Top of the Great Era

Chapter 1561
Zhou Buqi came to HBO this time to talk about the cooperation of the entire series of American dramas of "Lord of the Rings".

But is it really necessary to cooperate?
Ziwei Star Global is not short of money at all.

Even if you are short of money, you can't cooperate with HBO!
The financing of film and television projects is also different for different financing institutions.Financing institutions outside the circle do not understand the operating methods of the entertainment industry, so it is useless to ask for "rights", as long as "profits" are enough, that is, to pay dividends after earning money.But if it is a cooperative investment in the industry, it must not only be beneficial, but also have rights.

"The Lord of the Rings" series of American dramas can be called the world's largest film and television IP, not to mention "A Song of Ice and Fire" with serious plagiarism, even the IPs of Marvel and Disney Princess can't compare.

Ziwei Star Global has to invest a huge amount of money to produce this series, how can it be possible to share the rights and interests?
In order to make the "Hobbit" series of movies, Warner is even willing to distribute 50% of the net profits to MGM, producers, middlemen, directors, actors, Tolkien Foundation, labor unions, etc. .

A 50% profit is enough to make Warner crazy, which shows how strong the earning power of this series is and how high the market recognition is.

It is almost impossible for an investment to fail.

Why did Zhou Buqi bring this super trump card to HBO for cooperation, and then give up part of the rights to the other party?He didn't come to HBO's headquarters this time to ask them for money to produce the "Lord of the Rings" series of American dramas. On the contrary, he wanted to send money to HBO to produce "Game of Thrones" together!
And his actions are not abrupt, they are all premeditated and causal, and it is easier to be trusted.

Before the rise of streaming media and the popularity of American dramas all over the world, from the perspective of making money, movies and TV series are not at the same level at all.

A Hollywood blockbuster with an investment of 1 million US dollars can easily earn 2-3 million US dollars if it works well.It is impossible for a TV series of the same level to have such a rate of return.

Ziweixing Universal rejected Warner's proposal to make the novel "The Hobbit" into a movie, but wanted to integrate the entire series of novels from "The Silmarillion", "The Children of Hurin", "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" Together, they were filmed into a feature-length TV series. As soon as the news came out, the entire Hollywood was shocked.

It also shocked the whole world.

In the century-old history of Hollywood, there has never been such a thing!
How much money can a TV series make?

Ziweixing Universal does not make movies but makes TV dramas. The industry simply cannot understand. How to explain this?

Probably the only answer is Boss Zhou's feelings, pursuit and idealism.

Such a fantasy story with a huge story background is really difficult to bear in the volume of a movie, and it is indeed more suitable to make a TV series than a movie.The "Lord of the Rings" trilogy back then was shot very well, but it was still widely criticized for being too small in length and too short in plot, which not only failed to show the fantasy and mystery of Middle-earth, but also failed to convey the philosophy of the novel. The content is revealed.

TV shows have this advantage.

Now, Boss Zhou is very fond of the American drama "Rome" and is interested in "Game of Thrones", which is reasonable.Not to mention outsiders from HBO, even his own people believed him, thinking that Boss Zhou's sentimentalism was rampant, and he was going to be deceived.

Zhou Buqi followed the HBO people to the reading room. There was a row of sofas arranged in a semi-arc in front, and there were many chairs on both sides.

The important person is definitely sitting in the middle of the sofa.

Unlike movie viewing, there is no projector here, only a 70-inch TV hanging on the wall, and the staff put a DVD in the DVD player.

Then, the first episode of Game of Thrones season [-] kicks off.

Here is the sample.

Demos are meant to attract audiences and investors, so the first episode was very well produced. There were several series of special effects shots at the beginning, expressing the theme of "fantasy + epic".

With the development of the plot, HBO's pornographic style is also reflected, and even the super-large scale of killing children is shot for the sake of eyeballs.

The budget for the entire first season was $6000 million, and this first episode is estimated to cost $800 million.

After the show ended, the reading room was quiet.

With a glass of champagne in his hand, Zhou Buqi was the first to say, "I like it!"

"call!"

Richard, the president of HBO, let out a long sigh of relief, with a bright smile on his face.

The other staff were even more joyful.

It feels like it's going to happen!

Bright was very anxious, and quickly said: "Zhou, why don't we send a team to the UK to inspect the production team, this is a sample..."

Samples can be very deceiving.

Just like the actresses of many small Japanese movies are often killed by posters, they are all made by the production companies to cheat money.

"No need!" Zhou Buqi interrupted him with a wave of his hand, "I like "Rome" very much, but in my opinion, this drama will be more magnificent and exciting than "Rome". , which is more attractive than pure historical themes."

Richard said with a smile: "Mr. Zhou, you are indeed an expert, and you can see the advantages of this show at a glance. That's right, the fantasy attribute is the reason why we cut "Roma" and chose to make this show As for Brett's worries, I don't think it is necessary. "A Song of Ice and Fire" is a novel with ups and downs. The first episode is very exciting, and the follow-up will become more and more exciting!"

