Once Upon a Time In Hollywood

  Chapter 164 The development idea of ​​backward racing, traditional education and shameless ideas

  Roland didn't know that when the disaster broke out, those guys who liquidated their losses would think of themselves first.

   Tell me some reason, please!

  He is just a rookie who has been in the industry for five years, but he was lucky enough to hug a few thighs, there is no need for those guys to target him like this!

  Besides, the movies he bought and invested in are all **** that everyone is too lazy to buy. Since you regard the project as dung, why are you laughing at him that he is about to lose money?

   Uh... well...

Roland admitted that it was not a big problem for them to pay attention to themselves. After all, he was the first guy in the circle to play the game backwards—according to normal development, the growth of a film company is basically divided into five processes, cooperative investment, Independent investment, peripheral operations, local distribution, and overseas distribution, the input cost of each link is several times that of the previous link.

Take Lucasfilm, for example. George Lucas took the most popular way to get started: co-investing in "American Graffiti" with Coppola Productions, and co-producing "Star Wars" with Fox. ", in these two projects, George Lucas only contributed a certain amount of his own funds. Even if he lost all his money, he would only lose a few million, and the company would not go bankrupt.

After that, with the explosion of "Star Wars", George Lucas, who had money, kicked away the joint investor and independently invested in the production of "Star Wars 2: The Empire Strikes Back", "Star Wars 3: Jedi" return".

   Immediately afterwards, the popularity of the series made Lucasfilm officially enter the stage of peripheral operations. A series of derivative products such as comics, toys, games, and clothing are the company's biggest money-absorbing machines.

  Because George Lucas didn't bother to beep, he didn't have the self-consciousness of a filmmaker at all, and never tried to show his sword to the giants, so the development of the entire company came to a standstill.

Not to mention the domestic and overseas distribution of the fourth and fifth links, even the normal film and television investment is centered around the two IPs of "Star Wars" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark". No one expected him to single out the top seven.

   What about the Warcraft film and television created by Roland?

   To put it nicely, it’s called a film and television company; to put it bluntly, it’s just an empty shell!

   No film and television company will do overseas distribution first without any content!

   It's not that you haven't learned how to walk, and you just started to run away!

   Instead, it has already flown into the sky and stood side by side with the sun!

  Your company doesn’t even have a movie you’ve made, so you’re starting to find channels?

   Isn't it too much money to burn?

   After that, spending money to buy content, and the investment method of spending money without making production, made those giants speechless.

  Brother, what entertainment sells is content. Who are you trying to show with your attitude that I have nothing but money?

  If the content can be produced by just spending money, then Rockefeller's RKO is now the biggest film and television giant!

  This is actually the real reason why those giants are eyeing him.

   It's not that I want to see Roland's loss-making jokes, but I want to see when this guy who dared to drive backwards will overturn.

   But the question is, will Roland not know these things?

  Are you kidding me!

  Even if he didn’t understand all this in his previous life, he only knew how to successfully teach you the five-step operation method, but in this life, there are not too many bosses who can tell him that there is a problem with the establishment of your company!

   But, it's not necessary.

A complete company production system is simply cumbersome to the current Roland, because it is he who makes the decision on film selection and purchase of copyright, and outsources such matters as production and management to Katherine Kennedy. Sony can take over, and in front of this kind of assembly line operation mode that can be released, it needs a **** self-owned system!

  As for the choking events that the film companies are worried about?

  As the president of Amblin Entertainment and the vice president of Lucasfilm, Kathleen Kennedy will not backstab him, and Sony...

  Not to mention the issue of issuing company shares, but in terms of their own profits, they are now counting on the two big bosses to lead the way!

Therefore, those outsourcing links that the film company thinks will cause problems are actually the safest for Roland, because he doesn't have to worry about recruiting some idiots to manage the company. Not only that, Catherine Kennedy's fees are also the average in the industry. price, and he is so picky... Ahh! It is hardworking and thrifty.

  In this way, what more secure content production system is needed?

