Hollywood Road

In a reception room of the Death Star Building, Reed Hastings sat on the sofa, chatting enthusiastically with CAA agent Bill Rossis across the way, while waiting for the director to appear.

Five minutes before the time agreed upon by the two parties, the door of the reception room was opened from the outside, and a tall young man in formal attire walked in. Of course Reed Hastings recognized this face and stood up immediately. When he got up, the young man obviously recognized him, he accelerated his steps, and showed a polite smile on his face.

Since he was asking for help, Reed Hastings hurried forward a few steps and stretched out his right hand, "Hi, Murphy, we meet again."

"Hello, Reed."

Murphy shook his hand firmly, and the two parties had touched each other before.

Bill Rosses came over at this moment, "Sit down and talk."

The three of them sat on the adjacent sofa, and Reed-Hastings was the first to say with a smile, "I heard that Murphy's new film has finished post-production, and the online rental copyright must be given to Netflix. I'll book it first." what."

"We have been working together very happily." Murphy also laughed, "But the copyright of this film is not in Stanton Studios, you need to talk to 20th Century Fox."

Reed Hastings knows the value of this great Hollywood director, and said, "We can continue to extend the copyright agreement between Netflix and Stanton Studios."

Several of the films for which Stanton Studios holds the rights, such as "Gone Girl," are hits on the online rental market.

"That's no problem." Murphy adjusted to a more comfortable sitting position, "I'll let the person in charge of Stanton's studio contact you."

Watching Murphy talking and laughing with Reed Hastings, Bill Rossis kept silent most of the time, and only spoke a few words when Murphy needed it.

He had already handed over Reed Hastings' information to Murphy, and with Murphy's character, he would not ignore him.

As early as a few years ago, Reed Hastings had contacted Murphy, but Netflix was still immature in content production at that time, so Murphy delayed their cooperation request and thus won The right to adapt that political novel came.

Sometimes things always develop according to a certain track. In August of this year, people from Netflix contacted Bill Rossis again. They not only wanted to continue to cooperate with Murphy, but also took a fancy to the right to adapt the political novel , I want to make this novel into a series to open up the road of content production.

Murphy is very clear that Netflix is ​​a very ambitious company, and has also accumulated considerable strength.

Especially Reed Hastings who is sitting next to him, although he is very enthusiastic now, it is just that he asked Stanton Studio, in fact, he is a very remarkable person.

In November last year, the US "Fortune" magazine selected the "Business Person of the Year" in 2010. Reed Hastings won the title for successfully promoting Li's transformation from an online DVD rental business to an online film and television service provider.

In April of this year, the US "Time" magazine named the top 100 most influential people in the world in 2011 on Thursday, and Reed Hastings ranked third.

In addition to founding Netflix and serving as co-chairman and CEO of the company, Reed Hastings sits on Microsoft's board.

No matter how you look at it, this is definitely a successful person. Murphy is very aware of this, and will not underestimate Netflix just because Reed Hastings wants something from himself.

Moreover, Netflix is ​​considered a company that has the potential to revolutionize the Hollywood distribution industry.

Even, in the eyes of many people, Netflix's model is the future of the film and television industry.

On the Internet in North America, there is a saying about Netflix that is widely circulated. A long time ago, there was a company called Blokbuster, which dominated the disc rental industry for many years.

Someone named Reed Hastings rented a disc there, and was hacked for a "big" overdue fee for returning it overdue,

Then he went to the gym angrily, and found that the business model of the gym is very beautiful. No matter how many you go or how little you go, the membership fee can't be less than half a dime.

Unfortunately, Reed Hastings is a software engineer who wants to change the world at every turn, and he will do it when the idea comes. What's more unfortunate is that he had a start-up fund at the time, so he founded Nai in anger. Fei is also in the business of renting discs, with no overdue fees and a membership system.

Thirteen years later, Netflix took Blokbuster to bankruptcy protection, and Reed Hastings got revenge.

Of course, it cannot be said that Blokbuster's fate is declining. In fact, he represents the past lost to the future, and li is obviously a kind of future.

"Murphy, I heard Bill mention it just now," Reed Hastings looked at Bill Rossis, and continued to say to Murphy, "You intend to adapt Michael Dobbs' novel into a TV series, and continue to Partner with the Fox cable network."

"I have this idea." Murphy nodded.

