Back To 1995

   Chapter 600 Three mouths and one lion

  The New York Daily News, although it is a tabloid, has a large circulation, and it appeared as early as 1919.

   When the New York Daily News made its debut, its selling point was the news on the sidelines, and the scale was a little bigger than that of today's Playboy magazine.

After    was sanctioned, the New York Daily News began to transform, but the tune was basically the same as before. If you don’t do some **** and report some disgusting stuff, you won’t be able to make news.

It's not a serious matter for the "Matrix" movie to have bad news. Which movie doesn't have some negative reports, but the New York Daily News's report this time has revealed a lot of inside the crew, and even some actors The news is obviously a bit unusual, and there are signs of some "insiders" breaking the news.

Ted Sarando took a look at the newspaper and said to Song Yang, "I've already asked people to do an investigation, I've explained to the crew and actors, and let them pay attention to the interviews with the media reporters! "

   As the president of Western Pictures, Ted Sarando did a pretty good job after he took office. He cooperated with ICNC TV to film "The Sopranos", which is now the most important project in Western Pictures' hands.

   Next, Western Pictures and ICNC TV station also cooperated with a number of TV projects, including "Shameless", "The Big Bang Theory", "Grey's Anatomy", "Crime Scene Investigation" and many other TV projects.

   If these TV projects have the explosive ratings of "The Sopranos", they have become the TV dramas with the highest ratings in the prime time among several major public TV stations.

   As long as the ratings are qualified, it is enough to reach the ratings of HBO TV series, then Western Pictures and ICNC TV stations have the confidence to set up paid TV series channels.

   Now to say, which is the most profitable TV channel in America, there will be people guessing, NBC, Fox, ABC or CBS, etc.

But not all of them, but HBO, which is in the hands of Time Warner, which will lay the golden egg. Last year, HBO made more than five billion dollars for Time Warner. Among America's pay TV users, more than 90% of the 35 million subscribers , all belong to HBO!

ICNC TV, if you set up a pay TV channel and can break your wrist with HBO, then ICNC TV is equivalent to having a hen that can lay golden eggs. HBO will make more and more money in the future, which is conceivable Well, ICNC will definitely take a bite of the meat of the pay TV station.

   is not only for ICNC TV station, but also for Western Pictures itself. Western Pictures is going to join hands with its IMDB to launch an online video business. It also needs Western Pictures and a strong TV drama production team!

If you want to cut leeks, you have to give them sweetness and attract leeks into the pit. ICNC TV station and Western Pictures, want to compete with HBO, and Netflix in the future, Western Pictures must at least launch a large number of high ratings TV series, attract tens of millions of users into the pit.

   As for the movie business, it is what Ted Sarando wants most. The release of "The Matrix" this time is also a test for him.

   "The most important thing now is to let "The Matrix" be released on time. There can be no mistakes in the middle, otherwise Western Pictures will lose too much!"

Ted Sarando looked at Song Yang and said, who is disgusting Western Pictures, secretly making small moves, this matter must be investigated, but the most important thing is to let The Matrix release, otherwise several hundred million dollars , may be about to hit the water.

  Song Yang nodded lightly, "Everyone else arrived?!"

Tomorrow is the time to hold the premiere at Lincoln Center. In addition to the Matrix crew, stars and directors from all walks of life will be invited to join DreamWorks, Paramount, Miramax, which is produced and distributed by The Matrix. People from other companies will also participate.

"At Lincoln Center, everything has been arranged, promotion and distribution, and Western Pictures is also talking with Miramax and Paramount. The Matrix will be synchronized in forty-five regions around the world. Show!"

Ted Sarando said that after the movie is released, the promotion will not stop. Several starring actors have to travel all over the states of America and collect the box office of each state. Meeting fans, holding events, etc., is purely based on physical strength, which is much more tiring than filming.

In the same way, there is the record industry. It’s just that the released records can’t be sold. If there is some success, even one city after another is required to run the promotion, hold autograph meetings, press conferences, and publicity for road tours, which is actually the same. .

   "How is the preparation for the online business?" Song Yang asked Ted Sarando.

Hollywood and the media industry are all staring at "The Matrix". Song Yang doesn't care too much. Even after the release of The Matrix, the box office is not very good, and it has little impact on Song Yang. The money invested in "The Matrix" , they were all borrowed from banks, and the box office was lost. At most, it was a bit of a fight with Comerica Bank and Deutsche Bank. Next time Western Pictures will make a movie, it is not easy to cheat money from Wall Street.