  The grass team is the grass team!

   What's more, the grass-roots team is for the giants. In front of the second-tier companies of the new line, this is already a luxurious team!

  ...

  In August, the weather is still hot, but compared with the flaming mountain-like climate in July, it is much better.

   But even so, the desire of American people to watch movies has not improved.

   There is no other reason, it is purely a movie released in August, and there is no phenomenal gimmick.

  Michelle Pfeiffer's "Jeopardy" is the movie people are most interested in because she is beautiful.

   Followed by "Mortal Kombat", yes, it is the movie adapted from the game. Although the plot is very cliché, Bridget Wilson's papaya is big! Coupled with the support of game fans, it sold much better than "Resident Evil"!

After that came "Baby Pig". As a movie to please children, because of the weather, the children in America couldn't go to the scene to support it, but the overseas box office was extremely high, and it was sold out. Out of 190 million.

  Of course, entertainment is only an indicator of people's life index, and it cannot represent everything.

  When America’s entertainment market pulled its hips again, the capital still had a carnival.

   On August 9, Netscape went public.

  The initial public offering was a huge success. When the first day of trading closed, the highest price per share directly reached $75.

  While Netscape's stock price soared, Microsoft finally couldn't sit still. On August 16, they held a product conference and launched IE1.0. On August 24, they released Windows95 again.

Microsoft's move to deal with it with all its strength surprised David. Not only that, he also plausibly whispered in Roland's ears, saying that if he had invested in Netscape back then, the 40 million yuan would at least have turned into 1.4 yuan. 100 million.

   It's fine if Roland doesn't invest, he can invest with his own money!

   Roland didn't say a word about the idea of ​​"regret at the beginning".

Although he can tell David that Netscape will soon be defeated by Microsoft, which has united with IBM, HP and other companies, and made a decision to bundle browsers and systems, but...how can he explain to David that after making the decision? After the monopoly decision on bundled sales, won't Microsoft be split up by the anti-monopoly bill?

Could it be that after Bell Labs is split up, America's technology development path will completely disappear. In the field of communications alone, 2G will lose to Europe first, 3G will lose to Japan, and 4G will be relieved by Internet companies such as Google. , 5G is thrown out again? Faced with the bitter fruit of splitting technology companies and gradually losing their high-end technological competitiveness in order to complete the anti-monopoly bill, will emerging technology companies not be informed of the results of the split unless it is a last resort?

   This is too much trouble.

Besides, Roland couldn't explain why Bell Labs was officially spun off this year, and he could see the result of the other party's complete defeat—this kind of thing that most experts agreed to pass, he couldn't find anyone to pick up the foresight pot!

  So, in the face of David's 'complaint', he could only shrug his shoulders and say, "Uh...then you think I made a mistake in judgment?"

   Such irresponsible words made David shake his head again and again.

  Although he didn't care much about missing Netscape, he cared about Roland's attitude in spending money.

"Oh, Oh, Oh, Roland, I can understand your previous investment ideas, but recently, it may be because you make money too easily, so I am concerned about whether you have seriously considered the profit and loss when you invest. Doubt something."

"Investment is not just investing if I like it, or in other words, you are far from what I like, and I can spend money to make them. I don't like to interfere with your ideas. If you really want to do it I will also support something, but I hope you can think clearly before doing it, is this thing really beneficial to you, Okay?"

  Actually, David wanted to chat with Roland a long time ago, but he couldn't find a suitable opportunity.

Although Roland's so-called throwing pot investment method can shut David's mouth, the behavior of cross-industry investment actually makes this guy doubtful. In his opinion, unless you have already achieved considerable pride in a certain field People's achievements, otherwise, cross-industry investment is no different from throwing money into the water.

As an extremely cautious guy, he felt that Roland should do a good job in film and television first, instead of making film and television, throwing money to game companies while investing in websites as he is now. exactly the same.

   Money comes so easily, and it doesn’t hurt to spend it!

