Once Upon a Time In Hollywood

  Chapter 170 New Circle

  Among the three major radio and television networks in America, ABC started the latest, had the lowest market share, and the weakest influence. Because of this, ABC has spent a lot of money recruiting talented people in order to change its position in the industry for many years.

After seeing the success of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" on ITV, ABC spent money to introduce it. When they found that the average number of viewers per night could reach 29 million, they even extended the program time frantically. When they were crazy, they even piled up the total playing time for a week to four hours!

   It is equivalent to "Happy Camp" that broadcasts 2.6 episodes a week!

   No duplicate samples!

It was this kind of crazy squeeze that made the audience bored. Within two years, they were defeated by CBS's "Survivor", followed by FOX's "American Idol", and finally NBC. The "Fei Huang Teng Da" I made was overtaken, and it was completely swept into the garbage dump of history.

  Of course, ABC has never regretted it. For them, as long as they can consolidate their own market position and at the same time ensure the growth of ratings, it doesn’t matter how much money they spend or how much risk they take—

  As long as you can make money, what is the outlet for public opinion?

  They dared to do a show like "Wife Exchange", but now it's just a movie. The so-called risk is too great to take, but they didn't get a satisfactory price and felt that the profit was not enough.

  If there is a real problem, a "sincere" apology, blame the management and it's over. Anyway, the public's memory is limited, and once time passes—won't the new American drama be good? Are sporting events bad to watch? Do you want Disney's children's shows?

  Don't just scold, if you have the backbone, don't use it!

   In this way, when the voice of binding for five years appeared, the voice of finding the parent company to make a decision all disappeared, and everyone who was in the meeting had no idea that someone had just mentioned such an incident.

And after they pushed the decision back to Sony, Evelyn, who got the new cooperation intention, directly called Roland, because Sony, which has no TV network, does not represent the limited TV network of "The Shawshank Redemption" at all. Sales business.

   Roland asked David to sign the contract without even thinking about the big opening of ABC's lion.

  At this time, how much money the cable network can make has nothing to do with him.

This kind of profit cake that can stimulate public opinion is simply impossible to be eaten by a family. When everyone plays games in groups, even if the public opinion is stormy, it will not kill them. A company with billions of dollars, but what about facing pressure from tens of billions of giants? The sound that can crush a person to death is just a drizzle to the giant Baotuan.

   That's right, ABC wants to monopolize the broadcasting of the public television network, and Roland will give it to them.

Similarly, when Evelyn asked people to contact other cable TV networks, hoping that they would 'truthfully' report the news, those guys who didn't need to take the risk of face-to-face looked at the boss's intentions and lightly asked for the broadcasting rights of the pay TV network , and in the face of the joint purchase of several companies, ABC, which bears the greatest risk and will eat the most dividends, naturally withdrew.

In the end, ABC spent 20 million to buy the right to broadcast 20 times on the public television network for five years. What they needed to pay was to broadcast the movie three times within ten days. Roland has nothing to do with the broadcast rights of the annual pay TV network, whether it is on-demand or subscription, and the profits generated from it.

  For others, talking about this kind of contract is whimsical. The cable TV network is all competitors, and every battle is life and death. How can they jointly release a news?

   But for Roland, this is just a family sharing a piece of public opinion cake.

  Take Fox as an example, 75 million has already been called to James Cameron at the hottest time of the year, but Roland hasn't signed the contract yet! In this case, it is in the best interest of him to blow the movie according to his wishes.

  Besides, they are not in vain. The four companies bought 10 million yuan for five-year rights to the pay TV network, and each person's head is 500,000 yuan a year. 500,000 yuan let the popular movies go to their own paid film library?

   It's almost the same as picking it up in vain!

  Of course, whether it is for nothing depends on the final result.

   If the publicity effect fails to meet expectations, even the price of 500,000 a year will be a blood loss for them!

Therefore, in everyone's expectation, from the day when the contract was signed on the 23rd, ABC TV station immediately replaced the program schedule that had been prepared, and at 8 pm on the 25th, ABC Public TV Station will broadcast News of The Shawshank Redemption, the 1995 Oscar nominee for Best Picture, got out.

