Back To 1995

   Chapter 257 Divide the cake

   "The independent film frenzy is coming, and the Internet upstart is coming to Hollywood!"

   "The Matrix trilogy, Bruno Song invests $240 million in sci-fi epic blockbusters!"

   "Hollywood annual blockbuster, many Hollywood superstars announced their intention to appear in "The Matrix"!"

   "The Wachowski brothers will use the Matrix to change the movie era!"

   "A rotten film of suspicion?

  Some Hollywood film media people questioned whether Bruno Song invested in The Matrix and whether he was hyping it up. According to data, the success rate of science fiction films in the past ten years was only 7.8%. "

  When Song Yang's America Global Investment Foundation announced that it would spend 240 million US dollars to shoot the "Matrix" trilogy, the entire Hollywood was completely blown up.

There were people who wanted to get a piece of the pie. Several major movies came to Song Yang one after another. They wanted to "co-produce" the movie. In fact, the movie was handed over to them for production, distribution, and so on. Stars and actors from all walks of life also flocked to it. It is also rare to see a big production of more than 200 million US dollars in Hollywood.

You know, the US knife in the 1990s has not yet started the era of big water release, and its purchasing power is quite strong. Think about the "Titanic", the cost has skyrocketed from US $80 million to US $200 million, and almost let Fox directly Bankruptcy, one can imagine how much investment in a movie in this era is.

Of course, as soon as the news came out, all the Hollywood horses and horses were dispatched in unison, and some touted it as a victory in the era of "independent film". With the entry of Song Yang, it marked another top independent film company after DreamWorks. Appear!

However, as soon as it came up, I took out more than 200 million US dollars to invest. This is impossible for several major Hollywood movie giants. I can't think of what this has to do with "independent movies", "The Matrix" Definitely a mega-production movie.

   There are still doubts, whether Song Yang is hyping this, because this movie, invested by Internet upstarts and under the banner of promoting "Internet culture", came out, and the entire Nasdaq "Internet concept stocks" almost collectively rose.

What the **** do you know, Song Yang is just setting up a flag, and some people really take it seriously. From old-fashioned technology companies such as Microsoft and SUN to Internet companies such as Netscape, Yahoo, and AOL, their stock prices have soared. Even after listing, The double-click company, which has been half-dead, has soared to 9 dollars on the same day, and the group of people who shorted the double-click company lost a lot on the day!

This is not surprising. Some media speculate whether Song Yang is a hype. A film with "Internet culture" can collectively skyrocket on the Nasdaq. Any reason is the rhythm of the skyrocketing Internet.

   Announcement to invest in "The Matrix" marks the beginning of Song Yang's full-scale entry into Hollywood, and the America Global Investment Foundation announced the establishment of America Western Pictures.

In name, Western Pictures has also become another Hollywood independent film company after New Line Cinema, DreamWorks, Miramax, and Pinnacle, but this rookie is a bit fierce, and he didn’t play that slow call Wang Guang’s accumulation of grain and high-rise buildings. The wall set.

Western Pictures, like DreamWorks, is the only company in Hollywood that makes big moves as soon as it is established. Unlike several other independent film companies, they all start with small-budget films, win a few awards first, and then develop slowly. Instead, open the dragon directly.

  The newly established Western Pictures is nominally established by the Americas Global Investment Foundation. Song Yang is the largest shareholder of Western Pictures, and America Telecom is also one of the investors of Western Pictures.

A small building with less than ten floors in Los Angeles has become the office building of Western Pictures. Compared with Paramount, Disney, etc., Western Pictures is naturally weak. It does not have its own shooting workshop or publicity channels. There was an office building that was bought for $12 million, and the two directors Wachowski signed, and everything was under construction.

   However, Song Yang was not idle here. After establishing the Western Film Industry, he quickly cut through the mess and made several acquisitions in a row.

The first acquisition was IMDb, an Internet movie database company established six years ago. The name is quite simple and rude. It is to record movies on the IMDb website. The original purpose is to be the founder of IMDb. Comey Needham wants to save and share his "Personal Movie Collection List" on the Internet with the movies he has watched since childhood.

Afterwards, I attracted a group of like-minded people and jointly established the IMDb website. At that time, it was still the desert of the Internet, Netscape had not yet appeared, and people on the Internet were still playing in the mud, let alone supporting themselves. A group of people who operate IMDb , and have to pay the website.

However, in the past few years, IMDb has accumulated a large number of users, and the traffic has become larger and larger. In the ranking of website traffic statistics in the latest issue, IMDb is unexpectedly exclusive to the 48th place. It can be said that the traffic has already Quite a lot, at least people who like movies have begun to gather more and more on this website.