But the problem is, if a star plays well, no matter what his identity is, its essence is still a commodity. As long as it is a commodity, it will eventually be eliminated one day. They are destined to have a miserable old age of bankruptcy and liquidation!

  Looking at David's serious eyes, Roland, who felt that he couldn't explain it, nodded. He knew that David was a qualified parent, so he didn't feel disgusted by David's sermons.

   "Oh, David, I see what you mean."

   "Don't worry, any decision I make is after careful consideration."

  “Not investing in Netscape is really for the sake of the harmonious operation of DreamWorks. Although you may feel that the stock price returns are not in line with my idea of ​​harmony, this is actually because the two of us have different thinking directions.”

   “You are thinking in terms of benefits, and I am thinking in terms of relationships.”

   "You are here to make money, and I am here not to ruin Steven and William's relationship."

"For you, a net profit of 100 million in a short period of time is very impressive, but to me, maintaining a good relationship between Steven and William is more important than that 100 million, just like Ronald and Carl, although I Not being in close contact with them, but putting their names there can help me block most of the problems, and many of those problems are beyond our ability to solve."

   "So, you can't say I'm wrong, can you?"

  Hearing this, David, who was still stern, laughed, "Oh, I'm relieved to see you being so shameless."

uh-huh?

   Roland, who thought he could convince David, frowned.

"Oh oh oh, don't show such an expression, I'm praising you..." David opened his arms and put them on the top of the sofa, "I'm talking about whether it's good for me. The profit here doesn't mean money, but pan means all."

   "Since you think this relationship can be won, as long as you think about it, I won't object."

   "What I want to see is your thinking process, not the result. You live for yourself, not for me."

   "As long as it is not a hot-headed investment, even if I feel that there is something wrong in my heart, I will support you, because now you can afford to lose, and if you fail once or twice, you are entitled to pay your tuition."

  cha…

  If he had known that David thought so, Roland would have given the reason directly.

   "Okay, don't put on a straight face." After realizing that Roland was blackened by his embarrassing face, David took the initiative to change the subject.

   "Are you going to New York in early September?"

  David’s early September refers to the New York premiere of "Seven Deadly Sins" on September 15th.

Although David Fincher is unknown, Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kevin Spacey, etc. still deserve a premiere .

not to mention…

  September is actually a very good time for Roland.

  Because none of the blockbuster movies released by those giants will be released in September.

Not only because September is not worthy of a blockbuster movie with an investment of more than 50 million yuan, but also because the result of Simpson's wife murder case in early October is about to be pronounced-don't think those giants are too good, they don't go head-to-head with Roland. The juniors who entered the industry took a step back, but because these guys were afraid that after Simpson was convicted, black people across the country would start to parade again. If this happened to happen, the movie would be a **** waste!

Therefore, Roland chose the 'cool' September in a daze (open) head (hang) green (beep). In the eyes of those film companies, the court dominated by white people will most likely convict Simpson, and wait for the result Once it comes out, even if Roland's movie has a record-breaking appearance, it's useless. Under the wave of racial issues, all movies are cannon fodder!

   "I'm going, what's the matter, are you going too?" Hearing David mention this, Roland suddenly felt a little strange.

   "Don't you hate this kind of gathering?"

   "No, no, no, I'm not going." Seeing Roland's affirmative answer, David had a strange smile on his face, "I just saw the red carpet list faxed by Sony that day, and I remembered something..."

   "What is it?" Roland was a little confused.

   "You'll know when the time comes." David kept it a secret, but after seeing Roland's frowning toothache expression, he added, "Don't worry, it must be something you like."

Note: ①The development process of the film company written in the article is the most traditional, and almost no one can break this development process. However, Roland’s reverse development model also has a realistic prototype. That person is Mike McDavoy , as I wrote before, Spielberg’s first agent, at his peak, held the copyrights of nearly 400 films, which were not inherited (for example, Marlon Brando died, he He is the manager of the estate), he bought it, and a small part was produced by himself, but he was still unable to break through overseas distribution, and finally had to sell the company with his partners.

  (end of this chapter)