Chapter 288 Sony's thoughts and helplessness
On October 19th, Roland, who had been hanging out with Ang Lee for two weeks, finally gave a positive answer.
As explained to Kate in advance, Roland expressed to AngLee his optimism about the project, but at the same time, he also told about his own difficulties. When AngLee learned that Roland had sought the opinions of his peers and received a lot of praise, many The guy even hoped that the film would be successfully filmed, and after it was successfully released in America, the investors surfaced.
Without hesitation, AngLee bought a plane ticket back home that day, and then through his teacher Xu Ligong, he found Jiang Zhiqiang from Xiangjiang Anle Films, and asked him to contact Sony Columbia (Asia).
Facing Ang Lee who came to the door, even though they were prepared, Sony Columbia (Asia) was still caught off guard, and when they knew that Ang Lee was rejected by Roland, they immediately came to ask for help—
Understanding the emotion, it came to my heart.
"It seems that those guys' attitudes are not very firm?"
"I thought they would exclude these non-American directors from the circle as before, wait for the movie to be released, and after the reaction, treat them according to whether the public opinion is good or bad, but now—"
"Have they already expressed some kindness?"
In the office of Sony Pictures Entertainment, everyone who received the report from the branch is having a meeting.
The "those guys" in these populations actually refer to the Jews.
And when he heard the words 'release goodwill', the sound of chuckling also sounded.
"That's because AngLee found the right person!"
"The producer of the movie "Ride with the Devil" is Robert Colesberry!"
"His friends, aren't they Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, Dustin Hoffman, Robin Williams, Harrison Ford? And in this case, Ang Lee, who couldn't get investment because of "Riding with the Devil", found Roland, isn't that equivalent to asking the people behind the scenes?"
"Let's not say that those guys didn't intend to target Ang Lee in the first place. Just because Roland came forward, they wouldn't say 'No' to Roland for such a trivial matter!"
The producer of "Ride with the Devil" is a member of the Jewish Gang.
Ang Lee was looking for Roland, but he was actually asking these people what they really thought.
Although Roland didn't do what he expected, he directly took the notebook and yelled in the group behind him, but the answer he gave gave AngLee and Sony Columbia a reassurance.
In the eyes of these guys, since Roland said there is no problem, it must be no problem.
"Then we vote?"
"Vote! Vote!"
"Well, after the meeting, I will notify the Asian branch and ask them to sign a contract with AngLee."
"Well, let's do it like this... Oh, by the way, how much does AngLee cost?"
"Ten million."
"Ten million? This investment amount can already be signed and bet on! Let's agree on a box office that is more than six times the investment amount. Oh, by the way, don't mention Roland when you report, you know?"
"?"
"…good."
Capital can discard face for profit, but at the same time, they can also pick up face for greater benefit.
Although Sony Columbia intended to invest before, the key to their investment now is Roland.
In the eyes of others, the current situation is that Sony Columbia Pictures invested in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" under the influence of Roland. Roland's personal influence has surpassed the giants. That became Sony Columbia's sole investment in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" because of its interests, and it has nothing to do with personal might.
Don't underestimate this change, because no giant wants to see someone riding on his neck and shit.
This kind of image is related to all interests. If the public knows that non-giant personnel can easily control the fate of a project, then the value of the giant will drop wildly. In this case, the initiative will be in the hands of individuals. inside.
This is unbearable for giants.
Because they used the right to speak to achieve take-all and squeeze.
But for Roland, this kind of concealment is just what he wants.
He wants to let the whole world know that Sony is going to split America!
In this case, if you can not stand up, you will not stand up!
And after talking about the investment matters related to "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", since Roland was mentioned, they put all the topics related to Roland on the table, "This year Sony, Amblin and Warcraft Film and Television jointly released The company has not issued any projects, and it is a short-selling operation, so...how much are you planning to lose?"
As soon as this matter was mentioned, everyone in the meeting began to read the documents in their hands.
Last year, even though they released films such as "Mr. Shares of Amblin and Warcraft Film and Television earned a lonely.
It is precisely because of this that Spielberg wants to use the power of Wolf King to help Paul Allen realize his dream, and use Microsoft's money to kill Sony Columbia Samsung.
This kind of thinking prompted Roland to win the Oscar, and also launched a co-branding incidentally, which changed the company's development direction.
Although Roland made a lot of money with Sony's show operation, they didn't think there was a problem with doing so.