  ...

   ""The Shawshank Redemption"? What kind of movie is this? Why would ABC suddenly want to show this movie?"

  In a white family in central America, there were voices of doubt.

"The 1995 Oscar nominee for Best Picture? Is this movie included in this year's Oscars?" The white old lady lowered her neck slightly, raised her eyes, and looked at her wife beside her through the gap between her reading glasses and her eyebrows. Son issued a soul-like torture, "Isn't the best movie of the year "Forrest Gump"? Tom Hanks!"

   Facing her question, the old man in his seventies shook his head, closed his eyes and thought for a while, then opened them slowly, his dim old eyes were full of confusion, "It seems... yes?"

   "But I'm not sure either..."

   “Because I only remember Forrest Gump, Behind the Scenes, Pulp Fiction, Four Weddings and a Funeral…”

  ...

   “What is The Shawshank Redemption? A religious film?”

   "Oh! No! I remember it as 'Hope of Spring' from Stephen King's Four Seasons?"

  New York, Jin Ling, who just got off work, got into his study and found "Four Seasons Strange Tales" in his collection of books. When he opened it, the story called hope came to his mind.

   "That's not right! I remember that "Four Seasons Tales" was the champion of the bestseller list!"

   "How could the movie adapted from it have no sound at all?"

   "Most importantly, "The Shawshank Redemption" was nominated for this year's best picture?"

   "But the problem is, it seems that I have never seen this movie in theaters before!"

   "I really haven't heard any news! Has this movie really been released?"

  ...

   "Damn..."

   "Can't ABC come up with more entertainment? Why do you have to show this kind of funless Oscar movie?"

   "Isn't it good to play Pulp Fiction? Isn't it good to play The Masquerade? Is it bad to play Crazy Nuns?"

   "Why do you have to play "The Shawshank Redemption"? Just hearing the name is boring!"

   "I really don't know what these big companies think! You say that ABC has been acquired by Disney, so it is naturally entertainment-oriented! How can it be like those old-age TV stations, showing some movies without highlights."

   "But...Morgan Freeman..."

   "You can take a look."

  In Atlanta, a black man leaned on the sofa and beeped endlessly.

  ...

-

  What is "The Shawshank Redemption" about?

have no idea.

  Who is the protagonist of The Shawshank Redemption?

   Just watched TV to know.

  How attractive is "The Shawshank Redemption" to people?

  In the case that Roland and Sony have never promoted it, if someone is willing to watch it, it is already very good.

   But it doesn't matter!

  During the first wave of screenings, I didn't expect to attract many people to watch the movie!

  But those guys who should watch movies in front of the TV have already received various messages and are ready!

Ever since, when the vast majority of American people didn't feel much, ABC TV broadcast "The Shawshank Redemption" on time at 8 pm on October 25th. The pen began to write immediately, holding the development policy of adhering to peace and friendship, and within two hours, wrote a film review with hundreds of words.

  Afterwards, they were immediately handed over to the paper media that had been waiting for a long time, so that the daily newspapers, post, and news papers would print their movie reviews overnight, spreading the latest news throughout America on time.

So early the next morning, almost everyone who has the habit of reading newspapers can find the same piece of news on different pages—["The Shawshank Redemption", the best movie I have seen this year, this is a story about hope. . 】

In addition, the major cable news stations that can also get a share of the follow-up revenue have inserted a positive recommendation related to "The Shawshank Redemption" in their morning broadcasts on the 26th, which made everyone What no one expected was that ABC, which can eat big heads, directly invited Roger Ebert to his studio and made a review.

   "Unlike other prison movies, "The Shawshank Redemption" is about the continuation of friendship and hope in the ups and downs of life."

   "The protagonist is Andy, played by Tim Robbins, who was sentenced to life twice for murdering his wife and lover."

"Although he is the protagonist, none of the movie shots are from his point of view. From entering the prison to the end of the film, we can only see what other people think of him, and those opinions moved me: fragile Andy never fought for anything, he was just being true to himself, at all times, hopeful, patient, leading by example, waiting for opportunities.”

