream nowadays, and even TV series and on-site location shooting are becoming less and less popular.

Even if it is introduced, it will not be broadcast on a major TV network. At most, it will be broadcast on a small cable TV station with Asians and Latinos as the main viewers.

Chen Jingxing agreed with Wang Peng's view. Although DreamWorks and Netflix have signed a share exchange agreement, DreamWorks only holds 3.1% of Netflix's shares.

It can be called the most conscientious producer in the world.

Although Iceland has a tax reduction and subsidy policy, the manpower, material resources, and energy required to do so make the so-called tax reduction subsidy only less effective than nothing.

Generally speaking, the cost of real-life shooting is lower than that of CGI special effects. Of course, this refers to high-level CGI.

This is also what Chen Jingxing values ​​most.

Unless DreamWorks expands the number of episodes of its own TV series to 40 to 50 episodes or more, and adds a lot of love scenes.

DreamWorks' movies and TV series have always performed well on the Netflix platform, especially in attracting Asian users. Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia are all buying it.

In contrast, Netflix is ​​DreamWorks' third-largest institutional shareholder.

This was obtained by paying a large amount of equity, and of course it is closely related to Netflix's optimism about DreamWorks' creative capabilities.

Chen Jingxing was stunned for a moment. Although he was a little depressed, he was still puzzled: "They can just take pictures if they want to? Are they here to ask for our opinions or to appease us?"

To put it bluntly, the production team provides project ideas and if they can convince Netflix, Netflix will invest money. Of course, the copyright of the produced work belongs to Netflix.

Wang Peng immediately said: "I heard what she meant. The zombie drama should be just a cover. The core is to hope that we produce more dramas and allow Netflix's funds to join in and jointly develop projects."

Wang Peng nodded: "On the one hand, I want to ask for opinions in advance. After all, we have been cooperating for so many years. Of course, I expressed my dissatisfaction in person, but it's hard to say whether Netflix cares."

A good worldview construction is an IP moat.

But it depends on how it is actually shot.

To be honest, the cost of such live shooting is definitely greater than CGI special effects.

"The Walking Dead" is currently Netflix's most successful series. According to Netflix's own statistics, the two seasons of "The Walking Dead" have increased Netflix's global user base by 4.38 million, and may even bring new revenue to Netflix in the future.

is valued at more than $891 million.

Therefore, domestic video platforms cannot afford large sums of money to buy copyrights.

"Boss, are you addicted to filming in Europe?"

"It's not necessary. These are all sequels. How do you get the copyright? If you want, just start a new project."

"What about the other side?"

And Netflix is ​​reluctant to part with DreamWorks’ content creation capabilities.

In the past, dramas that could only be popular in East Asia could be successfully spread to Europe and the United States with the help of the Netflix platform.

Especially because of race, it is more popular among Asian members.

Even if he objects, Netflix may not care.

Even leaving aside "The Walking Dead", other titles such as "The Signal", the "Person of Interest" series, and the "Black Mirror" series are among the best among non-English works on the Netflix platform.

Asia has a population of 4.164 billion, accounting for 55% of the global population. It is undoubtedly an important place for Netflix to expand overseas markets.

Moreover, Chen Jingxing's next IP "Once Upon a Time on Earth" will also need to be promoted by the Netflix platform. In the long run, it will be necessary to share the cake with Netflix.

...Ha, I understand, Netflix wants to invest?”

The cost of renting a large crane ship to shoot at sea is terrifying, and shooting in the wilderness of Iceland is even more exaggerated.

Hollywood films and television, especially English-language works, are indeed on the high ground of global pop culture. However, due to racial and cultural reasons, the growth of Asian users must rely on local Asian films and television.

Coupled with the rapid expansion of other streaming media such as Apple TV+ and Disney+ in the streaming media war, expanding the Asian market has become an important layout for Netflix in the future streaming media war.

I just didn’t expect Netflix to stab me in the back so soon.

It's just that Netflix does have a lot of money, and countless production teams flock to Japan, South Korea, Tianzhu and other countries as soon as they ask for it, but DreamWorks is not short of money.

DreamWorks Vice President Wang Peng couldn't help but feel helpless when he saw Chen Jingxing excitedly observing and even stroking the spacecraft as if he were seeing a big toy.