After all, at the beginning, the distribution channel was intended to support the entire company, and when the company was completed, it became the first choice to clean up the idle people involved, just like asking Michael Jackson to take out the copyright library in his hand Merging, and finally wanting to buy the other half of the equity from the other party.
The merger is for better development.
Cleaning up is for the greater benefit of oneself.
In this way, even though they did not launch any global distribution works this year, but lost a lot of money on self-operated film projects, they are going to let the mentor and apprentice pair make up for their own shortfall this year.
"We have achieved a loss of 40.3 million in personnel costs in 66 countries and 34 offices around the world."
"Besides, the overseas publicity business of nine films including "Stand-in Killer", "Les Miserables", "V for Secret Service" and "Heroes Never Change Their Colors" is also undertaken by Sony, Amblin and Warcraft Film and Television Joint Distribution Company Yes, this aspect is all done at a low price, and all the publicity profits have been taken away, so the net loss is 28 million."
"That is to say, the joint publishing company has a net loss of 71 million for the whole year, and we each bear 35.5 million, while Roland and Steven each bear 17.75 million. Ten thousand."
"This is a number we calculated carefully, and it is not difficult for them to bear it."
"Steven just needs to give us the money he made this year from Saving Private Ryan and The Mask of Zorro, and we can plug more than 17 million holes, and Roland... Titans The Nickelodeon is already two billion, and he can take away 360 million by himself and give us a fraction, which is no pain to him at all.”
"Not to mention, he is now selling Yahoo shares like crazy..."
"The cash on hand may be more than our company."
Who among the six majors has never sucked the blood of their peers?
When Universal, Paramount, and MGM formed United International Pictures, the three companies were hello, hello, hello, everyone.
They all felt that a group of three companies would be better than fighting alone, and they would definitely be able to get the upper hand in overseas distribution.
However…
Their overseas distribution is indeed much faster than Warner, Disney, Columbia, and Fox, but!
After the period of rapid development and expansion passed, they began to act as demons.
Universal and Paramount have drawn blood year after year, making MGM, which is already under financial pressure, even worse.
As a result, MGM had to withdraw its shares and leave.
After that, it was the era of the merger of media and entertainment.
With the mutual support of both sides, Universal and Paramount will no longer be demons.
Although it turns out that this kind of coexistence is feasible, it does not apply to Sony, Amblin and Warcraft.
This company is not the only choice for Warcraft Film and Television and DreamWorks, it is just a retreat for the other five.
Its existence is just to allow the master and apprentice to better negotiate with other families. Since it is a spare tire, Sony...
I don't want to bear it anymore.
"What about next year? There will be "Spider-Man 2" released next year, how much are we going to lose?"
"Steven will not produce any works next year, so we just need to lose the proceeds from the overseas distribution of "Spider-Man 2"."
"Keep losses within their acceptable range?"
"Yeah!"
The so-called controlling losses is actually grinding people with a blunt knife.
If the issuing company loses several hundred million a year, then Roland and the old man will definitely start violently. At that time, no matter whether it hurts the enemy by one thousand or eight hundred, asks someone to block the stock price, or cuts off the project directly. It's all behavior that will make Sony's heart hurt.
But if the loss is small, losing several million a year, it will be no pain to them.
If you want to squeeze people, you have to control the speed well, you can't be light or heavy, and you can't let blood out with a knife. is the ideal interval.
This is a very long process, but for Sony that is not a problem.
After all, they have been on the road of net loss for nine years.
"Okay, let's do this."
"Last year we made a loss to the joint distribution company, and they didn't respond, so this year, we will do more."
"They must know that we are disgusting people, but this kind of disgust has not reached the level of tearing the skin."
After confirming the development policy of using other people's money to fill one's own hole, there is only one topic related to Roland.
And this one...
is a topic that everyone is reluctant to mention.
Because they couldn't control Roland.
Although they and Roland also cooperated in "Spider-Man 2 and 3", it's worth not mentioning this matter.
When Roland was invited to come, they promised to give them enough creative space, and they wrote it into the project contract.
So now, even though they desperately hope that Roland, who is filming in New York, can act honestly and quickly stop the high expenses, but because of the contract in black and white, they can only hold back now.
To put it bluntly, Sony even felt that it was right for Roland and the old man to bear a loss of more than 30 million yuan!
Who told you not to film well?
Because you are not willing to work at full capacity, the production cost has increased a lot. In this case, we will get you a little bit from other places to make up for the loss you caused us. Isn't this a good thing? Reasonable thing?
Of course, although I thought so in my heart, I wouldn't admit it with my mouth.
Not only that, Sony also cares about Roland from time to time.
