Top of the big era

The acquisition of streaming media rights has been launched. The project leader is Michael Moore, the president of the film division, the project supervisor is Jason Kilar, the president of the digital division, and the executor is a guy named Andy Hopkins , from the Copyright Management Department of Universal Pictures, with more than 20 years of experience in film and television copyright operations.

The action is not small when it comes up.

Andy must have investigated Big Boss Zhou, and may have wanted to give him a gift. He knew that when Ziweixing Global was established last year, Big Boss wanted to acquire DreamWorks, but later shelved it due to various reasons.

So Andy's first thing was to target DreamWorks!

He wants to buy the streaming rights to DreamWorks’ movies and TV series from the past few years!

To this end, he made a special trip to New York and spent 4 days on business. He quickly cut through the trouble and directly obtained the streaming rights for a total of 59 movies and TV series produced and distributed by DreamWorks from its establishment in 1994 to 2005. These include a series of well-known movies such as "Saving Private Ryan", "How to Get Away with Murder", "Tuxedo" and "Gladiator", including the classic American TV series "Band of Brothers".

The total cost is $540 million!

After Zhou Buqi heard the report, he was very surprised. This price... this price is really low enough! This is not a leased copyright, it is a purchased copyright!

Although DreamWorks led by Spielberg has poor profitability and low operating standards, one thing is recognized by the world, that is, the quality of DreamWorks' film and television works is very high!

Not to mention the films directed by Spielberg himself, every film approved by him is also good. The 2000 Oscar for Best Picture "American Beauty", the 2001 Oscar for Best Picture "Gladiator", the 2002 Oscar for Best Picture The Oscar-winning film "A Beautiful Mind" this year came from DreamWorks.

In the Oscar for Best Picture, DreamWorks has set a record of three consecutive wins.

It’s shocking that such a small amount of money was spent on the copyrights of so many excellent works.

This Andy is very good!

Unexpectedly, the Finance Department sent an email, saying that they suspected Andy Hopkins might have violated regulations in this copyright transaction.

There are three reasons why this is unreasonable.

First, the efficiency is too high. It is almost impossible to complete such a large case in just 4 days.

Second, during the transaction process, he did not provide timely feedback in accordance with the rules and regulations.

Third, the price of US$540 million is too expensive!

The total budget approved by the board of directors is only US$2 billion, and DreamWorks spent US$540 million on these old films. Isn't this nonsense? If you want to buy it, it’s also a new movie!

Even An Sanoff was alarmed and hurried to Zhou Buqi's office to explain the matter.

First of all, let’s make it clear about DreamWorks’ film and television copyright assets.

It is said that in 2005, DreamWorks could no longer survive and sold it to Paramount for US$1.6 billion. However, Paramount is also extremely poor and cannot afford so much money.

Paramount used a capital operation trick and found Soros, a Wall Street capital tycoon, and asked Soros to help provide US$900 million.

For a price of US$900 million, a private equity fund owned by Soros can own almost all the copyrights to all 59 DreamWorks film and television works.

Paramount retained only the rights to produce and sell the film's sequels. At the same time, there is an additional condition, which is that Paramount has the right to buy back the copyright assets after 5 years.

The transaction was reached in December 2004, and the transfer was officially signed in February 2005.

It is now March 2010, and the five-year deadline has expired.

Paramount was still too poor to redeem itself.

Then Soros is welcome, and he can dispose of these copyright assets independently.

This gave Andy Hopkins a chance. He went directly to talk to Soros's assistant, found a few girls, ate, played and slept with him, and the matter was settled in four days.

After Zhou Buqi heard the story behind this, he felt more and more that Andy was a talent. Apart from anything else, the fact that he can show up in person to arrange escort services for Soros's assistant shows that this person has courage, ideas, courage and fighting spirit.

An Sarnoff frowned and said: "I read his summary report, and there are some big data problems."

"I also read the report. Are there any questions?"

"According to Andy, the overall sale price offered by Soros at that time was US$1.65 billion."

"That's reasonable."

Zhou Buqi nodded.

The copyright assets purchased for US$900 million five years ago were sold for US$1.65 billion five years later. Soros's offer was slightly higher, but not too excessive.

However, it is not necessary to buy the entire asset.

There are two main ways to make money from the copyright of this old film. One is to rebroadcast it on TV stations around the world, or pay to watch it on demand in airports, cafes and other places; the other is to sell and rent discs in the DVD market. income.

But times have changed, fewer and fewer people are watching TV, and the DVD market is declining.