What Song Yang really cares about is the online video business of Western Pictures and IMDB. Think about it, if you make one film, even if you make ten "Titanic" films, let Xiao Lizi make this film. Lao Li, even if the box office is dead, he will make more than 10 billion dollars, and the profit is not that much.

  If IMDB is allowed to enter the online video industry, after listing, the market value will reach the height of Netflix, reaching 300 billion US dollars. How much can you earn just by playing and cashing out?

   After cashing out, let’s go short again and turn the market value from $300 billion to less than $80 billion, how much can you earn?

Just relying on that box office, as well as increasing membership fees, how many leeks can be cut in a year, Wall Street is playing with market value, cutting both sides, rising market value to cash out, falling short, the key is that after cutting, the leeks still have bitterness. There is no place to call, you can only blame yourself for your poor technology, otherwise, why would Wall Street work so hard to smash Netflix's market value so high?

Yahoo and Netflix, as well as other giant companies, basically follow the same routine. Wall Street first raised the market value to a height that made the leeks crazy, bought irrationally, and then smashed the stock price back and cut off the leeks. , Wall Street has played this set, and it hasn't changed for decades, but it's not easy to cut it!

   Wall Street can play, why can't Song Yang play, without Wall Street doing it, Song Yang can cut it himself...

"IMDB is currently acquiring film and television copyrights around the world. Currently, it is progressing smoothly in England, France, and Asia. The content of IBDB's copyright library has exceeded 200,000 titles, but in Hollywood, IMDB has not made much progress. The copyrights are all in the hands of the seven major film companies. Except for MGM Pictures, who are willing to sell part of the copyright to Western Pictures and IMDB, the rest of the major film giants are reluctant to release the copyright library to IMDB. !"

  Hollywood is a veteran of film and television copyrights. Many old films from decades ago are in their hands. These films can bring continuous benefits to several major Hollywood film and television giants.

   Video rentals, TV broadcasts, remakes, etc. As long as a film is in the pockets of Disney, Sony Columbia, etc., don’t even think about it coming out again.

Only MGM, in the hands of the Las Vegas gambling king Kecorian, was completely broken and became a tool for the gambling king to cash out. The copyright library was sold out, and Western Pictures and IMDB picked it up. Cheap!

   "Continue to acquire copyrights and talk to MGM Studios. If you agree, IMDB will take over MGM's copyright library!"

MGM's brand is no longer valuable. Kecorian took the name and built a hotel and casino. It has long lost the former Bigger. It's just that the hundred-footed worm is dead and not stiff. If you kill him, then there will be a day when he will rise again, but no one knows when that day will come.

When MGM can't keep up and go bankrupt, at that time, if there is a chance to pick up the leak, it can take down the MGM brand and the lion LOGO, but not now, the copyright library of MGM is more attractive. .

   Hearing that Song Yang wanted to let Western Pictures and IMDB swallow up MGM's copyright library, Ted Sarando knew that Song Yang's determination on Internet video was bigger than he expected.

The skinny camel is bigger than the horse. MGM is in recession, but still has three pounds of iron. IPs such as "The Wizard of Oz", "007", and "Cat and Mouse" are still worth a lot of money. Rian took advantage of it, so he didn't need to think about it at all.

   "I understand that when The Matrix is ​​released, I will talk to MGM about the copyright library!"

Ted Sarando knows that playing with an old fox like Kerkorian can't be rushed. Last year, MGM, which was sold by Kerkorian for $1.45 billion a few years ago, was sold by him for $1.3 billion. If you want to buy MGM back at the same price, Kerkorian definitely wants it. If he makes a lot of money, he wants to get the MGM copyright library from him. I'm afraid it will not be so easy. After all, MGM Pictures Now there are valuable things left, that is, more than 4,000 movies in the copyright library.

After Ted Sarando left, Song Yang picked up the phone again and dialed a number. Song Yang needed to be on guard. Is there anyone on the Matrix crew? He made small gestures, Song Yang had to know who it was, or else In the future, maybe the boat will capsize in the gutter and have a big somersault.

Inside a hotel near Lincoln Center in New York, Ray Donovan sits at the end of the hotel conference room, listening to the Wachowski brothers, arranging tomorrow's premiere to starring Keanu Reeves and others , and follow-up high-intensity announcements.

For all this, Ray Donovan remained silent. He only needed to be responsible for ensuring the safety of the crew, and to deal with the black material that may appear on the starring of The Matrix, so as not to let the actors suddenly have scandals and affect the movie box office, it is enough. Well, the rest has nothing to do with him.

   At this time, the phone vibrated suddenly, and after seeing the number, Ray Donovan got up and left the room.

   (end of this chapter)