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Kevin Tsujihara is very interested in the "Hobbit" trilogy because he was previously the president of Warner's home entertainment business. He is very concerned about the long-term and sustainable benefits of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy in the home entertainment business. So touching.

Now, MGM has money.

If MGM and Warner cooperate to produce the "Hobbit" series, they will not need to convert the distribution rights into dividend rights, but can firmly hold the distribution rights and enjoy the distribution income.

In other words, Warner is responsible for production and MGM is responsible for distribution.

As the president of the home entertainment business unit of Ziweixing Universal, Kevin Tsujihara will control the distribution rights of the home entertainment business of the "Hobbit" series.

As Boss Zhou said, if you have the power, are you still afraid that you won’t be able to make money?

There is a very common business model in the United States that skirts the edge of monopoly, which is bundled sales.

For example, Disney's ESPN channel is very popular, so Disney has bundled some of its less popular cable TV stations with ESPN. If TV users want to subscribe to ESPN, they must subscribe to a bunch of messy TV stations at the same time.

For example, Microsoft sells Windows systems and has also forced bundled sales of its office suites. It has been investigated by the European Union on antitrust grounds several times.

So does Hollywood.

The "Lord of the Rings" series is so famous that it is well-known all over the world and can be welcomed by movie fans all over the world regardless of cultural differences. It is conceivable that the "Hobbit" trilogy, which is the prequel to the series, will also have such an effect.

In the past, when he was at Warner, the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy could bring in $120 million in annual revenue to the home entertainment business. However, is this the only value of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy?

If this were the case, Kevin Tsujihara would not be so obsessed with and reluctant to let go after leaving Warner Bros.

Because there is a bundle sale!

For example, if a DVD distributor wants to distribute "The Lord of the Rings" as an agent, it will have to bundle and release 5-8 DVDs of less popular movies. In other words, a hit and phenomenal movie can drive the sales of many surrounding mid- to low-end movie DVDs.

The sales of DVDs are like this, and so are the broadcast rights of TV stations.

For example, HBO wants to buy the rights to "The Lord of the Rings" and broadcast it on TV stations? Yes, please tie it up! When purchasing "The Lord of the Rings", you also need to purchase the TV broadcast rights for several other movies in the designated package.

The ability to bundle sales is the greatest expression of the value of masterpiece movies such as "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit".

Not only can you make money yourself, but you can also help other movies in the library make money.

Kevin Tsujihara is now the senior vice president and president of the home entertainment division of MSI Global. He wants to integrate the home entertainment business of multiple subsidiaries into one large department.

The more film sources there are, the lower the marginal cost and the higher the marginal benefit.

The centralized organizational structure is conducive to the centralization of power of the group, unified deployment, and reduction of expenses. It is also an organizational method that integrates power into one body.

The first thing Kevin Tsujihara wants to do after taking office is to promote the project and production of the "Hobbit" series of movies, and then by releasing this trilogy of movies, some of the relatively good quality but peripheral products of Ziweixing Universal Bundle up and sell poorly-executed movies to fight a good fight! Prove your ability!

Bundling does not necessarily harm consumer interests.

There are many movies that are actually well-produced, but may not be well-known and favored by consumers because of poor marketing and publicity.

At this time, it can be sold to consumers half-fooled and half-forced by bundling it with phenomenal movies. After consumers buy the DVD, they find that the movie is really good and they don't feel too resentful.

Over the past few years, Warner's home entertainment business has always been the number one in Hollywood, relying on the bundling strategy played by Kevin Tsujihara.

This has created a way out for Warner's movies. Even if they do not do well in the promotion stage and fail in the box office market, with the bundling strategy of the home entertainment business, even if the promotion is not in place, even if the popularity is not high, it doesn't matter! It can still be sold! It can also be recognized by movie fans!

This process requires strong professionalism.

It cannot be blindly tied to movie fans.

If "The Lord of the Rings" was bundled with a bunch of bad movies, it would be reviled by movie fans. If you want to bundle it, you should bundle movies that are not well-known but have good quality.

This requires professional film appreciation skills.

In the past few years, Hollywood has been learning from Warner Bros., but none of them are at the level of Kevin Tsujihara. Now, he wants to replicate this model at Ziweixing Global.

Kevin Tsujihara was full of confidence and talked eloquently, explaining clearly the importance of this entire business model and the "Hobbit" series of projects.

Zhou Buqi poured cold water on it, "It's wonderful, but it's a bit out of touch with the times."

"What?"

Kevin Tsujihara was stunned for a moment and was very unconvinced.

This is the business model of Hollywood’s most successful home entertainment business!

Zhou Buqi said: "The core of bundling sales is to screen out those rare gems in the market and recommend them to consumers. Don't bundle famous movies, as it will reduce their own value; don't bundle bad movies, as it will cause resentment among movie fans. ."