However, as the boss of DreamWorks, unless the project production budget really reaches the sky-high price of more than one billion, no one from top to bottom will say no.

"The Matrix" is a movie that was mostly shot in a studio.

Actors such as Chen Kun and Yuan Pan will also film there.

Chen Jingxing is busy preparing for "Interstellar" and cannot spare any time. President Xu Wenshen is now mainly focusing on the construction of the digital film and television and animation production base of DreamWorks in the Magic City, as well as DreamWorks' investment in other fields.

Netflix's subscriber growth in the United States has slowed significantly and is approaching a ceiling.

DreamWorks, whose creative capabilities are enviable, cannot be kicked out at the moment, but it must get a piece of the pie no matter what.

Wang Peng is also an old producer of DreamWorks. He is the producer of many of Chen Jingxing's films. Now the president Xu Wenshen is mainly responsible for external affairs, and Wang Peng is the gatekeeper of content.

In fact, the budget of "Interstellar" has indeed soared from the original 480 million to 630 million. Let DreamWorks use its own special effects team to re-produce "Gravity" without much higher prices.

This is a very subtle feeling.

The second is Netflix’s platform, or its ability to communicate across countries and cultures.

Netflix is ​​indeed a relatively high-quality partner.

Wang Peng looked a little weird: "On the other hand, Jin Minying revealed that she wanted to jointly develop a series with DreamWorks."

In addition to the fact that Netflix does have money, firstly, Netflix does not interfere in creation. Many screenwriters have given Netflix high praise: "Network does not give opinions, only gives money."

DreamWorks' dramas are usually short dramas with less than 20 episodes. They are neither idol dramas nor emotional dramas, and the ceiling of the number of hits is lower than that of popular ancient puppets or urban emotional dramas.

Therefore, the task of receiving Netflix Asia Pacific Director Jin Minying fell to Wang Peng, the vice president currently responsible for content production.

"Anyway, Netflix only contributes money and does not interfere in the production, so that's fine." Chen Jingxing said thoughtfully: "But the IP of "The Walking Dead" must not be given away. Netflix cannot be included in the third season because Universal will take the cake.

I’m already in a lot of pain.”

Then we will continue to move to Iceland to join Lei Jiayin for the filming of the Glacier Planet scene.

If capital is content, it is no longer capital.

An obvious fact is that with the rise of multinational streaming media giants like Netflix, non-English film and television works are becoming more and more convenient to disseminate internationally, especially in Europe and the United States, and they frequently become hits.

Especially taking a spaceship model to shoot in the Mediterranean Sea and in the wilderness of Iceland really made Wang Peng a little puzzled.

Moreover, some man-made shooting scenes must be built in the wasteland, a considerable amount of money must be paid to Iceland for "ecological restoration", and the entire process must be supervised by Icelandic government staff. Every step of the filming must be done under the supervision of the Icelandic government.

Register and get permission.

Of course, Chen Jingxing himself really likes real-life photography, but it’s not that he has any belief or inexplicable persistence in real-life photography.

In the past, TV dramas had to first achieve high enough ratings or topic popularity in the local area, and then TV stations in other countries would consider buying them out, and they were mainly imported from neighboring countries with the same culture and race. Other regions such as Europe and the United States were very popular.

Reduce the introduction of non-English dramas.

The shooting plan for Interstellar was led by Chen Jingxing, and the basic principle was to shoot it as realistically as possible.

Otherwise, Netflix doesn’t have the only option of DreamWorks. Isn’t even the director of the Asia-Pacific region Korean?

Instead of letting Netflix give promotion resources to South Korea, Japan or even Tianzhu, it is better to strengthen Netflix's dependence on DreamWorks - although gold always shines, Netflix's recommendation mechanism has a decisive effect on whether a drama can quickly reach billions

It still plays an important role in front of users.

How is it that a dignified global streaming media giant only serves as an overseas broadcast platform for DreamWorks?

"Joint development?" Chen Jingxing wondered: "What is joint development? Netflix has its own production team?

Netflix has long launched a strategy of producing its own dramas. Of course, the so-called self-production does not mean that Netflix recruits its own production team for filming, but rather pays for local production teams.

Wang Peng also felt the same: "It's true that the IP copyright value of "The Walking Dead" is too high. Anyway, from the sound of the music, I feel that making a zombie drama is just a cover for Netflix to ask for money. Otherwise, "Person of Interest III" will be filmed soon.