"Compared to those movies that can bring people sensory stimulation, "The Shawshank Redemption" has a bad title, does not appeal to young people's prison theme, and there is no action scene in it, and the starring reputation is quite limited, but —”

   "This is still a very good movie."

"Shawshank Prison is a place devoid of humanity. The dark and long-term mental torture has institutionalized every prisoner. The guys living here are depressed, desperate, and numb. But with the arrival of Andy, he who sticks to his humanity, Always with the hope and imagination of freedom, while chasing freedom, also let the companions get a new life."

"Of course, he is not a man of high morals. He also has his own emotions and ideas. In order to pursue freedom, he can escape from prison. In order to teach the warden a lesson, he exposes the other party's crimes and steals the prison. Long-term ill-gotten gains, while he brings hope to people, the subsequent response is full of truth. Although there is no physical revenge, it is this kind of feeling that is the most real. The place."

   "Because of Andy, he has never been blinded by hatred."

  "He understands better than anyone else that what he pursues is freedom, not endless hatred..."

   Almost overnight, news related to "The Shawshank Redemption" spread throughout America.

   No one knows how a movie shown on ABC suddenly has so many critics talking about it.

No one knows why this film has been released for a year and has no bright spots in the Oscars, so it is suddenly sought after by people. The sudden love makes many people feel that they are not young. How many days have you lived?

  But it’s okay to have accidents!

   Or in other words, this is the result everyone wants!

   What's more, on the 31st, the movie will continue to be broadcast on ABC TV station!

   It was precisely because of the inexplicable blow, at 8:00 p.m. on the 31st, during this embarrassing time on Tuesday, a total of 21 million people in America stood in front of ABC and watched the movie on TV!

  Anyway, it doesn’t cost money, so don’t watch it for nothing!

  And people's reactions are not the same—

   Without cutting a glance:

   "What is this movie about? Why is it so boring!"

   "Why is this story so plain? Fortunately, I didn't go to the cinema to watch it!"

   "Smash the sewer pipe with a rock? Will I believe this kind of plot?"

  Worthy praise:

  “Andy faces every day with a smile. He firmly believes that he is a bird that cannot be kept in a cage. He has been pursuing freedom!”

"Oh! This is the movie we want! Why can that kind of rotten people become the warden? Why can those rotten people exercise their rights without restraint! It is because of them! We will be treated like this now !"

"It's no wonder that the media and film critics are strongly recommending this movie! Because we used to have the same hope as Andy, but after a long time, we all became Rhett in the end! We also used to believe them! But their What they did brought us endless disappointment! If it wasn't for their excessive greed! Why would we be angry?"

   Regardless of bad reviews or good reviews, anyway, the name of the movie has been completely sold out.

   Just above and below Amerika, after nearly one-tenth of the group watched the movie, the voice of public opinion has already risen.

Under the analysis of the media and the recommendations of film critics, many blacks no longer care about whether whites are oppressing blacks on the continent of America, whether they need to be like the "Million Black Men's Parade" half a month ago, Continue to fight and use more intense methods to seize the interests that should belong to you.

   Instead, they set their sights on the white police who tried to use perjury to deprive Simpson of his freedom, just like in the movie.

The white people who were already dissatisfied with the release of Simpson also saw the news that the major media revealed intentionally or unintentionally. When they learned that the Foreman policeman who was convicted of perjury by the court actually accepted a woman for money. In the interview with the playwright, after telling the other party about the process of solving crimes in his career, the flames of anger were also aimed at him.

   As a result, on the afternoon of November 1st, a comment came from Washington.

Although Roland didn't listen, he understood the general idea: "The Shawshank Redemption" is a good movie. Andy sticks to hope, yearns for freedom, and gains friendship; He was not bound by hatred, but turned hatred into driving force; the whole movie also reminded him of Foreman. Although the whole case is still under investigation, he believes that with the persistent efforts of all people across the country, The light of hope and freedom will surely come to the world.

