Top of the Great Era

Chapter 3180 Animation
"Well, that's a good idea."

Zhou Buqi quite agreed with this idea.

Film and television works are the best promotional tools.

In the matter of Netflix and Sohu Video's cooperation, there is actually no benefit for Netflix. Because Netflix cannot do business in China, it has spent so much money but cannot expand the domestic market. Everything has to be done for Sohu Video, which is really a big loss.

In particular, Zhou Buqi's arrangement was to let Sohu Video look for cooperative projects, which would definitely be Chinese-language projects, as they would have a relatively small audience overseas.

Developing a League of Legends show is different.

The first is the audience.

This is a fantasy, science fiction story, and it is a foreign story, with foreign names for the characters. For foreigners, the threshold for watching is very low, and it does not require strong comprehension and cognition like watching Chinese programs.

The second is investment.

Netflix doesn't need to invest so much money to make League of Legends. As a "promotional film" for the game, the game manufacturer Changyou will spend a lot of money to ensure the excellence and success of the project. As a result, Netflix spends less money.

It's certainly a good thing to be able to control a series for such a small amount of money.

Third, the audience.

The two largest markets for League of Legends are China and South Korea. Netflix cannot develop in China, but it can go to South Korea! Netflix will focus on its overseas strategy this year, and the first stop is South Korea!
If Netflix launches a series about the League of Legends series, it can effectively attract Korean players and audiences!
This is in line with Netflix's strategy.

Fourth, it is also of great benefit to Sohu Video.

There are too many "League of Legends" players in China. If Sohu Video can become a partner of the game, countless players will flock to Sohu Video... Especially when the song "Lone Brave" becomes popular, young people all over the country will flock to it.

There is another point that Zhou Buqi particularly attaches importance to.

Literature is adapted into film and television works, and film and television works are adapted into literary works; film and television works are adapted into games, and games are adapted into literary works; film and television works are adapted into games, and games are adapted into film and television works... These points can actually promote each other.

However, there is a core relationship here.

That's the Hollywood privilege.

Because of Hollywood’s uniqueness and world-class status, the adaptation of film and television works is the most difficult, most influential and most core hurdle!
Whether it is a positive adaptation or a negative adaptation, the right to speak is often in the hands of Hollywood.

This results in very few games being able to be adapted into film and television works.

Unless the game company is very rich and willing to spend a lot of money on Hollywood, there are so many excellent projects in Hollywood, and thousands of scripts are waiting to be developed every year. These are all Hollywood's own people. Why should they develop promotional films for game companies?

Even if they are developed into film and television works, they are often just movies.

Because games are often imaginative and have a large subject matter, it means that the investment in adaptation is too large. If it is adapted into a TV series, the risk is too great and it is difficult to recover the cost. However, the story structure of many games is very large, and it is simply impossible to tell a complete story with only the length of a movie. If the introduction is slow, the film will have a slow rhythm and affect the reputation; if the introduction is too fast, only game players can understand it, and non-player audiences will find it difficult to understand without knowing the background of the game, which will affect the reputation.

So, there are occasionally successful movies adapted from games, but most of them are failures.

If the game is adapted into a TV series, the story can be told slowly from the very beginning, with each character slowly built up and the plot slowly advanced... This can greatly lower the threshold for viewing and allow many non-player audiences to understand it.

Therefore, adapting "League of Legends" into a TV series is an opportunity.

Changyou has hundreds of games, many of which have mature story structures and have the potential to be adapted into film and television works. If we cooperate with Netflix and make this project a success, it will open up a new world in the future. We can find more themes from Changyou's many games and adapt them into more film and television projects. Netflix and Peacock can join the battle together.

This can promote industrial cooperation in Zhou Buqi's hands from a strategic level.

Zhou Buqi pondered, "In the past, TV stations were very orthodox and didn't like game themes. It was hard to accept TV series adapted from games. Now it's different. Internet streaming platforms don't have so many restrictions. As long as the content is good and there is a market and reputation, anything can be done."

Zhang Chaoyang was very happy when he heard him say that. "Yes, that's what I mean! If streaming media wants to surpass TV stations in a shorter time, the best strategy is to find differentiation. Traditional TV stations are very cautious about game programs and TV dramas. If streaming media can do this well, it can capture the hearts of the majority of game players."

"But..." Zhou Buqi also realized one of the difficulties. "Stories like "League of Legends" are all imitating "The Lord of the Rings". The themes are all fantasy-based, and the story structures are bigger than each other. The huge story background plus the fantasy theme, if it is remade into a film or TV series, the investment will be too huge!"

"$1 million a season, that's enough, right?"

Zhang Chaoyang knows how popular this game is in the domestic market and how popular it is among young people today.

He must be ruthless and take over this market for Sohu Video!

Zhou Buqi shook his head. "$1 million for one season may not be enough. MGM made a TV version of The Lord of the Rings. The cost of the first season was $1.4 million, and the second season increased to $1.5 million. Now it's the third season, and the cost of 12 episodes is more than $1.8 million. This series is simply a bottomless pit."

"Ah?" Zhang Chaoyang was quite surprised. "So many?"

Zhou Buqi said: "The fantasy background means that every frame of the picture must be processed with special effects to present a sense of a fantasy world. So many people said that I made a wrong decision and should not make a TV series. If I had accepted Warner's plan to co-produce The Hobbit trilogy, MGM would have made more than a billion dollars from this project."

Zhang Chaoyang's strategic vision is obviously better than those filmmakers at MGM. He smiled and said, "That's different. Cooperating with Warner can only make more money, but it lacks strategic value. Developing independent TV series by yourself is a kind of disintegration of the traditional Hollywood model and the TV industry. You can fully control this project and use the golden signboard of "The Lord of the Rings" to promote the development of the streaming media industry. You are working on Peacock, which is like a landmark building."

Zhou Buqi nodded. "That's true, but the story of League of Legends can't be compared to The Lord of the Rings. You can't support League of Legends with the same amount of money you spent on The Lord of the Rings. $1 million per season may not be enough. Even if it is enough, how much can Sohu Video give?"

"What should I do then?" Zhang Chaoyang's heart was overshadowed.

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "By the way, Jieyu Media has a domestic animated film that has already finished post-production. It's called The Return of the Great Sage. This is an animated film that I promoted. There will be an internal preview tonight. Are you free? If you are free, we can go and watch it together."

"Hmm..." Zhang Chaoyang immediately understood what he meant. "Animated movie? Cartoon? Adapting "League of Legends" into a cartoon?"

Zhou Buqi said, "It's anime, anime-style cartoons. In the short term, this kind of big theme can only be adapted into anime. Anime has lower costs and is easier to control. Otherwise, no matter how much money is invested in special effects rendering, it won't be enough. The extremely low-cost Japanese anime production strategy is being accepted by the global animation industry. This is a way out. If anime becomes popular and the game continues to flourish, there may be a chance to adapt it into a live-action movie in the future."

(End of this chapter)