Zhou Buqi nodded, then remained silent for a while, and asked, "How big is the funding gap?"

Richard said: "The budget was $1 million, and now it's only $6000 million."

The first season of Game of Thrones was really short of money.

No one can guarantee the success of this show, and coupled with the impact of the economic crisis, we can only cut production costs and reduce investment risks.This made shooting extremely difficult.

For example, in the scene of throwing stones and hitting people, if the funds are sufficient, it is enough to use special effects to make the stones.How much does it cost to make special effects shots?There is no other way but to really smash it.

The risk of smashing is even greater. Once you are injured, there will be a lot of troubles, and you may even be sued by the labor union.Neither HBO nor the production team wanted to do that.

But there is no way, if you don’t have money, you can only force it, just like the Hong Kong movies in the early years, they were all made with a lot of effort, and people would die at every turn.

If someone is willing to invest at this time, of course it is a happy result for all.

Zhou Buqi didn't hesitate at all, and said indifferently: "When I do business, what I care most about is efficiency. If it works, it works, if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. In a word, I am optimistic about this project."

Richard was so excited that he almost jumped up, toasted him with a glass of wine, and said repeatedly: "That's, that's, Mr. Zhou is a big shot, and he usually deals with too many big things, this time I can find time to come to HBO , it is an honor for all of us."

Zhou Buqi waved his hand and asked him, "Is there a funding gap of 4000 million US dollars?"

"Correct."

"How about the cooperation mode?"

"This one……"

Richard was also a little dazed.

This progress was too fast, and he was a little at a loss.How could such a few people settle down on a specific cooperation plan casually while drinking?
But here comes the problem again. Boss Zhou is so busy. If he can't solve this matter as soon as possible, he turns around and goes to other things, and leaves this matter to a professional like Brett to handle it. Financing for HBO is bad.

For HBO, it is best to take advantage of this mallet to get this matter done as soon as possible as soon as possible!
Sign the contract!

Richard could only think while slowly saying: "According to the past HBO model, we generally have a decentralized system."

When Zhen Yu heard this, she almost burst out laughing.

She has been collecting HBO-related materials during this time, just to prepare for Boss Zhou's visit to HBO headquarters.Now it's all right, it's a step by step step by step.

Zhou Buqi had already grasped the relevant information, but asked calmly, "What is decentralization?"

Richard explained: "Our main profit segments are mainly three. First, the broadcasting of local TV stations. Second, the distribution of overseas TV copyrights; third, the sales of DVDs. Part of the copyright will be distributed. However, the local TV broadcasting rights can only belong to HBO, which is not negotiable.”

Zhou Buqi turned to look at him, "Is it gone?"

"Our TV dramas are generally restricted-rated, so the sales channels are relatively small, and the audience in the peripheral market and derivatives market is not large, and it is difficult to spread them on a large scale like Hollywood movies."

Richard is clearly a traditional, old-school TV guy who can't keep up with the Internet age.

Zhou Buqi asked: "Then how will we distribute the copyright?"

Richard said: "The local TV broadcast rights belong to HBO. The overseas distribution rights and DVD sales rights can be properly allocated. We can emulate our original cooperation with DreamWorks."

"Dreamworks?" Zhou Buqi quickly realized, "You mean "Band of Brothers"?"

Richard said: "Yes, it is "Band of Brothers". The total production cost of this TV series was 1.2 million U.S. dollars, DreamWorks contributed 7000 million U.S. dollars, HBO contributed 4000 million U.S. dollars, and the BBC contributed 1000 million U.S. dollars. The final power distribution , the TV broadcast rights in the United States belong to HBO, and the TV broadcast rights in the UK belong to the BBC. All the remaining rights and interests belong to DreamWorks.”

Zhou Buqi seemed quite satisfied, "Then follow the contract template of "Band of Brothers" and make another one."

"Mr. Zhou, I'm just giving you an example. It's different!" Richard was taken aback, and quickly explained, "Band of Brothers is a project initiated and controlled by DreamWorks, and they have the initiative. And, that is Spielberg and Hanks co-produced the TV series, which is very influential."

Zhou Buqi was very dissatisfied and frowned, "Then what do you mean? Rick, I have the sincerity of cooperation and the desire to invest in high-quality film and television works. However, I also hope that you can show the sincerity of cooperation! "

Richard was a little nervous, "Don't worry, we are very sincere about this cooperation. Except that the TV copyright in the United States belongs to HBO exclusively, HBO can share other rights and interests with Ziweixing Global. The proportion, this...Mr. Zhou, give me two days, and we will definitely give you a satisfactory plan."

Zhou Buqi shook his head, "I'm leaving New York tomorrow afternoon."

"It's ok……"

"Forget it, it's not that troublesome. I just have two conditions. If you agree, you can cooperate. If you don't agree, it's fine. First, I want the streaming copyright of the TV series "Game of Thrones". Second, I don't want "Game of Thrones". "Rome" happened again in the future. If one day you can't continue filming, you should transfer the rights to continue filming this project to me, and I will continue filming."

Finally, the picture is poor.

(End of this chapter)