   The original small workshop model has become difficult to maintain more and more traffic, and it is impossible to rely on operating personnel or unstable donations for expenses.

  At the beginning of this year, Comey Needham finally announced the commercialization of IMDb. He and the previous co-operators of IMDb became IMDb shareholders together, and Comey Needham became the founder and president of IMDb!

  Song Yang threw an olive branch to IMDb, Comey Needham and the management of IMDb, without thinking too much, flew from England to Los Angeles.

It's not that there are no other companies that asked IMDb for a price and wanted to acquire IMDb, but they were all rejected by Comey Needham and the original shareholders. On the one hand, the price was too low. The database is inextricably linked with Hollywood, after all, it is impossible to bypass Hollywood.

But now, the emergence of Song Yang has solved this problem perfectly. First of all, it is not difficult for Song Yang to have a lot of money to support an IMDb. Looking at the entire Internet industry, if he can compare with Song Yang, then Microsoft and Netscape , Yahoo and several Internet companies, but they are not interested in IMDb.

   In addition, Song Yang has also entered Hollywood, which is even more important for IMDb, which means that Song Yang has entered the circle of Hollywood. After acquiring IMDb, IMDb will not be separated from the film industry!

In addition to making an offer to IMDb, Song Yang also established and acquired a number of Internet domain names one after another. Domain names such as "America Online Film and Television", "America TV", and "Internet Online Video" were all acquired by Western Pictures. , which are used to prepare for the online video business.

  Although there are still online videos, the eight characters have not been written yet, but Song Yang has to start preparing in advance, and let’s take up the pit first!

   When he came to the office building of Western Films, before entering the door, Song Yang heard the quarrel inside.

In the conference room of Western Pictures, the Wachowski brothers, ILM special effects, Weta special effects, as well as Elias, Sofia Coppola, who represent Hollywood Italians, are all present. At the end of the conference room There were also Harvey, David Geffen and the heads of the distribution departments of several Hollywood companies.

  Larry Wachowski and Andy Wachowski in the conference room, looking at the scene of the quarrel, felt their heads were a little big.

Today is the time to set up the "Matrix" crew. Naturally, it is necessary to determine the director, producer, finance, publicity, distribution and other departments. From the beginning of a movie, it must continue to promote and maintain its popularity, determine the distribution company, etc., it is impossible to wait until After shooting and then processing, the day lily is afraid that it will be cold.

   But for these, all the people present couldn't hold it, and the investment of more than 200 million US dollars, several major film companies, all wanted to share a piece of the pie.

  The Wachowski brothers, whose heads were so big, were relieved when they saw Song Yang coming in, and hurriedly stood up.

  Song Yang looked around at the conference room, and then looked at Wachowski and the two, "How is the crew preparing?!"

  Larry Wachowski said, "At present, the filming locations have been selected, in America and New Zealand, respectively. The Matrix has film special effects, which are completed by Industrial Light and Magic and Weta Special Effects Studio."

The special effects have been determined long ago. Except for Industrial Light and Magic, no other special effects company can complete it. Weta special effects were invested by Song Yang, and now belong to the special effects studio of Western Pictures. Outsider Tian, ​​Weta special effects must be used.

Today, on behalf of ILM, technical director Dennis Murren is here. Dennis Murren understands that letting Weta special effects and ILM jointly take charge of the special effects work of The Matrix is ​​basically to let Weta special effects learn ILM. Magic technology and experience.

But for this, Dennis Mullen is not afraid at all. The accumulation of technology for more than 20 years can not be learned by Weta special effects in one or two movies. At least within a few years, Weta special effects can only be given to Industrial Light and Magic. Be a little brother.

   "ILM can guarantee to complete the special effects part of The Matrix on schedule!"

   This time, for Industrial Light & Magic, it is another opportunity to show their strength, and there are huge profits.

After    Industrial Light & Magic, Richard Taylor said on behalf of Weta Special Effects, "Weta Special Effects is responsible for some of the special effects work, and the scene layout, props, costume design, etc. are all completed by Weta Special Effects!"

Weta special effects are for ILM this time, but even so, it is a rare opportunity for Weta special effects to cooperate with the top special effects companies in the industry. Not all special effects companies are so lucky. As soon as it is acquired, there will be more than 200 million US dollars in film projects, and let them practice with Industrial Light and Magic!

   After talking about special effects, the Wachowski brothers had some headaches. Now Western Pictures is an empty shelf and has no own team at all. They can only use other film companies to shoot production teams, which requires a choice.

   "We invited several directors to join the crew to serve as assistant directors and supervisors," Larry Wachowski looked at Song Yang, "Peter Jackson, Sofia Coppola and..."

   (end of this chapter)