There is nothing I can do if I don’t care!
The hype that Roland owes them hasn't been paid yet!
Speaking of hype, it was the last outstanding debt that Roland owed when he rushed to the Olympics.
In the deal between Sony and him, that was a clear request. When "Spider-Man 2 and 3" were released, Roland would cooperate with Mary Jane's actor to create a hype of empathy, arousing the audience's desire to explore, So into the theater.
Now, the candidate for Mary Jane has already come out, but Roland has not submitted the hype plan to Sony for a long time!
This made Sony a little anxious.
Not only that, after seeing Roland and Kate subconsciously distributing dog food, they also wondered, did Roland want to renege? Because this kind of romance hype will actually damage the brand image of 'RandK'!
If 'RandK' is just a mediocre thing, Sony will be concerned, but it will never go up.
But when Berkshire Hathaway entered the market, the situation changed.
"Although there is still a year before the film is released, according to the normal rhythm, the announcement arrangement should be finalized."
"Are you sure? How can we be sure now? Roland doesn't ask himself, can we force him to be sure?"
"That's right! The Olympic Award deal never leaves a contract. Now if he pretends not to know, then we can't do anything about him!"
"Hey! If I were him, I wouldn't want to mention this matter now! After all, thirteen stores and more than 600 million cash have already entered my pocket! Compared with Warren Buffett's investment, " The success or failure of Spider-Man 2 and 3 is not so important, not to mention that he signed a global box office sharing contract with us. Regardless of the profit or loss of the movie, he should get a penny of the money. In this case , the longer it drags on, the better it will be for him!"
"Then can't we figure out something?"
"What solution can we come up with? The Olympic Award deal involves Time Warner, Disney, Fox, Universal and Paramount. Now those five companies have received corresponding compensation. If we jump out and say that Roland still owes us something, Do you think there will be media reports in the market? Are the five companies that have already made money fools? How could they allow us to drag Roland into the water?"
"Now I can only watch?"
"Otherwise? This kind of thing can only be realized by Roland himself!"
Speaking of this, everyone present sighed...
Roland...
Development is too fast!
A few years ago, when they learned that the Japanese headquarters agreed to sell 25% of the shares of the overseas distribution company to Roland and signed a generous cooperation agreement with Roland, they actually didn't care. Everyone thought that Roland was It is easy to hold it on behalf of it and recover it later - because Roland is an actor! It's just holding a leg hair of Wall Street!
But now?
It’s only been a few years!
Carl Icahn, who they were unwilling to face at the beginning, started a business with Roland; Time Warner, Disney and Universal can still be bound to Roland for at least five years; not only that, Roland is still supplying Microsoft; Buffett, pull as an angel investor.
yes!
These relationships are bound by interests, but it is the transmission of interests that makes them inseparable!
These guys are making money through Roland, and the more they make, the safer Roland is!
Call Roland directly, and send down the task of romance hype?
Do not make jokes!
Even if Sony President Nobuyuki Idei came, they would not beep on this kind of issue!
A phone call was made, and Roland told them 'Ah! I'm sorry! Warren wants us to have a good time! When our wedding is finalized, we will definitely send you invitations! Oh, by the way, William and the others will all participate...'
can block all their words.
Question? curse?
That's just impotent rage...
Because they don't know how to tear their faces, they don't have the ability to tear their faces, let alone dare to tear their faces...
This has nothing to do with stumbling over the distribution company.
The publishing company is Roland's personal interest, and Roland's current marriage is everyone's interest.
Note: ①The producer of "Ride with the Devil" is indeed a member of the Jewish gang. ②Sony Pictures Entertainment is really capricious! And they are really cooperating with the Jewish gang while stabbing the Jewish gang. The movie "Walking with the Devil" in 1997 (the one played by Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt), when signing the contract, stated that it would be filmed according to the script, but in the end, the script was revised seven times. After discovering that the script had been changed in a mess, the main creative team didn't want to shoot anymore, and then Sony did a very awesome thing, killing chickens and monkeys, directly threatening Brad Pitt with a lawsuit, and liquidated damages were added. The sum is as high as 63 million, and the liquidated damages of the entire team add up to 470 million. You must know that the total investment of this movie is only 80 million! Then Brad Pitt succumbed, and the main creative team stopped making trouble, and just patted on business. This matter was revealed by Brad Pitt before the movie was released in 1997. Sony Pictures Entertainment is really the kind of guy who hopes to be accompanied by a master, but thinks that the master wants too much.
(end of this chapter)
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