  In fact, these are all known things, but there is no way, who made the movie plot so similar to reality?

  Black and white, no one likes the other, and at this moment, a guy who obviously did something wrong was pushed out...

  Then this pot, you should carry it on your back!

  Who made you a stumbling block in everyone's pursuit of freedom?

Although it is different from the five-day interval between the first broadcast and the second broadcast, the interval between the second broadcast and the third broadcast is only one day, but with a bunch of recommendations from big guys, the third night stays The guys watching the movie in front of ABC have reached 30% of the total number of people in America, that is, more than 50 million!

  What is the concept of fifty million?

  Compared with the number of Super Bowl viewers, and compared with the number of people who listened to the verdict of the Simpson murder case, the audience of more than 50 million moviegoers is simply not enough to watch!

   But this is watching a movie!

   I'm not watching the game!

   Even though there are bound to be people who hate this movie, that's ok!

  Under the condition that public opinion does not disturb, the so-called resistance will eventually be washed away by the anger against those who abuse their power!

for freedom!

   While ABC was rejoicing at the 50 million viewership, and several other companies were waiting to put the movie on the pay TV network, Roland, who was at home playing Boss, also received a call.

   "Hello? Who's there?"

   "I'm Ronald."

   "Oh~~~"

"Thanks."

   “We’re just in business.”

   "Business? Yeah! Business! You're doing great business."

   "I am deeply honored to be praised by a rich man on the Forbes list like you."

   "Really? Then you can honor me once? If I remember correctly, the next time you come to New York should be the premiere of "Spider-Man"? Then... almost next June?"

   "Yes, is there any problem? If you need to advance, I can also discuss with Sony."

"In advance? No, No, No, I just want to tell you that the next time I come to New York, I will treat you to dinner. Carl has always wanted to see you, but he has never been able to find the opportunity. Also, I heard James say that you hold Have 20,000 shares of Berkshire Hathaway? Oh! Their company’s total share capital is less than 2 million! You own more than 1%, and Warren didn’t invite you to the company’s annual meeting. That's really unreasonable! But it's okay, next time you come to New York, plan a few more days, and I will take you to ask Warren what the **** is going on. Of course, I have many friends who want to meet you ..."

  When Roland hung up the phone, his excited face was filled with excitement and joy.

  "The Shawshank Redemption" is known to the whole American people?

  What does this have to do with him?

  Even if this movie can shine in the video tape market in the future, Roland will not be surprised!

   Earn 100 million a year?

   He doesn't care if he earns one billion!

  Because compared to Ronald’s bald invitation, isn’t money like paper?

   "The Shawshank Redemption" is scheduled to sell (×)

  Wall Street Rich Circle (√)

Note: ① In 1995, "The Shawshank Redemption" was played on the radio for 1 million. This is not an exaggeration, but it was ridiculously low. When ABC launched "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire", it cost more than 1.4 million a week . The average production cost of an hour is about 500,000 yuan, and the purchase price of 1 million yuan is actually equal to the cost. ②The conclusion that no one will buy the videotape after playing it three times in ten days is also a difference in the market. Although Warner never disclosed the income of the film, when the US Securities and Exchange Commission spot-checked it, it announced the annual income of the film. Six cable TV networks played the movie 64 times, and the licensed, videotape, and online revenues exceeded 100 million. After 19 years, they still made a net profit of 100 million a year. When it first became popular, then this The number is a geometric growth. Compared with the rhetoric of returning to the capital for more than ten years, I choose to believe the SEC data. And it is precisely because the income of the cable TV network is too terrifying, so Roland does not need to pay for publicity in the article. ③Sony does not have a TV network. According to US law, the cable TV network must be owned by the people of the country. That's why Murdoch moved News Corp. to the US and changed his nationality, because if he doesn't change, he will be forced to sell it of. ④ Foreman, who was the scapegoat written in the article, did share his career experience with outsiders, and it was precisely this that made his discriminatory remarks recorded and his testimony was finally ruled invalid.

  (end of this chapter)