Already? Bring Netflix in?"

Netflix's preparation of its own zombie drama is a subtle hint of threat. The essence is that it hopes to jointly produce a series with DreamWorks.

DreamWorks only has HK$120 billion so far. Although it has billions of liquidity, the unit is RMB.

Previously, DreamWorks' partners in movies were usually China Film, Universal or domestic online video platforms.

"The Walking Dead" has enabled DreamWorks and Universal to launch movie projects and develop globally popular games, all of which rely on the blessing of the Netflix platform.

Therefore, not long after Chen Jingxing summoned the leading actors to assemble, some spaceship models and special effects props were already completed.

Who is short of money? Netflix is ​​not short of money, let alone production capabilities. Hollywood's film and television industry is ready-made. Netflix has even started making movies. How can it spend money to create a TV series production team?

After Chen Jingxing thought about it seriously, he was not angry. Instead, he nodded and said, "Co-production is not impossible. Netflix does have this value."

The dramas you produce can be directly pushed to millions of users in different languages ​​and countries around the world through Netflix's recommendation mechanism. This is something that was never thought of before.

In the future, the main revenue from DreamWorks TV series will indeed depend more on Netflix and overseas.

This is also the reason why many directors prefer real shooting to special effects and virtual shooting. However, except for a very small number of famous directors with box office appeal, most directors do not have such arbitrary capital.

Is this a threat?

Chen Jingxing immediately realized what Netflix was thinking.

But there is no doubt that this is too attractive to creators. If Chen Jingxing didn't have DreamWorks, he would also want a party like Netflix.

That’s why Netflix spends a lot of money on the film and television industry in Japan, South Korea and even Tianzhu. After all, the Chinese market cannot enter, and DreamWorks does not need it to spend money.

Outsiders usually have to pay tuition when investing in film and television in Hollywood. Netflix is ​​not a foreign capital, and it is a streaming media giant, so it generally will not be cheated.

In an office separated from the greenhouse, Chen Jingxing asked Wang Peng in surprise: "What is Netflix going to do?"

"Inception" was filmed in Europe for a long time. Wang Peng could only guess that the boss was addicted to filming in Europe and was able to combine work and travel.

In previous lives, including this dimension, Netflix's money-splitting has indeed attracted film and television workers from South Korea, Japan, and even other countries.

Netflix is ​​a global streaming media giant with a market value of more than 100 billion U.S. dollars and billions of liquidity.

However, Netflix's most successful series is not a Netflix work. The copyright does not belong to Netflix, and every penny earned must be shared with DreamWorks.

DreamWorks is the only company in the world that has signed a revenue sharing agreement with Netflix.

Wang Peng said: "Netflix wants to make a zombie drama."

TV series are usually solely owned.

In addition to green screen shooting in Studio 1, this huge Ranger spacecraft will be dismantled into parts, transported to the port of Monaco by ship, and then reassembled for filming in the Mediterranean Sea on a crane ship.

DreamWorks can produce projects that it is optimistic about, and no one needs to act as a sponsor.

It will take more effort and time to transport the Lander spacecraft model to the wilderness of Iceland, even though the Lander spacecraft model is much smaller than the Ranger in front of us.

Just like the wizarding world of "Harry Potter", magic themes can naturally follow the trend, but the wizarding world of "Harry Potter" gives the audience a first impression, and it has a very lasting charm. You can create another magical world by yourself, and the audience will

Not necessarily buying it.

Although there are still very few globally popular non-English works on the Netflix platform, this has also reduced the difficulty of cross-cultural and cross-language dissemination of non-English drama series by 90%.

Of course, this has also led to many creators letting themselves go, even trashing them and creating a lot of garbage.

Chen Jingxing waved his hand: "Don't they want to make zombie dramas to keep up with this zombie trend and make money? Then make zombie dramas!"

Wang Peng is a little worried: "I'm afraid that if we make a zombie drama, even if the world view is different, it will weaken the IP value of "The Walking Dead"."

"Then make different types of zombie dramas. "The Walking Dead" is a zombie IP with a modern world view. In the final analysis, it is a world view based on wasteland and technology. If you want to differentiate it from "The Walking Dead"... then make a costume drama"

Zombie drama.”

"...costume...zombie?"

(End of chapter)