"right."

"How easy it is! This is the Internet age!"

"There is still a distance between the Internet and Hollywood."

Kevin Tsujihara smiled and had a different perspective.

Zhou Buqi said: "How popular are the current movie rating websites? There are IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes. These are the most intuitive presentations of film reputation and can best reflect the preferences of movie fans. This mechanism can be used to assist Source screening for bundled sales.”

Kevin Tsujihara nodded, "Indeed, we did refer to movie rating websites in the past few years. However, there is another phenomenon here. Bundling for the B-side is mandatory, but bundling for the C-side is not mandatory and is a preferential package. Young People don’t like bundling, and middle-aged and elderly movie fans prefer bundling because of the affordable price. The users of rating websites are young people, and middle-aged and old people usually don’t go online.”

Zhou Buqi was quite satisfied. These words reflected the level of this person. He smiled and said: "So, the current model is getting old, and the younger generation who don't like to be tied up are gradually getting older."

Kevin Tsujihara argued: "That's not the case. Today's middle-aged and elderly people did not like bondage when they were young twenty or thirty years ago. They advocated rock and roll and pursued freedom. As they get older, they begin to enjoy the benefits of bondage. Benefits. This is human nature. Young people’s compromise with bondage is a life negotiation between youth and reality.”

Zhou Buqi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and he even got philosophical. He said: "You are right, but there is one difference. Now is the era of the Internet. For today's middle-aged and elderly movie fans, the viewing mode they accept has not changed. Twenty or thirty years ago, we watched video tapes, ten years ago we watched VCDs and DVDs, and now we watch Blu-ray high-definition DVDs. But today’s young people are different. They grew up with the Internet.”

"Will the Internet change the compromise between life and reality?" Kevin Tsujihara shook his head, "I don't think so. Human beings always repeat it generation after generation."

This is a typical Hollywood executive.

I know a lot about the Internet, but I have a wary, indifferent, and disapproving attitude.

From silent films to sound films, from black and white films to color films, from 2D to 3D, from video tapes to VCD, DVD, Blu-ray high-definition... technology has been advancing.

So what?

The Hollywood model has not fundamentally changed in a hundred years.

In their view, the value of the Internet to Hollywood is no different from that of radio, television, newspapers, magazines, and DVDs. It is nothing more than a new auxiliary media platform.

Zhou Buqi knew that he would not be able to convince him in the short term, so he simply explained some basic theories, "The Internet can have more in-depth data analysis, and even OTT. For example, the bundling model you mentioned, you are right, this business model has something to do with human nature. Related will never disappear. But the Internet can keep improving. By analyzing the preferences of movie fans, we can accurately judge their movie-watching tendencies, and then bundle movies that are more in line with their appetites. This can reduce the negative impact of bundling and improve the quality of movies. user experience."

"Likeability analysis?" Kevin Tsujihara didn't quite understand. "Aren't the ratings on rating websites a reflection of likeability?"

Zhou Buqi smiled and said: "Rating websites reflect collective preferences, but the Internet can be accurate to everyone. Thousands of people have thousands of faces, and provide different bundled packages for different people."

Kevin Tsujihara's expression changed slightly, "How is this possible?"

Zhou Buqi said: "Internet data analysis is like the advertising effect of Google search. How effective is it?"

"It's different, Hollywood is Hollywood."

Kevin Tsujihara shook his head.

Zhou Buqi felt that this man was a bit stubborn, so he didn't talk to him further.

The person Son found was not up to par.

Even if he is the first person in the home entertainment business in Hollywood, so what?

If you have too deep stereotypes about the Internet and are unwilling to accept new ideas, your future development will be very limited. Regardless of whether you are Sun Zhengyi's direct descendant, in a few years, you may have to kill the donkey.

The existence of such conservative executives cannot be allowed to undermine Ziweixing Global’s Internet strategic tendency.

However, he is still very effective in the short term.

Zhou Buqi wanted to appease him and said with a smile: "Anyway, after listening to your analysis, I think there is really a need to film the "Hobbit" series of movies. With the distribution rights, we can bundle a batch of inventory for peripheral sales. ."

Kevin Tsujihara was very happy, "Yes! This is very important! Purple Star Universal has just been formed and needs a movie series that will shock the world, and "The Hobbit" is great."

Zhou Buqi frowned, "But the production rights are not in our hands!"

"We can cooperate with Warner."

"I think Marvel's movies are better. "Iron Man 2" and "Thor" are both in production."

"These can't compare to The Hobbit."

"What about Jurassic Park?"

"Well……"

Kevin Tsujihara was speechless.

Zhou Buqi said: "I have already told Universal Pictures that we will continue the "Jurassic Park" series. This is great. We have both production and distribution rights."

"Where's The Hobbit?"

"I acquired MGM for one purpose. I want to take back what belongs to me!"