There is no need to spend so much money to buy these sunset copyrights.

It is still necessary to seize the last opportunity to buy at the bottom, spend money wisely, and buy as many streaming media rights as possible as quickly as possible. Andy’s operation can be given full marks!

Ann Sarnoff doesn’t think so, “According to the report, Soros divided the copyright assets into three parts, TV rights, DVD rights and streaming media rights. The US$1.65 billion was divided into three parts. So it ended up being sold for $540 million.”

"Well, I saw it."

"This is ridiculous. As far as the current market situation is concerned, the value of streaming media rights is simply not comparable to TV rights and DVD rights. Even streaming media rights are not taken seriously, just like the remake rights and The same applies to marginal rights such as usage rights. But in this deal, streaming rights are placed in a very important position."

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "An appropriate premium is reasonable."

"Huh?" An Sarnoff was stunned for a moment, with a complicated look on his face. He felt as if the big boss was deliberately saying good things for Andy, "This transaction has caused a lot of controversy internally."

Zhou Buqi said: "The more outstanding and accomplished a person is, the greater the controversy will be."

An Sarnoff twitched the corner of his mouth and asked directly: "Big boss, what do you think about it? I seriously suspect that there are irregularities in this transaction."

"It does not matter."

"ah?"

Ann Sarnoff was surprised.

Zhou Buqi glanced at her and said: "It is the group's strategy to acquire as many streaming media rights as possible as soon as possible. Annie, the efficiency of these people in Hollywood is really low. This is the most troublesome management problem for me. If this If the case is handed over to a reliable team, it may not be possible to negotiate it in four months, let alone four days."

Ann Sarnoff said: "There are no tricks, and the cost can be lower."

Zhou Buqi shook his head, "The cost is low, so what?"

"ah?"

Ann Sarnoff was confused and found it difficult to understand.

Boss Zhou, are you pretending to be stupid?

If a clean and stable team handles this case, it will not only be morally irreproachable and will not cause internal disputes, but also reduce the cost of copyright procurement.

Zhou Buqi said sincerely: "Annie, you still haven't deeply understood the strategic significance of streaming media."

"this……"

"Compared with time, money is nothing. Ziweixing Global and Netflix have reached a strategic cooperation, and Netflix has also launched a new strategy of self-made dramas. What does this mean? It means that the era of streaming media may usher in at any time. Come!"

"yes!"

An Sarnoff took a deep breath, and finally understood what Boss Zhou meant.

Once the era of streaming media arrives, everyone will wake up instantly and realize the important value of streaming media copyrights. At that time, let alone buying the copyright at a low price, you won’t even be able to buy it at a high price!

High-quality copyrights are just like office buildings in prime locations. They are only for rent and not for sale.

While everyone has not yet reacted and realized the earth-shaking changes that Internet streaming media will bring to the Hollywood landscape, we must act quickly and acquire it quickly!

If it’s too late, it’s really too late!

Now it's a race against time.

With luck, peers react a little slower, and Ziweixing Global can have more time to hunt for dips and take advantage. If we were unlucky and our peers had reacted earlier, we would not have been able to buy the streaming rights to these high-quality content from DreamWorks for even $1.65 billion, let alone $540 million.

Zhou Buqi said: "In just 4 days, he was able to defeat Soros. I don't care what method he used, as long as the signed contract is legally binding and the streaming rights are obtained, it is a great achievement!" An, you have been working in a large company for the past few years, and the consistent style of large companies is to seek stability. However, seeking stability means mediocrity."

Ann Sarnoff took a deep breath and admitted his mistake, "I didn't understand it deeply enough."

Zhou Buqi nodded, "Such a big deal was completed in four days. I don't believe it if there is no interest in it. Especially Soros, that old man has never been clean. However, there is one thing worth mentioning. Definitely, this Andy Hopkins has a deep understanding of the company's strategic intentions, and he is using some outrageous actions to implement the company's top decisions."

"It's a talent."

Ann Sarnoff was quite ashamed, and then she quickly reflected in her heart. Ziweixing Global has lofty ideals and ambitions and wants to do something extraordinary. Since it is an extraordinary thing, it means that some extraordinary means may be needed.

There is nothing wrong with turning a blind eye to some things as long as they are in the interests of the company.

Zhou Buqi said: "Suppress this matter, further authorize Andy, and let him do it with confidence and boldness. After this task is over, we will make a comprehensive evaluation of this person, whether to promote or expel him, or call the police." Let’s keep it private, we’ll talk about it later.”

Ann Sarnoff was slightly dazed.