This kind of news was naturally released by Bill Rossis on purpose, but it can be very bluffing, after all, his "Game of Thrones" cooperation with Fox Network has achieved great success.

"Why not choose Netflix?" Reed-Hastings said confidently, "Netflix has many advantages that traditional TV stations do not have."

Of course Murphy knew this, but he still said, "From sales to leasing, I'm a little worried about Netflix's promotion and distribution model that Reid proposed. The current Internet bandwidth..."

Compared with the film industry, which has been deeply studied, his understanding of the North American Internet, especially the technical aspects, can only be said to be at the superficial stage. If he only judges by the news he saw on the Internet on the other side of the ocean, There must be something wrong with his head. Whether it is investment or development in this industry, it is not possible to just read some miscellaneous news from the Internet without even having a deep understanding, and you can turn your hands into clouds and rain.

Reed-Hastings roughly understood Murphy's doubts, and said, "It took Netflix's technical team four years to solve all this. We have a special coding program that can be tailored according to the characteristics of each resource. , refined processing, each film will get a different algorithm. This technology can save users 20% of the bandwidth while improving the quality of the picture and solving the beautiful paradox. Netflix engineers are willing to do How detailed? They think that even if it’s the same episode, each episode is different, and each episode should have its own code.”

The technical aspect is indeed what Murphy is most worried about, and it is also an important reason for delaying Netflix's invitation last time. If the audience experience is not good, no matter how good a movie or series is, it is impossible to sell a good price.

This is an out-and-out business cooperation, and Murphy must consider his own profit prospects.

Murphy tapped his middle finger with the index finger of his left hand, and continued to think about the cooperation with Netflix.

He can wait, but Reed Hastings doesn't want to wait, and Netflix's situation doesn't look as rosy as it looks.

So, he said, "Murphy, Netflix is ​​very sincere to cooperate with you on this political drama."

After a brief pause, Reed Hastings made up his mind and said, "I have a suggestion."

"Please." Murphy turned to look at him.

Reed-Hastings no longer hesitated, and said directly, "Stanton Studios and Netflix each contribute 50% of the funds to film and produce this series, which will be promoted and distributed through Netflix channels. Netflix..."

He emphasized his tone, "Netflix and Stanton Studios can each get 50% of the benefits of the first two seasons of the series, and this is before Netflix's channels and promotion fees are removed!"

Hearing this, Bill Rosses immediately looked up at Reed Hastings. Netflix really made a big concession.

Murphy didn't expect Reed Hastings to have such determination. Looking at it this way, Netflix's cooperation is full of sincerity.

Although judging from the proportion of investment, both parties are 50% each, but Netflix is ​​also responsible for promotion and distribution channels, and if the income is divided into half...

"Let's do this..." Murphy thought for a moment, then said cautiously, "Reed, I need some time to think about it."

Reed Hastings nodded, "No problem. But, Murphy, can you give me a specific time?"

Murphy stopped tapping his fingers, "Before December, I will give you a clear answer at the end of this month."

With such generous cooperation conditions, it would be a lie to say that he is not tempted.

"Okay!" Reed Hastings could see that Murphy's intention to cooperate became stronger, stood up and said, "I hope we have the opportunity to cooperate!"

Murphy also stood up and stretched out his hand, "I hope so too."

Reed-Hastings shook his hand and said, "I'm going back to Netflix's headquarters now to prepare for our cooperation."

Hearing what he said, Murphy didn't answer, but said, "I've made a decision and I'll let Bill inform you."

Although the conditions offered by Reed Hastings are generous enough, it is impossible for Murphy to just listen to him and make a hasty decision. Business in this world is always full of intrigues, and all capital is for chasing Born out of interest, he must first understand why Reed Hastings and Netflix are willing to make so many concessions, whether there are some situations he does not understand, and even possible commercial traps.

Murphy is not a five or six-year-old kindergartener, so of course he doesn't make decisions just by patting his head.

Sending Reed Hastings away, Murphy said to Bill Rossis, "Provide me with Netflix's data for the last two years as soon as possible, the more detailed the better."

After Murphy explained to Bill Rossis, he called lawyer Robert, planning to learn more about Netflix's situation through multiple channels.

After all, Netflix is ​​a listed company, and its main business is the online service of film and television works. Murphy got a lot of information at noon the next day.